getting it out in the open

While I haven’t been blogging very much for awhile (Facebook and Twitter have gotten the brunt of my thoughts, and I’ve been very busy with work travel, family, etc.), there has been a lot of back and forth in my own life lately about Israel. Most recently, Peter Beinart has been stirring things up with his comments about the Occupation and Zionism, in anticipation of his forthcoming book. I got to know Peter about two years ago through a really nice essay he wrote on the fact that younger US Jews are losing any connection to, and interest in, Israel. It really shook up the organized Jewish community here in the states, and I was glad to see that. So I reached out to Peter and he will be giving a set of lectures at my reconstructionist synagogue in PA.

But in reality, Peter Beinart and I are not entirely aligned on Israel. For all the talk out there of how he is a “traitor” to the Jewish people, a “self-hating Jew,” etc., the reality is that he is pretty moderate. He is an Orthodox Jew. He supports a two-state solution. He supports Israel, just not the settlements. He feels that any right of return for the Palestinians would be suicidal for Israel. And  he is very much against the BDS movement (boycott, divest, sanction) aimed at Israel.

In contrast, I am secular and atheist, support a one-state solution in principle, have no great interest in supporting Israel any more than any other well-off country (I feel much better when my family supports Sudan or other underprivileged nations), support the right of return for Palestinians to their homes in what is now Israel, and do support BDS. Since this stuff keeps coming up, and I’ve probably lost a few friends as a result of not keeping my views to myself (although I know I’ve gained far more friends as a result), here is a quick synopsis of my views on Israel, so as to avoid any confusion.

• I believe that in the context of the times, when Jews were indeed being slaughtered throughout Europe and Russia, it was understandable for Jews to have wanted a place where they could be safe. The early Zionists were secular, and were not initially focused on Israel. Basically, any place where they could settle and be safe, including Madagascar and Uganda, was perfectly fine with them. Besides, for hundreds of years, most Jews declined to settle in Palestine, since it was not a religious compulsion (just the opposite; most rabbis felt that Israel could only be resettled upon the return of the messiah).
• I reject any biblical justification for Jewish settlement in Israel. There is little or no historical evidence that most of the Bible ever happened, and it’s even been argued by folks like Shlomo Sand that there was never a true exile of the Jews from Israel at the hands of the Romans.
• Israel is a fact on the ground. It was established by the UN, and isn’t going anywhere. So criticisms, and boycotts, of Israel can no more “delegitimize” Israel than a breath can collapse an 8,000-meter mountain. Only Israel can hurt itself. And boy, does it.
• Israel is a beautiful country. I’ve been there. But it is also a very conflicted country, and one that does not provide equal freedoms or support to Israelis of Arab origin, women, Mizrahi Jews, non-Orthodox Jews, immigrants from Asia and sub-Saharan africa, Ethiopian Jews and Bedouin. It is not apartheid in the fullest sense of the word, but it comes pretty damned close to being that way.
• Israel has also become more fascist in its approaches to its Arab population and anyone who isn’t among the majority Jewish population. Avigdor Lieberman is a fascist (there, I’ve said it). It’s no surprise that the current Israeli government is viewed favorably by racists and anti-Muslim gentiles like Geert Wilders and Marine La Pen. Then again, the Etzel (Stern Gang) were also fascists and looked to Nazi Germany for support (these extremist Jews were ignored, incidentally).
• A two-state solution sounds great. But it has never ever worked for Israel or for Palestine. And it’s hard to see how current plans would permit a true Palestinian state to exist, given that it would be split into many parts by territory claimed by Israel. A one-state solution has its issues as well, but if both sides were willing to trust and respect the other, and offer equal rights, then it would be possible. Gandhi never wanted to partition India. It was partitioned, and millions died in the process, there have been several wars between India and Pakistan, and Bangladesh was not exactly an easy ride, either. In the end, Jews and Palestinians are interconnected in ways that are not really severable. The borders need to reflect that; Palestinian Jews , Muslims and Christians coexisted relatively (though not 100%) well for centuries. The fundamental conflict is not about religious differences, but about land.
• I don’t care if Israel is a “Jewish state” if that means that it is a near-theocracy, a state dominated by one religion in which religious laws are invoked in many civil matters (such as marriage). To me,  a Jewish state is a Jewish homeland, a place where Jews can live without internal persecution. That does not require a Jewish majority, nor Jewish control. But it does require democracy and equal rights. Jews can live however they want to individually live under a Jewish, or Muslim, or Christian leadership. I’ve yet to see anything but a Christian leadership in the US, and Jews and Muslims have done well (although there remains a lot of persecution of Muslims in the US, and there once was a lot of antisemitism).
• While there have been Jewish populations in other countries that understandably sought, and required, refuge in Israel, I also feel it is a shame that so many Arab or Muslim countries where there once were Jews are now largely or entirely devoid of them. Again, some of this certainly was due to antisemitism, as in Iraq and Egypt. But in other cases, such as Morocco (generally lacking in antisemitism), it was in part due to Israeli actions, and sometimes (as has been claimed for Iraq), even due to incitement by Israel. When Israel was a much more secular, even socialist, country, the ideal was for Jews to speak the same language, with the same accent/pronunciation, and for Jews to all make aliyah to “eretz yisroel.” Problem was, Jews lived (and still do, fortunately) all over, had different skin tones, different accents, languages, cultures, etc. So while Ben Gurion wanted Jews to emigrate to Israel, it wasn’t easy if you were a Jew from the Maghreb, the Kurdish areas, etc. You were a second-class citizen at best, and were made to feel unwelcome. The power was concentrated in the Ashkenazim. And if you think about it, having all the Jews migrate to Israel, so that they’re all in one place, makes it much easier for another Hitler to wipe them out, no? I think of that every time some Israeli leader exhorts French Jews or US Jews to make aliyah.
• Iran is a huge violator of human rights, and a lousy theocratic government that oppresses homosexuals, Ba’hai, and many other groups. But it is not an antisemitic country (there are 25,000 Jews who, while they live somewhat separate lives from their Shia neighbors, are respected as members of another Abrahamic religion). Iran, despite its leader’s rhetoric, has not placed its Jews in concentration camps. So while I’m not going to defend a regime of which I’ve always been critical, let’s not beat the drums for another unnecessary war, either.
• Which brings me to the lobby. No, Jews do not control the media, world financial markets or the press. We’re really not that powerful, and the notion of a “Jewish lobby” is at its core, antisemitic. But I think anyone who feels the Israeli lobby does not have a major influence on Congress and Mideast policy is deluded.
• Let me also be clear that any comparisons between Israel and Nazis are wrong, stupid and even antisemitic. Israel, for all its faults, is not committing a holocaust against the Palestinians, nor is it anything close to a Nazi party. I do think one could make a good case, however, that the Israeli government has adopted some policies that many of us do feel are very close to fascist, if not fascist indeed. But fascist policies alone do not Nazis make.
• The Holocaust pervades Israeli society. The significance of the Holocaust in terms of Israeli mindset and behavior cannot be overemphasized. But at the same time, the Naqba also needs to be acknowledged by the Israeli government, and Israel needs to come to grips with the fact that 1/5 of its population generally believes that Israeli Independence Day is a day of mourning, no less than some American Indians hate Columbus Day and perhaps even resent July 4th. And understandably so. At the same time, more Palestinians need to acknowledge, not deny, the Holocaust (and indeed, many of them have made major efforts in this regard).
• Palestinians deserve their right of return. This won’t destroy Israel, but strengthen it. It makes no sense, nor is it compassionate, that I could decide tomorrow to emigrate to Israel and I would have citizenship rights on the spot, yet a Palestinian whose family left Haifa in 1948 could not do that, or even travel via Ben Gurion Airport (as a friend’s Palestinian husband, a distinguished economist, can’t do, for example).
• Palestine is not a dirty word. Nor are Palestinians an “invented people.”
• Birthright Israel and other “rah rah Israel” efforts to indoctrinate US Jewish youth, are misguided, one-sided and propaganda. I will never support stuff like that.
• I support BDS for the same reason that I supported the boycott of apartheid S. Africa. This doesn’t mean that all Israelis are of one mind; many are against the Occupation just as there were S. Africans who were against apartheid and worked with the ANC and other groups against it. But boycotting is a nonviolent way to foment social change. It is not “delegitimizing” to support BDS. Israel’s own actions do itself an injustice far more than any boycott could. That said, I don’t support boycotts that involve academia or the arts; I like to think that the arts and academics are beyond politics. Indeed, both foster understandings of “the other,” so I just can’t support those boycotts. But outside of that, I’m fine with BDS.
• I also do not support the Jewish National Fund (it expelled Palestinians and that was its raison d’etre), Hillel, the ADL (I used to, but it is now a right-wing and diseased organization), or AIPAC, and have my misgivings about J Street (they’re too wishy-washy and bought into the right-wing canards about BDS).
• I wish Obama had threatened to defund Israel over the continued support and expansion of the settlements
• All Palestinians are not terrorists. All Israelis are not oppressors.
• Politicians in the US cannot criticize Israel and survive politically. Israeli politicians, however, can criticize Israel with impunity. Why can’t politicians in any country criticize Israel and have their opinion respected? Israel is more progressive than much of the Western world, in this regard.
• Yes, Israel is not Syria. It does not torture and murder thousands of its citizens. But I’d like to think Israel lives up to a higher standard than “it’s not Syria.”
• I’m not a self-hating Jew. No one, except for some people with major depression, hate themselves in the true sense of the term. Labelling people as Nazis, traitors and self-hating Jews merely shows that the organized US Jewish community is threatened by those who speak out against bad Israeli policies.
• There is nothing of which I am aware in Jewish law that says one has to support Israel. Last time I checked, I was a US citizen. I don’t vote in any Israeli elections. I don’t receive support from Israel, nor do I pay taxes to Jerusalem. So I have nothing to do with Israeli policy, and resent the idea that if someone is Jewish, ergo they must support Israel. In the proudest Jewish tradition, many of us feel perfectly free to criticize what we don’t like about Israeli actions/policies. Unfortunately, many organized Jewish institutions do not understand Jewish tradition.
• Is there a double standard regarding Israel? Yes, there is. But the fact that human rights abuses by Turkey, Iran, China and many other countries don’t command as much attention as the Israeli occupation still doesn’t make the occupation right. The argument that “well, they do it too” really is a weak one; we don’t accept it from children, right?

I could go on, but at least this is a start. I was trying to be as honest as possible and not leave any major issues off the table.

Please feel free to comment. And be forthright; I can take the criticism. But please, don’t start with the “self-hating Jew” remarks. It’s getting old.

piece for keyboard and another instrument (2011)

 

I’ve been doing a lot of travelling across the pond to Europe lately, and it’s been seven months since I was last in Palo Alto with evenings free to compose. Nonetheless, I managed to record an improvisation on my Ensoniq KS-32 synthesizer on 2/2/12 at home in Wyncote, PA and just finalized it into a piece in Palo Alto on my M-Audio Keystation 88-ES MIDI controller. The toughest decision had to do with scoring; I had debated between piano and voice, piano and string quintet and other combinations, and finally settled on keyboard with one other instrument (which could be a third hand playing a second piano, or perhaps the instrument could be voice, flute, violin, etc.).

The work is just over 30 minutes and is a bit of a throwback to some of my early postminimal works from the 80′s, in that it is heavily pattern-oriented and even has some tonal elements. Although none of this was in the plans; it just happened.

If the other instrument is wind-based, it will require some circular breathing. The audio file is actually for two pianos (the second piano has just a single line for one hand), since it sounded better than the flute samples I have, and the identical timbres reinforced some of the patterns that resulted from combining different lines.

This is a bit of a change from some of my more recent music that consists mostly, or exclusively, of single notes or chords followed by rests. This piece starts off somewhat like that, but changes to a much more animated and rhythmic series of notes that continues largely unabated for the remainder of the piece.

The score is here.

The mp3 is here.

boycott the susan g. komen foundation

I’ve been skeptical of the Susan G. Komen Foundation (or as they call themselves, “Susan G. Komen For The Cure”) for a long time. And then I learned that much of their funding simply doesn’t go towards breast carcinoma research. And then I learned that they sued several nonprofits all because they used the term “cure” in their marketing. It all seemed like a scam to be on a massive scale, but then I talked myself down a bit, since any efforts towards even education and screening for breast cancer can’t hurt. I do think other cancers are woefully underfunded, such as ovarian cancer (which also kills many women) and pancreatic cancer (again, I’ve known too many women who have died from the disease). But that doesn’t mean that breast cancer shouldn’t be funded. So I didn’t make waves and did the Race for the Cure in Philadelphia every Mother’s Day.

But now, I say Boycott Komen.

Yesterday, it was announced that Komen is defunding breast cancer screening efforts at Planned Parenthood centers nationwide. That amounts to between $700,000 and $800,000 annually. I used to be interim medical director at Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia, and also provided abortion and well-woman care at several Planned Parenthood centers in the Philly area. Most of the women I screened for breast cancer were not of means, and PP was essentially their only health care provider. So what Komen just did was hurt these and other women who rely on such services for their general medical care, including annual breast cancer screening.

Komen claims it did not act out of political pressure or pressure from the antichoice crowd. Rather, they claim it now has a policy of not funding organizations that are under federal investigation. Yes, PP is under investigation for misappropriation of federal funds towards their abortion services, which has never been demonstrated to be true and there doesn’t appear to be evidence of this now. But some jackass in the Congress decided to go after PP because of their provision of abortion services. So without any evidence or proof of “guilt,” Komen just caved in and pulled all their funding. And then there’s the fact that their new VP, former GA governor candidate Karen Handel, was well known to be a pro-lifer who was very much against Planned Parenthood. But I’m sure that is just a coincidence.

This is such a bad decision that it absolutely defies rational explanation. It is total idiocy. This should have nothing to do with abortion. But at the same time, it should be said that abortion is overregulated, unjustly tarnished and very much represents an important public health need. Childbirth is 14x more hazardous than abortion. Yet, no one is promoting legislation to warn women against carrying their pregnancies to term. Somehow though, it’s considered ok to pass burdensome and ridiculous laws requiring women to undergo sonography to look at their fetuses and to wait at least 24 hours before being able to have an abortion after providing informed consent. As if any woman wakes up and says “What the hell, I’ll go have myself an abortion today.”

Women of all backgrounds should be pissed by what Komen did today. Men of all backgrounds should be just as pissed.

So I will do some research and update this post with ethical nonprofits related to breast cancer research that are far more worthy of our donations than Komen ever was.

But if nothing else, Boycott Komen.

UPDATE 2/5/12
At the end of this article, there is a nice list of groups that spend nearly all of their funding on research and treatment.

my letter to Medical Marketing & Media

I just sent a letter to the editor of Medical Marketing & Media (no idea why I get it, let alone read it), complaining about a column written by a NYU internist in favor of restricting emergency contraception to “by prescription only.” He feels if it were available to teens over the counter, it would be “a mistake.” The FDA disagrees with him, as do I. Sadly, the Obama Administration overruled the FDA.

To the Editor:

While I have always considered Dr. Marc Segal’s column in Medical Marketing & Media to typically represent views that are conservative and thus quite the opposite of mine, I was particularly taken by his remarks against making emergency contraception (specifically, Plan B) available over the counter to young women under the age of 17. In contrast to the findings of the FDA committee that recommended its approval, Dr. Segal puts forth several rationales for his decision that fly in the face of medical evidence. 

For example, he maintains that OTC status would pose a risk of ectopic pregnancy, as he postulates that young women might assume Plan B has worked and fail to heed signs of an ectopic. There is no data to support this, and even if Plan B were not available, women of all ages may have an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy regardless of the availability of emergency contraception. Taking EC does not make one more likely to “ignore” signs of an ectopic pregnancy.

I suspect his issue is more with the primitive, and unproven, notion among some people that anything that prevents undesired pregnancy will somehow corrupt our youth. This is suggested by his assertion that making Plan B available without prescription to teens would lead to “Undiagnosed sexually transmitted diseases that often accompany unprotected sex in teens.” I realize that Dr. Segal is not a gynecologist, but even he should know that STDs may accompany unprotected sex regardless of whether or not emergency contraception is available. The availability of emergency contraception does not increase licentiousness or STDs. It does, however, decrease the incidence of undesired pregnancy, and also can decrease the need for abortion. Indeed, one of the sad things is that despite the availability of Plan B to adults, many do not take advantage of it. 

I do not disagree with Dr. Segal’s assertion that “A discussion about sex and pregnancy is an opportunity for a discussion between a doctor and a teen…” But in reality, such discussions often do not take place in medical offices. Nor do many teens (and adults, for that matter) heed a physician’s advice about sexual intercourse, smoking, or many other lifestyle matters. 

All drugs have side effects. That includes all medications that are available over the counter. The known side effects cited by Dr. Segal, such as “Allergy and facial swelling” and “Nausea and vomiting” are also side effects common to many OTC drugs. Aspirin can be nephrotoxic and induce gastric bleeding and platelet dysfunction; acetaminophen is well known to be hepatotoxic at higher doses. Does Dr. Segal suggest those drugs be restricted to “by prescription only?”

Teen pregnancy is difficult and generally undesirable. We need to do more to prevent it. Emergency contraception is one approach, and I’m disappointed that any physician would propose in a national magazine that EC not be made available to teens under OTC status. Again, the FDA had recommended Plan B be made available over the counter, and regrettably the Obama Administration, probably for political reasons, chose to ignore their evidence-based recommendation. Unproven speculation about treatments with an important benefit for public health should not be given credence by publication in a magazine such as yours.

piece for contrabass (2011)

I was contacted last week by the contrabassist Ryan McMasters, who recently graduated with a masters from the Hartt College of Music and is now active in the Pittsburgh area. He noticed some of my works on the IMSLP site and asked if I might write him something for solo contrabass that he would perform and record next year. I got on it, despite a really full plate at home and at work, and wrote something in around four days that I think works pretty well. It is largely made up of whole notes followed by a quarter rest, although the middle section is more rhythmic (and played pizzicato and col legno throughout, rather than arco). It lasts longer than I would have thought, since I hadn’t been working on anything suitable for a contrabass piece. I did, however, manage to improvise something on December 17, and that formed the basis of the finished work.

The score is here.

The mp3 (generated with Finale 2012) is here.

new music site is live

It’s here.

new music page

With the forthcoming demise in June of my iDisk, which is from where my music page is served, I’ve been struggling with alternatives. One approach of course would be to purchase my own domain and server space. Normally that’s what I would recommend, except over many years this gets to be a fairly pricey option.

On the other hand, this blog is served by WordPress, all for free. So I have started developing a page on WordPress.com which would basically serve the same HTML page that I am currently using for my music. I created a static, non-blog site which will go live soon.

The glitch however was that wordpress.com will not allow me to upload any MP3 files without a space upgrade. It’s somewhat overpriced at $20 a year, so I did look into soundcloud and also archive.org. Suncloud is great, but very expensive. Archive.org looked very promising, and I had already uploaded some files there previously. But trying to upload about 2 GB of my music was becoming very onerous. After uploading some files, I would get an error page at the end of the entire process telling me that there is a file naming problem. This happened too many times, and without any pattern, as some files uploaded perfectly fine. So out went the free option, and I purchased the space upgrade from wordpress.com. Why would have preferred my music files to exist on a free site that is not dependent on yearly subscription fees, I think this will work just fine.

On another note, I recently wrote a piece for solo contrabass at the request of the contrabassist Ryan McMasters. I’m hoping to launch the new site soon and have that piece up as well.

The existing new music site will probably be replaced with a page that redirects visitors to the new site on WordPress.com. And that redirect well of course go away at the end of June. The iDisk has served me pretty well, and I am sorry to see it go. I am now using SugarSync for my offsite file backup needs, and even with the $20 a year wordpress fee, this is still no more expensive than what I was paying for .Mac every year.

I want my applecare+

I’m an idiot. Seriously.

I got up at 3 AM EST to preorder the new iPhone 4s. My 3GS is long in the tooth and the new camera alone makes it a worthwhile upgrade. Plus at this point, I can get a reasonable amount for my 3GS on the market, so why not.

3AM: Apple Store down. Twitter is going nuts

3:45 AM: Store is now up. Great. I use the Apple Store iPhone app to preorder, and get all the way to checkout when the process freezes. The page essentially refreshed and nothing ever would go through. So I go downstairs to my wife’s iMac to try again.

4:30 AM: All attempts via the online Apple Store fail, as it times out when trying to verify my account with AT&T. As a final attempt, I go to att.com, and sure enough, it’s smooth sailing. Before hitting Submit, I give the Apple Store one last try, but no luck. I note that AT&T is not offering AppleCare+ as an option, but is offering their own warranty plan for $9.95.

4:45 AM: I go to the online Apple Store and there is no way to purchase AppleCare+ except when as part of the iPhone order process. I check online forums, and many others are in the same boat.

I get an e-mail confirmation from AT&T, and it makes it clear that no changes or cancellation are possible, as expected.

This morning, I call Apple to see what can be done. After about 90 minutes of going through various people (the first person, incidentally, wanted the phone’s serial number and order number. He didn’t get that I preordered via AT&T I suppose), First I was told I would have to cancel my AT&T preorder and reorder via Apple, just too get AppleCare+. The Apple Support rep, who was truly helpful, called AT&T himself, but the preorder stands. I would have to return it unopened to AT&T and get a refund and then order anew via Apple. Why?

What happened to Apple? It was never perfect. But details like this usually didn’t end up getting ignored. I get that the Apple Store crimped under a ton of traffic, although it’s not like Apple didn’t know it was going to have a massive load at 3 AM EST. Why not stagger it by time zone then?  And if you’re going to offer the iPhone on multiple carriers and offer a new warranty product that is required to be purchased along with the covered device, why not make sure your carriers have it in their systems?

So yes, I’m an idiot.

UPDATE: I sent an e-mail to Tim Cook and also via Apple’s Feedback page. Got a response from an executive at Apple and we just spoke on the phone. They’re trying to work on a fix. We’ll see.

the KS-32 is back from the repair shop

I’ve owned an Ensoniq KS-32 synth workstation since 1991 or so, and other than a logic board replacement about 4-5 years ago (or rather two replacements, since the first cannibalized board that was installed was defective), it’s been fine. However, for a year or two I’ve noticed that the lower octave wasn’t responsive. As in, one would have to slam on the keys to get any sound at all.

Turns out the felt overlying some of the keys was worn. Fortunately, the same guy at Musician’s Electronic Service in Ardmore, PA was able to find some replacement felt and do some other tweaks, so it’s now working fine. I don’t tend to use the KS-32 much anymore since I usually only have time to compose when out on the West Coast, and then only at night. But it’s nice to have this still in good working condition. Ensoniq folded many years ago, which is a shame, since they made good synthesizers. The weighted keyboard action is just like using the real thing.

music for cello (2011)

It’s been awhile since I have had any opportunity to compose music, with work and all that. I did, however, make it out to the office in California last week, and over 2-3 nights managed to write a short work for solo cello. It just happened; I didn’t go into this with any thoughts of writing for solo cello, nor did I have an abundance of ideas, so I’m glad this was the resultant output. It is based entirely on an improvisation, which just happened to work well for cello. It’s a stream of continuous 16th notes and also ends as it begins.

MP3 is here.
Score (PDF) is here.