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"It's difficult to believe that people are starving in this country because food isn't available" -- a priceless quote by Ronald Reagan with which Gilles d'Aymery introduces his Blips on food of the contaminated, extinct, and exorbitant variety. What would Ronny think about the number of people who are obese in this country because they don't have access to healthy food? Or that one of the wealthiest countries in the world based on GDP has the fourth highest poverty rate within the OECD, which utilizes wealth distribution as its measure. Reaganomics has been a smashing success... for the elite! Unfortunately, with only 12% of American high school seniors reportedly proficient in history, it's hard to be optimistic about the prospect of learning from it. We can, however, learn from a Ph.D. student in history, Harvey Whitney Jr., who explains why the problems with the US education system are much more complex than what the corporate media and the major political parties and demagogues suggest. Meanwhile, Michael Barker holds out hope that Western citizens will learn from contemporary history and rise up to overthrow the ultra-violent warmongers who manage their countries, but it's doubtful the warriors are losing sleep... Peter Byrne uses satire to explain how their propaganda team operates, and we're rerunning a cartoon by Jan Baughman that illustrates Peter's point. The revision of Bosnian contemporary history continues, and Aleksandar Jokic takes Ian Buruma to task for his recent article that is a veritable study in how not to take seriously the arrest of the former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladić.
Reaching for the book -- and the DVD -- Louis Proyect provides an excellent review of three works on the fascinating life of Bobby Fischer, and you don't have to be a chess player to appreciate this must-read article. Fabio De Propris considers Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk's first novel, which recounts the might East-West encounter viewed from the intimacy of three generations of a bourgeois Turkish family. Karen Moller remembers the eclectic artist John Cage and other influential artists from the Fluxus genre; and returning to education, Raju Peddada considers his own son as a study in understanding and coping with inattentive, daydreaming children. We close with the haunting poetry of Guido Monte, who confronts the historical wall of indifference toward North African migrants, and your letters on Charles Marowitz's "balderdash," Jonah Raskin's treatise on aliteracy, a hanging Chad, and news from austere England from a Swans supporter.
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Gilles d'Aymery: Blips #112
A few selected issues that landed on the Editor's desk, starting with Greece's descent into hell and the threat to America's safety nets, to the resulting indigestion and some musings on food -- contaminated, unaffordable, or sumptuous, depending on your status -- and a history lesson on Freedom fries. More...
Harvey E. Whitney, Jr.: The State Of Education In America: A Teacher's Perspective
The problems with the US education system are much more complex than what the corporate media and the major political parties and demagogues suggest. More...
Michael Barker: Capitalising On Nonviolence
Critique of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. More...
Aleksandar Jokic: The (Narrative) Crimes Of Ian Buruma
On Ian Buruman's The Crimes of Ratko Mladic, genocidalism, and Western narratives about Bosnia: how not to take seriously the arrest of the former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladić. More...
Louis Proyect: Bobby Fischer
A fascinating look at the chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer as told through a review of three examinations of Fischer's life. More...
Peter Byrne: Operation Gentle Zeus
This comic lecture is a satire on the euphemisms given as names to government military operations. More...
Jan Baughman: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Cartoon originally published on March 31, 2003, which perfectly illustrates Peter Byrne's "Operation Gentle Zeus." More...
Fabio De Propris: The Wellspring Of Orhan Pamuk
A review of Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk's first novel, which recounts the might East-West encounter viewed from the intimacy of three generations of a bourgeois Turkish family. More...
Karen Moller: Remembering John Cage
The author relates her introduction to John Cage and the Fluxus movement. More...
Raju Peddada: A Parent and Teacher Conference Part I
Raju Peddada considers his own son as a study in understanding and coping with inattentive children. More...
Guido Monte: Bitterly
Desperate verses by Guido Monte, who confronts the historical "wall" of indifference toward North African migrants and their loneliness. More...
On Charles Marowitz's "balderdash," Jonah Raskin's treatise on aliteracy, a hanging Chad, and news from austere England from a Swans supporter. More...
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