Book Review: Rebooting and Revival of Our Republic (2016)

Ideas for remediating an NFG system
by Brendan Kelly (2106 1st CD candidate for Congress–IND, New Hampshire)

brendan_kellyThis is a nicely composed and formatted missive by a longtime resident and gadfly of the Free State, Mr. Brendan Kelly, whom I know from my former ‘early mover’ days (2005-2007) in that beautiful ever-liberty-hopeful state of New Hampshire. He and I did not hook up so much in the days I was there, but have stayed in touch as fellow authors who feel compelled to lend our weights to the the country’s conversation of ‘Live Free or… well, just wander off and not make a fuss, letting the pods and podmasters have their way with us.’

What Brendan is to me is living, breathing proof that people of quite different philosophic origins/directions can be so one-minded—or is it one-souled—when it comes to what kind of country we want to share. Indeed, Mr. Kelly has been extremely generous in his praise of my own recent novel, The Truman  Prophecy, which extols the virtues of independent consciousness consistent with my days as an Ayn Rand super fan. Although I’ve mellowed with some Eckhart Tolle spirituality (The Power of Now) since then, I don’t regard any mainstream world religion as good for what ails our species. Especially, Christianity.

Brendan on the other hand is a devout churchgoing, bible-reading Christian. His faith means everything to him, yet, unlike many who turn to God, Brendan is fine with letting each of us go his own way so long as we hold to the nonaggression principle. Here’s a view showing his practical, humanitarian side: Continue reading

Movie Review: Wag the Dog (1997)

Wag the Dog ____ 8/10
Only the role of the CIA rings doubtful

wag_the_dogBy that I mean, in real life, were the president to try to spin favorable poll numbers by creating a phony war in the media, the CIA would be in the loop.  Indeed, the CIA would be the loop.

[Note: this is a timely reposting of my review from August 2007. Nearly 10 years have passed since the original review and nearly 20 years since the movie’s premier. For anyone who doubts that the media today conveys a manufactured reality 24/7/365, please watch this film… and be prepared to cringe in reluctant acknowledgment.]

That’s the fascinating premise of this decade-old, Clinton-era satire of what the rich and powerful friends of the president can do these days if the president gets in trouble.  In the movie the Clinton-like POTUS (President of the United States) is accused of enticing an underage “Firefly Girl” (a Girl Scout analog) into a room in the White House and taking unspecified liberties there.

The president is up for reelection within two weeks and the media is already beginning to home in on the indiscretion.  His opponent has ads playing Maurice Chevalier’s “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.”  His handlers know he’s in deep trouble and they need to generate a smokescreen to deflect all the attention from the voters.

Presidential aide Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) locates seasoned political spin-doctor Conrad Brean, who accompanies her to a White House basement skunk works and begins to work out a plan:  Let the President stay in China for a few more days, have the White House press spokesman start denying the existence of a bomber which does not exist, then create a threat from a small country no one knows much about: Albania. Continue reading

Guest Column: Comment NOW! on New Michigan ‘Smart’ Meter Rules

New State Rules Will Force You into Orwellian Hell!
by Shane Trejo [from column for Michigan Tenth Amendment Center]

smart_meters_take_backFriends,

I have some troubling new information to report about Smart Meters. Unaccountable bureaucrats have cooked up some new rules that will limit consumer choices to maximize profits for the utility companies. This is another example of public-private collusion that has made our state government a national laughingstock.

I was able talk to Lori Ebaugh, an expert on the topic of Smart Meters. She was able to give me the run-down on the topic, along with some action steps on what you can do to fight back.

What are the most troubling aspects of these new proposed rule changes?

There are several troubling aspects of these rules. First, there was no input elicited from actual consumers or the public until now, although work has been on-going to rewrite these rules for over two years. Secondly, these rules cement the supposed right of the utilities to shut power off from customers who refuse installation of a new AMI (“smart”) meter. Thirdly, there is no provision made for customers who refuse a smart meter for medical reasons. These people may have doctor’s letters verifying their health conditions, electromagnetic sensitivity or cancer susceptibility. They may require electrical power for their medical equipment (for instance, breathing machines). Yet, there is no provision for them to keep their analog meter. In fact, there is not even the provision to delay a power shut-off for any length of time. Compare that to the extensive provisions given to customers who risk a power shut-off in cases of non-payment. Continue reading

Brian’s Column: While the Would-Be Emperors are Diddlin’

… Syria is about to blow up

syriaAnd there’s nothing either the Donald’s people or the Hillary’s people are going to do about it. If anything, especially Clinton, they want to throw fuel on the fire. Here’s Paul Craig Roberts (PCRs) column “If Trump Were Sexually Interested In Men, It Would Be Politically Incorrect To Say Anything About It.” And an important passage from his guest columnist, Stephen Lendman:

“Tireless Russian good faith efforts [for peace and cease fire in Syria] failed because Washington and its rogue allies want war, not peace, Syrian sovereign independence destroyed, not preserved, US-led Western puppet governance replacing democratic rule.

“Syrian UN envoy Bashar al-Jaafari bluntly explained blocking Russia’s responsible resolution “confirms for the hundredth time that those who stood against it have no political will to fight against terrorism…to achieve inter-Syrian settlement.”

“Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin, current Security Council president, called Saturday’s session “one of the most bizarre…in (SC) history” – two dueling resolutions proposed, knowing neither would be adopted. Continue reading

Book Review: Black Tide (2011)

The devastating impact of the Gulf Oil Spill
by Antonia Juhasz

black_tideAntonia’s book is especially pertinent today with the debut of the Peter Berg movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell, Deepwater Horizon (2016).

Ms. Antonia Juhasz is one tough and persistent cookie, and has made a career out of exposing the antihuman practices of oil companies worldwide, as well as fighting government policies that enable such practices to continue. She is the author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the world one economy at a time (2006) and The Tyranny of Oil: The world’s most powerful industry—and what we must do to stop it (2008). She writes superbly and covers all the bases as she does; further, through the rigor of her documentation she conveys a sensitivity to human suffering and human beings that cannot be faked.

Her attacks on the patently criminal worldwide Oil Leviathan and the political engines that stoke it are delivered in the manner of a mother protecting her children from genocide rather than a warrior dispensing with a vile enemy in combat.

And like the two women from the Protestant and Catholic sides in Ireland who walked for peace—Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, Nobel Peace Prize winners 1977—Antonia is fighting for peace and freedom… freedom for all people to be secure in their property and natural-living resources against aggression by ‘the Corporation,’ ongoing incarnations of the MOPS (Men of the Power Sickness)[1]. What are the weapons in this fight for peace? Fundamentally, truth and grass roots outrage. With Black Tide, Ms. Juhasz gives us a thorough helping of the former and at least sets the stage for the latter. Continue reading

Movie Review: VAXXED (2016)

From coverup to catastrophe, the film they don’t want you to see
Produced by Del Bigtree, Polly Tommey, and directed by Dr. Andrew Wakefield

vaxxedWhat hits me just past the credits of this marvelous film is how on earth these hundreds of thousands of clinical cases of autism stemming directly from the administering of vaccines—particularly the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) trifecta from Merck—is somehow NOT a scientific fact. IOW, when one is passing judgment on the value of a medical treatment, why doesn’t one consider its substantial effects on real people as SCIENTIFICALLY RELEVANT?! Real science aims to gibe with the facts of reality, not sweep them under the rug.

VAXXED is a heartbreaking film.[1] The most hardened, unquestioning vaccine enthusiast—not to mention the most passionate advocate of vaccine truth, science, and freedom—will find it difficult not to succumb to tears watching the havoc these substances have wreaked on children and families around the world.

Which is the main focus of the film, it makes two related points: Continue reading

Guest Column: Dump Trump… and Hillary, Too

There is a viable third choice, and it is on the ballot in every one of the 50 States
by Thomas Greco [excerpted from Beyond Money column here]

end_of_money…The US has been on the road to fascism for a long time. Both Democrats and Republicans have for decades been advancing the same agenda of ceding power to transnational mega-corporations and the global banking cartel. So called “free trade” agreements are simply ways of allowing capital to more freely exploit labor and the environment and forcing governments to guarantee their profits.

Changes in financial regulations, like the repeal of Glass-Steagall under Bill Clinton in 1999, have enabled banking companies to grow to monstrous size (“too big to fail”) and to more easily cheat the clients they are supposed to serve. In this article, James Rickards places the blame for the 2008 financial crisis squarely where it belongs and demolishes the arguments of the big bank apologists: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2012/08/27/repeal-of-glass-steagall-caused-the-financial-crisis.

Many countries are caught in the debt trap and are being forced to sell off government owned assets which further concentrates wealth and control of “the commons.” Those who control the creation and allocation of money are able to control politics, economics and virtually everything else. Continue reading