Confession up front. I haven't read the novel by Suzanne Collins, and indeed had never heard of this series of books until the advance publicity for the film started surfacing. I like science fiction, I like fantasy, and after reading the reviews I decided this was one to see on a large screen, although having seen it I think it will also be effective as a DVD to watch on my laptop some time down … <Read More>
Pipe Dream, American Mavericks, and NOT a Midsummer Night’s Dream
It's been a very busy few days and I'm just getting around to noting several cultural events attended recently.
On Wednesday night, I was in Carnegie Hall for the second of a series of concerts by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra with the collective title of "American Mavericks." Luckily, the one I ended up attending was the one with the piece I most wanted to hear: Henry Brant's orchestral version of … <Read More>
Court Rules on Equal Protection Challenge to Louisiana Sex Offender Registration Requirement
U.S. District Judge Martin L. C. Feldman granted summary judgment to plaintiffs on March 29, 2012, in Doe v. Jindal, Civil Action No. 11-388 (E.D.La.), a case challenging the state's differential imposition of sex offender registration requirements in cases involving solicitation of sex for compensation. Judge Feldman found that there was no rational basis for the state to require registration and all its impositions when people were convicted of Crime Against Nature by Solicitation but not … <Read More>
Court Scores NYC Health Department for “Capriciousness” in Refusal to Issue New Birth Certificate for Transgender Applicant
Justice Paul G. Feinman of New York County Supreme Court ruled on March 16 in Birney v. NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 34 Misc.3d 1243(A), 2012 WL 975082, 2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 50520(U) (Unreported Disposition), that the City Health Department must reconsider its refusal to issue a new birth certificate to Louis Leonard Birney, a transgender man, showing his current male gender identity. The Department had rejected as inadequate proof the certified … <Read More>
Supreme Court Narrows Remedy for Federal Privacy Act Violations
Ruling in the case of an HIV+ licensed pilot whose medical information was improperly shared by the Social Security Administration (SSA) with the Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled March 28 by a vote of 5-3 that the federal Privacy Act, codified at 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552a, waives federal sovereign immunity and exposes the government to damage claims only for pecuniary losses caused to the plaintiff by a statutory violation.
Reversing a contrary … <Read More>
A DOMA Work-Around From the Department of Homeland Security
Yesterday the U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a proposed new rule in the Federal Register, to amend 19 CFR Part 148, "regulations regarding U.S. returning residents who are eligible to file a single customs declaration for members of a family traveling together upon arrival in the United States." What DHS proposed to do is to "expand the definition of the term 'members of a family residing in one household' to allow more U.S. returning … <Read More>
New Developments in the Golinski Case!!
On March 26, the Justice Department filed a "Motion to Consolidate and Expedite Appeals" and a "Petition for Initial Hearing En Banc" in Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management & Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives, Appeals No. 12-15388 and 12-15409 now pending before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. This is the case in which U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White ruled on February 22, 2012 WL 569685 (N.D.Cal.), that … <Read More>
Peoples’ Symphony Concerts at Town Hall on March 25, 2012
This year, Peoples' Symphony Concerts is marking an important anniversary for the Marlboro Music Festival by devoting all three concert series to musicians who have participated in this important and stimulating summer program. Sunday's program at Town Hall took this theme a step further than usual by dividing up the afternoon into two distinctly separate presentations. The St. Lawrence String Quartet, originally billed as the performing group for the program, opened with Joseph Haydn's String … <Read More>
All-American Concert from Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
Although they didn't make much of it in their program notes, last night's concert by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall was a rare event. Apart from the American Composers Orchestra, few of our major "classical" performing organizations present programs entirely consisting of compositions by American composers. Last night we heard music by Leonard Bernstein (arranged by Paul Chihara), Chrise Thile, Clint Needham, and Aaron Copland. And although the Copland was undoubtedly the sole … <Read More>
Yefim Bronfman at Carnegie Hall
It is so very satisfying to attend to a true master at work. And true mastery was definitely on display last night in Carnegie Hall as Yefim Bronfman presented a recital of sonatas by Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms and Sergei Prokofiev.
One could quibble, perhaps, with the stylistic presentation in the Haydn Sonata. The fortepiano has become the instrument of choice for hearing Haydn's keyboard music among early music fans, but it plays well on … <Read More>