A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

Tag Archives: news

Oct 26 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Parents considering legal action over school yoga

Parents considering legal action over school yoga

AP report on the latest crisis gripping American schools: free yoga classes:

A group of parents is bent out of shape by free yoga classes at schools in this San Diego County beachside community, fearing they are indoctrinating youngsters in eastern religion.

“There’s a deep concern that the Encinitas Union School District is using taxpayer resources to promote Ashtanga yoga and Hinduism, a religion system of beliefs and practices,” the parents’ attorney, Dean Broyles, told the North County Times.

Ring the alarum-bell!

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Oct 25 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Court Upholds the Taxation of Lap Dances

Court Upholds the Taxation of Lap Dances

James Barron writing for The New York Times on an important legal development in the world of performance art:

[New York] state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled on Tuesday that the lap dances performed at Nite Moves were not “dramatic or musical arts performances,” as Nite Moves had argued. The 4-to-3 decision said that Nite Moves did not qualify for the kind of tax exemption that ballet companies and Broadway producers are allowed to claim.

This type of judicial suppression of the arts is pretty disgusting.

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Oct 24 2012
Mark Twain, probably

New Iceland constitution passes popular referendum

New Iceland constitution passes popular referendum

Last year, I posted about Iceland’s ongoing effort to write a new constitution. Well, the council writing the draft finished their work, and on Saturday, Iceland’s citizens voted on whether to adopt it. Paul Fontaine writing for The Reykjavík Grapevine:

The results are as follows:

1. Do you wish the Constitution Council’s proposals to form the basis of a new draft Constitution? Yes: 66.3% No: 33.7%

…

Of the 236,941 in Iceland with the right to vote in this election, 115,814 took part, giving a turnout of 48.9%

It now heads to the Icelandic parliament, which is delightfully named the Althingi.

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Oct 19 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Supreme Court to rule on first-sale doctrine of foreign-made goods

Supreme Court to rule on first-sale doctrine of foreign-made goods

Jennifer Waters writing on a case on the United States Supreme Court’s docket this year for MarketWatch:

At issue in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons is the first-sale doctrine in copyright law, which allows you to buy and then sell things like electronics, books, artwork and furniture, as well as CDs and DVDs, without getting permission from the copyright holder of those products.

Under the doctrine, which the Supreme Court has recognized since 1908, you can resell your stuff without worry because the copyright holder only had control over the first sale.

…

That’s being challenged now for products that are made abroad, and if the Supreme Court upholds an appellate court ruling, it would mean that the copyright holders of anything you own that has been made in China, Japan or Europe, for example, would have to give you permission to sell it.

This could be pretty frightening.

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Oct 18 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Picasso, Matisse paintings stolen in Dutch raid

Picasso, Matisse paintings stolen in Dutch raid

RTÉ News report of something which, I have to emphasize, happened in real life:

Paintings by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet and other famous modern artists have been stolen from a museum in Rotterdam.

…

The works stolen were Picasso’s “Tte d’Arlequin”, Matisse’s “La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune”, Monet’s “Waterloo Bridge, London” and “Charing Cross Bridge, London”, Gauguin’s “Femme devant une fentre ouverte”, De Haan’s “Autoportrait” and Freud’s “Woman with Eyes Closed”.

Jop Ubbens, chairman of Christie’s in Amsterdam, told Reuters the paintings would be worth “more than several million euros,” with the Picasso the best known of the stolen works.

Thefts like this don’t happen very often, because of how difficult it is to actually sell paintings as famous as these. Also, because real life is not a heist film.

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Oct 17 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Government to allow Indians to possess eagle feathers

Government to allow Indians to possess eagle feathers

Pete Yost, AP:

The Justice Department said Friday it is going to allow members of federally recognized Indian tribes to possess eagle feathers, …

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and other federal wildlife laws criminalize the killing of eagles, which are listed as either endangered or threatened, and possession of feathers and bird parts, but the Constitution and federal laws also give tribes local sovereignty for self-government.

Under the new Justice Department policy, tribal members will not be prosecuted for wearing or carrying federally protected birds, bird feathers or parts. They also may pick up feathers found in the wild as long as they do not disturb federally protected birds or nests. Giving, lending or trading feathers or bird parts among tribe members, without any other compensation, also will be allowed.

I’m sad that I wasn’t at all shocked to learn that this wasn’t allowed until now.

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Oct 10 2012
Mark Twain, probably

How did ‘Monday’ become a racist slur?

How did ‘Monday’ become a racist slur?

The Boston Globe, earlier in the summer:

When news emerged earlier this month that Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford said he’d been called a racial epithet by an off-duty Leominster police officer before a minor league game in New Hampshire, reaction was swift. After an internal investigation, which turned up additional racist comments, the Leominster mayor fired the officer on Thursday.

But the epithet itself still has sports fans and commentators scratching their heads. Allegedly, the officer called Crawford, who is black, “Monday.” Monday? The day of the week? Is this really an insult, and one that has anything to do with race?

Messed up.

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Sep 26 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Cul de Sac comic ends as homage to ‘dying yet mighty art form’

Cul de Sac comic ends as homage to ‘dying yet mighty art form’

Philip Potempa for The Times of Northwest Indiana:

Last month Universal, the syndication company for [Richard Thompson’s Cul de Sac], announced the newspaper feature, which they described as “one of the most celebrated comics of this generation,” would begin what was termed “an indefinite hiatus after Sunday, Sept. 23.”

The comic, acknowledged by talents such as Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes and iconic editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant, is “closing its curtains,” according to the Universal press contact, due to Thompson’s battle with Parkinson’s disease.

I heard that Cul de Sac was ending a few days before it ended, but for some reason I never posted anything here about it. Now’s as good a time as any.

Cul de Sac was, quite simply, my favorite comic strip that was still updating. Parkinson’s is an awful, terrible thing, and I wish him all the best.

The strip’s suspension was announced through a Q&A with Thompson by an exec of his syndicate, and you should probably read it.

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Sep 03 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Sheriff: Man stole doctor’s ID, saw 500 patients

Sheriff: Man stole doctor’s ID, saw 500 patients

Jeffrey Collins of the AP has decided that you don’t need to fall asleep ever again:

A man stole a physician’s identity and pretended to be a doctor for a year in South Carolina, and now investigators are combing through medical records to see whether he harmed any of the hundreds of patients he treated, authorities said.

…

[Ernest] Addo did have some medical training, and acted enough like a doctor not to raise any serious suspicion beyond one nurse — interviewed after Addo’s Aug. 24, arrest — who wondered why he consulted ask.com when she questioned his treatment plan, Metts said.

Yes, that’s right. Think about how the next doctor you see could be an impostor without a medical license who has been there for a year without detection. Feel it.

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Aug 31 2012
Mark Twain, probably

New Zealand passes 1st stage of gay marriage law

New Zealand passes 1st stage of gay marriage law

Nick Perry, AP:

New Zealand lawmakers on Wednesday overwhelmingly cast a first vote in favor of a gay marriage bill that was given impetus by President Barack Obama’s public support of the issue.

…

The proposed changes can be directly traced to Obama’s declaration in May in support of gay marriage. That prompted center-right Prime Minister John Key to break his long silence on the issue by saying he was “not personally opposed” to the idea. Then lawmaker Louisa Wall, from the opposition Labour Party, put forward a bill she had previously drafted.

“If I’m really honest, I think the catalyst was around Obama’s announcement, and then obviously our prime minister came out very early in support, as did the leader of my party, David Shearer,” Wall told The Associated Press. “The timing was right.”

I wonder if Obama’s announcement actually had any effect on what’s going on in New Zealand or if this is just lip service. Words do have power.

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