Upcoming Brooklyn Museum Exhibit: Yinka Shonibare

Art - Headless Bodies From the Bottomless Imagination of Yinka Shonibare - NYTimes.com

June 27.

The Women - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

The Women - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

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Quote of the Day: Barack on Fatherhood

From the White House Blog:

On the 100th anniversary of Father's Day, the President writes a piece on fatherhood in Parade Magazine talking about his own life and highlighting the responsibilities all fathers must step up to:

In many ways, I came to understand the importance of fatherhood through its absence—both in my life and in the lives of others. I came to understand that the hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can fill. We can do everything possible to provide good jobs and good schools and safe streets for our kids, but it will never be enough to fully make up the difference.

That is why we need fathers to step up, to realize that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one.

Music Break: Gipsy Lovers

Nashtastica explains

On the YouTube page for the video embedded in last post, YouTube member Nashtastica provides answers in a series of comments:

The ballots are perforated into two slips. First part includes the voters details including full name, fathers name, national ID number and so on. The officials check your ID and fill this part out before tearing off your half of the ballot (second part) for you to write down the name of your candidate and cast your vote. The first part is then kept by the official for future reference and in case of fraud investigation.

In this video the guy first goes through the second half of the ballots then fills out the personal details of the alleged voters in what appears to be the first half of the ballot as the other guy reads them out. I also heard the name of one of the candidates, Mohsen Rezai, 40 seconds into the clip. The context was unclear but it indicates that the clip in fact is related to this election.

This seems to have taken place in a relaxed environment which given the fairly quick announcement of the election results I assume took place before the election. The kid in the background towards the end of the video is talking about ice-cream!

And another piece of useful information is that a good majority of major voting stations are in mosques which happen to be where the Basij militia is based and they are pretty much in charge of everything there and needless to say they are fanatic supporters of Ahmadinejad. I was involved a few years ago as an independent monitor in a voting station that was a major mosque in Tehran and the process was laughable and shameful at the same time.

Fraud was widespread. I myself found a stack of blank ballots on the street on my way back home from that very voting station and returned it to the station. They wanted to annul that station but after some dispute and phone calls it was accepted. It pretty much highlights the fact that it is not the voters but the ones who count the votes who dictate the results. The process is highly inefficient and leaves plenty of room for both error and fraud.

Iranian vote-fixing? You decide.

I've been following, a bit haphazardly, the citizen reporting being done on Facebook and other sites. The reports and images being posted ought to be taken with a handful of salt because so much of the citizen reporting coming out of Iran is (by its very nature) unverified as to date and source. But I have, at the same time, deep admiration for the Iranians who take risks to get the word out to the rest of the planet. And many of the "rumors" posted to the 'Net have panned out to be true.

And I feel more strongly than ever that the Internet, regardless of the intentions of its inventors, has taken on a life of its own as the most remarkable social-evolution tool to date in human history, providing us with a reflection of our own nature (from heroic to hateful). Most of all, the 'Net offers the potential for people around the globe to inform and influence each other, hold the feet of leaders to the fire by means of publicizing what is actually happening, to transcend the limitations of nationalism.

Early on after the Iranian authorities announced Ahmadinejad's landslide victory, newscasters, reporters and analysts noted their skepticism about the official results. Inside Iran, the statements of leaders from the various factions are contradictory. Comments posted on the Internet from inside Iran and from expatriate Iranians are also of mixed opinion (though leaning very heavily towards the belief that fraud was committed).

But what about any evidence? I hadn't seen any presented by anyone. Just a sense that Mousavi actually took the popular vote and that the results were fixed.

But yesterday on Facebook I saw this video. (Apologies for the quality, because Facebook vids can only be seen by FB member; what you see here is a movie of the movie.)



I would love to hear from anyone who speaks Farsi, and especially from anyone in Iran who knows what the ballot looked like. It sure as shootin' looks like these men are working off a list of voters and pre-filling ballots.

Whether this is irrefutable evidence (what I want to believe) or an attempt to set someone up or simply fan the flames of protest, whoever shot & leaked this video has guts.

Journalist of the Day: Roger Cohen

A Jewish journalist from Brooklyn toughs it out in Tehran, writing an unforgettable piece published in today's NY Times while simultaneously protecting his own hide and helping those around him. Strong stuff.

Hero of the Day: David Rhode

Can you imagine being captured by the Taliban in November 2008 and a full SEVEN months later, still in captivity, having the presence of mind to scale a wall and escape?! ...

[New York Times reporter] David Rhode, who was kidnapped seven months ago near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, scaled a wall and fled to safety at a nearby army base.

Kudos to the Times for keeping the incident completely under wraps, and to other news orgs for cooperating with that request. If only the WSJ had done the same when Daniel Pearl was nabbed ...

Praying it ain't true

According to a liveblogging article on NIAC's site,

6:14 update: Through Facebook we have received news that Mir Hossein
Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Gholamhossein Karbaschi are under house arrest.

Six Minutes from Iran

This is likely 5 minutes and 30 seconds more reporting, by Lindsey Hilsum bless her soul, than you will see tonight on the average US tv station. (Hey, "digital" is not the only improvement we needed. How about "substantial" and "thorough" and "global"?)

Herbert broadens the view

... as a f/u to my last post pointing at Frank Rich's article, Bob Herbert reminds us that a rising tide of murderous extremism is hardly confined to white supremacist christians, and the language of hate does not only stem from Fox News and Limbaugh.

Whazzup, America? I honestly don't believe (contrary to many of my co-liberals) that guns are the problem. Why are we "up in arms"?! Has anyone tried to answer this critical question, since Moore's Bowling for Columbine?

American white-supremacy/fundamentalism

OK. I admit it. Frank Rich's article has me scared.

Iranian perspective on the election

Interesting interview of the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, on the English Al-Jazeera site:

The results of these elections have taken the world by surprise. Was there a failure here of the international media to guage Iran's affairs and sentiment?

Yes! That is what fascinates me most ever since coming to the US. When I wrote about students reading Lolita in Tehran, I was accused of saying Western literature is great. That is not what I was saying - I was saying people in Iran are taking these texts and analysing and seeing them in their own way - in a way the West doesn't.

The homogeneous picture of extreme belief where the majority of people believe in orthodox Islam which comes out of Iran is not true. Iran is a country of different ethnic minorities and different religions. Many of the Muslim minorities have been oppressed by the regime. This is not Islam - this is a state using Islam for power and we have to break this myth.

You've talked about and write about the importance of literature and culture in the fight for human rights and liberty in Iran and around the world. But is art, culture, literature ever going to be more powerful than religion? Is it enough to start a revolution?

If you look at it in the long term - yes it is. I never forget when Paul Ricoer, the philosopher, came to speak in Iran. He was an eighty-year-old but was treated like [the American rock star] Bon Jovi.

At one point the minister for Islamic Guidance said to him: "People like us [politicians] will vanish but you people will endure." That will always remain with me. We don't remember the king who ruled in the time of [14th century Persian poet] Hafiz, we remember Hafiz.

future mall

http://arieff.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/rethinking-the-mall/

no-pay gigs on craigslist.org

just a sampler from this morning's postings:

--Popular CEll Phone Blog Seeks Contributors
We are looking for individuals to blog about their current and past experiences with cellular devices and wireless carriers. This is a great opportunity for a new blogger, or an experienced blogger.

--Recording Studio Assistnat/Intern (Dumbo)
A professional recording and mixing studio is looking for a part-time intern/assistant. The position is unpaid.

--Camera man interested in taping celebritys for TV show?
Established TV show looking for Camera man who would be interested in taping a Television show with celebrity's in Manhattan. The show consist of a live band, host and celebrity's. Please send in your availability, if you have a camera or not, a little bit about yourself and a photograph. Looking for hungry camera man who wants to be in this business on a high level. No gimmicks. But a little work is involved.

--Seamstress for new clothing line
Hello, I'm Tracy. Iam looking for a seamstress who can sew Maternity clothing. This is a new clothing line I'am producing. The pay wouldn't come until later, so I'm looking for an eager, driven business person as well. My goals are to go far with my idea.

--Event Production Intern Needed for Tomorrow & Sunday!! (TriBeCa)
Fashion & Trade Event tomorrow and Sunday!!
We will need 1 and possibly 2 interns to help with the production of the event and setup and breakdown. You will be assisting the marketing manager and the event producer with any tasks needed. If you want to get some experience in event planning/production this is for you! Fashion students are also welcome! There will be 11-13 designers that you may be able to network with and maybe even speak to about future opportunities! (No promises!).

--Music Video Directors (Union Square)
All you need to participate is the will, the time, and the means to create a short music video and deliver it by the end of September. The style and content (barring illegal activity and porn) are entirely up to you. NO PAY for anyone (including the organizers), but lots of good vibes.

Answering the Writing Tutor Ad

OK. The only way I can deal with this process of seeking paying work in June 2009, is to turn it into words on paper. (Words on screen sounds just awful, doesn't it?)

I answered an ad on craigslist.org for a writing tutor. A guy who was brought up in India and who now works in the Financial District in downtown Manhattan as a software engineer, wishes to bring his written English from "quite good" to "like a native English speaker/writer."

Went to meet him yesterday. This would be for a couple of hours of work a week -- a fact that was pretty clear from his ad. The poor guy now has to wade through EIGHTY responses that he received within an HOUR of posting his little ad. Poor me had to sit there at my age, asking only $20 per hour, going over the top to qualify myself. Never mind being published since the age of 13, or the national writing award in high school, or the honorable mention from the press association, or fifteen nonstop years doing the sort of business and technical writing he is interested in perfecting. I am up against 79 other persons, some of whom quoted $10 per hour.

Quote of the day: Shovelin' the ____?

After the ceremony at which Obama announced his proposed expansion of Americorps ...

Mr. Obama and Mr. Clinton doffed their coats and ties to travel together to Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens to plant trees in a muddy riverside marsh. The two presidents seemed in good spirits and teased each other about their tree-planting ability.

“I think the president has pretty good shoveling skills,” Mr. Obama said after watching Mr. Clinton demonstrate the proper technique.

Benjamin Franklin on Jesus

"As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his divinity; tho' it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and I think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble...."


(from a letter to Ezra Stiles, president of Yale University, about one month before Dr. Franklin's death)

Quote of the Day: George Burns

"Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxi cabs and cutting hair."

Heros: Judge White and Jose PadillaMaybe Hall of Shame: Obama Administration

A judge appointed by W himself seems disinclined to dismiss charges against Bush's White House counsel John C. Woo, for his determination that the rights guaranteed by our Constitution can be overriden by the executive branch.

In yesterday's New York Times:

Lawyers for the Obama administration struggled on Friday to persuade a federal judge here to throw out an unusual civil lawsuit against John C. Yoo, the former government lawyer whose memorandums on torture were used by the Bush administration to justify sweeping policies on detention and interrogation.

Despite their efforts, the judge did not seem inclined to dismiss the lawsuit, which was brought by Jose Padilla, an American citizen who spent more than three years in isolation in a military brig as an enemy combatant.

The judge, Jeffrey S. White of Federal District Court, explored the arguments of Mr. Padilla’s lawyers thoroughly, but he appeared to be skeptical of elements of the government’s argument.

In fact, Judge White, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, even told the government’s lawyers that Mr. Yoo’s 2001 memorandum stating that the constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures can be overridden was “a pretty scary position.”

Jose Padilla spent three years of his life locked up. Why is he a hero? This:

Mr. Padilla seeks monetary damages of just $1. His real goal, in this case and a number of others against other current and former United States officials, is a declaration from the government that his incarceration and harsh treatment were wrong.

“Plaintiffs seek to vindicate their constitutional rights,” the complaint stated, “and ensure that neither Mr. Padilla nor any other person is treated this way in the future.”

And a tentative Hall of Shame position for the Obama administration for trying to have this suit dismissed. "Tentative" only because the Times makes no note of any effort to get an explanation either from papers filed requesting dismissal, nor to contact White House spokespeople directly. All the article gives us on this point is:

President Obama has shown little interest in prosecuting officials of the previous administration, and it is not clear whether there will be a government-sponsored investigation of Bush administration polices.