Category: issues

“A cynic might see that as free labor for the corporations that make big bucks from their reviews. But that’s not how the dozens of elite Yelpers see it. Smith, like others here, speaks of his Yelp profile the way a starlet might speak of a planned Hollywood career.”

“The ownership of heirless pre-Holocaust European Jewish cultural assets – not to mention whether Kafka’s papers can first and foremost be placed in such a category – is a hugely controversial issue. The first box opened yesterday appears to contain a handwritten story by Kafka that has never been seen before, making the granting of public access even more significant than scholars must have expected.”

“Vandals took out their anger at BP on the Durango Arts Center’s canvas awning sometime last week, but the misguided protest is going to hurt the struggling nonprofit, its director said,” because the center must repair the damage out of its own strapped budget.

“An environmental group on Wednesday called for a halt to baptisms in the Jordan River where tradition holds that Jesus was baptized, saying the waters there were dangerously polluted.” Currently, 98% of the river’s fresh water is diverted for irrigation purposes, with the flow being replaced by raw sewage.

“Cuts to staff numbers of between 35 and 50 per cent are expected after all departments were told by the Treasury to slash budgets by up to 40 per cent.”

“For people who make music, books, and other kinds of intellectual property, the possibility of instant reiteration has been both a blessing and a curse. It is easier than ever to disseminate your creations to anyone anywhere, but it remains a challenge for such dissemination to be sustainably remunerative.”

“Europe was different . . . exactly because we had theatres in every town, the best art collections, a sense of history and performance. And now what? We’re shutting it all down to save the equivalent of a kid’s pocket money!”

It “aims to be an enabling project, which will help the different festivals to work with technologists, artists, audiences and digital communities. The purpose of such collaborations will be to develop and create prototype digital and technological tools that can improve the festival experience for audiences and participants.”

The project to build an $85 million performing arts venue in the North Carolina mountain town ground to a halt in 2007 and has remained suspended through the recession. This month, both public review of the architects’ plans and fundraising efforts are starting up again.

“Together, the nonprofits have an annual economic impact of $5.8 billion, according to the alliance. The organizations are ranked by the size of their operating expenses culled from the most recently available regulatory filings.”