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The Truth About Murder In Pennsylvania

  By Criminal Justice, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania

Violent crime, especially murder, shocks us all. It directly harms the victims of crime. It undermines the sense of security of all of us. And it creates difficulties for our communities. High crime rates in a community both discourage business investment and consumption, leading to economic distress and poverty. These are all reasons for our political leaders to talk about crime and how to control it often and honestly. Sadly, however, in this election season Republican politicians have talked incessantly but, in more than one respect, have failed to do so honestly. To begin with, they have blamed Democrats— including Philadelphia’s district attorney, Larry Krasner—for the recent rise in the murder rate in the United States. But the notion that the murder rate is increasing faster in Democratic cities or states or Philadelphia than in Republican-controlled jurisdictions is demonstrably false. Even worse, they consistently put forward proposals for reducing the… Continue reading

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It’s Best Done with Scissors: Improvisation and Editing in the work of Miles (and Groucho)

  By Miles Davis, Music

What problem were Miles and his produce Teo Macero trying to solve by their methods of constructing music in the studio in the late 60s and 70s?[1] What was the point of Teo turning the tape machines on while Miles and his colleagues played in the studio and then constructing long pieces of music from different parts of these tapes? One answer, I think, is this: Miles and Teo was trying to develop a new solution to the problem of combining three elements in jazz: collective improvisation, the density of a large band, and what I will call a long form of music. [1] This is the first of two papers on Miles electric music. It originated in an email to the fabled Miles list  in 1998. Eric Siegel, Patrick Brown, Steve Asseta, and the late Walter Oller, made very helpful comments on it at the time which has influenced… Continue reading

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Miles Davis on the Post-Modern Corner

  By Art, Music, Trumpet playing

This is the second of my short papers on Miles Davis’s electric works. The first, “It’s Best Done With Scissors” seeks to explain Miles’ new direction in music in the context of his own interests and history. It was very much improved by the comments of Eric Siegel, Patrick Brown, and Steve Asseta. This paper is based on another email I sent to the list in which I compared On The Corner to a work by John Adams that I heard the composer conduct with the Philadelphia Orchestra. The email listed five ways in which these two pieces of music by Miles and Adams were not only similar but in which they both exemplified a post-modern aesthetic. I haven’t been able to find that email but I do remember Eric Siegel appreciating it–including my little joke of saying, twice, that one point of similarity between the two works was repetition.… Continue reading

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Day Six

  By Biblical thought, Feminism, Philosophy

In Christian traditions, and most Jewish ones as well, the story of the Garden of Eden is the story of humankind’s estrangement from God. Jews and Christians differ about how we are to understand that estrangement. Many Christians see the fall as the source of original sin. Jews, on the other hand, typically reject the notion of original sin. Yet the dominant interpretation of Genesis 2 is that, in eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve are rejecting the authority of God. As a result God punishes them, and us. The most troubling circumstances of human life flow from the action of Adam and Eve. And only a return to God, in this world or the next, can free us from our predicament. Against this traditional interpretation of the text I want to pose another, radically different and feminist reading, one that draws on… Continue reading

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Back travails, part ?

  By About me, Health Issues

The short version: After truly excruciating pain last weekend, a course of steroids and pain killers has started to get things under control this weekend. I’m hoping that in another week or so and I’ll be ok again. The long version: Two weeks ago I was recovering from surgery really well. One day I told my wife at the end of the day that I hadn’t thought about my neck or back at all and hadn’t taken a pain killer in three days. All the various aches and pains had pretty much dissipated. Then two days later something happened. And last Thursday something else happened. The pain was in all the same places I had it before surgery—under my right arm, in my right shoulder blade and shoulder, shooting down by triceps, at my elbow and in my hand. But qualitatively it was very different. Instead of occasional burning, shooting… Continue reading

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Why Do Artists and Intellectual Tend to be on the Left?

  By Philosophy, Politics

Why do artists and intellectuals tend to be liberals? Because artistic and intellectual goods are things we can all share. When you enjoy a piece of music, it doesn’t stop me from doing so. When you enjoy a good book, the same. In fact, the more people love the same music and books I do, the more people I have to share in the experience and from whom I can learn more about what I love. That doesn’t mean there are no conflicts in these spheres of life. Once upon a time, there was a conflict over owning these goods. But in the digital world the cost of reproducing music and books is now very close to zero. There are still limited resources for the creation of intellectual and artistic goods. But the more we focus our lives on the pursuit of these goods, the more we devote our resources… Continue reading

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The Cost of Banning Abortion in Pennsylvania

  By Abortion, Feminism

By Claire Kovach with Marc Stier Drawing on a few decades of research, this paper shows that banning abortion would severely harm women in the state, especially women of color and women with low incomes. The paper summarizes research showing that the inability to secure an abortion harms women’s physical and mental health, makes it harder for them to secure an education, reduces their prospects for employment and good wages, and is likely to leave them facing hardship and poverty. The paper concludes that the combined direct and indirect effects of a total ban on abortion in Pennsylvania would likely reduce wages in the state by $10 billion a year. <a href=”http:marcstier.com/blog2/wp-content/uplaods/22/09/CostOfAbortionBan-2.pdf” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Click here to read full screen or print.</a> &nbsp; Continue reading

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Is Doug Mastriano Planning To Become Governor By Force?

  By 2022, Fascism, Politics, The Coming Civil War?

Doug Mastriano is running an incompetent campaign for governor by any standard measures of political competence. He’s not raising money. He’s not moving to the center or at least tempering his most extreme positions. He’s not talking to the press…which is how politicians get their message to voters. He may yet win. Though he is down in the polls by a lot, there is continuing reason to believe that polls understate the vote of Trumpist candidates because their supporters don’t trust pollsters and answer their questions, because some of their supporters, upper middle class Republicans, are reluctant to say out loud that they are voting for creeps like Trump and Mastriano, and because polls don’t measure likely turnout well. Candidates like Trump and Mastriano motivate devoted followers who, like them, are angry and frustrated at what they see as the direction of the country and thus come out to vote.… Continue reading