Two must reads...but it aint pretty!!!!

Legacy of Ashes- The History of the CIA: I finished up Weiner's well researched and thoroughly captivating history of the CIA a few weeks ago. Holy Cow!!!! From "The Agency's" efforts to murder Castro by poisoning his ice cream cone in the mid-1950s to supplying both Iran and Iraq in the 1980s with millions of dollars worth of sophisticated "weapons of not-quite-mass destruction" to early post WWII efforts involving parachuting "former Nazis" into the Ukraine to mess with Stalin's USSR, one is left feeling decidedly unpatriotic or at least confused about the CIA's role in modern presidential power...I guess itz somewhat comforting to realize that both Democratic presidents (especially JFK, but even Carter) and Republican presidents (especially Reagan, but even Eisenhower) were all duped and used by the out-of-control CIA...Read it, for it is as CIA Head George Tenet said regarding the likelihood of WMD being found in Iraq; "a slam dunk."

The Omnivore's Dilemma- In a similar vein, Pollan's amazing history of the mass industrialization and mechanization of our food supply is a must read for anyone and everyone that needs to eat food to survive. It is crazy stuff...I have seen the enemy and it is CORN :)... Pollan takes his readers on an incredibly complex and heavily processed (and at times disgusting) ride as he traces the origins of the foods we all ingest...The chapter where he describes the path an average steer takes from birth to McDonald's hamburger is writing at itz very best, plus it is very helpful for anyone looking to lose weight. Both of these books earn five stars... ***** out of five

Feeding the Rat: Eki Hondo and I rode four hours on Sunday in the rain on gravel and it was good (It was a big week for me with 15 hours, too big considering that the mega-classic Chequamegon 40 is only six dayz away)...In any event, the ride got me all fired up for the DBD training sessions that will commence starting late October and continue through the winter months...the Arrowhead 135 is only five months out and the Trans-Iowa is only eight months away...so little time to train!!!!!!