Book Review: Tribe (2016)

On Homecoming and Belonging
by Sebastian Junger
Reviewed by Brian R. Wright

Tribe, working definition: The people you would share the last of your food with.

A short read, yet a powerful one. Junger is an established writer-journalist—The Perfect Storm (1997), A Death in Belmont (2007), Restrepo, film (2010), War (2010)—who takes on the social psychology of individuals wanting to feel part of a larger special community of souls. [I would  use the word, collective, except for its often-negative connotations. What distinguishes a ‘good’ collective or community is the individual’s choice in the matter. And what initially drew me in to Mr. Junger’s narrative was his recounting of how during American colonial days, large numbers of the whites would wander off to live with the Indians… so much so that the Puritans had laws against it.(!) [There were no recorded cases of the reverse, where Indians chose white society.]

“’We had no master to oversee or drive us, so that we could work as leisurely as we pleased,'” she explained. ‘No people can live more happy than the Indians did in times of peace…. Their lives were a continual round of pleasures.'”
—  p. 11 Seneca captive, Mary Jenison.

Reminds me of things spirit brother, Russell Means, would say.

The author’s interest in the subject stems from some early observations while he was still living in suburban Boston: simply that modern conventional American life affords very little in the deep and self-sustaining spirit of community. So he set out on a wander to the West, 1986, hitchhiking, had an incident with a disheveled man who stopped to give Junger the man’s whole ration of food, made a special effort to see how Junger was doing. [To my mind, this was an instance of general humanity, perhaps encouraged by the man’s social group, but certainly something the man might have done completely on his own.] Continue reading

Donut Whole: Preventing World War Three

How to stop worrying and NOT love the bomb
by Brian R. Wright

In this column I want to chat about a matter of the highest priority: it is reasonably certain that ‘high govern- ment officials’ of the Global deep state are planning to initiate a nuclear holocaust in the near future, one that will launch ICBMs and/or submarine missiles on the Russians and/or the Chinese in an all-out preemptive attack—whether or not these officials believe the Russians/ Chinese will be capable of massive retaliation against Europe and the United States. The argument for ‘reality of intent’ of preemption comes from several sources, I’ll quote a few lines from this column in Strategic Culture:

US Navy Prepares Decapitating Attack Against Russia

3/27/17. The US preemptive nuclear strike capability has significantly grown. The strategic nuclear forces modernization program has implemented new revolutionary technologies to vastly increase the targeting capability of the US submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) arsenal.

The Bulletin of American Scientists reports that as a result of improvements in the killing power of US SLBMs, they carry more than three times the number of warheads needed to destroy the entire fleet of Russian land-based missiles. Since only part of the W76 force would be needed to eliminate Russia’s silo-based ICBMs, the United States will be left with a substantial number of higher-yield warheads that could be used for other missions….

Then from this warning column by insider analyst, Paul Craig Roberts: Continue reading

Movie Review: Key Largo (1948)

Bogie classic psychological drama of mobsters and the good guys___8/10
Reviewed by Brian R. Wright

Lots of little reasons add up to make this a big movie. It’s sometimes easy to dismiss an old film for its antiquated technology. A movie like Key Largo, today, reminds one of a play being performed for cameras in a big building on the Warner Brothers property in Burbank, CA—which of course it was.

But that ‘stage’ quality of old classics actually encourages one to focus on the essentials,  namely plot and character. The screenplay was written by director John Huston and Richard Brooks, based on a play by Maxwell Anderson.

The setup: Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) is passing thru the Florida Keys during the tourist off-season to pay his respects to the father [James Temple (Lionel Barrymore)] of a good friend of McCloud’s who was a member of his unit in World War 2, and killed in action. Temple’s daughter-in-law, Nora (Lauren Bacall), is the widow of Temple’s son… and helping the elderly, wheelchair- bound Temple to run his oceanfront hotel, The Largo.

Before Frank shows up, an underworld entourage with notorious racketeer, Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson), has been exclusively occupying The Largo for several days—using it to stage a substantial criminal financial heist in cooperation with a rival set of mobsters. Rocco’s yacht is initially anchored within sight past the coral reefs. Johnny’s moll, fading singer-performer Gaye Dawn (Claire Trevor) accompanies the Rocco gang… and provides the platform, by the way, for Ms. Trevor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress that year. Continue reading

Donut Whole: “Good Night Sweet Girl!”

The Great Kitty Spirit Calls My Precious ‘Tabby’ Hither
by Brian R. Wright

This final day transpires like the movie High Noon, with the somber moment of truth impending with every tick of the clock. Tabby’s euthanasia appointment is at 6:30 p.m. with the vet, who’s just a mile away. I think I’m going to be okay. I’ve extended her departure date so I can have some ‘hospice’-quality time, three whole days where I’m home, moving my computer work downstairs, in the living room where she’s been camping out on the foot stool of the other love seat for maybe a week now.

She’s definitely ready, her appetite is close to nil, though she walks to her food area and to the litter box still. I’ve bought every treat and new idea in packaged and unpackaged cat food I can think of, though I have run out of the crock-potted skinless, boneless chicken thighs that were a staple for her… not that she’s been eating that either these last few days. Her breathing is ‘okay,’ I had them do a final fluid drain from the chest cavity two days ago. Thru various gestures, like placing her paw on my hand (a first) she’s as much as told me: “Papa B, it’s time to meet my Maker.”

Every half hour or so I make a point of stopping whatever I’m writing on to go over and give her a few strokes while uttering the sweet nothings. Occasionally, I’ll get more conversational, e.g. “Well, baby, I sure wish there was some other way. But you have the big C and it’s not going away” [or “You know, it sure looks like the Inter-national War Party wants to blow the world to Kingdom Come. Trump ran against these chicken hawks, now he’s sold out to them. What do you think?”]… then go into the procedures she’s had done and what the doctors say, what the Xrays say, what the ultrasound images say, what my friends and family say. Continue reading

Guest Column: Are Speech Rights Grinding to a Halt?

The suppression of ideas and the closing out of debate
by Jon Rappoport [Original column in Nomorefakenews.com here]

Let’s start with an extreme case. A case that has been roiled in emotion for decades. A case that triggers people into making all sorts of comments.

At quora.com, there is an interesting Q and A. The subject is the Nazi holocaust.

The question is: Why is holocaust denial a crime in some countries?

One answer is offered by Olaf Simons, who states he is an “historian at the Gotha Research Centre.” Here is an excerpt:

“Anyone who tells you it [the holocaust] is ‘not real’ (because he has found something to support his doubt) is manipulating you with a political agenda.”

That’s quite a far-reaching assertion. It’s obvious that a) someone might come to the conclusion that the holocaust didn’t happen and b) he has no political agenda. Whether that person’s conclusion about the holocaust is true or false is beside the point. And even if that person did have a political agenda, why should his comments about the holocaust be suppressed? Continue reading

Brian’s Column: Playtime Overture

4: Pregnant days of first memories of (who knows, may yet be) a special life
Brian R. Wright

[Link to Episode 3]

Note: These columns are a series, I will make into a volume of my memoirs. You may follow the links at top and bottom of page to go to preceding or succeeding episodes. The series starts here. {If the [Link to Episode <next>] at the  bottom of the column does not show an active hyperlink, then the <next> column has yet to be written.}

This is truly strange for me, because I rather vividly remember Le Gran Tricycle Launch by my brother, as described in Episode 2. And that was before we moved to the Overland Park digs described in Episode 3.

I calculated that Episode 2 took place when I was 3 to 3 1/2 years old, so the following awareness—which at the time I told to myself that that instant I would subsequently remember as my first self-conscious moment—occurred after- ward, at age 4 to 4 1/2. In Overland Park.

Dawn of the Independents’ Movement?[1]

And it was very simple: I was outside on the grass in the front yard between our home and the neighbor’s home, the Browns. Nothing else. Just 1) nice sunny day, 2) standing on the grass, 3) and taking a view toward the north. That’s it. Plus the fully conscious knowing that this moment was going to be the very first of my special ‘Brian Wright’ self-aware life. Freedom and the joy of being rolled into one. Now, I speculate, was this a foretelling of some kind that I would, indeed, choose psychological independence and maintain it thru all the forces seeking my conformance until today? Continue reading

Democracy Reaches the Kids! (2014)

Rekindling the joy of learning
by George Meegan

Democracy Reaches the KidsDemocracy Reaches the Kids! is a tour de force, a blockbuster, and a game changer. It delivers a blow to the ‘education industrial complex’ from which it will not recover, and we are all the better for it. One of the higher density books of ideas-per-page you’ll ever read. Meegan’s pace is quick and energetic, a rich tapestry of facts from all over the world—pertaining to education, both how it has been and how it can be. Taking it all in is like reading Future Shock by Alvin Toffler, though Democracy! shines with genuine compassion and focus. Where Mr. Toffler tends to overwhelm the reader with technology ahead of its time, Mr. Meegan shows us how to liberate our souls and become humanely connected to one another through life-learning.

So who is this guy George Meegan, coming from out of the blue? Per Wikipedia:

George Meegan is a British long-distance walker best known for his unbroken walk of the entire Western Hemisphere from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost part of Alaska at Prudhoe Bay. This journey on foot was of 19,019 miles (30,608 km) in 2,425 days (1977-1983) and is documented in his book The Longest Walk (1988). He has appeared often in the press including the Today Show three times, CBS Morning News and on Larry King Live. Meegan lives Internationally and has a wife, Yoshiko, in Japan. They have two children. He ran as an Independent candidate for the Gillingham and Rainham constituency for the 2010 General Election.

Reading further in the Wiki article, which describes Democracy!, you’ll see George’s self-identified life mission since finishing the Longest Walk has been to preserve culture and language, what he saw so many of during that Herculean journey 35 years ago. The book sprang from notes George gathered during the thousands of miles he traversed and the hundreds of communities that he called home for days, weeks, sometimes months and years. Continue reading