Well, we the People joined forces and gave them a piece of our minds, bombarding Congress with threats should they pass the Paulson Wall Street bailout plan, and they listened! Or so it seemed. What they found missing from the 3-page plan was not help for the People; it was the most important political ingredient -- pork! It was politics as usual, and Congress compromised, not to appease the angry constituents who are watching their retirement pittances and economic situations implode, but to seduce the House Republicans who voted against the initial plan. As Gilles d'Aymery puts it, we have a government of the DOW, by the DOW, and for the DOW. Aymery offers a tangible bailout plan that would address the crisis by helping Main Street. Read it, then send a copy to your Representatives, remind them they work for you, and that it's you who decide if they keep their jobs. Then, STOP VOTING FOR THE BUMS! If they have any ounce of sanity, they'll get the message, though Charles Marowitz thinks that a touch of analysis should be used to determine who is psychologically fit to lead. He starts with John McCain, whose textbook personality type was born from the trauma of his imprisonment.
As a child, Ted Dace had to retreat into a fantasy world to escape the wrath of his father, and he learned the hard way that freedom can exist in an otherwise deterministic universe -- a notion he explains with the help of physics. Carol Warner Christen offers a modern-day socio-political parable of survival of the fittest in the insect world that is relevant to our current predicament and the difficult times ahead. Unfortunately, there are well-hidden forces working against our ability to influence politics; however, Michael Barker keeps digging, and in his current analysis uncovers the links between democracy-manipulating organizations such as the National Endowment for Democracy and the media. It will take many more of us -- an overwhelming majority -- to heed R. Scott Porter's words and demand from our leaders that the military-industrial complex be transitioned to peaceful enterprises.
If you need an excellent primer on activism, read Louis Proyect's review of Carlton Jackson's biography of Genora Dollinger, a remarkable woman who rose to the occasion against racism, imperialist war, class oppression, and alienation in the 1930s -- an inspiration to the similar world we confront today. A second biography is reviewed by Peter Byrne -- that of Richard Wright, a promising African-American writer who was unable to transcend race and become a universal writer. Ardent book collector and Art Shay fan Raju Peddeda attempts to extrapolate the meaning of Shay's being through his work. We close with a haunting poem by Guido Monte and Alison Phipps (illustration by Giuseppe Quattrocchi) that searches for a way of escape from our closed "world limbo"; a Michael Eddins poem, whose tragedy requires a boy to escape with his black lab into the woods; and your 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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Gilles d'Aymery: Blips #74
One big, smelly, possibly fabricated mess that landed on the Editor's desk; that is, the Wall Street bailout repackaged as a Main Street rescue by the foxes guarding the hen house, what did Hank Paulson know and when did he know it, how we got into it and how we can get out of it, and some real facts behind the smoke and mirrors. More...
Charles Marowitz: John McCain: Freud To The Rescue
Charles Marowitz examines the psyche of John McCain and the long-lasting effects of torture and imprisonment that shaped his unpresidential temperament. More...
Ted Dace: Fate
An explanation of how freedom can exist in an otherwise deterministic universe. More...
Carol Warner Christen: What Parable Is This? The Old Woman Said
A modern-day socio-political parable, in which humans have much to learn from insect society, while the insects are sick and dying. More...
Michael Barker: Imperial Media Manipulators Assistance
Careful examination of links between the imperialistic NGO, the National Endowment for Democracy, and a new media group, The Center for International Media Assistance. More...
R. Scott Porter: American Wars On Herself And Others
War must become obsolete and we must transition to peaceful enterprises. More...
Louis Proyect: Carlton Jackson's Child of the Sit-Downs
Louis Proyect reviews Child of the Sit-Downs: the Revolutionary Life of Genora Dollinger, on the struggles of a woman who rose to the occasion against racism, imperialist war, class oppression, and alienation in the 1930s -- an inspiration to the similar world we confront today. More...
Peter Byrne: Up From Mississippi
A review of Richard Wright: The Life and Times, a promising African-American writer who was unable to transcend race and become a universal writer. More...
Raju Peddada: A Slow Shutter On Art Shay
Art Shay's photography has been discussed, debated, and disected everywhere; what was missing in all of these deliberations was the essence of the man. Here is an attempt to extrapolate the meaning of his being through his work. More...
Guido Monte & Alison Phipps: Mondana Commedia n.4: Limbo (World Comedy n.4: Limbo)
A new "different experiment" by Monte and Phipps, searching for a way of escape from our closed "world limbo." More...
Michael Eddins: Black
When a young boy's home and family burns to the ground, he escapes with his black lab into the woods. More...
Tiziano Terzani's Letters Against the War, Joe Orton and Leicester, and the kind of crap one receives regularly. More...
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