Daily Archives: September 2, 2021

Drug users and advocates of drug policy reform are suing the Canadian government because they believe that the consistent prohibition of drugs is unconstitutional.

On Tuesday the non-profit organisation, Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs (CAPUD), filed a statement claim in British Columbia Supreme Court against the Attorney General of Canada.

They argued that the government is responsible for overdose deaths because the war on drugs forces users to source their drugs from toxic supply companies.

The aim of the statement is to target and strike down sections of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act the federal framework for prosecuting drug offences which they allege results in thousands of overdose deaths across Canada each year.

Since 2016 22,000 people have died from a drug overdose.

According to the statement of claim, the majority of these overdose deaths have been caused by fentanyl in particular, which has infiltrated Canadas drug supply.

Canadas longstanding policy of criminalising illicit drugs, the purpose of which is to prevent harm, is now having the opposite effect. Criminalising the use of illicit drugs, and, correspondingly, making the illicit market the only possible source of most drugs, is now killing thousands of Canadians each year, the document outlines.

It continues to outline that drug prohibition is a violation of the Charter rights of people who use drugs which includes: the rights to life, liberty, security of the person, rights against cruel and unusual punishment and equality rights.

Additionally, the lawsuit outlines that drug dependence and addiction is a medical condition that attracts limited or no moral blameworthinessbut simultaneously has forced people who use drugs to do so in dangerous environments that could leave them badly injured or dead.

CAPUD adds that their aimed strike down of parts of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act includes targeting possession offences.

Additionally, the group wants the government to address and strike down trafficking offences, including the trafficking for subsistence. This will support personal drug use and ensure the safe supply of drugs to vulnerable people who are dependent on them.

One of the plaintiffs, Hawkfeather Peterson, states that the intention of the lawsuit is an attempt to incite action,

Drug users now know that no one is coming to rescue us. We need to step up and force the matter. This is really about our fundamental human rights. We deserve dignity and freedoms but above all else we deserve safety. Drug users have been left to die. And we are hopeful that this action will create real change to protect our already vulnerable population.

This lawsuit arises in the midst of a federal election.

The NDP (National Democratic Party) has been the only party to commit to end the criminalisation and stigma of drug addiction.

The Liberal party say they will repeal mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes in addition to giving police and Crown attorneys discretion to not charge people for drug possession and to instead guide them into drug treatment court and/or addictions services.

The Conservative party have taken a different approach, saying that their plan is to help people lead a drug-free life and that law enforcement should focus on drug traffickers.

On Tuesday, B.C. reported that more than 1,000 people have died of a drug overdose in the first half of 2021 alone, placing it back on track to be yet another record year for fatal overdoses in only the western province.

Read this article:

Canada's government is being sued as War On Drugs continues - Happy Mag

Sports experts agree that it is possible to use sports as a tool to prevent crime and drug use among youth anywhere given the right approach, policies and infrastructure.

Lamu politician Eric Mugo is a sports expert who holds a Bachelor's degree in sports science and a Master's in sports from Kenyatta University. He says sports provide life skills training that gives one resilience against risky and anti-social behaviour.

He says sports employ skills teaching that increases adaptive and positive behaviour and, thereby, addresses risk factors related to violence, crime and drug use.

Mugo is also the former deputy governor of Lamu county and has declared interest in the governor position on the The Service Party ticket. He says there is so much more that sports can do to redeem a generation thats lost in drugs.

Sport is a tool for personal transformation and character building for children and adolescents. It teaches us how to live with our differences, to learn the value of others and to respect others, Mugo says.

He says for sports to be of use in combating drug abuse, there must be consistency and funding. It should be made an all-time affair and not just a seasonal recorded occurrence.

The youth must see a life from the sports. As much as sports is done more for leisure and recreation, we need to have an eye on it as an investment and have a long-lasting roadmap. It must not be seasonal. When we are done with, lets say, soccer, we get to rugby, athletics, and so on, Mugo said.

He calls for the need to nurture both indoor and outdoor sports and equally place emphasis on talent identification. And of most importance, we register our teams with the relevant bodies."

Mugo says the benefit of investing in sports will cause a ripple effect if well executed, and it stands to benefit not just the players but many other sectors for a county like Lamu.

He explains that if anchored on serious pillars, it becomes easier for sponsors to come up with a move that encourages investors to come on board, hence growing the sporting sector.

We must encourage local sponsorship like businessmen and companies from Lamu county, banks, the new port (Lapsset), airlines, even transport companies, he says.

The ripple effect comes in the form of things that will brand Lamu and attract both tourists and investors, while offering a livelihood to the youth from such funding, whether full or partial.

Mugo says at such a level, it will be easier to form sporting clubs, which will encourage player transfers at a fee just like it is with football clubs in the west.

We can do it right here. Many sponsors will always take pride in such transfers as they scout for the best players. Through such and many others, we shall see many youths and even non-youths attracted to sports. It is through such engagements that we will discourage youth from engaging in drugs, he said.

Participation in sports reduces the risk of overall illicit drug use, he says, but particularly during high school, adding that this may be a critical period to reduce or prevent the use of drugs through sport.

We have to understand the youth capacity and bring them to sports culture to prepare them for the future, he said.

The sports expert said the youth are not bound to be drug addicts but rather, its the ample time they have and also lack of activities they can derive fun from that entraps them in drugs, pornography, prostitution and social ills.

Lets drive the theme: 'Fun and Money in Sports'.

Football Kenya Federation Lamu chairperson Fuad Ali says the sports sector is neglected. He says much of the little sporting infrastructure has been left to rot away and is in a deplorable state.

The county does not have a single stadium and most games take place on playgrounds in the various schools.

The only formidable sporting grounds are the Shella and Twaif grounds, all of which are in deplorable state.

These grounds can be upgraded and improved to national and international standards. We need adequate funding to allow this to happen, Ali said.

Continue reading here:

Power of sports in war on drug abuse - The Star, Kenya

Another year is nearing its end, which means one last batch of records before turning the calendar to 2022. Some of these albums, like Lil Nas Xs Montero, have been teased for quite some time, while others, like Kacey Musgraves Star-Crossed, seem like theyre arriving just as soon as theyre even announced. Theres plenty of room in between, too, for traditional album rollouts and records that may still be twinkles in their creators eyes. Here are 45 records to look forward to in the coming months. (As of August 30, all release dates have been confirmed. But, as usual, everything is subject to change.)

October 8

For their new album Talk Memory, the members of BadBadNotGood focused on collaboration and improvisation, bringing in a varied group of musiciansrespected Brazilian composer Arthur Verocai, Terrace Martin, Laraaji, Karriem Riggins, and harpist Brandee Youngerto expand on their established sound. The result is a more free-form BadBadNotGood, evidenced by the nine-minute lead single Signal From the Noise, a psychedelic jazz odyssey. Noah Yoo

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September 10

Bomba Estreos first album since 2017s Ayo is divided into parts based on the four classical elements, and the release strategy has followed suit. In February, the wide-ranging Colombian pop group released a three-song Agua EP, with a title track featuring Lido Pimienta and Afro-Cuban duo Okan. Another three-track helping, the Aire EP, arrived in April, before Tierra in July. The full album Deja lands on September 10, and, according to singer Li Saumet, its about the connection and disconnection of human beingsfrom the planet, from ones own self. Marc Hogan

TBA

Two years after 2019s Romance, which featured the gigantic single Seorita, Camila Cabello has announced her third full-length record. Familia does not currently have a release date, but its is led by the song Dont Go Yet. This album was inspired by two things: family & food, Cabello tweeted Your family by blood, but also your chosen family. Who you want to sit at the dinner table, get wine-drunk, & dance in the living room with. Quinn Moreland

TBA

In early February, Cardi B shared her new single and video, Up. In an interview timed to the release, she said she wanted to put out an album in 2021 and had like 50 songs recorded. Since then, Cardi has performed her 2020 hit with Megan Thee Stallion, WAP, at the Grammys, although the song isnt expected to be submitted for awards consideration until next yearhopefully timed to the release of the follow-up to her 2018 debut Invasion of Privacy. Marc Hogan

October 22

Haley Fohrs latest album as Circuit des Yeux is her first LP for new label Matador. The title, -io, is the name Fohr created to describe the universe of grief that enveloped her after the death of a close friend, shortly before the pandemic began. She worked alongside 13 renowned musicians from Chicagos jazz and experimental scenes to create the songs. Noah Yoo

October 15

Can the songs on Coldplays follow-up to 2019s Everyday Life possibly be as remarkable as their titles, several of which are emoji? Find out in a couple of months, when Chris Martin and the lads release their Max Martinproduced ninth album, Music of the Spheres, with such tracks as [Ringed Planet Emoji] and . So far from the upcoming LP, the group has shared the single Higher Power and the 10-minute album-closer Coloratura. Making more friends might be easy in a wooden house, but spacewell, there arent enough alphanumeric characters to express it, are there? Marc Hogan

November 12

Written over the span of two years and recorded with the help of producer/drummer Stella Mozgawa, Courtney Barnetts third solo album is titled Things Take Time, Take Time. Its the follow-up to 2018s Tell Me How You Really Feel and is led by the song Rae Street. Cat Zhang

November 12

Damon Albarns latest solo album started life as an orchestral piece. In 2019, the Gorillaz and Blur frontman announced plans to take the piece on the road with a string ensemble in 2020. After the pandemic wrecked those plans, Albarn revisited the music in the studio to develop what would become his new record. The albums 11 tracks were inspired by the breathtaking beauty of Icelands landscapes. Noah Yoo

November 5

Thank You is Diana Ross 25th solo album and first in 15 years. The 13-song comeback album boasts a wide range of collaborators, including Jack Antonoff, Jimmy Napes, Tayla Parx, and Spike Stent, and was recorded entirely at the former Supremes singers home studio during lockdown. So far, Ross has released the nostalgic gospel-pop title track. This collection of songs is my gift to you with appreciation and love," she said of the project. Eric Torres

September 3

CLB September 3, thats what a brief, unexpected, and altogether bizarre promo on ESPNs SportsCenterpromised. A few days later, Drake made it official: The new album Certified Lover Boyis coming out this Friday. Hes been teasing the album for a year, announcing its title upon the August 2020 release of the single Laugh Now Cry Later. The formal follow-up to Scorpionwas expected to arrive in January, but chose to delay the record, in part, due to a knee injury. Matthew Strauss

October 15

A little less than a week after his sister Billie Eilish released Happier Than Ever, Grammy-winning producer Finneas announced his solo debut, Optimist. The first single, A Concert Six Months From Now, came with a video shot at the Hollywood Bowl. Im tired of being your ex, Finneas sings, proof that if its the hope that kills you, then optimism still hurts pretty bad, too. Marc Hogan

October 22

Liz Harris returns with Shade, a collection of songs recorded over the last 15 years, many made at her home in Astoria, Oregon, and others originating from a residency at Mount Tamalpais in Portland. She recently released Unclean Mind, a guitar-led track and departure from her typical piano and voice arrangements. Gio Santiago

October 22

Helado Negro recorded his new album and 4AD debut, Far In, entirely in his Brooklyn apartment, but he took inspiration from farther away: Marfa, Texas, where he spent the height of the pandemic. As Eric Torres wrote in his recent profile of Helado Negro, the musician intentionally moved away from themes of identity to focus more on evoking emotions through poetic, enigmatic verses. Gio Santiago

October 1

Illuminati Hotties promise freewheeling, anarchist punk tracks on their third record, Let Me Do One More. After years of label conflicts, the band will be releasing the album through frontwoman Sarah Tudzins imprint, Snack Shack Tracks. The songs tell a story of my gremlin-ass running around L.A., sneaking into pools at night, messing up and starting over, begging for attention for one second longer, and asking the audience to let me do one more, Tudzin has said. Big Thiefs Buck Meek makes an appearance, as does Great Grandpas Alex Menne. Kelly Liu

September 10

Jos is J Balvins first name, and, as such, Jose is, in a way, the reggaeton superstars first self-titled album. Balvins fifth LP and the follow-up to last years Colores was announced with a Jose-Emilio Sagardirected video for a new song called Que Locura. Elsewhere on the tracklist: In Da Getto, J Balvins collaboration with Skrillex. Noah Yoo

September 10

Following his 2019 album Assume Form and two EPsone featuring club-ready tracks and another of coversJames Blake will be releasing the new album Friends That Break Your Heart. The 12-track record features SZA and J.I.D., and more. Blake said of the lead single, Say What You Will: The song is about finding peace with who you are and where youre at regardless of how well other people seem to be doing. Cat Zhang

September 24

A critically-acclaimed memoir (Crying in H Mart) and a full-length album (Jubilee) werent enough to keep Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast busy this year. The indie pop artist wrote and performed an original soundtrack for the video game Sable, which sees the light of day this fall. This is not her first foray into video games; for her 2017 record Soft Sounds From Another Planet, she released a role-playing game called Japanese BreakQuest featuring 8-bit versions of the record. Cat Zhang

September 17

In February, more than 15 years after his solo debut, Jos Gonzlez shared his first-ever Spanish-language release, El Invento. The song heralded the Swedish singer-songwriters first studio album in six years, Local Valley. Another new track, Visions, followed in April and added synth loops and bird sounds. Gonzlezs previous studio effort, 2015s Vestiges & Claws, came eight years after its full-length predecessor, 2007s In Our Nature, although there was a handful of Gonzlez records with his folk-rock band Junip in between. Marc Hogan

September 10

Kacey Musgraves released Golden Hour, her Grammy-winning pop breakout, after marrying country musician Ruston Kelly. Accordingly, the album was optimistic and bright, a kaleidoscope of love. Musgraves follow-up, Star-Crossed, is being released the year after she and Kelly divorced, and its not like Musgraves to ignore a rooms elephant. Its a modern tragedy in three acts, she recently told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, and I think it would have been extremely awkward if I just acted like this last chapter didnt happen for me. Matthew Strauss

September 24

Last July, Kari Faux summed up her quarantine in a Pitchfork interview as a lot of self-reflection and a lot of avoidance of self-reflection. On August 17, the rapper/producer from Little Rock, Arkansas, announced her new album Lowkey Superstar Deluxe, which includes new songs, remixes, and featured performances from J.I.D, Smino, and more. At the same time, Faux also released the first single, Too Much, Too Fast, which features Deante Hitchcock. Marc Hogan

October 1

Im a punk, Kedr Livanksiy told Pitchfork last year. The Russian electronic artist, whose alias means Lebanon cedar, is punk in a very different way than youll read about in the glossy magazine trend pieces with their obligatory Travis Barker quotes. Her 2019 album, Your Need, found the Moscow producer gliding between ethereal electro-pop and underground breakbeats. The follow-up, Liminal Soul, brings her vocals even more to the fore, as heard on the pulsating first single, Stars Light Up. Liminal Soul reunites Livanskiy with fellow Moscow producer Flaty and features electronic group Synecdoche Montauk. Marc Hogan

November 19

London experimental musician Klein wrote, produced, performed, and mixed Harmattan, her follow-up to 2020s Frozen and debut on classical label Pentatone. She has already shared the dream-like first single, Hope Dealers, which she describes as an R&B tribute song to grime. The album features guest vocalist Charlotte Church and the synthesizer-transposed vocals of grime MC Jawnino on the track Skyfall. Tantalizingly, Harmattans announcement included a written introduction by the cultural theorist Fred Moten, who describes the album as a soundtrack of epic revolt against beginnings and ends. Marc Hogan

TBA

Its been a bit more than a few months since Lana Del Reys latest album, Marchs Chemtrails Over the Country Club, but shes already staging a comeback. So far, shes floated two potential titlesRock Candy Sweet and Blue Banistersand shared three songs: Text Book, Blue Banisters, and Wildflower Wildfire, which featured production from Mike Dean. Im writing my own story, Del Rey wrote on Twitter alongside a teaser of what appeared to be a new music video. And no one can tell it but me. Sam Sodomsky

September 17

For the past few months, Lil Nas X has been in fearless album mode. Whether obliterating streaming records in stripper heels with his devil-seducing video for title track Montero (Call Me by Your Name or upping his performance game on late-night shows, the Old Town Road artist is clearly planting a flag in pop star territory in preparation for his debut, which finally arrives this September. Lil Nas X recently followed up Montero with the guitar-laced Sun Goes Down, capturing his teenage years with the 20/20 hindsight of someone whos grown comfortable in their skin, and Industry Baby,another single with an eye-catching music video. Eric Torres

September 17

Lindsey Buckinghams upcoming self-titled album will be his first solo LP since 2011s Seeds We Sow. In the meantime, he toured with Fleetwood Mac as part of their reunited Rumours-era lineup, released a duets album with fellow on-off Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie, and parted ways with Fleetwood Mac. In 2019, Buckingham underwent open-heart surgery. He has said that many of the songs on Lindsey Buckingham, including first single I Dont Mind, are about the challenges couples face in long-term relationships. Also streaming is On the Wrong Side, a more uptempo track with a characteristic Buckingham guitar solo. Marc Hogan

September 3

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert will be Little Simzs first full-length record since Grey Area in 2019. That same year, she had a starring role in the Netflix revival of Top Boy. The British MC has remained active, putting out an EP last year titled Drop 6 and building anticipation for her album with the singles Introvert and the Cleo Solassisted Woman. With the music video for Woman, Simz stepped into the directors chair for the first time. Alphonse Pierre

TBA

Could it be Lizzo season? On August 13, the Minnesota artist returned with her first single as a lead artist since 2019s Cuz I Love You. Titled Rumors, the track features Lizzos Atlantic Records labelmate Cardi B. Theres no official word yet about a prospective follow-up to Cuz I Love You, which featured the hits Truth Hurts, Good as Hell, and Juice. But Rumors has already started tongues wagging. Marc Hogan

September 10

In 2018, Low released their 12th album, Double Negative, which found the slowcore pioneers bending themselves into a deliriously ambitious new shape. It was a wondrous metamorphosis. This past June, the now-duo of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (Lows bassist for the past decade, Steve Garrington, has departed) announced their follow-up, Hey What, and it reunites them with producer BJ Burton, who helmed Double Negative, as well as 2015s Ones and Sixes. The singles, like Days Like These and Disappearing, promise yet another glorious reinvention. Marc Hogan

October 8

Los Angelesbased Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin are releasing their debut LP Mercurial World after sharing a string of EPs and singles over four years. The duo first met in Miami as teenagers, bonding over their shared love of Genesis and King Crimson. Now, Tenenbaum and Lewin make glittering retro synth pop, recorded over a year and a half during the pandemic. Mercurial Worlds lyrical musings span from online persona to the theory of time, its tracklist bookended by opener The End and closing track The Beginning. Kelly Liu

September 10

A lot has happened since Matthew E. Whites 2015 album Fresh Blood: He got married, made his television debut, and released two collaborative records. Whites first solo album in six years, K Bay, is named after his studio refuge in Richmond, Kensington Bay. It features familiar collaborators, including guitarist Alan Parker and keyboardists Devonne Harris and Daniel Clarke. Backed by his own label Spacebombs house band, the record is a bold reclamation of independence and identity. White recently shared two radiant singles, Genuine Hesitation and Electric, ahead of its release. Kelly Liu

September 10

In conjunction with a 30th-anniversary reissue of The Black Album, Metallica are releasing The Metallica Blacklist. Benefiting various charities, its a 53-track, four-hour compilation of different artists covering Black Album songs. Heres a sampling of the names on the tracklist: Phoebe Bridgers, Weezer, St. Vincent, J Balvin, Miley Cyrus, Kamasi Washington, Rina Sawayama, the Neptunes, Mac DeMarco, Moses Sumney, and Mickey Guyton. Whew. Marc Hogan

September 17

Last year, Moor Mother teamed up with New York rapper Billy Woods for the captivating, avant-garde album BRASS. Now, the Philadelphia-based experimental artist returns with the solo album Black Encyclopedia of the Air, recorded with soundscape artist and producer Olof Melander in March 2020. She has shared the blistering Zami, named after the Audre Lorde book, and the anxious, Pink Siifufeaturing Obsidian, which she says focuses on thinking about ones proximity to violence. Thinking about violence in the home. Violence in communities. Black Encyclopedia of the Air will be Moor Mothers first release for Anti-, and features Elucid, Nappy Nina, Maassai, and more. Eric Torres

TBA

Normanis solo debut has been a long time in the making. Fans have been clamoring for a full-length album from the singer-songwriter since her first proper solo single, Motivation, came out in 2019. Now, it finally seems like Normanis LP is around the corner. I naturally gravitate toward eerier, darker sounds, she told W when asked about the making of the album, ahead of sharing the comeback single Wild Side. Sound selection is my favorite part of the production process, especially when you get in with a producer who is willing to break barriers. Noah Yoo

October 22

Parquet Courts new album Sympathy for Life features some of the same threads the New York band explored in its past work. The album is, of course, inspired by the city, but where Parquet Courts last album, Wide Awake! was what co-frontman Austin Brown called a record you could put on at a party, the new LP is influenced by the party itself. Produced alongside longtime XL Recordings affiliate Rodaidh McDonald and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, Sympathy for Life is led by the song Walking at a Downtown Pace. Noah Yoo

TBA

Saweetie has been such a constant in the music world in the past several years that it feels like her debut album has already happened. But after tons of EPs, hit singles, and gross-out recipes, Pretty B*tch Music is finally set to arrive. The album already has a couple of big lead singles under its belt with Tap In and the Doja Catassisted Best Friend. Alphonse Pierre

TBA

The Smile are a new band made up of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, both of Radiohead fame, and drummer Tom Skinner, a London jazz scene fixture who plays with Sons of Kemet. On May 22, they made their live debut as the surprise headliner for Glastonburys streaming event. The bands release plans are unclear, but Yorke has credited Nigel Godrich as a producer, and their Glastonbury set delivered some Radiohead-like songs with titles like We Dont Know What Tomorrow Brings and Thin Thing. Marc Hogan

September 24

Sufjan Stevens made his latest album, A Beginners Mind, with Angelo De Augustine, creating the album at a cabin in Upstate New York. The record is loosely based on Stevens and De Augustines time together watching movies, resulting in songs like Back to Oz, which he completed after watching Return to Oz. Gio Santiago

November 19

2012s Red is the second Taylor Swift album to get the Taylors Version treatment. In addition to re-recorded versions of the original tracksincluding an additional 10-minute version of fan-favorite All Too Welland one-off cuts (Ronan), there will be new bonus songs featuring Phoebe Bridgers, Chris Stapleton, and Ed Sheeran. Ever the plotter, Swift revealed some of these clues in a puzzle for her fans to crack. Cat Zhang

October 1

UK electronic artist Tirzah released her mesmerizing debut, Devotion, back in 2018. The follow-up, Colourgrade, was created mainly with regular collaborators Mica Levi and Coby Sey, forming a trio that bonded more closely after touring together for Devotion. Recorded after the birth of her first child and before the birth of her second child, the 10-song album focuses on connection, love, and motherhood and features the enigmatic, off-kilter singles Send Me, Sink In, and Tectonic. Eric Torres

September 24

Have you ever wondered what Kurt Vile would sound like if he fronted the Velvet Underground? Ill Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico features Vile, Michael Stipe, Iggy Pop, St. Vincent, Courtney Barnett, the Nationals Matt Berninger, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, and more, covering tracks off the bands 1967 debut. The collection also marks the final production work from the late Saturday Night Live music coordinator Hal Willner, who died last year after showing COVID-19 symptoms. Quinn Moreland

October 29

I Dont Live Here Anymore, the War on Drugs first album since 2017s A Deeper Understanding, is led by the single Living Proof, which sees frontman Adam Granduciel experiment with restraint while still throwing in an electric guitar solo. The band plans to hit the road in 2022still a little while away. Luckily, the group shared its first live album last year. Quinn Moreland

TBA

The Weeknds next album willif you believe GQs descriptionbe made up of Quincy Jones meets Giorgio Moroder meets the best-night-of-your-fucking-life party records. The Weeknd also told the magazine that the follow-up to last years After Hours is the album [hes] always wanted to make. His August solo single Take My Breath is a reunion with Max Martin and Oscar Holter, who previously produced the inescapable After Hours hit Blinding Lights. Marc Hogan

October 8

The World Is a Beautiful Place and Im No Longer Afraid to Dies fourth album Illusory Walls is a testament to patience. The bands first proper LP since 2017s Always Foreign took about a year to complete, with recording and writing taking place remotely between Connecticut and quarantined Philadelphia. The title, a nod to the video game Dark Souls, refers to a hidden surface that seems to prevent entry, but upon inspection, is nothing more than a visual illusion, singer/guitarist David F. Bello has said. The first taste of the new album is Invading the World of the Guilty as a Spirit of Vengeance, also named as a Dark Souls allusion. Marc Hogan

October 15

Its been five years since Xenia Rubinos released Black Terry Cat, and shes now releasing the follow-up Una Rosa in the fall. She calls one of the standout singles, Sacude, her El Juidero: It is my reimagining or retelling of rhythms and melodies I have heard all my life that I carry inside me. Gio Santiago

October 15

Young Thug has had rockstar dreams for some time now, and he may finally live them out on Punk, rumored to be his foray into the genre. He premiered a handful of songs from the project during his NPR Tiny Desk set; the music was heavy on melancholy guitars, live drums, and a delivery that was like Thugs version of spoken word. It sounds like Punk should be drastically different from the more traditional Atlanta rap that filled his Slime Language 2 compilation, although even those cuts have gotten the rockstar treatment. Alphonse Pierre

Read this article:

The 45 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2021: The War on Drugs, Kacey Musgraves, Lizzo, Drake, and More - Pitchfork

Joins bipartisan coalition of 25 attorneys general calling on Congress to extend existing resentencing relief to all individuals convicted of low-level crack cocaine offenses

OAKLAND California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a bipartisan coalition of 25 attorneys general in urging Congress to amend the First Step Act of 2018 to ensure its resentencing relief extends to all individuals previously convicted of low-level crack cocaine offenses. The First Step Act enacted a number of commonsense criminal justice reforms, including retroactive relief for individuals convicted under the now-discredited sentencing regime that treated crack cocaine and powder cocaine radically differently under the law. However, following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, some individuals convicted of low-level crack cocaine offenses remain categorically ineligible for resentencing. The coalition urges Congress to amend the First Step Act to clarify that its retroactive relief applies to all individuals sentenced under the prior regime.

We cant undo the damage caused by the failed war on drugs, but we can demand change, said Attorney General Bonta. Today, a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general is doing just that. People unjustly sentenced to decades in prison for low-level crack cocaine offenses deserve relief under the law. They deserve a chance to rebuild their lives. Were urging Congress to help make that happen by ensuring the First Step Act applies to everyone. All of our communities are entitled to equal justice under the law.

Congress enacted the historic First Step Act to modernize the criminal justice system, implementing comprehensive reform in areas such as corrections, criminal charging, community re-entry, and beyond. The product of a unique bipartisan consensus, the act passed with overwhelming support from organizations across the ideological spectrum, as well as over three dozen attorneys general who supported the act as a critical tool for strengthening our criminal justice system and better serving the people of our states. One of the First Step Acts key pillars was sentencing reform. This reform included Section 404, which provides retroactive relief for individuals sentenced under the discarded 100-to-1 crack-cocaine-to-powder-cocaine ratio that Congress repudiated through the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. That earlier legislation abolished the 100-to-1 ratio, reflecting the overwhelming consensus that treating crack cocaine and powder cocaine differently exacerbated racial inequality in the criminal justice system and resulted in unjustly severe sentences for low-level users of crack cocaine. The First Step Act built on the Fair Sentencing Act to specifically allow for retroactive resentencing relief.

In Terry v. United States, the Supreme Court concluded that, while Section 404 clearly authorized certain individuals convicted of mid- or high-level crack cocaine offenses to seek resentencing, it did not extend relief to certain individuals convicted of low-level offenses. As a result, these individuals are now the only ones sentenced under the earlier crack cocaine quantities that remain categorically ineligible for the First Step Acts historic relief. In todays letter, the bipartisan coalition urges Congress to close this gap. There is no reason why these individuals and these individuals alone should continue to serve sentences informed by the now-discredited crack-to-powder ratio.

In sending the letter, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of the District of Columbia, Utah, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A copy of the letter is available here.

Follow this link:

Attorney General Bonta Urges Congress to Further Address Historical Drug Sentencing Inequities by Amending the First Step Act - California Department...

The Assam police has tasted a major success in its crusade against drugs mafia in the state.

Heroin, carrying a market value of around Rs 4 crore, has been recovered and seized by the Assam police.

The recovery was made at Lahorijan under Bokajan sub-division in Assams Karbi Anglong district.

The Assam police team was led by SDPO of Bokajan sub-division John Das.

The recovered heroin weighed around 650 grams.

Also read:Mizoram: Foreign cigarettes worth Rs 3.38 crores recovered by Assam Rifles troopers

The heroin were concealed in 50 soap cases.

In recent times, the Assam police has been acting tough on the drug cartels operating in the state, making huge seizures.

Most of the drugs consignment seized in Assam had being smuggled from either Manipur or Mizoram.

See the article here:

War on Drugs: Heroin worth around Rs 4 crore recovered in Assams Karbi Anglong district - Northeast Now

Samuel Moyn is right to emphasise how humanising war has distracted attention from questioning whether there should be a war in the first place (How the US created a world of endless war, 31 August). We could go further and argue that the permissive interpretation of the rules that he highlights has actually led to a dehumanisation in war.

The last 20 years have seen torture, multiple targeted killings by drones controlled from a safe distance, apparently self-explanatory categories such as law-of-war detainees, law-of-war targets, and the destruction of objects contributing to what has been called the war-sustaining economy. It is as if once one accepts one is at war, we accept that sticking a law-of-war label on all the killing and destruction makes it inevitable and acceptable.

Deep in the concept of war lies a need to adopt a state of mind that dehumanises the enemy. We should be careful not only about claims that war has been humanised, but also be aware that the very idea of war creates a state of mind where the enemy is dehumanised. Andrew Clapham Professor of international law, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

The article on Americas endless wars raised many interesting issues. The idea that the US could strike over long distance by drone without incurring casualties is now an entrenched military maxim. This may not always be valid.

Some years ago I listened to a specialist in military ethics consider the balance of action and reaction to drone strikes from a legal standpoint. He suggested that if the target was a legitimate objective, its remote pilot or any of its supporting personnel, perhaps in Nevada, were themselves potentially legitimate targets from an adversarys perspective .

Civilian casualties associated with these targets would not be legitimate, but, as with so many innocent victims of drone warfare, might possibly be described as unfortunate examples of collateral damage. The general conclusion from this discussion was that drone warfare, even at a distance, posed major challenges for any advocate of a just war on terrorism and for anyone supposing it might be free of deadly consequences for its operators. Prof Keith HaywardLondon

To add some context to your long read, its worth remembering that there have been global wars initiated and inspired by the US since the end of the second world war. The first was the war on communism, AKA the cold war, which some would say was a major factor in the current situation in Afghanistan because the US funded, armed and supported the forces fighting the Soviet Unions occupation forces, seen by Washington as representing communism.

Then there is the continuing war on terror and the continuing war on drugs; the latter is now in its 50th year and the cause of tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of mainly civilian deaths across the world.

What all have in common is that they were and are unwinnable, and just go on and on with no pause for reflection or consideration of what the wars are actually achieving. George Orwells 1984 foresaw endless war. However, his intention was prophecy and warning, not the provision of an instruction manual. Blaine Stothard London

Surely Britain deserves the headline on this article more than the United States, since it has been involved in so many wars for many centuries.Margaret VandecasteeleWick, Caithness

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Rules of engagement and the myth of humane war - The Guardian

As President Joe Biden oversaw the transfer of the remains of the U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide bomb attack at Afghanistans Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, former Education Secretary Arne Duncan took to Twitter. Appearing to weigh in on the controversy over mask mandates in public schools, Duncan compared anti-mask and anti-vax people with the suicide bombers at Kabuls airport.

Have you noticed how strikingly similar both the mindsets and actions are between the suicide bombers at Kabuls airport, and the anti-mask and anti-vax people here? Duncan wrote in a since-deleted tweet. They both blow themselves up, inflict harm on those around them, and are convinced they are fighting for freedom.

Duncans tweet drew a deluge of negative reactions. Some insulted the former secretary, some criticized his timing and judgment, and others offered sarcastic advice. They criticized him for politicizing a tragic event. But Duncans use of a war metaphor to make a point is, in this instance, notable for reasons that go beyond the fact that it drew a sharp rebuke.

As a scholar who studies the rhetoric of education policy, I know that war analogies are a long-standing and common feature of public discourse about U.S. education.

For instance, in 1955, author Rudolf Flesch began his bestseller, Why Johnny Cant Read, by declaring that just as war is too serious a matter to be left to the generals, so, I think, the teaching of reading is too important to be left to the educators.

Similarly, a influential 1983 federal report, A Nation at Risk, stated that if an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war.

In both cases, the authors used war analogies to emphasize the urgency of education reform.

Beyond these prominent examples, the everyday language of education is rife with war metaphors. Classroom teachers work on the front lines of various aspects of education. School officials frequently find themselves embattled. Teachers unions go to war with school district superintendents. Even public education itself is said to be under siege.

In his remarks on the reopening of the nations schools this fall, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona stressed the importance of winning the fight against the pandemic. In these cases, comparing some aspect of education to an aspect of war aids with clarity and meaning.

The modern federal role in education is itself an extension of a different kind of war. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik the first artificial satellite into space in 1957, it triggered the so-called Sputnik Crisis, or a panic that Americas education system was failing to produce enough scientists and engineers.

The crisis focused the country on its schools and resulted in the passage of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, which invested large sums of federal dollars into education for the first time.

So, if war metaphors are common in the rhetoric of education policy, what is different about Duncans tweet?

For starters, it does not liken education to war in the abstract. Rather, it picks out specific individuals and events for comparison. Using war as an analogy for public policy such as in the war on drugs or the war on terror can help pass legislation. However, as communication scholar David Zarefsky demonstrated in his study of the rhetoric of the War on Poverty, such metaphors can distort the implementation of those same laws as the people they aim to help get recast as enemies when their problems prove difficult to solve.

Also, while abstract comparisons to war are open to interpretation, Duncans comment brings to mind specific actors who killed or were slain in war, a clearly unpleasant subject.

Additionally, while some war metaphors use hyperbole, they do not usually have the punchline format of Duncans tweet. Although it does not seem that Duncan was trying to be humorous, beginning the tweet with have you noticed the classic setup for observational humor is an awkward way to frame a tweet about a recent suicide bombing.

Finally, war metaphors in education, especially when they are made by former or current public officials, usually make a unifying appeal. In Baltimore in August 2021, Secretary Cardona called the nation together to reopen its schools. A Nation at Risk, even though its rhetoric was bombastic, asked Americans to see the struggles of the nations education system as a collective responsibility that should inspire a collective response.

By contrast, Duncans tweet was divisive. It characterized people who opposed masks and vaccines as enemies on par with ISIS, rather than fellow Americans who might be persuaded to change their minds.

As I have written elsewhere, secretaries of education have a responsibility to help lead the public discourse on education in the United States. Improving the national discussion on schools was one reason President Jimmy Carter gave for founding the Department of Education and elevating its secretary to a cabinet role.

Although Duncan is a former secretary, he continues to seek to influence education policy as a prominent educator and an education nonprofit board member. For those reasons, his responsibility as a rhetorical leader in the field of education continues as well.

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Education debates are rife with references to war but have they gone too far? - The Conversation US