William Blum was nominated honorary guide on Jan. 25, 2006. American author and U.S. policy critic Blum has written several books, including “Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower,” which became a bestseller after Osama Bin Laden said in a video message that all Americans should read it. A former State Department employee, Blum started his activist career in 1969 when he exposed the names and addresses of 212 CIA officials, and he has since authored a number of books and worked to expose government corruption.