Guest Column: The Hendrickson Icing

Timely Reminder of “Little Boy Truth” #7
by Pete Hendrickson

Pete HendricksonIcing as in ‘on the Cake’… of the (reasonably) obvious truth of things. As I point out in my book, The Truth Torpedo, Pete Hendrickson’s book Cracking the Code: The Truth about Taxation in America shows conclusively that—even if we have dozens of moral reasons to cease funding the federal government—the fact is most of us legally owe it nothing anyway. At least nothing via the so-called income tax. Each of us who practices the Hendrickson ‘system’ owes it to ourselves and our country and out progeny to spread the word… to the Alex Joneses, Mike Adamses, Paul Joseph Watsons, Jon Rappoports, and all the rest who stand at the pinnacle of the truth, liberty, and justice Continue reading

Brian’s Column: Healthcare Cider House Rules

Suppose they gave a law and nobody came
by Brian Wright


This column was originally written and posted on March 22, 2010, and you can see not much has happened to date the analysis. Obamacare isn’t even in place yet, but everyone knows it’s going to be pure hell:

Lots of activity on the Web, as you might expect, following the rather “intravenous heading toward Pluto” outcome from DC yesterday. My goodness, HR 3962 “Health Care Nationalization” passed by a 219-211 vote. What’s a mother to do?
— bw Continue reading

Donut Hole: We’re Off to Leave the Wizard

Dorothy and Toto dispel the illusion of power
by Brian Wright

The Wizard of OzSometimes I wonder whether the moral allegory of The Wizard of Oz is all we need to set the world straight. Remember the timeless movie we Boomers grew up with as a spring ritual on TV: A girl on the threshold of adventurous maidenhood finds herself in a daydream that turns into a nightmare—until she realizes everything she needs is right here at home. Symbolism is rampant within the original turn-of-the-19th-century novel by Frank Baum, and in the movie none more so than the scene where Dorothy, her dog Toto, and her three farmhand-surrogate protector-friends enter the chamber of the Great Oz: Continue reading

Book Review: Collapse (2005)

How societies choose to fail or succeed
by Jared Diamond


CollapseOne of my most visited Coffee Coaster pages is the book review I wrote on Jared Diamond’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. In that review I criticize Dr. Diamond for failing to note major Western ideas:

… Diamond does not properly attend to the above political achievements [reason and the concept of individual rights], nor to the concept of individual rights within the framework of large communities with common understanding. The effectiveness of the Founding Fathers’ creation of liberty within community, especially with the federal concept, is relevant to guns, germs, and steel… not to mention production, trade, peace, and benevolence.   Continue reading

Movie Review: The Great Waltz (1938)

Definitely a classic; soprano Korjus is special treat

The Great Waltz

Carla Donner: You probably deserve him more than I do, but he’s going with me.

Back into the wayback machine, another reason not to give up on your basic cable with Turner Classic Movies (TCM) or to make sure one of your Netflix favorites groupings is Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) musicals.  I’m not sure this particular movie is regarded as a musical per se: it’s more of a children’s story about Johann Strauss the Younger, who plays across from this ingenue who has this simply indescribable operatic voice (and a bubbly, fetching personality).

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Guest Column: April 1 Cyberwarnings

“Be vewy vewy afwaid,” sayeth Uncle Elmer
by Electronic Frontier Foundation

FBI Issues Reflection Warnings

EFF_April_1Starting this week, department stores will begin affixing “FBI Anti-Piracy” stickers to mirrors, warning consumers that placing a reflective object in the same room as a television could constitute a violation of U.S. copyright law. In a related lawsuit, EFF is representing Dana Auerbach, a ballet instructor who was caught watching The Black Swan in her dance studio while on lunch break. She faces a $750 to $150,000 penalty for each of her infinite charges of infringement. Continue reading