-
Leonard Cohen
·
Categories: Culture -
Dead GI’s mother interrupts Laura Bush speech in NJ
Via Newsday/AP, from suburban New Jersey:
A woman wearing a T-shirt with the words “President Bush You Killed My Son” and a picture of a soldier killed in Iraq was detained after she interrupted Mrs. Bush’s speech.
Police escorted Sue Niederer of Hopewell out of the rally after she demanded to know why her son, Army 1st Lt. Seth Dvorin, 24, was killed in Iraq. Dvorin died in February while trying to disarm a bomb. Niederer was later charged with defiant trespass and released.
As shouts of “Four More Years” subsided, Niederer, standing in the middle of the crowd of about 700, continued to shout about the killing of her son. Local police escorted her out of the event, handcuffed her and placed her in the back of a police van.
The first lady continued speaking, and several people shouted back at Niederer. One woman yelled, “Your son chose to fight in that war.”
Here is an interview with Sue Niederer. She is a member of Military Families Speak Out.
The NY Times story tells us one of the things she yelled:
The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq was arrested after interrupting a speech by Laura Bush in Hamilton, N.J. Mrs. Bush appeared before a crowd of more than 700 people at the Colonial Fire Hall, trumpeting President Bush’s efforts to fight terrorism and stimulate the economy with tax cuts. When she made reference to the war in Iraq, she was interrupted by a spectator, Sue Niederer, who shouted, “Why don’t your children serve?” Mr. Bush’s supporters quickly surrounded Ms. Niederer, who wore a shirt bearing a photo of her son, Seth Dvorin, an Army lieutenant killed in Iraq in February, and the words “President Bush, You Killed My Son.” As Bush supporters shouted “Four more years!” and Mrs. Bush resumed her speech, security guards led Ms. Niederer from the auditorium. Later, as Ms. Niederer stood near the doorway to the fire hall being interviewed by reporters, she refused a request to leave the premises and was arrested on charges of trespassing.
Common Dreams has an image of her protesting at a Colin Powell appearance in February.
·
Categories: War -
New Museum open house
I already put this on the arts calendar, but I wanted to put it here too to make sure people don’t miss it.
New Museum will have space in the Chelsea Art Museum on West 22nd Street (west of Dia) while their new building is being constructed on The Bowery. There will be an open house on Saturday, September 18, from 12-6 PM with free admission. I see one of the things on view is a video by the Turkish artist Fikret Atay that I mentioned before when we saw it at Apex.
·
Categories: Culture -
Heard on 23rd Street
Two young suits, probably Wall Streeters, walking down my street. One points behind him at the Hotel Chelsea.
Chelsea Hotel? Serena’s, downstairs? Fuckin’ sorority party!
·
Categories: NYC -
Cory Arcangel interview
·
Categories: Culture -
The Civilians: Nobody’s Lunch @ P.S.122
Yeah! A new show from The Civilians at P.S.122, titled Nobody’s Lunch. I’ve written about them many times before, as this Google search will show.
Obie-winning theater company The Civilians premiere their latest project Nobody’s Lunch. Delving into the politics of information, the company conducted extensive interviews to look at the problematic subject of how we gain knowledge and form beliefs in the current climate. With interviewees ranging from the Head of Policy at Homeland Security to every Jessica Lynch in the phone book (who was willing to talk), Nobody’s Lunch is a dark and eccentric ride through the landscape of American public culture.
We saw some excerpts from it at their fundraiser earlier this year. I can’t wait.
·
Categories: Culture -
Rounding up journalists
You can’t arrest 1,800 people without having somebody in the middle who shouldn’t have been arrested. That’s what the courts are there to find out afterward.
Apparently they’re there to sort out the journalists too if necessary.
Editor and Publisher has an article today titled Reporters’ Legal Hotline Drew Nine Calls During GOP Convention
A special legal support hotline for reporters covering the Republican National Convention, set up by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, received at least nine calls for help from journalists who were arrested or detained at the event, the RCFP said Tuesday.
Although that may be considered low, since nearly 2,000 protesters were arrested during the week, RCFP leaders contend it is significant, since a similar hotline set up for the Democratic National Convention in Boston prompted no calls.
Go read the whole article. They have a list of people detained by the police. Some of them were held for well over 24 hours.
·
Categories: NYC -
Republicans bad for show biz
Via Crain’s New York:
Broadway was hit hard last week when the Republican National Convention was in town.
Attendance for the week ending Sept. 5 dropped 18% to 163,977 compared with the same week last year. Box-office grosses plummeted 20%, to $10.9 million, despite the League of American Theatres and Producers’ “Unconventional Wisdom” discount ticket program. That promotion sold $215,000 worth of tickets.
·
Categories: Culture -
Cool use of Black & White’s space by a sculptor
An image of Dewitt Godfrey‘s installation at Black and White Gallery, from the gallery web site:
The ones you see in the back are in the gallery’s outdoor patio space.
·
Categories: Culture -
Great article on Pedro Almodóvar
In the New York Times Magazine.
·
Categories: Culture