March 22, 2010
March 22, 2010
Trade liberty for safety or money and you'll end up with neither. Liberty, like a grain of salt, easily dissolves.
The power of questioning -- not simply believing -- has no friends. Yet liberty depends on it. ***
Note from the Editors:
It is time to go to press, and we still don't know if America is about to collapse into socialisticommiemarxism over so-called health care reform that will not even take effect until the insurance companies have pillaged the public for another 4 years, so we'll have to save our analysis of the outcome for next time around. And frankly, we have much more interesting matters to discuss than the faux debate over health care reform, or sick care non-reform as Gilles d'Aymery aptly calls it in his real-life look at health insurance, the last of the so-called progressives, failing banks, succeeding billionaires, and the greatest country in cyberspace. (Aymery, along with Marie Rennard, also shares some thoughts on and links to the comrade and extraordinary French singer Jean Ferrat.) Should the watered down health care bill pass, time will tell if its proponents are correct in their assertion that any reform is better than none, though Joel Hirschhorn argues otherwise; while Charles Marowitz, feeling pessimistic, just needs a good rant. The hope for true reform remains dim when considering Michael Barker's history of Planned Parenthood. Barker demonstrates why their activism serves the interests of capitalist elite and not those of their target -- the rest of the planet. Meanwhile, please take a moment to write to attorney Lynne Stewart, who was imprisoned after representing Sheikh Omar for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Martin Murie tells the tragic story of his friend and fellow antiwar activist, and the fate of attorneys who dare represent accused terrorists.
Moving away from our impoverished society to our rich culture, Paul Buhle welcomes the radical comics that are picking up steam, and Femi Akomolafe pens Nigerian humor on the return of the country's missing president, who's still MIA. Art Shay anxiously awaits Johnny Depp's purported portrayal of his friend Nelson Algren on the big screen, and wonders if Danny DeVito will shrink to new lows to play him. Isidor Saslav presents Part Two of his operatic observations, an article that landed Swans co-editor in the bureaucratic Permissions Request lap of the Gray Lady, leading Aymery to consider Fair Use, copyrights, and copynorms. Peter Byrne spins a yarn about his open gate through which a mysterious woman meets him each morning for conversation.
Dans le coin français, Christine Spadacinni performs her linguistic acrobatics with ironic observations on France's Day of the Woman. In the wake of a vulgar news item Jean-Claude Seine reminds us that racism is alive and well in France. Marie Rennard tells everything you want to know about snails -- there is much to learn about them. Christian Cottard shows how life, books, the life of books, and destiny can be surprising; and we end le coin with a short poem by Simone Alié-Daram.
We close this issue with Guido Monte and Silvia Dello Russo who remember the mysterious verses of old and recent poets, and your letters.
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"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense."
Quotations Search:
On our Mind
 Jean Ferrat (1930-2010) Ma France Camarade La montagne Ma môme Que serais-je sans toi Potemkine Je ne chante pas pour passer le temps Pauvres petits c... Nuits et brouillards Le jardin de Jean
RESISTANCE: In The Eye Of The American Hegemon
What is
YOUR Purpose?
Question
YOUR Answers!
War is NOT
the Answer
Think
before you think! —Stanislaw Lec
Don't believe everything you think!
Localize!
Relocalize!
Conserve!
Don't believe.
Think!
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Tidbits Flying Across the Martian Desk
Blips #98
"Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system."
Gilles d'Aymery is Swans' publisher and co-editor.
America: Myths & Realities
Weak Reforms Are Worse Than No Reforms
The need for deep, serious reforms of the American political system is abundantly clear to all but the most ignorant, unintelligent, and brainwashed people. The sinking of the U.S. into second-class status seems clear as the corrupt and dysfunctional two-party plutocracy continues to favor corporate interests and the upper class while letting the middle class become part of a large lower class. One way that political elites maintain control is to let serious reform movements exist but ensure that they are marginalized. More... Joel S. Hirschhorn is the author of Delusional Democracy and Sprawl Kills.
The Pessimist's Rant
It is crystal-clear who the villains are: The insurance cartels that shamelessly increase the payments on downtrodden and often unemployed clients. The banks, both large and small, that refuse to provide loans for small businesses despite the fact that one of the objectives of the federal bailout was to provide such incentives. The Wall Street brokers who devise complex methods for milking the general public and whose bonuses rise as steadily as their clients' savings wane. More... Charles Marowitz is an author of over two dozen books and numerous essays and articles who lives in Southern California.
Planned Parenthood For Capitalists
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America serves a critical role in contemporary society, not as a harbinger of charity and health, but instead as an integral humanitarian tool in capitalism's war against life. This blunt description runs counter to this group's liberal self-image as a trusted, informed, and passionate advocate for reproductive health worldwide, and most likely does not reflect the ideological proclivities of a large number of their well-meaning supporters. Nevertheless, last month, Planned Parenthood's national president, Cecile Richards, was rewarded for her outstanding commitment to the ruling class when she accepted a coveted position on the Ford Foundation's board of trustees -- a foundation that is well accepted as being one of the main financial engines for capitalist policy-planning networks. More... Michael Barker is an independent researcher who currently resides in the UK.
Activism under the Radar Screen
The Gray Lady And Copyright Insanities
Everyone who is familiar with Swans ins and outs knows that I am adamantly opposed to multi-posting and shun scavengers who for whatever lame arguments steal work from the 14-year-old publication and repost it on their Blogs, social networks, Web groups and sites. This no-multi posting policy is fully accepted by all the writers who contribute their original work, which we carefully edit and publish every fortnight. Over the years, the readers, many with personal Web sites, mailing lists, or their own Web publications, have come to respect our policy, even when not agreeing with my arguments behind it. There are, of course, a few bad apples out there, like the one Peter Byrne tackled recently, and which I track down whenever possible, but by and large decent viewers and readers (and most people are indeed decent) abide by the rules. The flip side is that I too have to abide by the same policies and make sure that any short excerpt of someone else's work is fully documented and attributed; and since Swans pieces are all copyrighted I am particularly attentive to the copyrights of other authors, which can lead to ironic situations as my recent experience with The New York Times (NYT) shows -- and demonstrates how rotten and broken copyrights laws are. More... Gilles d'Aymery is Swans' publisher and co-editor.
The Lynne Stewart Story
Several years ago Lynne Stewart and her husband Ralph Pointer joined our antiwar group in Malone, New York. Malone is the county seat of Franklin County, which borders on the north with the Quebec line, one of the gateways to the Adirondack region. We became friends and colleagues with Lynne and Ralph. Whenever they came to the North Country for a few days of freedom from New York City life they joined our antiwar group at Veteran's Park at Elm and Main. We soon learned that Lynne had been granted freedom to pursue her appeal from the most ridiculous charge you could imagine. More... Martin Murie is a writer and veteran activist who lives in Xenia, Ohio.
Hungry Man, Reach For The Book
Radical Comics
Radical comics are picking up steam -- on the Web, in print (sometimes old-style comic format, sometimes not), and in that new format, pay-on-Web (i.e., Kindle books). Artists and scriptwriters, younger and older, are adapting to the changing political landscape after the amazing Obama election and the disappointing Obama letdown. More... Paul Buhle is the author or editor of forty books. He is working on his ninth comic book.
Africa
Nigeria: Thank God Our President Is Back
• I will praise thee, o my savior, I will praise thee for ever more. • Hey, Alhaji na wetin bring you to church? And na you dey sing 'I will praise thee' like a zealot? (pidgin English) • I beg, make you leave me alone. Didn't you hear the good news? I will praise thee, o my savior, I will praise thee for ever more. I will shout hallelujah, I will worship thy name, o, me I go worship my lord o, my God is too good for me. (typical Nigerian grammatical construction) • And you, a Moslem, shouting 'I will praise thee, oh, my savior,' in a Christian church! Wonders shall never cease. More... Femi Akomolafe is a computer consultant, a writer and social commentator, and a passionate Pan-Africanist who lives in Kasoa, Ghana.
Arts & Culture
Collaboration
Over this very writing station I keep a small bulletin board on which I post the latest news of my novelist friend Nelson Algren, better known as Jean Paul Sartre's competitor in the storming of the emotional and sexual heights of the great Simone de Beauvoir. The board is about to flood, New Orleans style, onto its surrounding white walls. My God, poor -- in every sense of the word except literary and sexual achievement -- Nelson has been dead since 1981. My son Harmon, whom Nelson godfathered, has been one with the Florida swamps since he was murdered there as a genius Hippie two weeks shy of his 21st birthday in 1972. More... Art Shay is the author-photographer of more than fifty books, "the pre-eminent photojournalist of the 20th century..."
The World of Music
It's A Nice Word, Comrade
Like many others, he believed in it for a long time, and even after history had showed him what communism was, he kept dreaming of it. That's how dreamers are. They have dreams, they love poetry, and music, and the blowing of the wind on their moustache. Jean Ferrat was one of them. A dreamer, a poet, within his heart the love of mankind, and a sexy Gallic moustache. A whole period of the French history. More... Marie Rennard is an author and poet who lives in Annecy, France.
Ruminations On Rusalka, The Ring, Cyrano, And Shreker - Part II
After Wagner's Ring in 2004, on a more recent operatic visit to NY in 2005 I was engaged with Franco Alfano's (1875 - 1954) Cyrano de Bergerac (1936), revived by the Metropolitan Opera as a vehicle for Placido Domingo. Edmund Rostand's (1868 - 1918) original play itself is currently (in 2010) at the New York State Theater and was broadcast nationwide recently over public television. I was pleased to encounter the rarity of its operatic version, especially to see what Alfano's own style might have been like, since all we ever had heard of his works was his completion of Puccini's (1858 - 1924) Turandot after the composer's death in 1924. More... Isidor Saslav is a concertmaster who lives with his wife, concert pianist Ann Heiligman Saslav, in Overton, Texas.
Short Story
The Open Gate
It's not that I didn't want to do something for her. We're not like that. I'm not like that. I don't wish to be like that. But what to do for her? She stopped me again in the morning outside my front gate as I started for the station. I knew she wouldn't take money. I'd offered her some before. Twice in fact. Of course it was foolish of me to pull out my checkbook the first time. Where would she cash a check? Would she have identification, a bank of her own? All that. She seemed to be homeless, though in the middle of London she had to have some connection to someone or something. God knows where she slept. I suggested the social services to her, but she didn't want to hear about them. More... Peter Byrne is an American-born teacher and writer who lives in Lecce, Italy.
Le coin français
La dame de la péniche aux camélias
Aujourd'hui c'est le 8 mars. Anne monte sur le pont de la péniche pour prendre la température. Fraîche, très fraîche. Une aube en hiver se balade toute fière dans sa robe de frimas et vient lui mordre les joues de son petit air glacé. La Seine est sale, des milliers de rondelles en plastique flottent dans des auréoles de gazole, dernière pollution en date. Une radio lointaine martèle les quatre mots du jour : journée de la femme. C'est parti... Journée de la femme par ci. Une philosophe philosophe. More... Christine Spadaccini est une auteur et poète qui vit à Clermont Ferrand, France.
Le corps français traditionnel
Cayenne, la France d'ailleurs, celle qui reçoit parfois le corps français traditionnel. La Guyane des villes, au charme discret d'un monde entre deux : pas tout a fait coloniale, pas tout a fait nos compatriotes, un peu nous, mais couleur café ; moderne mais d'un modernisme provincial, un anachronisme géographique d'un vert intense. More... Jean-Claude Seine est un auteur, journaliste et reporter photo qui vit à Nîmes, France.
Hélix
Des auteurs antiques, Pline semble être le premier à avoir fait mention des vertus thérapeutiques de l'escargot. Utilisé pour guérir les écrouelles, les furoncles, soulager la toux, la goutte, les maux d'estomac ou les rages de dents, on le prescrivait aussi - écrivait-il, pour guérir la folie. More... Marie Rennard est une auteur et poète qui vit à Annecy, France. Elle est l'éditrice en chef du coin français.
Comme...
Comme, malgré la crise, il était encore en paix, ce pays, en cette fin de Juillet... Comme elle était paisible, l'ambiance de cette petite ville de la côte normande à l'heure où l'on remonte de la plage... Comme ils étaient aimables, les trois jeunes gens qui dévalaient en bicyclette l'Avenue de la plage dans la lumière rasante de cette fin d'après midi d'insouciance... More... Christian Cottard est né en 1953 et vit à Velleron où il exerce la profession de professeur d'EPS.
Le café
Le café triste a perdu ses couleurs ; Simone Alié-Daram, à la retraite d'une carrière distinguée en médecine, est une auteur et poète qui vit à Toulouse, France.
Multilingual Poetry
Blurred Vision
and Baudelaire, as if a dream:
Guido Monte teaches Italian and Latin literature in Palermo, Italy.
Letters to the Editor
On Dave Patterson's novel Greenways and alternatives to a better world, exception to Charles Marowitz's review of Avatar, praise for Marowitz's brilliant literary archealogy in his unearthed interview with T.S. Eliot, and an emotional appeal on the daily tragedy in the Channel of Sicily. More... We appreciate your comments. Please, remember to sign your e-mails with your real name and add your city, state, country, address and phone number. If we publish your opinion we will only include your name, city, state, and country. Thank you.
Swans by Subject
- Activism under the Radar Screen Keep in Mind...
– Fourteen million trees are cut down in the U.S. each year to supply paper bags nationwide. – According to researchers at the University of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Agriculture, an average of more than 7 calories of fossil fuel is burned up for every calorie of energy we get from our food. So, it takes 3,500 calories of fossil fuel to eat your 500-calorie breakfast. – "They" say that nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary to end the Pacific War and save lives. Was Hiroshima necessary? You be the judge. What will "they" say once they have nuked Iran? – According to tolerance.org, every day at least eight blacks, three whites, three gays, three Jews, and one Latino become hate crime victims. – Please support Swans. – You can syndicate Swans with our RSS Feed, courtesy of Sean M. Burke. – Support your local businesses. – Say NO to Amazon.com and the corporate bookchains! Support your local independent bookstores! Check Independent Bookstores in the U.S. and Canada. – You can visit Swans READING ROOM for some books we recommend. – Every time you reload the front page, one of 87 different quotes appears randomly in the left margin. – Thank you for visiting Swans and for reading its contents. Endeavor to become an agent of change. – 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 financial subscriber. See our Donate page.
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