"Percolations" is emailed as a newsletter to the list of Coffee Coaster subscribers. (Normally, this newsletter-ette is sent Wednesday night or Thursday mid-day.) Percolations usually begins with the movie review for the weekend, then opens a general whassup section. — bw

Excerpt
The Apostle
Scary, heartwarming, or both? __ 9.5/10

Yes, the film is mainly a character study, but inside a religious-context study. And both are held up to the viewer for moral and intellectual consideration. Yet, don't get the idea The Apostle is a flim-flam man story, even ones so nuanced and insightful as Burt Lancaster's, The Rainmaker (or, more pointedly, Elmer Gantry) or, more recently, Steve Martin's Leap of Faith. [There are undoubtedly many other such films about preachers as con artists, but they don't come to mind immediately.] What Duvall has created stands, as well, as an intricate, courageous query into a whole, massive way of life. [Full Review]

FROM THE COFFEE COASTER

My former sister-in-law, Maria (Hercher) Struck, located a human-interest piece she'd written long ago about the joys of growing up in the multiethnic neighborhoods of the east side of Detroit in the 1950s. I gladly posted her scintillating prose, and I believe you will completely groove on this one:

Especially for Garlic Lovers
James Ricci's incredelicious pasta sauce recipe
by Maria (Hercher) Struck

Madre Mia! Even my adolescent boys loved it. On evenings when they had dates with girls whose reputations I deemed to be a tad short of virginal, I exercised my maternal duty and put extra garlic in the sauce, but had the wisdom to pretend ignorance: “Oh, I didn’t realize you were going out tonight, but I’m sure you can have a little of the Ricci Sauce anyway. No one will be able to tell.” Of course they wouldn’t be able to resist, and, to my great relief, reeked of garlic all night. (I had to be careful not to outsmart myself though, since I was taking a big chance that my sons would come home engaged if the date happened to be Italian.)
[full column]

COFFEE COASTER WEEKLY PERK LIST

1. In the wake of recent revelations of domestic spying by the Pennsylvania Department of Homeland Security, viewers of the popular online show, "The Reality Report", demanded the need for accountability. In his 62nd webcast Gary Franchi, the host, posed the question, "What should the punishment be for director James Powers for spying on Pennsylvania citizens?" Viewers replied and some said Powers should be executed by firing squad, or at least tarred and feathered. [I'd settle for restitution to the victims.]
   
   
2. World War I...the Fed...the IRS and the US's role as global muscle for big banks... Did you know these four "separate" events were interrelated? They sure don't teach the history that way in school. Check out this older video, especially the first three or four minutes.
   
   
3. An amended Leahy anti-natural-health bill has been presented, but it it still an awful bill. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R–UT) said “I believe this bill could have potential negative ramifications on the food and dietary supplement industries. One of those concerns would be the over-criminalization of some violations that could affect the affordability and accessibility of certain food and dietary products." We must defeat this bill... or, if not, add it to the increasingly long list of constitutional violations—technically they are not laws—the people will not accept or obey (and for which we will hold their perpetrators legally accountable). Please review Dean Hazel's excellent analysis of petit treason in this regard.
   
   
4. The District of Columbia (US), the City (UK), the Vatican... three city states that wield unusual powers. Last week, the Vatican was shocked when the Italian government announced it was investigating the head of the Vatican bank for money laundering. The Vatican may be shocked, but no one who knows their track record is. A trip down memory lane.
   
   
5. How CNN killed a story. Individuals and communities defending themselves and their families is one thing. But an invading, occupying army is an abomination. It can't be anything else and atrocities like this are a daily part of the "game." If you're not telling the truth, then you're part of the propaganda arm. US mainstream "news" media is propaganda, not news.

Good news on the front in Michigan: Two new bills were introduced in Michigan this week! HB 6480 is an industrial hemp farming bill and HB 6479 is an industrial hemp study bill. Both were introduced by Representative LaMar Lemmons and were referred to the Committee on Agriculture. Two months ago HR 314 was introduced and was referred to the Committee on Commerce. The bill is a resolution that asks Congress and the administration to recognize industrial hemp and remove barriers to farming the crop once again. Ref. VoteHemp.org.

Chevron is pursuing a particular shareholder activist, Antonia Juhasz, author of The Tyranny of Oil, who harangued executives at the annual meeting in Houston last May, with an unusually strong legal response. After causing a scene by blasting Chevron’s environmental record and starting a derisive chant, Juhasz was plucked from the audience and arrested. Chevron is prosecuting her, which is expected to stir further protests. Chevron/Texaco has recently been found guilty of environmental genocide in Ecuador: refer to my movie review Crude.

Please check out a recent open letter from our valiant leader in the educated tax movement, Mr. Pete Hendrickson. I have posted under this title: "Tax Truth from the Front: Timely clarity on income tax from Pete Hendrickson."

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice. — Thomas Paine

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