[Marxism] Swans Release: Mar. 9, 2009

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Swans Commentary
> http://www.swans.com/
> March 9, 2009
> 
> Please, consider supporting our co-operative work financially. See 
> http://www.swans.com/about/donate.html -- Thank you.
> 
> Note from the Editors:  "Attempting to solve problems using the tools, 
> techniques, and thoughts that created them is silly," as Milo Clark often 
> averred in these pages -- a notion of thinking outside the box to which Swans 
> subscribes. Yet with the global economy facing seemingly insurmountable 
> challenges, the technique most prominently at play in the mainstream is the 
> well-honed propaganda that seduces We the Sheeple into tolerating obscene 
> executive compensation packages while our wages shrink; believing the economy 
> will collapse if taxes on the wealthy increase; and considering 
> redistribution of riches and universal health care as evil and socialistic, 
> when we direly need a piece of those riches and sorely lack access to that 
> health care. Gilles d'Aymery covers the latest round of economic excesses and 
> ecchymoses, and shares a glimpse of the scary French social system, the 
> Wal*Mart paradox, and more. Following on propaganda, Michael Barker 
> investigates the US government's manipulation of the media and the role of 
> the recently formed Center for International Media Assistance, while Charles 
> Marowitz critiques, to put it mildly, the bombastic bursts of political 
> clichés spewing across the airwaves from Rush Limbaugh and his ilk, who hope 
> that the Obama ship will sink, not understanding they too are on board.
> 
> Obscene financial packages for the powerful are not just Made in America, by 
> the way -- Femi Akomolafe reports from Ghana on the mind-bending pensions 
> that his former president and parliament awarded themselves after turning 
> this once proud nation into a groveling vassal state of the imperialists. 
>>From Ghana we turn our sights to Istanbul, with Peter Byrne leading our tour 
> through his wonderful experiences, past and present. We then make a stop at 
> the silver screen with a treatise by Raju Peddada on the art of critique and 
> the kitschy state of film reviewing in our contemporary culture. And an 
> innocent request to Art Shay for an explanation of Chicago politics resulted 
> in the debut of a musical, 21st century movie-murder-fantasy screenplay -- 
> perhaps the only way he could capture the craziness of the genre that most 
> recently produced Rod Blagojevich.
> 
>>From the reading room, Charles Marowitz explains his life-long love for 
> writer William Saroyan, who lives on through his celebration of the ordinary 
> and of being, while poetry comes to life through Guido Monte's simple word 
> that breaks the chain of war and Marie Rennard's polesy on the earth-bound 
> music that makes it worth sticking around. Scott Porter has some thoughts on 
> how humanity might escape from the darkness, and we close with your words, 
> including an open letter to President Obama; thoughts on Dmitry Orlov, 
> socially irresponsible doomsters, and survivalism lite; peeling back the 
> propaganda to understand the tragic events in Gaza, and more.
> 
>                                                  # # # # #
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/desk082.html
> Blips #82 - From the Martian Desk - Gilles d'Aymery
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/barker15.html
> Global Media Managers - Michael Barker
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/cmarow132.html
> The Bum's Rush - Charles Marowitz
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/pbyrne94.html
> My Istanbul - Peter Byrne
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/femia06.html
> Ghana: The Audacity Of Looting - Femi Akomolafe
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/rajup09.html
> Reviewing The Reviewers - Raju Peddada
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/ashay09.html
> The State Of The State Of Elanoys: Waiting For Blago - Art Shay
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/cmarow131.html
> William Saroyan's "Where The Bones Go" - Book Review by Charles Marowitz
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/gmonte63.html
> War n.4 (The End) - Multilingual Poem by Guido Monte
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/marier27.html
> No Way To Leave - Poem by Marie Rennard
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/porter15.html
> The Cave Revisited - R. Scott Porter
> 
> http://www.swans.com/library/art15/letter160.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-
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> Cordially,
> Gilles d'Aymery
> --
> Swans
> 
> "Hungry man, reach for the book: It is a weapon."  B. Brecht

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