Someone recently asked me, “If you could talk to an Iranian man or woman, what would you say to them?” and I replied almost immediately, “You and I have more in common with each other than either of us has with our own government.” To be fair, I got the idea from a poll done by Rasmussen which indicated that liberal civilians and conservative civilians had more in common with each other than with politicians of either party. But then someone pointed out that my answer was eerily similar to a famous quote from Iranian graphic novelist Marjane Strapi who said:

The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don’t know each other, but we talk and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

Wow. Just wow! I was utterly blown away by this. So, I knew I had to post a review of her most famous graphic novel, Persepolis.

Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s autobiography and it was so engrossing I plowed through it in about two days (which is not as impressive as it sounds considering it’s a comic book). It was originally published in French and won the Angoulême Coup de Coeur Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France, but it’s since been republished in English (obviously because I read it).

Satrapi grew up in Tehran with parents active in the Iranian communist movement prior to the Iranian Revolution. As a child she witnessed the fall of the Shah, the rise of Rohollah Khomeini and the early years of the Iran-Iraq War when an Iraqi air raid hit her neighbor’s house with a Scud missile killing her friend.

She left Iran to seek a secular education in Austria and got more than she bargained for. Disillusioned with the West she returns to Iran to find a country destroyed by war with Iraq, and overrun by fundamentalists. This is by far my favorite moment in the book.

She struggles with being treated like a third-worlder in Austria, then being treated like a European in Iran. It’s hilarious every step of the way, and quite educational if you don’t know anything about the History of Iran (come on America… we all know you’re ignorant of every culture but Hollywood). I highly recommend this to anyone. It’s a big book, but it’s a short read. And for those for whom that’s still too much… they made a movie out of it in 2007.

And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com

At current metal prices it costs 2.4 cents to make a penny and 11.2 cents to make a nickel. I gotta tell you, it is truly sickening to watch mainstream talking heads report this and laugh like it’s just some goofy piece of trivia and not a really bad sign for the long term health of an economy. But don’t worry, our fearless Executioner in Chief has the answer. This week President Obama asked Congress for permission to change the mix of metal that goes into these coins, because apparently the zinc and tinfoil they’re made of now is just too expensive. Never mind the long forgotten days when they were actually made of copper and nickel.

Pennies used to actually be made of copper, but now they’re only copper plated. Since 1982 pennies have been 97.5% zinc, which is about the least expensive metal you can find except for steel. Get this. The administrative overhead alone to make a penny costs half a cent, so even with the cheapest alloy they can concoct they can’t get it cheap enough. Here at Silver Underground we often talk about the melt value of an old silver dime, but we’re getting to the point now where spikes in the zinc market are putting the US Mint over budget.

These days it’s nickels that are made mostly of copper. 75% copper and 15% nickel to be precise. But even without the overhead, the raw melt value of a nickel is about 6 cents right now. So basically, the nickels of today are what yesterday’s pennies were. And the pennies of today would not be worth the effort of salvaging the metal in yesterday’s economy. And it’s still not cheap enough.

The real infuriating thing about the coverage of this is the complete absence of any analysis. News anchors say things like, “it just so happens to cost 2.4 cents to make a penny.” As if it’s only a coincidence and not related to monetary policy at all. They parrot the language of Treasury spokesmen blaming the “volatile metal prices” reporting that the spot prices of copper and zinc have “fluctuated” 400 percent over the last 10 years. It’s not a “fluctuation” if it’s a steady increase. A market fluctuation oscillates with peaks and valleys. It’s nothing but propaganda to blame the market for the Treasury’s $200 million annual losses minting pennies and nickels when the culprit should be obvious to every economist everywhere.

The 2013 Budget will enable the Treasury to “explore, analyze, and approve new, less-expensive metals for all circulating coins” which they’re calling, “more sustainable” missing the point as always that the sustainability of the currency results from a sound monetary policy, not some federal alchemist who discovers a cheaper alloy.

And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com

Not Rebels: Pictured above are outraged Americans holding a good old-fashioned book burning in 1948-- comic book burning that is.

2012 marks the 25th year of the CBLDF– the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund– and this week we’re going to help them celebrate their 25th birthday by honoring them as our Rebel of the Week! A quarter of a century fighting for free speech and the First Amendment is something to respect. As I’m writing this I can’t help but suspect that 25 years ago was a really good time for the birth of rebels and rebel organizations. Our Marketing Manager, Megan Duffield just turned 25 and I’m due for the quarter of a century birthday myself in just a few days while promoting Silver Circle at MegaCon!

So while two rebel babies spent the late eighties dreaming of the day they would get out of the cradle and learn to walk, talk, and promote independent, political art, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was just getting started in its fight to protect freedom of speech. Oh you didn’t know that comic books and their distributors have had to struggle against censorship and sanctimonious moral hysteria every step of the way? Tell that to a comic book enthusiast and they’ll set you straight. It’s been a long, hard fight against a deep, almost visceral fear of and hatred for this powerful and inspiring medium…

ComicBookResources.com explains:

Since 1986 comics have faced library challenges, bannings, self-censorship, and media vilification. Even as recently as January 2012, local news reports banged the drum that dangerous and obscene illustrated fiction could fall into our children’s hands and warp their minds forever. We are still dealing with the same ludicrous trends and accusations that started in the 1940s and peaked in the 1950s, when Senate hearings almost destroyed the comics industry after a best-selling book of pop psychology laid a nations’ fears of juvenile delinquency out, putting comics entirely at fault.

It’s easy to assume that things will never be that bad again, but as of this writing, a fan is awaiting trial to see whether or not he will go to prison for the comics he owned. In many ways, things are worse than ever. The biases and the witch hunts still remain, but the penalties can be far, far worse.

The fact is that in 2012 we are still fighting for Free Speech in comics. The consequences for obscenity charges range from fines to public outrage and character assassination to jail time here in the U.S. and even in a foreign country. This is terrifying. This should not be a problem that anyone has to face just because they buy, sell, own, create, or distribute comics. This art form does not enjoy the same freedoms of expression as film, music, or prose, and this should infuriate everyone who loves comics.

So yeah, pretty bad. They weren’t really exaggerating with their depiction of the dad in the intro to CREEPSHOW. (Warning: That video at the link might be slightly NSFW due to a couple “S” words and a “GD” or two.) (And also– anyone else feel like that’s how Bill O’Reilly would act if he found a comic book in his kid’s room? Okay, that’s enough parenthetical digressions.)

So what all has the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund done to fight censorship and earn this week’s rebel accolades? I’m glad you asked.

• CBLDF was quoted in a Supreme Court opinion knocking out an unconstitutional censorship law. In BROWN v. EMA, an amicus brief filed by the CBLDF and written by General Counsel Robert Corn-Revere was quoted in the majority opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia. Comparing government mandated videogame labels to the Comics Scare of the 1950s, the history of censorship in comics was referenced as a mistake — a mistake that should not be repeated in other areas of pop culture.
• CBLDF sponsored Banned Books Week. Aside from membership in the Media Coalition, the CBLDF expanded its active presence in the wider Free Expression community. It sponsored Banned Books Week, spoke about comics censorship at several library events, and exhibited at the American Library Association meeting, taking its mission to librarians, both educational and public.
• CBLDF created an industry-wide coalition to support free speech. Working with Diamond Comic Distributors, its Retail Membership program saw the highest numbers since its inception this year. This means that there are more stores than ever participating in the protection of the comic medium, all of them part of a coalition that defends the rights of fans and creators. As the retail community grows tighter and more cohesive, with initiatives like Free Comic Book Day and growing membership in ComicsPRO, they are also seeing greater bonds with their retail partners.

As we move into our final stages of production on an independent, animated film with an economic and political message (we’re also using the comic book medium to tell our film’s story), the fight to protect the comic book medium is one dear to our hearts, and we salute the fine rebels at The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for everything they’ve done to protect our Constitution and our comics!

And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com

All tinfoil humor aside, every single indication in recent years has been that the regime in Washington is increasingly treating the American people like we’re the enemy– like the global war on terror is actually a war on us– and this is a trend that has only been accelerating to a frightening pace in the last few, short months. Every time I turn my head there’s another new bill or executive order shredding the last remnants of our constitutionally-guaranteed civil liberties and declaring us all potential terrorists or terror suspects. The heavy hand of the ramped-up and ready-to-go national security apparatus that Bush and Obama have been hard at work to build is now coming down on you and me. Frankly,  if you’re not getting a little scared, you’re the one who’s out of your mind. Here’s why:

1. The NDAA

Obama threatened to veto this bill, but I didn’t get my hopes up. He signed it of course, and this most recent national defense authorization includes a provision allowing the U.S. military, at the direction of the White House, to arrest U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they are suspected of terrorism (whatever that means??) and to detain them indefinitely without charges or a civilian trial. Dictatorship has come to America, the entire country is now a war zone, and you could be considered an “enemy combatant” just because the president says you’re one.

2. The Patriot Act Renewal

The Patriot Act is one of the most hated bills from the early Bush Era, so with a Democrat in the White House who promised “change” and a Democratically-controlled Senate, you would think that sunset provisions in the Patriot Act would start to phase out its attacks on our Bill of Rights and civil liberties, right? Wrong. As key provisions of the Patriot Act that violate the 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendments to the Constitution were set to expire last May, a fight ensued to renew them, and it was Senate Democrats who led the charge to have them renewed as well as to stifle an earnest debate over their legality and necessity. A government at peace with its people would not fight so hard for the power to illegally spy on them. Something has gone horribly wrong.

3. The Global War on the Internet

As dissidents overthrow their governments in the Middle East and North Africa, you bet that the rest of the world’s governments are watching carefully and learning everything they can from these governments’ failure to hold on to power. What have they learned: that the Internet is the most powerful tool of true patriots and the worst enemy of tyranny, secrecy, and repression. So as Hollywood seeks regulation to protect its profits from the innovations of Silicon Valley, government officials are happy to oblige. Hence, SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, PCIP, and whatever else they can throw at us next. Don’t be fooled into thinking we’ve won after the successful SOPA blackout– the regime in Washington is not going to stop until it has its grimy little hands all over the Internet and the legal and technical infrastructure in place to shut it down if necessary.

4. FEMA Camps Go Live

LewRockwell.com reports:

As many of our readers know, the U.S. Senate recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which, it has been argued, authorizes the establishment of domestic war zones and the subsequent detention of those who are suspected of engaging in terrorist-related activity – including, arguably, U.S. citizens. What you may not know, however, is that just days after the passage of the act reports are surfacing that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security, is requisitioning private contractors to provide services for government, defense & infrastructure pertaining specifically to FEMA activities with respect to emergency services.

At first glance, this may seem like no big deal. Why shouldn’t the government prepare for emergencies?

However, a review of an email made available through Info Wars from Kellogg, Brown & Root Services (KBR), a subsidiary of mega government contractor Haliburton, notes that the contracting opportunities available through the government and KBR are specifically for “temporary camp services and facilities.”

Guess what else:

Additionally, we have learned over the last couple of years that FEMA has requisitioned manufacturers for 140 Million Packets of Food, Blankets, and Body Bags, while the U.S. military is Actively War Gaming ‘Large Scale Economic Breakdown’ and ‘Civil Unrest’ which includes training for over 20,000 US military personnel for contingencies that may include riots and/or mass detentions.

While mainstream media will not report this, and most of the population will either ignore it or chalk it off as being once again blown out of proportion by the alternative news sphere, the evidence is right in front of us – it is overwhelming and very compelling.

Our government is, without a doubt, preparing for an event(s) that will likely result in the mass detentions of tens of thousands of individuals across the entire United States.

doubleplusungood

5. Drone Warfare

The increased use of drones in warfare by the U.S. Department of Defense is itself an unsettling development in world history and looks to be setting off a “drone arms race” with other world powers. Best case scenario, the ultimate result is “not as horrific” as it could be. But like all other aspects of the war on terror, we are seeing the beginning signs of mission creep as the drones are starting to be employed here in “battlefield America.” Last year America saw the “first known arrests of U.S. citizens with help from a Predator, the spy drone that has helped revolutionize modern warfare.” The report at that link also says: “Local police say they have used two unarmed Predators based at Grand Forks Air Force Base to fly at least two dozen surveillance flights since June. The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration have used Predators for other domestic investigations, officials said.”

One if by land, two if by sea… three if by drone.

6. War Gaming in American Cities

In yet another example of the rapidly blurring lines between home front and battlefield, LAPD and the Pentagon conducted military drills in downtown L.A. this January:

The Los Angeles Police Department teamed with military special operation forces Wednesday evening to conduct multi-agency tactical exercises in the skies above downtown LA.

Many questioned what was going on Wednesday night as a Black Hawk helicopter and four OH-6 choppers – or “Little Birds” – flew over the city, at one point hovering just above the US Bank building downtown and later flying low over the Staples Center as the Lakers played inside.

Someone could be seen sitting inside an open chopper with his legs hanging off the side.

Sky9 spotted the Black Hawk in the dark, making what appeared to be a drop off at a park before quickly ascending back into the air.

Throughout the exercise, the five rotorcrafts were staged at Dodgers Stadium.

The LAPD said the purpose of the training was in part to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments.

…

Similar exercises have been seen in Miami and Boston.

7. Restricted Air Travel

No one in this country likes the TSA, yet it persists in its unconstitutional canvassing of every single U.S. citizen that passes through an airport. If the federal government wants to search a U.S. citizen, the Fourth Amendment requires a warrant from a judge specifically citing the person or place to be searched and the items to be seized. The TSA’s blanket searches do not meet this criteria so they are unconstitutional and illegal. They also haven’t made us more safe. There is as of this writing, no evidence that any terror plot has ever been thwarted by the TSA as it burns through billions in taxpayer dollars and feels up nuns and children passing through airports. The purpose isn’t to keep us safe but to humiliate, demoralize, and habituate us to submitting to the Washington regime’s uniformed agents no matter how illegal, irrational, and abusive their behavior. Meanwhile the no-fly list just keeps growing.

8. Surveillance

Big Brother is watching you closer than ever before:

The Department of Homeland Security has declared its intention to gather personal data on journalists or others who might use “traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.”

New guidelines allow for a broader reach in collecting such personal information than before. Any reporter or broadcaster, from a Fox News anchor to a lowly little blogger angry at the government, could find himself ensnared by DHS’s newest arm of the surveillance state.

Almost seven years ago, it became known that the FBI was monitoring the ACLU and antiwar groups. The institutional paranoia extended to the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, who even made sure to spy on those dangerous terrorists known as Quakers.

With Obama in charge we see the full power of the bipartisan surveillance state—an apparatus that sees any thorn in the side of the regime as a potential threat to national security. The DHS, in particular, has targeted both “rightwing extremists” and peace activists. And of course, everyday Americans are caught up in the dragnet of the NSA’s wiretapping program, itself a huge presidential power grab even compared to the very lax standards that existed under FISA and the Patriot Act.

9. Iran

Iran’s next. The sabre-rattling cannot be mistaken as anything but an overture to war, either overtly, or via Washington’s satellite states like Israel. The deployment to the Middle East of the Navy’s “floating base” which some commentators call “the mothership” is just the latest signal from the Pentagon that war is ahead while commentators in the media ramp up the scare rhetoric over Iran’s nuclear program. The truth is that Iran’s nuclear program does not represent a credible threat to the United States. It is a regional threat and a regional issue for people in the Middle East to deal with. That’s how our Founding Fathers would have it, but as George Orwell so brilliantly depicts in his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the only way a government can continue waging war against its own people is by waging perpetual war against other nations as a distraction, a means of rallying its citizens victims together, and an excuse for violations of its own citizens’ rights. As Orwell also points out in his narrative, the government is always changing sides and fighting new enemies. Washington’s overt, military attack on Iraq and its impending one on Iran are both the means toward a different end: its covert, economic and legal attack on its own people, their material wealth, and their liberties.

10. We’re All Terrorists Now

With no end in site to the war on terror, you should be frightened to know that you’re a terrorist now. Droves of media commentators as well as top-ranking politicians all the way up to the Vice President have been calling Tea Party activists terrorists for months now; Occupy activists have also been called the T word, as well as– get this– peace activists; the DHS circulated two different memos in 2009 warning that people with the “wrong” kinds of bumper stickers on their vehicles (like anything pro-life, pro-gun, anti-income tax, or even pro-Ron Paul) might be terrorists; if you are missing fingers, the DOJ says you might be a terrorist; if you have weather proofed ammo, you might be a terrorist; if you have more than seven days of food in your home, you might be a terrorist; who knows, you’re probably a suspected terrorist if you read The Silver Underground. The problem is that Washington has made all these special exceptions for its fight against terrorism and now the meaning of that word is rapidly expanding to include just about anybody.

Conclusion

It’s hard to ignore all these signs. It’s hard to see this all happening so fast and at an accelerating rate without connecting the dots and fearing that Washington is making preparations to declare war on the American people. And maybe in addition to scaring us, this should give us hope because it could mean that the government is just as scared of us as we should be of it. It could mean that the establishment is holding its finger to the winds of change and senses something big on the horizon, something it wants to prepare for, something it wants to avert– like a true revolution in how we think and what we believe, a great awakening of the American mind to the racket in Washington and at the Federal Reserve, a major push to reform our government and once again enforce the freedoms that are guaranteed to us by right and by law, the beginnings of real liberty and justice for all, not special privileges and unchecked power for the few.

One way or the other, it’s not hard to see that Washington is getting ready for something…

And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com

Silver Circle Comes to MegaCon 2012:

Posted: 2/14/12

- PRESS RELEASE –

LinePlot Productions will be at MegaCon promoting their film Silver Circle.

(ORLANDO, FL) – From Friday, February 17 to Sunday, February 19, LinePlot Productions will have a both at MegaCon 2012 promoting the imminent release their upcoming film, Silver Circle. This includes a giveaway of t-shirts, stickers, bracelets and other merchandise associated with the film.

[NOTE: Issues of the Silver Circle graphic novel, on which the film is based, will be on sale discounted 20% for the convention.]

WHEN: Feb 17, 1pm – 7pm
Feb 18, 10am – 6pm
Feb 19, 10am – 5pm

WHERE: LinePlot Productions will be at Booth #840
Orange County Convention Center Hall D
9800 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819

Silver Circle is a film that lives in our world after massive economic collapse: tyranny, explosions, monetary mayhem, romance and rebels. At the center of corruption is the Federal Reserve who has gained enormous amounts of control over America’s economy, with disastrous effects beginning to show. Standing opposite, is the band of Rebels who have vowed to take back the freedom they once knew…and they won’t go down without a fight. Silver Circle plans to take liberty filmmaking to a whole other level.

- END –

CONTACT: LinePlot Productions Marketing Manager Megan Duffield, 617-864-8300; E-mail megan@silvercirclemovie.com; or visit the official site, www.silvercirclemovie.com.

Oh yes, this is for real, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, a historical fantasy film set to be released in June of 2012 and produced by (who else?) Tim Burton. The official trailer made its way onto YouTube today, and I cannot emphasize too strongly just how happy I am that there is a film out there called “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter” and that it’s coming out in just a few short months! The short version of the story is:

“President Lincoln’s mother is killed by a supernatural creature, which fuels his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers.”

Did you read that? This is a movie about Abraham Lincoln going around and killing vampires to avenge the death of his mother amid the historical backdrop of the Civil War. As far as tongue-in-cheek, darkly funny, totally bizarre movie ideas go, this one looks like it has the potential to be a cult classic. I certainly hope the film doesn’t disappoint. With a title and concept like this, it has a lot to live up to. Then again, maybe the more gloriously bad it is, the better– part of its appeal.

Here’s more information from TIME Entertainment:

“Honest Abe is born into an era of bloodsuckers, during a time of mass immigration, as the vampires are being flushed out of Europe. His grandfather was killed by a vampire, his mother was the victim to the poisons of vampire blood. When he’s elected president, he leads the charge into the Civil War as a means of averting a systematic takeover of America by power-hungry vampire hordes. This is goofy, glorious stuff.

And now it’s been brought to life with all the genre style and gratuitous horror effects fans would hope for. In this tantalizing trailer for the film (which opens June 22), fans get their first glimpse of what director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and producer Tim Burton have in store. Yes, there’s a mother’s gravestone, a vampire duel atop an out-of-control locomotive and an apocalyptic gloom that surrounds a 19th-century Washington.”

It just doesn’t get much more awesome than this. One of the top YouTube comments on the trailer page was:

“This is both the most stupid, and awsome thing I have ever seen”

Well said! Then there was this suggestion for a sequel:

“JOHN QUINCY ADAMS: JEDI KNIGHT”

As a fan of both Star Wars and JQA, I approve.

The entire concept behind this movie so tickles my fancy not only because it appeals to my warped aesthetic taste for the light-heartedly macabre, but because it mashes up so many genres to create something new, a daunting and innovative undertaking that reminds me so very much of our independent, animated film, Silver Circle. As we move into the final stages of production, aiming for our own Summer 2012 release, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and the press it’s been getting is inspiring to me because we are mashing up genres as well.

Silver Circle might not be as ambitiously genre-bending as Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter, which combines history, comedy, and horror, but by putting together a thriller-romance with an economic message, we’re doing something pretty innovative, and we’re doing it for a different purpose. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter seems intended to tickle your funny bone and your sense of irony. We’re hoping Silver Circle tickles your economic and moral imagination.

Keep your eye out for both films this Summer!

And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com

Remember, in the event of an actual Zombie Apocalypse, the first place you want to go is a scuba diving supply store. While everyone else is looting gun stores for ammunition they’ll inevitably run out of, get yourself a Kevlar shark diving suit. They may be undead… but they have human teeth.

The much celebrated AMC series The Walking Dead follows the tribulations of Sherriff Deputy Rick Grimes and a small group of survivors as they struggle to find safety after a zombie apocalypse. The series is an adaptation of The Walking Dead comic written by Robert Kirkman, illustrated by Tony Moore, and published by Image Comics. The Walking Dead has become the leading example of success in indie comics with sales far above any other title that isn’t from Marvel or DC. Image Comics began as independent label started by a cadre of illustrators who defected from Marvel Comics to retain ownership of their characters, but now it seems that one of their own illustrators has similar complaints.

While the TV series was on a short Winter hiatus, Tony Moore sued Robert Kirkman (who is also a writer and executive producer of the series) over the ownership of the comic. The two are childhood friends, and co-created the comic in 2003, but Moore has apparently not seen any of the revenue from the wild success of the franchise. The ongoing monthly comic is on hold until the two can settle the issue amicably, but in the comic industry upsets like this can be devastating.

Luckily the TV series has not been compromised. Last night the mid-season premier aired on AMC to much acclaim from the shows enthusiastic fan base. Or, if you’re like me, you can watch it online. The series has been phenomenal for so many reasons, from the awesome graphics, the compelling story and the suburb cast. Bringing zombies to an ongoing weekly show has developed the genre in ways that could never have happened in a feature film. In a traditional zombie flick you have time for maybe one innovation. Maybe the zombies run, or maybe they mutate, or maybe they have just a hint of intelligence. But character development is always rushed in the movies because there just isn’t time in a 90 minute film to capture it. The Walking Dead slows that down, exploring the gritty human interpersonal relationships of a troupe of survivors that’s either in immediate physical danger, or more often on the brink of a psychotic breakdown. More than anything it’s been about the struggle to keep their own humanity.

Although it’s hard to find liberty themes in a show where the state has already packed up and left everyone for dead, there is a strong theme of property rights throughout the show. Andrea was an attorney who gets a little dethatched after her sister Amy turns. Dale, the owner of the RV they travel around in, confiscates her pistol for safekeeping. Thinking better of it later he returns it, but only because it’s a matter of property. He’s clear with her that it’s against his better judgment adding “Don’t make me regret this.” In recent episodes she’s getting pretty mean with a rifle, which means we’re on our way to seeing the bad-ass-zombie-assassin Andrea we know from the comic. While the family is taking refuge on the Greene family farm in the first half of season 2, Hershel Greene periodically implies he wants them to leave. This is consistently an issue of land ownership, with Rick willing to take the group back into the wild rather than violate Hershel’s property rights.

The liberty themes will really begin to emerge if the TV series ever introduces the comic’s primary (living) villain, Philip Blake a.k.a. “The Governor.” In the comic Philip declared himself “Governor” of Woodbury, Georgia after he and a small band of ruthless National Guardsmen cleared a few city blocks of walkers. Philip is a seriously demented POS. For example, after his daughter Penny turned he tied her up in his apartment and fed pieces of her to disobedient prisoners.

If the comic series is any indication, there’s still a lot of room for the TV series to grow, and I for one and eager to see where this is going.

And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com

It is with no small amount of schadenfreude that I report that our esteemed and despised Central Banker, Ben Bernanke has apparently become entangled in an elaborate identity-theft scheme after his wife’s purse was stolen containing a checkbook from their joint account. The story was broken by Newsweek on Wednesday and they’re claiming that the Bernankes were not specifically targeted. (It’s only a coincidence. It’s only a coincidence. It’s only a coincidence!) But I’m not so sure.

Last August Anna Bernanke’s purse was stolen off the back her chair at a Starbucks near the couple’s Capital Hill home. The purse contained her Social Security card (which you’re not supposed to carry with you), credit cards, diver’s license and a checkbook from the couple’s joint Wachovia checking account (I’m guessing Wachovia gets a bailout whenever they want). Printed on the checks was the Bernankes’ account number, home address and phone number. The thief began issuing checks from the family’s bank account within 6 days.

This wasn’t just a case of an opportunistic purse snatcher. This was part of a sophisticated nation-wide crime syndicate that was operating in Washington D.C. and major cities in Maryland, Virginia, Illinois and others. Federal agents in several states had been investigating them for months. According to court documents, the identity fraud ring stole over $2.1 million from at least 10 different financial institutions around the country.

The group called itself “Cannon to the Wiz” (“Cannon” being street slang for pickpocket.) and the ringleader Clyde Gray (a.k.a. “Big Head”) employed an army of pickpockets, mail thieves, and office workers to swipe checks, credit cards, bank records, military IDs and various other personal information. One member of the ring had infiltrated an office of the Combined Federal Campaign, the official U.S. government-sponsored charity, and supplied the crime ring with stacks of checks mailed in by federal workers. Another worked in a Washington D.C. doctor’s office, with access to patients’ records and their bank-account information.

Is it just me or does this not sound just a little bit like Project Mayhem from the movie Fight Club? It reminds me of that quote from Tyler Durden to the investigator:

“We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not fuck with us.”

The thieves brought the stolen records to cars equipped with laptop computers, scanners and printers which they used to quickly produce counterfeit driver’s licenses and IDs with photos of their members, then they would walk into bank branches, impersonating the victims who’s records were stolen. But here’s the interesting thing. George Lee Reid, the guy caught issuing checks from the Bernankes’ account, was not withdrawing Ben’s cash. He walking into a Bank of America branch, impersonating a pervious identity theft victim, deposited $900 from the Bernanke account and withdrew $9,000 from that account. Do see the genius of it? They are using the accounts of some victims to launder the money stolen from others. It’s almost like a ponzi scheme. If they kept refilling the accounts of old victims with the money stolen from new victims it could be months before the old victims notice the money missing. But just like a ponzi scheme it requires larger and larger financial resources to keep it going. So, why not go after the guy with the bottomless checking account?

Here’s why I think Bernanke was targeted. Although most of the victims’ names were concealed, all the victims who were named were in some way connected to government, and Washington D.C. was not the only place. Donna Pedergast, an assistant Michigan attorney general, had her wallet snatched right out of her purse without her knowing it while she was at a basketball game in Detroit. She said, “They took it right out of my purse while it was on my shoulder. I didn’t feel a thing.” So they target a charity that gets a lot of donations from federal workers, a doctor that gets a lot of government patients, a basketball game attended by an assistant attorney general, and a Starbucks patronized by the wife the Federal Reserve Chairman. I see a pattern. And if they’re infiltrating these places as employees, I don’t think it’s beyond their capacity to case a specific target, especially one as lucrative as Ben Bernanke.

Gray pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and Reid confessed as a co-conspirator, but any good cybercriminal knows that the way to keep an operation up and running is to keep leadership distributed. Project Mayham would go forward without Tyler Durden, and I’m sure Cannon to the Wiz will go on without Clyde Gray.

And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com

Let the rebellion begin! They say the best art imitates life, but it’s way cooler when life imitates art. This week liberty activist, author and Silver Circle fan got the Rebel symbol tattooed on his forearm making him part a select circle of elite fans of Silver Circle, and our Rebel of the Week.

Darryl Perry is the owner and managing editor of Free Patriot Press, an independent alternative media / publishing company dedicated to “ensuring a FREE PRESS for the FREEDOM MOVEMENT” and giving new authors a freedom friendly venue to publish their work. He’s also that founder of LAVA (Libertarian, Agorist, Voluntaryist & Anarch Authors & Publishers Association) which helps authors promote their books and other published material.

Perry is also an author himself. His book Duopoly: How the Republicrats Control the Electoral Process was even reviewed by liberty heavyweight Ron Paul who said:

“Darryl Perry has produced a comprehensive examination of the ways in which ballot access laws, campaign finance ‘reform’, gerrymandering, and other restrictions limited participation in the electoral process. I recommend this to anyone interested in learning how the political monopoly arose and what we might do to open the process to new candidates promoting the old idea of liberty both inside and outside the major parties.”

Getting the Rebel Ink makes Perry one of only three Rebels who have gotten the tattoo. The other two are Meg McLain, of TSA protest fame, and our very own Precious Metalhead, Pasha Roberts.

Pasha is the Director, Producer, Digital Compositor and creative mastermind behind LinePlot Productions and the Silver Circle Movie. Meg is a blogger at FreeKeene.com and occasional co-host of Free Talk Live, a nationally syndicated radio show. Meg also sells liberty themed buttons at LibertyFlair.com, which incidentally sells a 1 inch button of the Silver Circle Rebel symbol.

Honorable mentions to Marketing Manager Megan Duffield, Animation Specialist Jenna Montani and Associate Producer Ben Pugh from the Silver Circle crew, but these are just stamped on, not the real ink, so they don’t get the street cred Darryl does.

And don’t forget to visit our official website to learn more about the Silver Circle Movie:http://SilverCircleMovie.com