Author: sbergman

Are The Arts Worth A Constitutional Amendment?

Minnesotans will be voting Tuesday on a constitutional amendment to dedicate significant new sales tax revenue to the arts, and many in the state are wary of the idea. But Dominic Papatola says it’s vital to preserving Minnesota’s way of life: “It took decades to nurture and grow Minnesota’s unique aesthetic environment to its current point. But a recession here and ill-advised government cuts there can and will jeopardize it much faster and in as just an irreplaceable way.”

Conde Nast Slashing Magazine Budgets

“All Condé Nast publishers and editors have been told they have to cut their staffs by five percent and their budgets by five percent within weeks… It will affect every title, including the company’s most successful: The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, Glamour, and down the line. The plan is not just a five percent overall spending reduction but rather two distinct five-percent cuts for each title, guaranteeing that titles cannot meet the goal without cutting staff.”

Israeli Court Clears Way For Controversial Museum

“A Frank Gehry-designed museum can rise in Jerusalem on a site that was once a Muslim cemetery, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled today… The $250-million project had been delayed since early 2006, when builders unearthed bones. Arab leaders in Israel sued to stop the project and were supported, in an unusual alliance, by some ultra-Orthodox Jews with firm beliefs against disturbing graves.”

TV May Get More Expensive In Canada

“Historically, cable and satellite companies – which deliver TV signals to about 90 per cent of Canadians – haven’t paid for programming from over-the-air broadcasters but they do pay a portion of subscriber fees to specialty channels.” Now, a rule change may allow terrestrial broadcasters to charge for their signals, a cost which would likely be borne by the public.

Haven’t We Seen This Election Somewhere Before?

The Obama vs. McCain presidential campaign is looking awfully familiar to fans of The West Wing, which more or less wrote the script the two real-life candidates are now enacting four years ago. And that’s no accident: the show’s writers more or less based their fictional candidates on Obama and McCain, albeit without having any inkling that they would actually match up in 2008.

Fall Auctions Looking Dismal

“Only 10 days ago, Sotheby’s reported a loss of $15 million in guarantees — the undisclosed amount that the houses promise to sellers regardless of the outcome of a sale — from recent auctions in Hong Kong and London… Since then auction house officials have been busy trying to get sellers to lower their expectations.”