Desire Is the Mother of Necessity
B.R. Merrick
2011-06-30 00:00
Column by B.R. Merrick.
Exclusive to STR
Necessity is the mother of invention. ~ ascribed to Plato
This alleged Platonic nugget may very well be true, but it does not take into account something that I believe is far more important, since it gets closer to the root of why we invent. If necessity is what leads to invention, what, if anything, leads to necessity?
I suppose any...
The Root Cause of "The King’s Speech" Impediment
B.R. Merrick
2011-05-05 00:00
Column by B.R. Merrick.
Exclusive to STR
When the Great War came, all our soldiers were returning to Australia from the front, a lot of them shell-shocked, unable to speak. Somebody said, “Lionel, you’re very good at all this speech stuff. Do you think you could possibly help these poor buggers?” I did muscle therapy, exercises, relaxation, but I knew...
How to Hurt the Poor
B.R. Merrick
2011-04-06 03:00
Column by B.R. Merrick.
Exclusive to STR
It didn’t spark this column; it merely stoked the flames: Arthur Silber is sick. Arthur is also poor. Arthur, who is a fantastic and observant writer, is reduced to begging. Chris Floyd, another fantastic writer and Silber admirer, has urged his readers to give something to Arthur to help. One of Floyd’s readers commented,...
David Holmes: A Capitalist's Eulogy
B.R. Merrick
2011-03-04 04:00
Column by B.R. Merrick.
Exclusive to STR
I was informed of David’s demise on Wednesday morning, December 15, 2010, just a few days before the same holiday that began my correspondence with this fascinating individual two years prior. It was my desire to get as much information as I could about David Lowden Holmes so that I could honor him the way he deserves. Sadly,...
The Census Taker's Gun
B.R. Merrick
2010-09-24 03:00
Column by B.R. Merrick.
Exclusive to STR
“A Census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” ~ Hannibal Lecter, “The Silence of the Lambs”
Okay, so a while ago, I had to go to a specialist to get something cleared up. Quite mild, all taken care of. It reminded me of how nice it is to have a...
The Fake TV Challenge
Recommended
B.R. Merrick
2010-09-02 03:00
By B.R. Merrick
Exclusive to STR
In spite of my opposition to The War on Certain Kinds of Drugs, I wish to inaugurate a new war against another one. I have good reasons for doing so. This drug is cheap. It is everywhere. It is insidious. Once it is in your bloodstream, it is nearly impossible to extricate. It becomes infused with the cells of your body...
Coercion Is Death
B.R. Merrick
2010-07-19 03:00
By B.R. Merrick.
Exclusive to STR
We all hold opinions. That's one of the many, many things that set us apart from the rest of the animal world. There's nothing wrong, in my opinion, with having an opinion. Hell, I've got plenty. Let's just take one opinion as an example:
I believe that the three greatest composers who ever lived are Johann...
The Great White Lie
Recommended
B.R. Merrick
2010-06-23 03:00
By B.R. Merrick
Exclusive to STR
Like most good anarchists, I read Antiwar.com on a regular basis. They are to be commended for the outstanding work they do, and for the fact that they do it with such consistency. Recently, James Bovard posted an entry in the blog concerning the Obama Administration's refusal to permit discovery in the case of Maher Arar, a man who was...
Free Roman Polanski
B.R. Merrick
2010-06-14 03:00
Exclusive to STR
“Rosemary’s Baby” is one of the greatest films of all time, a one-of-a-kind original. The director of this masterpiece, one Roman Polanski, raped a thirteen-year-old back in the ‘70s. Technically, he never admitted this, and the charge of rape was dropped during a plea bargain, the state’s cynical way of making its own version...
Joe Stack and the Incomprehension of Liberty
MUST READ
B.R. Merrick
2010-04-14 03:00
Exclusive to STR
Other people have alreadysurmised the essentials of these tragic deaths quite well. I am assuming that the reader doesn’t need a recap of what transpired on February 18. And make no mistake about it: These are tragic deaths, using the original meaning of “tragic.” A tragedy concerns the downfall of a once great individual. “Hamlet...
The Heart of America, Part II
B.R. Merrick
2009-11-05 17:00
Exclusive to STR
We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never...
The Prince of Peace
B.R. Merrick
2009-10-12 16:00
Exclusive to STR
Three days after swearing an oath to uphold and defend The Constitution, a document that reserves the power to declare war to Congress and not the President, Barack Obama murdered 22 individuals, according to this article in Salon.com. Two hundred fifty-nine days later, he was rewarded for this butchery and the many more that followed when he accepted with great humility a prize...
The Heart of America, Part 1
B.R. Merrick
2009-09-21 16:00
Exclusive to STR
The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is to a more violent world. ~ Hannah Arendt
In Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto," the protagonist, Jaguar Paw, is taken captive and brought to a surreal Mayan city. Once there, he witnesses the horror of human sacrifice, and realizes that this will also be his fate. At one point, the...
Post-Modern American Honor
B.R. Merrick
2009-08-27 16:00
Exclusive to STR
James Bowman is a stereotypical modern-day conservative. The only exception is that he's not only very smart, but his take on mass media and present-day culture is thought-provoking and poignant. I very much enjoy reading his movie reviews. He's definitely a throw-back to a previous era. One of the main ideas with which he is concerned is the loss in today's culture of what...
Separation of Me and State
B.R. Merrick
2009-07-26 16:00
Exclusive to STR
I listened to Dr. Laura every once in a while years ago, back when I was proudly religious and conservative. She was, and I assume still is, unabashedly conservative. She took a lot of abuse for it, but she stuck with it. (Of course, it did make her a millionaire.) One time when I was listening, a man called in to tell her that a young woman he knew had just had an abortion...
Let Us Awake Now
B.R. Merrick
2009-06-04 03:00
Exclusive to STR
On May 30, 1962, a modern musical masterpiece premiered in England ’s newest cathedral, built next to the remains of the cathedral that was destroyed when the Nazis bombed Coventry . Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" combines two choirs, two orchestras, three vocal soloists, and the Latin religious funeral text with...
Charity Never Faileth
B.R. Merrick
2009-05-13 16:00
Exclusive to STR
May 14, 2009
The title of this article comes from 1 Corinthians 13:8. I can't call myself a believer anymore, but I do believe quite strongly in the need for each of us to be charitable. I think it's good for us. I know that for me, it helps to remind me of things I tend to forget, when I think of what it is that I lack. There are plenty of people worse off than I am, or...
The Culture of Obedience...Or Else!
B.R. Merrick
2009-03-23 17:00
Exclusive to STR
March 24, 2009
You remember Wayne Osmond, don't you? I hope I'm writing to people who actually remember The Osmonds, the clean-cut, conservative, Mormon rock sensation that now personifies the '70s; the band of brothers that got women screaming like they hadn't since The Beatles. To most people, Wayne Osmond would seem like someone who had it all: sitting on a pile of money, the...
'Til Divorce Do Us Part
B.R. Merrick
2009-01-21 17:00
Exclusive to STR
January 22, 2009
I am one of the fortunate few. My parents stayed together through it all. They still live in the house where I grew up. I can't tell you what it means to me to be able to go back there for visits, and be surrounded by everything familiar. It will always be my home. It will always be inextricably linked to Mom and Dad. There, in the midst of those thick...
Who's Your Daddy?
B.R. Merrick
2008-11-10 17:00
Exclusive to STR
November 11, 2008
When you see Daddy comin'
You're lickin' your lips,
Nails bitten down to the quick...
He gives you the keys
To a flaming car.
Daddy's with you wherever you are.
Daddy's a comfort.
Daddy's your best friend.
Daddy'll hold your hand right up to the end.
-- U2, "Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car"
When I was at the gym on Tuesday...
Signs of Autumn
B.R. Merrick
2008-09-30 16:00
Exclusive to STR
October 1, 2008
One of the reasons I love living in the Northeast is the change of seasons. I've lived in other areas of the country where there are some rather severe changes between winter and summer (and I love a good snowfall), but they miss the finer points of spring and fall almost entirely. How unfortunate for the millions stuck living in geographically inferior areas,...
Day 2,557
B.R. Merrick
2008-09-10 16:00
Exclusive to STR
September 11, 2008
Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts. ~ President George W. Bush, September 11, 2001
I can be a rather petty individual. I'm far too introspective for my own good, meaning that I can get bogged down in my own problems pretty easily. Tuesday morning September 11, 2001 was just such a day. By about...
The Dark "Night"...of Hollywood Misinformation
B.R. Merrick
2008-09-02 16:00
Exclusive to STR
September 3, 2008
I'm a sucker for great acting. I've sat through films that are sub-par, and films that are greatly disturbing, to watch a great actor earn his paycheck. Therefore, I've been anticipating The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger's final complete performance (he will apparently still be featured in another movie), a performance for which he prepared by spending a month in...
The Railroad to Freedom
B.R. Merrick
2008-07-30 16:00
Exclusive to STR
July 31, 2008
I had one of those near-religious experiences last month, with the weather. It was just a mid-day thunderstorm, one of the things I look forward to in summertime. (They actually freak me out at night. I get all tensed up waiting to be startled by loud thunder. There's probably at least a thousand dollars' worth of psychological counseling to be made there: 'Yes, but...
No Valid Constitutional Oaths But One
B.R. Merrick
2008-06-30 16:00
Exclusive to STR
July 1, 2008
I am not a legal scholar. As you can see from my previous articles, I am, in fact, a doofus. Nothing I say will hold water against an 'expert' opinion, nor should my words be construed to mean that I am encouraging you to stop paying income tax, or to refuse your 'God-given right' to vote, due to what I am about to say regarding the Sixteenth and Seventeenth...
God's Bastard Son
B.R. Merrick
2008-06-01 16:00
Exclusive to STR
June 2, 2008
No, not Jesus. I'm not about to lambaste God Incarnate. Even people who don't believe in His divinity have a hard time going against anything He said when He was here. The Monty Python troupe, when plotting their next film after 'The Holy Grail,' considered a spoof on Jesus's life. After researching the Four Gospels, they came up empty-handed, not because they were...
My Day in Court
B.R. Merrick
2008-05-04 16:00
Exclusive to STR
I walked out of my apartment in a good mood on a Saturday morning in March, to find a parking ticket on my car. I was parked in front of a dumpster. When I moved into this apartment complex years ago, I noticed that other tenants frequently parked in front of the dumpster, so I did, too. I knew full well that I could get ticketed, booted, or even towed, but I took my chances on...
Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Public School
B.R. Merrick
2008-03-30 16:00
Exclusive to STR
March 31, 2008
"We don't read about dinosaurs." Calvin, from Calvin & Hobbes
Contrary to what I used to believe, what everyone else believed, and even the artist himself may have believed, Calvin was not a rotten little kid. He had a vivid imagination, amazing coping ability, and an indomitable spirit. In my opinion, his rottenness is almost entirely the fault...
EXTRA! Thomas Edison Rolls in Grave
B.R. Merrick
2008-03-19 03:00
Exclusive to STR
If you're like me, you easily tire of lamenting everything you hate about the world. Here I've barely entered into the beginning of middle age, and I already feel like a curmudgeon when I hear the latest news about the goings-on in any bureaucracy. For my part, I will do my best as a Root Striker to provide helpful tips and a little hope for other would-be cranky old bastards,...
An Open Letter to David Horowitz (Although He Doesn't Know It)
B.R. Merrick
2008-03-12 03:00
Exclusive to STR
The letter below was written in response to yet another mailing from a guy I used to listen to, foolishly believing the rhetoric about 'freedom' and 'liberty.' This guy is one of the worst offenders. I am ashamed of my former warmongering beliefs, and the way I have let 'intellectuals' like this fool me into going along, all of which I shall dive into in later writing. Stay...
The Breakup With My Lover
B.R. Merrick
2008-03-04 17:00
Exclusive to STR
March 5, 2008
I was brought up to believe in the goodness of America , and that if anything bad ever happened, it was the fault of people who didn't realize how good America is. Even my church drilled it into us that the founding of our religion could not have happened anyplace else. You can make the same obvious conclusion that I did: God willed America to be the great country...
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