Entitled "Cock and Bull," this showpiece by British artist Damien Hirst towers above diners at Tramshed, which only serves chicken and steak.

DAMIEN HIRST

Entitled "Cock and Bull," this showpiece by British artist Damien Hirst towers above diners at Tramshed, which only serves chicken and steak.

Internationally renowned British artist Damien Hirst has created an art piece for a London restaurant in which a whole Hereford cow and cockerel are preserved in formaldehyde in a steel and glass tank, smack dab in the middle of the dining room.

Called "Cock and Bull," the showpiece towers above diners at Tramshed which -- surprise -- serves only steak and whole roasted chicken.

Like a giant aquarium mounted on a TV stand, the art installation is an extension of Hirst's Natural History, a collection of preserved animals he's been creating since 1991 -- arguably his most famous series. Hirst also created a painting for the restaurant opening entitled "Beef and Chicken" which hangs on the mezzanine level and depicts the 1990s cartoon characters "Cow and Chicken."

In the basement level, the Cock ‘n' Bull gallery showcases a rotating art exhibit every six weeks. The first exhibition Quantum Jumping features art work themed around "jumping into a parallel dimension," and runs until July 1.

The classically British menu by chef and restaurateur Mark Hix, meanwhile, is conducive to family-style dining with whole roasted, free-range chickens or marbled sirloin steaks, both served with fries. Appetizers include Yorkshire pudding with whipped chicken livers, cauliflower salad, and smoked Cornish mackerel with beets and horseradish.

It's not unusual for restaurants to house the collections of famous and interesting artists, given the synergy between food and ambiance. Pierre Gagnaire's eponymous restaurant, in Paris, for instance, houses works from the Galerie Lelong, while Wolfgang Puck has also turned his restaurant space into an exhibit for a roster of rotating artists at his CUT steakhouse in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, restaurants like Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin in New York, Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social in London and Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market in London have been shortlisted in the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards this year.

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Salvador Dali painting stolen from Manhattan gallery

Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio was painted in 1949

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A painting by Salvador Dali has been stolen from an art gallery in Manhattan, by a man who took it off the wall and carried it out in a bag.

Valued at $150,000 (£96,027), the Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio ,was taken from the Venus Over Manhattan art gallery.

Police said a man posed as a gallery visitor before removing the painting and fleeing.

The theft was captured on CCTV.

The Venus Over Manhattan gallery, which only opened its doors for the first time in May, is owned by art collector Adam Lindemann.

The Dali painting, created in 1949, was part of its first exhibition.

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Edward Burtynsky Photographs Farming in Monegros Spain

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #13, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky is having a London moment. Not only are his familiar works on the oil crisis on view but he is also exhibiting a new series examining the impact of long-term farming in Monegros, Spain.

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #21, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

These photographs are looking at the tradition of dryland farming carried out over many generations in the north-eastern part of Spain. It's an agricultural region where the land is semi-arid, sparsely populated and prone to both droughts and high winds. The land is made up of sedimentary rock, gypsum, and clay-rich soil. The photographs show the impact of these conditions, as well as man's expanding foot print.

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #8, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

Burtynsky is shooting the photos from a helicopter, two thousand feet up: so high that there are almost no details to be identified. The topography looks like an abstract painting.

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #27, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

Despite a scarcity of water, generations of farmers have continued to farm, so the photos are a contrast between nature's untamed forces and man's attempts to harness it. The cracks and crevices form writhing lines with deep earthy tones.

© Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London Dryland Farming #31, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, 2010

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Cruz Roja appeal for more volunteers

The Cruz Roja Red Cross in Spain has made a call for more volunteers. As a consequence of the crisis they say that another 300,000 people are in a situation of ‘extreme vulnerability’. The Cruz Roja Española has said that last year they attended to more than two million people via their different social programs, which is a 20% on 2010. Of these people more than a million had been affected by the crisis, and the Cruz Roja helped them with the distribution of food, clothes, personal items and punctual economic assistance. Director of volunteers in the Cruz Roja, Carlos Capataz, has said that the answer to the problem is more volunteers. He said they carry out a fundamental work, and are a clear example for everyone.

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Francsico Correa leaves prison today on bail

The man at the centre of the Gürtel case has been held on remand for more than three years.Francisco Correa The man at the centre of the Gürtel case, Francisco Correa, finally leaves prison after obtaining bail thanks the 200,000 € his 91 year old mother, Concepción Sánchez, has paid to the National Court. It has been possible by Instruction Judge Fernandeu Andreu, recently cutting the bail amount from 400,000 €. Francisco Correa will leave the Soto del Real prison in Madrid on Monday night, having been held on bail for more than three years on remand. He entered the prison in February 2009. Correa faces charges of bribery, influence peddling, fiscal fraud, illegal association, money laundering and falsification of documents. He was sent to prison initially by Judge Baltasar Garzón for sending capital abroad and making the investigation more difficult. Under the bail deal he will not be able to leave Spain and will have to report to the court when called to do so.

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Banks in Spain are experiencing what's being described as a "bank jog."

In this slow-motion variation on a fully fledged bank run, savers pull out more and more cash from weaker banks. As a result, these sickly Spanish and Greek banks rely increasingly on cheap loans from the European Central Bank. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has refused to allow the ECB to recapitalize these iffy lenders through direct cash bailouts. This forces heavily indebted governments to use their own limited resources to come to the rescue of their banks, putting more strain on their creaking national balance sheets.

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With the pressure on, some of the city halls, including some governed by the conservative Popular Party, have started to charge the Catholic Church property taxes

With the pressure on, some of the city halls, including some governed by the conservative Popular Party, have started to charge the Catholic Church property taxes, which has caused outrage in the Church. The Church, which is probably the wealthiest property owner in Spain, is exempt from taxes, as are other religions, foundations and NGOs. However, the other religions are super minorities, and most of their places of worship -- with the exception of palatial mosques built by the Saudis -- are not owned but rented. There's one synagogue in Madrid, a historical building and, I heard, mostly Orthodox, while the various reformed or more modern congregations have rented places. (We went to the Bar Mitzvah of the son of a friend of ours -- an American -- and it was in a rented hotel conference room. The congregation regularly meets in a rented apartment.) The Brits have actual church property in Madrid -- the Anglican Church. Evangelists have rented store fronts and NGOs operate out of rented offices. Probably none of them own their headquarters. So the Church argues that the unions and political parties also don't pay property taxes (headquarters for most of the political parties are rented offices, while unions were given back property they owned during the Republic). Of course, the argument goes that the comparison isn't fair. The Church is a huge property owner -- from national monuments (the government pays for maintenance, restoration, and security, etc.) to parish churches to thousands of private schools, retirement homes for elderly priests and clergy, etc. So the argument is: "OK, national monuments, we get that. OK, schools, because the government could never fill in the gap if there were no Catholic schools. OK, all the local fiestas and patron saints days. OK, all the charities. OK, works of art." But once you open the door, a flood of questions rush in, especially in times of austerity and belt tightening: What about Spanish taxes subsidizing the salaries, stipends, living allowances, etc., of the clergy? What about all the income earned by the church from weddings, communions, funerals? Not to mention all revenue from private Catholic schools and private Catholic hospitals. How come they don't pay taxes? So, while the government cuts back on health care and social services, the Church and the rich don't pay their fair share. This is the first time I've heard these arguments come from people other than secular leftists. Now, it's even local Popular Party run city halls that want to collect property tax from the Church. Why not? Hey, if you are bankrupt, take it from where you can. It's a start. The Church has countered, saying that if they have to pay taxes, they'll just have to cut back on their charities: no soup kitchens for the homeless, etc. But charities only represent a ridiculously small percentage of their budget expenses, I heard on the radio, and are mostly self-funded by donations. For a laugh, there is an Internet photo circulating of Cristobal Montoro, the minister of finance (i.e., the Treasury). With austerity, taxes are to be raised on the middle classes and the poor with higher Value Added Taxes, fewer exemptions, etc., while the tax cuts for the rich are untouched. (Sound familiar?) The photo caption goes: I knew this guy reminded me of somebody..." David, our youngest son, who is a painter, has emigrated to Santa Fe, N.M., where he is working for a graphic arts company and, since that work is on a freelance or outsourced basis, and not enough to pay his expenses, at Pizza Hut. He loves it there. Erik, our eldest, who is a writer, has been living in Hollywood for the past nine years. Only our daughter Andrea is left in Madrid and she's changed companies. She's now with an advertising multinational -- senior executive and team leader in online accounts. The salary is better than what she had before, but not great. Employees were asked to consider and negotiate various options: layoffs, salary cuts in percentages from 0 percent to 20 percent (the bosses would have the biggest cuts) or unpaid voluntary vacation. The last option to avoid layoffs won: 18 days of unpaid vacation time. Since there are 14 yearly payments (a bonus salary in July and December) most will take the unpaid leave then as they will still have a full salary for those months plus their paid vacation time. At other companies, employees have voted for layoffs instead of reducing salaries to avoid them. That's a kind of Russian roulette as you can't really be sure you are not on the layoff list unless you are a union rep and therefore exempt from layoffs. Layoffs all over and rising unemployment which is now 23 percent and almost 50 percent for those under 35. No wonder the young people leave. Well, since the euro is falling, I'm gonna transfer some money to my U.S. account before it falls even more. But my account there is just for travel expenses when we go to the U.S. But, actually a fall in the euro is good, as it will make Spanish products and all eurozone products more competitive and is good for tourism -- a major industry in a Spain still in recession, though there are signs of it picking up thanks to rich Russians who are colonizing the Costa del Sol!

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Bank of England meets amid talk of £50bn stimulus

Bank of England policymakers meet today to decide whether to change interest rates or to pump in more money into the ailing economy, with leading economist saying they may opt to inject a further £50bn of stimulus.

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Europe is on the verge of financial chaos.

Global capital markets, now the most powerful force on earth, are rapidly losing confidence in the financial coherence of the 17-nation euro zone. A market implosion there, like that triggered by Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008, may not be far off. Not only would that dismantle the euro zone, but it could also usher in another global economic slump: in effect, a second leg of the Great Recession, analogous to that of 1937. This risk is evident in the structure of global interest rates. At one level, U.S. Treasury bonds are now carrying the lowest yields in history, as gigantic sums of money seek a safe haven from this crisis. At another level, the weaker euro-zone countries, such as Spain and Italy, are paying stratospheric rates because investors are increasingly questioning their solvency. And there’s Greece, whose even higher rates signify its bankrupt condition. In addition, larger businesses and wealthy individuals are moving all of their cash and securities out of banks in these weakening countries. This undermines their financial systems. 423 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post The reason markets are battering the euro zone is that its hesitant leaders have not developed the tools for countering such pressures. The U.S. response to the 2008 credit market collapse is instructive. The Federal Reserve and Treasury took a series of huge and swift steps to avert a systemic meltdown. The Fed provided an astonishing $13 trillion of support for the credit system, including special facilities for money market funds, consumer finance, commercial paper and other sectors. Treasury implemented the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, which infused equity into countless banks to stabilize them. The euro-zone leaders have discussed implementing comparable rescue capabilities. But, as yet, they have not fully designed or structured them. Why they haven’t done this is mystifying. They’d better go on with it right now. Europe has entered this danger zone because monetary union — covering 17 very different nations with a single currency — works only if fiscal union, banking union and economic policy union accompany it. Otherwise, differences among the member-states in competitiveness, budget deficits, national debt and banking soundness can cause severe financial imbalances. This was widely discussed when the monetary treaty was forged in 1992, but such further integration has not occurred. How can Europe pull back from this brink? It needs to immediately install a series of emergency financial tools to prevent an implosion; and put forward a detailed, public plan to achieve full integration within six to 12 months. The required crisis tools are three: ●First, a larger and instantly available sovereign rescue fund that could temporarily finance Spain, Italy or others if those nations lose access to financing markets. Right now, the proposed European Stability Mechanism is too small and not ready for deployment. ●Second, a central mechanism to insure all deposits in euro-zone banks. National governments should provide such insurance to their own depositors first. But backup insurance is necessary to prevent a disastrous bank run, which is a serious risk today. ●Third, a unit like TARP, capable of injecting equity into shaky banks and forcing them to recapitalize. These are the equivalent of bridge financing to buy time for reform. Permanent stability will come only from full union across the board. And markets will support the simple currency structure only if they see a true plan for promptly achieving this. The 17 member-states must jointly put one forward. Both the rescue tools and the full integration plan require Germany, Europe’s strongest country, to put its balance sheet squarely behind the euro zone. That is an unpopular idea in Germany today, which is why Chancellor Angela Merkel has been dragging her feet. But Germany will suffer a severe economic blow if this single-currency experiment fails. A restored German mark would soar in value, like the Swiss franc, and damage German exports and employment. The time for Germany and all euro-zone members to get the emergency measures in place and commit to full integration is now. Global capital markets may not give them another month. The world needs these leaders to step up.

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