Category: issues

There are roughly 15,000 buildings in the old imperial capital that date from before the Russian Revolution, and many of them are in, frankly, terrible repair. But, one by one, the old landmarks are being renovated and repurposed by groups (formal and informal) of artists, who are turning them into galleries, performances spaces, reading rooms, and spaces for creative businesses.

Nonprofit organizations must be service-oriented to better the lives of those who cannot better it on their own. Using that as a jumping-off point, I believe that every single person has the right to succeed. Yet a whole slew of people cannot act on that right without being blocked. Therefore, if I should choose to run another nonprofit arts organization before my mortal coil shuffle happens, our group would happen to produce plays. But, everything we would do would be for the purpose of connecting and improving the effectiveness of those with expertise and working service portals — those with access to a proverbial “underground railroad.”

“The £8.8m budget cuts for 2018/19 extend the ongoing decline in [local] councils’ cultural spending, which has fallen by roughly £48m over the past five years. … Several large councils have cut their culture budgets entirely. This does not necessarily mean they have turned their backs on the arts. Some have transferred responsibility for culture to an independent entity, while others are balancing their budgets with raised income. A few that once allocated money for the arts now plan to turn a profit from cultural activities.”

A solid majority of all adults (61 percent) believe that higher education is headed in the wrong direction, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. But that view is much more likely to be held by Republicans or those who lean Republican than by Democrats or those who lean Democrat. While both Republicans and Democrats express skepticism about higher education, they do so for different reasons — Democrats are more concerned about tuition rates, and Republicans are more concerned about their perceptions of campus politics.

France, you have a problem. “Eeveral forces have kept #MeToo and its French counterpart, #BalanceTonPorc, or ‘Expose Your Pig,’ from having the same impact in France that it has had in the United States. In France, if an accused man is not convicted of a crime, it is relatively easy for him to sue his accuser for defamation. … Other reasons are cultural.”

There have been two recent documentaries about Whitney Houston’s life, and they “shed new light on many of the particulars of Houston’s life and death: her upbringing in the church, her turbulent marriage to Bobby Brown, her shortcomings as a parent. But at a moment when musicians, generally, have greater control than before over the production and distribution of their work, the films also consider the immense pressures Houston navigated in order to appeal to a white mainstream — pressures still faced today by black and queer artists seen as crossover pop acts.”

How long can the subscription-based service last? It might not be too long. “Any of the app’s 3 million users that attempted to see a movie on Thursday were greeted instead by an error message claiming that their reservations could not be processed.”

In many parts of the world, women’s-rights campaigners – particularly those concerned with reproductive rights and abortion – have embraced the symbolism of The Handmaid’s Tale. Language and iconography from the book and TV series are increasingly prevalent on marches, protests and social media.

“The House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee says that treating EU cultural workers under the same rules as third-country nationals could lead to a talent drain, as current visa rules require a minimum salary that far exceeds what many arts organizations can offer.”