Hasta La Gadget!

Stephen Hawking says he’s an atheist, arguing that science offers a “more convincing explanation” for the origins of the universe and that the miracles of religion “aren’t compatible” with scientific fact.

“Before we understood science, it was natural to believe that God created the universe, but now science offers a more convincing explanation,” the celebrated physicist said in a video posted by Spanish newspaper El Mundo. “What I meant by ‘we would know the mind of God’ is we would know everything that God would know if there was a God, but there isn’t. I’m an atheist.”

Hawking’s remarks came in response to a question from El Mundo journalist Pablo Jauregui, who quizzed Hawking about his religious leanings in the lead-up to this week’s Starmus Festival in the Canary Islands. The “mind of God” reference was Hawking’s effort to clarify a passage in his 1988 book “A Brief History of Time,” in which he wrote that scientists would “know the mind of God” if a unifying set of scientific principles known colloquially as the theory of everything were discovered.

As NBC News reported, this isn’t the first time Hawking has spoken about his religious beliefs.

In 2011, he told The Guardian that he didn’t believe in a heaven or an afterlife, calling it “a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” In 2007, he told the BBC that he was “not religious in the normal sense,” adding, “I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws.”

Onstage, this feisty cowpunk of Mexican-Irish descent talks tough, wears cowboys boots that match the color of her ruby-red lipstick (and her Gibson J-200) and prefers to sing Johnny Cash instead of Bob Dylan.

She honors her mixed heritage by partaking in “Guinness for dinner, tequila for dessert,” and twice chipped her teeth on the microphone after downing one too many Fireball whisky shots.

Offstage, Nashville-by-way-of-Toronto singer-songwriter Lindi Ortega is as sweet as one would expect a self-proclaimed “mama’s girl” to be.

“My mom was a little heartbroken,” Ortega said when her parents’ only child left Canada two years and nine months ago to attempt to jump-start her career in Music City USA.

“It was a little hard in the beginning because I didn’t know anybody, so it was kind of a whole new situation for me,” Ortega said during a brief interview after her recent appearance at the High Watt in Nashville. “I hadn’t done a big major move to another country like that before. It was kind of like jumping off a cliff. But it’s so worth it. I love Nashville. I can’t imagine living anywhere else now.”

Ortega, the second subject of this “Backstage Pass” series of Nashville-based artists who played at AmericanaFest from Sept. 17-21, had just wrapped up a four-song, 17-minute set last Friday (Sept. 19) afternoon.

The youthful daughter of Paco and Sharon Ortega, wearing a cute, frilly black minidress and a black veil (with a rosy adornment, perhaps signifying her positive outlook), seemed as fresh as a daisy afterward, when we met in the stairwell of the venue.

At a listening party her talent booking agency threw with acts that included The Harpoonist & The Axe Murder (really) and Jamestown Revival, Ortega charmed a supportive crowd (“If you’re looking for a creepy friend, that’s me,” she said) with numbers such as “The Day You Die,” “Demons Don’t Get Me Down” and a sexy, soulful cover of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody.” A voice the quivers and shakes conveys what it means to be a lonely heart in search of true love.

As comfortable supporting k.d. lang or Social Distortion (and singing with Mike Ness) as she is performing old country and pop standards, Ortega covers a lot of ground on albums such as Little Red Boots and Cigarettes & Truckstops.

Yet, that doesn’t mean she’s reached her final destination.

Two days earlier, her showcase scheduled for midnight at spiffy new City Winery was delayed more than 45 minutes by the preceding act, Americana emerging artist award-winning Sturgill Simpson.

That cut into her time on stage with touring band mates Champagne James Robertson of Toronto, a dazzling electric guitarist formerly with New Country Rehab, and Nashville-based drummer Noah Hungate.

The disappointment still showed in Ortega’s big, beautiful eyes as she talked about half the sizable room departing after Simpson’s set, but her steadfast determination remained.

“It was a little difficult,” she said of what was supposed to be her moment in the midnight sun. “It is what it is.”

That also made the emotional title track of 2013’s excellent Tin Star, her most recent album, strike the saddest of minor chords at the High Watt.

“It’s such a humbling city in that there’s so much talent,” Ortega said when asked if “Tin Star” reflected her true feelings. “You can go into any place on any given night and walk in on something incredible, mind-blowing. What I always thought was interesting, I would walk in and I would see an incredible blues band. And there would be five people there. It just blew my mind that these artists were so filled with talent and that the world didn’t know about them. And it just got me thinking about how many artists there are like that.

“Especially Nashville because it’s Music City, so a lot of people are attracted to the city with the hope of making it. Sometimes, I genuinely feel it’s not for lack of trying or hard work or talent. Sometimes it’s just that stroke of luck. Somebody’s in the right place at the right time and makes the right connection and then things blow up for them, you know. Some people just don’t get that little shot of luck. It’s like a lightning strike. And so, yeah, I wanted to write a song that’s paying tribute to all the road dogs out there working it, pounding the pavement.”

Feeling “beat up and rusty” like an “old tin star,” as she writes, “lost in the shining stars of Nashville, Tennessee” might be somewhat overwhelming, but not for Ortega, who’s been making records since 2001 and whose listed date of birth (May 28, 1980) must be a misprint.

She’s already written several songs for her next album, which she plans to start recording “probably in December” ahead of a 2015 release.

“At first, I was a bit intimidated,” Ortega said about the move to Nashville. “I’m not anymore. I try not to let that get to me because I feel like, when you compare yourself to everything else going on, it can be daunting. It can allow you to be a little jaded, I guess. But I try to have a bit of a tunnel vision with what I do and just sort of gun for my goals and not pay attention to what else is happening. And just try to be inspired and try to be the best that I can be.”

Following in the tradition of initial “Backstage Pass” interviewees Justin Wade Tam and Leslie Rodriguez of promising act Humming House, Ortega went on to provide a behind-the-scenes look at her profession, including pre- and post-show habits. Some snippets from the random Q&A:

Do you still get nervous before a show?
No, no, I don’t really get nervous. It’s just more like I’m pumped and excited to play shows. It’s like a shot of adrenaline really more than it is nerves. The only thing I got nervous for was, we did the Canadian Country Music (Association) Awards just recently in Canada. And I won an award this year for roots artist of the year and I’ve never been more nervous in my life accepting the award and doing the speech. I really wasn’t prepared to win anything.

But you’ve been nominated for prestigious awards before (including the Polaris Music Prize and the Junos, Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys).
Yeah, yeah, but I was kind of used to having a losing streak and not winning anything. So I was really expecting not to win. And I couldn’t get my words out. I think I said “um” a hundred times. I actually ducked behind the podium because I got so flustered and nervous. But it was fun. A lot of people liked the speech because they thought it was funny that I ducked behind the podium. Yeah, so that and presenting was a little nerve-racking. … But actually singing, that’s something I love doing, so I don’t really get nervous for that.

Do you have a process you go through to get rid of jitters if you do get them?
I guess my only process for singing is just drinking lots of water before I go onstage and making sure that I’m well-hydrated and a little bit of vocal warmups kind of thing.

How do you kill time backstage before a show?
Writing out everybody’s set list is what I do. (laughs) I hand write everybody’s set list. I just do it. I want to make sure its all right.

What’s your favorite pre-show tune? Do you listen to music before you go onstage?
Yes, sometimes I do. I love Johnny Cash, so I’m always listening to a lot of Johnny Cash. I like “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” and “Ain’t No Grave.” I love stuff like that. I love Duane Eddy as well. He’s got a song called “Stalking” that’s really cool. It always gets me in a mood for a show.

Do you have any superstitious pre-show rituals?
No, I don’t really. I only recently have been reading tarot cards. I find everything to do with witches really interesting to me, so I’ve been studying witches. I think that’s all kind of cool.

Did you learn anything?
I learned that tarot cards are, no matter what, ’cause I’ve been studying … there’s a whole bunch of them in the deck, that no matter what one you pull, there’s always a life lesson you can take out of it that you can apply to any situation that won’t do you any harm. You’re always good to listen to it.

Do you have a favorite tarot card or lesson you learned?
Yeah, one of the really good ones I read sometimes is just be aware of your friends and family, people that love you, and make sure you always appreciate that love and give it back. A lot of people always look at it like it’s really hokey or whatever. I guess if you’re trying to tell the future with it, it could be. But if you just take it for what it is, as good advice, it’s great.

What’s your onstage good-luck charm?
I’m not actually wearing my good-luck charm I have, but … I think I took it off by accident and forgot to put it back on. It’s a little eagle pendant that I bought in Mexico when I shot a video out there. I’m usually always wearing it. Today, I forgot. (laughs)

Hopefully, that’s not a bad omen.
No, no. It’s in my bathroom. I just forgot to put it on.

What’s your pet name for your instrument you play onstage?
I’ve got a few different instruments with a few different pet names. So I have a Gibson Hummingbird that got almost totally destroyed on an Icelandair flight. And I didn’t discover it until a week after, so I couldn’t claim it. And it cracked half the body with a big hole in the side. And I got it fixed. But now I call it “Frankie” after Frankenstein. It’s got this big sort of Frankenstein scar on the bottom of it. Today at the High Watt is a (Gibson) J-200 that I got custom made. It’s like my dream guitar. And usually it’s got a certain kind of pickguard, the J-200s. But I got the Everly pickguards, which are like old country. Back in the day, Johnny Cash and his J-200 used to have like these old funky pickguards on it. I decided to put on the Everly pickguards because it looked like a Mexican mustache sort of thing. I decided to call my guitar “Sanchez.” There’s (also) “Blackie,” my ES-195 guitar.

What’s a must-have food or drink before a show?
Ginger. I have to have ginger in my tea. I don’t really demand it. I put it on my rider. I don’t always get it because situations don’t always call for having a rider. I didn’t get it today, but I do love ginger in general.

You’ve already played, but was there someone you wish you could’ve joined (or could’ve joined you) onstage this week?
Well, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murder gig looked pretty cool right before me. So it would be cool to sing with them sometime, maybe. (laughs)

Which cover do you never get tired of covering?
Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

And which cover are you sick and tired of covering and plan to never do again?
Well, I can tell you, I love Bob Dylan. I’m a huge fan. But I had sort of a bad experience at a tribute show (May 7, 2011 at Hugh’s Room in Toronto) where I forgot the words halfway through and just went blank.

Which song?
“It Ain’t Me Babe.” So halfway through, I just forgot it and there were all these Bob Dylan fans. So I couldn’t listen to Bob Dylan for like a year after that because it just reminded me of that mortifying experience. It’s kinda like … I haven’t really touched a Bob Dylan song since. I just let him do his thing. Too many words for me.

Backstage social media addiction: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or something else?
I’m always tweeting and Instagramming and Facebooking. Sometimes I take silly little pictures and post them before we go on. (laughs) Instagram’s my favorite. I like posting pictures all the time. It’s nice to tell stories with a photo.

Do you ever have a reason to alter your set list?
Yeah, sometimes. It depends on the crowd. Like I said, I’ve opened for Social D. When we do that, we sort of rock it out a bit more, do a little bit more of the upbeat sort of rockabilly numbers. And then I’ve opened for k.d. lang, and there we’ve sort of done some of the softer songs. That’s a completely different audience.

Favorite onstage beverage?
Water. It’s the best one. I’ve tried the other and I just realize that the set kind of goes “Whooo.” (laughs)

Craziest thing you’ve been asked to sign at the merch table?
Well, it’s not really crazy, but people wear red boots to my shows because I wear red boots all the time. So people ask me to sign their red boots. And I always feel bad because I feel like I’m defacing their beautiful leather red boots. I’m like, “Are you should you want me to sign this?”

What do you do to unwind after a show?
I don’t normally unwind until I actually get home from the show and then I sort of chill. I’m usually in a hotel room, so I just put on some music and relax.

Any certain kind of music?
Just whatever’s on my iPad. I’m into the blues, I guess, lately. A lot of Lightnin’ Hopkins or Leadbelly, stuff like that.

What time do you usually get up the day after performing a late show?
Oh, it depends. If we’re on tour, sometimes we’ve got to leave really early the next morning. And we have like two hours’ sleep when we get home from the show. It gets really tiring after a while. … I’m not really a morning person, not unless I have a pot of coffee going.

Photos by Michael Bialas. See more from AmericanaFest 2014. See the previous “Backstage” article with Humming House’s Justin Wade Tam and Leslie Rodriguez.

One thing I learned right away when honored with the National Teacher of the Year Award is that people wanted to know my philosophy of teaching. The answer has always been easy: Kids before content. In my classroom, I don’t teach English. I teach students.

Everything we know about what it takes to succeed in today’s economy and society suggests that our nation needs more individuals with nimble minds capable of creative, innovative thinking, and who have the perseverance to take on — and learn from — challenges. These are the demands of the 21st century. We should prepare students by helping them develop these skills across all subjects.

An educational approach known as deeper learning does that. Deeper learning encourages critical, independent thinking across all academic subjects, from history to mathematics. By presenting, defending and analyzing long-term projects, students also learn to communicate effectively, work collaboratively and believe in their own efficacy as rigorous thinkers — all while mastering core academic content, because robust content knowledge enhances students’ abilities to leverage and apply their skills.

In my English class, for example, students explore the wider world through the Injustice Project. Students select a topic that interests them: Human trafficking. Child soldiers. The history and treatment of Native Americans. They choose, read and discuss a relevant book that illuminates the issue. Having gained empathy through the narrative, students then conduct their own research to compose an argument for a solution to the issue. They then “market” their learning by creating a presentation that defends their solution and promoting their cause on social media.

A growing number of schools across the country fully embrace deeper learning and imbed its tenets into their culture and curriculum. But can this educational approach be taken to scale?

I believe it can. But not without overcoming some challenges first. The structure of a typical school day — 45-minute bell schedules, teachers working in silos away from each other, and the difficulty of orchestrating off-campus projects and internships in the community — would need to change to accommodate deeper learning’s interdisciplinary nature.

Then there’s the issue of measuring student outcomes. Many hold the perspective that “what’s measured is what matters.” For better or for worse, the predominant measurement system currently in our schools is standardized testing. But these tests, at least in their present form, don’t fully reflect or measure 21st century skills. To truly capture deeper learning outcomes, we will need to rethink how we measure student outcomes.

Deeper learning also does not translate easily to a simple curriculum guide that teachers can just pick up and implement. As with Common Core, establishing new educational norms requires a different paradigm of training, instruction and assessment. We must invest in teachers on the front lines of this change.

All of this takes work and no small measure of will. But it will be worth it because our kids are worth it. When I started high school, I wasn’t working to my potential. My home life was chaotic. But the teachers who became my mentors saw that, with the right support, I could do better. They knew that learning and growth happens when students are highly engaged in valuable learning, and so they stoked my curiosity and gave me room to run with my own questions and ideas. This should be the rule, not the exception.

As students prepare for a future where their work lives are likely to span a dozen or more jobs, one of the most important dispositions they can adopt is to embrace challenge and find joy in continuous learning. Teachers can nurture this resilient mindset. They can empower young people to translate learning into a vital, personal practice that can fuel their ambition and sense of purpose for a lifetime. In this way, our investment in deeper learning for our children returns to students the preparation that the future demands and the education that they deserve.

My name is Kashif Chaudhry. I am a Pakistani immigrant to the United States. Currently, I am completing a Cardiology fellowship in Boston. While speaking at Yale a few days back, Ayaan Hirsi Ali declared war on me. But why?

To provide some perspective, I am a Muslim who belongs to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the single largest community of Muslims worldwide, with tens of millions of members in over 200 countries, all united under His Holiness, the Khalifa of Islam. Established in 1889, we have a 125-year history of demonstrating — not just claiming — that Islam promotes universal justice, freedom of speech and free exchange and criticism of ideas. We promote peace through dialogue and support universal freedom of conscience for people of all faiths — and of no faith. We are at the forefront of humanitarian service throughout the world. We run schools to impart secular education, hospitals to treat the sick and lead charity projects to provide food and water etc. across many parts of the developing world. In the United States alone, we collected 30,000 bags of blood to commemorate 9/11 victims in the last three years. We also recently took our fight against hunger to the American Congress. We condemn violent Jihad, reject apostasy and blasphemy laws as un-Islamic and champion the separation of Church and State.

The inspiration for all our work is Islam. We get our inspiration — to place Humanity first — from the teachings of the Koran and Prophet Muhammad. But in doing so, we invoke the curse of Hirsi Ali, who declares war on us for the crime of following the Koran.

I followed Hirsi Ali’s speech on social media. Here is what I have to say to her:

1)

Yes it is. I try my best to submit to that call. I submit to the will of Allah when I serve humanity, when I serve my parents, when I help my neighbors, when I smile to everyone, when I respond to persecution with patience and prayer, when I strive for universal justice and peace etc. I try my best to follow the teachings of the Koran and live my life by it. This is exactly why we Ahmadi Muslims — as the largest growing faith community in the world — are able to achieve what we have. This is why Ahmadi Muslims have spread peacefully to all corners of the earth and continue to lead humanitarian efforts in all these places. Our inspiration is indeed the Koran.

2) Hirsi Ali, you clarified that you are at war ONLY with Muslims who follow the Koran in its entirety. I am one of hundreds of millions of such Muslims whom you place in this “first set.”

Why would you be at war with me? I spend my time doing community service, preach peace and love, condemn violence in all its forms and drive across the country on my few free weekends (Cardiology fellowship is hectic) to promote intra-faith and interfaith harmony. I spend my free evenings writing against religious extremism and bigotry, especially the type prevalent in the Muslim world. This is the bigotry that I survived and escaped. Many of my fellow brothers (and sisters) are not as lucky, and continue to be persecuted and killed by extremists in Pakistan. As if this vigorous ideological battle we fight at the forefronts was not enough, you just opened another front, declaring war on me for following the Koran.

3)

I am glad you agree with me on the issue of ‘violent Jihad.’ Ahmadi Muslims have ‘years and years and years’ of experience preaching against violent Jihad. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the community, wrote over a century ago:

They (Orthodox Muslim clerics) adhere so strongly to their doctrine of jihad — which is completely misguided and entirely contradicts the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and hadith — that they label as “dajjal ” (Antichrist) and advocate the murder of anyone who as much as objects. – British Government and Jihad, pg.8

He also stated:

They should remember that their understanding of jihad is not at all correct, and that human sympathy is its first casualty. Their belief, that jihad (with the sword) should be lawful today because it was permitted in early Islam, is totally incorrect… Under no circumstance did our Holy Prophet (pbuh) raise the sword against anyone unless they had first raised the sword; mercilessly killing innocent, pious men, women and children with such brutality that reading about these events even today brings tears to our eyes.

The Jihad that we engage in is spiritual self-reformation and an intellectual defense of Islam with the pen. It has nothing to do with violence. I have touched on this issue in a little more detail in this editorial I wrote for the New Jersey Record.

Hirsi, I agree there are radical clerics in the Muslim world who preach a belligerent interpretation of Jihad. I agree they are a problem. I, hence, invite you to join me in fighting this problem. The violent Jihadis persecute me. They kill me. And now you join them in declaring war on me? For humanity sake, my hands are full right now.

4)

I hear you. This is genuinely sad and frustrating for me too. I speak about these issues on social media all the time. The radicals in the Muslim world have political backing and use this influence to silence us moderates. In Pakistan, for instance, a governor and federal minister who spoke against the country’s cruel and inhumane blasphemy laws were gunned downed. The blasphemy and apostasy laws are tools used by radical extremists to maintain control and power. Three of my uncles went to jail under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Thousands of others suffer worse fates. Thankfully, with time and education, more and more Muslims are becoming aware of the unIslamic nature of these laws.

I pray for the day when these laws are repealed wherever they exist in the Muslim world. So do hundreds of millions of other Muslims worldwide. Once again, I invite you to join us moderates — who suffer from these laws on the ground — instead of declaring war on us.

5)

Anyone who claims FGM to be a ‘Muslim problem’ is dishonest. I am glad we agree that FGM pre-dated Islam and is present across different cultures and tribes. FGM has no sanction in the Koran and popular Islamic tradition. Some schools of thought within Islam do encourage FGM based on certain controversial narrations. The majority of Muslims, however, rejects such views and believes a solution presents itself in the form of mass education and awareness campaigns. We believe FGM should be viewed as an act of terrorism.

It is a fact that FGM is common in other non-Muslim communities as well. The largest ethnic group in Kenya — the Kikuyu tribe — is one example. According to a Kenya Demographic Health Survey (1998), “42.5 per cent of Kikuyu women aged between 15 and 49 have been circumcised” (The Nation 5 Jan. 2000). According to the FGM Website, half of the Kenyan population (6,300,000) have undergone the practice. A Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival (BASICS) report states that “80 percent of women above the age of 14 have undergone some type of FGM. Evidence suggests that the age of circumcision is getting younger and younger.”

We need more health awareness campaigns to educate people across all such cultures and tribes that have failed to see the crime in FGM. Just shouting “FGM is a Muslim problem and so lets declare war on all Koran followers,” is not just dishonest, it is counterproductive. Let us fight this good fight together Hirsi Ali. I am sorry for what you had to go through and I am sorry for what happens to millions of women like you — primarily in Africa. I invite you to join me — instead of declaring war on me — in fighting the horror of FGM through education.

6)

Yes we do. This is why the majority of Muslims in the Muslim world refuse to send their kids to ‘madrassas,’ many of which have become recruiting grounds for radical clerics. The majority of practicing Muslims send their kids to secular schools, yet teach them the Koran at home or through Muslim schools — the same Muslim day schools you advocate should be closed down.

As a Muslim youth leader in North Jersey, I had the opportunity to supervise one such Muslim day school at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque in North Jersey every Saturday. Like me, the kids who graduated from this school continue to be heavily invested in community work. They are helping make America a better place for everyone.

7)

Firsly, Saudi Arabia is not representative of Islam. This naïve simplistic view of the faith of 2 billion humans is insulting to your intellect. Many of your counterparts in the antisemitic world make the same mistake, confusing Israel’s controversial policies with the teachings of Judaism.

Secondly, if a symbol in a flag signifying military prowess is any indication of the flag-bearer’s (or their faith’s) inherent violent nature, then what do you say about the following:

1) The seal of the President of the United States has thirteen arrows denoting the ‘power of war.’ Does this show of military power mean ‘Christianity’ or ‘secularism’ (however you see the country) is inherently violent? Or is the President a violent savage? I don’t think so.

2) The flags of Guatemela, Haiti, Sri Lanka, Mozambique etc also contain military symbols. None of these is a Muslim-majority country. Does this translate to the inherent violence in the people or faith of the citizens of these States?

3) The flags of some of the US States — including mine i.e. Massachusetts — have a sword in it too. Does that mean the residents of Massachusetts, or people all over the world who share the majority faith practiced here (Christianity) are not peaceful?

4) The flag of many counties (e.g Essex county) and cities, including one of my favorite — London — has a sword as a symbol. Would it be fair to infer that Londoners are not peaceful or that those who share their values anywhere in the world must be violent savages?

Sorry Hirsi Ali, this one was lame. No offense.

8)

We are. Its been too long now. We are only picking pace with time. We get persecuted and killed on the front-lines every day. But while we continue to be resilient in fighting radical extremists, you refuse to join those that support our tolerant and peaceful narrative on Islam and the Koran. You even refuse to join the silent majority that remains neutral on this issue. Shockingly, you give credence to the narrative of our enemies as the ONLY true narrative on Islam, then group all Koran followers together, and declare war on us. If you cant share our burden Hirsi, please don’t make it worse for us.

And if you are genuinely unaware of the work we moderates do, just read this Oped — published on the same day as your speech — written by the spokesperson of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. Also follow our intellectual Jihad against all radicals and extremists — religious or otherwise — at the Muslim Writers Guild of America. Do subscribe.

9)

Lets end this on a complete agreement. Thank you for reiterating what all American Muslims already know and cherish — the superior values and freedoms of the United States. This is exactly why I am writing this blog. I believe it is hurtful to American Muslims who follow Islam and the Koran that you would brand them with the likes of ISIS and declare war on them alike. I ask that you reconsider. I ask that you redirect your war towards those who want you dead in the Muslim world. Unlike those outliers, I would give my life for you happily. My Islam and my Koran teach me that sanctity.

I declare peace on you. Will you reciprocate?

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