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Abdul advocates banning free speech in Indianapolis

Rp-teaparty07

In two recent entries ("Panhandling Problems" and "I Hate to Say I Told You So...") on his blog Indiana Barrister, NewsTalk 1430 AM host Abdul Hakim-Shabazz has advocated a proposed Indianapolis City-County Council (CCC) ban on panhandling. This would forbid anyone in Marion County from standing within so many feet of a traffic intersection holding up any sort of sign. The First Amendment conflicts of this proposal are outrageous. Here are two actual examples of basic exercises of free speech that would be banned under the anti-panhandling proposal.

As shown in the picture above, I joined 20 other activists in December of 2007 to advocate for the Ron Paul presidential campaign by holding signs at a busy intersection near the Fashion Mall on a busy holiday shopping weekend. Our goal was to raise awareness for the campaign, and I think that standing out there for four hours in freezing temperatures with a foot of snow coming down did the trick. During our four hours of free speech, nobody was hit by a car, stabbed, or raped. There weren't even any close calls, despite icy road conditions. However, Abdul is terrified of how dangerous our free speech was, and would prefer it be illegal for us to ever repeat such an atrocity.

 
Today, I witnessed another example of people in Marion County taking advantage of the right to free speech that Abdul and the CCC Republicans hate so much. Some North Central High School students were holding a car wash to raise funds for their choir and were standing around a street corner on 86th Street holding up signs to promote their car wash. Performing in a music ensemble is a fantastic educational performance opportunity for high school students. It was an experience that changed my life when I was in high school, and coincidentially we stood on the corner with carwash signs to fund our program too. If panhandling were banned in Marion County, it would not be so easy to run a successful carwash fundraiser, and ensembles such as the NCHS choir would have to resort to less fruitful fundraisers, such as selling overpriced chocolate and peanuts.
 
Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is a tyrant who has no respect for our most basic liberties. He has no compassion for the unfortunate people who panhandle in a desperate attempt to improve their economic situation. He lacks understanding of the value this liberty has for an organization to raise money, an activist to raise awareness, or a business to promote a special sale. All of these great people who are trying to meet their worthwhile ends in our city would be victims of the proposed ordinance. These people would all suffer because people like Abdul literally fear that a high school choir girl might stab them! They might also suffer because some of the people who advocate this ban simply don't want to have to look at the miserable disabled man who stands along the offramp every day hoping for their help.
 
I do have compassion for these people. While I am honestly more likely to ignore a panhandler than give him money, I feel very strongly that he has a right to stand out there and seek help if he isn't interfering with the rights of anybody else. I feel that everyone has the right to speak freely, and am stunned no matter how many times I see someone try to take that right away. In honor of the many people have suffered and died fighting to establish and maintain this most basic liberty in our country, and in support of those who take advantage of it to meet their ends, we must devote our efforts to fighting this ordinance. Proposal 237 to "amend the code to restrict solicitation at intersections" is on the agenda for the CCC meeting on August 10, 2009. We must make an appearance to oppose this proposal, and we must continue to fight it even if it passes.

DCI FInals at Lucas Oil Stadium

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On Friday I went to Drum Corps International's Open Class Semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium in the morning with my high school students. We saw the top 17 open class corps perform their second-to-last show of the season. My favorite shows were Colt Cadets, Revolution, and Capital Regiment. These corps didn't get the best scores, but they played the best music and had the best drill design.

On Friday night, my Dad took me and Jen to World Class Semifinals as an early birthday present. We got there a bit late after dinner and watched the top 12 corps in the world, the same 12 that actually made finals the next day. The Boston Crusaders had one of their best shows in history, and their brass was LOUD! The Bluecoats had an awesome percussion ensemble. Their show "Imagine" had the drumline, then the rest of the band, take off their jackets near the end and transition from marching movement to smooth, dancelike movement. It was a very cool effect and must have been so much fun to perform.  Santa Clara Vanguard did a tribute to Aaron Copland that was just beautiful. We gave them a standing ovation before they even played their last tune. The Blue Devils had the best percussion and the most difficult drill and visual work, which led them to an undefeated season. However, my favorite corps was the Carolina, Crown (pictured above with the green bass drums), who hung just 1-2 points behind the Blue Devils all season and had one of the best designed and best executed shows I have ever seen. Crown has done this many times before without having what it takes to satisfy the judges and earn the world championship.

What's great about DCI is that it's not all about who wins. People will talk about Crown's "The Grass Is Greener" and Bluecoats' "Imagine" for years to come. They were powerful performances that will inspire many new innovations in the world of music and movement.

A wind & percussion movement by Zoltán Kodály

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"The Battle and Defeat of Napoleon" is a movement from the orchestral suite based on the opera Háry János by Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967). Kodály is most famous for his contributions to music education. He also was a collector of folk music and advocated for its importance in music and music education. He composed Háry János to help found a Hungarian operatic tradition create a dialog between folk music and serious art music.

The hero of the opera, Háry, is a peasant and veteran soldier. In this movement we see his imagined victory in battle over Napoleon.

The reason I find this movement to be interesting is that it is composed for winds and percussion. The strings take a break for this four minute movement. It is orchestrated exclusively for the winds, so I feel it should be looked at in the context of wind band history. Further, the saxophone is featured as a solo instrument. It is rare for the saxophone to be included in orchestral music. I wonder if a modern band arrangement could be playable by a high school group. If I get the time, I'll write it, unless someone already as or you steal my idea and write it first. The trick to making a good arrangement would be to come up with a more conclusive ending, or to follow the movement with arrangements of the Intermeezzo and Entrance of the Emperor and his Court, movements which might also work in wind arrangements.

Song of Marion's Men

This is a cool poem by William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878).

OUR band is few but true and tried,  
  Our leader frank and bold; 
The British soldier trembles 
  When Marion's name is told. 
Our fortress is the good greenwood,         5
  Our tent the cypress-tree; 
We know the forest round us, 
  As seamen know the sea. 
We know its walls of thorny vines, 
  Its glades of reedy grass,  10
Its safe and silent islands 
  Within the dark morass. 
  
Woe to the English soldiery 
  That little dread us near! 
On them shall light at midnight  15
  A strange and sudden fear: 
When, waking to their tents on fire, 
  They grasp their arms in vain, 
And they who stand to face us 
  Are beat to earth again;  20
And they who fly in terror deem 
  A mighty host behind, 
And hear the tramp of thousands 
  Upon the hollow wind. 
  
Then sweet the hour that brings release  25
  From danger and from toil; 
We talk the battle over, 
  And share the battle's spoil. 
The woodland rings with laugh and shout, 
  As if a hunt were up,  30
And woodland flowers are gathered 
  To crown the soldier's cup. 
With merry songs we mock the wind 
  That in the pine-top grieves, 
And slumber long and sweetly  35
  On beds of oaken leaves. 
  
Well knows the fair and friendly moon 
  The band that Marion leads— 
The glitter of their rifles, 
  The scampering of their steeds.  40
'T is life to guide the fiery barb 
  Across the moonlit plain; 
'T is life to feel the night-wind 
  That lifts his tossing mane. 
A moment in the British camp—  45
  A moment—and away 
Back to the pathless forest, 
  Before the peep of day. 
  
Grave men there are by broad Santee, 
  Grave men with hoary hairs;  50
Their hearts are all with Marion, 
  For Marion are their prayers. 
And lovely ladies greet our band 
  With kindliest welcoming, 
With smiles like those of summer,  55
  And tears like those of spring. 
For them we wear these trusty arms, 
  And lay them down no more 
Till we have driven the Briton, 
  Forever, from our shore.  60

The early Americans didn't mess around. They got nasty in the face of tyrants. A return to that sentiment is long overdue.

Destroying property and revenue to prevent bankruptcy?

President Obama's economic advisers have come up with a new plan that makes TARP look sensible (yeah, it's that bad). The idea is that cities will go bankrupt because of foreclosed homes, so cities should buy these homes, bulldoze them, and replace them with absolutely nothing in order to prevent bankruptcy.

I am trying to figure out how the empty home costs the city anything. The property is still in private hands, whether it is an individual or a bank, so property tax bills are still due on them. The city is collecting revenue on these properties, even if the revenue is less than it would be if the properties were worth more. Meanwhile, they don't have to provide many services to them. They don't need water, trash pick-up, etc.

Having not figured out how these empty homes cost the cities money, I went on to examine how the cities could profit from the new status of these properties. So, what do they propose to do with them after they bulldoze the houses? Nothing. Abolutely nothing. They literally say, ""Much of the land will be given back to nature." The city buys the property and turns it into forest and prairie land, which of course generates no revenue.

How is buying something and destroying it supposed to be profitable? There is no explanation. The Telegraph article about this practice gives no citations to the claims that foreclosed homes may lead to city bankruptcy and that buying and destroying those homes would prevent bankruptcy. We live in a society where the government does things which make no sense and are deliberately destructive, and the citizens and media accept it without so much as asking why. It is truly fascinating to watch this happen around me every day.

Global Military Spending Sets New Record

BBC reports today: "Global military spending rose 4% in 2008 to a record $1,464bn (£914bn) - up 45% since 1999, according to the Stockholm-based peace institute Sipri." The U.S. accounts for 58% of it.

Eventually all these countries are going to get bored sitting on all these weapons and will decide to start using them. Considering there are a few countries who combine tight alliances with their friends with aggressive bullying of their foes, we are truly on the verge of another world war.