#evan haley

Anak's MIX 004 SERAPHIM W/ EVAN HALEY

  In German rap, I was able to enjoy the style of music with a completely open mind. Whatever the reason, don’t assume that you don’t like a type of music just because you don’t like it in English.  

   There have been in the last 5 years an unprecedented number of groups, regions, areas, and people who for whatever reason feel like they need to secede or break away from whatever particular group they happen to be a part of. With varying degrees of organization, aptitude, and reason. Most recently we’ve seen the Catalan Parliament in Eastern Spain attempt to pass a declaration of independence through its assembly. This action like many of its contemporaries brought a great deal of outrage. The Spanish government blocked any and all attempts by the assembly to separate setting the stage for what will be another drawn out and embittering saga.    There are two sides to this issue as a general whole. On the one side, there are the various independence movements e.g. the 2nd Vermont Republic, California secessionist movement, supporters of Brexit, the Scottish independence movement, the Catalonians and so on. On the other side, there are the state governments or elected bureaucrats trying to preserve what is certainly a fragile union. As I’ve said each of these movements are quite different. Some of them more popular, and adept, than others. Yet popularity and aptitude don’t always go hand in hand.     In the case of the Catalan secession, the framers are so far taking all the “correct” steps to try and push their independence through the Spanish legal system, using assemblies of elected individuals and following, at least in form, the legal steps for leaving a larger country. It is also true that the Catalonians have established reasons for wanting to set up their own state. They have their own language and culture, as well as a common history which has been in very much opposed to the Spanish. These reasons probably contribute to the mainstream support and progress of the movement relative to one of their less successful contemporaries in the United States.      While everything might look good on paper there is a fundamental problem with all of these secession movements. While they may have their reasons and their wants for an independent government it seems that those “legitimate” reasons have arisen not because of genuine grievances, but from a negative attitude. An attitude which unfortunately we see more and more of in this modern era. People have trouble dealing with adversity, and there’s no shortage of adversity to be dealt with. They don’t want to accept that they could have been the cause of their own problems. This applies all the way from the individual to the movement. This way of thinking is made even easier when the group of individuals in question is part of a larger group. They are given a scapegoat, and rather that focusing their efforts towards addressing the problem they decide to form a movement against the larger group in question thinking that leaving that group will magically absolve their problems.    Well, it just doesn’t work that way, in life or in international politics. In fact in almost any case leaving a well-established group is likely to do more harm to both parties than any good at all. For example say that you are a good player on a sports team, but all of a sudden your grades start to tank. Then instead of looking at yourself and deciding to work harder, you blame the team and leave. Now you are left looking for new excuses for your failures, and the team is left without its player.    This is even more catastrophic on the international stage. Where there is a lot more than tournament births and good grades at stake. Yet politicians all over the world continue to act like children. Kicking and screaming, threating to run away from home if they don’t get their way.    Listen kid, you know what happens when you run away from home? You get eaten by a wolf, if you’re lucky. Now get back home and work through your problems. Assemblies and congresses aren’t just for declaring your independence. Sometimes you have to put in some work before anything changes.

   Dear readers, we are living in a unique time, even more so when one considers the news that keeps tabs on these unique times. Today's news is a completely different beast from the bland fact-reporting affair of yesteryear. Today we the consumers need to be less like the innocent, goodnatured cattle out to graze in the safe news world. Rather, we need to be the lions out to devour precisely the right news-zebra, lest we starve in the vast fake-news savanna.    All extended metaphors aside, today's news world is decidedly hostile, and all readers, listeners, and other appreciators need to be equally hostile. Criticism is the only force that we can trust to ensure our news is credible. Today's news needs to be appreciated less for reporting the facts and more for the art of subverting the facts. It is high time that spin is recognized as the art form that it is. What would happen if people thought of news as art? What if instead of political art making headlines, political headlines were art?    News exists in a grey area where it has too little objective truth to be consumed unquestioningly by the people, however it still retains the pretense of fact. It needs to let go of this and completely embrace the ludicrous creativity. With the acceptance of news as an art form, the vicious “appreciative criticism” from the art world should follow. Imagine if a major news outlet published an article and instead of the public as a whole unanimously reacting against it, they generated discourse and scholahip surrounding the subject and the manner of its presentation.    That could be the best thing ever to happen to the global media. Blind acceptance would be replaced with genuine discussion, and maybe even people would learn something – FROM NEWS. That'd be incredible, however unlikely. News would have an opportunity to actually convey its message to people, but the people would appreciate it as something to be held up as culture, and not the ramblings of a corrupt organization bent on lying to them for their own gain.      There could be some other ramifications of news becoming art. Imagine, for instance, if news started going through its own movements. Abstract Expressionist news, Cubist news, Impressionist news, Postmodern news, etc. There could be an entirely new cultural sector devoted to news. News Museums, an artistic news major at universities, news critics, and underpaid art news graduate students just looking to make a news impact.    What if, transformed by the new news attitude, journalists were able to attain the fame and influence of artists, in exchange for the stereotypically dark and tragic lifestyle. The Van Gogh of News, the da Vinci of News, or even the Michelangelo of News carefully crafting the Sistine Chapel of News. That is a point in and of itself, could news ever attain the international quality of art? Maybe people could once again learn to appreciate world news not despite the struggle of understanding international issues, but for the cultural value of appreciating foreign art.    What does all this mean? Would people even notice? Could news actually become art? I think it could, but more than that I think that it should and quickly at that. The further our news strays from the truth the closer it gets to becoming art. The sooner the better, because the sooner our news gets that artistic recognition the sooner it can get back to its purpose informing the people.

  Given Dr. Steinmeier’s impressive career, political ideas, and relative similarity to an established American politician, not to mention the successful anti-Trump stance, one would think he would be wildly popular in the states. The reality is, though, he isn’t. In fact, he is barely even known by Americans, even those who claim to be ‘feeling the bern’.     There could be several explanations. Naturally, there is always the good-ol’ “we don’t care how much we should like you, you’re foreign and therefore we don’t know you” syndrome. There is also the ever-present option of blaming the media. The answer could also be that he lacks Bernie’s charm, as similar as they are, there can only be one Bernie. Those are possible answers to why you don’t care, but you should, because we need to learn from our neighbors. These are ideas that have become increasingly attractive to the american populous. It doesn’t matter where the ideas come from, what matters is the quality of the ideas, and Americans need to start realizing that in a hurry.     Maybe we’ll never know why this country has little love for foreign politicians even when they closely resemble our own. Someday we might get the foreign politician who captures the respect of the American people, but for right now I think it would be enough to find any politician who respects the American people after all, we have some serious explaining to do.

Gun Control: Conservative: The constitution of this great nation says that all citizens are allowed to keep and bear arms. Why would you try and take that away? Liberal: Guns and the violence they cause are a lot more advanced in today’s world, and we are only asking for a registry not a confiscation. C: It is every citizens God-given right to defend himself and his property. That is a founding belief of our founding fathers. L: Right, but defense does not have to require a fully-automatic assault rifle with a thirty round magazine, right? C: It includes whatever I damn wall say it includes! L: Wow, alright well the government should still be able to keep track of large caliber firearms at least. C: All you bleeding heart liberals want to take our right to protection away so we can get robbed by all your “mistreated” criminals. L: Ok… wow alright. 

  The radio is a secular piece of technology. It has enjoyed what for a popular technology has been an enormous lifespan. Most of us still listen to our old friend the radio even if it’s only while driving. For some, the radio is a means of escaping the stresses of your everyday life. You can hop in the car turn that radio on and let a complete stranger share with you their opinions, music, or news. What if it isn’t a complete stranger though?   I recently had the surreal experience of listening to a childhood friend as the host of a popular radio station. It may seem like an overstatement, but it was honestly one of the strangest things that has ever happened in what admittedly a pretty dull and unexciting life. Normally it doesn't even occur to the listener that a real person is sitting in a studio behind a microphone, but when it does and when you happen to know the person it makes it that much more strange. You know them, it’s not just that you know what kind of music the nation is going to play, you know why specifically the DJ chose that song. You can imagine for yourself exactly the reasons they had because of the time you spent together.   When you know the person to this degree it somehow makes the experience more genuine. You can see them sitting there in that booth as you listen to their voice conjure random facts that you remember about them, like the particular kind of beard oil they used, or who their main was in Smash Bros. You feel obliged to remember something about them as your thoughts surround them as you’re driving down the road. Even though you haven't seen this person in a while, you still feel like you’re talking to them in real life.   They're the one that wanted to talk to you they got on the radio for a reason. You are now the customer, the judgment; the almighty authority in this imagined conversation. Your friend had better come up with something to please you in a hurry. Every song becomes a tribute to the good times that you had together, based off the half-crazed conjectures of a road weary mind.   By the end of your journey you feel like you have rekindled a friendship that you had lost to the sands of time. Someone who you only kept on as a Facebook friend because you were too lazy to unfriend them just became your guiding light on this treacherous voyage. How could you ever have made it without them?  It is really kind of strange in a way you are thankful you never got down to unfriending them. This connection you had with them however strained by the bounds of time has actually helped you through a hard time, even if it was just a trip in the car. When it comes down to it that is really what friends are for. Helping you through the tough times whether you really need it or not. g

  America has lost faith in politics and in politicians. We have grown painfully numb to the reality TV circus called American – a wasteland that shoots any serious politician out of the sky. The painful truth is that it wasn’t our politicians that ruined us. They're just a function of our desires –  we were the ones who wanted this, or at least most of us did.   Don’t believe me? Take the recent debate between senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders on the topic of the ACA (Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare.”) It was a pretty good debate. It was cordial and, despite their incredibly different views, the candidates seemed genuinely interested in working together to solve the country’s problems. There was a lot of “I agree with you, and I’d like to work with you on that.” It was refreshing. Maybe after watching this debate there is hope for the future of American politics. Maybe politicians have realized that all of the election craziness is over and it is time to knuckle down and do some real work for a change.   However, that’s the problem no one cares about politics when they work. Did you watch it? Come on, did you? No of course you didn't it. Even though it was advertised by CNN and streamed live on YouTube and Twitter most people probably have no idea that it even happened, and why would they? People don't care about politics when everything is going smoothly. We want  conflict, scandal, anything as long as it distracts us from the actual problems all of these idiots create. How else can C-SPAN still have a viewership of two while constantly breaking ratings records? It’s because people don't care about real politics, they want some carnage! In this way politics are a lot like NASCAR, no one tunes in to watch cars drive in a circle for two and a half hours – they want to see a ten car pile-up and a car fire. That’s what people are there for. Which is why what most people probably the next day was Ted Cruz saying that “The democratic party is the party of the KKK.”   It was back to business as usual with this shit-show. After one small glimmer of normalcy it was right back to the way things started. A non-stop stream of bullshit coming out of Washington still soaked the electoral map in a shade of brown. Had the debate even happened? Did anyone care? Can politics play an important role in our everyday lives if it is not reality-show flavored? These questions have no answer, because we are stuck with what we have. The debate may have been a window into a world which could have existed if traditional politics hadn't been defeated by “alternative politics,” but the real bright side is that at least some of our politicians know how to act like real politicians. Maybe someday the rest of them will grow up and get something done for a change, but until that happens we can only stand up for what we think is right and hope that politics wakes up from its drunken bender. Unless that happens we’re going to be seeing a lot of metaphorical pile-ups and car fires, and who knows maybe some actual ones if the protests keep up the way they are.