Swans' Release: September 22, 2003

["Gilles d'Aymery" <aymery@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.swans.com/
September 22, 2003 -- In this issue:

Note from the Editor:  Indian gaming is to the livelihood of Native 
Americans as the lottery is to quality education of children; that is, 
both scams, and both Band-Aid funding solutions in a society that 
values war-being over well-being. Imagine, then, that fate finds your 
Native American lands falling within the borders of what was to 
become Utah, where gambling is illegal. The economic alternative? 
Become a repository for spent nuclear waste, a chilling solution for the 
Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians, described by Gerard Donnelly 
Smith. With 10,000 years to decay and more weapons on the 
horizon, job security is certain...though their survival is not. Manuel 
García, a nuclear physicist, is pleading for an end to nuclear weapons 
development and he shares his recent letter to Senator Dianne 
Feinstein in support of her stance on the issue. Feinstein is a lone 
voice in an environment where war is business and pollution is a 
commodity to be sold, bartered and traded as in Bush's "Clear Skies" 
initiative, but Michael Stowell forecasts continued rain -- acid rain, 
that is.  

Survival of the fittest has become the basic tenent of democracy, 
though just what one means by "democracy" anymore is explored by 
Richard Macintosh and Philip Greenspan. For not only are we, 
Americans, the fittest in the world, we are God's Chosen People. Phil 
Rockstroh, in his unique and sardonic manner, explains how we have 
exchanged reason and compassion for endless killing in the name of 
god, and vengeance on behalf of the dead, all of which have only been 
exacerbated by 9-11. Charles Buffalo looks at the hypocrisy that 
defined that day's American casualties as 'tragic' and those we've 
previously and since inflicted as 'collateral damage,' and Abdul Latif 
Aeppli, an American Muslim, relates the dehumanizing racism and 
hatred he and fellow Muslims are experiencing. But what goes around 
comes around, for individuals as well as nations, and Tim Bellows 
pledges to act accordingly.  

Gilles d'Aymery has been struggling with a case of Computer Blues; in 
fact, a footnote to his commentary is that his mouse went AWOL mid-
 publication of this rendition. How to build a better mousetrap -- or 
computer, for that matter? It's not rocket science...but then, the field 
of rocket science is also going by the wayside, as Alma Hromic 
laments both editorially and poetically while exploring the demise of 
NASA and, potentially, the dreams and promises of space 
exploration. Welcome to the world of computerized sky monsters and 
DARPA satellites, poeticized by Scott Orlovsky. Finally, an 
interesting assortment of Letters to the Editor worth perusing (check 
the graphic about racism and take the test...).  

As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and 
foes) know about Swans. It's your voice that makes ours grow.  

                                   **********

Here is the list of all the pieces:

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/gsmith07.html
Environmental Suicide or Economic Survival
by Gerard Donnelly Smith

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/mgarci02.html
US Insane Nuclear Policy: Letter to my Senator
by Manuel Garcia, Jr.

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/mws048.html
Acid Reign - by Michael W. Stowell

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/rmac14.html
Delusions - by Richard Macintosh

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/pgreen31.html
Where Are the Democracies? - by Philip Greenspan

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/procks09.html
Gods, Ghosts, And Superstitions - by Phil Rockstroh

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/cbuffa03.html
Why? - by Charles Buffalo

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/abdula01.html
Being A Muslim Since 9/11 - by Abdul Latif Aeppli

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/zig088.html
Action, Reaction - by Tim Bellows

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/ga163.html
Summer Computing Blues - by Gilles d'Aymery

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/aah041.html
Cancelled, Because Of Budget Cuts - by Alma A. Hromic

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/aah042.html
The Five Questions -- And An Answer
Poem by Alma A. Hromic

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/sorlov13.html
Talking To Myself Out In Right Field
Poem by Scott Orlovsky

http://www.swans.com/library/art9/letter29.html
Letters to the Editor

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Thank you for reading Swans.  

Gilles d'Aymery  

--
Swans

"Hungry man, rush for the book: It is a weapon."  B. Brecht


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