Daily Archives: November 11, 2021

Opinion: Your Say on handling aggressive and threatening behavior at public meetings – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Posted: November 11, 2021 at 6:11 pm

Find a strategy that will reduce division

As someone who spent many hours watching public meetings in my job as a journalist with KPBS, I am disturbed by the building tension and frustration I see happening at school boards and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Since retiring, Ive found myself focusing on the growing divides in our culture, as one after another, long-held pain bursts out of hiding and demands to be recognized.

Whether its Black Lives Matter, the Me Too movement or LGBTQ+ rights, people are coalescing into groups with grievances that demand attention and retribution. Now anti-vaxxers and those against mask mandates are doing the same, gelling into group identities with like-minded folk and demanding to be heard. The challenge of our time seems to be how to stay open and not allow these separate group identities to cut us off from each other completely.

Rather than see public meetings curtailed or canceled altogether, there may be better ways for public agencies to handle all that raw emotion. The principles of nonviolent communication offer some ideas. Marshall Rosenberg writes that its a basic human need to want to be heard. The rising level of aggressive testimony suggests people dont feel heard.

It is very hard for public officials to sit through hours of raucous public testimony, especially if its aimed against them. But in many cases, the person on the dais may share core human values with the person testifying, like wanting freedom of choice, or caring about their childrens education. Before laying out their arguments for how they will vote, reflecting back what they heard and acknowledging where they agree are key parts of moving through conflict. In any disagreement, feeling heard can go a long way toward diffusing anger and frustration.

What we are up against is what Harvards Arthur Brooks calls the outrage industrial complex in which social media makes money off our attraction to outrage by catering to just one ideological side, creating a species of addiction by feeding our desire to believe that we are completely right and that the other side is made up of knaves and fools.

What we need he writes, is not to disagree less, but to disagree better.

Any strategy that will reduce the outrage and contempt that leads to higher walls and greater divisions is what we must find. Perhaps its requesting more written testimony that people can read at meetings or see online, or offering to let the public pre-record short videos of their arguments, rather than going live.

Our public officials are being tested. Its a phenomenon that is making good people think twice before running for public office. But acknowledging and tolerating the powerful feelings that run though our political lives today is perhaps the most important skill that any public servant can bring to the table.

Alison St John Inglis, Oceanside

Civility, like most things, is a team sport, and if team members know their positions and their roles and if they cooperate, they will usually succeed. Your premise, that we must address and resolve uncivilized behavior, seems to assume that we will always have these negative confrontations. In fact there is no place for the demonstration of hateful and threatening gestures at all. We need to end it, not adjust to it. We can disagree and debate, but when we spew hate, we lose the game.

We can all look into a mirror and ask ourselves to please act like a responsible person when interacting with other human beings. Beyond that it is hard to imagine any other way to get there. The two sides in this drama are right and wrong, not left or right or progressive or conservative or based on any isms. You cant solve bad behavior with new rules that you make up as you go along. Actions, not words, are what matter.

Where does this all come from, and why does the mainstream media obsess about it? Is it because, for some reason, it works? Surely we arent all inherently hateful, are we? How does it get into our system and how do we deal with those who get some sort of satisfaction in abusing others?

These same officials sitting before the public and taking this abuse were elected themselves. Remember those political debates and that endless stream of campaign mailers spewing hate and humiliation upon their opponent? Some politicians used that language to get our vote. They taught us.

We lived through the last presidential campaign, Democrats tearing each other apart in the primary, then the election where everybody regrouped and went at it again and then the worst kind of confrontation, physical violence, as seemingly normal people set out to physically harm their opponents all this inside the hallowed halls of Congress.

It really doesnt seem like there is a way out of this as long as mainstream and social media feed off the worst in all of us. We arent going to fix this breakdown in civility by passing more rules. That wont solve anything in this endless confrontation.

When law and order really does break down, it will be like the climate situation. It will be too late. When our time-tested institutions are dismantled, what will be left? Does anyone really want to go there? We need an attitude change, and we need it now.

If we are going to restore civility to our government, how about the political establishment taking a vow to run issue-based campaigns instead of aiming for the personal destruction of their opponents character? Its a sad commentary on all of us that negative campaigning works.

We simply must look into everything from the Magna Carta to Roberts Rules of Order for guidance on how to be civil, how to mind our words and our attitudes.

Honestly, how difficult is it to simply behave in public?

Gary Weber, Normal Heights

Parents have every right to show up to school board meetings and voice their concerns, per the First Amendment. Our school board meetings are arguably the first place we should 100 percent defend our First Amendment rights. Our federal government has recently gone so far as to build a pathway for some to call parents at school board meetings domestic terrorists simply because they are emotional about what is going on in the schools.

Do I agree that parents should be civil and at least try to be respectful in their tone and words they use when addressing school boards? Of course. The report we heard recently here in San Diego where there were wholly inappropriate comments being made by one gentleman needs to be investigated and possibly that person banned from meetings.

How many injuries have school board members endured at the hands of these domestic terrorist parents anywhere in this country? Zero. How many deaths at school board meetings? Zero. So, to insinuate that a school board member is in danger or cannot serve safely and effectively is quite a stretch. The videos that I have seen where parents attempts to express themselves to school boards are met with stone cold silence and no response reek of totalitarian privilege. Why do these school board members act like they hold all of the cards and have all of the power when dealing with peoples children?

I have an idea. How about if the school boards actually consider what these parents are saying at these school board meetings and work collaboratively with parents to structure the curriculum in the schools? What we have is an issue where the curriculum has gone so far overboard regarding race and gender issues that parents are frustrated. When their initial attempts to enact changes in school boards across the country was met with silence and zero effort to understand their point of view, that frustration turned to a situation where emotions started to boil over.

Is it crazy to suggest that our schools get back to the basics: Reading, writing and arithmetic? I dont need a school to teach my child about race and racism. I dont need a school to teach my child about genders, pronouns and sexuality. These are topics that should be discussed and dictated by parents and families and the cultures within those families, not a teacher who may have a view that is different from the norms and values of that family. We need to restructure school boards to where parents have access and a voice regarding the curriculum that is being taught, and parents at least feel like they have some input regarding what their children are learning. This will lower the temperature in these school board meetings.

E. Marshal Cox, Chula Vista

Donald Trump is the example that has contributed to this bad behavior. For more than four years, we witnessed the leader of our country act like a schoolyard bully name-calling, finger-pointing and making fun of anyone he disagreed with, or, more importantly, anyone who disagreed with him.

The man cannot even be respectful of the dead.

Everything that he says and does is about him. He so wants personal adulation he can only think of what he might not get.

This has not stopped with Trump. Politicians on both sides of the aisle want only what their own agendas are. Our society has become all about what I want. No discussion, no debate. If this continues, we are a doomed democratic society.

Faithful public discussion is imperative. Wake up, everyone.

Jennifer Roberts, South Park

Whats happened to the America we used to know? Civil disobedience is no longer civil. Its now acceptable to publicly act in unacceptable ways.

How did we arrive at this point where being rude, offensive, and bullying others is our new normal? One answer might be that anti-democracy rebelliousness is being fueled by disinformation, intolerance, and polarization across America. Is it fair to blame much of that degradation on the verbal graffiti created by politicians and newscasters?

At times, Americas political climate feels like a fairy tale with wicked witches casting evil spells. Sometimes, politicking is like an unhinged, never-ending nightmare, with politicians behaving like self-serving grifters on American Greed. Their lack of decorum and cavalier attitude toward their Constitutional Oath are major factors in the disintegration of standards such as The Golden Rule throughout society.

As for TV newscasters and radio talk-show hosts, theres a difference between informing citizens with news and using misinformation to stoke fears. Manufactured crises about cultural wars, election fraud conspiracies, and accusations of tyranny are keeping the turmoil roiling.

Unfortunately, the rancor being generated by multiple entities has spilled over into the real world. A frightening form of radicalism violence as a means to an end has recently entered the picture. County board meetings and local school board meetings (plus families of elected officials) are now subject to threats and disruption.

Public servants are the core of our democracy. This mafia-type intimidation this vigilante virus must be stopped before it proliferates. Posting rewards and announcing arrests without delay might alleviate that problem.

People have the right to be heard. They do not have a right to be unruly or threaten others.

The assumption that everyone knows how to behave is a false premise. All boards must adopt formal guidelines (eg., a Code of Conduct for Civil Disobedience) patterned after Emily Posts etiquette guide. Speakers at public meetings would be required to abide by that Code. Also, all boards must have a Sergeant of Arms to control disorderly conduct and remove disrupters from meetings. Anyone making threats must be prosecuted, fined, and jailed.

America is undoubtedly going through a cultural crisis. Unless we counterbalance the negative forces with positive solutions, the nastiest, rudest, most foul-mouthed factions will take over.

If one of the root causes of the problem has been the news media, then maybe its time for them to become part of the solution. Local stations could air broadcasts about the Code of Conduct. Also, the Code could be mailed to every postal address and/or be part of the curriculum in schools.

Citizens watching TV or listening to talk radio can make a difference by switching stations. Lowering the ratings, hurting broadcasters financially, will make newscasters feel the consequences of their behavior. Voting pretzel politicians out of office is another way to generate positive results.

Unless something changes, what happened on January 6 will only get worse. Our American family is broken. Its up to all of us to put it back together again.

Angela Tilaro, San Marcos

Originally posted here:

Opinion: Your Say on handling aggressive and threatening behavior at public meetings - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Posted in Golden Rule | Comments Off on Opinion: Your Say on handling aggressive and threatening behavior at public meetings – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Truth: Democrats have a white voter problem – Politico

Posted: at 6:11 pm

With help from Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz

Supporters cheer as then-Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin walks onstage at a campaign rally days before the November election. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Hi, hi, Recast family! Maya and Sabrina here filling in for Brakkton this week. (Hes taking a much-needed vacay.) Were sure youve read plenty of the hot takes in the wake of the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections last week. And while we expect more takes hopefully with more data in the days and weeks to come, well walk you through some of the biggest takeaways on what Democrats need to be looking at heading into the midterm elections. Lets jump in.

Democrats have a bigger problem than they thought.

Following bruising losses up and down the ballot in Virginia and a too-close-for-comfort win in New Jersey, Democrats are doing damage control. Its going to take some heavy lifting for them to stop the bleeding in 2022. Thats because theyll need to totally rethink and seriously prioritize their strategy to mobilize the constituencies they most need: Black and Latino voters.

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe fell short of the governors mansion by just over 2 points even as turnout among voters of color rivaled the record-breaking figures from 2020, when President Joe Biden won the commonwealth by 10 points. Its leading grassroots organizers, campaign strategists and party leaders alike to reexamine where the party went wrong in the commonwealth.

Then-Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe departs after speaking during his election night event on Nov. 2. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Among the main concerns emerging from the election results: Democrats over-reliance on Black and Latino voters to turn out and counteract overwhelmingly white, Republican enthusiasm. Democrats expect POC voters to show up without making necessary investments to gin up Black and brown turnout, some party officials, consultants and pollsters say. Whats more, they add, the old strategies of outreach last-minute mailers, a handful of Spanish-language ads and visits to Black churches and barber shops are outdated, ineffective strategies in the face of data-driven, well-funded outreach strategies coming from the GOP.

Its like we watch the same movie every election cycle and we expect a different beautiful ending. Every now and then we get one, but oftentimes its not because everything that couldve been done was done on outreach and turnout with people of color, said Julin Castro, former Democratic presidential candidate and Housing secretary in the Obama administration.

That needs to change.

And its not just about outreach. Voters need something to get excited about. That was particularly evident as Republicans drove much of the public debate and Democrats struggled to gain traction with their talking points on policy. Education dominated the Virginia race, as panic over critical race theory a legal academic framework that examines racism in American institutions quickly morphed into a debate around whether parents should control what their children learn in school.

The issue animated the gubernatorial race, as now Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin promised to ban the teaching of it while McAuliffe waited until weeks before the election to fully address it, handing out copies of Toni Morrisons Beloved. McAuliffe, who launched his campaign on education, also was haunted by a September gaffe during a debate where he said parents shouldnt tell schools what to teach.

All of that led to conditions in Virginia, unfortunately, for the dog whistle politics and the grievance politics, that Glenn Youngkin can perpetuate it to be quite successful, and quite effective, said Terrance Woodbury, A Democratic pollster who studies Black voting behavior.

Now, lets be clear: Democrats loss in Virginia isnt about placing blame on voters of color. The truth is Democrats are bleeding support from white voters.

And that helped Republicans in Virginia, where the electorate that turned out was certainly whiter.

The share of white voters supporting McAuliffe also went down to 38 percent from 45 percent for Biden just a year earlier.

Meanwhile, exit polls in Virginia portrayed dueling narratives with Latino voters in Virginia, as one had Youngkin winning by 12 points while another showed McAuliffe winning by more than 30 points. Democratic pollsters and political insiders, however, say one thing is clear: Latino support for Democrats is eroding and they need to act fast.

The electorate was also older. More than one-fourth of voters were over the age of 65 an age group that leans more conservative up from 18 percent in 2020. Only 10 percent of voters were in the 18-to-29 age range, a group that leaned toward McAuliffe, down from 20 percent in last years election. Exit polls also show a swing among independent voters with a majority voting for Youngkin after a majority backed Biden last year.

Stickers reading "I Voted" are available to those afterwards who cast ballots at the Fairfax County Government Center on Nov. 2 in Virginia's election. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

We know that the party in power in the White House often faces headwinds. At the same time, Im looking for, How do we buck that trend? Castro said. In order to buck that trend, were going to have to drive up turnout among our base. That means you need great candidates, you need well-funded grassroots outreach efforts and you need an appealing record of accomplishment and strong narrative going into 2022.

As always, well be watching to see how this dynamic plays out in 2022 and beyond.

All the best, The Recast team

Power dynamics are changing. With The Recast, you'll get a twice-weekly breakdown of how race and identity are the DNA of American politics and policy. Stay tuned for fresh analysis, scoops and new voices.

Programming note: Brakkton will co-moderate a discussion at POLITICOs inaugural sustainability summit on Nov. 16 about what it will take to achieve a just transition to a clean energy economy. RSVP here.

Was this forwarded to you by a friend? Subscribe to the newsletter here.

THE ROUNDTABLE

Former Democratic presidential candidate Julin Castro speaks at a campaign event in Atlanta in December 2020. | Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

We wanted to dig a little deeper into how the results in Virginia shook out, how much Democrats should be paying attention and how voters of color in the commonwealth could be a bellwether for how the party might perform next November. So we spent some more time on the horn with Woodbury, a Democratic pollste, and Castro, former HUD secretary and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. And we enlisted Chuck Rocha, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Bernie Sanders. This conversation has been edited and shortened for clarity.

THE RECAST: What demographic shifts did you notice in Virginia in 2021 that Democrats might have underestimated? What could that tell us about next years races?

TERRANCE WOODBURY: We saw the electorate get significantly whiter and significantly older than it was in 2020. I think that shows some underperformance amongst voters of color, primarily Black voters, who both turned out at a lower rate, but also supported Democrats at a lower rate.

JULIN CASTRO: Its clear there was an uptick of white voters in the electorate compared to previous cycles. And also that Youngkin was able to peel off independents who likely had voted for Joe Biden versus Donald Trump and who very well may have voted for McAuliffe in 2013 and Northam in 2017.

CHUCK ROCHA: There was such a hyperfocus on white women. And Terry McAuliffe ran millions and millions of TV commercials targeting white women with the choice issue. So much so that you saw them saying, Dont Texas my Virginia and trying to use that as a motivational factor for white women, when in fact, they dramatically underperformed.

So, you know, saying that this is on Black and brown voters is totally false.

THE RECAST: Did you notice any warning signs with voters of color ahead of the November election? And what were some of your biggest takeaways in either or both New Jersey and Virginia?

WOODBURY: We always say if you're asking the wrong questions, then you're getting the wrong answers, and a lot of pollsters are asking the wrong questions. And, frankly, conventional polling doesn't even include racism and discrimination in most issue batteries.

ROCHA: The biggest thing that we're hearing in the community is that Black and brown people were horribly affected by Covid, because of education, and kids being home from school. So Covid overlaps with the schooling issue, because unlike rich white folks, or you could say just rich folks in the suburbs, [working class] black and brown folks don't have a nanny or don't have the privilege to get to work from home. So the whole family suffered when the child had to stay home. And nobody was talking about that issue in Virginia. And I've heard it in every single focus group of Black and brown voters in almost every state I've worked in.

CASTRO: From both the elections, I took that Republicans were able to control the narrative in Virginia that race became a lot about critical race theory and essentially white identity politics as expressed in whats taught in schools. And in New Jersey, it centered a lot around taxes and thats particular to New Jersey.

THE RECAST: What lessons can Democrats learn from 2021 so not to repeat them in 2022?

CASTRO: Democrats have to enhance the outreach and the resources to drive up registration and turnout, especially turnout among low propensity Latino voters We need a full court press on registration and turnout 365 days a year, not only a few months before an election. And that the agenda of accomplishment in Washington and in state capitals across the country reflects the interests of Latinos and other people of color.

I believe that Jamie Harrison and the DNC get that and that you have a lot of people that do understand the urgency of making these investments and doing the outreach. But sometimes things get lost in the shuffle.

ROCHA: There's a golden rule in politics. And that is you only get one time to make a first impression.

WOODBURY: Democrats often are on the right side of these issues, but not willing to take the bold public stance ... Even when I was focus grouping Democrats who were considering or had already supported Donald Trump, and I asked them, What is it about him? Even after explicit racism, like, demonstrable racism, what is it about him that would make you still want to support him? They say, Well, at least he stands for what he believes in, even if it's wrong. Even if it's unpopular. And that's what they're missing in Democrats, is someone that will stand for them. Even when it's unpopular.

ICYMI @ POLITICO

For weeks, dozens of students have taken over the social hub of Howard University while sleeping on pallets, air mattresses and tents inside and outside of the building. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Howard University students are still protesting abysmal campus living conditions, reports POLITICOS Eugene Daniels. They have a message for the Biden administration, Congress and their most famous alumnus, Vice President Kamala Harris: follow through on a promise.

For POLITICO Magazine, Ruby Cramer dives into the new Pete Buttigieg documentary. Amid the action of the campaign, she notes that the real drama is watching a person who is still becoming comfortable with himself and doing so on the biggest stage imaginable.

What happens when a movement meets a man who cant be moved? Also for POLITICO Magazine, Ruair Arrieta-Kenna reports on the Sunrise Movements challenging year in a Washington seemingly ruled by Sen. Joe Manchin. Its a hard look at efforts to win transformational climate policy and the limits of the progressive wave.

THE RECAST RECOMMENDS

Its Teresa and Rishika with your favorite section of the newsletter! Bookmark these recs and we hope you find some time (or create some time) in your week to indulge.

We wanted to remind you again: Brakkton will co-moderate a discussion at POLITICOs inaugural sustainability summit on Nov. 16 about what it will take to achieve a just transition to a clean energy economy. You can RSVP here.

In his new book, Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America, scholar and rapid-fire thinker/speaker Michael Eric Dyson dissects all the ways Black lives are served up for consumption on the public stage.

We loved Season 1 of Padma Lakshmis food/travel series, Taste the Nation, so were especially geeked to see shes back with Season 2.

Make some time for this profile of Emily Ratajkowski, whos been dubbed the thinking mans naked woman. With her new book, the model tries to escape the oppression of the male gaze while acknowledging that shes used her sexuality to advance her career and reflects on the huge number of photographs of her body that have come to define her life.

Emily Ratajkowski attends the CoinGeek conference cocktail party in October in New York. | Andy Kropa/Invision/AP

Louise Erdrichs latest novel, The Sentence, dropped today and its caught our eye: An independent bookstore specializing in Native literature becomes the site of a yearlong haunting. Set in Minneapolis amid the Covid-19 pandemic and protests against police brutality, the book explores both the paranormal and devastating reality.

Heres a little energy to get you through the day, brought to you by Rakeem Miles, Waka Flocka and Chad Hugo.

Rishika tried her hand at co-hosting a Diwali party for the first time last weekend. Shes pretty proud of this hand-curated playlist of Bollywood hits:

TikTok of the Day: Just a father and his baby, vibing.

Were supposed to be packing for vacation

Follow this link:

Truth: Democrats have a white voter problem - Politico

Posted in Golden Rule | Comments Off on Truth: Democrats have a white voter problem – Politico

How to get a great guitar sound… without buying a guitar – MusicRadar

Posted: at 6:11 pm

This one's for those who dont have access to (or the ability to play) a real guitar, but still want those sparkling textures. The solution: software sample libraries and virtual players. Some even boldly argue that software guitar is a more practical route to rich, majestic guitar melodies

Its now a nearly universally recognised fact that the pro-level sample library has largely negated the necessity of investing in bank-breaking instruments, or studio recording time. From the comfort of your home, music makers across genres can easily conjure lush orchestration, realistic-sounding drum-kits and authentic analogue synth tones with the right applications of professionally curated sample collections, in conjunction with natural-sounding legatos and humanisation abilities.

For some however, guitar sampling remains something to be treated with a degree of scepticism, as those stubborn real-world players remain dubious of the idea that software can reproduce guitar parts as realistic as those performed by a human being when performed via a MIDI keyboard, or programmed via software.

Well, that idea should be put to bed right now, because, in reality, guitar sampling has been a perfectly elegant solution for those less able to weave dazzling solos with their fingers for years, or for those looking to apply guitar characteristics that are simply outside of their sphere to muster.

The idea that these virtual guitar suites cant sound truly realistic may have held water some ten years ago, but the last decade has seen rapid innovations in performability and sample animation. Many guitar sample libraries feature phrases and scale runs performed by superlative players, recorded in a studio context with top of the line amps, cabs and microphones too. When applied to a track, very few listeners if any would be able to tell that they were added using software.

While its definitely the case that you now dont actually need a real guitar in order to work the instrument in your mix, you really do need to make sure that you listen carefully to the sound of the legion of virtual guitar VSTs for sale before you part with your cash.

Youll find that, as a general rule, theyve all been tailored for a specific sonic purpose. Impact Soundworks Shreddage for example, is aimed at those wanting a pounding metal thrash, while the affecting, delayed licks found in Audiomoderns Opacity II heavily vie to be used in a Nordic murder mystery soundtrack. While both aretechnically guitar packs, they cater for very different audiences.

Sound aside, many of these types of virtual guitar plugin will contain pre-played phrases, riffs and licks that are triggered like any other sample, but if you were wanting to create your own, note-by-note, youd be advised to take a look at the individual expressive capabilities of the suite. The aforementioned Opacity II is exemplary in this regard, with its pre-prepared (and pre-mixed) textured pads able to be scaled seamlessly, while the sequence loops, swells and pads can yield stunning guitar atmospheres it would take days to carve.

The same can be said of the much more straightforward Session Guitar series from Native Instruments. While these suites contain some stellar recordings of classic guitars (for example a Martin D-35, in the case of the standout Strummed Acoustic), the best aspect of the software is that ability to trigger predetermined chord sequences via a pattern selector, or, to boil things down to a crazily simple level, via a one-note key press, which triggers a lush chord on the chosen guitar. Its actually almost that bit too easy, but at the end of the day, it sounds real, and accelerates the production process.

While direct overall control over chords and notes is one aspect of being a guitarist, the parallel pleasure of exploring the expressive scope of the instrument, and coming up with new, off-the-wall riffs and melodies is something that many might expect the software world to not be able to cater for.

Well, Impromptu Guitars from Zero-G features an engine that randomly weaves together a wide range of improvised loops, crossfade-able by use of the central knob. These evolving sounds can be mixed into your track in numerous pleasing ways, and were all captured with real amps and pedals.

Other software, such as the range offered by Real Guitar, allows a wide range of techniques and chordal control, with key velocity and your mod wheel affecting such aspects as harmonics, strum intensity and chord voicing. Real Guitars suites among many others also contain humanisation algorithms, designed to combat the former jarring realisation that were working in the domain of samples, with chord strums and technique being carefully thought about during the recording process.

Oddly, human imperfection and unpredictability is a discernible, sought-after attribute. While weve named a few of our particular favourite guitar sample manipulating products, do take the time to explore around and hone in on the right fit for your music. Or, if youre starting fresh, a guitar sample library with performance abilities can be a splendid starting point.

Even if youre a guitarist through-and-through, its certainly not an either/or situation with regards to the virtual world. Certain software suites could lead you down more interesting creative angles.

Melodic sample packs, such as Pedal Steel from Loopmasters, or Guitar Hooks from IQ Samples can be easily slotted in to your mix, and can spur on the creation of new earworms, which you can develop further with an actual instrument (though you may want to keep these royalty-free sounds as they are, bearing in mind theyve been captured with god-tier guitars and amp combinations).

However you want to approach things, the golden rule is that all music-making technology is there to help your creativity to flourish, and tired arguments about hardware vs software or indeed guitars vs sampled guitars restrict both sides of the fence.

But, there are no shortcuts to achieving the perfect sound for your track as weve over-stated throughout this feature, the track should always be the primary consideration.

Even if youve spent your life in dance music, and never worked with the guitar as a mix element before, then why not open your ears to the possibilities it presents? You might be surprised with how a considered application of guitar sounds can prove to be the missing ingredient that makes your track into a real gourmet dish.

If you want some beefy metal power in your mix, but dont own either a guitar or the necessary skill to conjure the required tone, then Shreddage 3 is tailor-made for you. Using a MIDI keyboard, Shreddage allows you to control the guitar via Poly Input, while the suite also contains huge numbers of articulations and presets.

Featuring 3,682 samples, the realistic fretboard and string-handling noises found within Ample Guitar L III means that youd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between it and a real guitar recording. A substantial helping of articulations, realistic legato and a choice of instrument types result in a quality simulated guitar option.

It may be over ten years old, but Electri6ity is still held in high regard by many software-guitar explorers. Its automatic chord feature revoices your MIDI keyboard chords into guitar chord shapes, while the programmable strumming ability keeps things sounding human. Theres also a huge amount of scalability and effects within.

Across Natives range of Session Guitarist instruments, stunning guitar recordings are performable via your standard MIDI keyboard. Strummed Acoustic is certainly up there as a vital go-to if you dont have a real guitar to hand. It provides the simple ability to construct realistic performances that can help to texture your mix.

Taking their cues from a classic Gibson Les Paul sound, this sublime package captures the playing of acclaimed player Michael Dowdle, and features a heap of pre-recorded parts, phrases and programmable notes. The strumming animation controls are top notch as well, which features the ability to palm mute and apply harmonics.

Available in a range of different flavours, the Virtual Guitarist series provides many musical styles to choose from, with thousands of samples and performance options to explore. Full chords can be triggered with single-note presses, and more than 100 presets can direct you to a tone that will work for your track. The effects are pretty sweet, too.

Original post:

How to get a great guitar sound... without buying a guitar - MusicRadar

Posted in Golden Rule | Comments Off on How to get a great guitar sound… without buying a guitar – MusicRadar

Barnes: There is hope, for He has given us the remedy – Elizabethtown Bladen Journal

Posted: at 6:10 pm

Last weels column concluded with the statement, We want to drive the newest car we can finance, dress very well, smell sweet, and make a knock-out impression. Appearances matter more, to many, in this superficial, performative age of reality television, Facebook, and the ubiquitous video screen, than do substance, values, moral principle, and character. It all goes with narcissism and nihilism, both a belief in nothing except what I want.

What we wanted grew from one car for each family household, to a car for every eligible driver, in each family household. In maybe 40 years, from about the 40s until the 70s or 80s. I noticed it happening all around, and in our own family. It is no wonder that carbon emissions skyrocketed in this country. As I wrote last week, we have wanted it all. I confess to the same malady.

Adolf Hitler bought the death of God lie and weaponized it through Naziism to deceive his nation and ravage the world. The devils lie of death of God always fosters the claim that we ourselves are gods, capable of being gods unto ourselves. Hitlers term for Aryan supremacy was the ubermensch, the overman. With a dead God dethroned and no longer believed, Hitler claimed pseudo-divine status for the overman, the man over all, god unto himself. Why shouldnt gods have what they want? It follows, doesnt it?

This present manifestation of the death of God blasphemy is degrading us, choking us, disfiguring the image of God in us, and if we stay this course, it will doom us. Much more than a political matter, our predicament is fundamentally a spiritual matter of ultimate importance.

So, now what? Do we invest our hopes in scientific artificial intelligence? Some now assert that we stand on the frontier of that epoch. God forbid! That way follows the same old formulaic lie, decked out in silicon disguise! Ubermensch on steroids! (I plan to say much more about this in a later column.)

We were, and are, warned by the biblical prophets. By Paul. By Christ Jesus Himself.

What did we trade off in these last decades of capitulation and decline? What did we get in the trade? Our era traded off loyal commitment in loving, bonded relationships and stable families, for satisfaction of perverse sexual craving, through adultery, pornography, and indiscrinate hookups, in wasted lifestyles. Pop music rarely mentions falling in love anymore, as it nearly always did in the 40s and 50s and some years afterward.

Instead, commitment in romantic love and lasting marriage was traded off for exploitation and the predatory excitement of no-name, on-the-fly hook-ups. Or perhaps a few months of shacking up until boredom signaled time to move on. Tina Turner nailed it with Whats Love Got To Do With It? Remember that? Remember the hurt, and angry disappointment, in Tina s lyrics and voice?

This era traded off concern for our neighbor for getting ahead at all costs, keeping up with the Joneses, and leaving them in the dust and the rearview mirror. Too seldom have we helped others in need without thought of whats in it for me? Even the good deeds have been done to make a good impression.

Jesus said that what is not done in faith is sin. And we give scarcely a thought to starving children in Madagascar, those too far away to be considered neighbors, or to be impressed by us.

This eras sorry gain has been meaningless lives of scrounging out a living, spending it all on ourselves, chasing the good life, plundering Earths resources, aimlessness, and spiritual starvation. Can you see it? Look around. It may be hard to spot the wasted lives. They can look well-fed, well-dressed, and well-situated.

For a time.

It runs out.

Still, there is hope. God gives the remedy. But it comes at a cost. Repent. Repent, saith the Lord. Take heed: sincere repentance is not a rote formula. Sincere repentance costs deep, wrenching grief and mourning, over a wicked heart and a sinful lifestyle. Sincere repentance demands giving up our sin, hating our sin, and sackcloth-and-ashes sorrow, over sin against a Living God. Sorrow like Davids. Like Isaiahs. And conversion to love of God. Like theirs.

Furthermore, discipleship, following Jesus, comes at a sacrificial cost. Taking up a cross means death, the death of wanting to have it our way, to get what we want, just like we want, as much as we want. Conversion and faithful discipleship cost our lives, our souls, our all: Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all, (Isaac Watts, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross). Amen.

Sincere repentance, Almighty Gods amazing grace and forgiveness of sin, conversion, and following our Lord in cross-bearing for His glory and His kingdom, are humankinds one salvation. One. God offers it still.

And joy! Rejoice! God has not given up on us! In Christ Jesus, its shouting time, whirling about with joy time! Everyday! Christmas is coming!

Thanks be to God.

Dr. Elizabeth Barnes is a retired professor emerita of Christian Theology and Ethics at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and a resident of White Lake.

Originally posted here:

Barnes: There is hope, for He has given us the remedy - Elizabethtown Bladen Journal

Posted in Nihilism | Comments Off on Barnes: There is hope, for He has given us the remedy – Elizabethtown Bladen Journal

Everything, All the Time, Everywhere by Stuart Jeffries review how we became postmodern – The Guardian

Posted: at 6:10 pm

For the past half-century, postmodernist thinkers have been trying to discredit truth, identity and reality. Identity is a straitjacket, and truth is just some middle-aged academics opinion. As for reality, it has become as obsolete as dressing for dinner. Objectivity is a myth in the service of the ruling powers. If only we could shed these illusions, we could revel in a world of infinite possibility. Instead of waking up to the same tedious old self each morning, we could flit from one identity to another as easily as David Bowie. The final liberation is that anything can mean anything else. Once you kick away fixed meanings and firm foundations, you are free to enjoy yourself. Postmodernism is meant to be fun, even if a current of nihilism runs steadily beneath it. As Stuart Jeffries suggests in this splendidly readable survey, there is something vacuous at the heart of its exuberance.

Sign up to our Inside Saturday newsletter for an exclusive behind the scenes look at the making of the magazines biggest features, as well as a curated list of our weekly highlights.

Even so, postmodernism is intended to be subversive. Since civilisation works by order and authority, challenging these things is bound to seem disruptive. The trouble is that neoliberalism challenges them too. Nothing is more fluid and flexible than the marketplace. Nobody on Wall Street believes in absolute truth. The true anarchists are the free marketeers. So is postmodernism a critique of the status quo or a capitulation to it?

Perhaps the ultimate postmodern irony is to be both to sell out to the system while sending it up. It becomes impossible to distinguish the boss from the bohemian. Postmodernism may be playful, witty and depthless, but so is the British prime minister. It is unashamedly populist, defiantly embracing the everyday, but so is Nigel Farage. As Jeffries points out, Steve Jobs was selling conformity masquerading as personal liberation. He may have thought of himself as a hippie, but the Chinese factories that made his products had suicide nets beneath the windows of its dormitories for exploited workers. Madonna is seen by some as a feminist guerrilla fighter and by others as peddling rape fantasies, along with the most successful coffee table book (Sex) of all time. Post-truth politics may have started on the left bank of the Seine, but they ended up in the White House.

Some studies of postmodernism are cultural, some are historical and a few of them are philosophical. The achievement of this book is to roll all three approaches into one. This is rare, because those who know about Sid Vicious may not be avid readers of Michel Foucault, while those who are deep in Jacques Derrida are not always fans of Chris Krauss I Love Dick. Jeffries packs a remarkable knowledge of postmodern culture into these pages, from punk, hip-hop, film and photography to anti-psychiatry, the Rushdie fatwa and queer theory. All this is set in the context of the neoliberalism of the 1970s, showing how a revamped capitalism gave birth to a culture of the flexible and provisional of short-termism, endless consumption and multiple identities.

Postmodernism may be a historical fact, but it finds history itself a bore. The past is simply a collection of styles to be recycled, while the future will be just like the present only with a richer array of options. There are no more grand narratives like the idea of progress, no momentous transformation to be feared or hoped for. The point is not to change the world but to parody it. History has come to an end with Ben & Jerrys and Grand Theft Auto.

When two aircraft slammed into the World Trade Center, a new grand narrative the conflict between the west and Islamism began to unfold. For some observers, this spelled the end of the postmodern era. Jeffries himself is not so sure: it may have lost some of its youthful zest, but its malign spirit still lives on. Postmodern ideas certainly survive in the current scepticism of truth. For a whole generation of young people, simply to have a conviction is to be guilty of dogmatism. When asked about his convictions, Boris Johnson replied that he had picked up a couple of them for speeding. To suggest that someones opinion is false is a form of discrimination. Every viewpoint should be respected, except for racism, sexism, homophobia, elitism and antisemitism, which are deeply offensive. So they are, but how do you decide this if moral objectivity is for the birds? There are writers today who rightly insist that women have been shackled and humiliated throughout history, yet who put words like truth and reality in scare quotes.

The most useless theory of knowledge is one that prevents us from saying with reasonable certainty, for example, that a great many Africans were once enslaved by the west. Yet you can find such theories of knowledge in most seminar rooms, even if those who tout them can rightly think of little more outrageous than slavery. Perhaps Jeffriess compelling critique will help to sort them out.

Terry Eagletons latest book is Tragedy (Yale). Everything, All the Time, Everywhere: How We Became Postmodern by Stuart Jeffries is published by Verso (20). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

Read more:

Everything, All the Time, Everywhere by Stuart Jeffries review how we became postmodern - The Guardian

Posted in Nihilism | Comments Off on Everything, All the Time, Everywhere by Stuart Jeffries review how we became postmodern – The Guardian

UK band Squid build up worlds only to destroy them – Chicago Reader

Posted: at 6:10 pm

The five members of London band Squid are architectural engineers who plot points of distinction for listeners to marvel ator, as vocalist and drummer Ollie Judge sings on Narrator, off their 2021 debut, Bright Green Field (Warp), they mold beauty out of clay. The 2020 single Broadcaster consists mostly of a description of outdoor environs and listening to a voice beamed through the air, but the bands tendency to set their construction projects atop music colored by a whirling succession of influences might make lyrical nuance tough to decipher; Judges alternately deadpan and screamy vocal delivery from behind the kit recalls the punky portions of Neu!, the nihilism of the Falls Mark E. Smith, and the no-wave yelps of James Chance, among other things. The music Squid have cultivated is broader, though. Along with referencing Gang of Fours funk-punk polemics and mid-period Kraftwerk, they touch on Londons contemporary jazz scene, including a guest spot from rising multi-instrumentalist Emma-Jean Thackray on the spindly Paddling. They also cover experimental 20th-century composer Steve Reich on a pandemic-times recording to benefit the East Bristol Food Bank, and they reference dystopian sci-fi novels in interviews. As taut and visceral as Bright Green Field sounds, the live renditions of these songs could top the recordwith any luck theyll reach the fever pitch of the bands 2019 single, Houseplants, which underlines their statement of purpose, musically and philosophically. And I find myself looking for a future that doesnt exist, Judge shrieks. This is my beautiful house and I cant afford to live in it. Here Squid build up the white-picket-fence myth only to tear it down with motorik rhythms, down-stroked guitar, cornet filigree, and the sound of the well-read and cultured giving themselves over to utter abandon.

Squid, Sharkula x Mukqs Sat 11/13, 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, sold out, 21+

Squid, Sharkula x Mukqs Sun 11/14, 9:30 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $15, 21+

View post:

UK band Squid build up worlds only to destroy them - Chicago Reader

Posted in Nihilism | Comments Off on UK band Squid build up worlds only to destroy them – Chicago Reader

Sustainable banger: Jarvis Cocker stars on climate-themed dance track – The Guardian

Posted: at 6:10 pm

Jarvis Cocker has teamed up with the electronic DJ Riton to release what he calls the worlds first sustainable banger to encourage action to address the climate crisis.

Lets Stick Around, released on Thursday to coincide with Cop26, brings together one of the figureheads of Britpop with a powerhouse of electronic dance music. Anybody with any sense is passionate about the climate emergency, its moving more into the centre of everybodys consciousness, Cocker said.

The former Pulp frontman was approached to do the vocals last year by the Grammy-nominated Riton and Ben Rymer, who together make up Gucci Soundsystem.

It seemed appropriate to unleash it on an unsuspecting world during Cop26, Cocker said. A lot of debates in the modern world devolve into people shouting at each other from opposite corners of a room. The idea was that anybody could dance to this song and agree with it. Thats what music does so well. It brings people together.

Cocker has long been an advocate for climate action. His concerts have featured stalls for Extinction Rebellion, some of whose members joined him on the Q awards red carpet in 2019.

He said it was hard to get a sense of the stilted announcements at Cop26, which involved a lot of discussions behind closed doors Theres still the idea that theres an elite of people who are going to tell you how the world works. An issue such as climate change that affects everyone also needed to include everyone, he said.

Cocker, who is performing in Glasgow on Thursday with his solo band Jarv Is , lamented the fact that air travel was cheaper than rail. Im getting the train to Glasgow, but while thats the situation, nothings going to change that much.

He said climate solutions should not hinge on asking people to give things up, because its never going to work. Its about doing things differently, like the experimentation with hydrogen fuel. Aeroplanes arent going to disappear, its just daft to think that people arent going to go on holiday any more.

His song (Cunts Are Still) Running the World has become an epic singalong on his current tour, but Cocker said he had been in two minds over whether to include it in the setlist. The late Tony Benn had taken him to task over the track, warning against cynicism and nihilism. He said youve got to believe in the democratic process. I took that to heart. But unfortunately, I still feel that the song is appropriate.

Earlier this year Cocker released an album of French music to accompany Wes Andersons latest film, The French Dispatch. But the Sheffield-born singer, who has spent much of his life in Paris, where his son is based, said it was dispiriting that musicians were still having trouble touring in Europe post-Brexit.

Its still really complicated and expensive, he said. Normally we would be preparing after this tour to do some shows in Europe.

Cocker said Pulps Common People, one of the biggest-selling records of the 90s with lyrics centred on a meeting at Central Saint Martins might not have been written today if government plans to limit the number of arts students go ahead.

This idea that arts is not a proper job or a proper thing to study is stupid, he said. Creativity is the centre of the human experience. The first things that show you that people were alive are cave paintings or little bone carvings. Its how humans say we exist. Its not some kind of fringe pursuit.

My life would have been so different if I hadnt had that opportunity to go to Saint Martins at the time that I did. But that kind of opportunity isnt open to people from my kind of background any more. And that just makes me very angry and very sad.

Originally posted here:

Sustainable banger: Jarvis Cocker stars on climate-themed dance track - The Guardian

Posted in Nihilism | Comments Off on Sustainable banger: Jarvis Cocker stars on climate-themed dance track – The Guardian

Playing around in the ‘metaverse’ –

Posted: at 6:10 pm

The expo portion of this years Taiwan Creative Content Fest offers a glimpse into the future of entertainment and cultural applications

By Han Cheung / Staff reporter

Im not too sure what to expect when I enter the wormhole to the Metaverse Playground.

Ive done my homework on the event, and Ive tried my hand in VR games and Ive attended one virtual art opening (due to the pandemic), but Im still unsure of the loaded word metaverse especially in light of Facebooks recent, much-maligned embracement of the term, which was first coined in a 1992 dystopian novel.

The Metaverse Playground is the Expo portion of this years Taiwan Creative Content Fest, featuring a diverse array of immersive events and other showcases and live activities. The festival, which runs until Sunday, also features livestreamed forums, a Next Academy side-exhibition on the future of content creation and Garden Mingle, an interactive, futuristic outdoor performance and a concert that begins tonight.

Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times

Expo curator Samuel Wang () says that the metaverse is more than just cold digital technology and applications. Theres no need to be nervous, as people were averse to smartphones when they first came out, too, he argues.

I see the metaverse as a way for people to examine the universe within themselves. Since VR content moves between reality and virtuality, I think this exhibition shows how ones avatar can journey between the two realms and find a balance.

Just like how our dreams can be used to deal with our real lives, the metaverse can also be a chance to look within and redefine the way we live. It doesnt need to be like the nihilism of cyberpunk. Its something that can be faced positively, he says.

Photo courtesy of Taiwan Creative Content Agency

ENJOYING THE PLAYGROUND

The shows first half mostly features VR and other types of cutting-edge visual entertainment, from 360 movies to interactive, immersive experiences as well as more art-oriented projects, which are becoming increasingly dynamic.

For example, Huang Hsin-chiens () latest project Samara Ep 1 (), which won Best VR Story at the Cannes XR showcase, is a step up from his previous work; the scenes are more vivid, the movement is smoother and more exciting and the viewer can use their voice to trigger certain images as well. Still, storytelling is key, and Huangs tale of humans evolving over hundreds of millenia as they leave a devastated earth to find a new home is a relevant and compelling one.

Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times

Not all projects rely purely on 3D animation, and its encouraging to see the combination of physical crafts and VR. As a history buff, I enjoyed the four-minute video on the changes in Taipeis railroad system over a century, bringing to life actual miniature models belonging to the Kaohsiung Museum of History. The VR content is interspersed with old photos, which is a wonderful way to make education fun.

The VR film The Sick Rose () by HTC Vive Originals is also such a combination. Set during a pandemic in a fantastic Taiwan-esque landscape, it employs old-school stop-motion animation with traditional dough figurines. This is a highly effective way to combine tradition and the latest technology, and could be important in keeping dying arts alive in the future.

On the other side of the exhibition, which focuses on interactive entertainment applications, a woman using a motion sensitive smart glove to control a Taiwanese hand puppet catches my eye. This is part of a larger venture between the Seden Society Puppet Theater Foundation () and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University that attempts to combine AI and other tech to promote and preserve the art of puppetry.

Photo courtesy of Taiwan Creative Content Agency

In addition to getting more young people interested in puppetry, the glove can capture the old puppet masters hand motions, recording their skills as the art form becomes rarer by day.

Another intriguing experience is singing karaoke in a virtual booth, which can feature up to 40 users from anywhere in Taiwan. I still prefer in-person interaction, but I can see the appeal its clean, convenient and perfect for a pandemic or long distance friendships. In four months, organizers say, they have amassed over 2,000 users.

IS THIS THE FUTURE?

Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times

However, it still feels that there are limitations to these magical tools as far as popularization goes, at least for now. After all, the main goal of expos is to display the possibilities for potential users, or creative and business partners.

For example, due to the limited number of headsets, virtually all the immersion events were booked before the event started. Plus, one cant really experience that many products in one go as the devices are still slightly uncomfortable (especially for someone wearing glasses) and some of the content can make people dizzy.

A lot of these productions can only be displayed at exhibitions or film festivals, either due to logistics, physical space or system requirements. For instance, people cannot sing real-time duets in virtual karaoke unless they both have 5G. A neat-looking interactive AR film that only requires a tablet cannot be played at home yet due to massive file size.

Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times

But there is progress. For example, Kaohsiungs VR Film Lab can seat up to 30 people per screening since 360 degree movies require less space than interactive ones. During the annual Kaohsiung Film Festival, they also allow people to rent headsets so they can get used to watching movies with the device in their home. One day, the staff tells me, they hope that it will be common for every household to own one.

Wang says he thought it would still take some time for the public to really embrace metaverse technology, but he was surprised at how quickly the time slots for each experience was booked long before the event began especially compared to last years expo. Accessibility has also been boosted with headsets getting cheaper in recent years.

He remains optimistic about the future, noting that with more tech giants such as gaming company Roblox and Facebook joining the fray, both the software and hardware will improve quickly, not unlike when Apple introduced the iPhone and App Store more than a decade ago.

Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times

For those who missed out in signing up for the VR events, Wang says theres still much to see as VR content only consists of about 60 percent of the expo. There are data-driven art projects, for instance, such as the Winds of Taipei digital painting created from a years worth of local wind information, and Signal, an interactive, immersive art piece drawing from real-time COVID-19 diagnosis data from various countries.

We want to show that the metaverse is more than just VR content, he says.

Photo courtesy of Taiwan Creative Content Agency

WHAT: Taiwan Creative Content Fest

WHEN: Through Sunday

WHERE: Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (), 133, Guangfu S Rd, Taipei City (133)

ADMISSION: Free

ON THE NET: tccf.taicca.tw/en

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

Excerpt from:

Playing around in the 'metaverse' -

Posted in Nihilism | Comments Off on Playing around in the ‘metaverse’ –

Joe Biden and the spectre of Donald Trump – New Statesman

Posted: at 6:10 pm

Fallen from power and stripped of his Twitter account the bullhorn he once used to declare victories and mock rivals Donald Trump still haunts American politics. So too do the dark forces he unleashed on the US political scene between 2016 and 2021: nihilism, fear, conspiracy theory, white supremacy.

There are reminders of Trumps spectre at our door. The most recent came on 2 November when the Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected governor of Virginia. A 54-year-old former businessman, Youngkin appears to be straight from GOP central casting: though he recognised Joe Bidens presidential victory as certifiably fair, he has raised some concerns about election integrity; he refuses to acknowledge human activity as a cause of climate change; and he has been accused of anti-Semitism for highlighting what he sees as the malign influence of the billionaire philanthropist George Soros in American education. He has said that mask mandates for children in schools are a step towards full economic shutdown and, like his fellow Republicans, decries critical race theory (CRT) a legal concept that says Americas political and juridical systems uphold white supremacy. Youngkin has promised to ban the teaching of CRT in Virginias classrooms.

Trump, who endorsed Youngkin but avoided visiting Virginia during the race, claimed credit for the victory against the Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe, thanking his base for coming out to vote. McAuliffes campaign focused heavily on linking his opponent with Trump, who, strategists thought, would be a toxic figure for most voters. The message did not have its intended effect.

The presence of Trump is similarly felt in the debates over pandemic politics that were stirred under him. Support for vaccine scepticism and mask mandates largely splits along party lines. The GOP is attempting to pass legislation through federal state houses that would prevent the return of certain pandemic restrictions in some states.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has become the neuralgic point where political and ideological disagreement between Americas left and right is most intense. Six of the nine justices (who serve lifetime appointments) were nominated by a Republican president. Sixty-two per cent of voters believe the court is now a political tool. Amy Coney Barrett, the conservative judge appointed by Trump in 2020, has insisted the court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks. She said this while appearing at an event with arch-Republican and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell.

Sign up for The New Statesmans newsletters Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Green Times A weekly round-up of The New Statesman's climate, environment and sustainability content.

Most worryingly, at the start of this year almost two-thirds of Republican voters refused to accept that Trump lost the 2020 election. Half of Republicans believe their votes will not be accurately counted the next time they go to the polls. Insisting that electoral fraud robbed him of victory, Trump has helped engender state-level laws that make it more difficult to vote. There are now extra requirements to submit ballots by mail and in some states, such as Georgia, it is illegal to give water to voters waiting in line at the polls.

He has also established a precedent whereby future presidential candidates may refuse to concede defeat. His attempt to have the 2020 result overturned may have been thwarted after election officials refused to find votes in his favour. But that does not mean this system of safeguards, designed more than 200 years ago, can hold forever.

What are Biden and the Democrats to do? With Covid cases falling, the pandemic is subsiding. The economy is showing some signs of recovery: unemployment has fallen to 4.6 per cent and, according to JPMorgan Chase Institute, median household current account balances were up more than 50 per cent at the end of July 2021 on July 2019. But although Americans may be richer, inflation is rising and people believe general economic conditions are poor.

At the start of this year, Biden seemed to be in constant motion passing a $1.9trn stimulus, dispensing 100 million Covid-19 vaccine shots in his first 60 days, rejoining the Paris climate agreement, and ending Trumps travel ban from several Muslim-majority countries. But at 38 per cent approval the result of a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released on 7 November his rating is the lowest of any modern president at this point in a term except Trump. A year before the midterm elections, Biden risks stalling. If his polling does not improve, the Democrats could lose their fragile hold over the House of Representatives in 2022.

As well as the defeat in Virginia on 2 November, the Democrats lost local elections throughout New York state and just managed to keep the Democratic governor in office in New Jersey. These defeats are a reminder that the party might have a limited time to be in a majority, one Democratic House staffer told me. If anything, it should put us in high gear to communicate our successes to the American people.

[see also: Leader: The Democrats face a reckoning]

The question is not just how to communicate political achievements but how to secure them. Bidens infrastructure legislation, which will pour $1trn into rebuilding roads and bridges and improving transit and internet access, finally passed in the Senate on 5 November. But his more ambitious social spending bill, which amounts to $1.75trn, has not. Some progressive Democrats, including Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez part of the so-called Squad of young, left-wing Congress members did not support the infrastructure bill, withholding their votes in an effort to get assurances the social spending programmes would also be passed.

Democrats are trying to work out what lesson to take from the Virginia defeat. Some see it as a sign that Biden and the party have strayed too far from the political centre. Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia who has resisted committing to vote on Bidens social spending bill, said on 4 November that America is a centre-right country and legislators should recognise it, adding: We must not go too far to the left. After the Virginia election, Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat from the state, remarked that nobody elected Biden to be Franklin D Roosevelt, who administered the New Deal between 1933 and 1939. Americans, she said, just want things to be normal.

But other Democrats believe Biden should be more economically ambitious and pass a modern New Deal. Its not clear to me that running a more economically populist, working-class orientated campaign is going to be enough, but its very clear that not doing that will fail, said Max Berger, a political organiser who worked on Senator Elizabeth Warrens 2020 presidential campaign. Is there anything Democrats can do to forestall Republicans retaking the House, and with it hastening the demise of free and fair elections? My gut says no. Republicans lost the House two years after Trump came into office; the Democrats lost it two years after Barack Obama did. Still, Berger said, I think we should at least try to go down guns blazing.

[see also: The US is not a leader in the fight against climate change]

With the infrastructure bill now passed, some on the left will push for Bidens social spending bill to go through. Our work doesnt stop there, Ro Khanna, a leading progressive in the House of Representatives, told me. We have to keep fighting for important policies not included in the bills. That means passing comprehensive paid leave, an incredibly popular programme that would offer clearly established benefits to families. It means fighting to raise the minimum wage, [write off] student loans, and continue to push for additional climate action. We have to deliver for working- and middle-class Americans to make their lives better. Democracy is at stake.

If the threat of Trumps return is felt in Congress, it is sensed in local election campaigns too and not only by Democrats. Watching [Youngkins] campaign was like watching him try to walk along a four-inch balance beam without falling off, said Whit Ayres, a Virginia-based Republican pollster. Youngkin never criticised or rebuked Trump, but he also never appeared with him. He didnt show up at the rallies where Trump called in and Trump never appeared for him in a rally in Virginia.

In more solidly Republican states, it would be harder to get away with this distancing strategy. In Ohio, for example, JD Vance, the author of Hillbilly Elegy (2016) and now a GOP Senate candidate, has been targeted by attack ads reportedly costing nearly $1m for his past criticisms of Trump. The groups behind the ads, Club for Growth Action and USA Freedom Fund, support the former Ohio state treasurer Josh Mandel, whose Twitter bio boasts that he was the first statewide official in Ohio to support President Trump. He regularly tweets his fierce criticism of so-called Rinos (Republicans in name only) a favourite pejorative term of Trump.

In Democratic strongholds such as New York and California, Republican prospects are unlikely to be affected by the way GOP candidates talk about Trump. But in swing states, and with the right candidate, the Youngkin model a combination of keeping Trump at arms length, not too close but still in reach works. At the same time, the success of Youngkin and Republicans like him depends on the extent to which Trump remains in the background. In the next presidential campaign in 2024, will Trump be content to campaign separately from the candidate, or will he insist on showing up to the rallies? Can Trump resist making another run for the presidency?

If Republicans win back the House and the Senate in 2022, there is a chance they will be able to use Trump without being overshadowed by him.

For the Democrats, the question is how to define their political ambitions, as they decide whether to remake the country or return to the political centre. The concern with the moderate position is, as the US historian Arthur M Schlesinger Jr put it in the late 1990s, the middle of the road is definitely not the vital centre. It is the dead centre.

Some in the party understand this. I think the writing is on the wall, one Democratic House staffer said. We kind of know how the [2022] election is going to play out. Education and specifically how students learn, or dont, about race and racism in America is going to be a significant campaign issue. Democrats need to step up and have a message to respond to that, they said.

All the while, Trump is a looming, threatening presence in US political life. Republicans will continue to use him and the base of supporters he brings, and in the process may end up being used by him. But Democrats cannot run a campaign simply on being the not-Trump party. Biden can spend the next year in a defensive crouch. Or, alternatively, he can try to pass legislation that improves peoples lives in tangible ways, and position himself not against a vision of America, but for one.

Trump may cast a shadow over American politics. But Biden and the Democrats cant be afraid of that shadow, and they certainly cant afford to be afraid of their own.

This article appears in the 10 Nov 2021 issue of the New Statesman, Behind the Masks

Read more from the original source:

Joe Biden and the spectre of Donald Trump - New Statesman

Posted in Nihilism | Comments Off on Joe Biden and the spectre of Donald Trump – New Statesman

‘Nothing Matters’: What Elon Musk Thinks About the Concept Of ‘Nil’ – News18

Posted: at 6:10 pm

Twitter is a source of perspectives, ideas, opinions, and facts, and the space is graced by some of the brightest minds of our times. Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, is among those minds and can almost pass as a netizen. Recently, the billionaire-cum-netizen interacted with another bright mind, and the conversation was about nothing, literally. Lex Fridman, a researcher, working in the field of artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), shared his appreciation towards the number zero. Lex wrote, Zero is the most important number ever invented in mathematics. It enables algebra and calculus and thus physics, computing, and engineering. He added how zero assists the human mind to fathom the concept of nothingness.

The tweet was a desirable fuel to fire up a conversation that can cross various topics and churn out some amazing perspectives. Naturally, it caught Elons attention. Elon contributed to continuing the thread and replied, Nothing matters.

Elon Musk, through his tweet, accidentally touched upon the concept of philosophy called Nihilism, which says that amid the epitome of randomness, i.e., the universe, nothing really matters, and the existence of humans is a blip in the fabric birthed out of the randomness.

In the next tweet attached to the philosophical one, Elon brought back zero into the conversation and, in brackets, wrote, Zero is a cool concept.

Since shared, Elons piece of mind converted into a tweet has garnered more than 23,000 likes and multiple retweets from Twitter users. Interestingly, a technological company named Nothing commented, Indeed.

One user thought of complicating the matters further and wrote, From nothing comes everything.

Should be the name of your new rocket, wrote another.

Recently, Elon Musk started a poll regarding selling 10% of his Tesla stocks and stated that he would do what the poll decided.

According to reports, Elon is facing a tax bill worth $15 billion, which might be the reason behind the unprecedented Twitter poll pertaining to him selling his stocks.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram.

Go here to see the original:

'Nothing Matters': What Elon Musk Thinks About the Concept Of 'Nil' - News18

Posted in Nihilism | Comments Off on ‘Nothing Matters’: What Elon Musk Thinks About the Concept Of ‘Nil’ – News18