AI Beauty Pageant Just as Destructive as the Human Ones, NY Gov Bases Public Policy on Customers at Diner, Trump Funnels Campaign Money into His Own Businesses, Adam Bałdych & Leszek Możdżer Play Jazz
Another well-written but depressing read about the state of US politics...
I at least had a minor win this week - a student admitted that basing their opinions on the Arab-Israeli conflict upon what Tik-Tok feeds them is giving them a skewed view of the conflict. They made a commitment to wider reading about the background of Arab Israeli conflict and then reassess. I 100% agree that we need to encourage all people to develop critical thinking skills.
I recently had a student ask me 'why are we learning this shit?' My answer? "This 'shit' is not important in itself but forms part of a wider skillset in which I hope you will be able to leave school with the ability to read some information, form an opinion from that information and then defend it when others question it. In short, have the skills to become a rational, informed citizen'
I'm surprised you're still teaching. I was a teacher and was reprimanded for less. I had to stick to the textbooks and "board approved curriculum" or else be disciplined. My defense was to teach them "critical thinking". Yes, I used the texts and curriculum, but I had the students dissect the materials and ask "what's wrong?" and "how could it have been/be different?". That trick still got me into trouble, but at least I followed their "board approved" bull crap. Bottom line is there will always be critical thinkers, and there will always be the "sheeple" (Savage).
I think this is the difference between the Australian and US systems. We have a syllabus within which we work but what we teach and how we teach it is entirely up to individual teachers. There are core concepts such as critical and creative thinking and empathetic understanding that we are required to get across via all the content.
For example, today I am doing some taster lessons for next years incoming year 7 students. I wish I could post video here because to explain the concept of cause and effect I will be using:
A viking shield, helmet, axe and spear
ww1 German, Australia, New Zealand hats, helmets and gas masks
Kareem, I hear all your viewpoints on Joe Mazzulla. I never heard of him, neither do I know what it’s like to be mixed-race, and expected to discuss one side of me. Blacks balked, when Tiger Woods didn’t declare himself as just Black. We never know the background story: The upbringing, acceptance, conflicts of ethnic declarations. Maybe he’s just socially inarticulate about issues, and religion is his safety net. Perhaps those verbal skills on race will mature in time. As for CEOs and Trump—None of them would ever consider an adjudicated rapist, insurrectionist, schemer of business loans and tax fraud, and convicted felon, to head their organizations. So, why even entertain the thought of presidency?!
Hmmm, Internal garden - the dancing children and enthralling music encourage lush emotional growth. Thoughts of Trump just causes frustration (to say the least!). He is fertiliser for noxious weeds.
Instead of Mazzulla bringing up his religion, I wish he’d have said something more like “I look forward to the day when a coach’s race isn’t part of the discussion”. But this is America, so race will always be a topic. I thought in the 60 years since the civil rights bill that we’d have evolved more.
If you love the mixture of classical and modern music, you MUST check out Black Violin. They are two young Black men, both classically trained and brilliant on violin and viola, who mix Mozart with Hip-Hop flawlessly. Their concerts are pure joy.
Thank you so much for introducing new music, Black Violin. What talent. I've only listened to a couple of numbers, but really loved Freestyle. Especially fun is when they pick their violin and viola like guitars. Just so creative.
Do you ever listen to Randall Goosby? Also classically trained. So talented he brings tears to my eyes. He has a video with double bassist Xavier Dubois Foley - Shelter Island. Folk music. Wonderful!
I started my day with an interesting juxtaposition of information this morning. First the history of the Juneteenth Holiday and Flag with Jemar Tisby at his Footnotes Substack (his suggestion to play his lecture at 1.5 speed was great). Then on to my favorite Kareem and find this heavy discussion about race and sports. I knew nothing about the Celtics coach and quite frankly the whole Christian thing is becoming too much for me. And even racial identity and national heritage are used to splinter us. Finally, don’t even get me started on “the male gaze” — let’s use AI to increase caring and compassion and recognize our human similarities and avoid conflicts.
Good morning to you all. Firstly, congrats to the Celtics on their great win. The game was great fun, and I'm not even a Celtics fan. As to Coach Mazzulla, please give him a break. He's a young man in a pressure cooker situation. Some people don't want to always be talking about racism, they're exhausted by continually being asked questions about it that may become, to them, completely irrelevant at the time. He is, like you were Kareem, Catholic. Perhaps his answer is his way of deflecting inappropriate queries with a rather wry sense of humor. Why must it be brought up at a time of joyous celebration? Or maybe it's also a personal and cultural thing. His father is Sicilian. Perhaps he has some personal boundaries of which we are unaware.
As to the orangeman, he was recently in the Bay Area stumping along for $$$. And like your reference to the bloated balloon at the used car dealership, a wonderful citizen has a great bloated balloon that they bring out whenever the orangeman is in town. It's huge, onboard a boat, has orange hair and they go around the Bay just to let him know. And BTW, as of June 14, DT is 78 years old.
As to converting campaign funds to personal use, what else is new? His personal jet, his wardrobe, his shampoo, his stylist, manicurist, and of course, someone to keep all his gold accoutrements at mar-a-lago polished because gold does tarnish you know. It's totally illegal!. Will he ever go to jail and wear the striped suit? And as for knowing anything about real business & economics, he never has. It's always been whatever he says is what it is and his people bend down and lick his feet.
The Passacaglia was uniquely different. Must listen again. Actually quite soothing. The piano tuning, unusual to say the least. And of course, Steinways.
Thank you for your words and wisecracks. Must say also I know nothing about congestion pricing and thought it had something to do with allergy medication. HA!
I had to comment after I read the Joe Mazzulla summary. So well written and thought provoking. I live in a rural conservative area with lots of Trump flags waving. My daughter dates an African American young man. I strive to understand any way that I can the struggles of racism. In my area, it's a tough battle. If I become a grandmother to a mixed child, I want to be well educated and supportive. Heck, regardless of becoming a grandmother, I just always want to do better. Do my absolute best to make a difference. This article helps to that end. In so many ways. Thank you.
On winning & losing: I remember the great Jerry West (RIP) saying he couldn’t remember many winning moments but he remembered EVERY losing moment. And Mr. West won a LOT.
I told my kids “you don’t learn anything from winning”. Winning breeds complacency, the feeling that you’ve reached a pinnacle and don’t need to improve anything or work even harder. Truth is, it’s *losing* that stimulates that drive to do better, to be the best, to win the next time.
Now *fear* of losing is a very bad thing, because it will keep you from trying. “We’re just going to lose anyway” is an awful mindset. But it’s the desire to better ourselves in all endeavors that teaches us patience and perseverance.
On a slightly different tack: I just saw a PBS NOVA episode on solar eclipses. And every scientific discovery that came from studying the 2017 eclipse asked more questions than it answered! It’s absolutely true - you DON’T know what you don’t know!
Ah, Kareem, after all that was said, done, read and heard today in your column, I love "sitting on my sofa on a relentlessly rainy day. As the persistent sound of rain surrounds me, it also lulls me deep into my thoughts about past, present, and future and what each means to the other. It is a zen experience of internal gardening"
Once again an excellent missive Mr. Jabbar! Thank you.
I am glad you discussed Joe Mazzulla's avoidance of race and inclusion of religion in his post-game discussion. Since a large number of opposing coaches are Christian and therefore nominally pray to the same god, do they think that it is the most devout who will win? Or more pointedly, do they really believe that their god cares about which team wins a basketball game? Is their god so small and anthropocentric? I'm confused.
One of the points you mentioned in passing really stuck with me: anyone in America who is half-black and half-white is considered black, not white. I know that in fact, this is true in our society. However the background is likely rooted in the miscegenation laws of The South which made it illegal to have sexual relations between ethnic groups. The most ridiculous of these disallowed people who were "octaroons" (one-eighth black or indigenous) to associate with whites. Aaaargh! I guess they thought that the "white part" was so week that it couldn't withstand being tainted.
All of this came back to me when you were discussing how ignorant people are concerning Trump's policies. I wondered how many Americans know that Barack Obama, for instance, is half-white. I sure wish that none of this mattered at all, but surely it does.
And finally thanks for the entertainment breaks! The two tiny friends were beyond adorable! Seeing the unallayed joy of children is a window into our better selves. And I also really enjoyed the passacaglia though I wish the videographer was less concerned with showing off his own skill and more concerned with the music.
Thanks again for the thoughtful, informative, and provocative newsletter.
Enjoyed the music . To my ears it was a fusion of classical with Celtic or some sort of Northern European folk - lament . Whatever , it was lovely. Music is amazing . And does anyone know if the stringed instrument was not a standard violin , maybe a viola like instrument? Seemed to have a longer scale length and tuned lower than violin
I wondered the same about the violin. So I looked it up. Said in the video he used both a violin and a Renaissance violin, which is a larger size and has lower tuning in the same range as a viola. Interesting.
Another well-written but depressing read about the state of US politics...
I at least had a minor win this week - a student admitted that basing their opinions on the Arab-Israeli conflict upon what Tik-Tok feeds them is giving them a skewed view of the conflict. They made a commitment to wider reading about the background of Arab Israeli conflict and then reassess. I 100% agree that we need to encourage all people to develop critical thinking skills.
I recently had a student ask me 'why are we learning this shit?' My answer? "This 'shit' is not important in itself but forms part of a wider skillset in which I hope you will be able to leave school with the ability to read some information, form an opinion from that information and then defend it when others question it. In short, have the skills to become a rational, informed citizen'
I'm surprised you're still teaching. I was a teacher and was reprimanded for less. I had to stick to the textbooks and "board approved curriculum" or else be disciplined. My defense was to teach them "critical thinking". Yes, I used the texts and curriculum, but I had the students dissect the materials and ask "what's wrong?" and "how could it have been/be different?". That trick still got me into trouble, but at least I followed their "board approved" bull crap. Bottom line is there will always be critical thinkers, and there will always be the "sheeple" (Savage).
I think this is the difference between the Australian and US systems. We have a syllabus within which we work but what we teach and how we teach it is entirely up to individual teachers. There are core concepts such as critical and creative thinking and empathetic understanding that we are required to get across via all the content.
For example, today I am doing some taster lessons for next years incoming year 7 students. I wish I could post video here because to explain the concept of cause and effect I will be using:
A viking shield, helmet, axe and spear
ww1 German, Australia, New Zealand hats, helmets and gas masks
Shrapnel from the Somme, spent cartridges etc.
As well as learning how to learn...
What a radical idea lol
Loved——- “ I may be wrong- let me go to Denny’s and ask around “
Perfect humor and irony in response to gutless leadership refusing to make hard choices because they fear not getting reelected.
It got an audible chuckle from me also. Kareem certainly knows how to make a point (or 2).
….but he only knows how to make 1 3 pointer!!!!!🤣😂🤣
GROAN, appreciatively!
Joan—Thanks for being the only one who got my joke
Oh I'm sure others did.. they just groaned in private!
Kareem, I hear all your viewpoints on Joe Mazzulla. I never heard of him, neither do I know what it’s like to be mixed-race, and expected to discuss one side of me. Blacks balked, when Tiger Woods didn’t declare himself as just Black. We never know the background story: The upbringing, acceptance, conflicts of ethnic declarations. Maybe he’s just socially inarticulate about issues, and religion is his safety net. Perhaps those verbal skills on race will mature in time. As for CEOs and Trump—None of them would ever consider an adjudicated rapist, insurrectionist, schemer of business loans and tax fraud, and convicted felon, to head their organizations. So, why even entertain the thought of presidency?!
“…bloated balloon outside the car dealership”
LOL
So apt. Best Trump zinger because it so true
Hmmm, Internal garden - the dancing children and enthralling music encourage lush emotional growth. Thoughts of Trump just causes frustration (to say the least!). He is fertiliser for noxious weeds.
Instead of Mazzulla bringing up his religion, I wish he’d have said something more like “I look forward to the day when a coach’s race isn’t part of the discussion”. But this is America, so race will always be a topic. I thought in the 60 years since the civil rights bill that we’d have evolved more.
If you love the mixture of classical and modern music, you MUST check out Black Violin. They are two young Black men, both classically trained and brilliant on violin and viola, who mix Mozart with Hip-Hop flawlessly. Their concerts are pure joy.
Thank you so much for introducing new music, Black Violin. What talent. I've only listened to a couple of numbers, but really loved Freestyle. Especially fun is when they pick their violin and viola like guitars. Just so creative.
Do you ever listen to Randall Goosby? Also classically trained. So talented he brings tears to my eyes. He has a video with double bassist Xavier Dubois Foley - Shelter Island. Folk music. Wonderful!
Thank you again.
I started my day with an interesting juxtaposition of information this morning. First the history of the Juneteenth Holiday and Flag with Jemar Tisby at his Footnotes Substack (his suggestion to play his lecture at 1.5 speed was great). Then on to my favorite Kareem and find this heavy discussion about race and sports. I knew nothing about the Celtics coach and quite frankly the whole Christian thing is becoming too much for me. And even racial identity and national heritage are used to splinter us. Finally, don’t even get me started on “the male gaze” — let’s use AI to increase caring and compassion and recognize our human similarities and avoid conflicts.
Thank you. I totally agree. Too much splintering.
Good morning to you all. Firstly, congrats to the Celtics on their great win. The game was great fun, and I'm not even a Celtics fan. As to Coach Mazzulla, please give him a break. He's a young man in a pressure cooker situation. Some people don't want to always be talking about racism, they're exhausted by continually being asked questions about it that may become, to them, completely irrelevant at the time. He is, like you were Kareem, Catholic. Perhaps his answer is his way of deflecting inappropriate queries with a rather wry sense of humor. Why must it be brought up at a time of joyous celebration? Or maybe it's also a personal and cultural thing. His father is Sicilian. Perhaps he has some personal boundaries of which we are unaware.
As to the orangeman, he was recently in the Bay Area stumping along for $$$. And like your reference to the bloated balloon at the used car dealership, a wonderful citizen has a great bloated balloon that they bring out whenever the orangeman is in town. It's huge, onboard a boat, has orange hair and they go around the Bay just to let him know. And BTW, as of June 14, DT is 78 years old.
As to converting campaign funds to personal use, what else is new? His personal jet, his wardrobe, his shampoo, his stylist, manicurist, and of course, someone to keep all his gold accoutrements at mar-a-lago polished because gold does tarnish you know. It's totally illegal!. Will he ever go to jail and wear the striped suit? And as for knowing anything about real business & economics, he never has. It's always been whatever he says is what it is and his people bend down and lick his feet.
The Passacaglia was uniquely different. Must listen again. Actually quite soothing. The piano tuning, unusual to say the least. And of course, Steinways.
Thank you for your words and wisecracks. Must say also I know nothing about congestion pricing and thought it had something to do with allergy medication. HA!
Peace, Love & Good Health to you always Kareem.
For some reason in my head listening to Passacaglia took me back to Ferrante and Teicher except for the violin.
I had to comment after I read the Joe Mazzulla summary. So well written and thought provoking. I live in a rural conservative area with lots of Trump flags waving. My daughter dates an African American young man. I strive to understand any way that I can the struggles of racism. In my area, it's a tough battle. If I become a grandmother to a mixed child, I want to be well educated and supportive. Heck, regardless of becoming a grandmother, I just always want to do better. Do my absolute best to make a difference. This article helps to that end. In so many ways. Thank you.
On winning & losing: I remember the great Jerry West (RIP) saying he couldn’t remember many winning moments but he remembered EVERY losing moment. And Mr. West won a LOT.
I told my kids “you don’t learn anything from winning”. Winning breeds complacency, the feeling that you’ve reached a pinnacle and don’t need to improve anything or work even harder. Truth is, it’s *losing* that stimulates that drive to do better, to be the best, to win the next time.
Now *fear* of losing is a very bad thing, because it will keep you from trying. “We’re just going to lose anyway” is an awful mindset. But it’s the desire to better ourselves in all endeavors that teaches us patience and perseverance.
On a slightly different tack: I just saw a PBS NOVA episode on solar eclipses. And every scientific discovery that came from studying the 2017 eclipse asked more questions than it answered! It’s absolutely true - you DON’T know what you don’t know!
Thank you Kareem. Your thoughtfulness and more than fine writing inspire me. You are a national treasure.
Wow--love "Passacaglia"--thanks for posting! And you're spot-on about Tr*mp, as usual. :(
Ah, Kareem, after all that was said, done, read and heard today in your column, I love "sitting on my sofa on a relentlessly rainy day. As the persistent sound of rain surrounds me, it also lulls me deep into my thoughts about past, present, and future and what each means to the other. It is a zen experience of internal gardening"
It makes it all better, thank you, Kareem.
Once again an excellent missive Mr. Jabbar! Thank you.
I am glad you discussed Joe Mazzulla's avoidance of race and inclusion of religion in his post-game discussion. Since a large number of opposing coaches are Christian and therefore nominally pray to the same god, do they think that it is the most devout who will win? Or more pointedly, do they really believe that their god cares about which team wins a basketball game? Is their god so small and anthropocentric? I'm confused.
One of the points you mentioned in passing really stuck with me: anyone in America who is half-black and half-white is considered black, not white. I know that in fact, this is true in our society. However the background is likely rooted in the miscegenation laws of The South which made it illegal to have sexual relations between ethnic groups. The most ridiculous of these disallowed people who were "octaroons" (one-eighth black or indigenous) to associate with whites. Aaaargh! I guess they thought that the "white part" was so week that it couldn't withstand being tainted.
All of this came back to me when you were discussing how ignorant people are concerning Trump's policies. I wondered how many Americans know that Barack Obama, for instance, is half-white. I sure wish that none of this mattered at all, but surely it does.
And finally thanks for the entertainment breaks! The two tiny friends were beyond adorable! Seeing the unallayed joy of children is a window into our better selves. And I also really enjoyed the passacaglia though I wish the videographer was less concerned with showing off his own skill and more concerned with the music.
Thanks again for the thoughtful, informative, and provocative newsletter.
Enjoyed the music . To my ears it was a fusion of classical with Celtic or some sort of Northern European folk - lament . Whatever , it was lovely. Music is amazing . And does anyone know if the stringed instrument was not a standard violin , maybe a viola like instrument? Seemed to have a longer scale length and tuned lower than violin
I wondered the same about the violin. So I looked it up. Said in the video he used both a violin and a Renaissance violin, which is a larger size and has lower tuning in the same range as a viola. Interesting.
Thanks for the info .
Thank you for doing the research.