The Kimbell Art Museum in Forth Worth, TX

A few years ago, those of us in Allendale visited this museum. I remember being very impressed by the building itself but, not knowing it was by Kahn, didn't pay as much attention as I could have. This article, about a new addition to the Kimbell by Renzo Piano, moved me to want to go back and see it all again. The pieces in the museum were wonderful and I'd love to take them in again (a couple Rothkos were particularly moving). But having great architecture to see would certainly add to the experience.

The sea change in politics over the last century

This is quoted from a blog which, in turn, was quoted by an NYT columnist. I'm going to check out that blogger though. Perhaps Mr. Jonathan Bernstein has more tidbits to share outside of the article quoted here:

"There is something different about contemporary parties than older parties, which is that national element. If I had to generalize -- and as with all generalizations, there are numerous exceptions -- what I'd say is this. In the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, local parties were able to control their nominations. Over the course of the twentieth century, and probably bottoming out sometime in the 1960s or 1970s, those parties lost control of nominations to candidates, who formed their own personal organizations...at the extremes, parties were relatively empty labels that independent candidates battled over. Over the last thirty or forty years, however, parties have evolved, developing strong national components that never existed in previous strong-party eras, and once again parties generally control their nominations. I certainly don't see anything in any of the cases this year (not just Sestak and Paul, but also Rubio, and the NY-23 special, and others) that seem to be about parties losing control over their own nominations, as opposed to party groups battling over those nominations.

Of course, no matter how strong parties get, as long as they are permeable and not strictly hierarchical they will still feature internal clashes, which will often play out in nomination fights. To the extent that independent candidates are also strong, they will sometimes clash with party choices. Really, I think that's the best way of looking at Arlen Specter. He obviously wasn't a creature of the Democratic Party establishment; he was, in many ways, a great example of the strong, independent candidates of an earlier era in American politics. The political system can still produce such creatures, but we're in a more partisan era now, and if it symbolizes anything, the demise of Arlen Specter is probably best seen as a sign of the strength of the new parties."

Apropos of nothing

Just happened upon this wikipedia article about Paul Robeson who, it turns out, was an athlete, singer, actor and political activist and very prominent in each of those fields, thanks largely to being an incredible genius (he was fluent in at least 12 languages, for instance. And in the College Football Hall of Fame). He was also the son of an escaped slave who became a minister. And under constant surveillance for years thanks to his support of socialism and his ties to the USSR before and during the Cold War. Quite a remarkable story.

Centrism

I find myself in Ben's political camp as described by David Brooks.

The Tel Dan stele

I had never heard of this but this is a piece of an Aramean monument that corroborates in some detail the story of David's descendants told in 2 Kings. I'm pretty impressed.

College/high school

These students are completing two years of college while attending a public high school in New York http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/opinion/18herbert.html?th&emc=th

Animated movie at Cannes

Ebert talked about this film in his online journal (he's so excited to be at Cannes). He mentions something in that piece that struck me: animation has the power to convey aging very well. A drawn character can age believably over time in ways that a child, adolescent, and adult actor, heavily made-up for youthful and aged portions of a film. What else can animation do better than live action?

Links, Dates, Locations

I'm often disappointed when reading the opinion articles by the regular columnists for the New York Times. This group is full of intelligence and insight, privy to great sources and huge travel budgets allowing them unprecedented access to the subjects of their articles. However, their lack of citation and attention to detail is astonishing. Their is rarely a link to a corroborating article or piece of information. The date or place of an address given by a head of state is difficult to find. The chief offender here is Mr. Charles Blow who, while running the "By the Numbers" blog, has yet to point to a single piece of data this year that pointed me directly to a source outside his column. This was particularly exasperating since he's been so focused on the Tea party, a very exciting, hard-to-pin down group, but hasn't bothered to show us where he gets his numbers from. He makes mention of "a recent poll" here about demographics that is not cited, here he points to a study that he says addresses "young women" and links to a table with no demographic info (not mention the article is purportedly about black mothers but he only address young black women). Gail Collins also ran an article recently about birth control with a slough of annecdotes outmoded birth control, Anthony Comstock and Margaret Sanger and scarely dared to mention a date, let alone give us anywhere to find out to what she was referring. David Brooks talks about the economic impact of energy companies and energy policy... with nary a link to a budget or a document. Ross Douthat confronts, of all things, the disconnect between real choices and narratives we tell ourselves... and doesn't tell us where to find a single bare-bones treatment, other than his own, of a single incident he wishes us to engage. I wish now that I'd kept a log of past infractions on this topic but alas, I have not. Suffice it to say that, overall, I am generally underwhelmed by the seriousness with which these journalists take me, the reader. I have enough curiosity to wonder if the opinion they hold is based on any facts. I have the acumen to question their thoughts, balanced as they may be. And yet I find myself treated to something more than a bull session but something much less than a responsible thought. I want dollar figures backed up by actual documents. I want discussions of bills in Congress to be accompanied by links to those bills. Give me at least a place I can find them myself if you can't be troubled to quote something with a citation (other than your own or your colleagues' work). I want the NYT to be a better class of paper, not just to look like a better class of paper.

Social networking redux

Thanks to a friend from Portland (who's personal information I'm protecting by leaving it at that): I present new social networking. Perhaps this could be good. Facebook has certainly made a move to drive people off.

Metropolis, with the new footage... on the big screen!

Oh wow... I am really looking forward to this. A lot. For those who don't know about Metropolis I recommend reading Ebert's review: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980328/REVIEWS08/401010341/1023 . The story of how it was made is also fascinating since it used all kinds of physical lens tricks and mirrors etc. to create the phantasmagoric visions of the future which are only part of the wonder that Lang was able to craft.

http://www.robinsonfilmcenter.org/coming-soon/43-upcoming-films/516-metropolis

US economic crisis

The writer approaches the looming problem of our nation's finances with precisions, actual sources for his data, and the groundwork of a plan that might actually allow us to be a financially responsible country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/business/economy/12leonhardt.html?th&emc=th

Baseball: drilling down to new depths of data

Doug Glanville, who spent some good years with the Cubs and Phillies, has written an article about the increasing interaction of technology and baseball. I'm pleased to hear that he thinks there's still more than enough room for talent despite the expansion of digital recording and 3D imaging.

Using the pass, not the run

Fair notice: I'm not very knowledgeable about football play calling. I know that there are runs and there are passes and I bet that throwing on 3rd and long is a good idea and running on 3rd and short is a good idea... that's about it. That being said, this article piqued my interest (even though I've only read the abstract) since the writers attempt to cull some conclusions from a load of play calling data.

An example of policy intervention

In light of my recent post, August's thoughts on divorce courts act as a case in point

Lengthy piece of new footage found for "Metropolis"

Fritz Lang's masterful silent film has been missing a portion of it's footage for years. Very recently, a much more complete copy of his work was found in Argentina. Here's the whole story.

Comments on this post from yesterday:

Brian Couch:

Like the idea about starting conversations Josh. Here's my knee jerk reaction for starters.

First off:
"If you take tribes of people, exile them from their homelands and ship them to strange, arid lands, you’re going to produce bad outcomes for generations."
Who's recommending policies that do that?

I do agree with the thought that policies shouldn't eat away at social bonds, but that's pretty subjective. Where one person thinks socialized healthcare can strengthen social bonds, another thinks it is corrosive. I hear what he's saying, but I think it's too simplistic to be constructive. I'd be curious to see what kind of policies he has in mind.

Isn't it the case that because America has such a variegated culture and society that developing policies capable of supporting all the different "social bonds" will be impracticable?

Josh:

Josh said...

Thank, Brian, this is exactly what I'm hoping for.

"Who's recommending policies that do that?" -I actually think that particular set of policy decisions is a metaphor... and I'll get to why in a minute.

"I do agree with the thought that policies shouldn't eat away at social bonds, but that's pretty subjective." -I agree. What constitutes a social bond, how one goes about nourishing such a bond if you find out what it is, or not harming it on the other hand, are tough questions. I think all that Brooks is saying is: questions a given policy's impact on social bonds ought to be foremost in the minds of public policy makers.

I also happen to think that he's espousing a position of non-intervention on the part of the government in most social issues. Delineating a particular social bond is not as important for policymakers as knowing what makes a society function and working hard to keep government from performing the function that society ought to be responsible for.

That's why I think the "strange, arid lands" list is a metaphor. He's warning against policies that serve to disassociate people from one another and impose bureaucracies in the place of social structure. Not a great metaphor, but I think that's what he's after.

Possibly fun event for those who like Seth Godin and his thoughts and who happen to be near Chicago, Minneapolis and a few other places. http://www.squidoo.com/sethroadtrip

"The influence of politics and policy is usually swamped by the influence of culture, ethnicity, psychology and a dozen other factors....If you combine the influence of ethnicity and region, you get astounding lifestyle gaps. The average Asian-American in New Jersey lives an amazing 26 years longer and is 11 times more likely to have a graduate degree than the average American Indian in South Dakota.
When you try to account for life outcome differences this gigantic, you find yourself beyond narrow economic incentives and in the murky world of social capital. What matters are historical experiences, cultural attitudes, child-rearing practices, family formation patterns, expectations about the future, work ethics and the quality of social bonds....So when we’re arguing about politics, we should be aware of how policy fits into the larger scheme of cultural and social influences. Bad policy can decimate the social fabric, but good policy can only modestly improve it...Most of the proposals we argue about so ferociously will have only marginal effects on how we live, especially compared with the ethnic, regional and social differences that we so studiously ignore."

Here's the article, full of good supporting research and details.

And yes, the first post in a while. I think I finally found something I want to use it for. I'd love to have discussions about the things I post here and intend to respond quickly to comments that contain a question.