Accidental Plagiarism and A Panoply of Video

1. Neale Donald Walsch got caught ripping off Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, which has got to be a special kind of embarrassing. Walsch pleads ignorance, saying that he’s “truly mystified and taken aback” and “chagrined and astonished that [his] mind could play such a trick on [him].” Sound implausible? Read Erik Campbell’s “The Accidental Plagiarist: The Trouble with Originality,” from our Spring 2007 issue. It’s a very funny article that makes clear how such things happen. (Via Brevity)

2. Iraq War veteran Joshua Casteel explains how he became a conscious objector. He wrote about this in “Combat Multipliers,” in our Fall 2008 issue.

3. Macmillen helpfully illustrates how a book goes from idea to published work. I was not aware that the great majority of a publicity budget goes to World of Warcraft. TMYK. ☆ (Via Boing Boing)

4. Unlikely video of poetry being read by their authors. Particularly recommended: Poe, Thomas, Eliot, Whitman, and Frost. Creepy.