HOWL

Howl. On the website for Pacifica radio the other day you could hear Allen Ginsberg reading the poem "Howl," a landmark in literature of the twentieth century. You may have read it in a battered City Lights edition, or more recently in your Norton Anthology of Poetry in college.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
           madness, starving hysterical naked,
    dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
           looking for an angry fix,
    angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
           connection to the starry dynamo in the machin-
           ery of night, 

"The occasion was the 50th anniversary of a court ruling that found the poem had “redeeming social importance” and was thus not obscene." NYTimes, Oct 4, 07.

But they didn't play the poem on the air, fearing the FCC's fines might shut them down. Another step backward for "freedom"? For extra credit, define "free."

Here's a link to the Pacifica broadcast "online" that they didn't air. http://www.pacifica.org/program-guide/op,segment-page/station_id,4/segment_id,469/

"DON'T TASE ME, BRO!"

A student at the University of Florida stands up and asks Sen. John Kerry a rambling question about the 2000 election, impeachment, and his membership in the Yale secret society, Skull and Bones -- a membership shared with George W. Bush.
The student is dragged away, handcuffed, and tasered, as the crowd sits patiently and the Senator drones on.
Just before the student gets the 50,000 volt jolt -- as he's being wrestled to the floor by security guards -- he says "Don't tase me, bro!"

The phrase becomes a catchphrase, jolting the web awake. The video circulates and becomes a primary Google search. Pundits argue whether this was all a big put-on, whether the man was obnoxious, whether or not he deserved to have a jolt of 50,000 volts course through his body. Some call the incident an example of our gradual drift toward a police state. Others scurry to blame the victim. The question was impertinent, they say, or overlong. The student was rude and got what he deserved. Are we comfortably numb in our increasingly violent age? Do we instinctively rush to lick the boots of power, or identify with the underdog? In a polite society, should people shut up when they're told? Finally, does the First Amendment guarantee the right to freedom of speech even if you have a question that is overlong, rude, or inconvenient?
Watch the video. What do you think?