|
|
Archive: August 2008
|
Table of Contents
|
Published: August 2008
|
Art & Culture
 ASARO: Images of Oaxaca
by Kevin McCloskey Off the Wall: Radical Graffiti and prints from Oaxaca, photos by Kevin McCloskey, 2008.
Book Reviews
Heirloom: Book Review
by Kevin McCloskey Tim Stark calls himself one of the tomato people. New York food critics anoint him with loftier titles: Chief of the Tomato People, Tomato Guru, Rockstar Tomato Farmer. He doesn’t grow the flavorless red variety.
Losing our 18th Century Minds
by Jack Straw George Lakoff Dazzles with Science!
Myra Breckenridge by Gore Vidal
by James Patrick MYRA returns!
Health Care: News & Notes
Dylan Brown, an Inspiration
by Ron Stouffer and Rosie Skomitz Dylan, your time here was much too short, but your memory and inspiration live on.
Humor
8 Amazing Holes!
by Karen O'Mara Voytas
1 Comment These holes are not only amazing, but some of them are really terrifying especially #8! The sheer scale of these holes reminds you of just how tiny you are.
1. Kimberley Big Hole - South Africa
2. Glory Hole - Monticello Dam, California
A glory hole is used when a dam is at full capacity and water […]
We’re Voting Republican!
by Pat Brown Say it ain’t so!
Literary Criticism
Who Murdered Science Fiction?
by Timothy Bossard When a new generation of writers takes up the literary challenges of the age, this is where the quest begins.
Media
Geo Beach: A Swamp Yankee in the Last Frontier
by Walter Brasch Unlike Reality TV, there aren’t thousands of people desperately trying to do anything to be on camera and become almost-famous. They aren’t willing to humiliate themselves by eating live bugs, swapping wives, exposing their weak vocals to snippy judges, jumping off buildings, or plotting intricate revenge schemes.
Poetry
Necrophilia
by Steven M. Sloan Singed and silent corpse,
All the world s leaders
Have fallen for you
And will not eschew
The lade of lovers
To hunt for you in corps
Good Guys and Bad Guys
by Laurence Overmire
Who wears the black hat and who the white?
Is evil so easy to recognize?
Can you see inside the shadow of a man s eyes
Who he really is?
Is one man s enemy another man s hero?
We fight with such conviction
These comic book villains who don t really
Exist
Perhaps, by looking in, instead of out
We […]
Movie Version of Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky
by Jack Lindeman Bowles saw it in the desert, and we can see it again now: what we as Yanks do not comprehend, we squash.
Emancipation Proclamation
by Laurence Overmire Eliza
Black cook
Left her master when she heard.
Brave the trail, slave no more
She followed Custer, Union Army
Civil War
Served him meals, shared
A laugh, in trying times
Men’s souls upon the block
Futures for sale or profit
The many or the few
Why would she stay
Through smoke and cannon shell
Choose
In service, cold bitter nights
Rain and mud, why?
“Everybody was a standin’ up”
….she said
“Standin’ […]
Superstition Concerning Blackletter
by Jack Romig A new poem by the CommonSense 2 poetry editor addresses the dark look of a typeface.
Fell Facades
by Steven M. Sloan Soldiers seem both rough and tough, –
But don t be fooled by this shell
For facades are not enough
To face-down one s own death knell.
So when our cannons spit and cough
The gunners appear quite fell, . . .
Until they hear the windy sough
Of a foeman s passing shell.
Politics: National
‘Medaling’ With Free Speech at the Olympics
by Walter Brasch President Bush sounded just like a liberal.
Yes, you read that right. Bush. Liberal. Same sentence.
Reframing the Anti-democratic, Anti-American, and Anti-intellectual Rhetoric of Elite
by Dr. Michele Ramsey
1 Comment Anti-intellectualism is an emotional response to arguments and candidates with which one disagrees. It stems from a fear of coming across ideas that might cause cognitive dissonance, or the discomfort one feels when faced with new information that challenges what one already believes to be true.
It’s Still the Economy, Stupid
by Walter Brasch “Difficult” doesn’t even begin to describe what has happened to Americans the past seven years.
Abominations: Shrimp, Sodomy, and the Lame Case Against Gay Marriage
by Eric Johnson The King James translation of Leviticus uses the same word abomination to describe clam chowder as it does homosexuality.
Politics: State
Mining Racism in a Northeastern Pennsylvania Town
by Walter Brasch I don’t know if the six teens who murdered Luis Ramirez listen to talk radio, watch Fox News, or read web blogs and anonymous call-ins and letters to the local newspaper. They don’t have to. Their community does.
Drinking With Abbie
by Chuck Brown
5 Comments “I guess this shows that God is on our side.”
Short Story
SOPHIE
by Lora Williams During the last decade of her life (she was found dead in her New York apartment in January, 1993) she became a close friend of Jack Lindeman’s through his own long-standing association with novelist-translator Guy Daniels
Travel
Amsterdam In Focus
by Jack Lindeman No matter how far you travel that frail and fragile body which houses your thoughts goes with you and sets very stringent boundaries beyond which your physical aspirations cannot trespass. Where you go it goes like a Siamese twin from which no known surgery this side of consciousness can sever you. It is the leash that keeps pulling you back on track. Derailments are rare and then only temporary.
Mid-Month Supplemental
Keeping you up to date with late breaking news and issues along with previews and other items of interest. Dr. Brasch, Tim Stark and Raving ChuckDr. Walter Brasch has graced the pages of CommonSense2 with his insightful essays and opinion pieces since his arrival here several months ago. In this mid-month supplemental, Walter has two timely and original pieces. In "Medaling" With Free Speech at the Olympics, Walter discusses the hypocrisy of the Bush administration regarding free speech. In Mining Racism in a Northeastern Pennsylvania Town Walter explores the seeds of racism in a provocative essay. Check Walter out. You're sure to become addicted.
Heirloom: Book ReviewTim Stark calls himself one of the tomato people. New York food critics anoint him with loftier titles: Chief of the Tomato People, Tomato Guru, Rockstar Tomato Farmer. He doesn't grow the flavorless red variety. This Issue & Site News
Everything CS2 site related: article info, site developments, coming attractions. CommonSense2 August 2008 Issue #12Or will it be business as usual with activists acting like groupies for the hacks that brought us this mess? Time will tell. We're watching and we'll let you know dear reader. Unsung Heroes
People who work tirelessly for progressive change in our community and state John Scott: A Progressive Speaks Out I don't think this is just like a contention or accusation or a false alarm, but our system has been so completely corrupted. To Your Health
Ron Stouffer and Rosie Skomitz have been waging battles in the health care wars for 15 years. Check back every month for views, opinions and information vital to you and To Your Health The Death of Medicare - Part IIA whole class of workers was forced off traditional Medicare. Will your work group be next? Baby boomers with retirement just around the corner, pay close attention. The Keystone Scorecard
Sylvia Baylor chronicles the absurdities of Harrisburg and our State Legislature. Occasionally The Keystone Scorecard will feature guest authors. Bonus Gate: Keeping Nader Off The Ballot
5 Comments"The Pennsylvania Democrats' effort to deny Pennsylvania voters the choice of voting for the Nader-Camejo candidacy in 2004 appears to have been a criminal conspiracy massive in scale, involving virtually the entire House Democratic caucus staff, and top Democratic leadership," Nader said. Bonus Gate: The Fallout"Bonus Gate," has all the ingredients that the public has come to expect from contemporary political scandal. Cold cash in the form of illicit bonuses handed out to both witting and unwitting accomplices, titillating sexual encounters, interns, blowjobs, dirt surreptitiously uncovered and used on political enemies, all carried out by an unlikely cast of characters. It even has comedic hijinks, and innuendo worthy of the Daily Show'. Bonus Gate: The Perps
1 CommentThe first indictments in the assault on our democracy The Road Less Traveled
I’ve known Kathleen Welch for 35 years. I’ve learned to respect and admire her resilience and her refusal to buckle under to conventional wisdom. As you get to know her through these columns I’m sure you’ll feel the same. Professor KwitzIt seems the same energy goes into road rage, railing against the damn Republicans, bad report cards, racism, sexism, homophobia, religious persecution and self-persecution. They say some days you're the windshield and some days, the bug. The Dark Visions of Sheldon Kaplan
Sheldon Kaplan explores and brings a world into focus that is unseen to most of us NEW YORKER COVER...MY VERSION From August 1st, we have 174 days, 24 weeks (rounded down), 4176 hours, 250,000 minutes or 15,033,600 seconds until the Decider leaves....too long to hold my breath! Just think, he could make 15,033,600 quick decisions with the time he still has. That Woman!!
Dorothy Reilly - You may love her, you may hate her, but you’ll never be confused about where That Woman!! stands. I Want More
2 CommentsI want to be smitten and I want to be pandered to.
|
|
August 2008 - Back Issue