Many thanks to Eli Beckerman, Alex Munro, Michael & Therese Pacheco, and Melissa Smith & David Saslav for their generous contributions. Considering that we rolled over $525 we received last year (since we had reached the magic figure of $4,000), it means that this year we have raised about $2,657 to date. Yes, there are two more weeks to go, so there still is hope. Many thanks to those of you who have been sharing your hard-earned money with us. We'll have to see how we can go on.

You can donate through PayPal -- check our donation page.

Or, if you have a US bank account, you can send a check (a check saves us PayPal fees) to:

Swans Commentary
P.O. Box 267
Boonville, CA 95415-0267

Thank you.

Jan Baughman and Gilles d'Aymery

 

Note from the Editors

Whether it's funny, strange, or just bizarre, every time a massacre takes place in a school and children are killed, the pundits and politicos go on TV, wracking their brains with discursive abandon. What to do?, they ask. It can't happen again. We must do "something." Sure enough. Why don't you stop producing and selling violent video games? Why don't you stop producing and casting violent TV shows? Why don't you stop making deadly weapons available? Why don't you teach civility instead of violence? Why? The answer: profits and that inane and insane socioeconomic system that are destroying the world.

Anyway, this horror will be out of the news cycle in a couple of days. Time to go shopping.

On our side, it's time to peacefully offer you our traditional Year-End Reviews -- perspectives from Swans contributors. Gilles d'Aymery provides an introduction to the many diverse articles. We hope they'll strike your curiosity and thinking.

We'll be back in two weeks with our famously Infamous Predictions™ and our best wishes for the New Year.



# # # # #



Year-End Reviews

Gilles d'Aymery:  Introduction To Swans 2012 Perspectives

An overview of the great variety of articles featured in Swans 2012 year-end review.   More...

 

Jan Baughman:  2012's Forgotten Story

The environment's perspective on 2012 and what the future holds.   More...

 

Manuel García, Jr.:  Winter Reflections, 2012

The author's state-of-the-world view at the end of 2012.   More...

 

Glenn Reed:  2012: Has The Free Fall Already Begun?

Corporate power and neoliberal economics kept us on a steady course toward catastrophe in 2012.   More...

 

Kazue Daikoku:  2012 Japan: Radioactivity Risk, Territorial Dispute, And Rush Of eBooks

The author's perspective from Japan on 2012: radioactive risk, territorial dispute with China, and e-books.   More...

 

Marie Rennard:  France 2012

A 2012 perspective from France: Sarkozy is gone but is France better under François Hollande? The jury is still out.   More...

 

Michael Barker:  Humanity Versus Capitalism

Capitalism -- and the death and catastrophe it creates -- continued in 2012, but socialism continued to grow in the popular mind.   More...

 

Paul Buhle:  Reflections on 2012

2012 was not as good for Wisconsin as the previous year, and many struggles lie ahead.   More...

 

Jonah Raskin:  Macbeth And The Military-Industrial Complex

Stop the wars. Stop the killings. Stop the bleeding and the anguish. And bring Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth to military and civilian populations around the world.   More...

 

Fabio De Propris:  2012: A Wishful, Wistful Year Of What Has Not Been Done

A look back at what did not happen and what might have been in 2012.   More...

 

Peter Byrne:  Uncomfortable Obits Of 2012

A look at some less notable and more uncomfortable deaths in 2012.   More...

 

Isidor Saslav:  2012 Year End Report

A look at a few notable events and noteworthy deaths in 2012.   More...

 

Raju Peddada:  The Struggle For Sanity

2012 in review: How should we look at ourselves when we are destitute of honesty?   More...

 

Harvey E. Whitney, Jr.:  Random Thoughts About 2012

A perspective on 2012, from the jobs crisis, the state of education, to irony in the US capital.   More...

 

Guido Monte & his students:  And... War and Peace 2012

The students of Guido Monte search for words of war and peace from journals, books, and their hearts, with a thoughtful collage by Pippo Zimmardi.   More...

 

Gilles d'Aymery:  Ah Yes, 2012

Though the world did not come to an end in 2012, the author can't wait for the year to be over.   More...

 

 
Letters to the Editor

Letters

A view from France on the ineptocracy that is taking over; Charles Pearson praises Isidor Saslav's article on Canada's Shaw Festival, Isidor Saslav corrects the same piece; and sage words from Leland Mellott on creating a world at peace.   More...

 

# # # # #



Let us know if you wish to receive an e-mail regarding each new edition (twice a month) with the Note from the Editors, and please become a subscriber. See our Donate page.

 

 

« Previous | Current Issue | Next »


THE COMPANION OF THINKING PEOPLE

SWANS - ISSN: 1554-4915
URL: http://www.swans.com/library/past_issues/2012/121217.html
Created: December 17, 2012