“The 8th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled by a majority vote that [Fazil] Say’s Twitter posts, which had led to his sentence on grounds of ‘insulting religious beliefs held by a section of society,’ should be regarded as freedom of thought and expression and thus should not be punished.”
Month: October 2015
ISIS Has Found A Way To Make Its Destruction Of Ancient Sites And Artifacts Even Worse
“According to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the extremist militant group tied at least three prisoners to Roman pillars in the Syrian desert city of Palmyra, rigged the structures with dynamite, and blew them up Monday afternoon.”
The Complex Reasons We Comply With Authority (Stanley Milgram is Back)
“The controversial psychologist, whose famous 1960s experiments concluded that most people will obey unethical orders, is the subject of a critically acclaimed new movie. … Not surprisingly, Milgram’s name is prominently mentioned in a recent study that takes a new look at an old question: What does it take to get us to comply with instructions, even when we know doing so could harm others?
The study’s conclusion: A gentle nudge will generally do it.”
Why Video-Game Culture Is Stuck Between Leftism And Libertarians
“There’s a hypocrisy of claiming to do both, creating meaningful work worthy of the protection of free speech, ignoring the fact that there are very few efforts working to push discourse on any subject in a direction that would be uncomfortable … That’s when you know you’re saying something that matters, when people start getting bothered by it. … You don’t see furniture-makers talk about how they need free speech to protect the integrity of their appliances.”
Where Does All Our Time Go? This Lab Knows
The holdings of the Centre for Time Use Research at the University of Oxford “have been gathered from nearly 30 countries, span more than 50 years and cover some 850,000 person-days in total. They offer the most detailed portrait ever created of when people work, sleep, play and socialize – and of how those patterns have changed over time.”
Jazz Vocalist Mark Murphy, 83
“Celebrated for his interpretations of songs by Cole Porter, Antônio Carlos Jobim and other great songwriters, … he ranged from bebop to ballads, torch songs to scat singing, from vocalizing Kerouac’s poetry to experimenting with rhythms inspired by the whistle that summoned his neighbors in upstate New York to the local wool mill.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.27.15
Walid Raad’s Blurred Lines at MoMA: Does Truth Matter?
The Museum of Modern Art’s bewildering Walid Raad exhibition (to Jan. 31) “investigates distinctions between fact and fiction,” according to its press release. In truth, it blurs those distinctions in a ways that sometimes feel … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-10-27
Pat Graney and Colleen Thomas Explore Difference (Differently)
The 1960s weren’t all about Beatles, sit-ins, marches, pot, and communes. For many women, the post-war 1940s and the 1950s lingered on in spirit. Some of these women may have worn go-go boots and very short dresses, but they belonged to the unspoken club of wives who … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-10-27
Enough of this
This summer came a CD release which – with all respect to the major classical music forces involved – is the kind of project I wish we wouldn’t do. This was a Deutsche Grammophon recording … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-10-27
I Love Lieder, Don’t You?
It’s rare for my wife and me to feel that we are among the younger members of the audience, but this happened at the Oxford Lieder Festival 2015, “Singing Words: Poets and Their Songs.” … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2015-10-27
Lookback: could Victor Borge really play piano?
From 2005: Borge’s act resembled a straight piano recital gone wrong. He’d start to play a familiar piece like Clair de lune or the “Moonlight” Sonata, then swerve off in some improbable-sounding direction, never getting around to finishing what he started. Yet he was clearly an accomplished pianist, though few of his latter-day fans had any idea how good he’d been … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-10-27
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Billions Of Views – Online Video Is HUGE (But Not Entirely)
“I am not saying YouTube isn’t a huge, game-changing deal. It is. I am not saying YouTube sensations aren’t real sensations. They are. But we can’t even have a conversation about what is really happening with people’s attention, or relative value, if we aren’t talking in the same terms.”
New Project To Use Technology To Map Inside Of Pyramids
“Among the tools used will be infrared thermography to detect temperature variations on the monuments’ exteriors, which could reveal previously unseen cavities, chambers or corridors close to the surface. With the help of drones, the team will use photogrammetry and laser scanning to make accurate 3D models of the pyramids, other monuments nearby and their general surroundings.”
Why Contemporary Music Musicians Aren’t Unionized
“The AFM and other unions play a significant role in the realm of larger, more traditional music making—orchestras, musicals, film recording, opera, et cetera—but they are far less visible when it comes to performances of new music.”