Discussions

Paul Bernado has written a convoluted book about a Russian and terrorist plot to establish a new world order called "A Mad World Order" and it's available from amazon to download on their kindle.  
 
I know that inmates can write books and have them published as long as the book doesn't relate to their crime.  
 
That being said - I think that any book written by that sadist is an affront to the families of his victims and I hope that amazon withdraws this book from their website and hopefully no one will buy or download anything this sicko writes.  
 
I buy a number of items from amazon and have e-mailed them to express my outrage at seeing this book for sale on their website.

So what exactly is despicable and offensive about his book or the fact that it is on Amazon? Why the emotional appeal to Amazon? The man is paying his dues to society in prison is he not?  
 
Edited by Opportunities Abound, 2015-11-12 22:58:38

He tortured, raped and murdered young women and I believe the families of his victims would be outraged that this serial killer is given any avenue to express his deranged thoughts.  
 
However I do hope that any profits from the sale of this "book" goes to the victims families or women's charities.  
 
I'm sure some people will buy this book not because of the content but because it was written by Paul Bernado - I however do not want to see or hear anything from this pervert - may he rot in hell.

You can also purchase Hitler's book Mein Kampf, or countless other literature from people who committed atrocities, on amazon. You can also purchase the old testament, which if thoroughly read was obviously (supposedly) written/directed by a jealous, petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak, a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser, a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully, oddly though you wouldn't hear anybody complain about that book being on amazon..  
 
Or you can purchase the quran, written by a slave trader who married a 7 year old, who advocated war and murder and slavery of non-believers through jihad.  
 
As disagreeable as things may be freedom of speech/expression/religion etc should always come first.

I agree that it may be distasteful but banning books because you personally don't like them is a slippery slope. If you don't like it... don't read it? I don't really see how this affects you.

Opportunities Abound said "So what exactly is despicable and offensive about his book or the fact that it is on Amazon? Why the emotional appeal to Amazon? The man is paying his dues to society in prison is he not?     Edited by Opportunities Abound, 2015-11-12 22:58:38"

those dues will never be "paid", I don't care how long he stays in prison, even if he dies of old age his "dues" will never be paid!

I really don't want to bring up this topic, but I will. Bernardo is the best possible rationale for why Canada should bring back the death penalty in only the most extreme cases.  

Let me just stand behind my full size shield as I put this:  
 
I bought the book. Just now actually as I read this post.  
 
The fact of the matter is simple. Enfyre made an amazing point. You can buy a variety of books on Amazon all the way from Mein Kampf to the Bible. Lets make one thing clear, I am not supporting the writer in any way. I come from the Toronto area and I grew up when this situation was happening. (Frankly, I am surprised he didn't use a Nom de Plume) BUt lets be honest, so many books have been written by physco paths but the fact remains:  
 
As disagreeable as things may be freedom of speech/expression/religion etc should always come first.  
 
I will read this book and I will let you know if the book is in fact "Disgusting and Offensive" as it was so eloquently put. And I do hope that the proceeds go to somebody other than him.  
 
(This post has been strictly reviewed by the writer, and it conforms with the ebrandon terms of service. Its states facts relevant to the topic at hand, mentions no names and does not slander other individuals. Questions, comments, queries, concerns or editing suggestions should be made to the writer. Have a good day)  
 
Edited by IMO, 2015-11-13 11:22:45

while i agree he has the freedom to write a book i do find it a screwed up world where likely the only reason the publisher bought the book (unless he got the cash to publish, which is another issue)is because the writer is a horrible sick sick person, its also sad that many will buy the book because of who wrote it and many will have no clue about the history of the writer BUT its out there now and I hope any proceeds are taken to help his victims families(not karla tho)or other such victim retribution pools

he is a despicable human being and just because he is serving his time in prison for the atrocious acts he performed on unsuspecting young woman does not mean that he should be forgiven. In my opinion he is a dangerous man and should never be allowed out. Thusly I would never contribute a dime towards any endeavor of his. To do so, I feel, would be in fact condoning his actions.  
 
And I have to add an edit in support of Kerrys comment.  
 
Edited by Jaxon, 2015-11-13 12:24:42

OJ Simpson wrote the book from prison entitled "If I Did it".  
I would never support his or sicko Bernardo in any case.  
 
Sensation sells, unfortunately. Do not support these deranged people.  
 
I'm of the opinion that murderders who commit deranged crimes should not be allowed to write any kind of book from the confines of their cell nor profit from their heinous criminal activity..  
 
Freedom of speech? Really....

One could argue that art is a contribution to society and that this book would classify as art. So, if people are not allowed to produce art from their jail cells, what other contributions are prisoners not allowed to make. If a criminal made a medical improvement, would you refuse to benefit from that. This is extending the topic a little but, are those who are opposed to this man being able to do this opposed to all contributions to society made by bad people?

As I see it , the freedoms we all enjoy are just that, freedoms. Paul Bernardo gave up all freedoms when he did the horrible things he did. He should be allowed no freedoms and have no privileges.  
That being said, he wrote a book, I will not buy it , and if you choose to buy it, then that is your freedom of choice and I respect that.

CommonTater said "One could argue that art is a contribution to society and that this book would classify as art. So, if people are not allowed to produce art from their jail cells, what other contributions are prisoners not allowed to make. If a criminal made a medical improvement, would you refuse to benefit from that. This is extending the topic a little but, are those who are opposed to this man being able to do this opposed to all contributions to society made by bad people? "

i think the art theory is stretched a little but if paul had made a medical break-thorough i would think it would be allowed to be used since that would help contribute to society and help make up for his crimes, not that he could, but it may show a change and enlightening of character which would be a good thing, i would also expect the profits to be garnished and contributed to a victim crime fund  
 
his book however is not helping society nor about his change in attitude, more like his need to be in the spot light and have power over his victims to make sure his name is still remembered and all that sort of stuff which imo is wrong of us to let happen, for him or others  
 
altho i am for rehabilitation for some crimes the person has to actually change and some crimes and criminals are just beyond the ability to have enough change to make rehabilitation possible, if you are that sick to begin with i cant possibly see how you could change enough ....

The art theory is stretched? What would you call a book, if not art? There are some serious social justice warrior attitude going on here. When we start banning things or restricting people based on the feelings of a few individuals, where does it stop? Who decides how bad a crime must be before the persons right to write a book is taken away? you?  
 
Tread carefully people, that type of attitude is how we all start losing freedoms.

......voice their objection to such things most effectively by not purchasing the item and not talking about it. After this post. I will do both.  
 

CRP said "The art theory is stretched? What would you call a book, if not art? There are some serious social justice warrior attitude going on here. When we start banning things or restricting people based on the feelings of a few individuals, where does it stop? Who decides how bad a crime must be before the persons right to write a book is taken away? you?     Tread carefully people, that type of attitude is how we all start losing freedoms. "

one you have to value art but also the definition of art includes literary, if it does where is the line of say this post (which is my expression) or a work of art?  
 
i have rarely heard of books as works of art, only the truly great and historic books, others are refereed to as crap or pop literature ect but even if they are good they are not always refereed to as art BUT whether it is art or not is really irrelevant as our whole justice system is biased on banning things like freedoms and honoring most social justice stances not by a few a individuals (in most cases) but the masses and our laws have changed to show this so i dont think its out of line to say that paul can't profit from his book  
 
unfortunately i do agree that we have to be careful of what we allow to become law as our freedoms should be most important but we are long past giving away to much as it is so if they take the right of criminals charged with heinous crimes to produce art i have no issue with it  
 
like i said in the post before i believe if the work was to greatly benefit society then i would like to see the criminal make amends with their work but still not profit, but if it is to just use their name for ratings then NO i dont believe it should be allowed, however it is an so i will not support it by not buying or reading his book

Annetta said "Not many books could be referred to as art. I would doubt this one would ever qualify as such.     Losing freedoms...Bernardo lost his for doing what he did and being put away for his crimes...so yeah I don't much care if he has any freedom to write a book or not. Preferably not. He should be doing hard time and then would have no time or energy left for writing. At least as long as he is in prison he won't be getting much gain from book sales. "

Yes prisoners lose their freedom when they are locked up and so they should!  
 
Did anyone see Magnotta referring to prison as going to university. He was bragging about what a good life he was leading now.

I agree deciding what freedoms to take away and which to allow becomes a slippery slope.  
 
Should we take away freedoms to have a bed, medications, hygiene, should they be fed some type of dog food type stuff formulated for humans, should they ever see the sun again? Is contact with other humans a freedom? Should they all be kept in solitary confinement?  
Should everything be taken away that isn't the most utter basic requirement to sustain their life? Should it be like this for all prisoners, or just the worst, who decides that?  
 
Mental stimulation IS a necessity for life just like Food. Take away all stimuli, for an extreme example like solitary confinement in the dark for months or more and the mind will disinigrate into madness never to be the same again, this has been seen in real cases, its torture not unlike pulling someone's fingernails out with plyers while dumping buckets of water over their head.  
 
So who then decides what criminals are allowed what stimuli and which ones aren't, how much are they allowed and of what types? Some minds require more than others to maintain sanity, who determines that?  
 
Jail as I understand it is to keep people out of society, its not a place for people to to be mentally or physically abused, as a society we're not beasts like some of these criminals. Just like when an animal attacks a human you either humanely confine the animal or you kill it, you don't abuse or torture it, if you do then you become a beast too.  
 
If he was killed for what he did, I would have had no protest to that, but since he was kept alive he shouldnt be subject to mental abuse through stimuli deprivation.

A killer should never profit from the sale of a book.

Enfyre makes a great point. There are a number of books, or other artwork that are disagreeable but freedom of expression should always trump, as long as he is not making money off his crimes.  
 
You can include art in the argument, whether literary or through other medium. There are countless famous artists that are selling their work from prison. Should that be banned as well? What if the profits are going to victims or charities, would that make a difference?  
 
This is not a new phenomenon, as Kellye ponied out OJ Simpson wrote a book, and did many other convicted murderers and serial killers: including David Berkowitz – Son of Hope, Ian Brady - The Gates of Janus, John Wayne Gacy - A Question of Doubt, Donald Gaskins – Final Truth, Danny Rolling – The Making of a Serial Killer, Aleric Hunt – Cuts Through Bone (that won a literary award), Charles Kembo (aka J.D. Bauer) – Quest for Water.  
 
We were all horrified with the crimes he committed, but we also have free will to purchase the book or reject it. What we cant do is tell someone else what the want to read, write, draw or think.  
 
 
Edited by on-second-thought, 2015-11-14 17:19:15

CTV is reporting that the book has been pulled after hitting #2 spot on Amazon.

Saw that too on cbc

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/paul-bernardo-book-disappears-1.3319838

bring_on_fall said "http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/toronto/paul-bernardo-book-disappears-1.3319838 "

Removing that book from Amazon's available status is the equivalent to book burning. The book has nothing to do with his crime. It is a work of fiction. Even if it wasn't, he still has the right to put his thoughts to paper and self-publish.  
 
I think I might have to start a campaign to get the following books banned and removed from all library shelves and book outlets: "Mein Kampf" by Hitler, "My Rise and Fall" and "The Doctrine of Fascism" by Mussolini, "Sea of Blood" by Kim Il Sung, "Zabiba and the King" by Saddam Hussein, and I could go on.  
 
My point is that there are books widely available that were written by people who make Paul Bernardo look like a choir boy. You can't start banning books based on your personal feelings or opinions about the author. If we all did that, there would be nothing left to read.  
 
If you don't want to read it, don't. However, you have no right to tell the rest of us what we can and cannot read.  

I haven't bought the book, nor planned to before they pulled off amazon, but I'm also not of the opinion that it should have been pulled.  
From reading the news Of what the book is about I don't think I'd be interested in the story, but I do think that the book would be interesting in the way that it's giving a very unfiltered look into the mind of a serial killer.  
I do hope whatever profits that were made before it was removed were forwarded to his victims family's though.

traveller said "while i agree he has the freedom to write a book i do find it a screwed up world where likely the only reason the publisher bought the book (unless he got the cash to publish, which is another issue)is because the writer is a horrible sick sick person, its also sad that many will buy the book because of who wrote it and many will have no clue about the history of the writer BUT its out there now and I hope any proceeds are taken to help his victims families(not karla tho)or other such victim retribution pools "

Just to note, ANYONE can self-publish electronically on Amazon. You don't require any money up front to do so. I think it's a percentage of proceeds though as a commission.  

I enjoyed reading various opinions on this topic but I applaud amazon for listening to the negative feedback from consumers and deleting this book from their website - I wrote amazon to thank them for being a good corporate citizen and making a wise choice. The families of his victims do not want to see this sadist get any public attention now or ever.  
 
I guess my outrage at the publication of this book puts me in the minority as I see it was #2 in terms of sales for amazon before it was deleted.

north of 54 said "I enjoyed reading various opinions on this topic but I applaud amazon for listening to the negative feedback from consumers and deleting this book from their website - I wrote amazon to thank them for being a good corporate citizen and making a wise choice. The families of his victims do not want to see this sadist get any public attention now or ever.     I guess my outrage at the publication of this book puts me in the minority as I see it was #2 in terms of sales for amazon before it was deleted. "

I wonder how the families of the Holocaust victims feel about "Mein Kampf" still being available pretty much everywhere? smh