Book Review: In the Heart of the Sea (2000)

There once was a whaleship from Nantucket
by Phyllis Wright

Heart of the SeaMany don’t realize that in early 1800s America, commercial whaling was a multimillion-dollar business.  Millions of gallons of whale oil were used in America and Europe for lamp fuel and lubrication, in addition to dozens of other uses: It was a fundamental element of paint, varnish, and soap.  Perhaps the main center of the whaling industry in North America was Nantucket, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts inhabited mainly by Quakers. Continue reading

Movie Review: Gilda (1946)

Postwar Casablanca lookalike is truly gilded fare
by Phyllis Wright

GildaSome time ago I saw the piano sheet music for the song, “Put the Blame on Mame,” with a picture of Rita Hayworth from the motion picture Gilda. The movie brings back strong memories, even though I had seen it more than fifty years ago as a young woman attending Western Michigan University. Why had it made such an impression on me? Through Barnes and Noble online I located a DVD of Gilda— which starred Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth in black and white—and bought it. After viewing the film, I checked out the special features… which, among others, showed Rita dancing with Fred Astaire. How interesting and entertaining in its own right! I was reminded of her grace and expertise in the art of dance; in fact, Astaire once asserted that Rita was his favorite dance partner. Continue reading

Guest Column: Education and Childbirth (1950)

Let’s use education to dispel the fear of childbirth
by Phyllis Wright

Childbirth_wo_Fear“Go ahead and scream. Everyone else does.”

“When it came time for me to have my baby I found I would have given anything to postpone it. I was so frightened.”

“You go right down to your death-bed when you have a child, but that’s the way it was meant to be.”

“It’s the worst pain there is to bear on earth, but you soon forget your suffering when you see your baby.” Continue reading

Brian’s Column: Phyllis Joy Wright—Patriot, RIP

A ‘Greatest Generation’ icon passes the torch

Mama_01No mother is more special than another, I guess, unless it’s one’s own. And—sadly, very sadly—my own World’s Greatest shed her mortal coil a week ago last Tuesday. I had hoped and planned she would be around for another decade… or until the cure for kidney disease and/or aging came along. But it was not to be. I do feel that Phyllis Joy Wright’s extraordinary life portends for humankind imminent political freedom and a spiritual elevation—at least worthy of a notability nod by Wikipedia. In any case, please take the following narrative tribute of her in the universal sense; she’s a pure embodiment of the subtle, intuitive, immensely powerful ambition ‘Mothers in General’ have for their children: liberty, peace, and abundance… more or less in that order.—ed. Continue reading

Book Review: Riders of the Purple Sage (1912)

Romance and hard riding in the Mormon Badlands
by Zane Grey

Riders of the Purple SageThe definitive Zane Grey work of Western fiction, Riders of the Purple Sage, differs from other Westerns you’ll read. For one thing the times of the writing are long ago in the rear view mirror. Zane Grey (1872-1939) wrote as the 20th century was just beginning (Riders is copyrighted in 1912). It’s my understanding from reading statements by Ayn Rand (1905-1982) that the new century was greeted with immense hope and optimism by virtually everyone in the West (Western Civilization). Little were they aware of what was to come. Continue reading

Movie Review: Tucker: The man and his dream (1988)

We need to resurrect the man and his dream
to help restore the republic

TuckerPreston Tucker: Isn’t that the idea? To build a better mouse trap?
Abe: Not if you’re a mouse!

This movie I kick myself for having missed when it came out 20 years ago, and it was only last week on HBO that I actually got the Tucker experience with both barrels.  The two main ideas for me of this all-American Horatio Alger “rags-to-riches” story are: Continue reading

Guest Column: The Canton Movement

Whenever a government becomes destructive…
by Dwight Johnson

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. — from the Declaration of Independence

The following column is a compilation from Dwight Johnson’s Website, The Canton Movement (http://www.cantonmovement.com). I caught up with Dwight roughly a year and a half ago, finding his development of the idea of panarchy—freedom of choice in government—to be a simple and practical method for moving away from coercive government with minimal blood, sweat, and tears.

If done right, implementation can result in going to bed one night under our gangster government’s thumb and waking up the next morning a free person, with others, protected from the gangsters by a common, mutual defense agreement of the honest. IMHO panarchy and the cantonization process are the final piece of the puzzle for those who deny consent to gangster compulsory government—which we discussed in the guest column, Imagine There’s No Congress, by Jim Babka last week.

The Political Mess

Politicians are people who make friends for themselves with other people’s money. With money from taxpayers. With your money.

We are supposed to have governments of representational democracy. The truth is that politicians get themselves elected in a very tightly-controlled system that limits the viable parties to two. The electoral process ensures that someone will get elected to office, even if the electorate is not particularly happy with either candidate, increasingly voting for the lesser of two evils, or just not voting at all out of frustration. Continue reading