Tim Robbins: An Open Letter To The New York City Board Of Elections

Mr. Gregory C. Soumas
Board of Elections in the City of New York
Executive Office
32 Broadway
New York, NY 10004-1609

November 17, 2008

Dear Mr. Soumas:

I would like to publicly apologize for being such a dim-witted dilettante on Election Day. I was under the naïve assumption that I could vote where I voted in the last two elections. Your thoughtful letter pointed out that if I had voted in the recent primary election in September I would have discovered that I was no longer registered in the polling place I have voted in since 2004. Considering your position at the Board of Elections and your deep respect for the democratic process I must assume that my local 14th St. poll worker, Betty J. Williamson's assertion that my name was on the active voter rolls for the primary in September of this year was erroneous and that she must be as confused and wrongheaded as I am. If Ms. Williamson saw my name in the book in September that would mean that you are lying. Certainly you wouldn't lie about a thing like that. That is unbecoming of a man of your bureaucratic stature. And why would anyone in the Board of Elections be eliminating legitimate voters from the rolls in late September and October of 2008? That's just crazy and un-democratic.

I should also apologize for the misguided actions of Justice Paul G. Feinman in issuing a court order on Election Day allowing me to vote on 14th St. He apparently thought that a printed out record from your own Board of Elections computer verifying my polling place as 14th St was justification for issuing the court order. If he had only thought to contact you, you could have helped him understand the logic and wisdom of eliminating my name from the book on 14th St. where I have always voted and leaving my name registered at a place I have never voted.

I must also thank you for sending your letter not to me but to all the major newspapers in the New York area and across the internet. I understand it was your way of clearing up this matter and for that I am grateful. I am particularly appreciative of your sending a copy of my voter registration card with my home address and driver's license number to all the newspapers and, by extension, to millions across the internet. What celebrity dilettante wouldn't want his private information made public? What kind of snob gets angry that his family's safety might be compromised? It comes with the territory, right? I was thinking of returning that favor by publishing your home address in this letter but then I thought that maybe one of the thousands of New Yorkers that were taken off the voter rolls in the last two months might not understand what a patriotic upstanding man you are and might show up at your doorstep with the misguided assumption that you are a petty vindictive corrupt scumbag.

Tim Robbins
New Yorker since 1961
Voter since 1976

P.S. If anyone reading this letter had a similar experience on Election Day it can and should be reported at 866ourvote.org.

California Supreme Court to Take Up Gay Marriage Ban

Proof that not all religious folks are opposed to same sex marriage...

Regarding the above photo...
Rev. Amos Brown, a national board member of the NAACP, raises his hands as he speaks to a large crowd of supporters of same-sex marriage, as they cheer in front of San Francisco City Hall on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008. Thousands of demonstrators gathered to listen to speakers and protest the passage of Proposition 8, a ballot measure amending California's constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The event is part of a simultaneous protest planned in hundreds of communities.

SAN FRANCISCO – California's highest court agreed Wednesday to hear several legal challenges to the state's new ban on same-sex marriage but refused to allow gay couples to resume marrying before it rules.

The California Supreme Court accepted three lawsuits seeking to nullify Proposition 8, a voter-approved constitutional amendment that overruled the court's decision in May that legalized gay marriage.

All three cases claim the measure abridges the civil rights of a vulnerable minority group. They argue that voters alone did not have the authority to enact such a significant constitutional change.

As is its custom when it takes up cases, the court elaborated little. However, the justices did say they want to address what effect, if any, a ruling upholding the amendment would have on the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that were sanctioned in California before election day.

Gay rights groups and local governments petitioning to overturn the ban were joined by the measure's sponsors and Attorney General Jerry Brown in urging the Supreme Court to consider whether Proposition 8 passes legal muster.

The initiative's opponents had also asked the court to grant a stay of the measure, which would have allowed gay marriages to begin again while the justices considered the cases. The court denied that request.

The justices directed Brown and lawyers for the Yes on 8 campaign to submit arguments by Dec. 19 on why the ballot initiative should not be nullified. It said lawyers for the plaintiffs, who include same-sex couples who did not wed before the election, must respond before Jan. 5.

Oral arguments could be scheduled as early as March, according to court spokeswoman Lynn Holton.

Both opponents and supporters of Proposition 8 expressed confidence Wednesday that their arguments would prevail.

But they also agreed that the cases present the court's seven justices — six of whom voted to review the challenges — with complex questions that have few precedents in state case law.

The lawsuits argue that voters improperly abrogated the judiciary's authority by stripping same-sex couples of the right to wed after the high court earlier ruled it was discriminatory to prohibit gay men and lesbians from marrying.

"If given effect, Proposition 8 would work a dramatic, substantive change to our Constitution's 'underlying principles' of individual on a scale and scope never previously condoned by this court," lawyers for the same-sex couples stated in their petition.

The measure represents such a sweeping change that it constitutes a constitutional revision as opposed to an amendment, the documents say. The distinction would have required the ban's backers to obtain approval from two-thirds of both houses of the California Legislature before submitting it to voters.

Over the past century, the California Supreme Court has heard nine cases challenging legislative acts or ballot initiatives as improper revisions. The court eventually invalidated three of the measures, according to the gay rights group Lambda Legal.

A Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare by Jeremy Butterfield

When James Murray compiled the OED in the 19th century, he used a small army of volunteers--and thousands upon thousands of paper slips--to track down the English language. Today, linguists use massive computer power--including the world's largest language databank, the Oxford Corpus, which contains more than two billion words--to determine for the first time definitively how the English language is used. From evidence contained in the gargantuan Oxford Corpus, Jeremy Butterfield here uncovers a wealth of fascinating facts about the English language. Where does our vocabulary come from? How do word meanings change? How is our language really being used? This entertaining book has the up-to-date and authoritative answers to all the key questions about our language. Butterfield takes a thorough look at the English language and exposes its peculiarities and penchants, its development and difficulties, revealing exactly how it operates. We learn, for instance, that we use language in chunks of words--as one linguist put it, "we know words by the company that they keep." For instance, the word quintessentially is joined half the time with a nationality--something is "quintessentially American" or "quintessentially British." Likewise, in comparing eccentric with quirky , the Corpus reveals that eccentric almost always appears in reference to people, as an "eccentric uncle," while quirky usually refers to the actions of people, as in "quirky behavior." Using such observations, Butterfield explains how dictionary makers decide which words to include, how they find definitions, and how the Corpus influences the process. Covering all areas of English, from spelling and idioms to the future of English, and with entertaining examples and useful charts throughout, this compelling and lively book will delight word lovers everywhere.

http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Reference/?view=usa&ci=9780199239061#

Alighiero e Boetti: Mappa

In 1971 Alighiero e Boetti commissioned Afghan embroiderers to create a map of the world, with each country bearing the colours and pattern of its flag. The commission grew into a beautifully crafted, large-scale series of maps produced over a period of twenty years in Kabul, Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan. Each map tracked geopolitical changes throughout the world: the break-up of the Soviet Union, the unification of Germany, disputes over territories in the Middle East and regime changes in the Eurasian peninsula. In this new study, Italian curator Luca Cerizza looks at Boetti's Mappa in relation to world events and the history of map-making, as well as to the contemporary art movements of Minimalism, Conceptualism and Arte Povera.

http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11288

Fight Global Poverty

Dear ONE Member,

ONE members got President-elect Obama "On the Record" with historic commitments to fight global poverty and disease. Now, it's time to get to work turning those commitments into hope and dignity for millions struggling to survive around the globe.

Champions in Congress are writing to President-elect Obama to urge him to request a robust Fiscal Year 2010 International Affairs Budget. This bipartisan letter will be a critical first step in fully-funding the proven, effective and affordable solutions needed to save and improve the lives of those suffering from poverty and preventable diseases worldwide. We need you to call your Members of Congress now and urge them to add their names to this important letter:

Senator Barbara Boxer
Phone: 202-224-3553

Congressman Elton Gallegly
Phone: 202-225-5811

Then, please report your call by clicking here:

http://one.org/call?tg=FSCA_2.FHCA_24&cp_id=37&id=703-2718592-TQJuskx&t=2

Obama's commitments may be impossible to keep unless his FY10 budget priorities put us on the right track now, because each year's goals get progressively harder to meet for every year we fall short. That's why we're teaming with the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign in asking Members of Congress to support President-elect Obama’s vision for fighting global poverty and set the stage for fulfilling all his promises to the world's poorest people. Please show them your support by calling now:

Senator Barbara Boxer
Phone: 202-224-3553

Congressman Elton Gallegly
Phone: 202-225-5811

http://one.org/call?tg=FSCA_2.FHCA_24&cp_id=37&id=703-2718592-TQJuskx&t=3

The next Administration and Congress face tough choices as fiscal constraints and mounting deficits impact always difficult budget decisions. The letter from Congress calling for a robust FY10 International Affairs Budget will send a strong message to the new Administration that doubling foreign assistance is in the best interests of the United States and the world, even in these difficult economic times.

Thank you for your voice,
Josh Peck, ONE.org

9 Scripts from a Nation At War @ The Redcat

November 22, 2008 - January 18, 2009
9 Scripts from a Nation at War

A collaboration between Sharon Hayes, Ashley Hunt, Katya Sander, David Thorne, and Andrea Geyer

Opening reception: Friday, November 21, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
9 Scripts from a Nation at War is a multi-channel video installation that responds to the conditions and questions that have arisen during the military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It examines the ways in which war determines and "scripts" certain roles such as "citizen," "veteran," "detainee" and "correspondent" and the capacity of individuals to fulfill or resist these. Drawing on the artists' extensive research, the work presents material sourced from people involved in or responding to the war. A central theme is the investigation of how written and spoken language affects identity in times of conflict, as the language specific to institutions, professions and positions in society extend and limit the ways we situate ourselves in relation to others. 9 Scripts is presented as a constellation of videos that stage the speaking of scripts by actors and non-actors alike, some re-speaking their own words, others learning the words of others. These stagings allow inquiry into the recording, reporting, learning and understanding of the present moment and reflect upon how we account for ourselves within it. In doing so, 9 Scripts shows how language and speech are fundamental in defining structures of power. First shown at Documenta 12 in Kassel, 9 Scripts from a Nation at War is presented in a new configuration specifically for the Gallery at REDCAT.

Public reading: Sat, Jan 10, 1-6 pm

Combatant Status Review Tribunals, pp. 002954-003064 is a five-hour public reading of 18 tribunals held at the U.S. military prison camp at Guantánamo Bay. Based on the transcripts available on the U.S. Department of Defense web site in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, these 110 pages are a small fraction of the material generated by 558 tribunals. The sheer volume of transcripts has effectively obscured them from public view, and the readings make audible a record of these quasi-legal proceedings that had been closed to public scrutiny.

631 West 2nd Street
Los Angeles Ca 90012

Paul McCarthy & Damon McCarthy @ The Redcat November 20 - 22 2008

Home Calendar
November 20-22

Paul McCarthy and Damon McCarthy: Caribbean Pirates

This multi-screen installation offers Los Angeles audiences their first view of videos from Caribbean Pirates, the McCarthy studio's sprawling survey of the pirate figure in American popular culture. Different incarnations of this scabrous examination of the pirate as a symbol of invasion, plunder and depravity have been presented at several other major European venues to vast critical and popular acclaim. The site-specific installation of Caribbean Pirates at REDCAT marks the first time that this work is being shown without its related sculptural elements.

http://redcat.org/season/0809/fv/pirates.php

$20

631 West 2nd Street

Los Angeles Ca 90012

213 237 2800