Category: issues

“It’s an unusual forum for talking about what happened at UC Davis … but the Amazon product page for ‘Defense Technology 56895 MK-9 Stream, 1.3% Red Band/1.3% Blue Band Pepper Spray’ has attracted some amazingly clever and biting reviews.”

“Mexican mariachi music, Chinese shadow puppetry and poetic duelling from Cyprus were among the cultural traditions which have been identified by the United Nations as in need of protection.”

“After the witch hunt against the CBC, who’s next? Museums, obviously. And then what? Theatres and publishers who receive grants from the government? Every TV show produced in Canada with the help of taxpayer money?”

“Arts Council England and Creative and Cultural Skills have published guidelines for arts organisations wanting to take on interns, including that they pay them at least national minimum wage.”

Jerusalem’s Temple Mount may be the most notorious of the spots “where ancient history meets modern politics,” but it’s certainly not the only one.

Labor disputes in Hollywood haven’t hit from the craft side for half a century. But if they do, and predictions say the unions and studios are starting rather far apart, expect an epic battle.

Sure, we need to figure out some things about creative piracy. But the Stop Online Piracy Act’s draconian response points in the wrong direction.

Nadine Gordimer thinks so.

“Many fringe suburbs are turning into slums, with abandoned housing and rising crime.” (Of course, the writers have some suggestions to change this decline.)

“The audience for cultural events has radically changed in the past few decades. It is a far wider constituency than in the post-war era, the result of education, of radio and television. Art is smart.”