David Newman

WOW. Watch a constitutional law expert completely DEBUNK Republicans’ censorship crusade, while articulating exactly how Donald Trump is threatening freedom of speech. 🔥

Backing this up: the @altnps.bsky.social account is BlueAnon Hashtag Resistance grift.

We Are Not Who They Think We Are: How Human Nature Matters In This Emergency Rebecca Solnit 04 Feb 2025 — 10 min read Welcome to the emergency--or rather Meditations in an Emergency, this newsletter, not the national emergency, which is of course very unwelcome. What's striking to me about all the things our morally and imaginatively impoverished billionaires, notably Musk and Trump, right now is: they do not expect or imagine or understand consequences. Any of them– their theory of change seems to be that they are going to do stuff and then it will be done. Like they're moving furniture around, like you and I and the trans and immigrant communities and federal workers and Canada and Mexico are just so many sofas and chairs that are going to sit where they place us. Like we're inanimate objects. Maybe everything is dead in the sad lonely worldview inside their head. Which would also explain their recalcitrance about climate and nature: if you see it as a collection of inert objects rather than an intricate living system in which what you do to any one part may affect the whole, you grant yourself more license to meddle. But today I'm here to talk about the human--and human nature, and how they misunderstand that too.

from Meditations in an Emergency, my new newsletter, day three: But I do not believe the people of this country will submit to the destruction and the attempts at dictatorship. We are not submitting now. meditations-in-an-emergency.ghost.io/we-are-not-w...

Opinion | There Is No Going Back (Gift Article) The president’s opponents, whoever they are, cannot expect a return to the Constitution as it was.

an important column. This won't revert back to normal by acting like its normal.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/o...

Trump Brazenly Defies Laws in Escalating Executive Power Grab (Gift Article) In the radical opening weeks of his second term, President Trump has appeared to feel little constraint by any need to show respect for the rule of law.

Gift link:

Trump Brazenly Defies Laws in Escalating Executive Power Grab

In the radical opening weeks of his second term, President Trump has appeared to feel little constraint by any need to show respect for the rule of law.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/u...

A few more gifts for the holiday season, arriving in one more week.

saving to add to next year's aural skills curriculum. Mostly so I can riff on it for the rest of that topic.

I see some people blaming this on the press, but I strongly suspect that the shift in opinion is primarily among people who don't follow traditional media. (Also, the graph is misleading, making a relatively 6% swing seem larger. But of course the US election turned on a much smaller difference.)

Bluesky is, of course, attracting bad actors along with the natural influx of users. Fortunately, we have more control of our feeds, but it does require each of us to take a bit more responsibility. The use of blocklists is probably a new idea for many people, but worth the effort.

yes

I don't recall any toys (to give away) or stickers, but there was certainly an allure for the kids (and the parents!) Not sure whether it was successful long term, though, and probably not something that could work in a small population area like ours.

When I lived in California, there was a fine dining restaurant in Sacramento that catered to families. They had a toddler play area and a dish called the "toddler graze" - basically a plate full of finger foods. It was great. The kids could go play and come back long enough to eat a few bites.

Twitter didn't gain relevance by being the biggest platform, it gained relevancy through the quality of the content and individuals. The main goal for everyone here should be to encourage global defender, media, and establishment accounts to transition to #BlueSky. That'll provide legitimacy.

Movie clip from The Princess Bride where Ingo Montoya says “when the six fingered man appeared “

Paul Krugman has a similar take: bsky.app/profile/pkru...

No preview obviously. I’ve seen plenty of screenshots from other profiles though

Trump Refuses to Disclose Who Is Funding His Transition He is the first president-elect not to sign an ethics agreement that sets fundraising limits and transparency

“Secret donations” are bribes.

The hundreds of millions he received from Elon Musk and other billionaires are also bribes.

There’s a reason Donald Trump isn’t signing ethics pledges.
www.yahoo.com/news/trump-r...

Search “concert” and post the oldest picture on your camera roll

Okay, this is me in Serious Mode—wanted to share these free, annotated English translations of JS Bach’s vocal works by noted Bach scholars. Can be used for concert programs, teaching etc. They just added the Christmas Oratorio today:

bachcantatatexts.org/index.htm

#Bach #EarlyMusic #Baroque

A former student sent me this from today’s VMEA conference. I’m really pleased that the software I wrote has found an enduring and enthusiastic audience.

Thinking more about this. So far every Trump pick has been a real piece of work — incompetent, corrupt and/or sexual abuser. This isn't because Trump is a bad judge of character, it's because that's what he wants — incompetence and moral turpitude guarantee loyalty 1/

Lately, though, the Meta properties have become more addictive and less useful, with feeds I cannot control

An irony is that Twitter wasn’t all that bad for me. I didn’t find it addictive, I could choose to view only the people I followed. I didn’t find it hard to ignore the ads, although they were increasingly awful in the last few months.

I’ve been concerned about disinformation, and this feels like a really helpful thread.

Most of the album is on Spotify and other streaming services, but I added the last song later. - a duet with Christine Boone, recorded during the pandemic.

The Well Trained Ear: songs to strengthen aural skills, by David Newman 18 track album

Anyone following me probably already knows this, but I made a studio recording of most of my music theory songs in 2019. Some are radically rethought. If you've never listened, please lend an ear: davidnewmanmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-we...

*Sang. Oh for an edit feature…

YouTube video by David Newman International chords song

Hard to believe this was so long ago. We sand it several times in class today. (In an even more revised version with sheet music.) youtu.be/nyTofH5rk78?...

If it simply replaces Twitter, and doesn't improve on it, Dayenu.
If it improves on it, but doesn't ameliorate our societal social media problem, Dayenu.

For those of you (us) who have recently set up accounts here, what do you hope to find? What do you think you can create? (If you've been here awhile, perhaps you have some insight?)