Note: The Coffee Coaster Beaniegram contains synopses of writings—columns and book/movie reviews—of the week. It normally is posted and emailed on Sunday mid day. Toward the end of each week, a more journalistic newsletter, "Percolations," is emailed commenting on news and issues of the week. Last week's issue of Percolations is located here. — bw

My Column
The Solution
A life-flourishing system for normal humans

My system at the highest level is conceived as a "flourishment system," one that satisfies a reasonable person internally as well as externally. At every level, three principal components or subsystems seem to be at work. "The Solution" is composed of the following three categories:

1. Spiritual—relationship with Being
2. Political—relationship with others
3. Practical—relationship with survival

In my experience, each of these relationships needs to be positive in order for a human being to flourish. For example, as Jesus said, you may have all the riches in the world yet lose your own soul: If material wealth alone were a measure of happiness, innumerable celebrities and rich heirs would not engage in self-destructive behavior, sometimes suicide. Or considering the political, is it possible to build a successful practical business in a slave society? [Full Column]

Movie Review
The Apostle
Scary, heartwarming, or both? __ 9.5/10

Yes, the film is mainly a character study, but inside a religious-context study. And both are held up to the viewer for moral and intellectual consideration. Yet, don't get the idea The Apostle is a flim-flam man story, even ones so nuanced and insightful as Burt Lancaster's, The Rainmaker (or, more pointedly, Elmer Gantry) or, more recently, Steve Martin's Leap of Faith. [There are undoubtedly many other such films about preachers as con artists, but they don't come to mind immediately.] What Duvall has created stands, as well, as a query into a whole, massive way of life.
[Full Review]

Book Review
Starving the Monkeys
Fight back smarter
by Tom Baugh

What I mean by homespun is we get a lot of background for Tom's analysis and conclusions from his own remarkable life—initially from high school, then the military (graduating the Naval Academy), and, following that, as a small business owner in a computer-related field. He recounts his experiences all along, especially where others tried to fool him or use him. The connection to the Naval Academy reminds me of Robert A. Heinlein, the famous science fiction author who graduated Annapolis 1929... and who had a deep appreciation of the finer qualities of military work, not the bloated-welfare-bureaucracy military that we're more aware of today. [Full Review]

Guest Column
Stimulus Reality and Read the Bills
More up-to-date news on Congress from Downsize DC

Just a quick note from Campaign for Liberty we learn that following the November elections, Harry Reid will pull out all the stops in a last ditch effort to pass as many bills as he can in a lame-duck session. According to a report in The Hill today (9/28/2010), Democrats are planning to bring up as many as 20 bills in as little as six weeks!

Bills such as S. 510, the FDA’s War on Food, Joseph Lieberman’s Internet Takeover Bill, Cap & Tax, and many more we’ve alerted you about are all likely to come up for a vote during that session.

So eternal vigilance my friends. Here are two recent DDC columns to act upon, also send them money if you have it.. [Full Column ]

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A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
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