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Friday night, anyone in the mood for top ten movies for a desert island? I expect my list will not match yours.

1. Casablanca - Perfect movie. Bogart. Bergman. Raines, Greenstreet, Lorre, Henreid, Veidt, counter that with a better cast. And the inimitable Dooley Wilson. You played it for her, you can play it for me. The Germans wore Grey, you wore blue. We'll always have Paris. Round up the usual suspects!

2. North by Northwest - Cary Grant. Eva Marie Saint. Trains, crop dusters. Hitchcock. The UN building. James Mason. Did I mention Hitchcock?

3. Ice Station Zebra - Howard Hughes' favorite move. Cold war. Submarine. Sound track. Rock Hudson (not Gregory Peck) as Captain Kirk. Patrick McGoohan, greatest spy in cinema. The electric boat division is gonna get a very nasty letter. The Russians put our camera made by our German scientists and your film made by your German scientists into their satellite made by their German scientists, and, up she went.

4. The Godfather (I & II) Those that say II was the best sequel don't know that it was one movie delivered in two parts. Would be best movie ever made if not for Casablanca. Brando, the best there ever was.

5. 2001, A Space Odyssey - Genius collaboration, Kubrick and Clarke, with a little help from Joseph Campbell. Allegorical in the extreme, watch it as many times as you like and you will always find something new.

6. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino's love letter to the place where he was formed. Epic. Woefully underrated. Margot Robbie brings Sharon Tate back to life, which alone is superlative beyond measure. This movie made me respect DiCaprio and Pitt as actors.

7. You Only Live Twice - Personal favorite Bond move. Epic, but must be seen and felt in it's time. Nancy Sinatra, best theme song. Only allegorical Bond movie. Pay attention to the submarine scenes.

8. Forbidden Planet - Defined the science fiction genre and inspired everything that came after, so much that it is still paid homage in current classics. Walter Pidgeon. Robbie the Robot. The Krell.

9. Saving Private Ryan - Spielberg's defining movie, where he brought all of his considerable skills to bear. The best movie of its decade, an absolute travesty that it was not best picture, because of guess who? Harvey Weinstein.

10. Diamonds are Forever - Doesn't really belong, because a third of it is just crap. But I'm still taking it for the island, because the first half is the most fun Bond ever, the ending isn't awful., and Jill St. John is just, wow. Lana Wood ain't bad as Plenty O'Toole. Named for your farther, perhaps? I didn't know there was a pool down there. But what were they thinking with Jimmy Dean as Howard Hughes?

So many to leave on the boat. Would like for find room for Peter Sellers, Robert Redford, Johnny Depp, other Kubrick and Hitchcock movies, the young Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, so many others.

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Charlie, the Cuban tree frog

He’s getting nice and fat!

00:01:01
Cynthia West Full Interview

Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

00:43:40
Summary of Cynthia West interview

I put together 6 highlights from the interview the Massie "accuser" gave.

I put "accuser" in quotes because it's ultimately not even clear what she's accusing Massie of.

He is mere a witness in her ethics complaint for retaliatory dismissal after working for 6 weeks for Spartz before getting fired.

The entire situation is a total cluster-hit-piece.

West says she had a relationship with Massie.

That they took a political trip to South Africa.

That he got her a job in DC.

That she got fired after 6 weeks.

That before gettin fired, she broke up with Massie.

She claims Massie offered her $5,000 a undeclared "cow money" to silence her.

That she has been offered $60,000 as a settlement but won't accept because it requires her to sign an NDA (absolutely standard for settlements).

I have been going at it with the usual suspects of TWS sycophants - Shawn Farash,. Will Chamberlain, Misfit Patriot - on X.

It is really discouraging to see people being so dishonest, so intellectually...

00:07:25
February 17, 2024
Appearance on Richard Syrette

I did a quick hit on Richard Syrette yesterday. Gotta keep Canadians apprised of the U.S. madness.

Appearance on Richard Syrette
The Barnes Brief, Podcast Format: Monday, July 17, 2023

Closing Argument: Birthright citizenship is deeply American, and wholly Constitutional.

The Barnes Brief, Podcast Format: Monday, July 17, 2023
Declaration of Independence

Audio podcast style.

Declaration of Independence
Questions for Bourbon w/ Barnes: Thursday, May 14, 2026

Ask in replies and answering live at 9ish easter tonight...

Unknown author
I can just see Amos Miller having this conversation…… I know my dad did.

Activist: "Your cows are putting carbon into the atmosphere."

Farmer: "Where did they get it?"

Activist: "What?"

Farmer: "The carbon. Where did the cow get it before it put it anywhere."

Activist: "From... eating?"

Farmer: "From eating grass. And where did the grass get it."

Activist: "The soil?"

Farmer: "The air. The grass pulled it out of the air last spring. The cow ate the grass. The cow breathed some of it back out. It went back into the air it came from."

Activist: "But it's still going into the atmosphere."

Farmer: "It's going back. There's a difference between a thing going somewhere and a thing going back. You've described a circle and you're frightened of it."

Activist: "Then just don't have the cow."

Farmer: "The grass still dies in autumn. It rots where it falls. The carbon goes back into the air either way, just without anyone getting fed in the middle."

Activist: "It's not that simple."

Farmer: ...

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The Barnes Brief: Thursday, May 14, 2026

Art of the Day 

  • This abstraction captures something more of the symphonic spirit in the seamless synethsis of function and feel, utility and aesthetic, that is my favorite place in my hometown — the Walnut Street Bridge, whose blue beams and wooden planks cross the Tennessee River, and whose path I took each day to work as a young lawyer for a public interest law clinic defending the victims of abuse be they parents or banks. The feeling of precision integrated into nature, crossing it, overcoming it, and experiencing it at the same time, this local artist best captures the sense of the Birdge as I fondly remember it, expressed in its geometric shape, friendly colors, and textured echo of memory past. 
Wisdom of the Day
  • “The gentleman understands what is right, whereas the petty man understands profit.” Confucius. 
Appearances
  • LIVE w/ Baris 
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  • LIVE w/ Daniel Davis
  • LIVE w/ Shannon Joy
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  • LIVE w/ Stanislav
Barnes Library
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The Daily Briefer Barnes Brief: Tuesday, May 12, 2026
  • Art of the Day 
Jazz. Soulful, spiritual, and celebratory at the same time as the musucial, mastroes of innovation and improvisation take us some place deep, real, and hopeful at the same time. Freedom distilled in a trumpet’s note, a pianist's key, a bassist’s chord, uncovered in the mind, expressesd through the soul, manifested into sound. A most American creation. 
 
  • Board Post of Note
 
  • Appearances
 
LIVE w/ Baris 
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LIVE w/ Daniel Davis 
 
  • Cultural Recommendation
A fun show with lessons for today.   https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12637874/
 
  • Economics
Currency future?
 
  • Politics
 
  • Law
Stack the court? Virginia as forewarning
 
  • World

 

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The Weekend Barnes Brief: Friday, May 8, 2026
 
I. THE INTRODUCTION
 
A. Art of the Week
  • Venezia. The Atlantis-like ancient city with its bridges over canals, long boats mastered by the gondolier, the city whose balls made masquarade masks famous, where artisans of show-making spend a whole day to make a single show of artistic wonderment, a hidden restaurant in a corner alley uncovers the best Italian cuisine, and the city whispers of its centuries of stories from its cathedrals and water-hugging mansions of Casanova’s fame. 
 
B. Wisdom of the Week
  • You’re never out of the race. 
 
C. Cultural Recommendation of the Week
 
D. Appearances
 
 
 
II. THE EVIDENCE
 
A. Barnes Library: Weekly Curated Articles
 
 
B. Homework: Sunday Show Cases
  1. Malpractice. https://www.foxnews.com/us/iowa-woman-died-hernia-repair-nurses-dismissed-painful-post-surgery-symptoms-lawsuit
  2. Gates fake meat goes to court. https://texasagriculture.gov/News-Events/Article/10760/Opinion-Fake-Meat-Real-Trouble-Texas-Won-t-Bow-to-Billionaires-or-Bureaucrats
  3. DOJ sues Commierado for 2A.https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1439591/dl
  4. DOJ promises action against Big Ag. https://www.fooddive.com/news/beef-prices-trump-antitrust-doj-investigation/819331/
  5. Democrat raided. https://courthousenews.com/fbi-raids-democratic-virginia-state-senators-office/
  6. Insider trading indictment. https://www.justice.gov/d9/2026-05/usa_v._fejal_et_al_-_indictment.pdf
  7. Insider trading investigation https://seekingalpha.com/news/4588393-doj-probes-26b-in-war-linked-oil-trades---report
  8. Pay for play investigations https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-pardon-recipients-democrats-congressional-investigation-pay-to-play/
  9. EU: must allow welfare for migrants. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/kh-inps-cjeu-judgment.pdf
  10. DEI may lose, even in Twin Cities. https://courthousenews.com/minneapolis-public-schools-struggles-in-trump-suit-over-dei-policy/
  11. China spies on trial. https://courthousenews.com/feds-describe-global-network-of-chinese-police-stations-at-nyc-spy-trial-opening/
  12. Tiger’s DUI: Implied Consent Constitutionality Questions. https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1401&context=elj
 
C. Deep Dive: The Economy
  1. Stock Market & Commodities: 
  2. AI Bubble & Capital Shift
  3. Housing
  4. Gold’s future. https://substack.com/inbox/post/196409142
  5. Inflation expectations. https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/inflation-expectations-jump-3-year-high-financial-pessimism-surges-ny-fed-survey
 
D.  Best of the Board
 
III. THE CLOSING ARGUMENT: Constitution Masterclass -- The 30,000 Cap
 
  • Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 provides: “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative.”  Interpretations clash: was this intended to impose a cap on the number of people a member of the House could represent, or the number of Representatives that could ever be in the House? Equally, who can enforce the rights of Section 2 as applied to Representatives?
  • Congress capped the number of representatives by the Permanent Apportionment Act of June 18, 1929, and has not changed it since. A 1941 federal law provided the means to assign seats after the Census. States contested this when it lost a seat after the 1990 census due to this cap.  The Supreme Court acknowledged this was not a question submitted exclusively to the Legislative branch as a “political question” beyond its jurisdiction to resolve. Thus, the question turns to the import and intent of the 30,000 rule — is it a cap on the number of representatives or is it a ceiling on the number of people represented?
  • The phraseology can be read either way — that the restaint is on the “number of” Representatives in a ratio to the population rather than the population size represented by the District; or that the ratio intends a cap on the number of people represented by each representative. Linguistically, the former argument holds more sway; historically and philosophically, the latter argument proffers more persuasive evidence.
  • If we see it as sufficiently ambigious to turn to the Constitutional record, we find that the ratio of the house to the population was intended to be close to the people at a size no more than 30,000 people, reflected in the papers of the Founding Fathers themselves.
  • Indeed, the controversy over this language almost sunk the Constitution itself, despite the supporters arguing in Federalist Papers throughout that this was a minimum of people to be represented not merely a cap on the number of representatives in the House. So much so, that the very first amendment ever proposed was to clarify this point: that the minimum number of representatives must be proportional to the population in a strict ratio. Due to an editing error as passed by Congress, the amendment never passed, though mostly it faded as the Founding generation protected the intended ratio in fact.
  • The best plaintiff to seek such a relief would likely be a state without representation due to the absence of this maximum number of people per representative, given the prior case-law on the subject, or, of course, Congress itself could remedy the problem all by itself. 
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