Swans Commentary http://www.swans.com/ September 7, 2009
$$$ - If you read Swans and appreciate the quality of its content please
SUPPORT US FINANCIALLY. Thank you.
http://www.swans.com/about/donate.html - $$$
Note from the Editors: There has been a recent uproar, if a scant news
cycle can be labeled thus, over Scotland's compassionate release of
convicted Pan Am Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi who is
suffering from end- stage prostate cancer. Except it turns out that this
"humanitarian" gesture allegedly had more to do with securing BP's $900
million oil exploration contract with Libya than showing empathy for a
dying man -- an interesting backdrop for Gilles d'Aymery's Blips in
which all politics is local, diverting our efforts toward saving
community health centers instead of stopping the obscene military
spending on ventures designed to preserve our (i.e., the elites') way
of life. Or as Michael Barker notes in his research on modern-day
slavery, capitalism has replaced the tangible slave shackles with less
visible means of social control, and humanitarian groups appear more
concerned with sustaining the capitalist elites than saving human life.
Charles Marowitz whittles it down to a less subtle conjecture on the
fundamental division between the Stupid and the Smart, the former
believing that social reform equals dictatorship, while the latter take
advantage of the dumbing-down to further their agenda. As Femi
Akomolafe puts it in his dialogue on Nigeria's corruption, American
wealth was built by robber barons and other scalawags who make Nigerian
politicians look angelic... Tiziano Terzani's series of *Letters
Against the War* continues to resonate with Martin Murie, who concurs
that a defense of diversity among nations, instead of mindless
uniformity built by market ideologies and the realities they forge, is
fundamental for a shift away from the rule of Empire.
Under the circumstances, the time has come for us to get some smarts,
despite all those cuts in education funds. We'll begin our curriculum
with Peter Byrne, who on this Labor Day reviews Harvey Pekar and Paul
Buhle's brilliantly conceived graphic tribute to the legendary Studs
Terkel, after which the ever-colorful Art Shay gives a rave review of
*Inglourious Basterds,* a make-believe account of a band of Jews'
revenge against the Nazis. Concermaster Isidor Saslav reports on Bard
College's annual Summerscape Festival, in which two operatic gems of
converted Judaic culture are revived in the context of this year's
featured composer, the anti-Semitic Richard Wagner. The poetry corner
is edified by the primordial linguistic blending of maestro Guido Monte
and a dreamy offering by Jeffery Klaehn. Finally, we learn from Raju
Peddada's experiments in navigating the brazen world of auto repairs.
We close with your letters, in which Peter Byrne answers the Saul
Bellow debate, an uninsured reader responds to Jan Baughman's socialism
sardonicism, and Charles Marowitz bids good riddance to Texas.
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes)
know about Swans.
# # # # #
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/desk089.html Blips #89 - From the
Martian Desk - Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/barker30.html Combating [Some]
Slavery - Michael Barker
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/cmarow146.html Smart Or Stupid? -
Charles Marowitz
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/femia18.html The Logic Of Corruption
- Femi Akomolafe
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/murie78.html *Hei Ram* (Oh God!) -
Martin Murie
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/pbyrne108.html Studs Reloaded - Book
Review by Peter Byrne
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/ashay14.html Sick Glourious Basterds
- Film Review by Art Shay
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/saslav14.html The Great
Meyerbeer-Mendelssohn Mystery - Isidor Saslav
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/gmonte75.html Chaos - Multilingual
Poetry by Guido Monte
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/klaehn02.html All My Life I've
Dream(p)t Of You - Poetry by Jeffery Klaehn
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/rajup20.html All Our Rough Rides -
Raju Peddada
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/letter173.html Letters to the Editor
# # # # #
Please, consider supporting our co-operative work financially. See
http://www.swans.com/about/donate.html
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 tSwans Commentary
http://www.swans.com/ September 7, 2009
$$$ - If you read Swans and appreciate the quality of its content please
SUPPORT US FINANCIALLY. Thank you.
http://www.swans.com/about/donate.html - $$$
Note from the Editors: There has been a recent uproar, if a scant news
cycle can be labeled thus, over Scotland's compassionate release of
convicted Pan Am Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi who is
suffering from end- stage prostate cancer. Except it turns out that this
"humanitarian" gesture allegedly had more to do with securing BP's $900
million oil exploration contract with Libya than showing empathy for a
dying man -- an interesting backdrop for Gilles d'Aymery's Blips in
which all politics is local, diverting our efforts toward saving
community health centers instead of stopping the obscene military
spending on ventures designed to preserve our (i.e., the elites') way
of life. Or as Michael Barker notes in his research on modern-day
slavery, capitalism has replaced the tangible slave shackles with less
visible means of social control, and humanitarian groups appear more
concerned with sustaining the capitalist elites than saving human life.
Charles Marowitz whittles it down to a less subtle conjecture on the
fundamental division between the Stupid and the Smart, the former
believing that social reform equals dictatorship, while the latter take
advantage of the dumbing-down to further their agenda. As Femi
Akomolafe puts it in his dialogue on Nigeria's corruption, American
wealth was built by robber barons and other scalawags who make Nigerian
politicians look angelic... Tiziano Terzani's series of *Letters
Against the War* continues to resonate with Martin Murie, who concurs
that a defense of diversity among nations, instead of mindless
uniformity built by market ideologies and the realities they forge, is
fundamental for a shift away from the rule of Empire.
Under the circumstances, the time has come for us to get some smarts,
despite all those cuts in education funds. We'll begin our curriculum
with Peter Byrne, who on this Labor Day reviews Harvey Pekar and Paul
Buhle's brilliantly conceived graphic tribute to the legendary Studs
Terkel, after which the ever-colorful Art Shay gives a rave review of
*Inglourious Basterds,* a make-believe account of a band of Jews'
revenge against the Nazis. Concermaster Isidor Saslav reports on Bard
College's annual Summerscape Festival, in which two operatic gems of
converted Judaic culture are revived in the context of this year's
featured composer, the anti-Semitic Richard Wagner. The poetry corner
is edified by the primordial linguistic blending of maestro Guido Monte
and a dreamy offering by Jeffery Klaehn. Finally, we learn from Raju
Peddada's experiments in navigating the brazen world of auto repairs.
We close with your letters, in which Peter Byrne answers the Saul
Bellow debate, an uninsured reader responds to Jan Baughman's socialism
sardonicism, and Charles Marowitz bids good riddance to Texas.
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes)
know about Swans.
# # # # #
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/desk089.html Blips #89 - From the
Martian Desk - Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/barker30.html Combating [Some]
Slavery - Michael Barker
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/cmarow146.html Smart Or Stupid? -
Charles Marowitz
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/femia18.html The Logic Of Corruption
- Femi Akomolafe
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/murie78.html *Hei Ram* (Oh God!) -
Martin Murie
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/pbyrne108.html Studs Reloaded - Book
Review by Peter Byrne
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/ashay14.html Sick Glourious Basterds
- Film Review by Art Shay
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/saslav14.html The Great
Meyerbeer-Mendelssohn Mystery - Isidor Saslav
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/gmonte75.html Chaos - Multilingual
Poetry by Guido Monte
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/klaehn02.html All My Life I've
Dream(p)t Of You - Poetry by Jeffery Klaehn
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/rajup20.html All Our Rough Rides -
Raju Peddada
http://www.swans.com/library/art15/letter173.html Letters to the Editor
# # # # #
Please, consider supporting our co-operative work financially. See
http://www.swans.com/about/donate.html
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
eam. 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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