Music as a form of expression

I saw some random twitter thread where a musician was being criticized because his messages were “becoming too political, I just want to listen to your music...”

The artist responded by saying “it’s funny. If you listen to the lyrics of my songs, you’d realize that my songs express the same point of view. So thanks for listening.”

And that’s the thing. Music expresses something.  Whether it’s a love ballad or a political statement, music is often telling a story.

There’s an interesting thing that happened after the Kent a State Massacre: a music revolution was born. You can read more about it here https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-kent-state-massacre-music-20180504-story.html

So, yes, even Devo‘s “whip it” is about American optimism - in spite of its somewhat silly lyrics. I’ve talked about “walking in the sun before” but how about “land of confusion,” whose meaning becomes clearer if you watch the video, or “it’s like that” which in many ways expresses some of things we’re seeing today.

What was punk rock, exactly? Listen to a song like “rock the casbah” which went mainstream  sometime and see what you think.

I just find it interesting that people miss the simple point. “I like the music...wait it’s about what exactly?!”

The Surprisingly Controversial History Of Seat Belts | Wisconsin Public Radio

Funny how much the arguments against masks sound like the argument against seat belts...

https://www.wpr.org/surprisingly-controversial-history-seat-belts


Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.

I assume that’s racist?

Not living in Arizona, and with the world on fire, I didn't notice that "Sherriff Joe" is running for elected office.

You know, the guy who was convicted of unabashed racial profiling in his role as Sherriff, and was sentenced to prison for his crimes.

The same guy who trump pardoned. Meaning he was released from prison - but in a court ruling his conviction still stands.

And the amazing thing is that in spite of his felony conviction, he can run for public office.

And yet, people who were convicted of lesser crimes, who served their time, are often not eligible to vote.

What gives? Is it because our prison system disproportionately incarcerates black people? And a guy who's white and convicted of a crime just "made a mistake"?

I weep for our nation sometimes.

We need more fun stories like this!

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/jet-ski-graduation-trnd/index.html

Watch the video. It's fun and innovative. 😁

Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone. 

An update from the land of the idiots

Florida man (a/k/a our gov) has made clear he is not slowing the re-opening plans whatsoever. He wants business, schools, and theme parks open! And of course he refuses to mandate mask wearing.

He's been doing a lot of blaming for the increase in cases. Mostly it's "young people who don't follow the rules" and because they won't anyway, it's okay to just go ahead.

The word nitwit appears in the dictionary because of people like him.

About schools. The universities are expected to open "business as usual" with some guidelines in place for masks and gatherings. Each university has its own plan and they're all a bit confusing. Most are telling students to return for in person classes in August. (And the football team has already reported at most, because that's about $$$).

Broward county Public schools are an absolute mess. The school board came up with a lot of options (some of them kind of clever, like using high schools for grade school students to allow for more social distancing, and having high schoolers stay at home), but ultimately was leaning to a schedule of Mon and Tue with half the students on campus, wed as a cleaning day, then Thur and Friday for the other half on campus for all schools. The other 3 days would be virtual.

And then along came a vocal group of parents who argued that they have to work and school is important so students should all go 5 days.

And now the school board is reconsidering, sort of. But there are limiting factors.

(a) they've already mandated face coverings and social distancing; to that end they've capped class size at 14 to have students sit 6' apart. Typical class size is closer to 30 so there is a gap.

(2) budgets have been slashed by around 25% so there's no room to hire any additional staff. Nor will there be any programs beyond just required classes.

And (iii) class starts on 8/19 with teachers reporting on 8/12.

Without having figured out any of the big details, they haven't even begun to consider schedules, basic curriculum, bussing, etc.

Not to mention the safety aspect. Someone on the school board started asking what happens when a teacher gets sick? What about a student? They can't do the testing at the school, so they have to send them home and tell them to quarantine for 14 days - and they can return after that. How could that be enforced? And do they bear responsibility to pass along info to families if someone gets sick?

And, by the way, all 67 counties in Florida have to come up with their own plan and figure out the rules - because florida man doesn't think it's his duty to help. Nor can he provide any guidance.

A rational analysis of theTrump Russian bounty scandal

This is well thought out and reasoned. And if you are still supporting trump (and why would you be if you’re reading this? I’m too intellectual for most of you) then fuck off.

Herd immunity? Intentional infections? College sports?

What do these three things have in common? They all came up on boomer Esiason's radio show and are documented here

https://apple.news/AKEOxYAkjQTSKXJs20AH3zQ

First, and most obviously, he doesn't understand what herd immunity means. It applies to a general population, not to a group of student / athletes who otherwise live among other people. And he doesn't quite get how it works either. 

He (or you) can read more here. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_immunity

But then he says infections are intentional. As though there's a plan in mind here. For a college to intentionally infect students for the nefarious reason of wanting to win. And being organized and thoughtful enough to try and pull it off. 

Rather the more obvious answer: they are sports programs who are reckless, with student/athletes who may be careless, trying to bring things back "to normal" and who have been in that situation in a few weeks, after having been home among their family and friends off campus, where they may have become carriers. 

Sometimes these talking heads are so stupid. 

And if they can't even figure out how to test enough - and afford testing for the student/athletes, they surely can't figure out how to intentionally infect everyone. 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-footballs-uphill-battle-with-standardized-consistent-coronavirus-testing-procedures-for-2020/