Brian’s Column: Golf in the Provinces, Part 2

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Brian Wright

The “golf with my friends” phase

As I continued to move forward learning “provincial” golf, I would run into friends of mine from an aerospace technology firm where ten years before I’d done some engineering. I don’t really remember the sequence, how our Fab Four was initially formed. But I had started keeping a record of all my rounds of golf from the very first, so it’s in there.

I was asked to play one Saturday with Curly and Mo (not their real names)—it’s always about who can get out; Curly tho married could always get the Saturday kitchen pass, and Mo

Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: The Howell Statement (2014)

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Brian Wright

Sandbox Exit-Plan Strategy for the Libertarian Party, by Brian Wright

… in an Era of Wanton US Federal Crimes and Terror. A proposed new strategy for the LP and LP of Michigan, at the latter’s state convention in Howell, Michigan, May 17, 2014. Chief contribution from that convention a resolution on grand juries as follows:

The LPM supports the reinvigoration and reassertion of the people’s ultimate authority—at local, state, and federal levels—to investigate and bring indictments of government corruption and crimes through statutory empanelment of grand juries. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: Golf in the Provinces, Part 1

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Brian Wright

The “What’s this all about?” phase[1]

First posted in June 2007. This weekend, watching the 2007 US Open golf championship, one of the more brutal contests in the game (where par is an achievement), it occurs to me these men are playing a game “with which I am not familiar.”[2] For one thing, adorning most of their caps and polo shirts are the logos for Bank of Scotland, MetLife, Bearing Point[3], etc…. sponsors of every global bank, insurance company, or accounting firm primed and ready to purchase a third-world country. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: The Parable of Nocium

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Brian Wright

… and Nodoum

Part 1 of this column is here.

Logan Dance was called a swing doctor by some, but really what he did was help people to find their way thru the thickets and weeds of life. Frequently, these choke points were nothing but old paths, leading nowhere now, to which the client had become accustomed, trapped. Almost always the habits were self-imposed, at the beginning out of a sense duty, and were now held in place by inner force, a realm of the ‘musts.’ Logan’s technique was simple: ask a few questions to identify the source of the burden, discover the authentic thrust of personal energy inside, maneuver the client to a position to drop the burden (without resistance and without hurting anyone), and let it go. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: The Morality of Microbrew

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Brian Wright

Imagining, reasoning, flourishing (first posted in 2007)

Beer Stock Photos - 10604123 Beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy.
— Ben Franklin

Morality is a code of values to guide man’s choices and actions. — Ayn Rand

Okay, so basically what happens is my favorite brew pub[1] back here in the SE Michigan region of the VAW (Vast Authoritarian Wasteland) goes corporate. Bonfire Bistro, winner of awards and sporting a generous happy hour from 4-6 p.m. where a pint of premium fresh brew costs you a measly $2(!), is selling to an outfit named Groucho’s. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: RINOs and DINOs and Trolls, Oh My! (Part 1)

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Brian Wright

Noteworthy barnacles on the butt of the modern liberty movement
Part 1: RINOs and DINOs

Left, Right, Prospects for Liberty In my long career as a libertarian activist—and I use the term libertarian (rather than turning the noun liberty into an adjective) for a reason[1]—I’ve encountered virtually every dilatory and unconstructive ‘methodology’ or political practice that’s come around. Indeed, I’ve been a vocal proponent of more than one… in my testosterone-alcohol-and-ego-fueled youth, mostly. Now I feel I’ve reached a stage of consciousness that enables me to see through three key particularly unhelpful ideologies afflicting our cause today, the better, I hope, to let go of them. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: Organic Marketing, What Would Jesus Do?

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Brian Wright

Approach your market as a gardener grows a plant

As it happens, I’ve been associated as editor and publisher, even author, with some astounding books of nonfiction that advance crucial ideas or simply tell inspiring stories. [You may go to my Free Man Publishing site for a listing of these books and authors.] As inherently interesting, professionally composed, well-written, and utilitarian as many of these authors’ works are, the sad reality is none has broached anything like a mass-market appeal, much less a mini-mass-market appeal (say, sales in the low thousands). Why? This column wrestles with imaginative spreading of creative seeds of thought that more than a few people will find likable to the point of buying. Continue reading →