French artists, aggrieved over a strike last summer, are increasingly making public protests. “They’ve driven a popular reality show from the air for two hours, taken a news show hostage for a minute of free advertising, and on Wednesday stormed a televised Parliamentary session. The new tactic is Act II of an uprising that started this summer when part-time show business workers shut down music and theater festivals across France.”
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Cargo Handlers Arrested For Stealing Freud
Two cargo handlers at JFK airport have been charged with stealing a Lucien Freud painting from a cargo warehouse. “The pair allegedly broke into a carton at the United Airlines cargo building on Tuesday and removed the artwork. Police identified the two men after viewing airport security video with officials from United Airlines.”
Hughes Extortionists Jailed
“Two men who tried to extort $30,000 from expatriate art critic Robert Hughes in return for favourable evidence at his dangerous-driving trial have been jailed for two years.”
The World’s Top Directors
Who are the best movie directors in the world? The Guardian makes a list of the top 40. Let’s see… there’s David Lynch, and…
2000-Year-Old Play Sees Light Again
“A Greek play is to be staged for the first time in more than 2,050 years after fragments of the text were found in Egyptian mummy cases.”
Tuition Increases – Don’t Blame Colleges
Tuitions have been rising faster than the rate of inflation. So some in the US Congress want to limit increases somehow. But those increases haven’t been the result of higher-education spending sprees. “From New York to California it’s the same story. The proportion of public-college budgets supplied by the state has dropped precipitously. Someone has to pay for public colleges. Should state colleges take the heat when the legislatures purposely shift the burden from taxpayers onto students and their parents?”
Cultural Divide – Movie Critics Go To Battle Over Screeners
The Motion Picture Academy’s decision not to send DVD copies of movies to critics juding awards has provoked movie critics like no other issue in recent years. “Movie critics are flooding colleagues’ computers with e-mails carrying subject lines like “United we stand” and “On strikes and self-immolation,” not to mention “Shame!” Some critics’ associations have canceled their year-end awards in protest. I know these people, and I assure you they’re nice, civilized folks. But we critics can sting when we feel wronged, and passions are running high.”
Philanthropy – A Crisis In Confidence?
Some high-profile disputes about how recipients of philanthropy have spent money given to them have been in the news recently. “Not surprisingly, such public disagreements are starting to erode confidence in the nonprofit sector. A recent survey commissioned by Charles Schwab & Company, showed just 10 percent of affluent Americans age 45 and older are now planning to leave all or part of their estates to charities, universities, and other nonprofits. More than five times that number – 56 percent – said they plan to leave nothing to such organizations. Of those, 21 percent said they don’t think the money would be well spent if given to charity.”
Mexico Arts Funding Cuts? – Overwhelmed By American Culture
The president of Mexico proposes slashing arts funding. “President Vicente Fox’s proposal to get rid of everything from government-owned movie studios to the national news agency has sparked fears that Mexico will be overwhelmed by an American cultural invasion. We will be left to the mercy and whims of distributors of Hollywood’s worst productions.”
Where Virtual Law Rules
The virtual gaming community gathers to discuss the laws of cyberspace. “A host of questions are on everyone’s minds: Are virtual worlds the new Wild West or a legitimate province of the courts? Is game play equivalent to speech as defined in the First Amendment? Is there such a thing as fraud in a metaverse? As the game universe becomes intricate, as transactions start to cross the boundary between the game world and the real world, it becomes more complicated as to what you’re going to call defamation.”