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barney

Insightful and important article in the New York Review of Books. 170 historians, Democrat and Republican alike, have voted Trump the worst president ever. ‘The Most Ignorant and Unfit’: What Made America’s Worst Ever Leader? David Rothkopf “Being president,” former First Lady Michelle Obama has sai...

barney

No, but I'd like to. Sounds fun - and maybe more than that.

barney

Sorry, Lance; completely unaware of it. And, to an Australian, of barely passing interest.

You, of course are native (state) New Yorker.

barney

What on earth for? It proves he is physically fit and has fantastic concentration, but few audience members would share that.

barney

Some time ago I mentioned in another thread a study I had read suggesting conservatives are more motivated by fear and progressives are more optimistic. Belle challenged me to provide links. I've just been cleaning out some bookmarks and found four, so I post them now. Please note that the sources a...

barney

Maybe Barr can join Trump in jail for corruption in 2021.

barney

What a squalid contemptible jellyman Trump is. Another typical signal: corruption, lying etc is fine, as long as you're a mate of mine. I'll make sure the law doesn't apply to you. And just in passing I don't think Kamala Harris is at all helpful in saying it's because Stone is white (bottom of arti...

barney

Rosalyn Tureck was incredibly slow, if I remember aright, in a much-praised account. I have it but haven't listened for 20 years. I might fetch it out....

barney

Again, most interesting; thanks, Len. I disagree with the common mantra today by feminists about misogyny in opera. I wrote an article about it for The Age. They are almost always strong women who are in control of their own destinies (eg Carmen, Norma, Brunnhilde), and many more men die in opera th...

barney

It's fun, isn't it. And, as I said, it's fine to break the "rules", but far better to know that you are doing so. Advertisers and copy writers do it all the time, knowing that their alternative will be much more effective to whatever the task is.

barney

Wonderful. I'm sure Trump is incandescent.

barney

Sorry, Brian - that was careless of me.
I entirely respect your position. He was undoubtedly a great conductor, a great encourager, and rarely disappointed. Some found him a bit bland; I always thought that unfair. He had a fine perspective, not only across a work but across the canon.

barney

I don't always have a high opinion of Pinker, but he's right here. As Wittgenstein pointed out, language is how it is used. And that does constantly change. There are some changes I regret, such as the loss of disinterested to mean impartial rather than bored, or the distinction between imply and in...

barney

Hi Lance
It's the perennial problem: I don't know how many Abbado CDs I have, but it's more than 50. So there is too much repetition for it to be worth it for me, though I agree that in other circumstances it would be a must have.

barney

Thanks Len. It's absolutely spot on.

barney

Even now there are only nine Victorians out of 5.5 million in intensive care with the virus; the whole of Australia (27 million) has suffered 106 deaths. It's more the potential that is causing fear. Barney great numbers-I guess you can see what's been happening in the US with the surge of record c...

barney

Young people today are extremely righteous and demand absolute purity (kind of like my generation in the 60s, except they're not stoned and so therefore have more focus), and they're out to end racism and will not tolerate any veneration of slavery. Yes, they do go too far. I say by all means we sh...

barney

Washington Post columnist Max Boot recently posted an interesting, informative....and scary piece on this issue: What if Trump loses but insists he won? Hank scary is right-thanks for this article. We should know about how the Supreme Court decides on the tax issue case pretty soon now-this has me ...

barney

This article may not be of interest to US CMGers, but I feel it will interest both the other Australian ones. Barney that interested me but also on the news yesterday there was talk of Australia's 2 largest provinces being blocked off from each other due to corona-hope you're safe! Regards, Len Asi...

barney

The United States and Australia can be allies, vibrant democracies, respectful of the rule of law and upholders of universal human rights, but claims about common values that bind the two societies derive from nostalgia about an effective, freedom loving US democracy that no longer exists. This U.S...

barney

This article may not be of interest to US CMGers, but I feel it will interest both the other Australian ones. I think it makes some important points. Not least is the suggestion that modern America is no longer the country we originally teamed up with, and that this long pre-dates Trump. United Stat...

barney

The thing I find the most appalling about the "All lives matter" response is the level of studious and deliberate miscomprehension of the point being made. It should be as clear as day that in a society where black people are time and time again shot by policemen in situations where a white offende...

barney

... best wishes to all our US CMGers. Thanks.Take care yourself as well, as the virus seems again a problem in Australia, at least Melbourne ? Yes, it is flaring up again. Still only 20 dead in a state of six million and only a few dozen in hospital, and less than 10 in intensive care, so I don't w...

barney

Interesting view on Black Lives Matter from the Spectator in the UK. The writer, an immigrant to Britain, thinks the movement should be opposed because it wants to impose reverse racism. I have to say, I'd be happier with a movement that proclaimed All Lives Matter. Because they do. Is there any sen...

barney

Thanks Joseph. Very interesting. The Republicans haven't a leg to stand on; they have deliberately exploited racial tension, and it's not just Trump. And the vicious campaign to disenfranchise black voters and others likely to support the Democrats. Looking from the outside at the leading democracy ...

barney

... best wishes to all our US CMGers. Thanks.Take care yourself as well, as the virus seems again a problem in Australia, at least Melbourne ? Yes, it is flaring up again. Still only 20 dead in a state of six million and only a few dozen in hospital, and less than 10 in intensive care, so I don't w...

barney

Handy link to a dozen of the ads in the Boston Globe

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/04/ ... trump-ads/

barney

All those ads seem pretty powerful to me. I wouldn't like the Trump is not well campaign, except that it is precisely Trump's tactic against "Sleepy Joe". Actually, I still don't like it. But I think many of the ads have been brilliant, and I wonder if they are not extremely effective. And where is ...

barney

This is subscriber-only, Joseph. Could I be so bold as to ask you to copy and paste?
yours in grateful anticipation!

barney

Very interested to hear that opinion, Brian.You certainly confirm my desire for the Levit over the Lewis. It is mostly concertos that I have heard Lewis in live, but not only. Thanks for your holiday wishes. As it is a much more important day for you, I hope it went gloriously, and best wishes to al...

barney

Yes. If the early HIP people were too ideological and pedantic, as many were, the modern way of doing it can be highly satisfying: the extra clarity, transparency, balance and spring as opposed to the smooth, big orchestral sound so beloved of Karajan.

barney

Has the court become a tool of the Republican Party? I know courts in the US are vastly more political than Australia - it's the excuse many evangelicals gave for supporting Trump, to avoid the Democrats appointing judges. But do you think they see their highest duty as to the law and the Constituti...

barney

Belle, you are always good for entertainment value at least. I believe if I took any position possible you would dissent and argue because you have decided I am a leftist and therefore a culture-war enemy. My quoting of the Guardian on same-sex marriage was expressed in strong disapproval. I'm not s...

barney

But another thing I've grown to balk at: having music rammed down our ears practically every moment of the day. I just wish music could be on a separate sub-channel so I could turn it off! How I agree with you. It makes music non-music, just part of the background, ever present and unappreciated. I...

barney

Yes, I too have heard Tafelmusik several times, and very much appreciated them, though always in repertoire earlier than Mozart. I remember when, several decades ago, the Menuhin/Bath Brandenburgs were very fashionable, but I agree with Slofstra's assessment. I did hear Tafelmusik once online in som...

barney

jserraglio wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 03, 2020 6:44 am
Eloquence is preparing a box due out in the fall.

Tribute to Ida Haendel by music critic Rob Cowan: https://robccowan.com/2020/07/01/ida-ha ... ies-at-96/

Look forward to that.

barney

Philip M wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 02, 2020 4:47 pm
Oh a cricketer would be frustrated if they got out on 96! Nothing beats a century at Lords!!

Very true. Good point.

barney

Great article, thanks for posting Len. I am going to get the Levit cycle. I want the Lewis too, but can't really justify both, and Lewis belongs more to the traditional approach. He has been to Australia many times, and I have a lot of Beethoven (and Schubert)from him, always glorious. Because, as m...

barney

jserraglio wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:35 pm

barney wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 01, 2020 5:37 pm
both the CMG defenders seemed to be motivated more by dislike of the Democrats (or partisan journalists) than love of Trump.
Would they treat unsightly acne by getting a facelift and blame the surgeon when it came back worse than ever?

Of course. Entirely rational behaviour for a Republican.

barney

Philip M wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:26 am
She was always rather coy about her age but I am reliably informed by Tully Potter that she was 96.

Philip

Not a bad innings (in the cricket sense, not baseball), a reference she would understand.

barney

True. It takes a particular passion to keep defending the indefensible; one can do it only so long. And both the CMG defenders seemed to be motivated more by dislike of the Democrats (or partisan journalists) than love of Trump. Although they have both always been less than forthcoming about that. I...

barney

A very fine violinist. Obviously an interesting person too, which I didn't know.
RIP.

barney

Wonderful article, Len, thanks! Mozart's vocal writing is, IMHO, a pinnacle of Western cultural achievement. I particularly love the aria "parto, parto" from his opera Clemenza di Tito, written for mezzo with clarinet obbligato. As well, there is the concert aria, "Vorrei, spiegarvi o Dio, both ava...

barney

Another blast from conservatives on the bounty boondoggle. This election is clearly shaping up to be a referendum on Trump's leadership. The WH Situation Room should be rechristened the SNAFU Room. If Donald Trump ran unopposed, he might lose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nytBEWbwOkw&feature=emb...

barney

It is way past time for us to tell our Trump-supporter friends they are no longer our friends. I don't actually have any Trump-supporting friends, so far as I know. That may be because I prefer my friends to have a moral compass, an attitude that long pre-dates Trump. If I do have any Trump-support...

barney

First result from a search on Abebooks.com. Pretty damn good price! Yes Minister Volume 1 : The Diaries: Lynn, Jonathan Yes Minister Volume 1 : The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister by the Rt Hon. James Hacker MP Lynn, Jonathan Published by British Broadcasting Corporation, London (1981) ISBN 10: 056317...

barney

As for Trump dropping out, this is just wishful thinking. Even if the polls are right (which they were not in 2016), I don't see Trump giving up. Rather, Trump and his allies are going to step up their efforts at voter suppression. Their path to victory is to suppress the votes of Democrats (restri...

barney

If watching live, I mute the ads. If the program is recorded, I fast-forward. You are right about the volume, Lance - the ads are more compressed, and this is a planned side effect. Even non-commercial channels like the state-funded broadcaster are deluged with ads - constant promotions for their ow...

barney

Thanks Rach 3 for these reminders. One of the all-time great series.
Did you know that the scripts were put into two books at the time which were equally funny. For example Sir Humphrey's memos are written exclusively in the margins, leaving the page blank. I got them both at the time.

barney

On the Right end of the spectrum, culture warriors are often Trumpist fellow travellers. "Donald Trump is a cultural warrior. His politics depends on mining the fear and resentment of white, working class voters who feel they are on the losing end of economic and demographic change. Joe Biden is cu...

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