Guest Column: The Real American Sniper

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Brian Wright

Why Chris Kyle was not a hero
by SM Gibson, excerpt from theantimedia.org site, January 21, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) The following words are not meant to spit on the grave of Chris Kyle, but rather address a reality that may be unpleasant for many to hear. Chris Kyle was not a hero. He did not protect America or keep it safe. He killed a lot. He also, apparently, lied a lot as well. Sometimes truth lies beyond the lens of star-spangled glasses and once you have the courage to look beyond a constructed work of fiction, you may realize that the facts do not align with your belief system. It may not be easy, but sometimes the truth is harsh. If we, as a people are genuinely in pursuit of truth and the justice that follows, we must distance ourselves from the warm feelings that certain narratives provide and search objectively without the blinders that provide us comfort. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: Truth and Justice Caucus

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Brian Wright

Proposing a Truth and Justice Caucus for the Libertarian Party
[… and perhaps apply it to the other political parties]

In the interests of growing party participation toward the ultimate goal of a free society worldwide, I’m forming the ‘Good Neighbor Truth and Justice (GNT&J) Caucus’ to persuade LP and Libertarian Party of Michigan supporters to take a new political strategy along the lines advocated in my books, Leaving the Sandbox (http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Sandbox-Grownup-Strategy-Libertarians/dp/150031501X/?tag=thecofcoa-20) and After 9/11 Truth (http://www.amazon.com/After-11-Truth-Death-Humanity/dp/1507662416/?tag=thecofcoa-20) (and other sources). Specifically, the caucus will: Continue reading →

Movie Review: The Lucky Ones (2008)

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Brian Wright

Intelligent comic drama about war and real people (7/10)

Kind of a road picture for soldiers home from the Iraqi front, I don’t think writer/director Neil Burger intends to make an antiwar statement… but pretty much any human being with a heart will take it as such. The quote above, “No, thank you,” occurs at several points in the story as these three soldiers, on leave—Fred Cheaver (Tim Robbins), T.K. Poole (Michael Peña), and Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams)—make their way across the US. What happens is they have a transaction with a civilian who learns they’re from the front, and the soldier will say thank you to end the exchange, to which the civilian will say, “No, thank you.” With emphasis, expressing the fairly common sentiment that we have toward those in uniform.

In my previous review of the two (anti)war movies in the WW2 genre—Bridge at Remagen and A Bridge Too Far—I brought up the little used quote from Herbert Spencer:

“When men hire themselves out to shoot other men to order, asking nothing about the justice of their cause, I don’t care if they are shot themselves.” —Herbert Spencer. Continue reading →

Guest Column: Logic on Vaccines from Affected Parent

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Brian Wright

To the parent of an immunocompromised child who thinks my child is a threat
by Megan Heimer… excerpted from Living Whole article here

I am so sorry that your child has cancer. I cannot imagine how hard that must be for you. I am sure you are trying to do what you think is best for your child, even if that means requesting that I do something that’s not best for mine. There are no hard feelings here but I have to be honest with you…I too, have a number of emotions surging through my body right now.

Towards my children, I am feeling extra protective. Towards my rights, I am like a mean mama bear who got poked during the middle of a nap. Towards the creators of the hysteria that all of a sudden, for the first time in history, deemed one child more important and makes my child a perceived threat to everyone else’s, I am angry. Towards the parent of an immunocompromised child I am sympathetic, yet frustrated by the fact that you do not respect my choices, that you think my unvaccinated child is the only one who threatens yours, and that you would insinuate that my child should be sacrificed on the altar for your child. Continue reading →

Brian’s Column: The Vaccine ‘Holocaust’ and Grand Juries

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Brian Wright

Recent excesses in government criminality cry out for all-American justice

The main news comes from the Vaccine Culture War front, courtesy Mike Adams of Natural News and Jon Rappoport of Nomorefakenews.com. Representative Bill Posey of Florida, on July 29, 2015, entered a statement into the Congressional Record regarding Center for Disease Control (CDC) scientific fraud—the Congressman appeals to his colleagues to launch a full Congressional investigation. Whistleblower Willliam Thompson, senior research scientist at the CDC, went public approximately a year ago that he and others helped destroy test data and other evidence showing that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine from Merck substantially increases risk of autism, especially in black baby boys.

“…the [CDC] co-authors scheduled a meeting to destroy documents related to the [MMR vaccine] study. The remaining four co-authors all met and brought a big garbage can into the meeting room and reviewed and went through all the hard copy documents that we had thought we should discard and put them in a huge garbage can.” (William Thompson, CDC researcher) Continue reading →

Book Review: Dave Barry Slept Here (1989)

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Brian Wright

A sort of history of the United States
by Dave Barry

What can one say that hasn’t been said already about Dave Barry, who sprung on the humor scene nationally in the early 80s with a syndicated column via the Miami Herald. “Funniest man alive” isn’t too far off the mark… and of course the question is why. What draws us to his zany worldview? That’s probably it! Dave Barry has a brilliant way of juxtaposing subjects, verbs, and objects of English prose from different worlds… that yield relevant commentary to our own experience:

“The typical lifestyle in the early colonies was very harsh. There was no such thing as the modern supermarket, which meant that the hardy colonists had to get up before dawn and spend many hours engaging in tedious tasks such as churning butter. They would put some butter in a churn, and they would whack it for several hours, and then they’d mop their brows and say, ‘Why the hell don’t we get a modern supermarket around here!’ And then, because it was illegal to curse, they would be forced to stand in the stocks while the first tourists took pictures of them. Continue reading →

Movie Review: State of Play (2009)

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Brian Wright

“All the President’s Men” meets modern-media reality (8/10)

Della Frye: Did we just break the law?
Cal McAffrey: Nope. That’s what you call damn fine reporting.

Not being a reader of Variety or really in tune with the machinations behind the scenes of modern film making, I was unaware until sitting down to write this review that the movie State of Play is a two-hour Americanized condensation of the critically acclaimed six-part British television series of the same name. The BBC series State of Play aired in 2003; if you look at the two IMDb records, the movie currently ranks 7.8 with viewers while the TV series ranks a full point higher at 8.8! Continue reading →