She Said ~ The room buzzed with excitement, as conversations unfolded amongst strangers in the small, quaint Springfield, NJ, library. The walls were adorned by the work of local artists and artifacts of interest.
Five rows of chairs neatly lined next to one another added to a sense of community and comradery. Admittedly, I was curious but tempered in my expectations.
On June 29, 2025, at the hour of 1:00 p.m., I just wanted to hear the music of Neil Young. One attendee much preferred Bob Dylan. To her delight, our friendly entertainer granted her a tune and a personal anecdote about his one time encounter with Dylan, which included tales of smiley pins and streaking on college campuses.
Once we’d all had a laugh, he swiftly returned to Neil Young.
Seated in my favored spot, the back of the room, I listened to Down by the River, Heart of Gold, Old Man, Sugar Mountain, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, and more.
Absent from the playlist was Harvest Moon, yet I did not mind not one bit. The afternoon concluded, as it should have, with Ohio. A song written in the immediate aftermath of May 4, 1970, when the Ohio National Guard shot and killed four students during protests at Kent State University.
As The Pear Tree Project embarks on a summer long quest for art, community, music, and safe spaces in which to co-exist, I would like to thank Briz/Shakey for reminding us about the unifying power of music.
He Said ~ Tariffs are taxes imposed by a government on goods and services imported from other countries. Think of tariffs like an extra cost added to foreign products when they enter the country. They are usually a percentage of the price of the goods. The level of the tariff will affect the significance of its impacts.
Why do governments impose tariffs:
Raise government revenue – tariffs serve as a source of income for governments.
Protect domestic industries and correct trade imbalances – tariffs shelter domestic industries from foreign competition and discourage consumption of imported goods.
Political tools for negotiations – tariffs can be used to apply pressure on the foreign government they are imposed on, as part of a trade negotiation or a political tool.
For example, the Trump administration has justified imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, to pressure foreign governments into addressing illegal immigration and drug trafficking, while also addressing the size of the country’s trade deficit.
July 7th, the president, in a series of social media posts, shared screenshots of form letters dictating new tariff rates to the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos and Myanmar.
Later in the day, he shared another set of seven letters, to the leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Cambodia and Thailand.
Did You Know? Neil Young launched his Love Earth world tour. And in a new post on the Neil Young Archives, he’s inviting longtime fan Donald Trump to come and check it out. Rolling Stone contacted Trump in 2008 to discuss his fandom after noticing him at several New York shows, including the front row of a CSNY concert at the Theater at MSG where he was seated next to Patti Smith and Salman Rushdie.
“He’s got something very special,” Trump said. “He’s performed for me at my casinos over the years, and he just brings it down. I’ve met him on occasions, and he’s a terrific guy.”