Forbes magazine has posted an article, "Glenn Beck Inc," which quotes Beck: "I could give a flying crap about the political process." Making money, on the other hand, is to be taken very seriously, and controversy is its own coinage. "We're an entertainment company."
Guadalupe is the Zelig of the Central Coast -- a speck on California Highway 1 that has had more than its share of brushes with history. Portola's expedition passed through in the 1700s. Father Junipero Serra brought the first cattle. Lt. Col. John Fremont and his troops camped in town in the mid-1800s and accidentally torched its oldest adobe.
... On Monday — the Ides of March, naturally — the British Museum put on display a gold coin given to one of Caesar’s assassins, which may have been worn as a memento by the boastful killer, The Guardian reported. ...
NY Times' Photo
The Guardian's PhotoThe swaggering imagery displayed on the coin was already famous in antiquity. In the second century AD, the Roman historian Cassius Dio wrote: "Brutus stamped upon the coins which were being minted in his own likeness and a cap and two daggers, indicating by this and by the inscription that he and Cassius had liberated the fatherland."The Times' story does state: "The Guardian said that some 60 silver versions of the coin have survived, but only two were believed to exist in gold — one of which is now believed by experts to be a fake." So, we have photos of all the gold versions, if the experts are correct.
Our past is a powerful draw and in so many ways we try to capture it in order to explain it to ourselves.There is also a New York Times' story, "Lots of Web Traffic in such a Tiny Town," about his work.
What started out as an exercise in model building and photography, ended up as a dream-like reconstruction of the town I grew up in. It's not an exact recreation, but it does capture the mood of my memories.
And like a dream, many of the buildings show up in different configurations throughout the photos. Or sometimes, the buildings stay put and the backgrounds change.
On March 11, 2010, in Buffalo, New York, the Postal Service™ issued a 44–cent, Abstract Expressionists commemorative stamp in ten designs, designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland
Nomiya is a temporary installation atop the Palais de Tokyo contemporary-art museum. Like an exhibition, the restaurant has a corporate sponsor and a limited run, ending in December.Photo: Laurent Grasso
The Los Angeles Times informs us, in Ansel Adams, from the wilderness to the corridors of power, that the Interior Department has installed an exhibit of photos by Ansel Adams in its halls, in Washingtion, D.C. The photos were taken as part of a project commissioned in 1941 by then-Interior Secretary Harold Ickes.
The Zamboni machine's hypnotic mission and captivating name have made it a cultural icon, something the Zamboni family finds both gratifying and a bit puzzling. The first ice-resurfacing machine was built in 1949 and its form, function and sales output have remained consistent for decades. ...Cool.
... Richard Zamboni, who now runs the company, says it consistently sells 200 to 250 machines a year, 30 years after his father [Frank Zamboni] began worrying that the market was nearly saturated. ...
... The second and third machines built by Zamboni were bought by the Olympic star Sonja Henie for use in her ice shows. ...
... The original Zamboni machine is parked in the skating rink that the family still owns, just down the street from the factory. ...
... Frank Zamboni spent most of a decade building his first machine. These days it takes about six months to produce a machine, each of which is still made to order. ...
By David Montgomery
... Vice President Dan Quayle attacks Murphy Brown, the fictional anchorwoman played by Candice Bergen, for undermining traditional family values by deciding to become a single mother, and in this week's season premier of the show [week of September 25, 1992], Murphy Brown strikes back, having already elicited even further condemnations from Mr. Quayle.And Ms. Kakutani concludes:
President Bush [The Elder] speaks of wanting to see an America that looks a lot more "like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons," and in a subsequent episode of the popular television show, Bart Simpson retorts, "We're just like the Waltons. We're praying for the Depression to end, too."
Even Ross Perot, who mocked Mr. Quayle's remarks about Murphy Brown, has gone on the record as condemning the television character Doogie Howser for having sex with his girlfriend ...
In the end, it's dangerous to mistake fictional representations for the real thing. To do so is to ignore one of the most basic impulses behind art -- the impulse to order the chaos of regular life, to transform it into something more perfect, more shapely and more satisfying, to turn it into something with a beginning, a middle and an end.The New York Times has published three articles about Sarah Palin's dust-up with "Family Guy," here, here, and here. Sarah Palin, of course, took confusing reality with fiction to a whole new level.
Worse, to erase the boundaries between reality and fiction means forsaking our ability to make distinctions. It means living in a dimly lit world of shadows, mirrors and self-delusions, content with approximations and soothing mispresentations, instead of continuing to try to discern the truth. One ends up like Don Quixote, Cervantes's would-be knight whose sense of reality was shaped by popular chivalric romances -- a hapless, if well-meaning fellow who believed he could model his own life on that of his favorite literary heroes and who ended up tilting at windmills.
... The only family member who still lives at Hartland full time is Garry, in a suite off limits to reporters and reportedly utterly free of pearls.
In the March issue of Popular Photography magazine, the editor's note, by Miriam Leuchter, is called "What Is a Photograph?" ...
... But meanwhile, we live in an age where Photoshop jobs are commonplace, reality TV shows dominate the airwaves, and news bites are taken out of context and manipulated. Maybe, these days, the question isn’t “What is a photograph?”; it’s “What is reality?”
It was a surprise, this morning, to read in the NY Times about a new technology to assist repo men (and women). Surprising, because there is another technology that may be much more useful.
When asked by The New York Times for others to speak to about Ms. Palin, her spokeswoman, Ms. Stapleton, mentioned the Republican media adviser Mary Matalin (who has been in sporadic contact with Ms. Palin’s camp) and Dana Perino, the former White House press secretary for George W. Bush (who seemed barely to know her).The reporter spoke with people whom Meg Stapleton — "her [Sarah Palin's] longtime spokeswoman" — recommended to him. Apparently, at least one of those recommended by Ms. Stapleton, Dana Perino, didn't know Sarah Palin well enough to comment for the article! This must certainly be an interesting, informative article. Let's look at the direct quotes, so we can find out whether Ms. Stapleton may have recommended anyone else:
“Few public figures not in office have leveraged the nexus between media and political positioning as Sarah Palin has,” said the Washington lawyer Robert Barnett[.] [My, my, the attorney who set-up Sarah Palin's book deal has praised her. Hasn't he?]
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a badge of honor to be thought of negatively by some of these people,” Mr. Recher said. “But the bottom line is, I was incredibly proud to serve John McCain, and I couldn’t be happier to be part of Sarah Palin’s world now.” [Jason Recher was paid well by Sarah's PAC to accompany her on the Going Rogue tour.]
“She used to be a moderate Republican in Alaska, but I think all of these attacks have hardened her and made her absolutely more conservative,” said John Coale[.] “I think there have been times during all the attacks when she thought, ‘This is just too much,’ ” Mr. Coale said. “But now I think it all makes her more determined. Whatever she’s doing now, it feels like a calling to her.” [Mr. Coale helped set-up Sarah's PAC and is married to Greta Van Susteren. They are both friends of Sarah]
“I’m disappointed by her endorsement of Paul,” said William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard and one of the conservatives credited with “discovering” Ms. Palin in 2007. “But they always disappoint you.” [William's the guy who brought Sarah to the national dance and after initially expressing surprise when she stormed off the floor, provided the spin that's ... well, kept her spinning.]
“I think if Sarah has a passion, it’s that she really believes that there is a silent majority out there that she wants the folks in Washington to know about,” said Kristan Cole, a friend in Wasilla. [Yes, long-time friend — old enough, like Sarah, to have heard of Nixon's "silent majority" — and founder of the Alaska Fund Trust, Sarah Palin's do-whatever-she-wants-with-it legal defense fund, ostensibly formed to defend against ethics charges, now, itself, mired in ethics problems.]There you have it. No new characters have joined the cast, so how is the reporter's statement, "Beyond what her Fox-watchers and Facebookers can see, Ms. Palin is quietly assembling the infrastructure of an expanding political operation," meaningful?
Talking Points Memo has Brain Trust To Nowhere
The Atlantic has Palin Puts Together a ... Campaign?
The Daily Beast has Sarah Palin's Money Man
The Washington Independent has Team Palin, which appears to be factually inaccurate concerning Becki Donatelli's involvement (An out-of-date Washington Post column, The Protectors of the Palin Brand, is cited; a later column is more up-to-date; note, however, that that column doesn't mention that Becki Donatelli quit SarahPac. (A reader might infer from Meg Stapleton's remarks in that column of the Washington Post that an amicable separation had occurred))
I didn't understand then, and I still don't understand, why we got opposition in this caucus for almost $300 billion in badly needed tax cuts for the American people or COBRA coverage to help Americans who'd lost jobs in this recession to keep the health insurance that they desperately needed, or opposition to putting Americans to work laying broadband and rebuilding roads and bridges and breaking ground on new construction projects.
There was an interesting headline in — in CNN today: Americans disapprove of stimulus, but like every policy in it. And there was a poll that showed that if you broke it down into its component parts, 80 percent approved of the tax cuts, 80 percent approved of the infrastructure, 80 percent approved of the assistance to the unemployed.
Well, that's what the Recovery Act was, and I — you know, let's face it, some of you have been at the ribbon cuttings for some of these important projects in your communities.
Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) Held A Job Fair Where Nearly Half The 30 Organizations Received Stimulus Funds; Cantor Also Supported Using Stimulus Funds To Build A Washington To Richmond Rail. Washington Post: “For months, Democrats have dubbed U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia a hypocrite for strongly opposing the federal stimulus package only to promote aspects of it later. Here’s the latest example: Nearly half of the 30 organizations participating in a job fair Cantor is holding Monday in Culpeper were recipients of the stimulus…In the summer, Cantor came under fire after he talked about his support of using stimulus money to build a rail project from Washington to Richmond.” [Washington Post Virginia Blog, 11/18/09]
- Congressman Eric Cantor Voted Against The Recovery Package Twice [Roll Call Vote #46; Roll Call Vote #70]
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Brags About Stimulus Projects, Requests More Money. McConnell and Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY) toured a construction site at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, Kentucky. McConnell quickly took credit for the new construction, noting that he and Chandler had inserted an additional $5 million into the 2010 budget. McConnell bragged: “This is going to be a source of significant employment. At the peak, we could have up to 600 people working on this, and we believe the substantial majority of those workers will be Kentuckians.” However, McConnell conveniently forgot to mention that even more additional funds for facility construction were awarded through the stimulus. A Defense Department report states that $5,876,000 has been allocated from the Recovery Act to the Blue Grass facility for repairs. (Chandler voted for the stimulus.)
-Senator McConnell Voted Against The Recovery Package Twice [Record Vote 59; Record Vote 60]
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The whole thing [Q&A] basically went like [this]: Republican asks obnoxious question rooted in Glenn Beck-ian talking points; Obama swats it away, makes the questioner look silly, and then smiles at the end. It got so bad, in fact, that Fox News cut away from the event before it was over. Democratic operatives around Washington watching it had pretty much the same reaction: "Where the hell has this guy been?" One source said GOP aides probably wished they'd spoken to John McCain "about what happened to him in the presidential debates" before they broadcast the event. "It's quite a show," a White House official said, apparently going for the same deadpan tone the president was.
Four conservative activists were arrested for attempting to interfere with the telephones in Senator Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office. One of them is James O'Keefe, who posed as a pimp to target the community organizing group ACORN. Another is Robert Flanagan, the son of acting U.S. Atty. Bill Flanagan in Shreveport. A third is Joseph Basel. O'Keefe was in Landrieu's office when Flanagan and Basel arrived, claiming to be telephone repairmen. Stan Dai was not in the Senator's office, but was arrested, later, for assisting the others in planning, coordinating and preparing the operation.
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