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SNaP Chapter 3: The Roots of Nonaggression
Plotting the progress toward the Nonaggression Ideal

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An Affair to Remember
Inimitable, retro romantic comic-drama ___ 8/10...

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Previous Column
What Hath "the Supremes" Wrought?
The 'Citizens United' ruling on corporate funding
of political campaigns strikes raw nerve(s)

Amazingly, what should have been a routine narrowly construed remedy to a violation of a nonprofit conservative group's (Citizens United's) freedom to show a documentary about Hillary Clinton seems to have opened a floodgate for corporate money and power into the campaign process. But on the bright side, The People are beginning to question the incestuous relationship between the corporate power and the state power... and the moral legitimacy of both... [full column]

Previous Movie Review
Religulous
Thanks a bunch, Bill Maher, it needed to be said...

Even the humorist, Maher, has to lay down his witticisms and laughter upon hearing that someone's God wants them to skewer children of the infidel or turn the world into a smoldering cinder. His closing statement is worth quoting in full:

The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world could actually come to an end. The plain fact is, religion must die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge having key decisions made by religious people. By irrationalists, by those who would steer the ship of state not by a compass, but by the equivalent of reading the entrails of a chicken...

[full column]

Latest Book Reviews

Carved in Granite II, Several
America: the Book, Jon Stewart
Technopoly, Neil Postman

A little change for the last week before the new year, catching up on some reading. First a 2d anthology of short stories by New Hampshire authors, fine seasonal fun. Come in from the cold, pull up an easy chair, and kick back for lotsa good reads in Carved in Granite, v2. For a daily laugh, or a dash of subtle and sophisticated satire, pick up the Daily Show's Jon Stewart's America (the Book): A citizen's guide to democracy inaction. Finally, for some deep thinking on how to preserve culture over runaway and runoverya technology, read Neil Postman's Technopoly .... [more]

Special "Take Action" Column:
Pete Hendrickson and Standing Up for the Law, Part 1
by Brian Wright

Pete's situation and what it represents for Americans is a microcosm of Will Kane's (Gary Cooper's) search for deputies to face down the criminals coming into town. There are some of us now, but it sure won't hurt if all my righteous Beanies educate themselves about the federal "income" tax and stop writing checks to the federal aggressor-class that they are not obligated to pay. Further, you are entitled to full refunds for what you have had wrongfully deducted or have paid in the past (up to three years back).
[full review]

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teacher Tales
"Field-Trip Fiasco "

When I accepted the teaching position at the small private school in the Green Mountains of Vermont, I expected to be passing on my love of language to middle-school children with learning disabilities. I did not expect to be standing in a parking lot with a bleeding little girl surrounded by Vermont state troopers, hands at their holsters. But that was exactly my position at 11:25 AM one August day...." [more]

Trigeminal Neuralgia:
A strange and terrible disease
by Therese Hercher

Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) is considered rare, though I believe it is under-reported. I believe many TN sufferers are simply not diagnosed correctly, because its symptoms mimic many common facial illnesses. Still, it is precisely the rareness of TN that makes seeking communion with other sufferers vital to me. When, in 2004, England’s Dr. Zakrzewska announced plans to write a book about it, incorporating true life stories from sufferers, she solicited stories and histories from around the globe. I quickly pulled together the notes I had written about my own experience with it since 1997 and submitted them to her.... [more]

This section contains the latest columns primarily by Website proprietor and main content-provider/writer, Brian Wright. For any of these pieces, please share your comments on the CC blog or send us a letter to the editor. [main]

Alternative Econ 101 How to make money by jumping the rail of the sinking "ship of state" economy to more-better boats ... by Brian Wright	As Thomas Jefferson states, it is natural for government to encroach on natural rights and liberty to yield over time. That is certainly what has occurred: All the actions of freemen, all the rights of production and trade, that the Constitution (and the many state constitutions) explicitly document, have been infringed by governments to the point of disappearance. That does not mean the rights no longer exist! 24 alternative economy opportunities... [full article].[main]
The Jesus Immunity Penetrating the limbic system barrier for freedom in our time... by Brian Wright	For those of us who have spent nearly a lifetime prosecuting the libertarian cause—and doing so actively and intellectually, that is: by argument, by reading and writing, by protests with signs, by concepts of morality, etc.—I don't need to tell you the level of frustration we feel. The litany of state horrors has only grown longer... and intensified: illegal preemptive wars, torture and rendition, torching of civil liberties, drug prohibition, freedom prohibition, wholesale economic rape and pillage by the political classes of left and right. Don't get me started...[full article].[main]
Defeating the Smoking Ban in 2006 in the Free State by Brian Wright	In the spring of 2006, federal-government-funded "health" issue organizations such as the American Lung Association and other organized invaders of the NFP (Neighborhood of Free People) made New Hampshire a major target. The people's republics surrounding New Hampshire—Maine, New York, Vermont, Mass., etc.—had all succumbed to government takeover of private-property airspace in the form of a smoking ban on bars and restaurants. New Hampshire was the lone holdout, and had to be brought in line. The following is the story of a successful libertarian resistance...[full article].[main]

Latest Movie Reviews

[main]
The latest three movie reviews.
The Coffee Coaster attempts to review near-term movies as well as those you'd find on Turner Classic Movies... also films that were not wildly popular during their time, but deserved to be. For any of these reviews, please share your comments with me on the Coffee Coaster blog or send us a letter to the editor.

I hope we shall take warning from the example of England and crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our Government to trial, and bid defiance to the laws of our country. — Thomas Jefferson

Recurring Special Message

Two vital and urgent books for all mankind, but especially Americans:

1. The first is a book I've reviewed by G. Edward Griffin that dissects the Federal Reserve System: The Creature from Jekyll Island. Not only does Mr. Griffin explain clearly where the money went and how the theft was accomplished, he explains the sociology of the deception. You will learn that war is the ultimate moneymaker for the elites behind the curtain of the Fed, and that we will only achieve peace and liberty when we stop feeding the Beast of the moneychangers... i.e. the Oligarchy. [main]

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2. Relative to unfeeding 'the Beast,' the second vital book is by Peter Hendrickson: Cracking the Code: The fascinating truth about taxation in America. Equally remarkable and more directly useful, Pete—thanks to digital technology, he was able to track down every reference in federal revenue statutes and regulatory codes—patiently explains that the so-called income tax is not a direct tax... and that it was never legally enacted as one. [According to the Constitution, direct taxes are only permitted via apportionment.] Thus, unless you are a federal employee or official, or employed by a federal corporation, your earnings are not income as defined in the law. [main]

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   Further, federal and state treasury departments, obeying the law, have refunded more than $10 million to thousands of individuals who have filed corrected returns. What this means is the vast majority of Americans now stand at the threshold of ending the tyranny of the IRS and getting their lives and wealth and freedom back. Simply by standing up for the rule of law and insisting on its compliance by government. Please read my review for more details.
   
   Here is the video from LostHorizons.com we want to share with our fellow citizens. Naturally, the cabal that has usurped power, especially at the federal level, is none too happy that people are figuring out that they are no longer mandatory taxpayers. [main]
   

These two books frame the issue of restoring our republic. For honorable mention as key books, I would like to include my own Sacred Nonaggression Principle, which is currently in rewrite for friendliness, and Eckhart Tolle's classic, The Power of Now.

Reflections on Memorial Day 2008
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Did our fathers die on the beaches of Normandy so we would cave to mandatory seat-belt laws, smoking bans, drug testing, and 0.08 BAL? (etc.)

"Son, I'm never going to wear a seat belt; it's my right as an American to drive as and how I choose—[Dad was a highly skilled driver who would probably, eventually have come to wear seatbelts voluntarily].  It violates everything I believe in... and fought for.  I won't do it, I won't pay the fine, and they can put me in jail 'til the cows come home."

For the previous 30 years Memorial Day has always had a somber quality for me: My father, Truman, a WWII veteran, died on May 28, 1978, Memorial Day Weekend—I was 28 years old at the time.  [Then, to make it even sadder, last year we lost my brother, Forrest, also a veteran, possibly to the same heart condition that killed my dad.]  

Memorial Day was to commemorate Union soldiers who had died in the Civil War, then later expanded to remember all those who have given their lives for their country in military service. And though technically neither my dad nor my brother perished while fighting for their country, I feel the holiday belongs to them and, more important, to any American who stands for, argues for, fights for, and is willing to die for American liberty—the principles embodied in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution... [full column]

January 19, 2010

Brian,

Regarding The Passion of Ayn Rand:

Lovely job. I admire your honesty, as well as how articulate you are about your experiences.

As for me, I would have been "out of there" (i.e. looking for a different philosophy) the first time I was dressed down by Peikoff or saw him do it to someone else.

Again, the great models for me here are Jesus and Socrates. I'd add Buddha in to the mix. If we may stick with Plato's version of Socrates, as the most secular of the three, read the Platonic dialogs and consider how Socrates comes across.

He specializes in exposing illogical in others -- especially that of the high and mighty, to the point where he got himself executed. Yet there is, in my opinion, a complete lack of arrogance and cruelty in Socrates' approach. (Which is one reason he's been the leading model for college professors for 2,500 years.)

There is gentle irony in the beloved Socrates -- not overly kind, perhaps, but never a deliberate assault that causes a sincere truth-seeker to lose face. Only the most self-important and pompous had anything to fear from Socrates... unfortunately, those were just the people who'd seek to give you the hemlock if you crossed them.

Socrates was the anti-Peikoff. Read Book II of the Republic. Socrates, having demolished the arguments of Thrasymachus (who I'm tempted to say was something of a proto-Randian, but I'll leave that alone for now), is still playfully self-deprecating, humorous, and ironically gracious in victory: "He [Thrasymachus] was no doubt correct, but I lacked the intelligence to be persuaded by him."

Socrates was the John Stewart of his day...

Brian O.

December 31, 2009

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Brian,

Okay, I'll see Invictus. Also, I'd be fascinated in your review of Avatar, if you've seen it, from your libertarian point of view. (Do homo sapiens who have foolishly exhausted the resources of their own planet have the right to pillage an alien world and trample on the rights of natives, simply because they can?? And does the gestalt Nature consciousness of this other world run counter to the every-individual-for-himself outlook of Ayn Rand?)

Brian O.

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December 15, 2009

Re: The Limbic System Cutout Diagram (below)

Brian,

I agree with your flow chart 100%. Do you think some basic information might overcome it? How about: Who benefits? Who pays? and "How did my elected official vote?" It would take a lot of resources to compile the info, but if there was enough of it, it might have a populist 2 x 4 effect on the masses.

Take the Fed as an example. We're being told that what it does is vital but too complicated for the average prole to understand, so just trust the High Priests of the State. When you reduce it to who benefits (bankers, bailees, welfare state, warfare state, military/industrial complex, politicians) and who pays (everybody else), maybe the elected officials won't be so anxious to vote for it...

Keith

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November 17, 2009

Re: The Day the Earth Stood Still

I just watched both versions of The Day the Earth Stood Still. I like the original better because it faults us for our treatment of each other and, by extension, other sentient species in the universe. The remake, on the other hand, faults us for treatment of the planet which does not belong to us; it can support any number of species living in the universe who would treat it better. Sorry, I don't cater to common property metaphysics. As to Patricia Neal, you do remember she was Dominique Francon in The Fountainhead, no?

Pat

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November 04

Re: Lusitania

Original LIFE article exposing the US-UK scheme to sink the Lusitania to bring the US into WWI. US loaded ship with munitions and explosives to ensure ship would sink from first German torpedo. President Wilson hid the ship manifest. The torpedo ostensibly sank the ship; whereas, the explosives really sank it.

Dave

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October 01

Re: Free Plaxico Burress

So, you're trying to state that something in the Constitution says that we can pack heat, anywhere, at any time? I firmly believe that is the opposite direction we should be going in. We have more guns than any developed country because we are full of gun nuts, and we suffer greatly from gun violence because of it. The moron shot himself. Do you think he intended on doing that? And if he did that by accident, he could have shot anyone else by accident as well. And this is the world you want to live in? I just don't understand. Do you really think we were better off living in the wild west with everyone ready to shoot anyone else?

James

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September 15

The thing I learned in kindergarten was certainly: 1) Don't hit, 2) Don't steal, 3) Be honest. The other thing I learned was that the teacher or the parent were absolutely vital in enforcing these principles (I can still see this need with my grand child --- who isn't even in kinder garden yet), since it appears evolution has not yet made these principles the driving forces in us.

After kinder garden I learned that someone was still vital to enforce these principles (even after all of the kids had been exposed to and taught these principles). This leads to adulthood where my experience is that it is still very necessary to have someone to enforce these principles. You mentioned that maybe one in a hundred or a thousand might be willing to transgress these principles, but I think the willingness to transgress is much more common than this...

Gerry

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August 14

BW,

Read the whole bloody thing! [My column, "Don't Throw Mama off the Turnpike."] Actually an excellent read with some good humor to found! BTW, it’s porschephile (not file). [Yes, indeed. I corrected. -- ed.]

I won’t rag you too much this time about the Obama-Thing. I believe you are finally understanding that blind hate is no good reason to have supported this guy, this man of change. Nuf sed! Oh, and a related subject, to think you actually quoted that buffoon Arian[na] Huffington in a positive light.

Correspondent (Loyal Opposition) Steve

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August 8

Two unlikely allies - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Joe Scarborough - talk about one of the greatest scandals of our era. Details:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/376.html

— Brasscheck TV

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