Robbie Robertson, guitarist, songwriting force behind The Band dead at 80 😥

Write/co-wrote The Weight, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down ...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/robbie-robertson-obit-1.6931772

* The Band inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 1994, 5 yrs after sim. honor at Canada's Juno Awards

* Robertson won additional 5 Junos

* Robertson feted toward end of career with Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (2011), Canada's Walk of Fame (2014) honors

* Robertson one of 1st Indigenous rock stars

#RobbieRobertson #TheBand

nostr:npub1fvcqjtkhyuxx9pjragps57an2ypj2aae75dkhevfwn4hssefunhs2eeunz I noticed that as well. Cultural self-isolation?? ~2008 I saw Taj Mahal at a theater in Durham N.C. The audience was mostly (90%+, maybe slightly more?) white. That struck me as well.

I think it was here, actually: https://www.dpacnc.com/galleries

Taj Mahal (musician): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal_(musician)

Sixto Rodriguez - Sugar Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E90_aL870ao

Rodriguez: First performance in Africa, crowd goes crazy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e70oln-7evM

#SixtoRodriguez #SouthAfrica #Sugarman

Religious group sues Quebec government for blocking event over abortion concerns

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/religious-group-sues-quebec-government-for-blocking-event-over-abortion-concerns-1.6511984

* Quebec tourism minister cancelled religious gathering publicly owned convention center

* British Columbia-based Harvest Ministries International filed a motion in Quebec Superior Court

Christian minister accused of homophobia set to speak in Sidney, B.C.

https://www.kelownacapnews.com/news/christian-minister-accused-of-homophobia-set-to-speak-in-sidney/

#Canada #ChristianRight #HarvestMinistries #ArtLucier #Quebec #abortion #CultureWars #FarRight #neoconservatism

Addendae 2

Supreme Court Abortion Ruling Still Deeply Unpopular Across U.S. Poll Finds

https://truthout.org/articles/supreme-court-abortion-ruling-still-deeply-unpopular-across-us-poll-finds

* CNN poll: 64% of U.S. adults disagree with the decision; 50% “strongly” disagree

* nearly double proportion of people who said in the latest poll they approve of the decision: 36%

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23902613-cnn-poll-abortions-role-as-an-electoral-litmus-test-hasnt-faded-a-year-after-supreme-court-decision-overturning-roe

#SCOTUS #Roe_v_Wade #democracy #abortion #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #neofascism #populism #ChristianRight #Christofascism #WomensRights #PublicHealth #GOP #neoconservatism

Addendae 1

Direct Democracy Upending the GOP’s Radical Agenda

Republicans lost a big ballot initiative fight in Ohio this week, but their war against voters is destined to continue

https://newrepublic.com/article/174750/battle-ballot-initiative-ohio-2024

Direct democracy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy

* form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives w/o elected representatives as proxies

* differs from majority of currently established democracies: representative democracies

#GOP #neofascism #DirectDemocracy #CultureWars

Addendae 2 cont'd

Conservatives launch massive ad campaign amid surge in polls

Multimillion-dollar ad buy comes as polling shows Tories as much as 10 points ahead of Liberals

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-ad-campaign-2023-1.6931440

#Canada #FarRight #populism #PierrePoilievre #propaganda #ConservativePartyOfCanada #branding

Even Synthetic Life Forms With a Tiny Genome Can Evolve

By watching “minimal” cells regain the fitness they lost, researchers are testing whether a genome can be too simple to evolve

https://www.quantamagazine.org/even-synthetic-life-forms-with-a-tiny-genome-can-evolve-20230809

Evolution of a minimal cell

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06288-x

Even a ‘minimal cell’ can grow stronger, thanks to evolution

Exploring evolution in a ‘minimal cell’, and Galaxy-wide gravitational waves

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02232-1

#evolution #SyntheticBiology #MinimalCell #CellBiology #bacteria

Addendae 1

Why You Should Worry About China’s Missing Minister

If world’s best China experts can’t det. what happened to one of China’s most internationally recognizable officials, what else remains hidden behind the regime’s closed doors?

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/08/qin-gang-china-missing-foreign-minister/674954

* larger, disconcerting, truth: we understand very little about inner workings of Chinese politics at a moment when we need to know more than ever

#China #HumanRightsViolations #HumanRights #dictatorships #capitalism #globalization

Addendae 1

https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110563381342280079

* IRS filing of Marble Freedom Trust: Leonard Leo spent $182 million funding right-wing groups 2020-05 thru 2022-04

* $153 million washed through donor-advised fund Schwab Charitable Fund

https://persagen.com >> search: "alliance defending freedom"

"schwab charitable"

"vanguard group" OR "vangard charitable"

"Fidelity Charitable"

frc

#antiLGBT #ADF #AllianceDefendingFreedom #Christofascism #FamilyResearchCouncil #LeonardLeo #GOP #ChristianRight

How Fidelity, Schwab & Vanguard Fund Hate Groups

Charities affiliated w. major investment banks allow anonymous donors to give millions of dollars to anti-LGBTQ & racist groups, and get a tax break

https://newrepublic.com/article/172927/fidelity-schwab-vanguard-charitable-donor-advised-funds-hate-groups

#Schwab #SchwabCharitableFund #Vanguard #Fidelity #PrivateEquity #HateGroups #DAF #DarkMoney #DonorAdvisedFunds #CampaignFinance #LeonardLeo #MarbleFreedomTruct #ConcordFund FarRight #lgbt #CultureWars #capitalism #DefundBillionaires #transphobia #TransLivesMatter

Addendae 4

Judge orders Southwest Airlines to receive “training” from anti-abortion extremist group

https://popular.info/p/judge-orders-southwest-airlines-to

#Christofascism #AllianceDefendingFreedom #ADF #ChristianRight #GOP

Addendae 6 cont'd

Previously Secret Memo Laid Out Strategy for Trump to Overturn Biden’s Win

The House Jan. 6 committee’s investigation did not uncover the memo, whose existence first came to light in last week’s indictment

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/08/us/politics/trump-indictment-fake-electors-memo.html

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/chesebro-dec-6-memo/ce55d6abd79c2c71/full.pdf

#KennethChesebro #Trump #TrumpIndictment3 #GOP #neofascism #insurrection

How a trial in Texas changed the story of abortion rights in America

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/09/1187378801/texas-abortion-law-trial-reproductive-rights

* case for abortion made by women who denied abortions

* sued Texas to clarify exceptions to its ban: illegal to perform an abortion unless a patient is facing death or "substantial impairment of a major bodily function

* mothers described in vivid, harrowing detail how Texas abortion ban endangered their health, traumatized them

#Texas #abortion #WomensRights #GOP #ChristianRight #GregAbbott

Addendae

Former Fox executive argues Murdoch is unfit to own TV stations

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/09/1192824440/former-executive-murdoch-unfit-station-fox-news

* Preston Padden joined Fox broadcast network a few years after its launch; helped founder Rupert Murdoch make it viable

* generation later Padden joined a small band of highly vocal critics objecting to Fox's effort to renew its station in Philadelphia: Fox 29

#RupertMurdoch #Fox29 #Philadelphis #FoxNews #disinformation #CultureWars #DefundBillionaires #NewsMedia #FakeNews

... cont'd 2/2

* Since the fall of Roe, we have seen our communities come together as a multigenerational & multiracial movement for reproductive freedom to fight for Arizonans’ fundamental rights, & this ballot initiative will continue to build on this momentum

* coalition is new political action committee called Arizona for Abortion Access, led by

ACLU of Arizona

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona

NARAL Arizona

Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Health

Arizona List

Healthcare Rising Arizona

... cont'd 1/2

* coalition of Arizona organizations announced filing of Arizona Abortion Access Act

* proposed constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights in Arizona’s 2024-11 general election ballot

* “Every Arizonan should have the freedom to make decisions about their bodies, their lives and their futures,” said Chris Love, senior advisor for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.

#ArizonaAbortionAccessAct #PlannedParenthoodAdvocatesOfArizona

Addendae 12

See also:

National impact of Ohio Issue 1 special election on abortion, GOP attempts to rewrite State constitutions

https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110860973203200838

#abortion #RepublicanParty #GOP #neofascism #ChristianRight #WomensRights #CultureWars #OhioIssue1 #ConstititionalLaw #StateConstitutions #BallotInitiatives

National impact of Ohio Issue 1 special election on abortion, GOP attempts to rewrite State constitutions

Advocates Launch Ballot Measure to Amend Arizona Constitution to Protect Abortion Rights

8 states could vote on abortion-rights ballot initiatives in 2024

https://msmagazine.com/2023/08/09/arizona-abortion-ballot-initiative

* see also Ohio Issue 1thread: https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110662765514723258

#abortion #RepublicanParty #GOP #neofascism #ChristianRight #WomensRights #CultureWars #OhioIssue1 #ConstititionalLaw #StateConstitutions #BallotInitiatives

Addendae 11

A Special Election In Ohio Shows Voters Still Care About Abortion

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-special-election-in-ohio-shows-voters-still-care-about-abortion

Why Ohio Voters Said No to Ballot Measure

In addition to their views on abortion, many who cast ballots in Ohio’s referendum on Tuesday said they felt the measure’s backers weren’t honest about its purpose

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/us/ohio-voters-issue-1-constitution.html

#OhioIssue1 #NinaTurner #GOP #abortion #neofascism #StateConstitutions