Category Archives: Freedom of Speech

Do Not Obey In Advance

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

It may be just a marketing ploy by Penguin Random House, but the publisher has printed the text of Timothy Synders’ chilling book On Tyranny onto a series of large posters and put them up  in east London. The powerful posters, which … Continue reading →

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Manufacturing Consent

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Published in 1988, Manufacturing Consent is a frighteningly relevant book in this time of media collusion in the take over of democractic governments and institutions by kleptocrats and neo-fascists. The book challenges the idea that the mainstream media acts as a check … Continue reading →

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the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Eighty years ago this month, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men was first published. Based on Steinbeck’s own experiences as a bindlestiff – an impoverished migratory worker – in California during the 1920s, Of Mice and Men tells the story of George Milton and … Continue reading →

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’60s Redux

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Inspired by the ongoing national crisis triggered by the election of a neo-Fascist national government, Chicago-based illustrators Clay Hickson and Liana Jegers have launched The Smudge . With its bubbled typeface masthead and old school feel, the new monthly paper aims to … Continue reading →

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Hands Off Our Revolution

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Hands Off Our Revolution is a new organization of artists, writers and musicians who have come together for a series of art exhibitions and actions to confront head-on the rise of reactionary right-wing populism in Europe, the U.S., and around the … Continue reading →

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Libraries Are For Everyone

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Libraries Are For Everyone, now that’s a concept that we can all agree upon—I hope. The simple, but forceful message and original series of images was created by librarian Rebecca McCorkindale following the announcement of the temporary President’s illegal travel ban. … Continue reading →

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Covering Nineteen Eighty-Four

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Brian D. Butler
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Dystopian Literature Sells Bigly

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Since the election of the bloated, orange pustule, dystopian fiction has become so popular that George Orwell’s iconic novel 1984 has jumped to the top of bestseller lists around the world. Penguin publishing has announced that it is rushing another … Continue reading →

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Alternative Reality

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Since the depressing events of January 20th, I have been thinking of Philip Roth’s alternative history novel The Plot Against America. Our would be dictator’s references to “America First” reminded me of the anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, fascist movement championed by Nazi-loving Charles Lindbergh. … Continue reading →

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Dear World, We Are Sorry

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Illustrator Robert Sikoryak has been trying to cope with our national tragedy by transforming Donald Trump quotes into cartoons in the style of famous comic books and graphic novels on his blog Unquotable Trump. The rest of us are just … Continue reading →

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