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davidpwilson2564 · 5 years

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Bloglet

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

There is a hope that Michael Bloomberg might run for president. Perhaps this is too good to hope for. Two things to bear in mind: (1) They won't find any dirt on him (that I know of) and (2) he's got Trump's number.

Evening: There is a tech rehearsal at the theater but I am not involved.

Carnegie Hall. The Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of young Maestro Nezet-Seguin. Maybe I haven't been paying attention but I've never seen him use a baton before. None of this fancy white tie and tails for him. He wears a white stretchy casual slipover with the shirttail out. Appropriate, because he has a real workout ahead of him.

Bartok Piano Concerto No. 3. Helene Grimaud. In the fine print it says that Gyorgy Sandor played the New York premiere (1946). This jars lose a memory. Almost fifty years ago when I was living in a spacious (creaky) loft. Roger used to bring his bass and we'd play some of the (increasingly more difficult) Mikrokosmos, he doing the left hand part and me taking on the right hand, on the marimba. (I wonder what happened to that instrument.) Roger learned that Mr. Sandor would be playing the entire Mikrokosmos at Town Hall, on three successive nights. We went. Each evening, after playing, there was a Q and A during which Sandor showed a ready wit, bringing to mind Victor Borge.

There are so many Bartok stories. He died too soon, broke. Lou B said that back in the Forties someone in the music publishing world was looking into the possibility of a piano reduction (maybe for two pianos?) of "Concerto for Orchestra." (I am trying to imagine such a thing.) As these things often go, the money offered wasn't much, maybe a project for an eager young person trying to get his foot in the door. But Bartok, with so little time left, asked if he might do it. Sad.

The mini-bust of Bartok is just up the street on 57th where for a time he resided (uptown side, just west of Eighth Avenue).

Second half: R Strauss. "Alpine Symphony." A day in the mountains. The events of a day musically described. There is even a thunderstorm. One of the great Nature works. It takes about an hour and, of course, brings to mind Mahler's Third, which is even longer. I have gotten to play the Mahler 3 but never the "Alpine." Other Strauss tone poems, yes, but not this one. A real rouser. Huge orchestra. A piece you only get to hear a couple of times in your life.

Strauss was greatly moved by Mahler's death (it is difficult to imagine that Mahler only lived to be fifty). Both were greatly influenced by the writings of Nietzsche and Strauss at first intended to call this work "The Anti-Christ." Good that he didn't.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Astros vs Yankees playoff game called off as huge rain is anticipated.

Go to the Koch Theater. It's great to be working again.

A glimpse of Misty coming out of the Koch Theater. Her signature cigarette. Can't get over how she has transformed herself over the years. Lost weight. The cigarettes may have had something to do with it. You know, dancers and cigarettes...and yogurt...got to stay thin.

Rehearsal. Break. Performance.

Coming out of the theater. Wretched weather. Heavy rain. Soaked walking home.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Terrible news: Elijah Cummings dead at 68. He was everything Trump isn't.

Rehearsal. Break. Performance.

Note: During the intermission Kevin M steps forwards and addresses the audience re the death of Alicia Alonso (she died today, at 92). It was because she wanted to do that setting of "Carmen" for strings and percussion (that Rodion Shchedrin devised for Maya Plisetskaya [both names are murder to spell correctly]) that I was given a shot, forty some years ago with ABT. I had done it previously with that Stars of the Bolshoi tour (with Ms. Plisetskaya). That was the reason I was asked. Note too that Kuniko was Alicia's dresser when she appeared with the company. And...at this point in her life Ms. Alonso was almost blind. One cannot imagine the courage... Thanks, Alicia.

Home. The last part of the Astros/Yankees game. One or the other will play the Washington Nationals (having bested the Cards) in the World Series. The Nationals are a relatively new team. Trivia: As kids we always joked about the Washington Senators, who were always in the cellar (in the American League) as were the Pirates (in the National League). We said: Washington, first in war, first in peace and last in the American League. The Senators didn't have much luck. The won the World Series in 1924. In 1961 they moved and became the Minnesota Twins and their luck greatly improved.

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kynky · 5 years

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STRICTLY BASS. APRIL 2019 UPDATE.

Tracklisting

Activate – Au5

Anarchy - Everyone You Know Remix – Delta Heavy, Everyone You Know

Arcus – RL Grime, graves

Assembler - LEVIT∆TE Remix – Mefjus, Levit∆te

Babatunde - um.. Remix – PEEKABOO, G-Rex, um..

Badmash – Bossfight

Bass Boom - Tyro Remix – Walter Wilde, p0gman, Tyro, Boogie T

Bass Cream – Stratus, SubDocta

Bassquake feat. Jeff Kush – YOOKiE, Jeff Kush

Beauty & The Grim – Dr. Ozi

Booty Wobble – SubDocta

Born To Survive – Zomboy, rx Soul

Bulletproof - Chime Remix – Doctor P, Chime, Eva Simons

Bust Like – Ecraze

Censored – Mr. Bill, Esseks

Cold Individual – Doctor P, Shapes

Crank Up The Dank – Gammer, Stonebank

Dark Crystal - Pigeon Hole Remix – Minnesota, Pigeon Hole

Dark Power – Sam Lamar

The Darkness – Spekrfreks

Death Rave – Jarvis

Demons - NuKid Remix – Kai Wachi, NuKid

Different Path – Current Value

Dissection – Bogtrotter

THE DROP - Stonebank Remix – Gammer, Stonebank

Duality – HELA, CyberSex

Electrum – We Are Alive!

Endeavor – Eclipse

The Fallout – Modestep

Fizzy Lifting Drink – Kill Paris, Jimi Tents, Big Gigantic

Flow – Bear Grillz

Focus Inwards – Reso

Fucking Noise – Stratus

G Chain - Jessica Audiffred Remix – Born I, ARIUS, Jessica Audiffred

Give It To Me – Yellow Claw, Nonsens

God Damnit (Hex Cougar Remix)(with Call Me Karizma) – ILLENIUM, Call Me Karizma, Hex Cougar

Good News – Apashe

Gravel – Reso

Guess Who – Tisoki, Tank Parade

Gunslinga – Pegboard Nerds, MC Mota

Hallucinogen – Chris Lorenzo

Hardcore Raven – Rusko

Harvest – Of The Trees

Headbanger – INF1N1TE, Woofax

High Noon - Wubbaduck Remix – The Brig, Wubbaduck

Hollywood Dream - Cyran Remix – Fransis Derelle, Cyran, Lisa Cimorelli

Hugo - Keota remix – Tsimba, Keota

I (Still) Dream of You – Kill Paris

I Know U – Dyro, LOOPERS

Let Me Go – Diskord

Levitate – Protohype

Lie – Sullivan King

Lights Go Down - Peekaboo Remix – Zeds Dead, Jauz, PEEKABOO

Like That – Digital Ethos

Loading – KTRL, Joystick

Løst – Lucchii, Rielle

Lost My Mind – Dillon Francis, Alison Wonderland

M.O.D – Holy Goof, Notion

Magic – Kill Paris

MANKIND – LICK, No Etiquette

Mask (with AWAY) – josh pan, AWAY

Mind – Dirty Audio, ZEKE BEATS

Night Fall – Mark The Beast, Nitepunk, KJ Sawka

No Sleep – Bossfight

Not IRL – Modestep

Our Own Way – Barely Alive, Modestep

PLAY – Tokyo Machine

Pop Ya Cork - Volac Remix – Stanton Warriors, Volac

The Power - Boxwork Remix – LMajor, Boxwork

Pump It Up – Gentlemens Club, SampliFire

Questions – Klax, Enei

R U I N – Ekali, 1788-L

Rabble Rouser - Shikari Sound System Remix – Enter Shikari, Shikari Sound System

Rico Law – Giganti

Rise From The Dead – Dirtyphonics

Run - Chime Remix – Xilent, Chime

Sahara Love - Seven Lions Remix – Above & Beyond, Zoë Johnston, Seven Lions

Samurai – Slimez

Sell Out – Marshmello, SVDDEN DEATH

Senses - DJ Q Remix – My Nu Leng, Iyamah, DJ Q

Sentinel – Champagne Drip

Show Me – Slippy, Sara Skinner

Sleepless – Feed Me

Squeeze (Burnin) – Rusko

They Call Me – Matroda

Threat – Downlink

Time – Nosk

Timebomb Zone - Conrank Remix – The Prodigy, Conrank

Tonk Sound – Conrank

Ultima – Pixel Terror

UTOPIA – MANSHN

Want You – Kanine

Wasted – Jessica Audiffred

Waves – Franky Nuts

We Can Be Friends (feat. Herizen) – What So Not, Herizen

WOAH! – Stylust

Wraith – YOOKiE, Hekler

You're Not from Around Here – Cookie Monsta, Flowdan

Your Lies – Franky Nuts, Voicians

Zepulchre – Owl Vision

SHARE >>> SUBSCRIBE >>> SHUFFLE

#spotify #dubstep #bass #the prodigy #rusko #modestep #stanton warriors #dirtyphonics #doctor p #zomboy #marshmello

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johnnyccdc · 4 years

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@whiskeyandoyster is very rapidly becoming a destination to try the rare and obscure spirits made available over the years from @catoctincreek - Added to their portfolio today is the extremely rare Rabble Rouser, a 4 year, 100 proof, bottled in bond, straight rye whisky. It’s the best of the Rabble expressions to date and a sure win for your Valentine’s date treat! Also added are the latest American Single Malt offerings from CCDC, in collaboration with @beltwaybrewco in Sterling, we took their Farm House Pale Ale and their OctoIPA, distilled them, aged them for 2 years in 30 gallon Minnesota white oak barrels then bottled them both at 92 proof. They’re awesome expressions of the beers from which they came from, now in concentrated whisky form and I’m telling you, you’ve never had a whisky like this one before, ever! I feel the Farm House Pale Malt would you particularly well with Whiskey & Oyster’s raw bar offerings. Today and the rest of the weekend they are offering up a Valentine’s 3 Course menu with a bunch of great options and a two person brunch menu this Saturday and Sunday. Contact them at 703-567-1533 - Whiskey & Oyster is located at 301 John Carlyle Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Hours: Monday - Sunday 11am-12am Cheers! #CatoctinCreek #Distillery #Rye #WhiskeyAndOyster #Gin #Brandy #Virginia #Purcellville #Spirits #Cocktails #Restaurants #Bars #Hotels #Alexandria #Ambassador #Bartender #Mixologist #CraftSpirits #Alcohol #VaSpirits #VA #VisitALX #ALX #Booze #Drinks #Drinking #Food #DrinkRyeAndProsper #SPOCK #Whisky 🥃🖖🏻 (at Whiskey & Oyster) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8jnvlWBEoL/?igshid=1ayh2jr201i81

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stretchedoutonthegrass · 6 years

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13, 18, 28?

13. three songs you want at your funeral

Oh man, probably something sad? And just instrumental? I honestly don’t know haha!

18. three songs that remind you of your best friend

Literally any song by Billy Joel, Michael Buble, or Air Supply haha!

28. three best songs to get drunk or high to

I used to listen to (and try to sing along to) the Minnesota Rouser when I was drunk in college but I always got the words wrong haha! Currently it’s: Uptown Funk (by Bruno Mars), Africa (by Toto), and Dancing Queen (by Abba) haha!

Thank you so much!!

#answered #anonymous #itme

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cunyappliedtheatreblog · 4 years

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Countdown Profile : Week 4 Grace Cannon (’19)

Grace Cannon (’19) presenting on her thesis project. Photo: Michael Wilson

In this profile series this winter, I've gotten to interview Sarah Meister and Brennan O'Rourke, on their work and connections in small towns in Minnesota and Kansas. You now moved back to Sheridan [Wyoming], so we have a mini series emerging here on applied theatre in small towns. Would you tell people a bit about what you're doing in Sheridan?

I made the move in August, which means I've been back for about four months now. I lined up a job working at the local public high school, which I graduated from, to direct their fall play. The spring musical is this institution, and many people participate in it. The fall play was kind of like, “ehh.” It's always a little bit different from year to year. And so taking it over was an interesting experience, because I went into it not knowing if anybody was going to show up for auditions. And it turns out that people did: a lot of younger students. We did a play called She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen. And to be very specific, the Young Adventures version.

I'm curious about your roots and how you got back to Sheridan.

Roots. So, I love origin stories and, you know, my origin story is so wrapped up in this place where I was born, I grew up, I now currently live. My parents met in the '80s because they were working together to save the Wyo Theater, which was an old Vaudeville house in downtown Sheridan. And, you know, somebody wanted to buy it and make a parking lot, right? So, very Joni Mitchell.

They banded together. They saved the Wyo, and the Wyo just turned 30 years old. They've become a huge hub in the community. You get acts that come through there, from Siberia and New York, but it's also the place where we have children's musicals every summer. And, you know, and I grew up in those children's musicals and this spring I'm going to direct that children's musical.

Wow, what a full circle.

It's [also] a very conservative place. My parents were both pretty liberal. So, I also grew up in this space where I was a weirdo, for having different political beliefs. The summer before I left for college, there was this notorious guy from the town who was writing these really hateful letters to the editor. And that was like this was like 2006. So this was like: war in Iraq. You know, freedom this, freedom that. I started an exchange with him in the letters to the editor that got me a lot of attention--some that was good, some that was not good. This guy was a sixty year old dude, right? He's trying to fight me as an 18 year old, and I’m, “hey, man, you should be, more open minded. You know, there are more of us here and we don't all think like you do.”

That really showed me, because people would come to me and be like, “that was so great what you said.” There were all these people in this town that didn't feel represented, you know? And I think that's what really laid the groundwork for me to feel like, hey, let's just do The Laramie Project and people will show up. Even though it seems like some people will get pissed off, other people will show up and it will become a space for them to feel connected.

That was a big catalyst for you.

Yeah. It was. And then I was in Chicago for many years and I did different things. But most notably, I worked for American Theater Company—which no longer exists. At first I was in their new play department, helping them develop new documentary theater. At that point, I was like "documentary theater. That's my thing." American Theater Company was headed by a man named PJ Paparelli, who, while I was assistant directing the world premiere of his play, The Project(s), died, very suddenly. He was killed in a car crash while he was on vacation. Yeah. And I was co-assistant directing that production. And so we had to keep the ship going. And he had just offered me a job running one of the education programs with the theater company. I thought, "I don't know what [will] happen to the theater company, but I told him I was going to run the youth ensemble. So here we go." So I ran that youth ensemble, which was a two year program for juniors and seniors and high school students from all across Chicago to come and do play readings and masterclasses and see and study throughout the school year and then put on a play on the summer.

I did that for a year and I learned so much about what it's like to work with 16- to 18-year-olds and in documentary theater and to do work that was based in telling stories from real experiences. But I was doing that job with so little guidance and mentorship and oversight that by the time I did a year of that, I was like, "oh, man.” You can learn by being thrown in the deep end, but you can also make more mistakes than you need to. I really wanted to go back to school because I had some stuff that I needed to really reflect on. And that is what was missing from that year: that ability to pause and reflect and figure out what I just learned.

How is it for you to engage with the reputation that you have as the person who wrote to the editor and directed The Laramie Project?

Well...I love it. That's the other thing, right? Live in a small town and you can become well-known by people for doing these little things. So I don't mind being a rabble rouser. I enjoy it because I can be a shy person and I can be somebody who gets really afraid of confrontation in my personal life. But how funny is it I have this reputation as somebody who will like, you know, stand up and in a crowd and be like, "no, we don't all think that way." I enjoy engaging with that because it feels like a contradiction in itself, and I love those kinds of contradictions.

Grace speaks at Stand up to Your Presidents Day, an event she organized in Sheridan in 2017. Photo courtesy of Grace Cannon.

Back to the present. You wrote a piece for WyoFile about the decision to produce She Kills Monsters.

I did. I did a series of workshops with students who were interested in fall drama and tried to really approach that with, "where are my students at? What are they interested in? What do they want to explore?" How can I give them an opportunity without forcing on them something they're not actually looking for?

And who were they? What were they looking for?

They were really curious and interested in exploring relevant stories: relevant to them, relevant to their community, and the world. Things that would address topics that are normally considered taboo. Things that would explore LGBTQ issues. Things that would explore mental health issues. They said these beautiful things like they wanted to explore “magic into normalcy.” And, you know...they were just beautiful responses.

So after I looked at that data gathering, I was excited and a little bit relieved to say, I think this fits the play I wanted to do. I did have another option or two, but I wasn't as excited about them. So then I announced "this is the play we're doing. I'm holding auditions. Come one, come all."

She Kills Monsters, the original version especially, there's plenty of strong language. There's some sexual innuendo. And they made this Young Adventures edition because they saw that…well, I'm extrapolating a little bit…I believe they saw how many high schools and colleges wanted to do this and help adjust it so that we weren't all just changing the bad language ourselves.

Okay, I just said "bad language." [Laughs] I don't believe in that term. This is one of those examples of the context that I'm in: trying to remain in this context without just succumbing to some of these ways of thinking.

I really appreciate that you picked yourself up on that. That makes it concrete, what you were saying earlier about being stretched between the worlds. Because you can't just look like a New Yorker coming around, because people will be like, “oh, look, it's Grace, better than us, bossing us around." But you don't want to be closing the door on people who don't fit inside those [“good language”] norms.

If you're the outsider coming into somebody's situation, you have to be able to communicate and have an understanding for where people are coming from. And that is…a lot of the pushback that I got was, "we're fine, we're fine with the gay stuff. The language is what we're worried about.” And so that was interesting, right? Because I think there's a lot of coded stuff going on there.

Coded how?

[Saying] "we're okay with this message of inclusion. But what makes us really nervous is the word 'ass'" feels like, "um, I think you're uncomfortable with putting some of these characters on stage because it's not typically done here. But you don't feel like you can say that anymore." You know, there's a history of them doing that in the past. [They] don't feel like [they] can say that anymore. But it is safe to say, and it is "reasonable" to say, "this language isn't school-appropriate." And I was clear with them about, "look, I can work with you on a word here or there. But I can't change what the play's about. Because if we're going to do this play, we're going to do this play.”

How was it for you to fight that fight?

Well, I felt myself prepared for it coming out of the MA program. We'd had a lot of conversations from day one about situations you can find yourself in trying to do the work that you care passionately about, but coming up against different obstacles. I felt prepared because we'd explored that so much--and because I know my community pretty well. But also nervous. That's ultimately why I wrote that piece for WyoFile. I would come out of those meetings with the administration and the school, feeling nervous. The fear had rubbed off. I tried in the meeting not to show that that fear had rubbed off. But it had. Fighting that back a little bit was a part of that process.

Another piece of this is that I have a history in this small town of doing theater that some people think is not a great idea [laughs].

“Here she is again!”

When I was in college, I with a group of friends put on The Laramie Project during the summer between two school years. And that was actually a direct response--we tried to do [the play] at the high school and they said, “no, that's not a good idea.” And that pissed me off so much that I was like, well, we're just going do it.

This is Wyoming. And Laramie is in Wyoming.

Everybody asks about The Laramie Project when you go out in the world. We should know what this play is. And I also believed in the play as a beautiful piece. And it wasn't until the MA program when I fully began to understand, like, oh, right. Like, telling someone else's story and then packing up and leaving isn't totally fair.

And that's the critique [of the Laramie Project].

I had this compassion all of a sudden for people from Wyoming that I hadn't had before, and I'm one of those people.

You also went back to Wyoming during the program. That was for an independent study, right? "Sheridan Speaks"

Yeah, Sheridan Speaks. We did that in the middle of the program. The summer between the two years, for me.

That was you, Ashleigh Bragg (’19), Elise Goldin (’20), and Nicole Kontolefa (’19)

Exactly. I got to bring some folks here and show them around Wyoming for the first time, which is like my favorite thing to do. That was a successful independent study and we learned a lot through that process. We used forum theater as our main technique and we're actually hoping to remount that. It's very in-process right now. But we’re trying to see if we can't take that to other communities across the state of Wyoming, since we just did it in Sheridan last time.

What do you know about the future that you want to build in theater, education and social justice?

I feel like my goal here, where I'm headed, is to continue work as a community-based theater artist and facilitator, and I hope to work in multiple spaces, not only in Sheridan, but across the state of Wyoming and outside of that as well. But I do want to maintain a focus on this region because of how I feel connected to this place.

And something I am grateful for and excited about is that I recently was hired by the Posse Foundation to be a retreat facilitator there. And I was just trained in that.

Was Dorcas involved in that hire? [Dorcas Davis (‘14) is National Director of Strategic Projects at the Posse Foundation -MW]

Yeah, exactly. Through Dorcas--[and also] through the MA program I found out that they were looking for applicants. And it was really exciting to go to that training and to see a lot of the people in the room who were connected to the MA program in some way. And another cool opportunity to be connected to and plugged into work that's happening all over the country in terms of social justice.

What will you be doing?

I will be a retreat facilitator. Posse hires retreat facilitators to run these weekend-long workshops for their cohorts at the many different college and university partners that they have.

Thank you. Anything else?

I don't think so. I think that's everything.

This is a pleasure. I really enjoyed getting to learn more about your work, Grace.

Yeah. This was so much fun, Michael, I really am grateful for this opportunity.

Read more about Grace and her work on her website, tiltwild.org.

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courtneytincher · 5 years

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U.S. Allies Feel Strain of Trump's Friendship

(Bloomberg) -- Want to receive this post in your inbox every day? Sign up for the Balance of Power newsletter, and follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and Facebook for more.U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new government is finding that President Donald Trump’s friendship tends to come at a price, even for the strongest of U.S. allies.Two U.S. officials told Bloomberg yesterday that Washington was gravely disappointed by a court decision in the autonomous U.K. territory Gibraltar ordering the release of the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1.The U.S. is trying to get the decision reversed and has threatened penalties against any entity that does business with the tanker, which was seized by British commandos on July 4. Gibraltar officials say it was en route with oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions. The court ruled that it wasn't.The stakes for Britain are high. Iran still holds a British-flagged tanker and has hinted it may release it if the Grace 1 goes free.And Johnson, who has pledged to take the U.K. out of the EU on Oct. 31, badly needs U.S. support for a post-Brexit trade deal.Trump is increasingly putting pressure on allies on issues ranging from Iran to rejecting cooperation with Chinese technology companies such as Huawei to urging Israel to ban the visit of U.S. lawmakers.That risks creating a tangle of smaller disputes and undermining broader global interests such as security and trade.Global HeadlinesReversing course | Israel announced it will allow Rashida Tlaib to visit her family on a humanitarian trip, a day after it said Tlaib and fellow Muslim U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar would be barred from an official visit this weekend because of their support for a boycott of the country. The travel ban was announced shortly after Trump tweeted that the two Democrats — whom he has targeted in recent weeks — “hate Israel & all Jewish people.”Counterpoint | Omar and Dean Phillips are freshman U.S. House Democrats representing districts in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region, but that’s where the similarities end. Phillips is urging some party lawmakers — including Omar and other members of “the squad” of newly-elected progressive women — to slow down on calls to impeach Trump, stop sniping on Twitter and cut some deals with Republicans. He told Erik Wasson he didn’t get to Congress by being a “rabble-rouser.”In limbo | Voters in Argentina face at least 10 more weeks of uncertainty to see if the market meltdown in the wake of Sunday's primary had any basis in reality. Campaigning is under way for the first round of the presidential elections on Oct. 27, and few believe incumbent Mauricio Macri or Alberto Fernandez — who led strongly in the primary — will work together to allay the risk of more turmoil. The upshot is no immediate end in sight to Argentina’s parlous economic and financial situation.Rescue plan | Facing crippling power cuts and severe food shortages, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has a plan to end Zimbabwe's two-decade stand-off with international creditors in a bid to halt economic collapse. The Cambridge-educated Ncube outlined in an interview ambitious proposals to sell bonds, privatize state companies, and settle its debt.Amazon dispute | Brazil’s president rebuffed European criticism of his environmental policies after Norway and Germany froze millions of dollars in financial aid to an Amazon rainforest preservation fund. Jair Bolsonaro accused the global elite of indifference to deforestation, arguing that their interest is motivated by the natural riches of the region, and said Germany should understand that Brazil is under new management.What to WatchHong Kong's protesters will stage new demonstrations this weekend amid growing concern that China will send in troops after state media showed video footage of paramilitary police massing just across the mainland border. The head of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., the most visible corporate victim of the protest, also resigned. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to scrap Kashmir’s autonomy after imposing an unprecedented communications lockdown is set to be tested today at the United Nations Security Council after India’s top court deferred a case calling on the government to lift restrictions in place for 12 days. Estonia's prime minister rebuked his nationalist coalition partner after its botched attempt to oust the head of police intensified a dispute that has pushed the squabbling government to the brink of collapse.And finally ... Ever the property developer, Trump may have his eye on his biggest possible acquisition yet: Greenland. According to the Wall Street Journal, the president wants to buy the ice-covered north Atlantic island. Denmark, which owns it, isn’t sure whether the offer is a joke, and isn't selling in any case. But the idea is being taken seriously in some corners in the U.S., which has built several military bases on the world’s largest island, and it will be in focus when Trump makes his first formal visit to Denmark next month. \--With assistance from Kathleen Hunter.To contact the author of this story: Marc Champion in London at [email protected] contact the editor responsible for this story: Karl Maier at [email protected], Rosalind MathiesonMichael WinfreyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

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deniscollins · 6 years

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Boston Grapples With Faneuil Hall, Named for a Slaveholder

The New Democracy Coalition submitted a petition this week to the Boston City Council to start the process of renaming Faneuil Hall, visited by 20 million tourists annually, because its namesake, Peter Faneuil, was a slave trader and owner. The mayor opposes the change because it’s a historical landmark, ““Not many people know about the history of that man .. over the years, Faneuil Hall has become a place where good things have happened ... and ...What we should do instead is figure out a way to acknowledge the history so people understand it ... We can’t erase history, but we can learn from it.” If you were on a city council member, how would you vote: (1) Change name, or (2) Keep name? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

The national wave of renamings of statues, monuments and parks that recall the days of slavery is lapping at Faneuil Hall, the historic Georgian brick meetinghouse in downtown Boston that is synonymous with revolutionary fervor and among the country’s most visited tourist attractions.

Since the 1740s, rabble-rousers — rebellious colonists, abolitionists and suffragists among them — have met in the building’s Great Hall. Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass and John F. Kennedy have all spoken from its stage, and political rallies, debates and civic events still take place within its walls, making Faneuil Hall — pronounced “FAN-yul” — a living monument.

But its namesake, Peter Faneuil, one of the richest merchants in 18th century New England, was a slave owner. And he traded not only in sugar, molasses and timber, but in humans.

That has drawn the attention of some faith leaders and others who want to remove Faneuil’s name from the iconic landmark.

“Faneuil Hall insults the dignity of blacks and all Americans who believe in the civic dignity of all,” Kevin C. Peterson, founder of a group called the New Democracy Coalition, said in a statement.

Boston proudly reveres its history, but the city also wrestles with long-held perceptions that it is inhospitable to people who aren’t white, a sense reinforced last year when the comedian Michael Che called Boston “the most racist city I’ve ever been to.”

Much of that reputation stems from violence that erupted against court-ordered school busing in the 1970s. But it started before then and still persists, in everything from virulent bigotry at its sports stadiums to the city’s gaping income inequality, leaving Boston perpetually askingwhether it can ever get past the stain of racism. For a city perceived as one of the nation’s bastions of liberalism, its relationship with issues of race is complex.

Against this backdrop, the New Democracy Coalition submitted a petition this week to the Boston City Council to start the process of renaming Faneuil Hall, which is owned by the city but operated as a visitor center and historic site by the National Park Service.

Mr. Peterson has suggested that Faneuil Hall be renamed for Crispus Attucks, an African-American man who was the first person killed during the Boston Massacre in 1770; he is considered the first casualty of the American Revolution.

City officials have not said what they intend to do, though Mayor Martin J. Walsh says he does not support changing the name.

“If we were to change the name of Faneuil Hall today, 30 years from now, no one would know why we did it,” the mayor said in a statement to The New York Times.

“Not many people know about the history of that man,” he added. “And over the years, Faneuil Hall has become a place where good things have happened,” he said. He noted that Douglass called for an end to slavery from the hall and that every year, hundreds of people gather in the hall to take their oath of citizenship.

“What we should do instead is figure out a way to acknowledge the history so people understand it,” the mayor concluded. “We can’t erase history, but we can learn from it.”

Tourists visiting Faneuil Hall this week, many of whom were white, were overwhelmingly against changing the name.

“I don’t like to tinker with history,” said Matt Birch, 32, a social media editor who is white and lives in Washington, D.C., and was browsing in a bookshop in the building. “This is our country’s roots and it helped form our national identity.”

His mother, Nina, 64, a retired accountant, felt the same. “It is what it is because of what it was,” she said. “That’s why we’re here.”

Boston has been receptive to other name changes. In April, officials voted to rename Yawkey Way, a street outside Fenway Park; Tom Yawkey was a former Red Sox owner who did not add a black player to his roster until 12 years after Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers.

Historically, Boston is often remembered for its role in seeking to abolish slavery. But the trans-Atlantic slave trade played an integral role in the economy of colonial New England. The first slave ship to reach Boston arrived in 1638, when colonists traded Native Americans who had been captured in battle for enslaved Africans.

Merchants who grew wealthy from the slave trade founded and endowed several Ivy League colleges, some of which have distanced themselves from these legacies in the last 15 years or so. In 2016, Harvard Law School dropped its official seal because it featured the family crest of prominent slaveholders.

In 2015 a ceremony was held in Boston to acknowledge the city’s role in both the harrowing “Middle Passage” of the slave trade and in the abolition of slavery.

That ceremony was held at Faneuil Hall, where Mr. Faneuil’s own involvement in slavery was just starting to reach the public consciousness.

About 20 million people visit Faneuil Hall every year, many of them seeking a touchstone of the American Revolution. Many know that patriots met at the hall to organize against British oppression, earning Faneuil Hall the moniker “the cradle of liberty.”

But in a random sample of a dozen visitors this week, no one knew who Mr. Faneuil was — or that some of the treasure he spent to build the hall in the 1740s derived from the slave trade.

When told about his past, most said they did not see a reason to remove Mr. Faneuil’s name. Erasing it, they said, would be tantamount to wiping away part of history, which, they said, should be remembered, despicable as it was.

“I don’t condone slavery, but this is a historical landmark,” said Angie Musil, 41, who is white and works as an office assistant at an elementary school in Minnesota. She said her family had recently visited Monticello, the Virginia home of Thomas Jefferson. Although Jefferson owned slaves, she said, “they haven’t shut down Monticello.”

But Alex King, 20, a black student visiting with his class from a school outside of Boston, said he thought changing the name seemed like a good idea.

“You can create better harmony in your community, so people aren’t offended or triggered in a certain way,” he said.

Last year, the nation plunged into a debate after a deadly riot in Charlottesville, Va., over plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee.

Several cities and towns took down or renamed historic symbols honoring controversial figures — including Boston, which removed its only monument to the Confederacy, a small stone slab put up in 1963 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Jeremy Snow, 46, a white law enforcement officer who was visiting Faneuil Hall from Florida, said he disagreed with this movement to take down historical markers.

“African-Americans were treated so wrong and so badly over the years,” Mr. Snow said. “But instead of tearing down our history, we should be making new monuments for new reasons.”

He and his family were also planning to visit Salem, Mass., scene of the 17th-century witch trials, “where again, people were done wrong,” he said.

“It seems like when people are done so wrong, it becomes history,” he said. “We shouldn’t do away with it. We need to learn from it.”

#Slavery #Faneuil Hall #Boston

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