A chronicle of the author's ascent from being a broke college boy to an internationally renowned adult film superstar. After finishing just one year of his degree, Shaw was lured to London by a heady mix of sex and money. Within a short time, he was something of a celebrity in his field, having been introduced to wealthy and weird eccentrics, as well as famous personalities. When the legendary Chi Chi La Rue took polaroids of the naked and aroused Shaw, his adult career was launched and, as documented in over 50 adult films, the rest is history.
Facts are and must be the coin of the realm in a democracy, for government "of the people, by the people and for the people," requires and assumes to some extent an informed citizenry. Unfortunately, for citizens in the United States and throughout the world, distinguishing between fact and fiction has always been a formidable challenge, often with real life and death consequences. But now it is more difficult and confusing than ever. The Internet Age makes comment indistinguishable from fact, and erodes authority. It is liberating but annihilating at the same time. For those wielding power, whether in the private or the public sector, the increasingly sophisticated control of information is regarded as utterly essential to achieving success. Internal information is severely limited, including calendars, memoranda, phone logs and emails. History is sculpted by its absence. Often those in power strictly control the flow of information, corroding and corrupting its content, of course, using newspapers, radio, television and other mass means of communication to carefully consolidate their authority and cover their crimes in a thick veneer of fervent racialism or nationalism. And always with the specter of some kind of imminent public threat, what Hannah Arendt called "objective enemies.'" An epiphanic, public comment about the Bush "war on terror" years was made by an unidentified White House official revealing how information is managed and how the news media and the public itself are regarded by those in power: "[You journalists live] "in what we call the reality-based community. [But] that's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality . . . we're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do." And yet, as aggressive as the Republican Bush administration was in attempting to define reality, the subsequent, Democratic Obama administration may be more so. Into the battle for truth steps Charles Lewis, a pioneer of journalistic objectivity. His book looks at the various ways in which truth can be manipulated and distorted by governments, corporations, even lone individuals. He shows how truth is often distorted or diminished by delay: truth in time can save terrible erroneous choices. In part a history of communication in America, a cri de coeur for the principles and practice of objective reporting, and a journey into several notably labyrinths of deception, 935 Lies is a valorous search for honesty in an age of casual, sometimes malevolent distortion of the facts.
Harley Wilkins is in her prime: 30-years-old, living in Manhattan, and working tirelessly to make her cosmetics company, Flair, a success. As she works to introduce her first perfume, multitudes of complications begin to infiltrate Harley's life. Trying to get things done at work, she constantly has to play babysitter to her partner Parker, who is little more than a partying socialite who used her nepotism to get undeserved equal-footing with Harley at the top of the company. She relies on the comic relief and smart perspective of her delightfully flamboyant friend, confidante, and co-worker Justin who helps Harley keep her head on straight amidst the drama that is her life. After being informed by a gleeful Parker of her boyfriend Marcus' infidelity, Harley meets the intriguing and successful Brad-but her hope for pleasurable preoccupation is extinguished when she is confronted with a startling truth about the woman she had always believed to be her mother. Torn between reconciling with a cheating boyfriend or taking a chance on new love, trying to make sense of the new developments regarding her family, and all the while toiling endlessly to make her perfume launch a triumph, Harley's open heart and ability to trust is tried and tested as she is incessantly betrayed. A chaotic chain of events ensues-brimming with scandal, back-stabbing, and even a kidnapping-all the scintillating components necessary to make this immensely engaging story the ultimate soap opera tale!
CRUSH-ED is not another whining story about the African experience, even though the title may lead in that direction. The title is really an acronym for the strategies that Africa (the sub-Saharan region in particular), must adopt if it is not to face extinction in the medium to long term. The book presents pungent, and urgent, analysis of the precarious situation that that region of Africa has found itself; a situation foisted not only by the historical facts of slave trade and colonialism (as most texts on the subject are wont to aver), but most importantly the failure of the African states themselves to properly interpret their cultures and how those clash with the ones they are trying to adopt and adapt to. CRUSH-ED navigates the tortuous terrain, delivering enough kicks in the belly to all stakeholders; chiefly the Africans themselves, the colonisers, the dominant cultures, the superpowers, the politicians, and not least, the author himself! This book should refresh every reader, especially those who are ready to be objective and face some inconvenient truths, about the world... about themselves.
England, 1264: as Simon de Montfort and his fellow Barons challenge Henry III's arrogant conviction of the divine right of kings to rule, the country moves inexorably towards civil war. In the little town of Lewes in Sussex, Judith, daughter of Belaset, seeks revenge for the massacre of her family and other Jews by de Montfort. As a trusted messenger between the King and his loyal followers, she is asked to act as go-between for King Henry and William Foville, Prior of St Pancras in Lewes. Judith seizes the opportunity to strike one last blow against de Montfort before her wedding to Aaron of.
