Fired for Committing Journalism

Daily Illini editor Acton H. Gorton has been fired for publishing the Mohammed Cartoons (more lighthearted link here). Why? A journalist's first objective is to avoid offense, not publish the news, that's why.

These cartoons should be published in every major newspaper and magazine in the country - by its very nature, respecting barbarism is to tacetly condone it.

On the same note, the twelve signatories of the Anti-Islamist Manifesto have been marked for death. Email your name to prochoix@prochoix.org to have it added to those in solidarity with the twelve. You can also sign the solidarity petition here.

Khuzestan

We need to make this happen. Khuzestan is a Southwestern Iranian province with a border on Iraq, and a coast on the Persian Gulf. While most of Iran's population is ethnically Persian, Khuzestanis are primarily Ahwazi Arab. The really interesting thing is that this province and its ethnically distinct culture produce most of Iran's oil. Of course, the profits are not seen by the local population, but go back to Tehran. This could be very promising for the U.S.

The new Iranian Bourse threatens to undermine the value, stability and security of the dollar, moreover, oil is the only real leverage Iran has in its favor right now - a conspicuous Achilles' Heel. Coupled with the country's misbehavior on the international stage and its theocratic abuse of human rights, we have plenty of reasons to neutralize the threat of Iranian economic hostage-taking and Iran-like sectarian hegemony throughout the region.

An unhappy, culturally distinct, oil-producing province and population is a prime opportunity for such neutralization. There have already been episodes of unrest, and it is in our short-term interest to facilitate more. This will probably come back to bite us in 20 or 30 years, as Zbigniew Brzezinski's strategy to aid the Taliban in the 70s has today, but that did help to end the Cold War.

The Tristan Chord

I've solved the Tristan Chord conundrum - what can I say, it's what I do.



The "Tristan Chord" is in the second full bar, spelled from the bottom up as F B D# G#. When I was in college studying this, the answer was on the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn't quite get to it. Obviously, it has the shape of an F half diminished chord, but the harmonic function is really one of F-E in the bass. What Wagner's done here is soured a French Augmented 6th chord - which would be spelled F A B D#, or in his voicing, F B D# A - with a suspension on the downbeat. He delayed the A by placing a G# on the beat, resolving to the A afterward.

That explanation alone would be dandy, if it weren't for the fact that the chord sounded so good, begging for an isolated analysis. The chord's pleasant sound is explained by two things: 1.) It's a half diminished chord, which our ear finds comfortable; 2.) Half diminished chords always sound better than French 6th chords, because French 6th chords are comprised of two interlocking tritones, and sound a little ugly in the first place. Furthermore, Wagner places another suspension - the A# - on the subsequent downbeat, thus confirming that the harmonic idiom at this point is one of downbeat suspensions.

But let's say that I'm an idiot, there aren't two suspensions in a row, and it really is a chord unto itself. Fine. In that case, Jazz theory explains it handily. It sounds like an F chord, leading to an E chord. Tritone substitution determines the downbeat of the second full bar to be a B13(b5) which nicely prepares the E chord in bar three. B13(b5) in the key of A minor: That's a V/V, pure and simple.

Consider this Gordian Knot cut.