Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
On Punching Nazis
Do you know when there's a fashionable idea going around, but there's something that feels a bit “off” with it? I spend a lot of time in skeptical and atheist circles, and there is always some real-world issue reduced to a vague abstraction, to be resolved with “logic.” Inevitably, the removal of any human element leads to a completely abhorrent solution, and yet the “rationalists” stand by it even when the consequences of their thought experiment are revealed in horrifying technicolor. This never-ending quest for simple, neat solutions completely ignores the fact that life is messy and does not lend itself to unambiguous certainties.
By Katy Preen8 years ago in The Swamp
On the North Korean Crises and the New Silk Roads
A recent informal discussion among several academics and civic leaders outside of the United States trying to understand and analyze emerging trends in light of emerging crises touched on a very disturbing geopolitical possibility, a probability according to some but mere speculation according to others, a healthy split in opinion. The possibility discussed was that the recent series of Korean crises were instigated by the United States as a means of derailing Sino-Russian advances towards the creation of a Eurasia-centric economic market including new transportation paradigms but also a dollar-free alternative international financial structure.
By Guillermo Calvo8 years ago in The Swamp
I Beg Your Pardon! And, Me. Oh, Me, Too, Please. Pardon Me! Pardon Me! Pardon Me!
By HAL MOUNTSAUERKRAUTEN, Alternate Reality News Service Justice Writer The Grey House was in emergency crisis (for the third time this afternoon) mode when allegations were made that the President was becoming more... Canadian.
By Ira Nayman8 years ago in The Swamp
Dear Kim Jong Un
Dear Kim, Why? Why are you doing this? What good could it possibly do? Why are you putting yourself and everyone you love at such great risk? Why are you putting the world at an even greater risk? Why do you want destruction and fury? Why don't you care about the fate of your own people? What makes you so angry that you think this is the only option? I have so many questions to ask you, but the main one is, "Why?"
By Chelsea B. Kendrick8 years ago in The Swamp
A Soviet Britain?
The Cold War gave rise to many pieces of fiction looking at the decades long conflict between East and West. Few writers, though, seemed to have taken the time to have imagined what it might be like if the East came forth to occupy one of the major Western powers. One who did was prolific thriller writer Ted Allbeury who created a vision of a Britain under Soviet occupation with his 1982 novel All Our Tomorrows.
By Matthew Kresal8 years ago in The Swamp
Charlottesville 'Rally' Turned Riot
One dead and 19 injured during a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12th 2017. The protest was directed towards the removal of confederate monument in the city centre, where the "Unite the Right" group feel pride towards their confederate heritage and the counter-protesters feel, that as liberals, they should leave Virginia's confederate past behind them. A car ran into a crowd of counter-protesters after clashes occurred between the two groups.
By Charlemagne Griffin - Anker8 years ago in The Swamp
Daily Mail Made a Big Fail
Sometime yesterday Daily Fail, I mean Mail, made an article about the lovely Munroe Bergdorf and how she said, just as I did, that all white people benefit from privilege. As you will see, they used her words in the wrong context and used a past rant she made about the events in Charlottesville and the violence of white supremacists. When she was announced as the first transgender POC to be published model with L'Oreal, Daily Mail took it upon themselves to make her out to be a bad person. They used her rant as a means of why she was now fired as L'Oreal's model.
By Jocelin Leige8 years ago in The Swamp
Confessions of Someone Who Isn't Black
I wrote this essay back in July of 2016 when week after week, we would see more and more brutality from the police against unarmed black men and women. In light of the events in Charleston, I felt it important to share this with the world again.
By Michael LaMasa8 years ago in The Swamp
Not Like a Business
Leading up to the last election, a lot of people said things along the lines of, "Trump will be good because he's a businessman, not a politician, and he'll run the government like a business." Somehow, enough people were confused enough to think this was a good idea, and enough of them voted that way, so with the help of the winner-take-all electoral vote distribution in all but three states, Trump managed to win by the largest losing margin in American history. It was a big margin. Really big. And he lost by it, but the Electoral College turned that around and gave him the White House anyway.
By J.T. McDaniel8 years ago in The Swamp
Dear Theresa, Who Are You?
I'm not from the UK or even Europe at all. I live here in grand ol' America (sarcasm emphasis on grand), though I do come from Europe (born, but not raised, in Moscow, Russia). I've heard a lot about you, both from the other Dear Theresa pieces on this site and in the news. I kind of know what Brexit is, and I know that most people who believe in the same things as me don't like it.
By Katie Marchbank8 years ago in The Swamp
Racist British Media Ruined Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival is the second biggest carnival in the world, after Rio de Janeiro. Given the almost polar opposite climate and demographic of the UK, I would say that’s quite impressive and really pays tribute to the amazing contributions of Caribbean people to British culture.
By Cicely Blain8 years ago in The Swamp
