We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

2013 [Infamous] Predictions

Click here to access article by the Swan's collective: 
The irreverent subset of the Swans collective that brings these Infamous Predictions™ to you features the usual clowns that perform at your local circus on a regular basis, whose cast this year is Michael Barker, Jan Baughman, Peter Byrne, Fabio De Propris, Manuel García, Jr., Jonah Raskin, Glenn Reed, Harvey Whitney, Jr., and, of course, your fearless Gallic editor [Gilles d'Aymery], who welcomes readers' flames, whines, and outrage while denying all responsibility for the reckless endeavor. Don't sue him. He is penniless. 
God (or Allah, etc) knows, we need humor! And, this group has supplied it abundantly in this piece in which they make outrageously funny predictions for the new year so that we can courageously face what lies ahead. (Incidentally, they are barely hanging on by a financial thread--they need help.)

Behind the humor lies a much more serious purpose. This writer's collective in actuality is a motley collection of guerrilla fighters holed up in the Santa Cruz mountains of California and preparing to launch a revolutionary armed struggle to liberate the US. (just kidding)