Welcome to the West Side
by Ginger Hamilton Caudill, December 2004
"Gina sells pot. Gina hooks. She has learned she cannot take care of her son and herself on minimum wage. There was a stream of men coming and going from her apartment at any given time of day or night. At least once a month there would be three or even more police cars parked wildly in front of her door. Eventually, the state took Donte from her and placed him with Gina's mother."
from a Quest among the Bewildered
by Wulf Zendik, November 2004
"Come... listen to the dreamer, the idealist, the impractical unrealistic one; with ideas unworkable in this modern world. Ideas and ideals certain to lead you to chaos and dissension, turmoil and conflict—or heaven. Yes, heaven, if such a thing has been, is, or could be, then it is here and now; not on some gold-plated, thick-carpeted, air-conditioned cloud city with excellent plumbing—a place mortally unattainable, unknowable."
The Rucksack Letters: November 27, 2001—Asheville, NC - Knoxville, TN
by Steve McAllister, reprinted November 2004
"I spent the other night at a commune called Zendik Farm, which touts, among their philosophies, an idea called 'Creavolution,' an amalgam of creativity and evolution whereby those who live the ideal have greater control of the person they become. I'd thought much about this idea before I even knew there was a name for it, and upon hearing more about the commune's founder, Wulf Zendik, the more interested I became."
Building the U.S. Elections Issue
by Jonathan Penton, October 2004
"Poets shouldn't keep the same opinions throughout their lifetimes. Philosophers and pundits become boxed in; they often, hopefully inaccurately, believe that a serious shift in opinion will be taken as betrayal by their fans. Poets are allegedly wordsmiths. A poet's fans might appreciate his thoughts, but rarely consider it important to agree with the poetry they read."
Beyond Belief: Notes from the Trough of a Late-Night, Pre-Election Funk
by Ann Keller, October 2004
"Is there any such thing as an ‘unsophisticated' voter? Any factory worker who dropped out of 9th grade knows his kids don't have health insurance and he knows why. The poorest person in the meanest slum in the county knows that he's unemployed and that his kid's in Iraq. If these people had someone to vote FOR, they would. But they don't. What they hear, instead, are speeches about stem cell research, the perils of gay marriage, capital gains taxes, Social Security, and foreign threats."
Why I Won't Be Submitting to Jonathan's U.S. Elections Issue
by Tom Bradley, October 2004
"In the past seven years I have read enough theosophy and esoteric Buddhism to get a fair understanding of the concepts of racial, tribal and national karma, and to realize what I suspected all along: anything, such as elections and war, that influences the lives of whole shitloads of people, is to be treated as a mere spectacle for the soul."
On Why I Won't Be Voting for John Kerry, or Why John Kerry Looks Like a Pencil, or Why John Edwards Just Wants Pussy
by Shane Jones, October 2004
"Well, it's been made official by symbolism. Patriotic balloons fell from the rafters, John Mellancamp placed one foot in the career grave, dozens of thumbs up and fist pumps, and John Kerry arrived by boat with as much class and sophistication as Dolly Parton entering a chicken wing eating contest. It's party time at the Democratic Convention!"
Election Day Predictions
by Greg Cannon, October 2004
"Neither Bush or Kerry will bring the troops home from Iraq or Afghanistan in the next four years. If by some chance I'm wrong and the troops do come home, they won't stay long. Bush will send the troops to more countries, where they'll have lots of adventures to tell their grandkids. It's possible Kerry might do that too, but not as likely. "
What I'll Be Doin' on Election Day
by Randall Karlen Rogers, October 2004
"What will I be doing on election day, November 2, 2004? Probably sitting in front of my computer, drinking coffee or tea, smoking, maybe typing some odd short story or academic paper, thinking about my upcoming death, thinking about all those guys getting their heads chopped off in Iraq, watching the Chinese TV movie channel (I can't understand what they are saying so the noise doesn't bother me)..."
Election 2004: They All Want Our Fear So Be Fearless
by Luke Buckham, October 2004
"...the world abounds with articles entitled "Why Do Americans Hate Politics?" and "Why Americans Hate Politics". We have been given just enough freedom and leisure time to make us cranky about spending our time in the voting booth. Why go voting when you can go bowling, or eat out at Taco Bell, or read about how Oprah's latest weight-loss, without being penalized?"
Citizenship
by Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, October 2004
"I am not eligible to serve jury duty. However, in my profession for the county agency I work for, I have been a court deputy, many times representing clients in court for my department. It is strange how I can write a court report to a judge and affect people's lives, but I cannot serve on a jury."
Dancing With the Beast in a Slow Year: What I will do on election day
by C. Derick Varn
"I am voting this year for civic duty reasons, for reasons of righteous indignation, and for an excuse to skip a poetry workshop with its endless rambling about enjambment. I have been tempted to vote for Mad King Dubya just to spite the other liberal poets who expect me to always vote for racial politics, truth, and NEA."
The Psychology of Patriotic Denial
by Tova Gabrielle, October 2004
"Surely I am not the only person who can figure out that if people are secretive and uncooperative, it is probably because they're hiding something (and that the more secretive they are, the more they have to hide). So why has the mainstream press reached the consensus that the Bush Mob has hindered the 9/11 investigations because it wishes to "avoid embarrassment," rather than to "avoid incrimination"? What deeper motives might there be for their stonewalling investigations into one of the biggest crimes in our history?"
Against My Better Judgment
by Gabriel Ricard, October 2004
"As a Canadian, one of the things I've grown to miss about my former country is how they deal with politics. Even when the Prime Minister is being elected, the whole process resembles a rural school board election here in the states."
W is for Wiley
by Danielle Grilli, October 2004
"How can we honestly believe that anything we say or do will be heard at all? I realize this to be a rather pessimistic perspective, but lets face it, our new electronic voting system was designed and manufactured by friends of the Georges. And guess what: they don't work. And guess what: they're going to use them anyway. No more messing around with paper, pregnant or hanging chads, no more messing around with verifiable material and of course, there's not a damn thing we can do about it."
Maria/Sophia
by John Palcewski, October 2004
"Since we last talked things took a rather bizarre turn, and I have been struggling ever since to transform the whole thing into fiction. In a nutshell, assuming you haven't heard about this melodrama, my girlfriend, a native of Ischia, learned she was adopted, and that her biological parents are Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The story went all over Europe and the US, but La Prima Donna has refused to either confirm or deny the maternity allegation."
Election Day Beheading
by Peter Magliocco, October 2004
"This Election Day 2004 I don't plan to vote, but instead behead a chicken to cook in my small, 17-year-old microwave. A symbolic offering to Alpha-Allah, because Americans are in a world of hurt..."
deaddrunkdublin@motherredcap
by Desmond Swords, September 2004
'Aisling is on a roll before Jeanette
- who thanks Andrew profusely -
launches into a few words
on "Cow Sex"'
Acts of Faith
by T. S. Ross, September 2004
"The polls say that 50%+ would vote for #43 for four more years, which makes me think the election is indeed already stolen, and the press is in bed with, excuse me, "embedded" with the President. Despite thinking this, I managed to think this was a worthwhile witness to make, even if I was my own most important witness. But what was I witnessing to, aside from my own need to have people to stand beside me?"
Boston: Blues and Bravado
by Amy Dalzell, August 2004
"...the result of the primary process, as conceived and executed by the unholy alliance of the Democratic leadership and the corporate press, has become so front-loaded and truncated as to render a national convention a superfluous political side-show. It's not hyperbolic to suggest that, given the rush to judgment that was this last primary election cycle, whoever won in Iowa was the de-facto candidate."
Plagiarism: The Psychology of Fear
by Bill Berry, August 2004
"I am on television because I am no one the news has decided that I was worth a story of not an hour but of a few seconds, showing the devastation of the democratic capitalistic pigs. Television is propaganda for the agencies of government to feel their way inside my flesh like a whore who says yes for nothing, I open my mind and slide the information of light into my self. I am no longer a virgin and I like it."
Let my people Go!
by Michael Kelly, July 2004
'Yes, these are breasts! Why should I be ashamed of them? Have you not seen breasts before? Look, look, nipples! Are they so shameful? Are they unnatural? Nipples, with which to feed a child, or tickle a man's ear until he goes crazy with desire! Do these stop me playing your stinking pebble game? Breasts, breasts, look at my breasts, you monks!'
Wacky World Dictatorships
by Greg Cannon, July 2004
"This is the same Saparmurat Niyazov who has filled the country with monuments to himself, whose subjects call him Turkmenbashi, or "the Father of all Turkmens". In the main square of the capital Ashgabat, a golden statue of Niyazov rotates to always face the sun. His face is on the country's currency and is the national television logo. He has renamed months after himself and his mother. He gives his people a dress code (no gold teeth, no long hair or beards on men, women must wear braids or hats). He has written a holy book, the Rukhnama, to replace the Koran the people prefer."
Do They Get it or Do They Not?
Afterthoughts on the Texas State Democratic Convention
by Ann Keller, July 2004
"It takes belief, tenacious commitment and passion—qualities I do not possess in abundance--to involve oneself in party politics to the extent one must in order to participate at the convention level. A high tolerance for bullshit helps, as well."
Inspection Arms
by Norman A. Rubin, July 2004
"The head of the ruling military junta of that country wanted to make a vivid impression upon the senator, which will insure the flow of greenbacks to his needs. Thus he commanded his staff that a small party of comely native women to line the sides of the short driveway to the government house and wave tiny American flags. The only problem was that the comely native women never wore any clothes save for a necklace of seashells and a tiny piece of cloth."
Procedures for an American Military Wife Stationed in Hiroshima in Times of Increased Terrorist Activity
by Tom Bradley, June 2004
"During afternoon naptime, in the absence of your husband's snores, you will resort to lulling yourself and the babies to sleep electronically. Moving with all available dispatch, you will open up the balcony screens and lasso the radio's aerial wire across two or three laundry lines, in order to pick up, by way of a morale booster, the signal of the American Forces Network."
Freaks?
by Luke Buckham, June 2004
"I would watch the customers in line, and watch myself serving them, and the visions of impending apocalypse that I'd been inundated with while growing up in an orthodox Christian home had begun to reoccur. Surely this grim procession had to end soon. In fact, even if I myself was to be among the damned when the promised cataclysm fell, I wanted it to happen. I wanted a huge, punishing heavenly hand to glide over the parking lot and sweep our little shop of horrors into the ocean."
The Word is the Law
by Norman A. Rubin, June 2004
"That in any local law, ordinance or resolution, or in any public or judicial proceedings, or in any process, notice, order, decree, judgments, record or other public document or paper, the term bastard or illegitimate child shall not be used, but the term 'born out of wedlock' shall be used in substitution therefore, and with same force and effect."
Redefining Insurance Fraud
by Robert Levin, June 2004
"I’m finding it increasingly difficult to sit still for a category of capitalism in which people demonstrably unqualified to participate in a free market economy routinely commit what amount to acts of violence against their customers."
Applying Copyright Law to the Internet
by Jonathan Penton, June 2004
"It is a mistake to believe that refusing to publish on the Internet prevents you from having your copyright violated. Plagiarists are, almost by definition, lazy, and would prefer to steal work from the Internet than from a book, because it's slightly easier. But you can’t rely on that. Some will figure out that if they steal from books, no one can use a search engine to discover their crimes, since the original is not available on the 'Net."