Filmmaker bristles over Australia's barring of North Korean artists

Five painters had been commissioned to produce works for the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art show in Queensland. Their paintings will be there, but they won't.

Reporting from Seoul - Nick Bonner has a cautionary tale about propaganda, censorship and North Korea. But it's not what you think, he says.The British filmmaker and art dealer had helped commission five North Korean painters to produce works for an Australian art exhibit, inviting them to come and talk about their craft and inspiration.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-north-korea-artists11-2009dec11,0,16131.story

Send Us Your Tired, Your Poor, But Only if They're 'Culturally Unique'

Immigration Caseworker AA0089 Has Some Thoughts About What Is Art

By MIRIAM JORDAN
LOS ANGELES -- When Jordan Peimer booked an Argentine band that fuses Jewish Klezmer music with tango, he thought he had the perfect act to headline his "Fiesta Hanukkah" concert.
"It is hard to imagine any band more fitting than Orquesta Kef," says Mr. Peimer, the program's director at the Skirball Cultural Center here. The event was designed to attract a Jewish audience and the city's burgeoning Hispanic community.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126040747425984693.html

Judge gives border activist time to think

A federal magistrate on Friday gave a border activist two weeks to think about his decision not to comply with a sentence for leaving water jugs on a wildlife preserve.

http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2009/12/04/breaking_news/00staton.txt