The first paragraphs of books are the most important. Rather than writing an entire book, I am toying with the idea of writing one that is simply filled with opening paragraphs to hundreds of different books. That way, I can then release a book of closing paragraphs to match afterwards, but in a confused order so that readers are forced to go back to the original book to try and match them up. Now that’s marketing. Some Examples It was a dark time in the erotic ...More »

“Similarly, we are told by another insider reviewer, James Rocchi, that the scenario, as originally written by Aaron Sorkin of “West Wing” fame, included the following line for Avrakotos: “Remember I said this: There’s going to be a day when we’re gonna look back and say ‘I’d give anything if [Afghanistan] were overrun with Godless communists’.” This line is nowhere to be found in the final film.” The above is taken from a recent piece written by Chalmers Johnson regarding the film “Charlie Wilson’s War”. Johnson ...More »

Despite the fact that they should have known better, you have to feel some sympathy for those that have served as White House Press Secretary during the Bush administration. Let’s face it, a great deal of scorn is heaped on those that have to stand at that microphone and push bullshit on a routine basis. Thus, it comes as no surprise to me that Scott McClellan has made some rather damning accusation in his memoirs which are about to be published. From Politico… “Former White House ...More »

For those interested, here's George Stroumboulopoulos' recent interview with author, columnist & activist Naomi Klein on The Hour discussing The Shock Doctrine. More »

When the fine people at RandomHouse contacted me last week and asked me if I would make mention of Naomi Klein’s new book and short film The Shock Doctrine, I was more than happy to oblige. In my view, Klein is one of the most important voices of my generation, so it’s a privilege to help promote this work in any way I can. In the days to come, a YouTube video will also be posted here on the site. Here’s a little background information… Film Description In ...More »

American historian Howard Zinn’s work A People’s History Of The United States is easily one of the most profound and crucial publications of our times. In fact, the work itself should be required reading for every student in undergraduate studies in which history applies to the curriculum. Likewise, Zinn’s newly released “A Young People’s History of the United States” should be required reading for high school students. My respect for Professor Zinn’s continued activism and dissent is considerable, and there are well-founded reasons for it. ...More »

Retrospect is not something that officials that once held high ranking positions within an intelligence community should be able to lean on after the fact, especially when hundreds of thousands of innocent lives are lost in the process. While ex-CIA Director George Tenet’s recent book and television appearances lend credence to the fact that the administration’s case for going to war in Iraq was immensely unsubstantiated from an intelligence perspective, it should not be overlooked that Tenet said next to nothing at the time, nor ...More »

What language do we speak? For the most part, the first language of Canada and the United States is English, though there are a myriad of Americans that perplexingly refer to it as ‘American’ for some unknown reason. Of course, French, Canada's other official language, is also quite popular, as is Spanish in the United States. Why do I make reference to it? One word – scrotum. The origin of the word scrotum dates back to the late 16th Century and is derived from the Latin - ...More »

Tom Dispatch recently mentioned former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega’s new book United States v. George W. Bush et al., which is a fictitious, though not unrealistic, look at how the President and members of his administration might be indicted for defrauding the US public with regards to Iraq. If you’d like to read the actual 'indictment' from the book, click here. While only fiction, it’s not as if her case isn’t well researched and presented. Beyond that, Iraq isn’t in a state of civil ...More »

Steve Staples new book Missile Defense: Round One is now available for purchase. Not only am I going to order one to read, but to see if the blurb I was asked to write for the back cover made the grade. In short, the book details the Bush administration's attempts to resurrect the ballistic missile defense program better known in the Reagan era as ‘Star Wars’ and the struggle of Canadians from all walks of life to pressure government to refuse to participate. Of course, it’s ...More »