Bob Mayer's Blog, page 51

What if Caesar Went to His Death Willingly?

It’s a bit difficult to believe that Caesar had no idea about the plot against him. Intelligence was critical for survival in ancient Rome, especially given that there was no police force: order was kept by strength and to wield that, one required knowledge.

Why Caesar went willingly is key to one of the missions in Ides of March (Time Patrol) which is free today, 12/1, through Tuesday, 12/3. One thing I learned researching this mission was that Cleopatra was actually in Rome at the time, actually outside the city, staying at one of Caesar’s houses.

The other missions off a slice of history across the ages:

On the Ides in 1783 George Washington stopped a mutiny among his officers. This mission, which appeared straightforward turned out to be a bit more complicated for the Time Patrol agent assigned it, Eagle.

Columbus returned from the New World on the Ides, in 1493. He brought back more than just news. Stopping what he brought back is Mac’s mission.

On the Ides in 1917, the Last Tsar formally abdicated. This is one of the most significant events in modern history. What if he hadn’t? This is Doc’s mission.

We’re one week out from the release of Walk on the Wild Side and I’m already well into the follow on Will Kane, Green Beret book: Hell of a Town. I’ve scheduled it for release in June, but hope to have it out earlier. In between, will be another Area 51 title: Earth Abides. And later in 2020 I plan on the fourth book in the Duty, Honor, Country series, tentatively titled: Shiloh.

Nothing but good times ahead!

Earth Abides and Hell of a Town

The pre-orders for my next two books: Area 51: Earth Abides and Hell of a Town are now live. While they’re set for June 2020, both books will be out earlier and the live date will be moved up as I get closer to completion.

I’m excited about both books. Earth Abides will provide some key answers to the Area 51 series. It picks up after the Swarm invasion of Earth has failed, but the planet is in dire straits.

Hell of a Town, from the song, New York, New York, is set a year after Walk on the Wild Side, which comes out 9 December. Will Kane gets caught up in the underbelly of New York City in 1978. Literally. He has to descend into the city below the city to root out a a group of brutal killers. What he discovers, though, goes far beyond what he fears.

Beyond those three, I plan on releasing the 4th book in the Duty, Honor, Country series.

Nothing but good times ahead!

What If They’d Tried to Pass A Declaration of Emancipation on 4 July 1776?

That was the question at the core of one of the missions for the Time Patrol, Independence Day. I was trying to think of an ethical dilemma for the agent assigned the 4 July 1776 mission and this is it: Along with the declaration of Independence, Jefferson and the Committee of Five, have drafted one for Emancipation.

The Time Patrol’s mandate is to keep our history exactly as it is has been recorded. The reasoning: we’re still in existence. We know other timelines diverted and no longer exist.

But. What should the agent do? Wouldn’t it be the right thing to do, to allow both to go forward? But. What if by presenting both to the Continental Congress, the vote is split and neither get passed?

What if there had been a Declaration of Emancipation in 1776? from Bob Mayer

A Must-See Documentary: For Sama that moved me to tears.

Understanding and empathy is the path forward for mankind and this documentary made by a Syrian woman about their life in Aleppo over five years is a step in the right direction. It is available for free on Youtube (link below) via PBS. I’ve found Frontline to be one of the best sources of in-depth information on many, many issues. This is about much, much more than Syria. It’s about basic humanity and bravery.

Having deployed many places around the world, and living numerous places, including overseas, I’ve found that people tend to be ethnocentric. Troubles “somewhere else” are on the horizon and most people are confident that “it can’t happen to us”.

It can. One of the hardest deployments we had in 10th Special Forces was Eastern Europe were we witnessed the results of religious and ethnic cleansing where neighbor turned against neighbor. People who had been living peacefully next to each other for generations killed each other. Why? Because the rule of law was tested, then broken.

This documentary also touches on immigrants. We are a country of immigrants who are now turning our backs on what made us. Immigrants are fresh blood to renew our country. Our fear, hatred and anger will destroy us unless we can rise above all of it. Here is the trailer:

Most of all this is a human story of perseverance in the face of adversity. If it doesn’t move you to tears at times; well I don’t know what to say. I’ve seen terrible things in person; this film shows terrible things on camera. I do warn you there are very graphic scenes. But also very inspiring ones.

Here is the link to the entire film on Youtube:

How To Get Started Preparing for Disasters

I saw a question about this on Quora and it got me thinking, because there’s so much information out there and it can be overwhelming. Where to start? What’s the first step? Especially for someone starting cold.

Here’s what I’ve come up:

The first thing everyone should do is make sure they have
the four basics we all need, regardless of where we live. You can get them for
under $60 total:

2 cases of water per person

Basic first aid kit

Emergency Radio

Survival Manual

Four Key Survival Items for $60 you must have from Bob Mayer

Then download free survival apps for your phone such as
American Red Cross First Aid, CPR and Choking and others as applicable.

FREE Survival, Emergency and First Aid Apps from Bob Mayer

Then conduct an Area Study. This is looking at yourself,
those around you and your locale for assets and possible threats. This will
determine how you prepare further, for your specific situation as we are all
different. Here is a brief summary how to do this:

The Area Study– the first step in preparation from Bob Mayer

Once you have the Area Study done, you can prepare your home,
your work/school, your car, etcetera. You can coordinate with family members
and friends about what to do in disasters, such as a initial rally point and
emergency rally point.

You can also then prepare your grab-n-go bag. You can also
simply get a pre-packaged grab-n-go bag. It contains basics, including the
first aid and emergency radio needed. I bought one for my son to put in the
trunk of his car.

Grab-N-Go Bag Essentials You Must Have from Bob Mayer

I think this is a good start. I go into more details in The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. The first half is all of the above explained, with links, and then the second half is a manual for survival and beyond, including scavenging.

Another good book I recommend to complement it is the SAS Survival Handbook. It’s more detailed in terms of long-term survival as far as plants, animals, etc.

Let me know if you find this useful or have suggestions.

Studying 7 Famous Disasters in order to prevent future disasters.

After years of studying accidents and disaster, I came to the conclusion that almost every one involving people required seven things to go wrong. The seventh was the actual disaster. But those six precursors, which I call Cascade Events, by themselves, would not have caused the disaster. And one of them was always human error.

Thus, they could have been prevented.

Stuff Doesn’t Just Happen 1: The Gift of Failure is free today to the 18th.

Always free are two shorts, The Donner Party and Mulholland and The St. Francis Dam Failure.

The first book covers the Titanic disaster where hitting the iceberg was one of a series of preventable events. The Tulip Bubble is applicable in modern times given our recent housing and tech bubbles. People still get drawn into the belief that the value of something can only keep increasing when reality says otherwise. Little Big Horn is a class example of a leadership failure; but that failure had its roots years before 1876.

Why does propane have an odor? The sad disaster of the New London Schoolhouse explains that, where other warning signs were overlooked. From the Kegworth Crash we learn to question experts. And it’s also the crash from which we learned what positions might help survivability in an actual crash as the plane hit just a quarter mile short of the runway.

If you want to know about other such offers of free books and audiobooks, sign up for my newsletter HERE. I send it out at most once a month so you won’t get bombarded with emails.

Or you can join my private Facebook group, The A-Team, where I announced specials not otherwise publicized.

Did You Know George Washington Stopped a Mutiny?

Even though I went to West Point, which is just south of Storm King Mountain from Newburgh where Washington the Continental Army was encamped in the winter of 1783, I had never heard of this. We studied the battles of the Revolution but perhaps we should have also studied the politics. After all, as Clausewitz notes, war is an extension of politics by other means.

The war was essentially over since Yorktown the previous year. The Continentals wintered at Newburgh and the British in New York City. The peace negotiators were in Paris hammering things out.

But the officers and troops hadn’t been paid in months while Congress dithered in Philadelphia. Resentment grew during a harsh upstate winter. I can testify to the cold wind coming off the Hudson having stood in formation on the Plain at West Point.

A group of officers determined to march on Philadelphia and toss Congress out. Essentially upending the country even before it became a country. Washington became aware of this. He gathered his officers on the Ides of March, 15 March, 1783, and made an epic speech.

When I wrote Ides of March (Time Patrol) I knew this had to be one of the six key events. I thought if the Shadow could foil Washington and the officers marched that would be a time ripple; combine it with five other time ripples on the same day across the ages and you’ve got a time tsunami and our timeline ceases to exist.

But, as I started writing that part of the book, I realized that misdirection is the key to effective operations. The real goal of the Shadow that day was something that involved Washington but in a different direction.

Here’s some more about this event and book:

George Washington Stopped a Mutiny on the Ides of March 1783 from Bob Mayer

Free thru 12 Nov: A Survival Manual

Survive Now-Thrive Later is free for the next several days. I believe it’s a great, handy reference book on an array of topics, from first aid to shelters to navigation to procuring water and food.

This pocket-sized manual is a must-have; a copy in the home, the glove compartment of the car, at work, and in the grab-n-go bag.

In order of priority, this book is a guide for dealing with emergencies and survival situations.

It covers the five core areas of survival: first aid, water, food, shelter and fire.

Then it goes into the wide array of specific situations you may encounter such as: flood, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, tsunami, volcano, wildfire, heat wave, blizzard, drought, landslide, nuclear-biological-chemical incidents, terrorism, crime, riots, airplane and helicopter crashes, survival at sea, cold weather survival, desert survival, tropical survival, field expedient tools and weapons, emergency communication, dangerous plants and animals, and more.

The goal is to have a quick reference in hand to get you through the emergency into a situation where you can thrive on the other end.

This is a companion book to Prepare Now. Survive Later which gives checklists and instructions in how to be as prepared as possible before an emergency strikes.

With the proper knowledge, we can survive!

Why was Kennedy’s mistress killed? And Khrushchev overthrown the next day?

JFK was assassinated on 21 Nov 1963. His mistress, Mary Meyer, was killed on 12 Oct 1964. Shot in the back of the head while walking in Washington DC. The next day, the Soviet premier was forced out of power.

How are these events connected?

Mary Meyer kept a diary. Her ex was a high-ranking CIA operative. After she was killed, the CIA tore apart her home looking for her diary. No one has ever seen it since.

These are all facts.

More?

Here’s a free slideshow:

The Kennedy Endeavor: A thriller steeped in fact from Bob Mayer

FREE today: The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide

Because I think this book is so critical to everyone, FREE today, Monday (11/4), is the Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. The important aspect of this book is it explains, step by step, how to prepare. Over 60% of households are not prepared to a base level. It also walks you through how to do an Area Study so you prepare for your family’s specific situation and needs.

Also, the first nine Area 51 books are only .99 each
all of November. A new book, Area 51: Earth Abides, is in the pipeline
and I’ll announce when it will be published as soon as I know.

My next book out will be Walk on the Wild Side, the third in my Will Kane Green Beret series of books which have received very positive reviews. It comes out on 9 December.

Nothing but good times ahead!