FUND RAISING TIME: Dear readers, we need to raise $3,500 between now and the end of the year. Without this amount of money (in addition to what we have already received), we won't be able to maintain Swans with the quality and dependability you have grown used to over the years. We must pay for our costs, at the very least. You read Swans and you appreciate our commentaries and the fact that we are an ad-free zone. We do too, but we are shouldering the financial costs. We can't do it ad vitam aeternam. If you wish to continue enjoying Swans, please help us raise $3,500. Ask yourselves the value of our work, and whether you can find a better edited, more trenchant, and thoughtful Web publication that keeps sanity and sound thoughts as first priorities. Without your help, we shan't be able to continue to bring to you and the larger community this cogent bi-weekly collection. Donate now!
Now that we know the surgical non-surge has been a great success and, as expected, the decider in chief will for all intents and purposes leave the mess of potage to the next occupant of the White House; that the debate quickly "moved on" to a belittling, but inconsequential ad for which the Gray Lady took her share of lumps; and the bien-pensant salons bloviated on and on about who between Hillary and Rudy had the most cojones to become our future warrior in chief and Law & Order gal/guy (sorry Fred), we thought we'd better begin this issue with a bit of satire delivered courtesy of Charles Marowitz and Peter Byrne. Hopefully, these two slapstick comedians won't leave you more confused than the reality we all face. (Note, however, that our Fund Raising Drive -- we need to find $3,500 before the end of the year -- should not be construed as another satirical trick. It's for real!)
As usual we bring you a book review and the poetry, in prose or multilingual, of Gerard Donnelly Smith and Guido Monte, but in the interval we are presenting more sober intertwined issues for your consideration. Carol Warner Christen offers a rather grim, albeit quite accurate and encompassing, perspective on our institutions and the People's seeming abdication of their responsibilities as citizens. Gilles d'Aymery ponders the long-term effects that US oceans of red ink, in both budget and trade deficits, an income distribution concentrated in the top 1% of the population, and an economy based on export of raw materials and import of manufactured products may have on the "last superpower's" future status. Gerard Smith looks into the Ugly American, making a clear distinction between the American people and the profits-motivated foreign policy directed by our mega-corporations; and, finally, Phil Greenspan shows how a nation of immigrants is replacing the Statue of Liberty's torch with a Keep Out sign against Latino immigrants who seek refuge from their devastated countries that are economically exploited by the U.S. We end with your substantial share of letters.
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes) know about Swans. It's your voice that makes ours grow.
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Charles Marowitz: You Say "Obama" -- I Say "OSAMA"
Based on past experiences with US presidential election fraud, it's not too far-fetched to imagine that Osama could mistakenly beat out Obama -- and then what? More...
Peter Byrne: Quality Time In The Rose Garden
When it comes to spending time with the children, quality time and prime time are at odds when confronted by the bungler in the Rose Garden. More...
Carol Warner Christen: "The Curse Of Ignorance:" Endless Centuries Of War
Changes in our attitudes are essential -- ignorance may be bliss but it is not sufficient for adulthood or the human species if we continue to ignore the ravages of corporate and political power. More...
Gilles d'Aymery: Is The USA Heading For Third World Status?
Based on its high level of debt, an income distribution concentrated in the top 1% of the population, and an economy based on export of raw materials and import of manufactured products, among other characteristics, America may be marching toward Third World status. More...
Gerard Donnelly Smith: The Ugliest Americans
How the stereotype of 'Ugly Americans' came to pass, and what can be done to dispell rather than perpetuate it. More...
Philip Greenspan: The Immigration Problem
The U.S. was built upon the encouragement of immigration, but the welcoming beacon of the Statue of Liberty has been replaced by a Keep Out sign to the now-dehumanized immigrants seeking refuge from their economies that America is exploiting. More...
Peter Byrne: On Edge In Middle-Class Heaven
Ian McEwan's Saturday
A review of Ian McEwan's novel Saturday, which struck an uncomfortable nerve among the British middle class. More...
Gerard Donnelly Smith: The Second Law of Thermodynamics (for Cara)
The author dedicates a prose poem on never-resting love to his wife Cara. More...
Guido Monte: Sentence
Monte and Quattrocchi have to read their own 'guilty verdict,' every day, in front of the world situation, as active or passive protagonists of the collective responsibility. More...
Kudos to Ted Dace's extrapolation of Stanley Milgram's experiment on torture and Philip Greenspan's take on the so-called enemies of US national security; missing the point on Charles Marowitz's critique of progressive radio's Stephanie Miller and Jan Baughman's look at the forces behind corn-based ethanol propaganda; some tidbits on the Founding Father's Fraud and George Washington's land speculation, and more. More...
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