1. |
Summer Blues
02:25
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Donald Trump Won Because of Facebook.
Facebook enabled a Trump victory because of its inability to address the problem of fake news. “SAD"
In the battle between facts and fake news, facts are at a disadvantage. Facts alone rarely dislodge misperceptions, and in some cases even strengthen mistaken beliefs.
Hence, SUMMER BLUES.
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2. |
Freedom and Hope
02:11
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I still believe in the principles of America. And this country has never been about one man. It has always been about her people and her principles.
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3. |
Ballad of Barack and Joe
02:19
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Today, President OBAMA gave JOE BIDEN the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. Throughout two presidential terms, marked by bitter criticism and obstructionist policies, nothing inspired teamwork and brotherhood better than the bond between Obama and Biden. Obama and Biden's friendship makes me want to be a better friend, a better team player, a better human being.
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4. |
EMANCIPATION DAY
02:16
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Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people of African descent.
The District of Columbia celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day. On that day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his broader Emancipation Proclamation. The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act represents the only example of compensation by the federal government to former owners of emancipated slaves.
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5. |
Standing Rock Sioux
03:56
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Whatever your views on the DAKOTA PIPELINE and STANDING ROCK, issues of corporate greed, environmental threats and sacred lands have been raised. Here is a little history.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is part of the Great Sioux Nation. In 1868 the lands of the Great Sioux Nation were reduced by the Fort Laramie Treaty to the east side of the Missouri River and the state line of South Dakota in the west. The Black Hills, considered by the Sioux to be sacred land, are located in the center of territory awarded to the tribe.
In direct violation of the treaty, in 1874 General George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry entered the Black Hills and discovered gold, starting a gold rush. The United States Government wanted to buy or rent the Black Hills from the Lakota people, but the Great Sioux Nation, led by their spiritual leader Sitting Bull, refused to sell or rent their lands. The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations which occurred between 1876 and 1877 between the Lakota Sioux and the government of the United States.
Among the many battles and skirmishes of the war was the Battle of the Little Bighorn, often known as Custer's Last Stand. That Indian victory notwithstanding, the U.S. with its superior resources was soon able to force the Indians to surrender, primarily by attacking and destroying their encampments and property. The Agreement of 1877 officially annexed Sioux land and permanently established Indian reservations.
The US government took the Black Hills from the Sioux Nation.
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6. |
A Walk In The Park
02:46
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7. |
WOMEN MARCH AGAIN
02:44
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A year after millions of people turned out for the Women’s March and took to the streets en masse to protest President Trump’s inauguration, demonstrators gathered today in cities across the United States, galvanized by their disdain for Mr. Trump and his administration’s policies.
A deluge of revelations about powerful men abusing women, leading to the #MeToo moment, has pushed activists to demand deeper social and political change. Progressive women are eager to build on the movement and translate their enthusiasm into electoral victories in this year’s midterm elections.
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8. |
Is Greed Good?
02:27
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The case for greed was perhaps best made over 200 years ago by Adam Smith, who argued that the invisible hand of market forces would ensure that the efforts of individuals acting in pursuit of their own self-interest made society as a whole better off. In other words, judge capitalism not by the motives of the capitalists but by its fruit.
Free markets guarantee that products and services will be delivered to the masses at the lowest price. The best thing about them is that anyone can participate. The free market doesn't care who you are, or where you came from. Very different than the government.
But is greed good?
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9. |
AGITATION
03:12
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"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning."
- Frederick Douglass 1857
Trump would probably remind Douglass of Andrew Johnson.
Trump and Johnson represent the same force of racist progress. They are both destined for lists of the worst US presidents of all time - supporting white male nationalism, racial walls, and bullying the opposition.
I am agitated. VOTE.
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10. |
UNWITTING COLLABORATORS
02:42
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Enormous numbers of Americans are unwitting collaborators by reading, retweeting, sharing and reacting to Russian propaganda and provocations every day.
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11. |
SUMMER SWELTER
03:20
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Last month was the Earth's hottest June ever recorded. The warmth was most pronounced in Europe, where a record-shattering heat wave baked much of the continent for several days. France set its all-time heat record of 114.6 degrees, while dozens of other June heat records were set in Spain, Germany and Switzerland. Austria had its warmest June since records there began in 1767 when Mozart was eleven years old.
Scientists say the record heat is what is expected with man-made climate change.
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12. |
SYNCOPATION
02:55
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Syncopation refers to a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music caused typically by stressing the weak beat. Musicians from nearly every genre have dipped their toes into the syncopation pool, recognizing that great things happen when you play around with the beat of a song. A syncopated rhythmic pattern will often omit the strong downbeat or stress an unexpected part of the rhythm.
Syncopation received a huge boost in popularity when West African music met European music in the Americas. Traditionally, West African musicians focused much more musical attention on the various dimensions of rhythm, creating complex, dynamic, and fluid rhythmic expressions undreamed of by their European counterparts.
In this piece, I have used syncopation with the woodwinds in stark contrast to the bass, drums and piano. Later there is syncopation with the latin piano and finally the trumpet solo.
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13. |
Millennial Melancholy
03:07
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Millennials are already a lonely generation, and the isolation of quarantine life that comes with the coronavirus pandemic is not helping. While Americans of all ages are feeling the emotional toll of the pandemic, millennials represent a particularly vulnerable group. The new normal of life under quarantine inflames the loneliness and anxiety that so many within the generation already feel. They were already suffering from declining mental health - lonely, burned out, and depressed.
Severe and persistent low mood, profound sadness and a sense of despair is common. Depression and anxiety are skyrocketing and millennial deaths related to drugs, alcohol and suicide are on the rise. Millennials seem to have less acquaintances, friends, close friends and best friends.
They are deeply in debt, working more hours and more jobs for less pay and less security, struggling to achieve the same standards of living as their parents, while being told that if they just work harder, meritocracy will prevail, and they will begin to thrive.
Seeking help is seen as a privilege and expensive, but this generation is changing the way people look and talk about mental health. Millennials are the first generation to talk about their battles with mental illness in hopes of breaking down the barriers and de-stigmatizing mental health disorders.
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Steve Shapiro Oakland, California
Steve Shapiro has composed music for hundreds of radio and TV commercials, documentary films, infomercials and other TV programs. He was the music director at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, which produced hundreds of award-winning educational films and recordings. He has a BA in Music from Brown University and an MA in Music from the Manhattan School of Music. ... more
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