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If you're tired of the endless US presidential campaigning with the newest crop of same-old, same-old candidates debating the same side of the coin and promising status quo disguised as change, while the rest of the world moves on, and you're looking for some substantive Q & A, you've landed in the right place! A couple of recent anniversaries -- from the 40th of Che Guevara's assassination, to the 50th of Allen Ginsberg's Howl censorship -- remind us that there is much to debate about the meaning of freedom, peace, justice, equality, and obscenity, which both Gilles d'Aymery and Charles Marowitz take on in their respective styles. But if you're riled by our first assertion and daydreaming about Life After Bush with Candidate XX or XY, read what Philip Greenspan has to say -- you're better off believing him than the campaign promises (see how political lies are now protected speech in Washington State, as Gerard Donnelly Smith reports).
Protected species, humans notwithstanding, are on the losing end of the War for Oil, though as Martin Murie points out, protecting the environment, or sloganeering as such, is now "good for business" (even CNN has changed its letters to green, for what it's worth...). However, protecting humans is BAD for profits; case in point, China's newest emerging market as described by Jan Baughman. Carol Warner Christen takes the profitability of our frailties a step further, asking Why They Hate Us? -- her conclusion may surprise you.
We are saddened by the recent death of a dear friend, Rene Stark, a wonderful, tender, fiercely independent woman whom you would have been delighted to know. Since she spoke little of herself, we share a bit of her life story. Finally, a Halloween poem courtesy of Marie Rennard; Guido Monte and Viviana Fiorentino's mysterious archetypal words, with collage by Giuseppe Zimmardi; Peter Byrne's parabolic humor; and your letters, from Constitutional Conventions and Get Out Of Our House, to the Ahmadinejad set-up and America: Love it or Leave It, among others, round out this edition.
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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Gilles d'Aymery: Blips #60
A few selected issues that landed on the editor's desk, from remembering Che Guevara and pondering the meaning of Justice; to Freedom as defined by FDR vs. Chirac, and as applied in reality; to comprehending the price, and the prize, of the War on Iraq; with a few tidbits on Anne Applebaum, Ben Stein, income inequality, and radicalism in between. More...
Charles Marowitz: The New Obscenities
The 50th anniversary of the censoring of Allen Ginsberg's Howl is an opportune time to revisit the definition of obscenity. Forget the antics of Janet Jackson and Britney Spears; it is the actions of hypocritical politicians and religicos, who are diminishing our humanism, that are obscene. More...
Philip Greenspan: Après Bush! Le Déluge?
A look at the potential consequences on an American strike against Iran, and where the US presidential candidates -- Republican and Democratic alike -- stand on the matter. More...
Gerard Donnelly Smith: Lying Is Free Speech?
The Washington State Supreme Court's decision that rejected with fraudulent logic the requirement of truth in political campaigns is sending us down a slippery slope of protected speech. More...
Martin Murie: Lonesome Outsiders
It's true, we are warring against our home, the Earth. War for oil means war against the earth, and in a cautionary note: Nature does strike back. More...
Jan Baughman: Emerging Markets For Investing In Human Misery
In the global, for-profit illness industry, we are all commodities in one or another emerging disease market. More...
Carol Warner Christen: Is It About Why They Hate Us Or About Why We Hate Them?
It is not the Other that hates us for our mythic freedoms, it is those in Power that hate us for our numbers; hence their need to keep us from education, health...and freedom. More...
Gilles d'Aymery: Remembering Rene Stark
Remembrances of a remarkable woman, Rene Stark (Pierena Zamaroni), August 18, 1911 - August 31, 2007. More...
Marie Renard: Halloween Skeletons On The Rocks
A poem about Halloween. More...
Guido Monte & Viviana Fiorentino: Shir Hashirim (Part I)
Mysterious archetypal words of Guido Monte and Viviana Fiorentino, through a symbolic interpretation of the "Song of Songs." More...
Peter Byrne: Small Stuff
Reality TV continues with a parable in which the mayonnaise jar can be half-empty, or completely full, depending on which side of the line in the sand you're on. More...
On irresponsible Americans and another path to a Constitutional Convention; Gilles d'Aymery's critique of Columbia University's Ahmadinejad set-up -- mostly praise, and the predictable America, Love it or Leave it flame from a 'lover of US and Israeli Freedom'; and remembering Che Guevara on the 40th anniversary of his death. More...
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