ISIS Propaganda and Me

The problem with finding support in the War Against ISIS is simple. It's a sham. It's a headless monster created by a foreign state to justify the buying of bullets in the name of capitalism.

wooooo.... we're ISIS....

I find it sad/funny that the major news sources still call ISIS a 'group of militants', as if they are nothing more than a bunch of weekend warriors or the equivalency of a group of South American guerrillas, only with less forest. I know I'm not alone but when you hear of the glorious reports of victory by our Allied forces it reminds me slightly of Nazi propaganda, partly of Big Brother in 1984.

ISIS is a direct result of the glorious Mission Accomplished US invasion of Iraq. Most people of modest intelligence remember the frustration as the case against invading Iraq was established in the court of popular opinion. We, the people, learned that court means little to the higher powers. We all knew there was no evidence in support of Iraq having anything to do with 9/11. Yet, the US government, in collaboration with a disbelieving yet obedient national press, the lies were continually published. They still are.

This diatribe/rant is because I heard today on national radio that ISIS's #2 man was apparently killed through the 'coalition strike force'. Of course, because nobody has heard of this man before this memo, a brief summary of who he was followed.

Barney's Version Book Review

Hey, so why not?

Apparently I can cut and paste book reviews I've done into my blog. So, let's give it a try.

If anyone else has read this, I'd appreciate a line if you want to talk about it. I seem to be missing what people liked about it.



Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I really liked 'Solomon Gursky was Here' although Richler writing does tend to isolate readers of the non-jewish persuasion (such as myself). I picked up Barney's Version and had a few problems with it; it could definitely have used a preface explaining the context. I think it would have been much stronger in my opinion if the afterword (written by his son) was actually the foreword.

Possible spoilers;

I really hated the corrective footnotes. Although it is eventually explained it was Barney's son adding them after a supposed legal discussion as to editing Barney's autobiography, it read like lazy copy editing, as if Richler's publisher wasn't allowed to do any editing. It's not until later is it established that Barney's mind is slipping and these are part of the character development as to the crux of the 'did he or didn't he' regarding Boogie's disappearance.

Then to have the last paragraphs basically create another possibility without any other hints throughout the story was a weak cop-out.

Barney isn't likable, and pretty much Richler writes every Jewish stereotype in existence into his character and the secondary ones as well. His snide observations of Quebec and Toronto cultures come off as just that. It's an okay book but nowhere as excellent as Solomon Gursky.

Recommend only to hard-core Richler fans.

View all my reviews

Free ebook birthday giveaway.

There's simply no way to avoid this but chronologically I am evidently another year older.

So what can you do to celebrate? Why not grab one of my free books online? I'm offering up all 3 of the books I've self-published this year for free on Smashwords. Catch is they only come in ebook format so if you are a fan of this futuristic medium, head over here and grab yourself one or all three. You can give them out as gifts or just keep them to yourself on your futuristic reading device. If you like them, tell your friends and or send them the link. The offer is good all weekend, then next week they'll probably rise in price to nearly two whole dollars. So best to just tell them now without actually having read them yet.  

And...

If you are still an old-school reader who loves having a bookshelf and having books on them so that when people come over they can diagnose what troubles you, then get hard copy versions over at Amazon. There is Midland Mutiny, Stoner, Unincorporated and Enter A Fistful of Marijuana. All you have to do is that thing you do when you purchase items off the Internet. My bank account thanks you for the 35% royalty I receive. You receive the book in a few weeks, straight to your door in plain brown wrapping. Nothing suspicious there at all, Mr. Postman.


And...

If you are curious as to what I'm currently working on, head over to here. There's the edited first chapter of a work in progress - more ...grounded... in reality than my previous ones. It's more of a John Irving World According to Garp story of a boy and girl growing up, falling in love, finding out they like the same author who coincidentally is writing their life story... something like that anyways.

Online reviews, comments always semi-helpful if you are on Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle etc.  

Okay, I'm going to have a good birthday by sleeping through most of it, waking up and spending time with my wonderful family on a hot summer's day. There may be ice cream involved and listening to some old cassette tapes.