Brian’s Column: Interlode: The Turning of Analyst Smith

Evidence of the deep, transformational power of Independent Being
Public officials change sides…

Godwithin10This column is one of the several one-page ‘interlodes’ included in my novel, The Truman Prophecy, set to reach the Amazon bookstore—unless ‘banned’ by some executive there [for exposing criminal conspiracies of state (like the book Nobody Died at Sandy Hook)]— on or about February 8th of this year. — bw

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What she didn’t tell Mr. Sally was that she had reached a personal breaking point with this Homeland Security business. Ana had come on board in 2012 with a mixture of hero-worship and strange desire for the then-secretary of DHS, Janet Napolitano. They were close to the same age.

Ana identified with Nappy’s pluck, becoming attorney general (top state law enforcement henchperson) then governor (top state mob boss) of Arizona and inserting herself as she did, at the highest level, into the male-dominated world of America-(.AND. for chrissakes, Israel!)-Über-Alles state security. Lord knows the Divine Ms. N. didn’t get to the top of her profession of beating the peons into submission by sleeping her way there. Moreover, Ana deeply admired Janet for standing tall against those ugly rumors of same-sex orientation. Continue reading

Movie Review: Talk to Me (2007)

Heartfelt tribute to Petey Greene, one of a few who told it like it was… (8.5/10)
Directed by Kasi Lemmons

TalktoMe… and told it with style and humor, Ralph Waldo ‘Petey’ Greene, Jr. (1931-1984) was an electrifying and extremely street-funny black radio talk-show host in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Washington DC; he became prominent enough to host his own television show in DC from 1976 to 1982, winning two Emmys. His shows discussed a wide variety of political issues and public affairs, especially as they affected and afflicted black  Americans… and the poor in general. He overcame drug problems and a prison sentence for armed robbery.  Howard Stern, who appeared on Petey’s show early in Stern’s career, referred to Greene as a broadcasting genius in Stern’s book, Private Parts.

Greene spoke from the heart and tended to resist the various compromises that would be necessary to catapult him into national attention. It was his humanity that made him endearing—including several instances of ‘stage fright’ or failure of confidence upon being presented with some next big challenge. The early scene when he first arrives at radio station WOL to assert his intentions of being employed by Dewey Hughes is typical: “Vernell,” he tells his girlfriend, “my legs won’t move.” Somehow he manages in all these cases, until the one bellwether night at the Johnny Carson Show. Well, you’ll have to watch the movie. Does he do the right thing? Continue reading

Guest Column: Oregon Standoff, Long-Term Success View

Real strategies for removing federal presence from Western lands
by Brandon Smith (excerpted from column here)

OregonWhen activist movements enter into confrontation with a corrupt government or establishment structure, often the temptation is to stick rather closely to what they know. The problem with this is that even though circumstances change and the fighting escalates, people will still turn to their old standby methods for defending themselves. This makes these movements repetitive, predictable and ineffective.

In the case of the liberty movement, the more passive tactic of marches and sign waving is immediately suggested. But inevitably some hothead is going to demand one of two things: a mass armed surge on the steps of Washington, D.C., or some kind of Alamo-inspired cinematic standoff. You would think that these strategies were the only two in existence; they are brought up so often it becomes mind-numbing. Continue reading

Brian’s Column: Whither the Libertarian Party/LPM?

Some thoughts from The Truman Prophecy

vulturePerformance-driving enthusiast, automotive engineer, and 30-something go-getter Ypsi Sam, a few years ago when he lived in Flint, had spent an unconscionable amount of time (and several hundred dollars of his own money) trying to bring some semblance of, well, normal middle-class, dual-gender, all-age, outreach-oriented appeal to the Genesee County LP affiliate. Only to be met with harsh rejection by the forces of what seemed a bizarre sect of Goth-Voluntaryist-Anarchist-Nihilist national boys’ clubs.

The Genesee Boys’ Club, despite its members’ eternal harangues for Purity of Anarchist Essence—no compromise with any institution or instrument of ‘Existing Coercive Government’ at any level or for any reason—sought to take over the state LP, which of course is a political party whose objective is to run candidates for office in ‘Existing Coercive Government.’ And none of these boy wonders saw the contradiction. Continue reading

Movie Review: Dark Knight (2008)

Critic-and-crowd pleaser is raucously uninspiring (4/10)

Dark_KnightBatman: Why do you want to kill me?
The Joker: [laughs] Kill you? I don’t want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, you… you complete me.

As we’re leaving the theater, I ask Bill, of the other couple we went with, what he thinks of the movie. “Well, I feel it’s just like the half-dozen previews—one of them was the new Bond flick—we had to sit thru: excessively loud and excessively violent.” Bill pretty much nails it.  Plus, it takes forever (152 minutes) to reach the end of this particularly long and convoluted bat cave.  My take: if you like playing richly textured, complex, viscerally violent video games in surround-sound at 90 decibels, this movie is for you.

In terms of acclaim and popular appeal, the Dark Knight Batman ranks up there with the highest rated movies of all time; IMDb gives it an unheard of 9.3 rating, Rotten Tomatoes (RT) a 94%. The critics mostly render some version of the RT synopsis: Continue reading

Guest Column: Reminiscence: Dale Haviland (1929-2015) VIP, RIP

Early leader in the founding of the modern liberty movement dies
“… a light along the path toward a better way.”
Kay Augustin, et al

[Dale’s liberty archives presented to the Bentley Historical Library, Ann Arbor, MI]

HAV_Toned1greyHAVILAND, DALE ARMOND, age 86, passed away on Saturday, December 19, 2015 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti. Born on September 11, 1929 in Pontiac to D.A. and Jessie (Prosser) Haviland. Dale was the youngest of 3 brothers (Harold and Gerald). He graduated valedictorian from Hartland High School in 1947 and later received a B.A. degree from Michigan State University.

Dale served in the United States Army during the Korean War. In 1957 he married his beloved wife of 57 years Nancy (Newberry) Haviland who passed away in January of 2013. In his early years he worked for General Motors and Bendix Corporations, but is best known as the owner/operator of Haviland Printing and Graphics, which he founded in 1973 and retired from in 2013. Continue reading

Brian’s Column: Spiritual Magic Move

Potentially useful cosmic shortcut I stumbled upon in writing The Truman Prophecy

Godwithin7This shortcut cultivation method I discovered during writing of the Prophecy. Regular performance brings inner peace and, by enabling inner flow, produces great energy and imagination.

Prophet’s Spiritual ‘Magic Move’

[The term ‘magic move’ comes from one of the great teachers in the game of golf, Harvey Penick. It’s a term for a simple move that anyone can perform to enable the proper and effective swing of the club.]

The process takes anywhere from 3-5 minutes in the midst of one’s day, 10-15 minutes before night’s sleep or before rising for the day, or 25-30 minutes for full meditation. I call it Breathe, Center, Watch, Be, Flow. Continue reading