Editorial: References and Culture
References and Culture
[Image: Guernica, by Pablo Picasso. A tapestry of the work was hung in the United Nations building in New York outside of the Security Council chamber to remind political leaders of the horrors of war. Sadly, it was removed in early 2021.]
Publication date: 2022-10-03
Update 2022-10-21: A note of thanks is added.
Dear Reader,
With this newsletter being 16 months old, the author and editor has come to a realisation. The verbs and nouns sprayed at you in the articles of this newsletter are transient. I hope that they are at least entertaining.
The two components of the articles which have lasting value are the references and the culture section.
The references provide a scaffolding, a framework of wider voices to support a narrative. I see from the statistics published by the surveillance platform which publishes this newsletter a 5% to 10% engagement with these sources. They are published. They sit in place. They exist, quietly waiting for the curious.
The Culture section will outlast even the references. This section has no time limit. I am most humble in being able to provide a structural framing or counterpoint of a narrative by artists. Their commentary on society is beautiful. Dear reader, you may have observed the re-purposing of these artistic commentary. I trust that the artists are comfortable with this effort.
Art is ephemeral. Its understanding and application are left to the viewer or listener. I hope that you are engaged by my transient words, the reference framing, and the enclosure of the culture sections in these articles.
Thank you for spending your time reading or listening to these articles.
Update
An article by Noam Chomsky written for Antiwar has inspired me to thank them and a small collection of other independent publications.
Those who have read or heard Professor Chomsky's analysis of global events will be aware that he reads academic articles and political declarations. He also reads "Foreign Policy" the publication which outlines the views of the USA foreign policy establishment centered around the Council on Foreign Relations. He reads the publication to follow the policies being promoted by this establishment. He reads Antiwar to find out what is actually happening in the world.
Professor Chomsky states in the article:
I read Antiwar.com regularly because it has served as a reliable source for news on a daily basis, independent and unfiltered.
I wish to offer my thanks to the following list of publications which I commonly cite as references in this newsletter's articles. The list is not exhaustive.
Consortium News (black mark for denying Tor)
MoonOfAlabama (black mark for denying Tor)
To these are added the personal publications of Caitlin Johnstone, Eva Bartlett, Gilbert Doctorow, Ray McGovern, Vanessa Beeley and many others. An old article declares the persons I see as providing interesting commentary.
Finally, I wish to offer thanks to sites like Natylie's Place which republish articles from other sources. Her site is accessible. There are no advertisements or JavaScript popups asking for a subscription. One can just read. I am now at the point that if a site places these distractions and annoyances in front of me, I take their message. They do not wish for me to read, so I leave.
Given the option, this newsletter prefers a link to the most accessible version of an article as a reference. It is the least which can be done for readers.
Update: A thanks
A survey of recent publications shows a significant increase in readers accessing sources.
A recent history of percentages of sources accessed, newest articles first, is: 10, 8, 4, 10, 13, 12, 3, 6, 7 (this article). Previous to this editorial, I was most happy to see an increase to 6% following the first “Interesting Articles” publication. The above has an average of 8.1%.
Thank you, readers.
There are a wide array of informed voices in the new media, and you seem to becoming more interested in their views. As stated, I don’t agree with all of them. I provide them to assist you in finding interesting opinion. To paraphrase Ryan Christian of The Last American Vagabond, make up your own mind. To this endeavour you seem increasingly committed, which provides me a great deal of satisfaction.
Sources
Not applicable.
Culture
The Berlin Celebration Concert 1989 - Leonard Bernstein - Beethoven Symphony No 9, Ricardo Spredemann, youtube, uploaded 2017-02-18
It is worth remembering that Beethoven was completely deaf when he composed this masterpiece.
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Copyright and Licensing
This work is copyright to the blog's author with CC BY-SA 4.0 licensing. Have fun, reuse, remix etc. but give credit and place no further restrictions. Lets build culture.
The clever Germans underestimated Russia's resolve. NATO too will do the same.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/iconic-tapestry-picassos-guernica-76122724