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North Korea became the first country to drop out of the Tokyo Olympics because of coronavirus fears, a decision that underscores the challenges facing Japan as it struggles to stage a global sporting event amid a raging pandemic.
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When songwriting is necessary
Daniel Hales. STAFF FILE PHOTO
Writer and poet Daniel Hales following the release of his new book, “¿Cómo Hacer Preguntas? or How To Make Questions: 69 Instructional Poems in English,” in Greenfield. STAFF FILE PHOTO
Published: 4/1/2021 9:15:17 AM
The new album “Unstable Oscillators” from Greenfield-based musician Daniel Hales is a compilation of three EPs that he has completed since the pandemic hit. Recorded under the name of Selah haleS (that’s not a mistype), this music is darker and more personal than we’ve heard in Hales’ previous work with his band Frost Heaves.
Hales wrote these songs while not only coping with the isolation imposed by COVID-19, but also dealing with a series of major losses in his life. So this was more than just music he wanted to make it was music he needed to make.
Wealth gap driving division
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Credit:Illustration: Alan Moir
It is clear that Donald Trump and his followers are deluded, unhinged and a danger to democracy. As Peter Hartcher says (‘‘Democracy is a mindset – the US is losing it’’, January 8) ‘‘the deepening bitterness, expressed in economic, race and cultural wars, is the acid eating away at American democracy’’. The gap between wealthy and poor has become more profound, as exemplified by the film Nomadland, which depicts homeless older people who are obliged to travel the US in search of menial jobs in order to survive. At the same time, the wealthy have grown their fortunes to a record of $10.2 trillion during COVID-19. Unless these injustices, and the greed of individuals and corporations are addressed in social policy terms, America is on the way to becoming a basket case.