> Swans Commentary > http://www.swans.com/ > October 5, 2009 > > FUNDRAISING TIME: Gentle-hearted readers, do you remember what Swans is > about? "In a time of revisionism, faux-semblant, spinning news, and skewed > information, Swans is about thinking, questioning, observing, and providing > ideas that are lacking in the mainstream media." (It's also about Arts & > Culture.) An insightful observer once noted, "In sum, Swans is an ad-free > rational island in an ocean of commercial make-believe." Please help us reach > our $3,000 goal for 2009. Donate now! -- > http://www.swans.com/about/donate.html > > @ @ @ @ @ > > Note from the Editors: When Edmund Burke wrote in 1756 that "No passion so > effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear," > he could not have imagined that over 250 years later, vitriolic fear- > mongering would be so successfully waged against the notion of providing for > people's health and well being. While the War on Health may appear unreasoned > and reactionary on the surface, behind the scenes is a well coordinated, > financed, strategic attack. Gilles d'Aymery continues his analysis of this > debate, uncovering the influence-meddlers, pundits, and demagogues hard at > work to preserve, not reform, the US for-profit sick care system. We cannot > be mere spectators on this important debate; nor can we sit passively while > the case for an attack on Iran is manufactured. Aymery hits hard against > perpetual war and the ignorant masses that swallow the propaganda, from Iraq > to Iran and beyond. > > It's not only the *legal* drug trade for which the mainstream media > manufactures consent for capitalist prerogatives -- Michael Barker delves > beyond a book on the CIA, the Australian drug trade, and the Mackay murder > that has been all but banned by the media. Nigerian corruption is also far > from the news, so Femi Akomolafe takes task with the government officials who > fill their coffers and bury their heads in the sand with no accountability > while the nation suffers from lack of electricity, environmental devastation, > and assaults by militant youth. Activist Martin Murie considers how our very > minds and bodies succumb to acquiescence, relating to rock climbers and > laborers who transcend physical demands and care for the other. Yet from > Nigeria to New Orleans, recalling Hurricane Katrina and the lack of care for > the other, we learn from Garry Potter just how dystopian realities already > found in much of the Third World have begun to visit the First. > > Moving on to counter-cultural matters, Steve Shay tells of stuffing his > hundred-pound dog in the Volkswagen and making a cross-country move from > suburban Chicago to life on a boat in Washington State; Peter Byrne considers > the profound collection of the exiled national poet of Palestine, Mahmoud > Darwish; and Charles Marowitz reviews a book on the complexity of poet and > mystic-philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Jeffery Klaehn presents a love > poem in seven chapters, from the promise of love to the ultimate decision, > and circling back to health care and the impact of obesity in America, Raju > Peddada would like to impose a punitive approach on the obese to cut the fat > from both the population and the Medicare budget, though having read *Fast > Food Nation,* the editors would rather punish the food industry for its > fattening and addicting products. As always we close with your letters, > demonstrating the diversity that Swans provides, from cartoons to music, > culture, and international politics. > > # # # # # > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/desk091.html > Blips #91 - From the Martian Desk - Gilles d'Aymery > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/ga273.html > Iran: War Madness - Gilles d'Aymery > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/barker32.html > The CIA, Drugs, And An Australian Killer Cop - Michael Barker > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/potter01.html > New Orleans And Katrina: Past Prediction, Future Dystopia - Garry Potter > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/murie80.html > Climbing, Work, Activism - Martin Murie > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/femia20.html > Yar'adua Fiddles While Nigeria Burns - Femi Akomolafe > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/sshay01.html > Old Macho And The Sea - Short Story by Steve Shay > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/pbyrne110.html > The Poet Who Would Not Be Expelled From History - Book Review by Peter Byrne > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/cmarow148.html > Coleridge: Journey Through Heaven And Hell - Book Review by Charles Marowitz > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/klaehn04.html > Red, Red Roses - Poetry by Jeffery Klaehn > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/rajup21.html > We Are A Fat Country! - Raju Peddada > > http://www.swans.com/library/art15/letter175.html > Letters to the Editor > > # # # # # > > Swans (aka Swans Commentary), ISSN: 1554-4915, is a bi-weekly non- > commercial ad-free Web-only magazine which provides original content to > its readers. We encourage pulp publications to republish Swans' Work in > print format. Please contact the publisher at <aymery AT ix.netcom.com>. > Please, do not repost Swans' Work on the Web and other mailing lists: > "Hypertext" links to any pages of Swans.com are authorized; however, > republication of any part of this site, inlining, mirroring, and framing > are expressly prohibited. We welcome your comments and suggestions. When > writing to Swans, please indicate your first and last name as well as your > city and state (country) of residence. > > You are receiving this E-mail notification for you have expressed your > interest in Swans and the work of its team. If you wish not to receive > these short notifications, simply reply to this E-mail (delete the > content) and enter the word REMOVE in the subject line. We do NOT share > your E-mail address with anyone. > > Cordially, > Gilles d'Aymery > -- > Swans > > "Hungry man, reach for the book: It is a weapon." B. Brecht > >
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