Category: issues

The union said a survey of its members commissioned in 2010 found that more than 69% earned “either nothing or under £10,000 a year”. Two-thirds of its members, it added, had turned down work because it did not pay enough.

“This version, the work of an Azeri theologian named Elmir Kuliyev, was declared illegal for promoting extremism through ‘statements about the superiority of Muslims over non-Muslims’; ‘negative evaluation of persons who have nothing to do with the Muslim religion’ … and also, it was argued, inciting violence.”

“Can Microsoft and Twitter save the dying Urdu nastaliq script from the hegemony of the Western alphabet and an overbearing Arab cousin?”

“A new breed of educators, inspired by everything from the Internet to evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and AI, are inventing radical new ways for children to learn, grow, and thrive. To them, knowledge isn’t a commodity that’s delivered from teacher to student but something that emerges from the students’ own curiosity-fueled exploration.”

“The French are now carb-conscious, and kale, which they once dismissed as the ‘curly headless cabbage,’ might find a place at the table. Meanwhile many Americans seem determined to emulate all things French. Are the French losing their je ne sais quoi?” Four observers discuss the question in a New York Times Room for Debate.

“Publications about the ‘true’ nature of Disneyland are a cottage industry, and it’s a cottage big enough to house Snow White, all seven dwarfs, Cinderella, her stepsisters, and the pumpkin carriage with all the horses.” Why? “Well, for one thing, it’s because Disney doggedly refuses to admit it has a dark side.”

“This month, change has come fast and furious to New York arts organizations, stirring wide debate about New York’s ability to sustain a vibrant creative culture.”

John Berry, artistic director of the English National Opera: “If I was running L.A. Opera, which has to rely on private money, I’d think twice about doing it.”

“To dismiss this half of our world as ‘unreal’ leads to people believing their actions there, behind a cartoon avatar and cartoon name, have no repercussions.”

“Art is as eloquent as literature today. While the Nobel awards a myth of literary worthiness that has little to do with modern writing, it is, paradoxically, among artists that it might look for today’s unacknowledged legislators.”