#today is national teachers' day in vietnam! let's hear it for one of the most impactful lesson in spop

[turtle-ly]

Who'll save you?

#she ra #adora #queen angella #spop #spop adora #spop queen angella #if you are our savior. then who'll save you? #hewwo its been some weeks since i last posted! midterms beat my ass but im alive #today is national teachers' day in vietnam! let's hear it for one of the most impactful lesson in spop #my footprints #my she ra stuff #i have more in this tag

[gtunesmiff]

Ravi Zacharias (1946 – 2020)

When Ravi Zacharias was a cricket-loving boy on the streets of India, his mother called him in to meet the local sari-seller-turned-palm reader. “Looking at your future, Ravi Baba, you will not travel far or very much in your life,” he declared. “That’s what the lines on your hand tell me. There is no future for you abroad.” By the time a 37-year-old Zacharias preached, at the invitation of Billy Graham, to the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam in 1983, he was on his way to becoming one of the foremost defenders of Christianity’s intellectual credibility. A year later, he founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM), with the mission of “helping the thinker believe and the believer think.” In the time between the sari seller’s prediction and the founding of RZIM, Zacharias had immigrated to Canada, taken the gospel across North America, prayed with military prisoners in Vietnam and ministered to students in a Cambodia on the brink of collapse. He had also undertaken a global preaching trip as a newly licensed minister with The Christian and Missionary Alliance, along with his wife, Margie, and eldest daughter, Sarah. This trip started in England, worked eastwards through Europe and the Middle East and finished on the Pacific Rim; all-in-all that year, Zacharias preached nearly 600 times in over a dozen countries. It was the culmination of a remarkable transformation set in motion when Zacharias, recovering in a Delhi hospital from a suicide attempt at age 17, was read the words of Jesus recorded in the Bible by the apostle John: “Because I live, you will also live.” In response, Zacharias surrendered his life to Christ and offered up a prayer that if he emerged from the hospital, he would leave no stone unturned in his pursuit of truth. Once Zacharias found the truth of the gospel, his passion for sharing it burned bright until the very end. Even as he returned home from the hospital in Texas, where he had been undergoing chemotherapy, Zacharias was sharing the hope of Jesus to the three nurses who tucked him into his transport. Frederick Antony Ravi Kumar Zacharias was born in Madras, now Chennai, in 1946, in the shadow of the resting place of the apostle Thomas, known to the world as the “Doubter” but to Zacharias as the “Great Questioner.” Zacharias’s affinity with Thomas meant he was always more interested in the questioner than the question itself. His mother, Isabella, was a teacher. His father, Oscar, who was studying labor relations at the University of Nottingham in England when Zacharias was born, rose through the ranks of the Indian civil service throughout Zacharias’s adolescence. An unremarkable student, Zacharias was more interested in cricket than books, until his encounter with the gospel in that hospital bed. Nevertheless, a bold, radical faith ran in his genes. In the Indian state of Kerala, his paternal great-grandfather and grandfather produced the 20th century’s first Malayalam-English dictionary. This dictionary served as the cornerstone of the first Malayalam translation of the Bible. Further back, Zacharias’s great-great-great-grandmother shocked her Nambudiri family, the highest caste of the Hindu priesthood, by converting to Christianity. With conversion came a new surname, Zacharias, and a new path that started her descendants on a road to the Christian faith. Zacharias saw the Lord’s hand at work in his family’s tapestry and he infused RZIM with the same transgenerational and transcultural heart for the gospel. He created a ministry that transcended his personality, where every speaker, whatever their background, presented the truth in the context of the contemporary. Zacharias believed if you achieved that, your message would always be necessary. Thirty-six years since its establishment, the ministry still bears the name chosen for Zacharias’s ancestor. However, where once there was a single speaker, now there are nearly 100 gifted speakers who on any given night can be found sharing the gospel at events across the globe; where once it was run from Zacharias’s home, now the ministry has a presence in 17 countries on five continents. Zacharias’s passion and urgency to take the gospel to all nations was forged in Vietnam, throughout the summer of ’71. Zacharias had immigrated to Canada in 1966, a year after winning a preaching award at a Youth for Christ congress in Hyderabad. It was there, in Toronto, that Ruth Jeffrey, the veteran missionary to Vietnam, heard him preach. She invited him to her adopted land. That summer, Zacharias—only just 25—found himself flown across the country by helicopter gunship to preach at military bases, in hospitals and in prisons to the Vietcong. Most nights Zacharias and his translator Hien Pham would fall asleep to the sound of gunfire. On one trip across remote land, Zacharias and his travel companions’ car broke down. The lone jeep that passed ignored their roadside waves. They finally cranked the engine to life and set off, only to come across the same jeep a few miles on, overturned and riddled with bullets, all four passengers dead. He later said of this moment, “God will stop our steps when it is not our time, and He will lead us when it is.” Days later, Zacharias and his translator stood at the graves of six missionaries, killed unarmed when the Vietcong stormed their compound. Zacharias knew some of their children. It was that level of trust in God, and the desire to stand beside those who minister in areas of great risk, that is a hallmark of RZIM. Its support for Christian evangelists in places where many ministries fear to tread, including northern Nigeria, Pakistan, South African townships, the Middle East and North Africa, can be traced back to that formative graveside moment. After this formative trip, Zacharias and his new bride, Margie, moved to Deerfield, Illinois, to study for a Master of Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Here the young couple lived two doors down from Zacharias’s classmate and friend William Lane Craig. After graduating, Zacharias taught at the Alliance Theological Seminary in New York and continued to travel the country preaching on weekends. Full-time teaching combined with his extensive travel and itinerant preaching led Zacharias to describe these three years as the toughest in his 48-year marriage to Margie. He felt his job at the seminary was changing him and his preaching far more than he was changing lives with the hope of the gospel. It was at that point that Graham invited Zacharias to speak at his inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam in 1983. Zacharias didn’t realize Graham even knew who he was, let alone knew about his preaching. In front of 3,800 evangelists from 133 countries, Zacharias opened with the line, “My message is a very difficult one….” He went on to tell them that religions, 20th-century cultures and philosophies had formed “vast chasms between the message of Christ and the mind of man.” Even more difficult was his message, which received a mid-talk ovation, about his fear that, “in certain strands of evangelicalism, we sometimes think it is necessary to so humiliate someone of a different worldview that we think unless we destroy everything he holds valuable, we cannot preach to him the gospel of Christ…what I am saying is this, when you are trying to reach someone, please be sensitive to what he holds valuable.” That talk changed Zacharias’s future and arguably the future of apologetics, dealing with the hard questions of origin, meaning, morality and destiny that every worldview must answer. Flying back to the U.S., Zacharias shared his thoughts with Margie. As one colleague has expressed, “He saw the objections and questions of others not as something to be rebuffed, but as a cry of the heart that had to be answered. People weren’t logical problems waiting to be solved; they were people who needed the person of Christ.” No one was reaching out to the thinker, to the questioner. It was on that flight that Zacharias and Margie planted the seed of a ministry intended to meet the thinker where they were, to train cultural evangelist-apologists to reach those opinion makers of society. The seed was watered and nurtured through its early years by the businessman DD Davis, a man who became a father figure to Zacharias. With the establishment of the ministry, the Zacharias family moved south to Atlanta. By now, the family had grown with the addition of a second daughter, Naomi, and a son, Nathan. Atlanta was the city Zacharias would call home for the last 36 years of his life. Meeting the thinker face-to-face was an intrinsic part of Zacharias’s ministry, with post-event Q&A sessions often lasting long into the night. Not to be quelled in the sharing of the gospel, Zacharias also took to the airwaves in the 1980s. Many people, not just in the U.S. but across the world, came to hear the message of Christ for the first time through Zacharias’s radio program, Let My People Think. In weekly half-hour slots, Zacharias explored issues such as the credibility of the Christian message and the Bible, the weakness of modern intellectual movements, and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Today, Let My People Think is syndicated to over 2,000 stations in 32 countries and has also been downloaded 15.6 million times as a podcast over the last year. As the ministry grew so did the demands on Zacharias. In 1990, he followed in his father’s footsteps to England. He took a sabbatical at Ridley Hall in Cambridge. It was a time surrounded by family, and where he wrote the first of his 28 books, A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism. It was no coincidence that throughout the rhythm of his itinerant life, it was among his family and Margie, in particular, that his writing was at its most productive. Margie inspired each of Zacharias’s books. With her eagle eye and keen mind, she read the first draft of every manuscript, from The Logic of God, which was this year awarded the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Christian Book Award in the category of Bible study, and his latest work, Seeing Jesus from the East, co-authored with colleague Abdu Murray. Others among that list include the ECPA Gold Medallion Book Award winner, Can Man Live Without God?, and Christian bestsellers, Jesus Among Other Gods and The Grand Weaver. Zacharias’s books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into over a dozen languages. Zacharias’s desire to train evangelists undergirded with apologetics, in order to engage with culture shapers, had been happening informally over the years but finally became formal in 2004. It was a momentous year for Zacharias and the ministry with the establishment of OCCA, the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics; the launch of Wellspring International; and Zacharias’s appearance at the United Nations Annual International Prayer Breakfast. OCCA was founded with the help of Professor Alister McGrath, the RZIM team and the staff at Wycliffe Hall, a Permanent Private Hall of Oxford University, where Zacharias was an honorary Senior Research Fellow between 2007 and 2015. Over his lifetime Zacharias would receive 10 honorary doctorates in recognition of his public commitment to Christian thought, including one from the National University of San Marcos, the oldest established university in the Americas. Over the years, OCCA has trained over 400 students from 50 countries who have gone on to carry the gospel in many arenas across the world. Some have continued to follow an explicit calling as evangelists and apologists in Christian settings, and many others have gone on to take up roles in each of the spheres of influence Zacharias always dreamed of reaching: the arts, academia, business, media and politics. In 2017, another apologetics training facility, the Zacharias Institute, was established at the ministry’s headquarters in Atlanta, to continue the work of equipping all who desire to effectively share the gospel and answer the common objections to Christianity with gentleness and respect. In 2014, the same heart lay behind the creation of the RZIM Academy, an online apologetics training curriculum. Across 140 countries, the Academy’s courses have been accessed by thousands in multiple languages. In the same year OCCA was founded, Zacharias launched Wellspring International, the humanitarian division of the ministry. Wellspring International was shaped by the memory of his mother’s heart to work with the destitute and is led by his daughter Naomi. Founded on the principle that love is the most powerful apologetic, it exists to come alongside local partners that meet critical needs of vulnerable women and children around the world. Zacharias’s appearance at the U.N. in 2004 was the second of four that he made in the 21st century and represented his increasing impact in the arena of global leadership. He had first made his mark as the Cold War was coming to an end. His internationalist outlook and ease among his fellow man, whether Soviet military leader or precocious Ivy League undergraduate, opened doors that had been closed for many years. One such military leader was General Yuri Kirshin, who in 1992 paved the way for Zacharias to speak at the Lenin Military Academy in Moscow. Zacharias saw the cost of enforced atheism in the Soviet Union; the abandonment of religion had created the illusion of power and the reality of self-destruction. A year later, Zacharias traveled to Colombia, where he spoke to members of the judiciary on the necessity of a moral framework to make sense of the incoherent worldview that had taken hold in the South American nation. Zacharias’s standing on the world stage spanned the continents and the decades. In January 2020, as part of his final foreign trip, he was invited by eight division world champion boxer and Philippines Senator Manny Pacquiao to speak at the National Bible Day Prayer Breakfast in Manila. It was an invitation that followed Zacharias’s November 2019 appearance at The National Theatre in Abu Dhabi as part of the United Arab Emirates’ Year of Tolerance. In 1992, Zacharias’s apologetics ministry expanded from the political arena to academia with the launching of the first ever Veritas Forum, hosted on the campus of Harvard University. Zacharias was asked to be the keynote speaker at the inaugural event. The lectures Zacharias delivered that weekend would form the basis of the best-selling book, Can Man Live Without God?, and would open up opportunities to speak at university campuses across the world. The invitations that followed exposed Zacharias to the intense longing of young people for meaning and identity. Twenty-eight years after that first Veritas Forum event, in what would prove to be his last speaking engagement, Zacharias spoke to a crowd of over 7,000 at the University of Miami’s Watsco Center on the subject of “Does God Exist?” It is a question also asked behind the walls of Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola Prison, the largest maximum-security prison in the United States. Zacharias had prayed with prisoners of war all those years ago in Vietnam but walking through Death Row left an even deeper impression. Zacharias believed the gospel shined with grace and power, especially in the darkest places, and praying with those on Death Row “makes it impossible to block the tears.” It was his third visit to Angola and, such is his deep connection, the inmates have made Zacharias the coffin in which he will be buried. As he writes in Seeing Jesus from the East, “These prisoners know that this world is not their home and that no coffin could ever be their final destination. Jesus assured us of that.” In November last year, a few months after his last visit to Angola, Zacharias stepped down as President of RZIM to focus on his worldwide speaking commitments and writing projects. He passed the leadership to his daughter Sarah Davis as Global CEO and long-time colleague Michael Ramsden as President. Davis had served as the ministry’s Global Executive Director since 2011, while Ramsden had established the European wing of the ministry in Oxford in 1997. It was there in 2018, Zacharias told the story of standing with his successor in front of Lazarus’s grave in Cyprus. The stone simply reads, “Lazarus, four days dead, friend of Christ.” Zacharias turned to Ramsden and said if he was remembered as “a friend of Christ, that would be all I want.” =====|||=====

Ravi Zacharias, who died of cancer on May 19, 2020, at age 74, is survived by Margie, his wife of 48-years; his three children: Sarah, the Global CEO of RZIM, Naomi, Director of Wellspring International, and  Nathan, RZIM’s Creative Director for Media; and five grandchildren. =====|||=====

By Matthew Fearon, RZIM UK content manager and former journalist with The Sunday Times of London

Margie and the Zacharias family have asked that in lieu of flowers gifts be made to the ongoing work of RZIM. Ravi’s heart was people.

His passion and life’s work centered on helping people understand the beauty of the gospel message of salvation. 

Our prayer is that, at his passing, more people will come to know the saving grace found in Jesus through Ravi’s legacy and the global team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

[ariuka-munkh]

My caffeine-empowered brain’s take on some Asian countries and their reaction to China’s rise of power

Mongolia

·         Lowkey just wants to be left alone.

·         Confused 24/7.

·         Economically dependent on China but then highkey hates China with burning passion?

·         Running everywhere making allies from US, EU, Middle East, Russia, and even Africa (http://www.theniles.org/en/articles/archive/1701/)

·         That guy (who is probably high af) that always gets caught trying to sneak out with the party beers.

·         The Mongolian public: WHAT ARE THOSE CHINESE DOING IN OUR COUNTRY???

·         The Mongolian government: Cuz money.

·         The public: What??? Aren’t you worried that China is bullying Mongolia? They’re digging up our land which is not only the important part of our nomadic heritage, they’re not taking good care of the environment and are getting valuable resources. Shouldn’t Mongolia use those resources ourselves?

·         The government: We literally got no money to develop technology.

·         The public: That’s cuz you’re eating them for your own private pleasure.

·         The government: Don’t know what you mean.

·         The public: Okay. Fine. Eat. But you do realize that you’re practically making money from China when you could be making three times as much in the foreign market or using them for our own domestic products? Also, if you haven’t noticed, the people are unhappy and anxious because of China’s interests in Mongolia.

·         The government: Yeah. But we got money~

·         The public: Can you at least do something about China’s annual PMS on Mongolia?

·         The government: Can’t. We’re receiving money.

·         The public: *depressed silence*

·         The government: Don’t worry. We’re making enough money for them anti-depressant pills.

 North Korea

·         Practically one of the few countries which are dealing with China worse than Mongolia is with China.

·         If NK was a human, needs extended psychiatric help to treat all the trauma he put himself through.

·         Domestically, the Kim Dynasty is falling apart and everything is going down to that Biblical place under the Earth.

·         Mongolia: Dude. You got to like let go of the Kims now.

·         North Korea: *covering his ears with his palms* Lalalalallalalala-I can’t hear you-lalallalala-don’t know what you mean backstabber-lalalalala.

·         Perhaps the only country which can be labeled as China’s ally. But then lowkey hates China.

·         But then again, they hate every single ally of theirs and despise every single neighboring country of theirs with burning passion.

·         Internationally, only got China and Russia and few others as their allies.

·         Literally got the worst image in the world which doesn’t help their circumstances.

·         But then was one of the only few countries that shook the international community.

South Korea

·         Prone to making tear-jerkingly moving nationalistic speeches.

·         One of the few countries that are dealing with China the best (by NK and MGL standards).

·         Got long history of dealing with China’s superiority-covered inferiority complex, so knows the general to-dos.

·         Militarily strong (among top 10 of the world) and allied with the US.

·         Economically, profits greatly from China.

·         So literally needs to balance everything until things get nasty.

·         Recieves Anti-Chinese or Anti-Japanese protestors weekly.

·         The protestors: Do something about the Fine Dust!

·         The Korean government: Yes, of course, my people. We are negotiating with China as we are speaking.

·         The protestors: You say that every time!

·         Another protestors: We need solid proof!

·         Old protestors: I’m old! I can’t take this much longer. I could die tomorrow!

·         The government: Yes. We understand. We’re doing everything in our power to lessen the problem.

·         Anti-Yemeni protestors: *popping out of nowhere* Then what about the Yemeni Refugees?

·         The crowd: Yeah!

·         Someone in the crowd: They need to get out of our country.

·         The government: That is officially unable to be done. However, we’ll make sure to ensure our Korean citizens safety, of course. *turns to the nearby government worker* Psst. Is it bad timing to remind them that we signed the agreement to receive the refugees?

 Japan

·         Surprisingly, got their mess together (for a while).

·         Another Asian country that has security treaty with the US.

·         Their army which is to be used only for defense is ranked in top 10 powerful army of the world. (https://ceoworld.biz/2018/11/23/the-worlds-most-powerful-militaries-in-2018/)

·         So if they decide to militarize, uh oh.

·         Other Asian countries, including China, are skeptical of Japan still having the same motives they had during WWII.

·         Their pride can crush a nation.

·         Would rather commit Seppuku than lose face value.

·         Soft power is amazing.

·         Did the “I want to be left alone so I’ll close my borders” before it was cool, hundreds of years ago which didn’t end very well.

·         Japan: Mongoria-san, it riterarry doesn’t work.

·         Mutual dislike with China. As a result, gets into annual disputes with China.

·         Good economic partner of China, but aloof.

·         China is struggling, trying to extend its powers to Japan.

·         Might be able to deal with China’s growing influence by working with South Korea, but the two countries presidents’ don’t even look in each other’s directions.

 Taiwan

·         Saltiest about China’s growing power.

·         It was their soldiers that invaded Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uyghur and Tibet which helped outline China’s current borders (speak to my high school history teacher for confirmation).

·         Thankful that the world doesn’t know it was them who stirred trouble in those countries.

·         But really salty that China got all the credits and is an international player now.

·         Probably would have been worse than China if they were the world power than mainland China. (Another US in a nutshell?)

·         Resourceful. Got ears and eyes everywhere.

·         For instance, the only foreign spy in Mongolia is a Taiwanese spy. (MNB News 2016)

·         Mongolia: Bruh, like… Why?

·         Most likely salty that current day Mongolia can’t tell the difference between Taiwanese government and Chinese government even though it should remember because it’s the one country (except mainland China) that truly witnessed their invading army.

·         Economic partnership with China. Semi - under Chinese rule.

·         Allies with US and Japan, but they are not very helpful.

·         Could maybe assist the unlikely Japan-South Korea cooperation to limit China’s influence in East Asia.

 Hong Kong

·         An honorable mention city-state.

·         Literally, gives China trouble until China agrees to their demands.

·         Democracy under China’s authoritarian rule.

·         Rebellious but not violent.

·         China profits a lot from Hong Kong economically.

·         Got all the aspect of an independent nation. (No military. But Liechtenstein is still a nation with no military of its own, so) Their economy is good.

·         China knows this and put economic sanctions on them from time to time.

·         Currently cornered due to Beijing pressures on them.

 Tibet

·         Literally the one country that wants to clock China the most (and has justifiable reasons).

·         Wanted to clock China since the early 1900s.

·         Globally got the image of a peaceful neutral nation full of monks, but in truth, capable of knifing when the chance is given.  

·         Prone to breakdowns once in a while.

·         Tibet: Goddammit, China! Why are you so clingy?! *nonsensical Tibetan mutterings and curses* Where did I go wrong? Honestly, where did I go wrong? Oh yeah, It was that moment when I got invaded by Manchu. *turns to Mongolia* This is all your fault.

·         Mongolia: Yeah?

·         Tibet: You dragged all of us down!

·         Mongolia: Sure. But why, bruh?

·         Tibet: If you weren’t being cruel to Inner Mongolia, she wouldn’t have joined forces with the Manchu from the beginning! And then not only that you lost Inner Mongolia, you went ahead and joined forces with Manchu to fight your own brother. Your brother! Frigging Oirad Mongolia was the only one who had a common sense in your crazy family. Now where is he? Dead.

·         Mongolia: Yo, is you really gonna talk about all of my youthful mistakes now?

·         Tibet: Youthful mistakes, my foot. You killed your family.

·         Mongolia: I tried, man.

·         Tibet: *sarcastically* My hero.

·         Mongolia: …

·         Tibet: Do you know what I’m most pissed up about though?

·         Mongolia: …shoot.

·         Tibet: Frigging Manchu ended up going extinct and the frigging West thought it was China that beated us up.

·         Mongolia: …

·         Tibet: Say something!

·         Mongolia: I’m used to it.

·         Tibet: …I hate you so much.

·         Mongolia: Eh. *puts on sunglasses* Words can’t hurt me, these shades are Gucci.

 India

·         Another power that may be able to challenge China.

·         But got some family problems with Pakistan.

·         Had long trade business with China from the Ancient times which continues to today.

·         But occasionally defends Tibet which causes complications with China.

·         Another power that can neutralize or deal with China’s rise to power.

·         Allies with ASEAN countries but not part of them.

 Vietnam

·         Honorable mention country.

·         Wrecked both China and US in the past century.

·         Literally, should not to be messed with.

·         Another socialist government who hates both China and the US.

 Philippines

·         Got problems with drug-dealers

·         Image of the gangsta country of Asia

·         Beautiful islands

·         I have no idea about Philippines, someone needs to enlighten me.

#imbacksweeties #so i learned about china's rise of power today #mybrainthough #hetalia #but not really #aph mongolia #aph north korea #aph south korea #aph tibet #aph taiwan #aph japan #aph hong kong #aph india #aph vietnam #aph philippines #aph china #my writing #i'm mental and i need sleep #help

[iambicstateofmind]

18 Poetic Songs With Political Undertones

     1. “Amazing Grace” -John Newton 

Originally written in 1779 by Anglican clergyman John Newton, this song has become an anthem for civil rights movements around the world. I’ve included links to two of my favorite versions, The Soweto Gospel Choir and Joan Baez, as well as to the heartwarming moment when President Barack Obama sang the song while speaking at the funeral for South Carolina State Senator Clementa Pinckney. 

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see...”

     2. “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2″ -Pink Floyd

Among the most memorable songs from Pink Floyd’s iconic concept album The Wall, this song speaks about conformity in society, with students being stripped of their autonomy at a young age.  

“We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control...”

“All in all, you’re just another brick in the wall...”

    3.  “Blowin’ In The Wind” -Bob Dylan

Written by Bob Dylan in 1963, this song quickly became an anthem of the civil rights movement and ant-Vietnam War movement through the 1960s and into the ‘70s. 

Joan Baez Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLUDJlx5jEc

Peter, Paul and Mary Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld6fAO4idaI

Stevie Wonder Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8q1I9f1l4U

“How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly before they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the wind...“

    4.  “Born in the USA” -Bruce Springsteen

Frequently misinterpreted as a zealously patriotic song due to its title, chorus and driving beat, this song is really a scathing critique of the Vietnam War and the country’s failure to alleviate the suffering of working-class Americans. 

“Born down in a dead man's town. The first kick I took was when I hit the ground. You end up like a dog that's been beat too much, 'til you spend half your life just coverin' up...”

“Come back home to the refinery. Hiring man says ‘Son if it was up to me.’ Went down to see my V.A. man, he said ‘Son, don't you understand’...”

“Down in the shadow of the penitentiary. Out by the gas fires of the refinery. I'm ten years burning down the road. Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go...”

“Born in the USA” Live 1985: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqUk0SMzkeI

     5. “The Boxer” -Simon & Garfunkel

A folk song about working-class America. 

“I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told. I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises. All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest, hmmmm”

“When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy in the company of strangers, in the quiet of the railway station, runnin' scared, laying low seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go, looking for the places only they would know...”

“In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade and he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him 'til he cried out in his anger and his shame: I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains...”

From the Concert in Central Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JUbFj0BIc4

    6. “Brain Damage” -Pink Floyd

From Pink Floyd’s legendary album Dark Side of the Moon, “Brain Damage” is a powerful song centered around issues of mental illness. 

“And if the dam breaks open many years too soon. And if there is no room upon the hill. And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon...”

“The lunatic is in my head. The lunatic is in my head. You raise the blade, you make the change.You rearrange me 'til I'm sane. You lock the door and throw away the key. There's someone in my head but it's not me...”

“And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear. You shout and no one seems to hear. And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon...”

 “Brain Damage”/”Eclipse” Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVQ3-Xe_suY

     7. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” -Simon & Garfunkel 

Recently performed live by Paul Simon at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is a moving song about unity and solidarity.

“I'm on your side when times get rough and friends just can't be found. Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down...”

“Sail on Silver Girl. Sail on by. Your time has come to shine. All your dreams are on their way. See how they shine. If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind. Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind...”

Paul Simon at the 2016 DNC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v12fPV6QmeU

From the Concert in Central Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrcwRt6J32o

Josh Groban/Brian McKnight Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0RNp0ShHsU

     8. “Chimes of Freedom” -Bob Dylan

My personal favorite Bob Dylan tune, “Chimes of Freedom” is a simple acoustic melody with lyrics that only a Nobel Prize winning poet like Bob Dylan can write.

“As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds. Seemin' to be the chimes of freedom flashing. Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight. Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight. And for each and every underdog soldier in the night, and we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing...”

“Through the city’s melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched with faces hidden as the walls were tightening. As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin’ rain dissolved into the bells of the lightning. Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake. Tolling for the luckless, they abandoned and forsaked. Tolling for the outcast, burning constantly at stake. And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing...”

“Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail. The sky cracked it's poems in naked wonder. That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze. Leavin' only bells of lightning and it's thunder. Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind. Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind. And the poet and the painter far behind his rightful time, and we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing...”

“Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts all down in taken-for-granted situations.Tolling for the deaf and blind, tolling for the mute. For the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute. For the misdemeanor outlaw, chained and cheated by pursuit. And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing...”

“Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones. Condemned to drift or else be kept from driftin'. Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail. For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale. And for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail. And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing...”

“Tolling for the aching whose wounds cannot be nursed. For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones and worse. And for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe. And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin'...”

Bob Dylan Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVIWA9VTiN8

Bruce Springsteen Cover (1988): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3onnJuBS18

     9. “Imagine” -John Lennon

John Lennon was a visionary. And this song was his vision. 

“Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us, only sky. Imagine all the people living for today. Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion, too. Imagine all the people living life in peace...”

“You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will be as one...“

John Lennon - Imagine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgFZfRVaww

Joan Baez Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw4_zOeOL7Y&pbjreload=10

     10. “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” -Bob Dylan

In this haunting song from the album Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan delivers a striking analysis of the world as he sees it. 

“Pointed threats they bluff with scorn. Suicide remarks are torn from the fools gold mouthpiece the hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying...”

“While preachers preach of evil fates. Teachers teach that knowledge waits. Can lead to hundred-dollar plates. Goodness hides behind its gates. But even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked...”

“While one who sings with his tongue on fire gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers, cares not to come up any higher, but rather get you down in the hole that he's in...”

“And if my thought-dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head in a guillotine. But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only...”

Video: Bob Dylan performing this song live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYajHZ4QUVM

     11. “Let It Be” -The Beatles

A song of hope that the world needs more than ever right now.

“When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom: ‘Let it be.’ And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me, speaking words of wisdom: ‘Let it be’...”

“And when the brokenhearted people living in the world agree. There will be an answer. Let it be. For though they may be parted. There is still a chance that they will see. There will be an answer. Let it be...”

Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDYfEBY9NM4

Alicia Keys & John Legend Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7K8Sap0zjE

    12.  “Masters of War” -Bob Dylan

Steeped in rage and dripping with bitterness and resentment, “Masters of War” is a fierce condemnation of the Vietnam War that continues to be painfully relevant to the problems of gun violence in present-day America.

“Come, you masters of war. You that build the big guns. You that build the death planes.You that build all the bombs. You that hide behind walls. You that hide behind desks. I just want you to know I can see through your masks...”

“Like Judas of old, you lie and deceive. A world war can be won, you want me to believe. But I see through your eyes, and I see through your brain like I see through the water that runs down my drain...”

“Let me ask you one question. Is your money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness? Do you think that it could? I think you will find when your death takes its toll, all the money you made will never buy back your soul...”

Ed Sheeran Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHMlAYeFeYw

     13. “On the Turning Away” -Pink Floyd

An impassioned plea against complacency and silence in the face of human suffering. 

“On the turning away from the pale and downtrodden and the words they say, which we won’t understand. Don’t accept that what’s happening is just a case of others’ suffering, or you’ll find that you’re joining in the turning away...”

“It’s a sin that somehow, light is changing to shadow and casting its shroud over all we have known...”

“On the wings of the night, as the daytime is stirring. Where the speechless unite in a silent accord. Using words you will find are strange, mesmerized as they light the flame. Feel the new wind of change on the wings of the night...”

“No more turning away from the weak and the weary. No more turning away from the coldness inside. Just a world that we all must share. It’s not enough just to stand and stare. Is it only a dream that there’ll be no more turning away?”

Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojf18wT_Xtk

     14. “Redemption Song” -Bob Marley & the Wailers

The final track from the album Uprising, “Redemption Song” is a slow, contemplative track about personal and political empowerment and the ongoing fight for freedom and for justice. 

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds! Have no fear for atomic energy, cause none of them can stop the time. How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look? Some say it's just a part of it. We've got to fulfill the book...”

“Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom? Cause all I ever have, redemption songs...”

Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUNh9lmmUA8

Rihanna Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCqquMFQ9IM

John Legend Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlQn8_I6pjY

     15. “The Sound of Silence” -Simon & Garfunkel

A powerful song about standing up and speaking out told through beautiful harmonies and eerie melodies.

“Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping, and the vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the sound of silence...”

“And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking. People hearing without listening. People writing songs that voices never share and no one dared disturb the sound of silence...”

“’Fools’, said I, ‘You do not know, silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words that I might teach you. Take my arms that I might reach you.’ But my words, like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of silence...” “And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they made. And the sign flashed out its warning in the words that it was forming. And the sign said: ‘The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls and whispered in the sound of silence...’”

Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fWyzwo1xg0

Video--Recorded Live in 1966: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaSFzp6IDgw&t=77s

     16. “Streets of Philadelphia” -Bruce Springsteen

Oscar-winning song from the soundtrack of Philadelphia, a moving film starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington that confronted the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS.

“I was bruised and battered, I couldn't tell what I felt. I was unrecognizable to myself. I saw my reflection in a window, I didn't know my own face. Oh brother are you gonna leave me wastin' away on the Streets of Philadelphia...”

“Ain't no angel gonna greet me. It's just you and I my friend. My clothes don't fit me no more. I walked a thousand miles just to slip this skin...”

“The night has fallen, I'm lyin' awake. I can feel myself fading away. So receive me brother with your faithless kiss. Or will we leave each other alone like this on the Streets of Philadelphia...”

Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z2DtNW79sQ

Movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4B9AU45P4

     17. “Us and Them” -Pink Floyd

From near the end of The Dark Side of the Moon, “Us and Them” is a deeply soulful song chronicling the senselessness of war. 

“Us and them. And after all we're only ordinary men. Me and you. God only knows it's not what we would choose to do. ‘Forward’ he cried from the rear and the front rank died. And the general sat and the lines on the map moved from side to side...”

“Down and out. It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about. With, without. And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about? Out of the way, it's a busy day. I've got things on my mind. For the want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died...”

Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDbeqj-1XOo

     18. “We Are The World” -Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie

Initially recorded as a charity single by various American artists in 1985 for famine relief for several African countries and remade in 2009 to support the people of Haiti after a devastating earthquake, “We Are The World” remains a legendary song about unity and strength in the face of adversity. 

“There comes a time when we heed a certain call when the world must come together as one. There are people dying and it's time to lend a hand to life, the greatest gift of all...”

“We are the world, we are the children. We are the ones who make a brighter day so lets start giving. There's a choice we're making. We're saving our own lives. It's true we'll make a better day just you and me...”

USA for Africa “We Are The World”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AjkUyX0rVw

We Are The World 25 for Haiti: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4jSciVI

If you read all of that, you are a rockstar. Bless your beautiful soul.

#music #poetry #politics #the beatles #bruce springsteen #bob dylan #pink floyd #bob marley #simon and garfunkel #michael jackson

[dallasareaopinion]

Fighting negativity and making America better

Well, you could probably write a bookshelf full of books on this topic from many different viewpoints and opinions. Tonight though, we are going to focus on a few general ideas and hopefully not step on too many toes. Right now, there is some general hatred in our country and much misinformation and confusion. Unfortunately, this means to even get started you have to call out some things and I won’t say some people, so let’s say some general groups and hopefully dear reader you realize there are some generalizations that must be done to get down to some points.

So where does a person begin. In this situation, the writer gets to choose and I choose the what use to be called the Eastern Establishment. Wait let me back up a moment. For America to be successful many different groups or relationships need to have I guess a symbiotic relationship. For example, and I have talked about this before; liberals and conservatives (true open minded liberals and conservatives) need each other not for themselves to be successful more for the country to be successful. Sometimes we forget events will dictate what is the best course of action to take. We cannot let our closed minds push aside better options just because it does not fit in our worldview.

 And this is where I start with the Eastern Establishment. And now this group has evolved from when this label first became used. Taking this in a general context, many liberals of the Eastern Establishment would pounce immediately and say it is the modern conservative who is thoroughly closed minded, not us. Why can you accuse us of the same label, when we have known for decades what is better for the country? And oops maybe you don’t. For example, the high handedness of this group comes from their education and granted most people who fit this mold have gone onto higher degrees in general than the average American. Yet they do not know middle America, nor have a general understanding of how middle America feels right now. First example and it is a disastrous one is the election of Mr. Trump.  The current liberal mindset is just shocked that Mr. Trump was elected. Pretty much the way the liberal news has reported for the last three months is the proof in the pudding for this thought.

 Now I once proposed that he was elected because of a few smart people who knew the electoral count going in and made a play at the end to pull the rabbit out of the hat. And yes, that is partly why he won.

 The bigger picture is something most people do not talk about anymore. Older white middle America is lost. Yes, I said white and white for a reason. Truth be told back in the 50’s and 60’s white middle class America had it better than other races, creeds etc.. that is a different topic for a different day. And I will touch on it as I go along, for now though let’s focus on where we are now with middle America as a whole. And again, yes this is different from middle white America of the 50’s and 60’S. And try to address how we got here today.

 The modern “well educated” liberal has forgotten one extremely important fact. And I suggest if you are insulted by my labeling coming up, go back and read what Adlai Stevenson, II was saying in the 1950’s. You have missed some large boats.  Anyway, in the 50’s and going into the 60’s white middle class America had reached a zenith in the history of mankind. In the minds of white middle class America, the world was their oyster. Yes, there was many underlying problems from race relations to bad foreign policy to the ultra-pollution of our air and water, yet on the surface no group of people in the history of the world had the opportunity the children of the 1950’s had. None. Public education was available to all, when people said if you worked hard and applied yourself you could be anything you want it was true. Think of all the opportunities that came about with the space race, computers, military buildup, the interstate highway system just to name a few… degrees in engineering, science, accounting, law, education built up the next generation and created what is now known as the upper middle class or the height of this opportunity. And most of these people came from white middle class, all their values, beliefs, status etc. are a byproduct of this time. And even some Eastern Liberal establishment members have some roots with this same mindset. The federal government grew and a whole slew of programs and departments grew to handle all our problems. We fought a war in Vietnam and we fought the war on poverty. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have won either and this is just one statement that shows where we went from the 1960’s.

 The so called Eastern Establishment never realized middle America enjoyed being middle America and resented the Eastern Establishment laying much blame about all the bad things that came about in the 60’s and 70’s on them or just that they didn’t know any better; hence Richard Nixon could say with great confidence the silent majority was for him. He was right. Yes, there were problems that needed to be addressed and more were developing, but the Eastern Establishment began an attack on middle America that leaves us in a very precarious situation today. Now I am not saying this is the Eastern Establishment’s fault or whatever modern version of this group that exists today. I am saying they are part of the same problem on the opposite side of the coin that produced Donald Trump. I will be fair; you are going to hear about the closed minded, Republican establishment also.

 Okay so what does Donald Trump’s statement I am going to make America great again mean. Well to many in white middle America, they remember opportunity, they remember kids being able to play outside all day during the summer, there were no bogeymen except as parental threats, they remember the concept of you are supposed to respect certain people just because of the job title whether it be teacher or policeman, they remember people want to be astronauts or Presidents or owners of businesses. Middle America sees this as why America was great. This is good and now it is gone. (not really, this is how we make America better). To middle America, something happened over the last 30 or 40 years and now we live in an ugly country where all these people are destroying everything they grew up to believe.  Are they racists and bigots and horrible people? There are a few that are, for many though they are lost. Maybe some inherent racism just because they are white, in most people of all races it will exist some, but not because they are evil people who want to shut down everyone and hate everybody. No, they want everyone to assimilate. Why,,,,, well Eastern Establishment because what they grew up with… was great.. they didn’t realize they reached a zenith of humanity, they just realized life is good.

 And then along came the modern Republican party establishment and what is rather ironic, it grew post Nixon. Yes, the greed mongering and self-righteous came after the worst Presidential debacle in our history. Nixon was smart, calculating, very politically aware, and at the same time very paranoid and well just afraid. He knew what he wanted. He grew up believing that if you worked hard you could be whatever you wanted. In his mind, Kennedy took that away from him, so he had to fight back and fight back hard to get what was his, which led to some of the most stupid political decisions in our history. When I was young I use to think Nixon was evil. He was not evil. He just made himself a trap and jumped right into it. A smart calculating politician, went overboard and made some very dangerous to our country decisions. And he got caught. And we should be glad he did. Eventually we made need to rely on our strength as a country to get past future problems of this nature. That will be part of making America better somewhere down the line.

 Post Nixon though the original generation of what we know call the 1 percenters realized they needed to get better control of this nation or people might step up and take away what they have “accomplished”.  This led to the Republican party post Nixon becoming more outright about taking away advantages to other people and lying to their base to make sure they had what they wanted and no one else was going to interfere. Unfortunately, at this point the Eastern Establishment starting devolving in their own world while the Modern Republican Establishment came to be and starting devolving themselves.  Yep not a pretty picture, yet at the time, both sides were becoming so self-absorbed they didn’t realize how much the other side was falling.  The modern Republican is not conservative anymore though, nor is the Eastern Establishment or whatever you might want to call their devolution is liberal. Both sides have agendas that benefit their noise, not the rank and file liberals or conservatives. In fact, a really decent liberal or conservative agenda is not going to be passed through our government right now since the self-serving leaders of both sides cannot give up one iota to the other side no matter how far they take this country into the trash. Yes, liberals you act like you will work with conservatives, but in fact all you do is state how superior you are and that conservatives do not know anything. Well since the Republican Establishment call themselves conservative I can see why you would go down this path, yet the truth is, since they are not conservative (just self-serving greedy pricks), you throw the baby out with the dirty bathwater.

 And after 20 or 30 years of this, we have the extremes of both sides so separated from the rest of the country they are leading the noise of hate at each other. The good thing is this is still the minority of both sides. The noise they are making though sounds like there is much hate in this country. Yet if you really watch people, most want to go to work, work with the people they do, come home and hide away from all this grief being thrown at them by the extremes on both sides.

 And that is where we start to make America better. This country still has the potential to lead the world into the next zenith of humanity. (or unfortunately drag down the whole planet). The change though must come from the people. Think about my earlier statement that in the 50’s leading to the 60’s there was so much opportunity for white middle America. Our task is to create the same opportunity for all. And that is so possible. There is new technology for people to work with to create so much. There is an opportunity for a whole new space race that encompasses the whole world.  We can use new technologies to solve age old problems like how do we feed everyone? Over the years, I have proposed many ideas and I know if I can sit here in my living room and just dream up new economic development plans and ideas to better EDUCATE our children others can also. And then we can sit down and choose the best of the ideas to move forward. The world is still our oyster. Let us not be dragged down by the hate and ignorance of a few. Let us fight this tyranny of thought, remove the self-serving interests that hamper our growth. Businesses can still flourish, people can still dream, new products and new ideas and better government can be done, yet only if we take back the mindset that we can do it.

 Like I said at the top, there could be books written on my title and all I wanted to do was throw out some general ideas and here I am lost in the myriad of possibilities, trying to avoid the hate that dominates the media noise. America is great from Constitutional writing and on. It is time for us to take the next steps to continue our greatness. We are not perfect, but we can continue to become better. And to do this, we need the Eastern Establishment and Middle America to realize they need each other. When one is successful, the other is also. They are not always going to move in lock step. That is okay. As long as both realize they are working towards a better America and then let the best path at the time be chosen then all will be well.

[mastcomm]

John Roberts, Coronavirus, Mike Pompeo: Your Wednesday Briefing

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning.

We’re covering a new phase in the impeachment trial, President Trump’s peace plan for the Middle East, and new stars on the campaign trail: the candidates’ dogs.

Q. and A. at the impeachment trial

After more than a week of silently listening to the case involving President Trump, senators will get a chance to participate in the proceedings today, when they’re allowed to cross-examine both sides.

Senators will have as many as 16 hours over two days to submit written questions that will be read aloud by Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial. Here’s what to expect when it resumes around 1 p.m. Eastern.

The session comes a day after Mr. Trump’s lawyers finished with an appeal to disregard an account by John Bolton, the former national security adviser, that undercuts the president’s defense.

What’s next: Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, indicated on Tuesday that he doesn’t yet have the votes to block an expected push to call witnesses, which would require the support of at least four Republicans. A vote is expected on Friday.

Related: Democrats who once derided Mr. Bolton now want him to testify, while some of his former Republican friends are tossing him to the curb. John Kelly, the former White House chief of staff, didn’t always get along with Mr. Bolton but said this week, “If John Bolton says that in the book, I believe John Bolton.”

The Daily: Today’s episode is about how the trial is seen by the minority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer.

Evacuees from Wuhan arrive in U.S.

A plane carrying more than 200 Americans from the Chinese city that is the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak landed in Alaska on Tuesday. The passengers, including diplomats and businesspeople, were to undergo medical screening before continuing on to their final destination in California. Here are the latest updates.

Chinese officials said today that at least 132 people had died from the virus and raised the number of confirmed cases to nearly 6,000.

Governments and businesses around the world issued fresh travel warnings on Tuesday, and Americans are now discouraged from visiting China. U.S. officials said the screening of travelers from Wuhan would be expanded to 20 ports of entry.

The details: Cases in Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam involved patients who had not traveled to China. No deaths have been reported outside China. Here’s what we know about the virus.

For perspective: The flu kills roughly 35,000 Americans every year. This season, it has already sickened an estimated 15 million Americans and killed 8,200, according to C.D.C. estimates.

Another angle: Bats are considered the probable source of the outbreak. Scientists have long struggled to understand how the mammals carry so many viruses without getting sick.

Middle East peace plan favors Israel

President Trump on Tuesday introduced proposals that would give Israel most of what it has sought over decades of conflict and offer Palestinians the possibility of a state with limited sovereignty.

“My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides,” Mr. Trump said at a White House ceremony with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Nobody from the Palestinian leadership attended.

The details: The plan, three years in the making, would let Israel control a unified Jerusalem as its capital and not require it to uproot West Bank settlements. Mr. Trump promised $50 billion in international investment for the new Palestinian entity.

Response: The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, played no substantive role in shaping the plan and immediately denounced it as a “conspiracy deal.” None of Washington’s Arab allies formally endorsed it.

News analysis: For a president facing an impeachment trial and an Israeli prime minister under criminal indictment, the plan “sounded more like a road map for their own futures than for the Middle East,” our national security correspondent writes.

What’s next: Mr. Netanyahu said he would move on Sunday to apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and to all Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Most of the world considers those settlements illegal.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

Japan’s skateboarders roll out of the shadows

Snapshot: Above, Elizabeth Warren’s golden retriever, Bailey, at a campaign office in Cambridge, Mass. Some 2020 presidential candidates have turned their dogs into social media stars.

Perspective: In an opinion piece for The Times, the NPR journalist Mary Louise Kelly says that being called a liar by Mike Pompeo is not what bothered her most about her recent interview with the secretary of state.

Late-night comedy: Ms. Kelly has said that Mr. Pompeo swore at her and challenged her to find Ukraine on a map. Stephen Colbert wondered, “Why does Mike Pompeo just have unmarked maps at the ready? Is he the secretary of state or an eighth-grade social studies teacher?”

What we’re looking at: These photos in The Atlantic of locust swarms in East Africa. “For those keeping track of the plagues hitting the planet,” writes Andrea Kannapell, the Briefings editor.

Now, a break from the news

Smarter Living: Breaking up with a therapist can be nerve-racking. But doing it with these tips in mind can make it an opportunity for growth.

And now for the Back Story on …

Our man in Wuhan

Chris Buckley, our chief China correspondent, is reporting this week from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Mike Ives, on the Briefings team, spoke with him by phone.

What is it like with these restrictions in place?

It may be difficult to envisage just how thoroughly people have retreated from the streets and from public life. I had to cross one of the big bridges across the Yangtze for my reporting. And there I was, on one of these Chinese share bikes that are everywhere, on an almost completely empty bridge, spanning one of China’s biggest cities, crossing its biggest river. And there were just two other people on the bridge.

A lot of people wonder how long the shutdown can last. Even now, people are worrying about the jobs they may lose, the businesses that will close, the school that they might miss.

You’ve reported that the anger on Chinese social media is intense.

Yes, and you hear that here as well. People erupt with a kind of anger and exasperation over how it was that this dangerous pathogen was among them but they didn’t understand, in many cases, how serious it was or what was going on until the city was shut down.

But that’s leavened by a sense among many people that the most pressing thing is to get through this crisis — so that as few people die as possible and life can return to a kind of normality as soon as possible.

What else are you seeing there?

You see a combination of reactions when you approach people to talk. First of all, there’s a natural wariness about getting close to anybody. But once you reassure them — you’re outside, at a distance of a good 10 feet — they can be very open and also very generous.

How does that compare to the response you normally get?

The reaction you get as a foreign reporter varies quite a bit across China. But I think these circumstances, where people feel that they — and, in a sense, we — are all in this together, and that you’re there somehow experiencing this as well, make it easier to create that connection.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Chris

Thank you Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. You can reach the team at [email protected].

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode includes an interview with Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: It leaves in the spring (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Jason Polan, a New York sketch artist, produced hundreds of illustrations for the print edition of The Times. He died on Monday at 37.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/john-roberts-coronavirus-mike-pompeo-your-wednesday-briefing/

#Event

[limejuicer1862]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Neal Zetter

Neal is an award-winning comedy performance poet, children’s author, and entertainer with a 25-year background in communication management and mentoring. He uses his interactive rhythmic, rhyming poetry to to develop literacy, confidence, creativity and communications skills in 3-103 yr olds, making words and language accessible for the least engaged whilst streeeeeeetching the most able.

Workshops & Performing

Most days Neal is found performing or running fun poetry writing or performance workshops in schools and libraries with children, teens, adults or families. He has worked in all 33 London Boroughs and many, many other UK cities. More challenging poetry projects have involved workshops for people with brain injury, mental health, drug and alcohol problems, offenders, those with learning difficulties, homeless, other special needs including not having English as a first language.

Neal also produces adult comedy performance poetry and has nearly 30 years of experience appearing at e.g. West End comedy clubs, the Royal Festival Hall, various festivals, in the centre circle of a League 2 football pitch (!) and even a funeral (!!). He ran his own spoken word-based comedy club (Word Down Walthamstow) 2009-13. Neal has compiled and hosted/compered shows with the likes of John Cooper Clarke, Attila the Stockbroker, Michael Rosen and shared bills with Harry Hill, Phil Jupitus, Mark Lamaar, Omid Djalili and more.

Books

Neal children’s comedy poetry books, all published by Troika, include:

For 6-13 year olds:

Gorilla Ballerina (A Book of Bonkers Animal Poems) – a collection of wacky poems about weird animals

Invasion of the Supervillains (Raps and Rhymes to Worry the Galaxy) – evil companion book to ‘Superheroes’ (below)

Yuck & Yum (A Feast of Funny Food Poems), with poetry pal Joshua Seigal

Here Comes the Superheroes (Raps and Rhymes to Save the Galaxy) – in the Reading Agency’s top 15 children’s poetry books

It’s Not Fine to Sit on a Porcupine – in BookTrust’s top 20 children’s poetry books

Bees in My Bananas – a Wishing Shelf Award winner

For 2-6 year olds:

SSSSNAP! Mister Shark

Odd Socks!

Due Sept 2020 and Sept 2021 for 6-13 year olds

When the Bell Goes (A Rapping Rhyming Trip through Childhood) – a semi-autobiographical poetry collection on the theme of childhood covering growing up, school and family life

Scared? (Poems from the Darker Side) – a collection of funny, and maybe a few more serious ones, about many aspects of fear

The Interview

1. When and why did you start writing poetry?

I wrote my first poem when I was six – a limerick which now appears in the intro to my first book, Bees in My Bananas. I always enjoyed making people laugh and have had an inbuilt sense of rhythm and rhyming for as long as I can remember. So I began writing poetry as naturally as some people learn a new language – there was no grand plan but I have never stopped writing poems since I was a tender year 2 student. And the poem?

There was an old lady from Hull And she bumped into a bull The bull said ‘Ow!” Bashed into a cow And the cow crashed into the wall!

Not a classic but Love Me Do was hardly the best Beatles song, just a fab start!

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

My Dad used to read to me in bed at night before I was able too. I especially liked the poems he read, the main two that stuck in my head were the classic Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss and The Train to Timbuctoo from Margaret Wise Brown (Google it – it’s a great single-poem book as is the aforementioned ‘Cat’). Both were beautifully rhythmic with strong rhyming and contained many new and exciting fun words, some made up and some that made no sense to me at all – but that’s the joy of poetry and reading!

3. How aware are and were you of the dominating presence of older poets traditional and contemporary?

Great question! Let me answer it in parts. When I I was  a primary school child I wasn’t really aware of poets apart from Dr Seuss as mentioned in my earlier reply. I knew poems, but not so aware who wrote them.

In secondary school I studied Eng Lit to A Level and regularly had rows with my teacher over my frustration at studying Wordsworth, Coleridge, Gerard Manly Hopkins, Keats etc. I absolutely see they were fine poets but they didn’t speak to ME a teenager in 1970s London into punk rock, footy and left-wing politics. I needed to hear poems about those topics and the other things in my life. Of course she never agreed with me 😎.

(So, as I was musically inept, despite my love of it, I started to write song lyrics and worked with tune writers to construct songs In a (completely naff) local band (but we thought we were superstars). Bernie Taupin was my role model but I loved the Stones’ land Clash lyrics and Webber/Rice musicals.)

In my very late teens and beyond I started to write poems prolifically but I still could not name any poets of renown. My home-produced books (6) sold in less than three figures and that wasn’t enough as I needed to share my work, after all every poet is a communicator. I saw adverts in Time Out magazine for performance poetry clubs and comedy clubs in the West End and that’s where it all REALLY began for me. It was a scene and for the first time I got to meet and mix with other poets and learn how to produce the right kind of poems to entertain and engage an audience, as well as make them laugh. So, no longer in a vacuum, I compered for and performed with the likes of John Cooper Clarke (the Godfather of performance poetry!), Attila the Stockbroker, Porky the Poet (AKA Phil Jupitus) etc.

Nearly all the poets I’d met or read since my school days were older and, in 1989 when my performance career really started, I was very aware of their presence and influence – I looked up to them. Now I guess, 60 next week, I try to affect younger poets and those starting out in the same way: advising, encouraging and mentoring. And that’s something I really enjoy doing.

Maybe in 50 yrs time or less, my poetry will be as irrelevant to people then as the poets I studied at A Level were to me. And there will be nothing wrong with that. I get it!

3.1. What is the right kind of poem to engage and entertain?

One with a repetitive rhythm, strong rhyme and a chorus/repeated word/line. This works well with my children’s poetry (in class and on assemblies) and adult poetry (in clubs, at arts events etc). We call them ‘call and response’ poems in the trade or often I refer to them as ‘interactive’ and I should add the poems must be about a topic people can relate to in a voice and with words that speak to them.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I don’t have one. I try to write at different times of the day, on different days of the week and in as many different places as possible. Doing that means there are no times I feel I am unable to write and that must be a good thing. I guess indie cafes are my favourite places but, as I don’t drive and travel by public transport, I do loads of writing on trains, tubes and buses. Other regular haunts are the British Library, Foyle’s Bookshop in Charing X Road and home of course

5. What motivates you to write?

I am very self-motivated when it comes to writing. I always feel I have something to say about things that other people will find interesting too. I am never stuck for ideas, have never experienced writers’ block and keep a long list of topics for future poems. I have written my next three books due out the next three Septembers am already planning more. And the ideas themselves come from keeping my ears and eyes constantly open and writing about What’s around me and my experiences e.g. people I meet, places I go to, things I hear on the news etc

6. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

My influences are threefold:

The aforementioned Dr Seuss and Mary Wise Brown books inspired my rhythmic, rhyming and comedy poems. Other poets like Edward Lear and Spike Milligan did the same.

I have always had a love of music too as I explained so, as I used to write song lyrics it’s not surprising that my poems, as well as being very rhythmic and containing strong rhymes also have choruses and a strong use of repetition.

Finally, since before I could even read, I have had a love of superhero comics, especially Marvel. I used to look at the pictures when my brother collected them and when old enough to read myself I started avidly buying and collecting them myself and have never really stopped. In fact I bought this month’s new Marvel Avengers comic today. These streeeeetched my imagination, developed my vocab and taught me a lot about what was going on in the world around me e.g. politics, Vietnam Nam War, life/death, relationships, history, space and science etc. And of course this love of comics also inspired both my Superheroes and Supervillains poetry books. Keen comic fans will immediately spot some of the styles and influences from the 1960/70 Marvel and DC comics in particular. Without any doubt at all, if I never read these comics I would not have become a poet and author.

7. Whom of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

As I read mainly blogs, auto-biogs, social history, popular science and other non-fiction my book choices are theme-led rather than author-led so I have not got too many favourites. However I especially like Bill Bryson, Mark Kermode, Jon Ronson and Malcolm Gladwell as they all have a fantastic writing style and a passion for their subject. The last four books I read are Van Gogh’s Ear, The Radium Girls, Chernobyl and A History of the World in 21 Women with many Marvel comics squeezed in between.

The poets I especially admire are the ones that have been on the scene for many years like Michael Rosen, Brian Moses, John Cooper Clarke and Benjamin Zephaniah – you have to take your hat off to them for the quality and quantity of their output. I hope I achieve at least equal longevity as I certainly want to continue what I do until I leave this planet.

8. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

I write because I must. A poet is what I am not what I do. So, while I might be able to lose interest In other hobbies, jobs and pastimes, I can never give up being a poet.

9What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Read, write, read, write, read, write adI infinitum. Like anything you wish to do well, the more you practise and immerse yourself in it the better you will get. And write from the heart about what you love, like, dislike and hate – about what you feel and what matters to you – and you will produce your best work.

8.1. Why write children’s books?

I write poetry for children, teens and adults but, to date, have only produced children’s books. This is because I make my living performing and running workshops in schools virtually every day so the book buyers are there in front of me. Most days end with a book sale with children I have worked with wanting a memento of the day, signed and dedicated. Given the above my writing is certainly weighted to the younger market especially as, sadly, not many teens or adults want to buy poetry books, even if they enjoy listening to poems for their age group.

9. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

In my biog you will see details of the next two books I have due in Sept 2020 and 2021, both written. I am working on my 2022 poetry book now (the title is a secret!) and am looking at both an anthology of mixed poems and an EY/KS1 book for the near future.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Neal Zetter Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.

[ireviewuread]

The first and the last date I had in Vietnam | My Online Dating Stories | Guest post

Remember at the start of the year where I talked about my online dating horror experience? Yes, I mean the one where a guy asked to cut off my mole. Well, today I have another online dating story presented by my guest, Marya! Marya is a blogger from The BeauTraveler. We collaborated to produce her ‘Around the world with the Beauties’ post series. You can check out out collaboration here.

Anyhows, in this post, we’re not going to touch on horror stories. We’re going to touch on a positive side when it comes to dating online. Hey, the online world is not that bad alright. Anyways let’s hop in to her story!

Being single on my end 20s, I think I'm way too familiar with dating apps or dating sites on the internet because nowadays, who isn't really? :P 

Among many dating apps out there, I think the only one that sticks with me until this very day is the one and only OKCupid. I have no idea how many times I install this app and delete it only to actually reinstall it for the sake of boredom. 

One of the reasons why I like OKCupid compared to some other apps is that it enables you to actually find out the other side's personality through the quiz and questions answered by them.

I mean, even though you're not really looking for anyone to go out for a date with, it's always find to read their answer and religiously judge them just because you can. *lol*

Not only that, my opinion may be a bit bias since I had one of the best dates with someone I know through OKCupid. It happened a couple of years ago when I was in Vietnam for traveling. 

It was a 2-week trip as I wanted to explore Vietnam from the North to the South. I got matched with a guy called Aaron when I was in Hue as he asked me a question related to the thing I wrote on my profile. 

I wrote on my profile that I love country music and the sitcom Full House despite how it was first aired when I wasn't even born. And his first message was like, "It's only a little lame to love country music. And who are you more related to? DJ, Stephanie, or Kimmy?" 

Our conversation started there when he admitted that he wasn't even in Vietnam yet as he was still in the States and his flight to Vietnam was in a few days. His ETA in Ho Chi Minh City is only a day before my arrival to the city from Hoi An.

So we exchanged LINE account since as much as we both like OKCupid, the app could crash way too many times and more than we want it to. 

Long story short, we talked a few days before we actually met up in person. He still struggled with jetlag when we first met, but he told me it was alright since he needed to explore the city quite a bit. 

He's American who was planning to continue his Master's degree in Berlin. As the cost for German course at Goethe-Institut in HCMC is less expensive than most of the cities in Asia, he decided to take an intensive German course there. He used to live in Nagoya and Seoul as he was working as an English teacher in the past few years. 

We met in some Indian restaurant called Baba's Kitchen around District 1 area. He said that his roommate recommended it so maybe we could meet there. We had a late lunch there, it was okay. And we hit it off right away, as it was also his first day to join the German class. 

Funny thing was that I also took German class at Goethe-Institut in my hometown along time ago, so I ended up helping his homework. He told me that his teacher kept saying something that he didn't understand. He couldn't get what his teacher said, but it was something ended with 'spiel', so I was like, "Was it zum beispiel?"

Our conversation came so natural that we actually talked about a lot of things. About work, dreams, and even food. He told me that he just wanted to get out of the States for some reason, and Europe has always been on his bucket list.

One of the reasons why he took the German class in Vietnam, besides the fact that it was less expensive, was also because he wanted to get more sense of Asia before leaving for Europe. 

We spent half of our day together. From lunch at Baba's Kitchen, we also had some Ca Phe Sua Da somewhere around District 1, and everytime we always had something to talk about. Being a noob in South East Asia, he had no idea that there was actually some other apps like Uber, so I told him about Grab that we could actually use like Uber, except they also offered motorbike taxi. 

And since I've been told by one of my friends that it was really recommended to try banh mi in Vietnam, especially in HCMC, I told him I had to try a really good banh mi since I didn't find any good banh mi yet. Not in Hanoi, Sa Pa, Hue, or Hoi An. 

He told me that there was one that he passed and we could try to find it. So we ended up walking through the District 1 looking for banh mi. And we were not disappointed! 

We decided to take away our banh mi and find some spot in the park around District 1 to enjoy our banh mi. While sitting at the park, we also talked about some random stuff. I talked about the life in Saudi Arabia since I used to work there for 1.5 year. And I also mentioned that I used to spend 3 months in Turkey as well, yet Turkey felt more like second home for me than Saudi. 

The next thing we know, we came to talk about food and he asked whether there was any food that I found somewhere, yet I couldn't find back home. So I said yes, I told him about midye dolma, the stuffed mussels that I found in Turkey that I couldn't find any in Indonesia. 

First he was a little confused about this midye dolma until I tried to explain to him about this food. And he laughed telling me that I must really love this food because my eyes were actually glistening when trying to explain. 

There were some people playing badminton at the park so we ended up talking about sports. He explained to me about American Football, in which I still don't quite understand even until today. 

So I admitted that I would prefer classic football a.k.a soccer for the 'Murican as I'm probably one of the biggest fans. In return, he admitted that he knew some from the US National Team but internationally he was only familiar with Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Excuse me sir, but you're going to Germany... It's like a blasphemy to know nothing about football there! 

I forgot what happened but then it was quite late already when some lights at the park were actually turned off so I was like, "Jeez, is that how they tell us it's time to go home?" 

I didn't know what happened, but the next thing I knew, our lips were locked to each other. That was actually my first kiss in the public place, since I come from Indonesia where you could even get judged just by hugging each other in public. 

It was when my host called me to ask where I was since it was already late and she just wanted to check whether I was alright. As much as I really enjoyed the night, it was pretty hard when you actually stayed with your Couchsurfing host so I told him I should go back home. 

"Ouch. Heartbreaker." He said. 

So I told him that I wouldn't mind to stay, but then staying at a host place is not as easy as it sounds. So we bid farewell at the park as my motorbike taxi arrived, and that was the first and the last time I met Aaron. 

Despite how short we spent the day together, it was probably the best date that I've had with someone that I met through a dating app. 

Normally, sometimes the date would be so boring that it would only end up in bed for sex and that was all. But with Aaron, it was really nice that we actually wanted to know more about each other and it went really well. And even better, because we didn't even have to have sex to actually feel interested towards each other. 

We've still got our contact on our LINE account. And he even sent some pics of him on his early days in Berlin a few months later. I think it was quite hard to find a decent date through dating app nowadays when hooking up has become a culture. 

But then again, you'll never know you don't give it a chance, won't you? ;) 

About the author -  Marya The BeauTraveler

A sassy traveler who finds it difficult to travel light, but easy to find the cheapest way to enjoy life. Struggling to find the one, so she may as well travel from one beau to another. Check out her links: Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Aww, it’s such a shame that this fairy tale lasted for one day only. However, I love the detailed story. It’s so nice to hear that not all online dating stories are nightmares. Once again, Thank you to Marya for sharing with us her positive online dating story. Do remember to check out her blog and social media for travel and beauty related posts.

If you’re looking for more online dating stories, I’ve created this category under the lifestyle section :

You can view the section here. So far there’s only 2 stories but I will be adding more stories and hopefully invite more guests to share their stories in time to come.

#guest post #online dating stories #okcupid #dating stories #shtb #guests

[lorrainecparker]

ART OF THE SHOT: Buddy Squires, ASC Talks About Shooting Ken Burn and Lynn Novick’s “The Vietnam War”

He has shot more than 200 films and is a frequent collaborator with Ken Burns. Buddy Squires, ASC is an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Director of Photography. If you have seen a great documentary lately than more than likely it was shot by Buddy. He is known for his work on The National Parks, The Civil War, The Vietnam War, Salinger, and The Central Park Five.

If you are in the New York City area you can hear Buddy talk at the Manhattan Edit Workshop “Sight, Sound, and Story.” This December 6th, the Manhattan Edit Workshop’s acclaimed speaker series continues with an evening devoted to the art of cinematography.  At the workshop, MEW will honor the craft of visual storytelling by talking to the masters behind the camera. Tickets for the afternoon/evening event only cost $45 and audience members will also hear from Joan Churchill ASC, Igor Martinovi, and Martin Algren. If, however, you cannot make it to NYC to listen to Buddy in person PVC had the opportunity to talk to him this week for this edition of “Art of the Shot.”

How did you get into the film business?

Wow, so any answers to that question. I started making short when I was in high school.  I asked my teachers if I could make small films instead of writing certain papers. So I made a kind of early music video to the Who’s Baba O’Riley.  I grew up in Cleveland and spent my summers in Colorado.  In addition to films on teen angst, I made environmental films dealing with the burning Cuyahoga River and backpacking films in the Rockies. I had an interest in filmmaking and documentary work from a very early age. I then spent a bit of time in Berkeley and ended up at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.  At Hampshire I was fortunate to work with some great professors including the brilliant photographer Jerome Liebling who remained my dear friend and mentor until his death in 2011. Jerry and another professor named Elaine Mayes introduced me to the world of Walker Evans, Dorthea Lange, Jacob Riis, Helen Levitt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lewis Hine, Diane Arbus and so many others. While in college I met people I continue to work with today including Ken Burns, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon.

What is it about documentary filmmaking. Why are you sticking with documentary film.

I love documentary filmmaking because I’m really interested in the history being made every day.  I am endlessly curious about what’s going on in the world around me. This can be emergency medical workers responding to mass casualties in Afghanistan, the landscape work in The National Parks, or filming Chimpanzees in Africa with Jane Goodall.  I love to be out exploring the world.  Making documentaries gives me an excuse to examine every aspect of the human experience. For example, I am completing a long-term project about Pulitzer Prize winning war photographer Yannis Behrakis. In August I accompanied Yannis to the waters off coast of Libya to document the migrant crisis. I worked on The Central Park Five, an amazing film about social justice.  Documentary filmmaking is a passport into the most dynamic and interesting part of people’s lives and the world we live in.

Let me ask you this is it and I kind of this is maybe more for me and I mean this is more for shooters I guess. How do you add your personal style to a documentary like your own cinematography style?

I think any visual artist is essentially reorganizing the world in front of them in a way that makes the most sense to the individual artist. When I’m shooting a scene I’m breaking down the scene into the elements I find the most interesting and figuring out how can I communicate what I see to others.  It’s really just a process of translation and it doesn’t really matter if one is a painter or still photographer or cinematographer, one is always really rebuilding the world in a way that makes sense to oneself.  That is what I do all the time.

Do you know you have your sequence you can say how do you know you got what you need.

Shooting a scene is telling a short story, and if I can create a short story that makes sense to me, then I feel that scene is complete. Some stories have a beginning middle and end while others simply thrust the viewer into the middle of a particularly dynamic moment.  There’s no one rule about what makes a scene. Sometimes a scene is a continuously evolving shot that lasts for two minutes. Other times 12 shots will make up a one minute sequence. It really just depends on the scene and what most truthfully, insightfully, and clearly tells the stories that I see.

What’s been your favorite project today?

Oh gosh, there are so many favorite projects. Thereʼs really no… they just run the gamut. I’ve been really fortunate to have a huge number of amazing experiences in my life. I spent three weeks with Jane Goodall filming in the hills of Gombe National Park in Tanznia. Several years ago I worked with the Dalai Lama on a film called “Compassion in Exile,” and then I worked with him again on a new film just finished this year called “The Last Dalai Lama.”  I am now working on a film with prisoners earning first-rate college degrees behind bars.  For The National Parks series, I spent months in the some of the most beautiful places on earth and had incredible access to those places. So sometimes it’s people, sometimes it’s events, sometimes it’s places. They’re all pretty incredible.

How do you connect to a subject like the Dalai Lama for example? Do you… I understand there’s an intimacy if youʼre with him for a while. How do you make it work

Well, working with the Dalai Lama is quite easy because he’s a genuinely open and compassionate soul. I almost want to use the word loving, but it feels trite. I think that one connects by being open, by being open to the situation in front of oneself, by being open to the people one encounters and by not clinging to preconceived notions. In verite situations, one seeks to be a witness, to probe, to ask questions and to observe without getting in the way. It’s critical to be very present and to listen.  One sees that with great people in all realms. I spent time with President Bill Clinton. One sees he’s how present he is in the moment. Barak Obama does the same thing. And so I try to bring that same aspect of being really engaged and really present with whatever people, situations, or places I find myself. 

You worked with Ken Burns multiple times, what’s the benefit of repeat partnerships?

Ken and I have been working together since college. A big benefit to working with people one knows well is that one develops a shorthand, one has a language and a shared history of experiences.  I love working with Ken.  He is a tremendously talented, innovative and creative filmmaker. Of course, Ken is a wonderful storyteller.  He knows how to see and frame a story faster than anyone I know. It is really a great joy to work with Ken and the entire Florentine Films team.  Ken’s films consistently go out into the world and touch a lot of people. The Vietnam War is an extraordinary filmmaking achievement. The series reinvigorates a national discussion about the many complex meanings of that war.  And, the film brings us back into the drama and trauma of that singular moment in a very powerful way.

Do you ever get emotional during these interviews? Especially when one former Vietnam Vet talked about being shot in the chest. Do you ever get emotional or are you so worried by the picture and the technical that it’s hard to be connected?

I definitely get engaged with the people that I’m filming and with the stories they are telling. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten emotional to the point where I could no longer work, but I’ve been close to tears many times. You are talking about John Musgrave –  that was a very powerful interview.

Yes, I am.

Being with John Musgrave is in some ways its like being with the Dalai Lama. John is just such a thoughtful, open, and genuine spirit that it is deeply moving to be with him. Listening to his stories, feeling him going back to those dark places that were so potent for him, so terrifying for him, so revealing for him… what a honor to help bring his Vietnam war to all of us.

I’m always listening – whether I’m doing verite work, whether I’m doing interviews any kind of work that involving humans talking. The most important thing I do is listen. Listening tells me where the story is.  It tells me how to understand where I want to be in a given moment. – whether I want to be paying attention to the person talking or to someone receiving information.  I am interested in the interactions between people.  Perhaps I want to see how something is playing out on a bystander’s face. All of these things are guided by listening. Sure technical concerns are always there, technique is always a piece of it.

It is similar to playing music.  If one puts in the time, one can develop a solid command of an instrument.  Mostly, however, one has to trust oneself to be fluent enough with one’s instrument, or one’s camera in this case, to be able to be present in the moment and not to be distracted by the technical. Yes, filmmaking is a highly technical art form and one key to good work is getting all the technical prep stuff out of the way before one starts shooting.

How do you approach lighting an interview?

It really depends on the subject and the context within a given film. I like to approach each interview with an understanding of how the interview is going to be used.  I film interviews about the Civil War differently than a currently incarcerated person talking about the importance education in their life.  Does the setting reflect or tell us something about the person in that moment? Do I want know that I am in a prison cell, is that an important piece of the story? Or do I want to make the present location go away and just create an intimate space for a conversation between the person speaking and the viewer? Does the setting reflect something about the story being told or do I want that setting to get out of the way and tell a different story?  Is the mood dark and mysterious as in the Donner Party, or is it lighter and optimistic? Is the lighting natural or stylized? All these things effect how the story is going to play out. Once one knows the kind of mood and feeling one wants to portray, then the rest of it is relatively easy. Lighting becomes a matter of trying things out to see what works and what doesn’t work. It’s a process of looking at every single piece of the frame and deciding if this piece of the frame is doing what I want it to do. Does this frame have the qualities of lightness, darkness, color, shape, focus or lack of focus that lets this person come through best, that lets their story come through with the most power.

How do you stay motivated?

I love what I do. I love being with people. I love having access to them. I’m doing a film right now with Gustavo Dudamel, the Venezuelan conductor of both the LA Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela.  Often in rehearsals, I get to be five feet from the conductor, crouched down somewhere between the violas and the cellos in the middle of an orchestra bringing Beethoven to life. That’s an amazing experience. Nobody gets to be there, even other members of the orchestra.  I can be inches away from the conductor at the start on the downbeat, then move to the winds, the percussion, a row of first violins.  I can go into the audience and experience the music as an audience member. I have free reign to be inside of a piece of Beethoven with one of the greatest conductors in the world and one of the greatest orchestras in the world. That’s very exciting.

How do you balance your work life and personal life?

I love my work and I love my family even more. Every moment I am not working, I spend with my family. I don’t believe in doing anything half way.  It’s full on commitment on all fronts.  Making films can be hard on family life. I travel a great deal and work very long hours, but the moment I come home I engage 100% with my family.  I love being with my wife and sons and I give them as much as I possibly can.

If you werenʼt a filmmaking what would you be?

I would probably be a journalist of some sort, which is kind of the same thing. My interests have to do with understanding my own reaction to the world outside of myself.  I seek that in lots of different ways.  If I was not making films, I would probably find some way to be out in the mountains climbing or skiing, exploring in some way.

That sounds actually like a lot of fun. And then this would be the last question unless Iʼm forgetting anything. What would you tell your 20-year-old self? Now you could go back when this all started. What would you say?

I would tell my 20-year-old self not to waste time, to trust myself, to follow my passion.

The post ART OF THE SHOT: Buddy Squires, ASC Talks About Shooting Ken Burn and Lynn Novick’s “The Vietnam War” appeared first on ProVideo Coalition.

First Found At: ART OF THE SHOT: Buddy Squires, ASC Talks About Shooting Ken Burn and Lynn Novick’s “The Vietnam War”

#viddy find

[consciousowl]

Would You Die For Me?

I’m not your lover

I’m not your friend

I am something that you’ll never comprehend

No need to worry

No need to cry

I’m your messiah and you’re the reason why

‘Cause you, I would die for you, yea

Darling if you want me to

Prince, “I Would Die 4 U”

Have you ever fallen so totally in love with someone that to be without her is death, and to be with her life eternal? You cherish the ground she walks upon. Night and day, you think only of her. You would do anything for her… you would even die for her!

This is what every woman wants to hear from her man, like Juliet for her Romeo. Yes, you would truly die for her, but what about the world?​

How Prince Electrified the World

In 1984, Prince Roger Nelson stunned America as he introduced a breathtaking new form of fusion. The son of two jazz musicians out of Minneapolis, Prince captured our imagination with his movie and soundtrack, “Purple Rain.” It broke all records, selling 13 million albums, with the film grossing $68 million. At one time, Prince had America’s No. 1 single, No. 1 album and No. 1 film.

Prince was already a master musician, playing dozens of instruments. His passion outshone both Michael Jackson and Madonna, his principal rivals. He threatened to relegate them to the sidelines. Prince radiated intense sex appeal and an indefinable spirituality at one and the same time. He introduced the Gospel in an idiom to which people of any persuasion could profoundly resonate.​

While Prince initially flaunted his sexuality, he spoke at a much deeper, archetypal level. The year 1984 was the height of the Cold War, and it didn’t look like we would make it. Even the very year “1984” was ominous, as the title of George Orwell’s dystopian novel. Prince chanted “1999,” affirming he would celebrate in the face of devastation and ruin. He pointed to a self-sacrificing love. He would, like the Messiah, “Die for you.”

How could I possibly die for someone else? Prince forced us to ask that question.​

The Lifeboat Exercise

You may remember back in school taking a humanities class dealing with values clarification. If so, you very likely got to play the most intriguing forced-choice quiz you are ever likely to encounter. Let’s say you have just bailed out from the Titanic, and there are 11 people in your boat, with only room for 10. Which one shall the group throw overboard to sink into the oceanic abyss?

This exercise can inspire the most vigorous discussions, especially when it dawns upon the participants that they have no choice. One of them has to go.

Should we save a Nobel Prize recipient and humanitarian, like Muhammad Yunus? A gorgeous, accomplished starlet, like Jennifer Lawrence? A young and promising world leader, such as France’s President Emmanuel Macron? Or a freaky but brilliant Terrence McKenna?

With any hope, the lifeboat game forces you to the realization that every human life is precious, if not sacred.

What Would Make You Actually Die for Someone Else?

Many people feel that they have only one life, and that they should give it all they’ve got. Why throw it away for anyone else, husband, wife, lover, mother or father? Just think of Uncle Sam in stripes pointing, “I want you!” In the Vietnam era, the preferred response was, “Hell no! We won’t go!”

However, there may be at least one person, and possibly more than one, who, were they gone, you would feel life wasn’t worth living. Perhaps you are supremely grateful to him or her, mother or father. Perhaps your man is the only person in the world who truly understands you. Perhaps your woman is the only person who could possibly make you happy.​

Mothers and fathers would feel this way toward a son or daughter who loves them, depends upon them and has a full life ahead. You can already see it: he has built into him everything you dreamed for yourself. You’ve lived a full life up to this point, “Sure, I’ll give my life for my kids.”

Are You Ready to Meet Your Maker?

The great 20th Century evangelist, Billy Graham, used to ask his audiences before the alter call, “Are you ready to meet God?” Billy started out with fire and brimstone, but in his later years chose to emphasize an eternity without Christ, the very man who died for them. Dozens of people with tears in their eyes would make their way to the center of the stadium.

Billy had a point. Most of us in America feel that there is something after this life, whether in a vague spirit world, a glorious eternity in heaven (which has been suggested by such skeptics-turned-believers as Dr. Eben Alexander), or, God forbid, endless suffering for making other lives miserable.

It is interesting to observe people, either during the holiday season, or after a major disaster, such as an 8.6 earthquake. People are much nicer, more human and compassionate than you ever imagined. You might say that they are on their best behavior for Christmas. I choose to believe that they are in touch with what truly matters, and their have-it-together attitude is just a facade.​

A Salute to the Men and Women in Uniform

Think of the millions of men and women around the globe under every possible flag, serving in the armed forces, as well as in the police or fire departments. These people routinely place themselves in the line of fire. No matter what your political convictions, or your sentiments about wars and military actions that are so often unwarranted and even pointless; we must deeply admire their courage.

These people are willing to die, not only for their loved ones, but also for a much larger sphere of concern. They are willing to risk their lives to protect you. Should they die in the process, as did many of the firemen in the Twin Towers, their widows and children might be left to fend for themselves, on the edge of poverty.​

Many of these men and women, beyond the elusive glory of patriotism, find a profound sense of fulfillment in serving their country, protecting what they believe in and giving back all that has been given to them. As Jesus Christ put it, “He that seeks to save his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life for My sake shall save it.” We can’t be fulfilled on the highest level until we live for something much greater than ourselves.

Die for You? YES. Kill for You? NO.

Since the 2000’s, Americans have been acutely aware of the Islamic doctrine of “Jihad,” which actually means struggle, not murder. Mohammad counseled the early Muslims that the “Greater Jihad” is an internal battle with one’s own darker impulses. War and violence, for Mohammad, were the “Lesser Jihad.” Nothing to brag about. However, a few Islamic countries, have recently appropriated Jihad to justify all kinds of questionable, and downward dastardly acts.

When I was in high school, I had a brilliant Jewish-Christian history teacher who kept asking his students, “Is violence ever justified?” That was in an era when America was fighting a futile war that lost the confidence of its youth. I have given much thought to this. If one were to take the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount to heart, we never have a license to kill. After seeing Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, I actually saw how we need not resort to violence.

We are now at a turning point where can choose NOT to kill, no matter what societal influences are brought to bear. True, you could face punishment for not bearing arms. It is also true that if whole groups of people, such as the nation of Costa Rico, which has no standing army, renounce standard notions of defense, the price might be great. They will certainly have it no easier than did Gandhi, and perhaps much harder.​

Would You Die for Even Your Enemy?

Supreme love is to, not only forgive your enemies and refuse to defend yourself against them, but to actually die for them, to wake them up, if you will. This was, of course, perfectly illustrated by Jesus of Nazareth on the cross when the Pharisees mocked him, and Christ prayed, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Some time ago, on the island of Hawaii, a despairing teenager went up to its highest peak, and was about to jump beyond the guardrail. A couple of cops following him, slammed on the brakes. One of them ran from the car and grabbed the boy’s legs as he took the plunge. His partner grabbed him, as the cop himself was clearly about to go with the boy off the cliff. This created quite a sensation and was written up in the local papers. The cop was interviewed as to why he held on to the boy, when he was about to lose everything. He said, “If I had let go of that boy, I couldn’t have lived with myself another day.”

The great mythologist, Joseph Campbell, who recounted this story, related the insight of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. When we give our lives for someone else, maybe someone we don’t even know, we do so because we realize in a metaphysical burst of insight that we and that other person are ONE.​

I Would LIVE for You!

Today, most of us are not called to DIE for someone else. However, we are most definitely called to LIVE for other people, to be the light of the world, to reduce their suffering and give them joy. In an ironic sort of way, it easier to die for your wife and children than to live for them. One glorious act of selflessness and you are done. To live for your family and friends requires moment-by-moment giving.

While Prince died alone in an elevator in Paisley Park, he left behind millions whose lives he touched. Right to the end, he pushed himself with a broken hip taking constant medication. Prince entertained people while being sober himself. He kept living in the moment, opening up the envelope in musical and artistic innovation. As an ultracool Jehovah’s Witness, Prince had total confidence he would be well-taken-care-of at the other end.

We can choose to live, not only for those closest to us, but also for our Mother, Planet Earth. We can choose to look into the eyes of everyone we meet and see a uniquely precious soul. Living this way is as great as dying that way. If we love enough people with that kind of love, we may succeed in saving this Planet, as well ourselves.​

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God’s Goal I

Today, we begin a three-week series of sermons asking the question, “what, if anything, can we as Christians learn from competitive sports?”  

You might think that scripture would be silent about competitive sports, but at least six times it’s mentioned.  Running, wrestling, boxing, they’re all in there.  It was so important that Hebrews after a long section on faith says in 12:1 - “seeing that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us run with endurance the race set before us.” Sports like running were part of how early Christians understood faith.  Today, I’d like to invite you to hear about sports and faith.  My hope is that when you go home today, you’ll keep one question in mind.  What’s the goal?  Is it only to win?  Am I headed towards God’s goal or something else?  As Hebrews 12:1 tells us, there is a cloud of witnesses around us. Folks are waiting for our answer.  

I chose to look at this topic of sports and faith because of about 8 topics I suggested to our worship committee, this one had the most votes. It’s important to them.  And it’s important to me.

I’m from the great state of Alabama, and last Monday night, we lost the College National Football Championship.  Tuesday was hard.  The game had its share of going back and forth and it came down to the final 8 seconds where in that last second, an undersized, overlooked receiver for the other team grabbed a pass and ran in for a touchdown.  Ugh, knife through heart. If you don’t know what a touchdown is, keep listening.  There’ll be something here for you.

There’s no way I couldn’t know what a touchdown was.   With Alabama football as my bedtime story and on my breakfast cereal, I was guided by the images of Joe Namath, Bart Starr, Ken Stabler, and, of course, the one behind each of them, coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Many of my high school teachers could quote from “Bear” Bryant more easily than they could their Bible.  Still can.

And maybe that’s why so many of us might object to competitive sports. It seems to take the place of God.  Sports becomes less entertainment and more like a religion. Well, that’s a fair objection. It also can make us not see the other team as fully human. I’m sure you can remember times you mourned your team’s loss too much, saying things you later wished you hadn’t.  Or you celebrated your team’s win a bit too much. I did in 3rd grade after a kickball tournament, did my own little dance, and got a little pop on the behind for it. Reading the scriptures today, instead of corporal punishment, might have made me more gracious in winning or losing. Maybe winning in itself isn’t the point.  It’s to know the goal.  

But before we get into today’s scripture, I want to make two more points about why sports is important.

First, I’d argue that sports embodies our sense of justice. When Jesse Owens ran in the Olympics in front of Hitler, that made a statement that racial hierarchies have no place in society.  When Jackie Robinson walked on Ebbets field in Brooklyn on April 15th, 1947, that day put segregation on notice that its days would end.  When Title IX was passed, enforcing equal opportunity for women in non-professional sports, it meant that women would be welcomed on the ball field AND in the boardroom.  It’s that justice sensibility that makes us concerned about concussions in sports. It’s why people object when the World Cup winning Women’s Soccer Team made less than the men. They made $2 Million after winning the World Cup in 2015 after the highest rated soccer match ever televised.  But the men’s team crashed out in the second round and was paid $9 Million.  All of the other men’s teams in the tournament made 4 times more than the winning women’s team.  It’s enough to make you put on a hat and march for equal pay for equal work! Or for paid family leave. Or that derogatory comments about women don’t belong in any locker room.  

Sports inform our sense of justice.  It’s why it’s so heavily refereed on the field and, I think, why we talk about it off the field.

Secondly, given how much of our culture is steeped in sports, shouldn’t we see if our faith has anything to say about it? Sports is a connecting point.   Since we avoid talking about politics or religion, about all we have left is sports. That’s about the only place it’s ok to talk about our deepest allegiances and deepest longings. How can we connect that with faith?  

I remember hearing a story from a young woman that when her father experienced PTSD after Vietnam and went into depression, she couldn’t talk to him about almost anything.  But sports became a way they would bond, watching baseball and scoring every ball.  When I went to India as a missionary, I learned that the way to start a conversation or relationship wasn’t to talk politics or religion but about cricket.  

Could sports let you talk with that family member who’s way off the deep end for the other political party… helping you find common ground?  And maybe with that common ground, we could hear the cry of the other – whether it’s the other team in the stadium or the other party marching in protest. After such a divisive time in our country’s history, can we use sports as a way to build a new goal together?  A God-sized goal that we hear about in our scripture for today.

The scriptures also aren’t silent when it comes to sports.

In I Corinthians 9 today, Paul talks about two sports, running and boxing.  The last part of our sermon today is going to look at those sports.  A bit of context, both running and boxing might have been a part of the Isthmian games held in Corinth - one of the Panhellenic games of the time. You’ve heard of the Olympics? These games were a sister game with the Olympics, held on one of the off years of that contest.  During the games, wars stopped, and enemies could pass through for competition.  Those competing would strive to win, because there was no silver and bronze medal. Only a wreath worn around the head for the victor, a wreath made of parsley leaves or pine needles.

Turning our minds to running, Paul begins to write in our scripture today, in Verse 24 “Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win.”  

Run to win.  That sounds a lot like what the great coach Vince Lombardi used to say, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s..” what? [the only thing.]  

What if Paul was inviting us to see a different goal?  What if it isn’t winning as much as HOW we run.  That, as he says in verse 26 – this is HOW I run… not without a clear goal in sight?”  What is our goal?  Is it only to win?

I want to invite you to see that our goal might be bigger.  

Consider this race from the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

In an interview after this, Derek’s Dad said his main fear was that Derek would hurt himself more. He wanted him to stop. But Derek wanted to finish.  

Can you hold someone else who’s having a hard time running their race?  Are we only “in it to win it” or is our winning holding each other with grace in a time of need?

I love how the security guys kept trying to stop Derek’s Dad.  Derek said that he heard his dad say some words he’d never heard his Dad say before, including some with four letters.  He learned some new ones.  

Let me pause here a minute. If you hear someone saying ugly words about a politician – whether the past President or this one, that doesn’t mean we should avoid them. Maybe they’ve got a reason to be angry.  Anger doesn’t mean we’re not in the race together. Can you show someone enough grace to let them be angry or show their pain?  

When Paul writes his letter, ugly words were already being spoken.  “If I do not have love, I have nothing.”  Words were so contentions that Paul had to write in I Corinthians 13 - “If I do not have love, I have nothing.” We tend to read those at weddings. But Corinth was so bitterly divided, that they were even saying to other – “I don’t need you.”  Paul reminded them that they were one body together.

It’s a lesson to us. At no point can you say to another, “I don’t need you.”  Cubs fans may not support Cardinal fans, but they know that they wouldn’t be as good without a strong Cardinal team. Green Bay wouldn’t be where it is without other teams that are strong – though Chicago could’ve been a little stronger this year! Cleveland and Golden State can’t wish the other was gone. The rivalry pushes us to be stronger together. It doesn’t have to push us apart.

Even in boxing, we can keep that in mind.  Paul says that he fights like a boxer in the ring, not shadowboxing, where someone would pretend like there was an enemy, showing off so people would bet on them. Those boxers would tire out. But he “lands punches on his own body.”   His target is his own body, so that he can let go of the feelings of loss.  So he can find any weak points. The enemy isn’t another person. It’s ourselves.

The goal isn’t winning by making the other team lose.  That would forgive things like deflated footballs and reading the other team’s lips. The goal is to be stronger in who we are so that we can play together.

[mastcomm]

John Roberts, Coronavirus, Mike Pompeo: Your Wednesday Briefing

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning.

We’re covering a new phase in the impeachment trial, President Trump’s peace plan for the Middle East, and new stars on the campaign trail: the candidates’ dogs.

Q. and A. at the impeachment trial

After more than a week of silently listening to the case involving President Trump, senators will get a chance to participate in the proceedings today, when they’re allowed to cross-examine both sides.

Senators will have as many as 16 hours over two days to submit written questions that will be read aloud by Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial. Here’s what to expect when it resumes around 1 p.m. Eastern.

The session comes a day after Mr. Trump’s lawyers finished with an appeal to disregard an account by John Bolton, the former national security adviser, that undercuts the president’s defense.

What’s next: Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, indicated on Tuesday that he doesn’t yet have the votes to block an expected push to call witnesses, which would require the support of at least four Republicans. A vote is expected on Friday.

Related: Democrats who once derided Mr. Bolton now want him to testify, while some of his former Republican friends are tossing him to the curb. John Kelly, the former White House chief of staff, didn’t always get along with Mr. Bolton but said this week, “If John Bolton says that in the book, I believe John Bolton.”

The Daily: Today’s episode is about how the trial is seen by the minority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer.

Evacuees from Wuhan arrive in U.S.

A plane carrying more than 200 Americans from the Chinese city that is the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak landed in Alaska on Tuesday. The passengers, including diplomats and businesspeople, were to undergo medical screening before continuing on to their final destination in California. Here are the latest updates.

Chinese officials said today that at least 132 people had died from the virus and raised the number of confirmed cases to nearly 6,000.

Governments and businesses around the world issued fresh travel warnings on Tuesday, and Americans are now discouraged from visiting China. U.S. officials said the screening of travelers from Wuhan would be expanded to 20 ports of entry.

The details: Cases in Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam involved patients who had not traveled to China. No deaths have been reported outside China. Here’s what we know about the virus.

For perspective: The flu kills roughly 35,000 Americans every year. This season, it has already sickened an estimated 15 million Americans and killed 8,200, according to C.D.C. estimates.

Another angle: Bats are considered the probable source of the outbreak. Scientists have long struggled to understand how the mammals carry so many viruses without getting sick.

Middle East peace plan favors Israel

President Trump on Tuesday introduced proposals that would give Israel most of what it has sought over decades of conflict and offer Palestinians the possibility of a state with limited sovereignty.

“My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides,” Mr. Trump said at a White House ceremony with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Nobody from the Palestinian leadership attended.

The details: The plan, three years in the making, would let Israel control a unified Jerusalem as its capital and not require it to uproot West Bank settlements. Mr. Trump promised $50 billion in international investment for the new Palestinian entity.

Response: The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, played no substantive role in shaping the plan and immediately denounced it as a “conspiracy deal.” None of Washington’s Arab allies formally endorsed it.

News analysis: For a president facing an impeachment trial and an Israeli prime minister under criminal indictment, the plan “sounded more like a road map for their own futures than for the Middle East,” our national security correspondent writes.

What’s next: Mr. Netanyahu said he would move on Sunday to apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and to all Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Most of the world considers those settlements illegal.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

Japan’s skateboarders roll out of the shadows

Snapshot: Above, Elizabeth Warren’s golden retriever, Bailey, at a campaign office in Cambridge, Mass. Some 2020 presidential candidates have turned their dogs into social media stars.

Perspective: In an opinion piece for The Times, the NPR journalist Mary Louise Kelly says that being called a liar by Mike Pompeo is not what bothered her most about her recent interview with the secretary of state.

Late-night comedy: Ms. Kelly has said that Mr. Pompeo swore at her and challenged her to find Ukraine on a map. Stephen Colbert wondered, “Why does Mike Pompeo just have unmarked maps at the ready? Is he the secretary of state or an eighth-grade social studies teacher?”

What we’re looking at: These photos in The Atlantic of locust swarms in East Africa. “For those keeping track of the plagues hitting the planet,” writes Andrea Kannapell, the Briefings editor.

Now, a break from the news

Smarter Living: Breaking up with a therapist can be nerve-racking. But doing it with these tips in mind can make it an opportunity for growth.

And now for the Back Story on …

Our man in Wuhan

Chris Buckley, our chief China correspondent, is reporting this week from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Mike Ives, on the Briefings team, spoke with him by phone.

What is it like with these restrictions in place?

It may be difficult to envisage just how thoroughly people have retreated from the streets and from public life. I had to cross one of the big bridges across the Yangtze for my reporting. And there I was, on one of these Chinese share bikes that are everywhere, on an almost completely empty bridge, spanning one of China’s biggest cities, crossing its biggest river. And there were just two other people on the bridge.

A lot of people wonder how long the shutdown can last. Even now, people are worrying about the jobs they may lose, the businesses that will close, the school that they might miss.

You’ve reported that the anger on Chinese social media is intense.

Yes, and you hear that here as well. People erupt with a kind of anger and exasperation over how it was that this dangerous pathogen was among them but they didn’t understand, in many cases, how serious it was or what was going on until the city was shut down.

But that’s leavened by a sense among many people that the most pressing thing is to get through this crisis — so that as few people die as possible and life can return to a kind of normality as soon as possible.

What else are you seeing there?

You see a combination of reactions when you approach people to talk. First of all, there’s a natural wariness about getting close to anybody. But once you reassure them — you’re outside, at a distance of a good 10 feet — they can be very open and also very generous.

How does that compare to the response you normally get?

The reaction you get as a foreign reporter varies quite a bit across China. But I think these circumstances, where people feel that they — and, in a sense, we — are all in this together, and that you’re there somehow experiencing this as well, make it easier to create that connection.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Chris

Thank you Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. You can reach the team at [email protected].

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode includes an interview with Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: It leaves in the spring (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Jason Polan, a New York sketch artist, produced hundreds of illustrations for the print edition of The Times. He died on Monday at 37.

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