Category: issues

“With the current explosive rate of technology we will all find ourselves, at some point in time, in the place of the record labels in the face of illegal downloading. They were just one of the canaries in the coal mine.”

“The perennial struggle for survival of non-profit arts groups—which enjoy broad tax exemptions—is often seen as proof of their inherent weakness, their lack of cultural connection, their failure of appeal, when it is in fact a sign of their institutional strength.” But “let’s not forget all the little incentives, the tax breaks, the give aways, that help dominant organizations maintain their dominance. Power, in our society, is self-re-enforcing.”

Rafael Yglesias, who adapted Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden for Polanski to film, recounts his own ordeal and explains – with unusual clarity and eloquence – how it has affected his life. He goes on to explain why he gladly agreed to collaborate with Polanski despite the longstanding allegations against the director.

Tom Wheeler “has yet to speak plainly about his plans to overcome the net neutrality decision. Critics say that in doing so he has hidden just how much power the F.C.C. had gained from the decision.”

“In the light of new research into animal intelligence, some scientists have concluded that there simply is no profound difference between us and other species. But other scientists of equal eminence argue the opposite: that new research is finally making the profound difference between humans and animals clear.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if they were returned. I think that is a good idea. That would be a very fair and very nice thing. I think it is the right thing to do.”

Film production in LA county is down, and that means distress for the small businesses that supply it. “The downturn has forced the closing or bankruptcy of several visual effects shops, prop houses and other vendors.”

“Video tape and audiotape is not a stable format. After 40 or 50 years, they are disintegrating. And the information—pictures, sounds on that physical medium—is disappearing. Unlike a piece of paper or a photograph that might last 100 years, media formats are extremely fragile.”

“Fewer and fewer people try to seek common ground now. Instead, they and their crew fill your @replies, trying to dominate, no matter the subject, you name it. Doesn’t matter. The bell rings and everyone comes off the bleachers. Every day, every topic, is treated like Bush vs. Gore.”

“In Northampton County, Pennsylvania, a grand jury has declared in a 38-page report deemed ‘scathing’ that, due to negligence, the state should review and potentially dissolve the nonprofit group behind the National Museum of Industrial History. The museum has not yet opened despite spending $8 million in operating costs over the past decade.”