Guest Column: History of Michigan in Taxes

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Brian Wright

A longtime resident reflects on the effects of state taxes over the years
by David Lonier

My Letter to the Editors…

76 Years of Life in Michigan…

Raising taxes has never improved anything for those upon whom the tax increase was imposed. “Anything” includes roads, education, or the economy in general.

In fact, the quality of all three has declined in direct proportion to the amount of the tax increase.

All tax increases have ever done is take money from the rapidly dwindling working class and give it to special corporate interests or ever-expanding government/welfare programs.

No Sales Tax

When there was no sales tax, Michigan’s roads were among the best in the country, as they should have been in the motor capitol of the world. Also, Michigan’s prosperity was second to none. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: Local Government inAction

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Brian Wright

You wouldn’t think fixing a ramp at the recycle center would be a big deal

Okay this is a column about an incident that writes itself. Describes my recent interaction with the local government facilities, city of Novi, Michigan. I’m not the most active citizen, but have attended a couple city council meetings and try to do my civic duty. As a Libertarian, I do not want activist government but I certainly would like to see responsive government. Which means if there’s a dog running loose or a child being brainwashed against his will at the high school: “Could you please quickly send someone over to fix that?”

I’ve already written a piece on predatory local government, from the next county over, that is Wayne County and the Northville, Michigan, police. Who because of an ambiguity of driving a car registered and insured (all paid up, by the way) in my then recently deceased mother’s name, I was rousted by a girl cop and her magic license plate twanger. This wonderful little bureaucop even emphasized she could take me to jail—twice!—for such an egregious offense. I’ll let you read all about it in the column I wrote here, which had a semi-happy ending thanks to my own passionate oration in court against such outrageous behavior being well-received by an actual human judge. Continue reading →

Book Reviews: Unequal Protection (2002)

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Brian Wright

The rise of corporate dominance and the theft of human rights
by Thom Hartmann
2002, Mythical Research Company, 293 pages

Going into the Freedom Portal (Free State) I had doubts about the morality, perhaps even the constitutionality, of corporations.

What, after all, is a corporation?

American Heritage says: “a) A body of persons granted a charter legally recognizing them as a separate entity having its own rights, privileges, and liabilities distinct from those of its members. b) Such a body created for purposes of government.”

Now isn’t the b) part of that definition interesting? At the very least we know corporations are creatures of the government and do not exist at common law.

Thomas Hartmann, a true modern lower-case democrat, writes that Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and several other Founders warned strenuously against monopoly corporations:

“I hope we shall… crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country.” –Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, 1816 Continue reading →

Movie Review: Revolutionary Road (2008)

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Brian Wright

The quintessential “trapped in the 1950s” story

Frank Wheeler: I want to feel things. Really feel them.
April Wheeler: Don’t you see? That’s the whole idea! You’ll be able to do what you should have been allowed to do seven years ago, you’ll have the time. For the first time in your life, you’ll have the time to find out what it is you actually want to do. And when you figure it out, you’ll have the time and the freedom, to start doing.
Frank Wheeler: This doesn’t seem very realistic.
April Wheeler: No, Frank. This is what’s unrealistic. It’s unrealistic for a man with a fine mind to go on working year after year at a job he can’t stand. Coming home to a place he can’t stand, to a wife who’s equally unable to stand the same things. And you know what the worst part of it is? Our whole existence here is based on this great premise that we’re special. That we’re superior to the whole thing. But we’re not. We’re just like everyone else! We bought into the same, ridiculous delusion. That we have to resign from life and settle down the moment we have children. And we’ve been punishing each other for it. Continue reading →

Guest Column: Bizarre Federal Ultimatum …

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Brian Wright

… could land innocent woman behind bars
by Shane Trejo, Pontiac Tribune (March 17, 2015)

Shane Trejo (The Pontiac Tribune) — Doreen Hendrickson is a mild-mannered and demure mother of two. She seems more like someone you would see at a church picnic rather than in a jail house.

Thanks to the dirty tricks and heavy hands of the authoritarian federal government, she may be incarcerated very soon. Denied her basic rights in the court of law, Doreen Hendrickson was convicted of contempt of court on July 25, 2014.

Her tale is certainly unusual.

Doreen Hendrickson, along with her husband Pete, are libertarian activists who file tax returns in an unconventional way and encourage others to do the same. Because of this, Doreen was charged by the federal government with defying two court orders. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: Imus in the Mourning

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Brian Wright

Blast from the past, has it really been that long…

… since Don Imus made the famous “nappy headed ‘hos” remark about a young women’s basketball team? Going thru my columns that possibly deserve to be transferred to the new WordPress site format—asking an enthusiastic writer of my modest caliber to review his past work for anything decent is often a bit embarrassing (though I have always had a couple of good turns of phrase)—I came across this one that barely passes muster. The famed hyped faux pas occurred all the way back in 2007! My goodness. See if you agree whether the observations still apply today: Continue reading →

Book Review: The Quick Red Fox (1964), et al

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Brian Wright

… and four others from the master of detective genre
John D. MacDonald

If you’re going to have a reading addiction, you can do a lot worse than the works of Mr. MacDonald. Here are four more earlier Travis McGee books I’m sneaking into my program:

MacDonald is one of the most prolific writers of quality detective thrillers in history. The Travis McGee Series consists of 21 books; with these I’m reviewing I’ve read a total of seven. Like some of my favorite authors—especially Larry McMurtry, Elmore Leonard, or Tony Hillerman—or favorite extended stories in cinema—Lonesome Dove, the TV series Friday Night Lights, or the miniseries John Adams—it’s going to be really tough for me to reach the end of the road and read the final John MacDonald Travis McGee book. Fortunately, there are several more to come.

The Quick Red Fox

1964, Fawcett Publications, 160 pages

In this installment of the McGee series, a well-known actress is being blackmailed with photographs for once having participated in a sex and drug bacchanalia several years earlier. Travis is retained by the actress under direction of a beautiful young personal assistant, Dana, who starts off with him like an ice queen, but eventually comes around. They travel together to track down each individual who was present at the incident, doing the detective work to find the blackmailers and put them out of business.

As with virtually all of his works, MacDonald has Travis speak out against and in favor of various cultural realities (these will occupy much of my reviews on this page). The following two segments occur close to each other, as Travis and Dana home in on one of the suspects in Southern California. This first hits home with virtually anyone of the freedom persuasion: Continue reading →