Swans Release: May 22, 2006

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.swans.com/
May 22, 2006 -- In this issue

Note from the Editor:  It is fitting to begin our second decade of
publication with various works on Arts & Culture. Whether one wants to
bring back Dada, as Charles Marowitz does, or looks with Louis Proyect at
the witch hunt of media personalities such as Edward Murrow, Fred
Friendly, and Stephan Fleischman, politics and culture are always
enmeshed. Peter Byrne also demonstrates this by revisiting racism and the
Studs Lonigan trilogy by the fervent socialist author, James Farrell. Or
take the recent censorship in France of one of the very best plays of
Peter Handke, who attended the funeral of Slobodan Milosevic and was
accused of holding nonconformist political views and mobbed by the
chattering class... Politics often intrudes in the world of Arts &
Culture, which in turn reflects or opposes the world of politics. There
are other cultural patterns that repeat themselves; some of them you wish
would not exist. Take the plagiarized work by the collective "Retort" in
the London Review of Books, which the latter did not want to address --
that too belongs to the realm of culture. Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan
Nitzan offer a brief assessment and possible explanation of the
phenomenon. In every case you're passing seamlessly from the realm of
Arts & Culture to politics and oppositely.

Dimitri Oram, in many ways, shows how political culture can twist the
historical record even within the "progressive" media; how conformism --
the practice of not straying from the official line -- stifles political
debate, here too within the construct of so-called mild radicalism (e.g.,
Democracy Now!). What exists of progressive radio voices, as George Beres
experienced, are drowned out by the well-funded voices of the political
Right.

So while the corporate media continues to parrot the views of the powers-
that-be -- now funneled through the mouthpiece of a former Fox News
commentator -- rather than connecting the patterns that permeate the
atrocities of the Western powers, Michael Doliner takes a hard look at
the oil pattern, the escalating threats against Iran, and the aftermath
that an attack there will unleash. Our thirst for oil and the resulting
environmental damage are equally ignored by the media; Milo Clark shows
that there is more to climate change than just melting ice caps. Ah, but
how to change the status quo? Philip Greenspan is hoping for a major
eruption -- of massive protest, that is.

An ardent anti-war voice is Stan Goff; his new book on organized
violence, "Sex and War," is reviewed by William T. Hathaway. The deeply
profound and painful consequences of war and death are expressed in
poetry by Gerard Donnelly Smith in memory of his brother; and Guido
Monte's poem says it in any language: there are no right wars!

Tying all this together, our editor's blips look at cultural priorities
and ethics 101, with much "love and respect" for right-wing worm Joseph
Farah -- and a bit about the real immigration issues; scandals of French
political proportions; how many Boonville telephone workers it takes to
fix a fallen cable, and more. Finally, take a minute to read the letter
to Kofi Annan from the Israeli Committee for a Middle East Free from
Atomic, Biological & Chemical Weapons.

As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes)
know about Swans.

                                          *****

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/cmarow46.html
Bring Back Dada - Charles Marowitz

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/lproy37.html
Television And The Witch Hunt  - Louis Proyect

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/pbyrne04.html
Whatever Became Of Studs Lonigan? - Peter Byrne

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/ga209.html
The Peter Handke Controversy - Gilles d'Aymery

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/nitzan01.html
Imperialism And Plagiarism - Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/doram01.html
Open Letter To Democracy Now! - Dimitri Oram

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/gberes13.html
Eugene's Progressive Radio Hurt When Democrat Quits - George Beres

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/mdolin16.html
The Last Petal - Michael Doliner

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/mgc184.html
Climate: Weather Compounded - Milo Clark

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/pgreen89.html
Can The Status Be Un-Quo'ed? - Philip Greenspan

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/whatha04.html
Stan Goff's "Sex & War" - Book Review by William T. Hathaway

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/gsmith67.html
Peace Patch - Poem by Gerard Donnelly Smith

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/gmonte01.html
There Are No Right Wars - Poem by Guido Monte

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/desk036.html
Blips #36, from the Martian Desk - Gilles d'Aymery

http://www.swans.com/library/art12/letter91.html
Letters to the Editor

[Announcement]
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/anews02.html
Letter to Kofi Annan from the Israeli Committee For a Middle East Free
from Atomic, Biological & Chemical Weapons.

                                                #####

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Swans

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