If the United States came under the control of a totalitarian regime, would we recognize it? This and other provocative questions are asked and answered in my reading of “What is Totalitarianism?” (Part 1 and Part 2) which will include a presentation on the reality of totalitarianism (defined as “total state control”) in the world today, and a discussion of the subject over dinner at the Stockholm Inn in Rockford, Illinois.
General admission is $5 pre-ordered or at the door. A special $10 ticket will give you access to the event plus a copy of my book One Voice ($8 retail). Dinner is not included with the cost of admission, but the Stockholm Inn has a wonderful selection of Swedish foods and we encourage guests to order dinner or just sample their famous Swedish Pancakes during the presentation.
If you would like to help promote this event, you can download the following flyers in .jpeg format:
Check out the new issue of KILTER – I have a pretty decent short story published in it called “Sonic Fear” about a guy who loses his mind because he lives too close to the railroad tracks…
From their website: “Number 8 is busting at the seams with great content. Art coverage, movie reviews, An Interview with Voltaire by the Reverend Chicagodom, a review of the Chemlab/16 Volt show, a piece about Latebar, the fashion of Dollface, art by Sinee Misgari, Zmiya, Judgehydrogen, an expanded comics section, Poetry, fiction by Michael Kleen, Cleo LaVamp on the Continuum (including a pictorial tour) SS-Triple-X, and our regular features, Ask Happy, the Horriblescopes and another vegan recipe by Scary Lady Sarah. :gasp: (and so much more)”
My latest column has been posted at Militant libertarian.org. It a philosophical piece on how we can mitigate some problems associated with voting, and why the problem of “majority” rule is theoretical rather than actual. In reality, we have a tyranny of the minority, because politically active minorities (compared to the rest of the electorate) are the ones who really win elections. “Minority” meaning numerically less than half of the population.
After each presidential election, partisans and pundits alike are quick to declare an electoral mandate for the winning candidate. In 2004, incumbent President George W. Bush himself told reporters, “I earned capital in this campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it… When you win, there is… a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view.” Echoing those sentiments, Vaughn Ververs at CBS News called Barack Obama’s 2008 victory “a sweeping mandate for Obama’s campaign mantra of change.”
People are excited about this one, I can feel it. Gillian Gabriel was kindly enough to interview me for the Champaign-Urbana art & culture blog Smile Politely. I hope this will draw a larger crowd on Saturday, but we will have a great time no matter what. I can’t wait to meet all my past and future friends in Champaign. I’ve missed the place ever since I left EIU…
Michael Kleen has a great fondness for the Midwest, a Master’s degree in History, and an insatiable thirst for ghost stories. Lucky for us, he has been able to skillfully combine all of his passions in his new book, Paranormal Illinois.
Painstakingly and lovingly compiled, Kleen’s books will be sure to become indispensable primers for both Midwestern ghost hunters and local folklore buffs alike. Michael will be appearing at Barnes and Noble this Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. to discuss and sign copies of Paranormal Illinois. He was kind enough to answer some of our questions:
Smile Politely: Your book, Paranormal Illinois, came out recently, but it looks like you have written several others on the topic. Where does your interest in the paranormal come from? Did you have an experience that motivated you to learn more?
Michael Kleen: You know, people ask me this question all the time, and I’m never quite sure of the answer. I’ve often thought about why I’m interested in this subject, but the fact is, I always have been. When I learned to read, some of the first books I sought out on my own were about ghosts. I must have read every single collection of ghost stories that was at the library when I was in elementary school. World’s Most Spine-Tingling “True” Ghost Stories, World’s Weirdest “True” Ghost Stories, and of course, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, were all favorites. What I like most about Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is that the author took common folktales and rewrote them in a way that kids of my generation would love. That’s what I try to do with my books: I want to tell the stories, but I also want to show that they are tied to history and culture. They are windows into a side of history that is usually ignored or covered-up. Ghosts are, after all, remnants of past generations that linger long after they are physically gone. Perhaps they have something to tell us.
Special thanks to Jeannie Hayes for having me on the news this afternoon. Another interview segment will be aired this weekend on Channel 13′s morning show.
Join me on the Channel 13 News at Noon in Rockford on Tuesday May 18! That’s right, if you happen to be home at that time, aka retired or unemployed, you can hear me talk about my latest book – live! And I promise to mention my presentation at the Rockford Public Library on July 17 at 4pm. …That’s the Rockford Public Library on July 17 at 4pm. Also, I was told they will rebroadcast this segment during the early show on the weekend!
It is rare when a historian so fragrantly engages in intellectual dishonesty, but Ron Rosenbaum, in a Slate commentary titled “The tea party’s toxic take on history,” typifies such a case. In this article, he hurls vitriol at members of the tea party, its ideology and its “historically ignorant misuse of words such as tyranny, communist, Marxist, fascist and socialist.” Because tea-party partisans often conflate the terms or use them interchangeably, Rosenbaum argues that they are “utterly uneducated in history” and mocks their imagined moment of realization that “Hitler’s party” was called the National Socialist German Workers Party.
“Historical ignorance is dangerous and can have tragic consequences,” Rosenbaum concludes, but he is engaging in some historical ignorance of his own. While many tea partiers have an excuse for their ignorance (thanks, public schools), Rosenbaum, who spent a decade researching and writing a book called “Explaining Hitler,” has no such excuse.
We already know the Nazi party and the German left were bitter enemies, as Rosenbaum illustrated in his study of social democratic opposition to Hitler in Munich, but that does not mean they were diametrically opposed. Is it ridiculous to find similarities between the National Socialists, fascists, communists and socialists? Not as much as Rosenbaum would like his readers to believe. Hannah Arendt, for example, detailed some general similarities between the structure of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in her book “The Origins of Totalitarianism” (1951). Both were mass societies organized around party ideology and a cult of personality. Both sought total control over the individual.
Beyond these cosmetic similarities, there were plenty of ideological similarities between National Socialism and socialism as well…
Beth Heldebrandt from the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier has written a fine feature on my new book Paranormal Illinois, which includes three chapters on places in Coles County: Pemberton Hall, Airtight Bridge, and Ashmore Estates. I have a long history in Coles County. I lived in Charleston for nearly eight years, and it was where I first began writing about local ghost stories and legends. It was where I published Tales of Coles County, Illinois, my first work of historical fiction, in 2004. Copies of that book, in its various incarnations, are probably still floating around out there.
Nowhere else have any of the legends and lore of Coles County been documented so thoroughly. Nowhere else has the history of Airtight Bridge or Ashmore Estates been so completely written or well-researched. As a whole, Paranormal Illinois is the culmination of years of research, and it is accessible both to casual fans of the paranormal and anyone interested in Illinois history and folklore (or, what I like to call “folk history”). It’s fun, informative, and greatly entertaining.
I promise you, you have never seen most of this information before! If you think you’ve read everything there is to know about Airtight Bridge from my previous writing, you are mistaken. Paranormal Illinois is the first and only book to contain the complete story, featuring interviews and first hand accounts by people who were involved with the case.
Paranormal Illinois is available at several fine retailers, as well as a local bookstore near you. If you don’t find it there, ask them to order it! The book is also available online at the following websites:
This summer will be an exciting time. I plan on doing a mini “tour” of a presentation I like to call “Haunting the Prairie: Legends and Lore of Frontier Illinois.” So far, I have the Rockford Public Library and the Ella Johnson Memorial Library lined up, with more on the way. Monday night I am going to be sharing some of my favorite Illinois ghost stories for Carl Jones’ Ghosts, Hauntings, and the Unexplained class at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield. I will also appear on the WREX Channel 13 news in Rockford at 12pm on Tuesday May 18.
Here are a few of the dates and times for upcoming appearances:
Rockford Public Library in Rockford, Illinois
July 17, 2010 – 4:00-5:30pm
Ella Johnson Memorial Library in Hampshire, Illinois
June 14, 2010 – 6:00-7:30pm
Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Illinois
April 12, 2010
Much hay has been recently made out of Glenn Beck’s ill-advised comments about the term “social justice.” In the first week of March, on his popular radio and television shows, he said, “I beg you, look for the words ’social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words.” Code words, he claimed, for Marxism. The overwhelmingly condemnatory commentary regarding this quote, though understandable, has so far overlooked a critical point about social justice and Christianity—and its use by some on the statist left—that can and should be debated. There are many activists, such as Sister Diane Drufenbrock (the 1980 vice-presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA), who have used social justice as a rallying cry in their war against hierarchy and private property, and therefore Beck’s concern about the Marxist use of the terms social and economic justice is somewhat valid. His assumption about the danger of social justice as a moral philosophy, however, is not. His mistake can be excused by his lack of education, but there is no excuse for the trained theologians who willingly distort Christian social teaching for political ends.
The modern concept of social justice incubated in the Catholic Church. In the 1840s, Father Luigi Taparelli used the phrase to criticize the major economic theories at the time for ignoring moral philosophy and for undermining the unity of society by dividing it into competing classes. Since then, the Catholic Church has been clear about its condemnation of both socialism and unrestrained capitalism. In Pope Pius XI’s 1931 encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, he praised laws that “undertake the protection of life, health, strength, family, homes, workshops, wages and labor hazards, in fine, everything which pertains to the condition of wage workers, with special concern for women and children,” but noted, “it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community.”
Read the entire column…
Dear Mike, I am related by marriage to the woman found dismembered at the Airtight Bridge in Coles County, illinois in 1980. If there is anything i can do for you. Please contact me. I will help out as much as i can. I was surprised to find that you have touched on this matter greatly.
Eileen Steenburg
Friday, 6/27/08, 7:19 AM
Hi, It was a pleasure to meet you at Ashmore Estates in May. My sister and I will be going again July 12th.
Erin
Tuesday, 10/23/07, 7:17 AM
I went to EIU as well and did my student teaching in Kansas. I drove by the Ashmore Estates everyday and each time it freaked me out. It took me awhile to work up the courage to drive up to it, but I could never get out of the car... :/ I think it's awesome that you decided to put the stories down on paper. By the way, I think I remember seeing you around campus. Weird... Can wait to read the book!
Patti Murphy
Monday, 9/24/07, 10:28 AM
I teach 7th grade reading. We are concluding a unit on mysteries with research into unsolved mysteries and then some on supernatural mysteries. I had contacted Scott Kelley at Ashmore Estates about getting in touch with you to see if you might be willing to come speak with our students about the legends and lore of Coles County. If you are interested or would like more information, would you either email me or call XXX-XXXX? Thanks so much.
Karen Bergeron
Tuesday, 7/24/07, 11:40 PM
I was 16 and lived about a half mile from Knoch Cemetery in the oldest standing home in Morgan Township in 1980 when the Airtight Bridge murder happened. Three months later, a severed head was found in a yard in Murfreesboro TN. I've always wondered how this story turned out, as I left the area in 1982. I found you after returning from a trip to IL where I visited Knoch cemetery, as I spent many a summer afternoon there as a teenager. Your stories intrigue me and foster a new appreciation for growing up in that area. I'm wondering if you have pursued this story any further? I'd like to know the name of the victim. Hope to hear from you, I'm a writer of sorts as well. Congratulations on your appearances and gatherings, keep up the good work.
Lori Misner
Sunday, 6/3/07, 9:06 PM
Just happened across your site. I was looking for information on the body found at Airtight Bridge. I was a little girl when it happened and it always got my curiosity. And it scared me alot. Just looking to get more info cause I don't remember alot about it.
Michael Kleen
Saturday, 12/16/06, 3:05 AM
Hi Michael, seems there are a few more people who own the name :-) I'm glad to see that you are like me a member of a culture acting against mainstream and you are a subtle writing author. Sorry but my works are written in german ;-) Your photographs are also fantastic... their fog-like surreality let me think again about H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe and the mighty feeling of the old topos of vanitas. I am a historician of the middle ages (studied in Münster, Germany). If you have time and interest feel free to email to me. Greetings from Germany.
Kyla Nance
Tuesday, 10/31/06, 2:16 PM
Hey mike, just checking things out...haven't done to much site exploring just yet, but i saw the sign in and wanted to say hey. I sent an email, check it out. See ya round. Kyla
David
Tuesday, 10/24/06, 1:58 PM
Very interesting site. After visiting the "haunted house" at Ashmore Estates this year, it makes me wish I had visited it before it was revamped into a "fun house" type arena. If you have any additional info on it's history or any of it's patients, please contact me. I'm just really interested in it all. Thanks.
Nancy (Andrews) Swinford
Wednesday, 10/11/06, 7:04 AM
The Coles County Farm (Ashmore Estates)was my home when I was growing up in the late 40's and early 50's. My father and mother ran it for the county. I have many memories of it when it was a much needed home for people who were without family or just simply needed a home to live in. This was before all the fancy nursing homes that we have today. It was a properous farm and produced much of the food that was needed to feed the inmates as they were called back then. I am rambleing to much. So have fun with the haunted house.
Corey Taylor
Saturday, 6/3/06, 10:46 AM
Michael... I love your site, particularly regarding your discourses on voting and bullying, but I'm very interested in Ashmore Estates and would like to discuss it (and I expect much more) with you. Please get in touch with me!
Scott Kelley
Thursday, 5/25/06, 5:34 PM
Michael, I love your Volume 4. Can you contact me. I have plans for Ashmore Estates that may interest you. Scott Kelley-The Spookmeister-The Haunting of Elsinore.
Jenna Smith
Monday, 10/10/05, 11:31 PM
i enjoyed the reading, mike... very interesting...you have a lot of talent...bye
Brian
Friday, 7/15/05, 6:52 PM
If Mike were a woman, I would definitely bear his children.
Posted by makleen 
My latest column has been posted at Militant libertarian.org. It a philosophical piece on how we can mitigate some problems associated with voting, and why the problem of “majority” rule is theoretical rather than actual. In reality, we have a tyranny of the minority, because politically active minorities (compared to the rest of the electorate) are the ones who really win elections. “Minority” meaning numerically less than half of the population.
Join me on the Channel 13 News at Noon in Rockford on Tuesday May 18! That’s right, if you happen to be home at that time, aka retired or unemployed, you can hear me talk about my latest book – live! And I promise to mention my presentation at the Rockford Public Library on July 17 at 4pm. …That’s the Rockford Public Library on July 17 at 4pm. Also, I was told they will rebroadcast this segment during the early show on the weekend!
I promise you, you have never seen most of this information before! If you think you’ve read everything there is to know about Airtight Bridge from my previous writing, you are mistaken. Paranormal Illinois is the first and only book to contain the complete story, featuring interviews and first hand accounts by people who were involved with the case.
My attempt to clarify the recent controversy over Glenn Beck’s now infamous “social justice” rant:
