Thank you Steven Hohensee, FDP, Brandon Haleamau, and Ann & Isidor Saslav for your financial contributions. Year to date: $463.25. We have had to revise last year's contributions to $2,992.38 (of which $525 were rolled over from 2011) instead of the $3,192.42 previously indicated. Gilles d'Aymery has never professed to be a good accountant. It means that we actually received $2,467.38 in 2012, just about half what it costs us to operate Swans. Just imagine how we feel.
It was a month ago today that the lives of the Newtown, Connecticut, residents were shattered when 26 were gunned down in an elementary school. Despite the outrage and horror felt by all Americans, the only change since the latest shooting tragedy is an increase in gun sales and National Rifle Association membership, and the president's gun violence task force, led by Joe Biden, will make recommendations that will as usual be shot down into NRA-led oblivion. A sad tribute to the 20 innocent children who had no say about dying in the name of Second Amendment "rights." Glenn Reed's somber article calls it out for what it is: another symptom of the systemic child abuse occurring in this country, and Jonah Raskin -- a retired professor -- cannot fathom the notion of having guns in schools to ensure students' safety. Guns, as he says, make him crazy. We couldn't agree more... Child abuse takes a different form in China -- forced labor, a practice that Manuel García, Jr. attempts to explain to his 13-year-old daughter, who can't comprehend the notion. It's as if we're moving back to the future...where Raju Peddada, having survived the 2012 End Times along with the rest of us, prognosticates on 2013 and an era in which technology may be advancing, but our personal operating systems have become corrupted. Moving from End Times to New Age, Michael Barker examines the latter's influence on organic farming and the Soil Association -- more religious than down to earth, it appears.
Time for a cultural interlude, and we start in East Texas of all places, accompanied by Isidor Saslav at the Pipe Organ Festival. Then on to Africa with Paul Buhle, who reviews C.L.R. James's A History of the Pan-African Revolt. Peter Byrne transports us to a Hamlet hog farm in his imaginative short story about not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry. In the poetry corner, John Marshall paints an autumn equinox in which the cavalry defends its land from an army of insurgents, while Guido Monte talks about his meaning of poetry. We close with your letters, with thoughts from France on President Normal, Franco-Russian roulette, the economic basket case, and laughable zoo; a note from the niece of a Golden Gate Bridge suicide victim; and a few words on censorship and the Newtown school shooting.
# # # # #
Glenn Reed: Newtown Tragedy Just One Sign Of The US Systemic Child Abuse
Systemic child abuse is evident in the United States in many ways, including gun violence. More...
Jonah Raskin: Guns Make Me Crazy
Guns, and the idea of them in schools, make the author crazy. More...
Manuel García, Jr.: Explaining Chinese Forced Labor To An American Child
The connection between Chinese forced labor and American unemployment is greed. More...
Raju Peddada: Rampant Infidelity: Predilections for 2013
Technology may be advancing, but our personal operating systems have become corrupted. More...
Michael Barker: Muck And Mystery Unearthed! (Part I of II)
First part of a review of the New Age foundations of the Soil Association. More...
Isidor Saslav: Pipe Dreams Come To East Texas
The East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, celebrating the world's third-oldest musical instrument, was an unusual and rewarding time. More...
Paul Buhle: The Pan-African Revolt: A History Within A History
A review of C.L.R. James's A History of the Pan-African Revolt. More...
Peter Byrne: The Piper Of Hamlet's Rap
A short story set in a Hamlet hog farm, about not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry. More...
John M. Marshall: Diamonds
In autumn equinox, the cavalry defends its land from an army of insurgents. More...
Guido Monte: poet, poetry
Guido Monte talks about his meaning of poetry. More...
Thoughts from France on President Normal, Franco-Russian roulette, the economic basket case, and laughable zoo; a note from the niece of a Golden Gate Bridge suicide victim; and a few words on censorship and the Newtown school shooting. 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 »