Category: issues

“Falling behind is the permanent state of being online. There’s too much stuff. No one can see it all. (Or should — becoming a pop culture connoisseur in the age of a bazillion memes would require such relentless viewing that you couldn’t be a connoisseur of anything else. Like bathing.)”

“The Los Angeles City Council unanimously shot down a proposal Wednesday that would have eliminated guaranteed city funding for the arts, after listening to often-impassioned pleas during a public hearing on cutting government services and jobs in the face of a municipal budget crisis.”

“Egypt’s antiquities chief on Thursday unveiled the completion of an 8-year, $14.5 million restoration of the world’s oldest Christian monastery,” St. Anthony’s in the Red Sea Mountains. The monastery, which is still in operation, was completed in 350AD by the followers of its namesake saint, who is considered the founder of Christian monasticism.

One city is “famous for its sinful food and its scrumptious music and its freewheeling spirit, for legendary jazz performers such as Jelly Roll Morton. The other is a stolid, serious and responsible locale famous for … well, Jared, the Subway guy. … But America loves an underdog. And Indianapolis is no slouch in the cultural realm.”

“I can hear the worldwide scream go up: ‘But we’re entitled to anonymity on the Internet!’ Really? Are you? Why do you think that? … [In] the physical world we are implicitly comfortable with the notion that there are certain places we’re not allowed to go without identifying ourselves.”

“[One] of the achievements of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which is opening Monday in that former Woolworth building, is that you begin to understand how such a place became a pivot in the greatest political movement of the 20th century.”

The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts was hailed “as a breakthrough for what [the city’s mayor] called ‘the arts-and-culture-economy community,'” but what the festival will be remains a mystery. Organizers’ strategy, “unveiling packaging before content” for the 2011 extravaganza, created puzzlement.

“Over a period of 13 months, Christopher Todd, 35, transferred cash into his own bank account through scores of transactions involving unsuspecting arts lovers.” A co-worker turned him in.

“I was reflecting on the claims of too many politicians that the arts are the province of the elite in big coastal cities like New York and Los Angeles. … [But people] of all backgrounds and income levels are involved with the arts across the United States. Why else would 400 enthusiastic people come to my presentation in Kalamazoo, Michigan and 750 attend in Kansas City, Missouri?”

Alan Mutter: “Apart from the sheer righteousness of being paid an honest dollar for an honest day’s work, journalists need to stand together – and stand tall – to reassert the stature of their profession. The reason is simple: If they don’t put a value on what they do, then no one else will, either.”