International Contemporary Ensemble and Matthias Pintscher at Mostly Mozart

Tonight I attended a concert in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall by the International Contemporary Ensemble with guest conductor Matthias Pintscher, the second of two programs presented by this extraordinary chamber ensemble as part of this year's Mostly Mozart Festival.  (The previous concert was a collaboration with conductor Pablo Heras-Casado.)

One would not necessarily associate a group called International Contemporary Ensemble with Mozart's music, but it turned out to be a match made in heaven.  … <Read More>

Entirely Mozart at “Mostly Mozart” on August 10

Last night I attended a concert at Lincoln Center's "Mostly Mozart Festival" that was entirely devoted to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with guest conductor Ivan Fischer directing the Mostly Mozart Orchestra, Concert Chorale of New York, and a group of vocal soloists in Ave verum corpus, K. 618, Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter", K. 551, and Vesperae solennes de confessore, K. 339.

Ave verum corpus is a late work of incredible beauty and spirituality.  Maestro … <Read More>

9th Circuit Takes CLS v. Martinez a Step Further

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a state university law school did not violate the Constitution when it restricted official recognition of student organizations to those whose membership was open to all members of the student body without discrimination on any basis.  The Court said in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez (UC Hastings College of the Law), 130 S.Ct. 2971 (2010), that such a policy, assuming it was not itself applied in a … <Read More>

Pablo Heras-Casado and Joshua Bell at Mostly Mozart Festival

Last night I attended the Mostly Mozart concert at Lincoln Center featuring guest conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and violin soloist Joshua Bell.  The program of core repertory standards was J.S. Bach's Orchestra Suite No. 4, Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No.1, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.  I anticipated a relaxed, comfortable evening of old favorites.  Boy, was I mistaken.

Nothing is relaxed with Pablo Heras-Casado on the podium.  I had been present … <Read More>

Federal Appeals Court Holds that State May Not Refuse Hormone Therapy for Transsexual Prison Inmates

In a unanimous ruling announced on August 5, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld a decision by Chief Judge Charles N. Clevert, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin holding that a Wisconsin law banning hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery for transsexual inmates in that state is unconstitutional.  Judge Clevert had ruled in Fields v. Smith, an action brought by Lambda Legal … <Read More>

Gay Union Member Can Pursue Discrimination Claim Against Biased Union Local

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled on August 2 that a Tennessee federal district court erred by dismissing a claim that a union local in that state may have violated federal law by discriminating against a gay member.  Gilbert v. Country Music Association, Inc., No. 09-6398.  Although the appeals court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of sex discrimination claims brought under Tennessee's Human Rights Act and … <Read More>

Presidential Proclamation Limits U.S. Entry for Anti-Gay/Trans Oppressors

On August 4, President Obama signed a proclamation pursuant to his authority under US immigration law (8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 3 U.S.C. 301), directing the State Department to identify individuals who should be barred from entry into the United States because of their ordering or participating in various kinds of categorical oppressive acts.  The operative text describing who should be barred from entry is as follows:

"(a)  Any alien who planned, ordered, assisted, aided and … <Read More>

Rise of the Planet of the Apes – The New Series Beginner

Filmmaker Rick Jaffa has restarted the old "Planet of the Apes" series by creating a pre-story for the classic first film of the series that was inspired by Pierre Boulle's novel "Planet of the Apes."  In "Planet of the Apes" an astronaut from Earth lands on what seems an earth-like planet on which there is a mysterious reversal – apes are the civilized creatures in charge, and humans are cowering, primitive slaves.  At the end … <Read More>

Dominic Cooper in “The Devil’s Double”

Latif Yahia, an Iraqi emigree, wrote a novelization of his experience being forcibly employed as a "body double" for Uday Hussein, the terrifyingly psychotic playboy son of Saddam Hussein.  Yahia described his book, on which the new movie is based, as a novel, so it is hard to know how much of it is "authentic" and what is fiction, but it provides the basis for an absolutely gripping story that rings true.  In the movie, … <Read More>

More Incremental Steps Towards Equality for Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees

On July 28 the Obama Administration published in the Federal Register three proposals to amend existing regulations to provide various forms of recognition to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees.  While each of these three proposals is minor in the overall scheme of things, they cumulate with prior such actions over the past two years to implement President Obama's goal of affording equality of rights to same-sex couples when one of them works for the … <Read More>