Tuesday, June 8, 2010

“Cultural clash leaves BP engulfed - Financial Times” plus 3 more

“Cultural clash leaves BP engulfed - Financial Times” plus 3 more

Cultural clash leaves BP engulfed - Financial Times

Posted: 08 Jun 2010 07:53 PM PDT

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In the storm of public and political fury that has hit BP in the US since the Deepwater Horizon disaster on April 20, the company's shortage of native knowledge of America and how it responds to crisis has been painfully exposed.

The accident, which killed 11 men and risks the livelihoods of millions, would always have threatened BP's future in the US. But a series of cultural misunderstandings has made its position more difficult.

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Empire State Building owners say they will not light up ... - Today's THV

Posted: 08 Jun 2010 05:37 PM PDT

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But the skyscraper's owners have declined to light it up in honor of Mother Teresa.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue told The Associated Press that building officials are "bigots" against Catholics.

His advocacy group requested the illumination on Aug. 26 for the centennial of the late Nobel Peace Prize winner's birth.

Donohue said the request was denied without explanation.

Telephone messages left for building spokeswoman Melanie Maasch were not returned Tuesday.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Vote on proposed bullfighting ban in Spanish region of Catalonia is ... - Los Angeles Times

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 09:35 PM PDT

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Bullfight

MADRID — Spaniards fighting to save bullfighting won a reprieve Monday as lawmakers in the powerful Catalonia region decided to hold off on a vote to ban the cultural pillar that opponents consider cruel to animals.

A vote in the wealthy region around Barcelona had been scheduled for Wednesday, and there were signs  that the deadly duel of toreador and beast could be outlawed on the grounds that it is cruel.

There appears to be less concern over matadors, one of whom, Julio Aparicio, survived a hellish goring last month in which a bull's horn punctured his throat right above the Adam's apple and came out his mouth.

But the Catalan regional parliament said Monday that the vote has been delayed because the center-right Popular Party requested a ruling from a legal advisory body on whether such a move would violate Spain's constitution or the charter that gives Catalonia a large degree of self-rule. The advisory body now has a month to issue a ruling.

Many Catalans consider themselves a country within a country, with their own language and substantial self-rule. For many people there the idea of banning bullfighting is as much about rejecting something that smacks of traditional Spain as it about protecting animals from death by sword.

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Tate's 'Rude Britannia' exhibition revels in 300 years ... - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Posted: 07 Jun 2010 07:59 AM PDT

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LONDON - Some countries overthrow their politicians. Some endure them. In Britain, they just laugh at them.

The renowned British sense of humor is on display in a new London exhibition that charts 300 years of the anarchic artistic spirit that produced the political satire of William Hogarth and "Spitting Image" — as well as the sheer silliness of Benny Hill.

"Rude Britannia," which opens Wednesday at the Tate Britain gallery, is a feast of irreverence and bad taste that asks whether there is a distinctively British sense of humor, and examines how humor is intertwined with the country's cultural and political history.

"This isn't necessarily about 'funny ha ha," although there are jokes," Tate Britain director Penelope Curtis said Monday. "It's about how the comic is used to do things we can't do in other ways. Often the comic artist is making a very serious point about something that can't be said openly."

Curator Martin Myrone said there has long been a belief that "a distinct British character — informal, humorous, sarcastic" has produced a strong seam of comic art.

He said that while arguing for national character in art is problematic — and not all the artists in the show are British by birth — "humor has had a very important role to play in the way the story of British art has been told."

While European artists like Jacques-Louis David were striving to create a high-minded new classicism 200 years ago, in Britain the likes of Thomas Rowlandson, James Gillray and Hogarth were using their talents to satirize and caricature the politicians of the day.

The exhibition begins in the 17th century, when printing technology first allowed the mass production of cartoons and political broadsides. Then, as now, cartoonists took aim at politics, the economy and social ills.

One of the earliest works shows Oliver Cromwell, who overthrew the monarchy, donning the regalia of a king. The more things change, many of the artists here seem to say, the more they stay the same.

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