Communication

A Lawyer Who Sues Terrorists

I had no idea. Fascinating interview with Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Israeli Law Center who recovers hundreds of millions in lawsuits against countries and organizations funding and supporting terrorism. She has won against Syria, Iran, North Korea…. I hope she has an army of security. Currently in lawsuits against Google and Harvard. The MOST shocking (to me) was how we (USA) fund a group that was directly involved in the Oct 7 slaughter in Israel. “Lawfare” as a part of Warfare.
She also goes into the history of refugee camps in several muslim countries that were formed when those countries promised those living in areas to become Israel were going to be attacked by the Arab League….. temporarily…..and they are still there and not allowed to leave.

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Would you be worth this for a conversation?

online bankingIn 2021, I signed up for a subscription to The Daily Wire, for two reasons:

  1. Gina Carano had been fired from Disney, and hired by Daily Wire. The subscription was a way to support both TDW and Gina.
  2. Candace Owens was hired by The Daily Wire.

Gina did her one movie (delayed into a second year of subscription due to the COVID mess), Terror on the Prairie. It was a good movie, well done, in that it could be filmed away from most population.

Not too long after her debut, Candace Owens hosted a TV show. At the end of every show, she moved her chair to show the nearly all white audience behind her and would answer 3-4 submitted questions that she did not see ahead of time.

At the end of her fourth show, she answered MY submission:

How do you think she answered?

She and her British (love the accent) husband were married on a Trump property in Charlottesville, Virginia. She was a huge supporter, but when she came out staunchly opposed to his vaccine support, asking him about it directly in an interview, there was at least a partial falling out. I am unclear of the current status.

Her audience-included TV show transitioned to a single presenter, sometimes with guests or even a panel. Candace and her husband are both devout Christians, but had very different stances on Protestant vs Catholic theology. In April, 2024, she converted to the Catholic Church. She featured him on a double podcast debate I thought was fascinating. Here is Part 1…

She had amazingly informative deep dives about George Foreman, Big Farma / Vaccines, and Black Lives Matter.

Candace and Kanye

Trouble started brewing when she appeared with her friend, Kanye, and in one of his shows, they wore “White Lives Matter” shirts.

Kanye posted some interpreted antisemitic tweets and Candace defended him. That put her at odds with the owners at The Daily Wire, who are Jewish.

The clashes continued until they recently parted company. She has been posting that, “I am free” and soliciting subscriptions and gifts to support her.

In a Youtube video, in giving the history of her experience, said,

“I am NOT anti-Israel, but I am also NOT anti-Palestianian.”

On 5/10/24, she tweeted about a new app. It said you could talk to her via text or video and get immediate responses. I downloaded the app, only to find out her “rates” are way over my head. She certainly has the right to charge and make money this way, it just takes me out of the communication loop. These pics are from the new app, which I will shortly delete from my phone.

She moved to Nashville to be near The Daily Wire. She and her husband have bought land, built a house, and have welcomed their second child into the world.

She will do well, and as long as I can afford to read or watch, I will.

Would you be worth this for a conversation? Read More »

Who is ethnically cleansing?

For those who claim Israel is involved in ethnic cleansing …. or worse, consider these in comparison….. Jewish populations in 1948 and 2023. Here we go:

ARAB POPULATION IN ISRAEL
1948 156,000
2023 2,178,000

Jewish Population in Arab Countries – DECREASED 99.83%
Arab Population in Israel – INCREASED 1296.15%

Lebanon
1948 20,000
2023 100

Egypt
1948 75,000
2023 40

Syria
1948 40,000
2023 0

Yemen
1948 55,000
2023 50

Iraq
1948 150,000
2023 7

This is reposted. Looking for the source. Let me know if you have that — or better / more updated stats.

Who is ethnically cleansing? Read More »

Genocide is NOT happening in Gaza

Someone on another platform responded to my “I Stand With Israel” post with, “You stand for genocide”. That is such a gross misunderstanding AND misapplication of the term. By definition,

“Genocides are a deliberate destruction of national, ethnic, racial or religious groups.”

That is NOT what is happening in Gaza.

I spent about 3 minutes looking up some “modern-era” genocides….. There is no comparison…..…

Modern-era Genocides

Rwandan (Hutus killing Tutsis)

April-July 1994 (@4 months)

800,000 killed

Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbs against Bosnian Muslims)

200,000 Muslims killed

2,000,000 refugees

Cambodia 19779 (after US left Vietnam)

1,700,000 “Purified”

China 1949

CCP party starved 27,000,000

The Holocaust

WWII

“The Final Solution”

Nazis killed @ 6,000,000 Jews

Japan invaded China

1937

Up to 600,000 in Nanking in 4 days

Raped 20,000 women, most of whom were then killed

Ukranian Genocide

1932-33 by Joseph Stalin

7,000,000

Armenian 1915-18

1,500,000 killed by the “Young Turk” government of the Ottoman Empire

Native Americans

56,000,000 over 100yrs (90% tribal populations)


From the river to the sea

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Which budget do we cut?

I promised multiple stories. Here is Story #2. The first story is HERE.

Budget pigI was a music teacher in the system from 2005-2020 (retired). This happened during that time…not sure the year.

$ $ $ $ $

Word came to the instrumental dept that one of our two contracted summer sessions would be cut from the budget and band parents could take over funding to keep both sessions functioning.

I was tasked with making our case before the board. The “conversation” went something like this…..

Me: Our FIRST summer session starts before the end of the Spring semester when we start integrating incoming students and preparing for the local June parade. Do you want the band to represent the school in the HD parade?

Board: Of course, the band MUST march in the parade.

Me: Our SECOND summer session starts a few weeks before the Fall semester and is when the band learns music, marching fundamentals, and the performance show for football games and band competitions. Do you want the band at the football games?

Board: Absolutely, the band MUST be at the football games.

Result: Funding continued for both summer sessions.

Note: We did not ask for gift cards.

Which budget do we cut? Read More »

Rossini

Clarinet soloA few years ago, probably the last time I played thru a top-tier piece, I was alone on the local hs stage using Smart-accompaniment on a laptop and audio recording via phone…. I was probably preparing to assign it as I had made cuts for solo festival limits. I did flub the final 38-note run up to that high Ab (couldn’t hold onto it)…. but the rest of the 7-pages went well and fast, phone audio microphone considered.

Anyway… I recently shared the online link for someone to listen for some of the things we’re working on … (scales, arpeggios, chromatics, articulation, ornaments, etc). Told the parental I was going to look for the music. FOUND IT, well Joan did. No, not going to assign (yet), but do intend to use it for the above-mentioned fundamentals.

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From the River To The Sea

When you hear “from the river to the sea”….yes, that is what God promised… from the wilderness (Egypt) to Lebanon and from the Euphrates (Jordan) River to the Mediterranean Sea… “will be yours” and “no one will be able to stand against you”. -Deut 11:24-25 This map of the tribes of Israel pre-date anything called Palestine. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is built on top of a Jewish Temple. So who was there first? Yes, Israel conquered the land….but what land is there anywhere on earth that has not been conquered? China, maybe??

From the river to the sea

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Helping students get private instruction and/or better instruments

Beginning instruments are designed for beginners. The bores on some of the brass instruments are smaller because of the lesser air capacity the 6th grader has. Keys on mass-produced woodwinds are designed to survive some falls and mistreatment.

Once a student gets to high school, they’ve been playing that beginning instrument for three or more years and, especially if they show potential, I start to encourage them to step up because at some point it will become the instrument itself holding them back.

My first two experiences involved siblings. I was out of college and teaching band when my youngest sister was in high school band. She needed a new trumpet and I was able to get one for her through the instrument dealer I worked with. My brother got to play my Selmer clarinet when I had moved to Buffet.

Not all my attempts were successful. When I approached one farmer-papa about a new clarinet, his question was,

“Isn’t that the clarinet you told us to buy?”

He had also challenged me when I said I wanted to spend 1-1 time with his daughter in individual instruction.

“Aren’t you the teacher?”, he asked. “Then why don’t you find a way to teach her without me paying extra money for you to do your job.”

He eventually became a very supportive father and band parent.

One high school clarinetist was really good. She was studying with me and was at the point where she needed better equipment. And, knowing her father’s job, I was confident finances were not a problem. I tried the “puppy dog close”.

I learned the “puppy dog close” in sales training. The idea is that you go to the pet store and the store owner offers to let you take a puppy home for the evening with the ability to bring it back the next day. The puppy never comes back.

This is before I was on staff at the high school, but I had a good relationship with the music store in Fort Wayne. I went and asked if I could borrow a Buffet R-13 (top-of-the-line) clarinet with the idea that I could bring it back in two days if I did not sell it for them. They reluctantly agreed.

The next day I was in the band room as students came in for rehearsal. I called that girl over, handed her the new clarinet and asked her to try it out during rehearsal. As expected, she was amazed at the difference. I asked her to take it home for the evening (along with the price tag) and bring it back the next day if she decided not to keep it. She walked in the next day with a check for payment in full. No commission for me.

I was with a student and her family at solo festival. She had worked hard, but struggled in the performance. The mechanics of the instrument were messing her over. Afterward, in the hallway, dad asked me how I thought she did.

“She should get a Gold (she did), but she was fighting that instrument most of the way.”

The next day she had a new clarinet at school. Turns out, papa went to the music store table and bought her a step-up instrument on the spot.

A high school student was taking private lessons and her teacher told me on multiple occasions that her instrument was “crap”. My understanding in talking with the student was that there were some family financial difficulties.

Partly because of her finances, I found a doner and worked out a deal with her instructor to give her lessons for a year. When I called her in to tell her about it, I told her I wanted her to make sure the doner got his money’s worth. There were tears and a promise.

The teacher reinforced with me how incredibly prepared she was for her lessons, but still lamented about the quality of her horn.

I asked for a parent/student/teacher conference and met with them one day after school. I told the parental,

“She is an excellent musician. For financial reasons, we set up lessons for her for a year. She is doing an incredible job with those and her teacher stresses how she is the most prepared student he has had. But [she] needs a better instrument. I don’t know the details of your finances and I can’t tell you how to make it happen, but this girl needs [this]. The music store will work with you, but this needs to happen.”

There were more tears — and a new horn.

That student is now a Band Director.

There were other situations over the years where I was able to help coordinate or provide private lessons or to help a student get better equipment to work with.


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You know you’re getting older when

These have happened in the last few days, so it merits a post, imo.

YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING OLDER WHEN…..

— you realize that the clarinet you are using to demo for the student is older than the student’s mother who brought student to the lesson.
— a friend posts about being in a type of medical office of a type you’ve never heard. …. but then that friend’s friends are talking about their experiences with that type of doctor.
— you make a pot of coffee and forget to go back and get a cup.

You know you’re getting older when Read More »