Composers in Discussion: #ccubed

On September 11th the first '#ccubed' discussion will take place on Twitter for the purpose of sharing ideas and information relating to the composition of contemporary classical music. The idea for this came about as a result of a request from Twitter follower @DTclarinet asking me if I would be interested in hosting a discussion on the topic of composition. This was a fortuitous request as I had only recently begun working with a young composer over the Internet and had become quite interested with the idea of sharing what I know about music through this electronic medium.

First, what does '#ccubed' stand for? On Twitter the use of the ‘#’ creates a searchable topic. The idea for 'ccubed' came from ‘Consortium of Contemporary Composers’. You don’t have to join a group or club to participate, but if you are a composer – if you create new music – you are already part of a very select group of individuals, a group that has chosen their own path (or, some would argue, that the path has chosen them). So, for the sake of the discussion taking place on September 11th, at 2pm Eastern Standard Time (6pm Greenwich Mean Time), all you have to do is follow the '#ccubed' (in regular Twitter enter that – with the ‘#’ – into the ‘search’ panel on the right column. In Hootsuite you can set up a new tab or simply add '#ccubed' as a new stream. On your BlackBerry use the ‘search’ function. Alas, I don’t know how to access these things in any other Twitter program).

What will we be doing in these “Consortium” discussions? Well, that all depends ... what do YOU want to discuss? My background is as a composer of contemporary classical music for diverse instruments, both as solo, duet, chamber and orchestra. What I would really love to see is an integration of the use of the services of SoundCloud, which allows composers to post their music for absolutely NO cost, so that we could audition pieces and discuss them in the group. Here’s how I see this working: '#ccubed' will be running all the time – if you want to have your piece critiqued for an upcoming group it will have to be posted to SoundCloud (or another publically available forum – no pay/download sites). Once I have a chance to listen to the piece I will let you know whether or not it is appropriate for the purposes of the discussion (it would be even better if a score were also available – I use Finale 2010). A piece might be rejected if I feel I have nothing constructive to say about it or if it is not in a genre that fits the group (a synthesized looped pad will not tell me anything about your technical ability or grasp of musical concepts).

People could also post ideas through #twitlonger with '#ccubed' at the beginning with idea proposals – or questions that they’d like answered/discussed. Again, given reasonable time, I would be open to this as well.

More than anything else, I want this to be an open, organic discussion about the composition of contemporary classical music. If that falls into the aesthetics of contemporary music – great – I could talk about that for days! If we talk about the techniques surrounding a particular instrument – well, that will be great to – but – there IS going to be a special discussion at some point on “All Things Clarinet” – specifically by request of @DTclarinet.

Above all else, participation is of paramount importance. While I’m sure that it would be possible for me to sit and tweet – non-stop – for one hour about one particular topic, that is not how this was conceived. It is meant to be a ‘call and response’ – an interactive DISCUSSION. So, PLEASE – when 2pm rolls around, don’t be afraid to throw your hat in the ring and have fun talking – tweeting – about the most expressive of the arts: composition.

After this discussion @DTclarinet will be hosting a discussion on a new breathing technique called ‘Flow Breathing and Suspension Support’. Find his discussion by following '#floB' at 3pm on Sept. 11th.

Future discussions on '#ccubed' will be ongoing, but I would like to host these
special groups on every 2nd Saturday of the month: Once a month, on the Second Saturday. So, the NEXT discussion, after September 11, will be on October 9, and then on November 13.

Follow '#ccubed' for updates, scheduling changes, and ongoing discussions relating to composition and the creation of new music.

Please follow the link in the sidebar to hear some of my pieces at my Soundcloud account.

Taxation with Representation

One of the blogs I follow with some regularity is maintained by my father; the blog, 'Desertpeace', presents a variety of articles about the situation regarding the plight of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israelis. It is an anti-Zionist website that often presents political cartoons by associate bloggers, as well as other articles by journalists who regularly post to the site in an effort to share their views with as large an audience as possible. In a post that appeared on the 8th of August, a post that was a cartoon entitled the 'Boycott Toon of the Day' a comment was posted regarding the conviction of Sherry Jackson for failure to pay her taxes. While I read a few articles pertaining to the Jackson case, that is not what this post is about, nor am I claiming to be familiar with the particulars of the case. What compelled me to write this was a comment suggesting that no law exists in the United States compelling its citizens to pay taxes.

Many times people question the legality of taxation in the United States without realizing that there are, in fact, laws stipulating that it is legal – lawful – for the government to collect taxes from the citizens of the nation. First, ratified in 1913 is the 16th Amendment of the Constitution – an obscure, often unused document that is usually only used when Americans want to protect their ‘right’ to carry a firearm (without having to serve in a militia).

“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” If that isn’t explicit enough, there’s more … but it will only upset you (it isn’t from the 16th …).

Title 26 of the US Code is also known as the Internal Revenue Code and contains the statutory tax laws of the land, including the tax rates according to level of income (which demonstrates that Americans are being taxed at the lowest rate since long before Ronnie Ray-Guns).

So, yes Virginia, it is lawful for Americans to ‘pay their fair share’, it is part of the law of the land to dig into your pocket and help pay for the roads others use and pay for the health care that someone else consumes – why – because that’s what makes a country great – that’s what allows a country to continue.

The fact that the country’s taxes are also spent, unfortunately, on the machines of war is something that must be addressed by the influence of the public through the ballots they cast and the pressure they put on those who represent them in Washington. As soon as you say ‘nothing we do will make a difference’ you are right: nothing YOU do WILL make a difference with that attitude. Just remember, a ‘community organizer’ with ‘no experience’ managed to galvanize enough people when he shouldn’t have (according to the ‘experts’) and did what ‘shouldn’t’ have been possible.

As it was said at the beginning of the movie ‘Armageddon’: It happened before, it will happen again.

Americans have to come to the realization that they have been lied to by people too lazy to read the law: Taxation, with representation, is the law of the land. What must be addressed is the representation part – the taxes are necessary to make the nation function. Would you rather not have things like fire departments, schools, and other things funded with public monies? Who are you going to call if your house is burning or someone has had a heart attack and you need to access the 9-1-1 service? This is one of the great positions of Libertarians – it’s great to believe we can ‘do for ourselves’ and ‘stand on our own’, until you can’t – until you need the help of someone because you are in a position that requires assistance. That is the way of humanity. It is why we live in communities with other people – note the word ‘community’ – the root word being ‘commune’, people coming to live together for the ‘common good’ – sort of like ‘communism’ or ‘socialism’.

One of the functions of Government is to make the ‘community’ in which we live run smoothly, focusing on the needs of the people rather than the profits of a few select organizations. That is what we need to address. Stop the obscene spending on military expeditions that are unnecessary and inherently racist and focus on the needs of the people. But, if your income fits into one of the taxable brackets established in the tax code, pay your damn taxes – and raise the rates for the highest bracket to an appropriate level that is more in line with what is fair and proportional to what they are able to pay. That way there will be enough for everyone, especially if those with the most pay their fair share. If everyone would pay according to what they could afford it would be possible for everyone to have what they needed to live.

The Christian 'Right' Isn't

Let's get something straight, once and for all: the 'Christian Right' isn't. They are neither Christian, or right. Let me explain.

First of all, before going any further, it should be 'Religious Right' not 'Christian Right'; they are motivated by a warped legalistic adherence to Christianity as a religion rather than applying the principals taught by Jesus to the political sphere in which they function. Is Christianity reconcilable with a 'right-wing' agenda? No, not at all. Jesus taught love and reconciliation, not condemnation and judgment. He dismissed and condemned the use of the death penalty in His day, and demonstrated that violence is never the answer to our problems. Taking these as only a small sample of the ideals espoused by the founder of our faith it seems incongruous to have a group calling itself 'Christian' that supports things like the death penalty, is opposed to programs that support the poor, the sick, the indigent, and supports wars against two nations that never committed an act of violence against the United States. How does that reflect a Christian ideal by any stretch of the imagination?

The recent roadblock by the GOP in the Senate against allowing for the provision of the benefits for the unemployed provides a crystal clear example of the perversion of this brand of 'Christianity' and how it has been warped beyond anything that resembles the truth presented by in the Gospels. Rather than doing something for the people that have lost their jobs, rather than stepping up and working for their constituents, the GOP Senators decided to vilify those individuals who had lost their jobs, blaming them for their misfortune and claiming that these benefits would encourage them to stay unemployed (rather than encouraging them to pay their bills and feed their families which is what most of the unemployed are looking forward to doing).

Regardless of the evidence that for every dollar spent on unemployment benefits more than $1.60 is returned to the economy (this money is NOT saved, it is SPENT - it STIMULATES the economy - always), the GOP would rather focus on Tax Cuts that ADD to the deficit. Interestingly enough, even Jesus understood that this was Voodoo economics: Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's. Jesus understood the principal that taxation was NECESSARY and that it was a lawful and good thing for a citizen to pay their taxes.

It's time for those on the 'right' to stop pretending to follow the teachings of Jesus when they know they have nothing in common with the seditious Jew that was sent to his death for posing a threat to the government of the day. Jesus - and His followers - were radicals - they taught that we have a power to change the world, that we are not to be conformed to the world, and that the world is enmity to the one to whom we owe our lives. We are also taught that true Christians are persecuted because they pose a threat to the status quo - how does that work for the 'Christian Right' - the were in power, weren't they? That doesn't exactly sound like a 'persecuted' class of believers, does it?

No, there is nothing 'Christian' about the 'Christian Right' - neither is there anything 'right' about them. Religious - absolutely - dogmatically so, but Christian? I'm afraid not, at least, not the Jesus I know. Just ask yourself the question as you look at the image of the two men depicted here: which do you imagine to be the Lord? Many will naturally select the 'well groomed' image that typifies western depictions of the Lord, but the reality of the matter was that Jesus - Yeshua (or Y'shua) would have not looked like a European, well coiffed, gentleman if he was born in Palestine around 3 BCE. The image of the darker skinned man with the kinky hair - the guy most white conservatives would walk past without giving a second look (the guy who would be pulled over in Arizona for looking 'foreign') is much closer to what the real Jesus probably looked like, and his features can still be found amongst the faces of those living in the war-torn land of His birth today.

Let that be the final word on the matter ... for now.

CrazyComposer - aka Peter Amsel
Peter Amsel has been a Christian for 21 years and an ordained minister for 11.