Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

I wrestle constantly with how to respond to the various haters who post comments here. The majority of them find my embrace of Israeli-Palestinian peace based on principles of a two state solution detestable, especially as I am Jewish. But I’ve also received hate comments from a Lieutenant in the armed forces who thought that my opposition to the Iraq war “aided and abetted Al Qaeda.” Recently, I had a ‘delightful’ correspondence with James King–what was his problem? My posts about the politics of the tsunami and relief efforts in which I was highly sympathetic to victims and highly unsympathetic to governments like those of Indonesia and the U.S. King is so twisted with hate that he believes the victims (all of which he maintains are Muslim) ‘got what they deserved.’ Too bad the tsunami didn’t get them all, etc. You get the picture.

Sometimes I argue with these folk in the comment threads. Sometimes I ignore them. But what I’ve decided to do here as a test case is to put the words of the most egregious haters right up front in my blog–in a post of their own. Hate doesn’t much like the light of day. Bigots love to taunt and harass others via the internet in the anonymity of their own homes (or dens or warrens or wherever people like this live). But they don’t much like to reveal the extent of their racism to the general public. So I say if they’ve got balls enough to spew this filth, then I’m going to let the world see them for what they are.

Today, a new hater has creeped out of the cesspool. Mel Birnstein took umbrage with my sympathetic (but critical) posts about Tariq Ramadan in which I explored his views of Israel and anti-Semitism and also covered the bizarre case in which his visa to teach at Notre Dame University was revoked by DHS at the last minute and with next to no reason provided. Mel reminds me that I’m a total idiot if I think I understand Ramadan’s true philosophy since I don’t speak French and have never lived in France (as good old Mel has done). And make no mistake, Ramadan (for anti-Semite Mel) is like all those perfidious, but clever figures who speak well publicly, but conceal a detestable hidden agenda that they only reveal to their closest adherents. Apparently, no one has the right to comment on Tariq Ramadan unless you speak French and live there. Well, there goes much of the world’s arts and cultural criticism.

Here are some of his more memorable lines:

Ramadan is part of the arcane ways of anti-semitism, which in it’s contemporary form is that the eternal “Jewish Secret Control of the World” is now Israel controlling the United States.

Ramadan’s [is] clearly on the side of the terrorists. And your comments put you clearly on the side of the apologists for the terrorists.

You are truly an idiot and a Jewish anti-semite!

I know the difference between a Muslim and an Islamic fascist … Do you?

I know people out in those French suburbs who would still slice that Jew throat of yours open in spite of your kind thoughts on Islam

“Islamism” in the French context basically means, Islamic fascism … You know, Sharia law, lapidation … Hatred of Jews …

Obviously, as far as France and Islam goes, you’re just talking plain, uninformed, ignorant shit … Really, Richard, people like you are pathetic …

Don’t ever want to get caught out there with some real “Islamists” … They won’t buy your liberal hogwash … You [sic] just another kike …

You know, I’m certainly afraid of any Muslims who might wish me ill, but haters from within my own people worry me no less. The bullet can come from anywhere even from within–witness Yitzchak Rabin and Emil Grunzweig’s assassinations (at the hands of fellow Israelis).

The word anti-Semite is very interesting because it not only alludes to Jew hatred, but also to hatred of the other Semitic people–the Arabs. So Mel is a Jew who is an anti-Semite! Also interesting that he calls me a Jewish anti-Semite because to his mind I hate my own people. Anyone who reads this blog knows of my commitment and devotion to my people. What people like Mel really hate is someone from within their own tribe who disagrees with their views. Dissent is impermissible in Mel’s rather stunted version of Judaism. We all walk in lock step or not at all. I am so proud that I belong to a religion which categorically rejects Mel’s certitude, arrogance and hate. Judaism encourages a thousand flowers to bloom. Though not every flower is as worthy as another, the search for the true Jewish path is the most important part of the journey. People like Mel hate that. How did we ever get to be members of the same religion?

tags blog-hate, islamofascism, tariq-ramadan

This is the third and perhaps final post about the musical heritages of those lands worst hit by the tsunami. I’ve already written about Sumatran and south Indian music. Today, the honor goes to the temple drumming of Sri Lanka. In searching for a suitable recording to convey the music of Sri Lanka, I happened on Air Mail Music’s compilation, Sri Lanka/Ceylan. Here’s what the World Music Institute online shop’s notes say about it:

In Sri Lanka, everything dances and vibrates to the rhythm of the magical drums. The ritual dances of masked demons, folkloric tradition, religious service, medical practice or a psychodrama session are all placed under the hypnosis of the drums, the musicians as well as the audience. Recordings compiled by Francois Jouffa in Sri Lanka during the shooting of his film “La Bonzesse” in 1973.

Hear Gini Pagime Utsewaya [Walking on Fire at Hikkaduwa] from Air Mail Music’s Sri Lanka here.

WARNING: This mp3 blog exists to spread the wonder and genius that is traditional music. It does NOT exist to enhance your private mp3 collection. So by all means come, listen, enjoy, then follow the links to buy the music. If you come, listen, download, then leave—you’re violating the spirit behind this blog and doing nothing to support the artists featured here. And if you link to my mp3 file at your own site, then you’re stealing my bandwidth and being pretty uncool. So please don’t do it.

When the tsunami hit, I tried to think of ways to create empathy and understanding for the victims by featuring the music of the lands of the tsunami here in my mp3 blog. I’ve chosen to feature music of Sumatra, Sri Lanka and south India as they were the hardest hit of all the countries devestated by this disaster. I’ve already posted the music of Aceh in Sumatra.

Recently, I received a CD I’d ordered by Chitravina Ganesh, a young master of the Carnatic music of south India. I’ve found many websites devoted to Carnatic music but surprisingly few have thought to lay out a clear and comprehensive definition for the non-devotee of what it is. Art India Net features the best one I’ve found:

Indian classical music is categorized under two genres: Hindustani and Carnatic. Hindustani developed in the northern regions of the country, while Carnatic music is indigenous to the south.

Carnatic music is one of the oldest systems of music in the world. Imbued with emotion and the spirit of improvisation, it also contains a scientific approach. The pioneer performers and scholars of this tradition like Purandara Dasa, known as the Father of Carnatic Music, codified the system and gave it a clear format as a medium of teaching, performing, prayer and therapy.

The basis of Carnatic music is the system of ragas (melodic scales) and talas (rhythmic cycles). There are seven rhythmic cycles and 72 fundamental ragas. All other ragas are considered to have stemmed from these. An elaborate scheme exists for identifying these scales, known as the 72 Melakarta Ragas.

Carnatic music abounds in structured compositions in the different ragas. These are songs composed by great artists and handed down through generations of disciples. While performances of ragas vary from musician to musician, the structured portion is set. These compositions are extremely popular, with a strong accent on rhythm and lively melodic patterns.

An important element of Carnatic music is its devotional content. The lyrics of the traditional compositions, whether mythological or social in nature, are set entirely against a devotional or philosophical background.

A Western medievalist has written a considerably more technical essay about this style, Why Carnatic Music?.

Hear Chitravina Ganesh’s Karedare here.

WARNING: This mp3 blog exists to spread the wonder and genius that is traditional music. It does NOT exist to enhance your private mp3 collection. So by all means come, listen, enjoy, then follow the links to buy the music. If you come, listen, download, then leave—you’re violating the spirit behind this blog and doing nothing to support the artists featured here. And if you link to my mp3 file at your own site, then you’re stealing my bandwidth and being pretty uncool. So please don’t do it.

A few years ago, I read a wonderful column by the New York Times garden critic, Ann Raver. I think she has a wonderful eye for the poetry of landscape and I’ve found many of her stories quite memorable. I think the subject of this article was two winter gardens she’d visited in the Northeast. She trotted out this revelatory quotation from Andrew Wyeth which I’d never heard till that moment:

I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure in the landscape - the loneliness of it - the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it - the whole story doesn’t show.
–Andrew Wyeth (1917-1977 ), quoted by Richard Meryman in The Art of Andrew Wyeth, 1973

I remember how Raver went on to describe the branches as the bare bones and the trees as skeletons on the land. I couldn’t help but think of the mottled white and black bark of birch trees standing sentinels in heavy snow. But then the passage also alludes to the mysterious power of rejuvenation that lurks somewhere deep in the heart of the barren landscape. All this conjured a beautiful and evocative image.

Since my friends on the east coast are facing some savage winter weather, I began thinking of this quotation and thanks to the wonder of Google I found it in 12 seconds when I thought I never would at all. So those of you experiencing the “dead feeling of winter” just remember that “something waits beneath” to be born when Spring comes.

It seems that Margaret Spellings wants to rise from the obscure miasma of her new Education Secretary portfolio and make a big splash among Bushite ideologues. So who does she choose as her whipping boy? Buster the Rabbit (see story Education Secretary Criticizes PBS Show With Gay Couples). Buster is the hero of Postcards from Buster, a PBS children’s program. He uses his video camera to introduce America’s children to homes he visits all over the country. The purpose of the program is to show children of all ethnic, economic and religious backgrounds within the context of their own homes and families and thus educate the children of the nation about people with backgrounds that differ from them. Sounds good as far as it goes. But Spellings thinks PBS went too far in introducing America’s kids to children raised in Lesbian families. “Whoa, don’t go there” says she.

We’ve grown to expect this type of phony political culture war language from right-wing Republicans. It’s a cheap and easy way of throwing red meat to their constituency and so divert attention from the disastrous mistakes of the Bush Administration which have real repercussions for real people (like Iraq). Is it any accident that she announced her attack on the same day that the U.S. had the highest loss of life among its troops since the war began?

But PBS’ abject retreat from supporting its program is a craven and unforgivable breach of artistic and cultural integrity. Listen to Wayne Godwin, PBS’s chief operating officer’s tortured and highly equivocal “defense” of the idea of incorporating gay characters into PBS children’s programming (as quoted in Culture Wars Pull Buster Into the Fray): “In fairness I would have to say a gay character is not one we would not include,” he said, and then clarified. “The fact that a character may or may not be gay is not a reason why they should or should not be part of this series.” Say what?? He then promptly capitulated when it came to defending the appearance of the gay couple in Postcards From Buster: “The presence of a couple [sic] headed by two mothers would not be appropriate curricular purpose that PBS should provide.”

Let’s take a look at the materials that the show’s producer submitted when they applied their federal funding:

The grant specifies the programs “should be designed to appeal to all of America’s children by providing them with content and characters with which they can identify.” In addition, the grant says, “Diversity will be incorporated into the fabric of the series to help children understand and respect differences and learn to live in a multicultural society.”

Sounds to me like the producers provided exactly the kind of program the funders were looking for when they approved the grant.

Spellings told the Washington Times that she wants all of the $100-million grant back from PBS. Hear that David Geffen (and Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah)? I’d encourage a few wealthy members of the ‘left cultural elite’ decried by idiots like Spelling to offer PBS replacement funding for the grant on condition that they agree to distribute the offending Sugartime episode in question.

Let PBS and your local stations know that you’d like them to broadcast the censored episode ASAP and that you object to their craven capitulation to naked political interference in programming decisions. While you’re at it, let WGBH know that you support their series.

UPDATE: one of the two local PBS affiliates here in Seattle just sent me a statement about their plans to air the program. I’ll share a small portion of the message:

KCTS Television has decided it will broadcast the “Sugartime” episode of the PBS series Postcards from Buster on Friday, February 11 at 4:30pm. Our sister station KYVE in Yakima will also air the episode at that time.

The decision to air the program was rooted in our belief that KCTS and KYVE serve diverse communities which are comprised of many different kinds of families, and that it is healthy for children to learn about that diversity in appropriate ways.

We encourage our viewers to watch the program, and then to tell us what they think about it.

Good for you, KCTS! Might all PBS affiliates respond in this way to government censorship and bullying.

UPDATE: Barney Frank has written a scathing letter to Spellings denouncing her homophobia (though he doesn’t use that word) and her message that homosexuals should be persona non grata on America’s public network. The Washington Post article which discusses the Frank letter also recounts the dithering among PBS executives that led to the abominable decision to abandon the show.

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