Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in The Swamp.
Dear Donald Trump
Dear Donald Trump, When I grew up, the people around me taught me lifelong values that I still hold dear to this day. My parents mostly, with large contributions from extended family and friends I've met throughout my life. These morals I learned, these values, I now hold every person I come across to those same ones. My every judgement is passed based on them, and for the longest time, I never thought I'd stumble across someone who'd disagree. If anything, I thought everyone understood the same basic values.
Donald Drumpf and the Lesson in Irony
Dear Donald, I’ve been meaning to ask — do you actually have any advisors on staff at the White House? I only ask because — if you do — frankly, I’d consider using them every now and again. Not for anything important like deciding which group of people to discriminate against or in which order — I assume that choice is made arbitrarily by throwing darts at a specially-manufactured board. But maybe you should let them try out something small, like explaining IRONY to you. And here’s a freebie, Donald — irony is not the metallic compound that is processed to make steel. Just in case you get confused and brand me a terrorist and send me off for a nice vacation at Gitmo…
Mark WilliamsPublished 7 years ago in The SwampIlluminati Confirmed!
There is no denying that the world we live in today is one of unequally distributed power. Five of the richest men in the world own more than 50% of global wealth. The haves and the have nots are clear to see. Whilst, the majority of the world provide the driving force behind the world’s economy, a few live off profiting from the masses’ hard work becoming richer and richer. In short, the majority of the world is under the control of a clique of rich people.
Phillip WoodfordPublished 7 years ago in The SwampThe New Republic of Scotistan
One of the first signs of the breakdown of democracy is the politicising of the law. Starting with a centralised police force which is next to useless, the demonisation of the media, well the parts which don't agree with every utterance from the leadership of the party, and passing bills which make prying into personal life by the state, obligatory. Politicians telling judges they don't know what they're doing. Interfering with every aspect of our lives. The list goes on and on.
Michael BlairPublished 7 years ago in The SwampConservatives vs Social Policy
Despite continuing criticism and skepticism from many members of the community, the Lethbridge safe injection site is expected to open in 2018. The decision was finalized after almost a year of discussion among executive community members and a six month needs assessment. A total of nine community information sessions were held which has garnered a lot of support. It is critical to note, however, that significant backlash is still being heard from prominent voices in southern Alberta. While they are unlikely to have a major impact at the present time, Vancouver’s history makes it clear that opposition can lead to time consuming and expensive court cases.
Sorcha DeHeerPublished 7 years ago in The SwampAn Eye for an Aye
Wearing a black eyepatch that made him look like a pirate turtle (“Prepare to be boarded...in five or six hours!”), Senate Majority Leader Mitch Wichconnelliswich watched as a bill to spend $800 billion to rebuild Texas after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and raise the nation’s debt ceiling for 15 minutes easily passed his house of Congress. His eyepatch twitched emotionally, although pundits were divided on what emotion was being expressed under it.
Ira NaymanPublished 7 years ago in The SwampThe Assassination of Lady Liberty by the Coward Donald Trump
The late, great, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson once described Richard Nixon as the living embodiment of everything wrong with the American populous, down the line. The comparisons drawn between that infamous leader of the free world, and the one currently seated in the cushy mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue, are too plentiful to describe in any well-thought out, cohesive piece of writing. As such, this writer will not pursue such a fool’s errand. Instead, he’s going to do something infinitely more ridiculous.
Logan HannenPublished 7 years ago in The SwampLiberals Are the Only True Patriots Left
FDR used to call the contingent of isolationists who were strongly opposed to war with Germany “Shrimps” because they had a spinal cord but no brain. At the time, America had its share of Hitler admirers: Lindbergh, and Ford just a few notables. The country was lining up with conservatives very much against the war and liberals for it. Roosevelt was certain that if we did not attend the war, the war would come to us. This was the last time in American history that liberals got to play the patriot card. For World War II, liberals were the patriots and conservatives labeled as fascists and worse. Most, of course, were simply isolationists who believed that Europe could solve its own problem, but that didn’t stop the left from playing the patriot card and eventually joining the war.
David BulleyPublished 7 years ago in The SwampTrump, Religion, and Harry Potter
At the end of the day, we all believe what we want to believe. And in a world so full of inconsistencies how does someone even keep up with the politically correct form of right and wrong? As a Christian-raised millennial, I grew up with two things: religion and Harry Potter. The first taught me about right and wrong, what will get you into heaven and what won’t, and how you should treat people. The second taught me that what is right is never easy, what will lead you down a promising path of life, and that everyone is the same and deserves equal treatment. From both, I learned that good always triumphs over evil in the end. So I hope it will this time, as well.
Chelsea CheyennePublished 7 years ago in The SwampSmiley, le Carré, & 'A Legacy Of Spies'
It's been more than a quarter of a century since the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold War ended. There's a generation that has grown up in its aftermath, looked back on what was done, and wondered whether it was worth all the toil and treasure paid out for it. It is perhaps not surprising, in a time of retrospection about that great and most secretive conflict of the twentieth century, that one of the authors who came out of it returns to it. John le Carré, himself briefly a British intelligence agent at the height of the Cold War, does so with his novel A Legacy Of Spies and he brings forth many of his best-known characters to do so.
Matthew KresalPublished 7 years ago in The SwampTone Deaf Post — Betsy Devos
Today the US Department of Education tweeted about Nancy Devos’ trip to Wyoming to celebrate the “Rethink School Initiative.” Devos visited the school on the Wind River Reservation today. The Department of Education’s tweet included a picture quoting a Native American Proverb that said, “You already possess everything necessary to become great.”
Cody PerryPublished 7 years ago in The SwampAre You Liberal, or Your Kind of Liberal?
‘I’m a believer of free speech.’ ‘I don’t judge.’ ‘People should be allowed to express their opinions freely...’ This is the current soundtrack to today’s society. It’s quite a beautiful tune if truth be told. Why wouldn’t one love to shuffle day to day through our sometimes monotonous tasks, through our rat-race paced city to this sympathetic and tolerant atmosphere? Do we not all have enough dilemmas, doubts and disputes without the addition of the judgmental, the joyless and the jaded?
K.R CoughlanPublished 7 years ago in The Swamp