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The occupation of Iraq is about to come to a fitting end: the U.S. forced out with its tail between its legs, over a trillion dollars lighter, and nothing to show for it but a dead Saddam Hussein, an obliterated, non-Democratic Iraq, nary an oil contract for an American firm -- and not one leader held accountable for this unjust war. Mission Accomplished! Let's hope that the occupation of Wall Street, which is spilling into Main Streets across the country and the globe, will prove more successful. According to Jonah Raskin, the authors of the First Amendment would be aghast to learn that corporations have seized hold of its rights at the expense of the people, but the Occupy Wall Street protesters are carrying on the spirit of those who throughout history have defended it. Michael DeLang's a bit more skeptical given that political theater has supplanted process and any potential impact of organized activism, and he suggests we each need to create a small piece of a better world, and Joel Hirschhorn asks if this new movement will do what the Tea Party failed to do; that is, passionately attack the two-party oligarchy and the integrity of the US political system controlled by it. Only time will tell...
Meanwhile, Malthusians continue to overpopulate this planet, and Michael Barker reviews one of their major influences, William Vogt's 1948 book Road to Survival. Gilles d'Aymery is mind-numbed by the violence and unrest that continues around the globe from Yemen to Italy, the latter from which Fabio De Propris discusses the strange position of Italian teachers-writers when describing the decline of the country's educational system.
Our cultural corner is occupied by Peter Byrne's review of the HBO miniseries based on James M. Cain's novel Mildred Pierce -- five full hours in which the detour into noir territory is completely erased; Part I of Raju Peddada's series on Buster Keaton, whose films provided a temporary escape in our collective mirth by depicting our common existential conundrums; and Guido Monte's haunting words of love and madness about the writer Alda Merini and her message of pain and unveiling. We close with your letters, including an excellent analysis, from the Bureau of Public Secrets, of the Occupy Wall Street movement and its potential impact, which may influence your opinion on the first three articles. Please, exercise your First Amendment rights and send us your feedback.
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Jonah Raskin: The First Amendment Redux
The authors of the First Amendment would be aghast to learn that corporations have seized hold of its rights at the expense of the people, but the Occupy Wall Street protesters are carrying on the spirit of those who throughout US history have defended freedom of speech and demanded that the government act to alter or amend intolerable conditions. More...
Michael DeLang: It Was Before My Time
Given that televised theater has pushed aside process as the principal force behind policy formulation and individual civic participation is no longer relevant, we must find our own paths in consonance with our own terms and values to create a small piece of the better world that's no longer achievable through organized political activism. More...
Joel S. Hirschhorn: Awful Reasons Why Obama Could Get Reelected
As the 2012 US presidential election approaches, will Americans eventually understand that the Second American Revolution is necessary and develop the courage to reinvent their political system and reestablish a true democracy that serves the interests of all of its citizens, not just the rich and powerful? More...
Michael Barker: William Vogt And Malthusian Conservation
Critical review of William Vogt's influential 1948 book Road to Survival. More...
Gilles d'Aymery: Ongoing Violence
A look at the mind-numbing violence that is spreading across the globe. More...
Fabio De Propris: Storytelling And Social Action: Italian Teacher-Writers
An excerpt from a paper read by Fabio De Propris at the National Convention of Italian Literary Scholars Association on the strange position of Italian teachers-writers when writing about the decline of the country's educational system. More...
Peter Byrne: Shortcuts To Comfort: James M. Cain
A review of the HBO miniseries based on James M. Cain's novel Mildred Pierce, five full hours in which the detour into noir territory is completely erased. More...
Raju Peddada: The Forgotten Auteur: Buster Keaton: The Genius of his Films - Part I
Part I of a series on Buster Keaton, whose films provided a temporary escape in our collective mirth by depicting our common existential conundrums. More...
Guido Monte: To Alda Merini
Multilingual words of love and madness about the writer Alda Merini and her message of pain and unveiling. More...
An excellent analysis, from the Bureau of Public Secrets, of the Occupy Wall Street movement and its potential impact, and the financial and political link between the National Endowment for Democracy and Nobel Peace Prize recipients. More...
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