Guest Column
Bizarre Federal Ultimatum ...
... could land innocent woman behind bars
by Shane Trejo, Pontiac Tribune (March 17, 2015)

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.

[In short, Doreen was faced with an ultimatum. She could obey the court order and say she falsified a tax return (a felony), or she could stand by her word and her conscience by refusing to obey the court order that would force her to perjure herself. Doreen did what was right and chose the noble option. Now she may pay a huge price for such integrity.] [Full Column]

Book Review
The Quick Red Fox (1964)
… 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:

• The Quick Red Fox (1964)
• Bright Orange for the Shroud (1965)
• Pale Gray for Guilt (1968)
• The Long Lavender Look (1970)

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. [Full Column]

Movie Review
Odd Man Out (1947)
Character study in precursor environment of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’

Informed by the venerable Robert Osborne that this movie is a launch pad for director Carol Reed who later did such classics as The Third Man, The Agony and the Ecstasy, and Oliver. It also served to elevate James Mason into leading actor territory. In this effort he is cast as an Irish revolutionary leader working for ‘the Organisation’ after having served much time in a British/Unionist prison.

[Here’s where I’m unclear on the history, but I believe, looking at my Wikipedia ‘hallowed official knowledge’-bot article on Ireland: I see the Irish Republic —meaning the bulk of the island, except for the northeast six counties—came into existence after considerable struggle in 1921 with the Anglo-Irish Treaty, but it wasn’t until 1949 that ‘full’ independence was achieved and that that land became the Republic of Ireland....
[Full Column]

Brian's Column
Imus in the Mourning
Blast from the past (column in 2007), has it really been that long…

Does anyone remember the adage, Sticks and Stones? Bill Maher introduces his show last night (Real Time on HBO) with a skit selling a pill called “Get-over-it-al,” which one takes for relief after hearing something offensive: from Imus, from Rush, from Ann Coulter, from Michael Richards, from Rosie O’Donnell, from Bill Maher. Remember how Maher was canned from ABC because of his misconstrued comments about the physical courage of Arabs who fly airplanes into buildings?

I’ll state my opinion by reference to the Ann Coulter incident: Gratuitously and with smirking malice, she called Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards a faggot. (A lot of papers dropped her, which I think is perfectly appropriate. She has attracted hardly any attention.) Afterward, Bill Maher, in the context of lampooning Coulter, applied the term occasionally to some well-known men. IMHO (in my humble opinion), gangsta rappers are in the position of Ann Coulter; only they don’t attract mass protests or calls for chastisement. In their universe, nappy-headed ho is a euphemism for women. [Full Column]

Quote of the Week

“Vaccination is a barbarous practice and one of the most fatal of all the delusions current in our time. Conscientious objectors to vaccination should stand alone, if need be, against the whole world, in defense of their conviction.” — Mahatma Gandhi