Good Day

Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda
$16.00
"Not a Good Day to Die" by Sean Naylor is the story of how American forces planned and executed OPERATION ANACONDA, a major battle to dislodge Taliban and Al Qaida forces from the Shahikot Valley in Afghanistan. Naylor tells the story with the sensationalist flair of a seasoned journalist, which is no surprise since he is a regular contributor to the Army Times.

OPERATION ANACONDA violated one of the Clausewitzian principles of military operations - Unity of Command. Naylor does an excellent forensic analysis of how the planning went wrong, which simply boiled down to identifying who was really in charge. The first few chapters of this book are devoted to this subject, and it is an excellent case study in what went wrong.

The core issue was a military operation that relied on three command structures for it's proper execution. The main effort of the operation was to be executed by Afghan fighters with Special Forces advisors. Supporting this effort was a combined 101st Airborne Division and 10th Mountain Division conventional force; and the third piece was a second special operations force providing reconnaisance of the battlefield. Missing from this organization was a cohesive command structure tying them all together. Naylor does an excellent job of forensic analysis as to how the planning failures led to execution failures on the battlefield. While it was an American tactical victory, the Americans had the opportunity for a large strategic win.

Naylor devotes the last third of the book to the actual battle itself. This section could be loosely associated with Mark Bowden's book "Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War". Both books feature the harrowing combat of US Rangers.

Despite his excellent analysis, I have some serious issues with the book. Naylor states in his introduction "When it became clear that I knew more than they wished, officials launched an internal investigation... The investigation's ostensible purpose was to probe the alleged release of classified material, but it's real goal was to punish those who may have helped me compile the facts and to send a message to others tempted to break ranks and tell the truth." Information is classified for a very specific reason - its release could cause the loss of someone's life; or in the case of intelligence collection, its release could cause the adversary to react in such a way that intelligence method would no longer work. A responsible, patriotic journalist would have worked with the military to ensure that information published would not cause either of the above to occur. Since Mr. Naylor choose to move forward with irresponsibly publishing portions of this book, he has ensured his place on the Pentagon's guest list right behind Jane Fonda, and Wolf Blitzer.

My second complaint is Naylor's obvious disdain for the Navy SEALS. It would have been sufficient to report on their activities without adding in the unattributed sophomoric comments that obviously came from only one side of the naturally competitive culture of special operations forces. This failure to represent both sides of an issue, and to rely on unattributed sources is what separates this journalistic work from a credible historic books.

The final shortcoming of the book is the failure to analyze what changes have taken place in Afghanistan since Anaconda. The book ends with the forces leaving the Shahikot valley without any insight into the doctrinal changes that have been effected since the battle.

This is a well-written book, and you should read it. I suggest Mr. Naylor donate proceeds from this book to a veteran's organization; or to the widows and widowers of the men & women who have been killed because of his overzealous reporting of things that would have been better off unwritten.

It's a Good Day
$16.98
Mavis Rivers' heydey was in the late 50's to the early 60s.
Barbra Streisand cites Rivers as one of her early influences.
Mavis Rivers could swing with the best of them,
but she could also tear at the heart with her torchsongs.
A light lively singing style,
complimented her smooth honeyed vocals.
If you are a fan of Ella, Sarah Vaughn or Rosemary Clooney,
then you should take a listen to Mavis River...
Mavis Rivers is an overlooked jewel.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
$7.99
After reading the synopsis of the story, I expected that Alexander was going to have some bad events in his day, but I expected something to counteract the horrible day.

I thought it was a downer book. I mean, poor Alexander had nothing that went right during his entire day. I was considering buying it for my nephew, but after reading it I thought, how depressing. I later saw my 9 y/o nephew and he saw the book and said he had already read it. I told him to tell me about it. He remembered the repeated phrase (the book title), he remembered the gum in the hair, getting his shirt wet and his foot getting smashed. I remembered the friend not wanting to be his best friend anymore, the cat not wanting to sleep with him and his slipping in the mud and being called a cry baby.

It would have been nice if there had been something other than a perfunctory acknowledgment of the terrible day. The only comment at the end is that "My Mom says some days are like that." I guess it's realistic, but putting a funny or positive spin on some of the events would have been great for showing how to deal with those terrible days. I mean this book is for kids...they'll get realism enough as they grow up.

I can honestly say, I've never had such a pileup of terrible things happen in just one day and if I did - as an adult, I know how to deal with it. Maybe, the book had such terrible things happen that if a child only had a few bad things, he could compare it to this book and say his day wasn't nearly as bad as Alexander's.

Good Day
$18.98
I've been a great fan of Peter White for many years. Every time he comes to the San Francisco bay area for a live concert I'm there. Good Day has got to be one of the best albums I've heard from him. Very enjoyable. Get up and shake your booty!!! Dance,Dance,Dance!!