This book was great!

John let me borrow it a few months back and I am just getting around to posting my thoughts on my recent readings. The Brafman brothers explain their ideas on why and how people make decisions based on emotions opposed to logic.

For example, speeding across town in rush hour traffic to get to class on time. The logical decision would be to take your time because of the potential harm that could come from crashing your car into another vehicle. But, more often than not, people end up rushing and speeding because they did it before and didn’t get hurt.

This book was amazing! It was hard to read because it was fact after fact after fact. It was an assault on my brain because of its complicated diction and lack of variety in syntax.

BUT, I did get the gist of it and will probably read it again.

Since reading the book it has made me realize how blessed we are in the United States and how naive we are to the world outside of us. Life can, and is in many countries, much, much worse than missing a class or sipping a bad latte.

My advice to everyone - read this book.

producermatthew:

Former FBI special agent Ali H. Soufan’s new book “The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda” was heavily redacted after a review by the Central Intelligence Agency and was sent to print with the mark-outs visible.

“For three months, the FBI conducted its review,” Soufan said in a letter at the beginning of his book dated August 23. “After requesting specific changes, the bureau sent me a letter saying that the manuscript was ‘approved for publication with respect to FBI information.’”

Shortly after receiving approval from the FBI, Soufan received another letter saying his manuscript was being sent to the CIA for review. “This was strange, as I have never reported to the CIA or had any contractual agreement with them,” he wrote.

The CIA sent two letters of concern — first about Chapters 1 through 15, and then from Chapters 16 to the end. The CIA eventually “took back” their list of redactions only to send “an even more extensive set.” Soufan said those redactions included “a public exchange between a U.S. senator and myself that was broadcast live on national television.”

Soufan said he’s asked the FBI to work with the CIA over the redactions. If Soufan is not able to clear the redactions with the FBI, he plans to pursue the censorship through legal methods.

I picked up a copy of the book on Tuesday evening (my copy pictured above). I’ll let you know how it is.