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That a passionate man who was "more interested in ending the war in Vietnam and getting people out of poverty and being fair to women and minorities and saving the environment" would earn the label of "liberal loser" explains the war, poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation that continue today. Such was the label earned by George McGovern, who died this morning at the age of 90, leaving us longing for the next generation of liberal, principled dignitaries to reveal themselves. Unfortunately, we won't find them in the upcoming US presidential election, and not expecting to see the rigged American political system change in his lifetime, Gilles d'Aymery turned off his TV, tuned out, and instead had a prolific fortnight. Coincidentally, in his Martian Blips Aymery remembers Pierre Mendès France, one of France's most principled politicians of the 20th century who died 30 years ago this month, and he looks at life without electricity and the planned use of drones in California (that's right, California...), while in the French Corner he laments the cacophony of the country's 5-month-old Hollande administration. Other notable political figures and movements featured in this edition include J. Robert Oppenheimer by fellow physicist Manuel García, Jr.; Fascism and anthroposophy by Michael Barker; and Norman Mailer and the Vietnam War by Peter Byrne.
Having once turned on and tuned in, Paul Buhle picked up Birth of a Psychedelic Culture on the Harvard experiments and the introduction of LSD to the U.S. in the 1960s. Also a trip is Isidor Saslav's experience at the Santa Fe Opera's performance of one of the greatest serious operas of the 19th century, Rossini's Maometto II. And while traveling in India, Raju Peddada witnessed an acidic exchange in the Kakinada railway station, which he recounts in the first of a coming series of random conversations. Finally, the poetry corner is replete with the poignant funereal poem of Simone Alié-Daram (in French), the ethereal lost love of John Marshall, and the lacrimae rerum of which Guido Monte writes. We close with your letter, a critique of Swans editorial standards and Michael Barker's critique of Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy.
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Gilles d'Aymery: 2012 Election Oblivion
Not expecting to see the rigged American political system change in his lifetime, the author turned off his TV and tuned out the 2012 presidential election. More...
Manuel García, Jr.: The Esoteric J. Robert Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Bhagavad Gita. More...
Michael Barker: Fascism and Anthroposophy - Part II
Part II of a review of Peter Staudenmaier's PhD study, Between Occultism and Fascism: Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race and Nation in Germany and Italy, 1900-1945. A study that "reveals the limits of a spiritual renewal approach to individual and social change, and of an unpolitical conception of new ways of life, even with the loftiest of aspirations." More...
Peter Byrne: Why Are We In Vietnam? Iraq, Afghanistan, Et Cetera
A look at the Vietnam War and the kind of people who would wage it through the writing of Norman Mailer. More...
Gilles d'Aymery: Blips #131
A few selected issues that landed on the Editor's desk, from the local reality of powerlessness and the global shortage of electricity; the introduction of "cost-saving" drones to the state of California; to remembering Pierre Mendès France, one of France's most principled politicians of the 20th century. More...
Paul Buhle: The Seed Of Psychedelia In The 1960s
A review of Birth of a Psychedelic Culture and the introduction of LSD to the U.S. in the 1960s. More...
Isidor Saslav: Maometto II At The Santa Fe Opera
The author attended the Santa Fe Opera's 2012 performance of one of the greatest serious operas of the whole 19th century, Rossini's Maometto II. More...
Raju Peddada: Random Conversation #1
A random conversation -- or rather, altercation, that took place at an Indian train station, illustrating the friction between the elites and the poors. More...
Gilles d'Aymery: French Cacophony
A look at the cacophony that describes the growing confusion that is reigning within François Hollande's 5-month old government. More...
Simone Alié-Daram: Un enterrement
Un enterrement poétique. More...
John M. Marshall: Dandelion
A poetic remembrance of love forever lost. More...
Guido Monte: Log-book: poetic way n.1
Guido Monte describes his poetic way. More...
A critique of Swans editorial standards and Michael Barker's critique of Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy. More...
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