James Merrill and Derek Walcott they wrote on subjects as varied as lesbian passion and nuclear threats some poems and some critical reviews enraged our readers and drove them to drop their subscription Speaking of which it's 10 o'clock and you're tuned to either k n y o l p Fort Bragg or k m e c l p Ukiah or you're listening in some other way but but there's the id never continues Grace Shulman did we apologize for a poem we published we saw it as part of our job to provoke our readers a mission we took especially seriously in serving the magazine's absolute devotion to a free press we followed a path blazed by Henry James who in 1965 wrote a damning review of Walt Whitman's drum taps calling the great poem errant prose mistaken yes but it was James view at the time and it was never retracted apparently the magazine has abandoned this story tradition last month the magazine published a poem by Anders Carlson we the poet is white his poem how to draws on black vernacular following a vicious backlash against the poem on social media the poetry editor Stephanie Burton Carmen human is Smith apologized for publishing it in the 1st place quote We made a serious mistake by choosing to publish the poem how to we're sorry for the pain we have caused to the many communities affected by this poem they wrote in an apology longer than the actual poem The poet apologized to saying I am so sorry for the pain I caused. I was deeply disturbed by this episode which touches on a value that is precious to me and to a free society the freedom to write and to publish views that may be offensive to some readers in my years at The Nation I was inspired by the practical workings of a free press we lived by Thomas Jefferson's assertion that error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it and no one was a greater defender of press freedom and of writers right to be wrong than Victor in a font ski sorry Victor in the Waskesiu who succeeded Blair Clarke as editor in chief in 1978 when defense in the late 1980 s. Risked losing discovery slash the nation. An annual contest in which the poets who won the prize read their work at the 92nd Street y. In Manhattan and simultaneously had it published in the magazine The why is board which sponsored the contest that's the letter y. By the way suggested dropping the nation's participation after it published an article by Gore of it all that some people deemed anti semitic I remember Mr vittles peace I detested it and his views but I'd learned by then the crucial importance of a free press to a democracy I asked for Mr De Vos his help in saving the contest and no he would never have rebuked the old friends of article and apologised Instead he wrote a letter to the board of the y. Explaining the nation's way he said in effect that when we invite a writer to contribute to the magazine Our aim is to help that person articulate his or her view as clearly as possible as I recall the copy editors went to town on factual and grammatical errors but left what Jefferson calls errors of opinion. Mr De Vos his defense of Mr vittles Peace Did Not at all reflect indifference to the poetry contest on the contrary he cared for it speedily it sent over the magazines that contained the winners poems and often came to the readings but his position on free speech was uncompromising how far we have come from those idealistic courageous days as Katha Pollitt a columnist for The Nation put it the magazine's apology for Mr Carlson We work was craven and looks like a letter from reeducation camp she also rightly suggested that the proper thing to do would have been to publish a page of responses that would have been in keeping with the expectations of a free press the broader issue here though is the backward and increasingly prevalent idea that the artist is somehow morally responsible for his character's behavior or voice writers have always presented characters with an wholesome views f. Scott Fitzgerald Charles Dickens and Shakespeare come immediately to mind one wonders if editors would have the courage to publish Robert Lowell's words for heart cream or as repentance sustain a out of Fort today it would not be proper for me to comment on the aesthetic merits of Mr Carlson we his piece but that's the job of the magazine's current poetry editors but going forward I would recommend they follow Henry James example just as he never apologized for his negative review of Whitman they had 0 reason to regret their decision and the writer of that article Grace Shulman was poetry editor at The Nation from 171 through 2006 she is the author of 7 books of poetry and the recipient of the frost medal for distinguished lifetime achievement in American Poetry her memoir strange paradise comes out this month and that article was about a poem called How to Theo fending poem and here is that. By again. You'd think I'd remember it but I you know I don't Anders Carlson we it's a weird kind of a name there's a hyphen there we have never seen a name like that but there it is how to by Anders Carlson we if you got HIV say aids if you a girl say you're pregnant nobody going to lower themselves to listen for the kick people passing fast splay your legs cock in the funny it's the littlest shames they're like likely to comprehend don't say homeless they know us what they don't know is what opens a wallet what stops them from counting what they drop if you're young say younger old say older if you're crippled don't flaunt it let them think they're good enough Christians to notice don't say you pray say you sin it's about who they believe they is you hardly even there and with that in mind here is something I read in daily coasts this is by old redneck could we just call it what it is old redneck right so how about all of us stop using weasel words and stop trying to put lipstick on this pig let's call it what it is Russia did not meddle meddle in our 2016 election they are not meddling in the 28000 mid-term nor will they meddle in the 2020 Alexion this is not meddling it's an attack on the fundamental structure of our nation by an enemy nation intent on destroying us this is a war the Trump campaign. And now the Trump crowd did not quote collude with Russia you know what the Trump campaign did and what Trump and his people continue to do is conspiracy they are conspiring with an enemy nation to destroy the fundamental strength of the USA aiding and abetting they are assisting an enemy nation in their war on us and no trump is not quote rallying his base what he is doing is obstruction of justice jury tampering and fomenting violence call it what it is and Michael Harry o h a r I o t wrote in The Root an article titled Louisiana cops strangled black man to death for asking to see arrest warrant there's a video that goes along with this which I am I didn't watch but Michael Harry o. Wrote once for a writing prompt I was asked to describe how it felt to be white he's black by the way. I imagine that it feels like freedom like a flying feels to a hawk even the literal sky is not the limit when one is granted the privilege of being born with wings a hawk is not an evil thing a hawk is just a bird it is a predator and sometimes at its whim a hawk will swoop down out of the sky and pluck an insignificant little thing from the Earth and eat it alive. I looked over $22017.00 out of nowhere a beast plunged from the sky landed on 44 year old Armando Frank and devoured him whole the advocate as of today and police body camera footage of the death of her Mondo Frank in the footage of all yellows Parish sheriff's deputies confronted Frank while he is atop a tractor near the mark's Villa easy on a Wal-Mart and they inform him that they have a warrant for his arrest the warrant according to the sheriff's office was for simple trespassing and attempted unauthorized entry into a dwelling that charges stemmed from a dispute with his neighbors according to the advocate in the footage Frank does not attack the officers he does not make any sudden moves he simply refuses to dismount from the tractor and demands that the deputies identified as Brandon Stillman and Alexander Daniel show him a copy of the arrest warrant the officers tell him that they do not have the warrant in their possession but that he will see it at the sheriff's office step off the tractor when Deputy demands to which Frank replies show me the warrant deputy Stillman then climbs on the tractor grabs Frank from behind and places him in a chokehold Daniel tries to use a taser to shock Frank after he manages to free himself from the choke hold but shock still meant instead you can see Frank gagging hear him gasping for air after a short struggle they managed to handcuff Frank when he becomes still one officer comments he's dead waiting that's a term used by officers for one suspects intentionally make their bodies go stiff and another responds where the head goes the body must follow as they drag his limp body to the police vehicle. Another one of the officers who arrives at the same says Is he breathing Oh he was not Armando Frank was dead his level of resistance starts out as passive it doesn't go to active and aggressive until he's physically assaulted by these deputies as Gregory Gilbertson director of the criminal justice program it's in trail you a college in Centralia Washington he's not attempting to flee he's not assaulting anybody he's sitting on a tractor and he's asking reasonable questions and they are refusing to answer explains Gilbertson one of 2 experts on use of force who reviewed the footage for The Advocate Gilbertson also explained that the lateral vascular neck restraint the name for the choke hold he used to restrain Frank is typically a last resort because of its potential to restrict airflow Gilbertson said it is typically used when deadly force is the only option Philip Stinson another expert from Bowling Green University said officers are entitled to use as much force is necessary to make an arrest which according to Stinson's explanation neg ates part of an obscure little document called the Constitution of the United States of America his 14th Amendment reads in part nor shall any state deprive any person of life liberty or property without due process of law a grand jury declined to indict the officers for negligent homicide in March and the family of Armando has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officers involved a forensic pathologist ired by. Parish cites manual strangulation as the primary cause of death and ruled it a homicide the report notes that officers restricted Frank's breathing for more than 6 minutes and never made any attempt to resuscitate him adding that Frank said let me up 3 times each one more strange than the last it was his last verbal communication the report says. So if someone were to ask what it feels like being black I would mention Armando Frank I would probably write something about walking around every day knowing you could be plucked from the earth that you could be defiled or that being black is a constant exercise in x. Or sizing that inescapable fact from your mind it's being strong and fragile at once it's the refusal to comply well knowing that it may cost your life it's knowing that complying may still cost your life it is the unrelenting constant decision of choosing between the 2 to be black is to be strangled to gasp for air to be handcuffed when you are limp to be dragged lifeless and unmoving to be deprived of life and liberty statistically speaking it's unlikely that you or I will die like Armando Frank died but I have known what it is to be black to know the predator Hawks will always fly away to beg them let me up let me up let me up in the Onion Dateline Milwaukee Wisconsin expressing his deep and heartfelt regrets regarding how the incident has played out in the media Milwaukee police officer in Phoenix said Monday that he would never have killed an unarmed black man during a routine traffic stop if he had known that everyone would make such a big fuss about the incident quote When I reviewed the unfortunate events of the night of July 11th I'm forced to admit that conducting myself differently and reacting with less violence would have avoided this whole said Feeney who referred to the negative media exposure he had received in recent weeks on top of the sheer amount of paperwork he had been made to file as quote a heartbreaking tragedy. Quote living with the consequences of my actions with the sheer weight of public opinion concerning my police work has been a life altering inconvenience I can't wait until this whole chapter ends with an innocent verdict in my favor after receiving word that he'd be placed on paid leave and exasperated Feeney complained Oh this is the reward I get for being a good guy and not planting guns and drugs on the victim's body See that's funny that's a funny website where stories are made up that are just like real stories but exaggerated in some tiny way not even exaggerated in this case as true as the true thing and you know with that in mind here's another piece from The Onion wealthy teenager nearly experiences consequence. Dateline Somerset New Jersey in what local authorities are calling a near tragedy Charles Wentworth a 17 year old Rutgers preparatory senior and member of the affluent Wentworth family came perilously close to suffering a consequence resulting from his own wrongdoing Saturday Wentworth made his senior photo shoot even after coming within inches of an actual repercussion from the accident Wentworth reportedly ignoring the protest of his classmates got behind the wheel of his turbo charged Super a 2000 g.t. After consuming half the contents of a bottle of goldfish lager at a friend's party while driving westbound on Route $27.00 a disoriented Wentworth drifted across 2 lanes of traffic and collided with a minivan carrying a family of 4 bringing the teen face to face with a potentially life altering lesson. Wentworth escaped unscathed and unpunished However when his airbags deployed and a team of high powered attorneys rushed to the scene and rescued him from the brink of personal responsibility amazingly Mr Wentworth did not experience a single repercussion for consuming alcohol under age or operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and is furthermore completely unaware that he did anything wrong local police chief Marvin Taylor said he's a very lucky boy if he had been driving just 5 mph faster or if his parents hadn't had the influence to keep the matter out of court and the endless financial resources to lease a car of the exact same make and model to prevent him from having to face even the relatively trivial humiliation of being taunted by his peers for driving a slightly less expensive vehicle my God who knows what could have happened Taylor added he could have died or worse been held accountable for his actions. According to police reports that have since been shredded and stricken from Wentworth's permanent record when briefly taken into custody the privileged teenager began swearing vomiting and kicking at the windows of the squad car in which he was momentarily placed following the collision Wentworth later said the only thing that got him through that dark time was thinking of his rich well connected loved ones with them in mind he repeatedly shouted Don't you know who I am and summon the strength to refuse a field sobriety test now a lot of kids in Charles situation would have confessed and accepted punishment for their mistake but my son is strong said Wentworth's father aluminum magnate Herman Wentworth who after arriving at the crash site told his son that everything's taken care of and well Charles sat in his father's b.m.w. Texting his friends loudly threaten to call the police commissioner if any charges were pressed Charles would never allow himself to give up and gain valuable insight into the way things work in the real world without a fight district judge and close friend of the Wentworth family Donald lamb agreed . Charles is very lucky to be alive and well off Lamb told reporters the fact that he was able to walk away from this crash with no injuries 0 remorse and his skewed priorities in one piece is a miracle despite returning to the safety of his $2300000.00 home when it's harrowing brush with consequence was not over a week after the new year ordeal Wentworth was again put in jeopardy of learning a lesson when he was nearly sentenced to 50 hours of community service tragedy was averted However when his mother paid a consultant to testify before the judge that Wentworth had suffered emotional trauma further during this time Wentworth was forced to put his video game on pause for several seconds in order to sign an affidavit stating that the breathalyzer was administered improperly. To think that I was that close to seeing that there is an entire society with its own laws and standards outside my protected sphere of wealth and privilege it's frightening Wentworth said it almost makes you consider your actions and their impact on others almost I'm just grateful I can finally get back to my life as a self-centered prick who believes the entire world revolves around him Wentworth added After all I was just admitted to Columbia despite almost failing out of high school because I rarely attended class and it would have been a shame to have had to defer for a semester just because of some legal unpleasantry at press time what worth is resting comfortably on a 6 figure inheritance in a chaise lounge by his backyard pool the other 4 victims of the crash remain in intensive care at St Peters University Hospital suffering from conditions ranging from poor to lower class. Harpers' dot org is the website of Harper's Magazine that's the oldest longest continuously published magazine on the North American continent they started in 1950 and they're still going and all of that material is somehow available via Harpers dot org a j r p e r s dot org Also available there and for free is some Harper's Weekly Review subscription which it comes in an e-mail in your inbox every week and for a while it you know it was Tuesday every Tuesday this one came on Wednesday so maybe they're slipping a little bit we'll see what happens. Harper's Weekly Review for the week leading up to and including Wednesday August 8 2018 in this case compiled by Violet Luka That's a nice name a year after Saudi king Salmen Eban Abdul Aziz Al Saud opened the gold global center for combat in extremist ideology by placing his hands alongside those of Egyptian president. Sisi and u.s. President Donald Trump on a glowing or a bit you might have seen the picture of that the Associated Press reported that the u.s. Backed Saudi led alliance in Yemen had brokered secret deals with al-Qaeda recruited hundreds of the terrorist organizations members to fight Iran backed the rebels and bribed the group with weapons and cash to abandon certain cities after Canada's Foreign Ministry tweeted that the Saudi government should release recently imprisoned women's rights activists such as some are about away whose brother had been sentenced to a 1000 blows with a cane for running a critical web log in 2013. Riyadh announced that it had suspended all new trade and investment transactions with Canada scholarships to Canadian schools and direct flights on the state run airline to Toronto gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country and threaten to interfere with Canadian affairs a voluntary nonprofit project run by Saudi use tweeted a photo shopped picture of a passenger plane flying straight at Toronto's c n tower with a quote he who interferes with what doesn't concern him finds what doesn't please him and then following widespread criticism because of the perceived evolutions to the 911 terror attacks explained that the plane was meant to represent only the expelle