This is the News!

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Yeah, I've heard of Nick Drake because I'm a real cool guy. He's an enigmatic character amongst certain guitar nerds because he used weird tunings and although people have figured out how to play some of his stuff, no one is really sure if it's the same tuning, and therefore chord configurations, that Drake used.

Also, there's a apochryphal story that his first album was called "Five Leaves Left" because he submitted it as a casette, and to let the A&R people know who had submitted it, he wrote his name on the wee bit of paper ye get in risla packets to warn you when you're running out.

All this should be taken with a grain of salt though, for I am not a trusted accredited music journalist. Nor do I wish to be. As Frank Zappa once said:

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

[M.I.K.]

I saw a documentary about him on the BBC a couple of decades ago. Hadn't heard of him before that.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Angry mobs of bigots with burning torches. Nice work, Georgia.  Real classy.

https://www.thejournal.ie/georgia-pride-attacked-by-mob-6113611-Jul2023/

[JohnW]

Nice work, Georgia.

And this is the country that gave us Joe Stalin.
I don't want to tar all the nations of the Caucasus with the same brush, but a friend who is determined never to set foot in Armenia again told me that Yerevan is the town where Iranian bad boys go to have their fun. I'm imagining a sort of Amsterdam-stag-weekend vibe, only with machismo levels amped all the way up – and possibly knives.

[IndigoPrime]

If nothing else, the modern era is a stark warning that while progress mostly follows a broad trend, in terms of progressive and relatively liberal thinking, there's no guarantee that trend will continue; and even if it does, there can be bumps and temporary regressions along the way. (Those for a given value of 'temporary', given that in a long historical context they might seem quite fleeting, but a decade of being vilified or repressed certainly won't feel fast to those it affects.)

It's quite startling to read about some of the stuff coming out of the US right now about the ongoing attacks on women's rights. It's not quite Handmaid's Tale, but Florida in particular is doing some really bad shit. And I was unaware that it was only relatively recently – 1974 – that women were able to get a credit card in their own name, without seeking permission from a man. I imagine quite a few people would like to dial that back.

TL;DR is we shouldn't be complacent about hard-won rights, because they're pretty easy to strip away.

[Funt Solo]

Jonathan Pie: Back To You, Huw!

Neatly deconstructing the recent media frenzy.

[The Legendary Shark]

Just breaking cover for a moment to say that I found this to be very interesting.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Breitbart's former chairman, Steve 'Wear Your Accusations of Racism as a Badge of Honor' Bannon, was handed the job of chief strategist and advisor in the White House thanks to his success in whipping up the enthusiasm of the far right.

They have both a huge rightwing agenda and a huge voice but still, like Trump and Bannon, love to play the victims.

[Funt Solo]

I'm politely requesting that a mod lock this thread. (It doesn't seem like the forum - as a collective entity - is capable of discussing current affairs without it becoming a repetitive game of whack-a-foil.)

[JayzusB.Christ]

Sorry, probably should have let that one go.  Like Sharky, I believe that all American governments are bad, but I think far-right ones and their enablers are on the terrible end of bad and the mention of Breitbart got my hackles up.

[Richard]

Don't be sorry, it's always worth calling them out.

[The Legendary Shark]

It's not even about Breitbart.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

I'm politely requesting that a mod lock this thread. (It doesn't seem like the forum - as a collective entity - is capable of discussing current affairs without it becoming a repetitive game of whack-a-foil.)

Nah, this thread and it's predecessors act as a gluttonous sin eater for the rest of the forum.

If Shark finds this shite interesting, then fair enough. I'm perfectly capable of rolling my own eyes.

[Funt Solo]

It's not even about Breitbart.

Except that it's a video by the political editor of Breitbart News - which is a far-right propaganda organization specializing in conspiracy theories, hate speech and intentionally misleading stories. So, it is about Breitbart, and you're waving their flag.

[The Legendary Shark]

I see. 

So, a video of a woman giving testimony to the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government about experiences during her time working at the New York Post, posted by the Chief White House Correspondent at Today News Africa in Washington is about Brietbart because she now works for Breitbart? I guess there's some logic in there somewhere...

Maybe you think she's lying, which is certainly possible. Or maybe she's wrong, which is also possible. Or maybe she's telling the truth, another possibility. Or maybe the whole thing's a deep fake presented by (insert bogeyman of choice here), which, these days, is also a possibility. Whichever, I find it disturbing that what a person says can be so confidently ignored based solely on the prejudice triggered by their current job. 

It's fine to disagree with what she says, or some of what she says, and argue against it, but it's dishonest to just ignore her because she's (insert personal bias here). You can also find a pdf of her testimony here, on the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee website (unless you want to dismiss this source also because it's run by lying, cheating, stealing, warmongering politicians...).