Brian's Column-Article
Grand Shi of Wes Nakagiri
Michigan Republican State Convention
site of next big move on the weiqe board
by Brian Wright

Coming up slightly short in the vote count, but way ahead in the enthusiasm race, liberty Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in the Wolverine State, Wes Nakagiri, had the establishment forces all a-frazzled, wondering whether somebody forgot to grease the skids on the Juggernaut of State.

In the 2012 primary race, an excellent Forbes article described how Ron Paul was thinking in the long range strategy of shi (pronounced sure) as opposed to his opponents’ shorter-range power-politics plan of attack, called li in Chinese. In the long run, shi, in service of the ‘Freedom Philosophy‘—especially when accompanied by the Gandhian global truth force, Satyagraha—is the superior philosophy. Shi, like water, always wins. It’s just a matter of time. Do we have the time. [Full Column]

Book Review
The New Earth (2006)
Awakening to your life’s purpose
by Eckhart Tolle

A New Earth seems to elaborate many of the psychological insights of The Power of Now, yet builds toward its central purpose of helping us imagine who we are ‘meant to be.’  I can’t spoil the conclusion but I can give you some idea of how he sets it up: a) he draws a convincing picture of where the human race stands spiritually as of Now, b) he describes how the so-called egoic mind and the pain-body work as a tag team undercutting true self-actualization (Tolle thinks of the true self as Being or Presence, even God), and c) he outlines measures for breaking free into this realm of self-realization. [Full Column]

Movie Review
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Good movie, unworthy of the two Oscars __ 7/10

What can I say? I doubt that I’m alone among Americans for essentially turning away from the damned wars in the Middle East that should never have been fought in the first place. The actual wars are over. The military actions there are now nothing more than horrific occupations, outrageously expensive killing fields by and of “the coalition of the willing.” Iraq and Afghanistan are meat grinders that only serve to enrich special interests. Ongoing Atrocities with a capital O. [Full Column]

Guest Column
Stopping 'LEOs Gone Wild'
An ordinance template for your city, township, or village…
by Dave Lonier

TO CEASE WARRANTLESS SURVEILLANCE AND
MILITARIZATION OF LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND
PREVENT TURNING AUBURN HILLS INTO A BATTLEFIELD

WHEREAS, American neighborhoods are increasingly being policed by law enforcement armed with weapons and tactics of war, and
WHEREAS, Federal funding in the billions of dollars has allowed state and local police departments to gain access to weapons and tactics intended exclusively for overseas combat, and
WHEREAS, With the passage of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act and S.1867, the federal government has declared the entire United States a war zone and that anyone can be arrested, tortured and detained indefinitely without due process, and...[Full Column]

Quote of the Week

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." — Nelson Mandela