Have you ever read something and suddenly have one of those 'light bulb moments' because you realize it's exactly what you thought about the subject? I know it happens all the time but yesterday I had it happen three times and they each involved a different subject. For what it's worth here are the three paragraphs which I'm not going to comment on. Just read them yourself and see what you think.
In HuffPost Arts and Culture John Seed wrote a column called "Has the Art Market Gone Medieval?" In it he wrote; "Just what can you say about a society in which a picture is worth so much when so many are facing poverty? It boggles my mind that one of the four existing versions of Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" sold last year for $119.9 million. Such a vast sum of money could do so much to relieve suffering, but instead it was spent on a painting of suffering. As the prices of famous works of art rise, are we in some way going backwards in history?"
From Foreign Affairs comes "Generation Kill: A Conversation With General Stanley McChrystal." Near the end of the interview, which was done in December, McChrystal says something very timely given what happened at the Boston Marathon. "And although to the United States, a drone strike seems to have very little risk and very little pain, at the receiving end, it feels like war. Americans have got to understand that. If we were to use our technological capabilities carelessly, I don't think we do, but there's always the danger that you will, then we should not be upset when someone responds with their equivalent, which is a suicide bomb in Central Park, because that's what they can respond with."
The third is also Boston related but more related to the NRA's theory that a gun in every hand is the best answer to gun violence. This is from Susan Milligan, "Boston Proves It Takes a Village" in US News and World Report. "And what would an individual do with an AR-15? Go door-to-door, ferreting out a man who might well have another bomb on him? That's one way to wind up dead, perhaps taking a lot of other people with you."
Finally I have to throw in a tweet I just saw as I was writing this. Today is the dedication of former President Dubya's library and in honor of that event I want to share this from the Daily Kos' David Waldman (@KagroX); "Bush says he has "no desire . . . to enhance my standing." I wouldn't sweat it, dude."
Twitter doesn't get much better than that.
In HuffPost Arts and Culture John Seed wrote a column called "Has the Art Market Gone Medieval?" In it he wrote; "Just what can you say about a society in which a picture is worth so much when so many are facing poverty? It boggles my mind that one of the four existing versions of Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" sold last year for $119.9 million. Such a vast sum of money could do so much to relieve suffering, but instead it was spent on a painting of suffering. As the prices of famous works of art rise, are we in some way going backwards in history?"
From Foreign Affairs comes "Generation Kill: A Conversation With General Stanley McChrystal." Near the end of the interview, which was done in December, McChrystal says something very timely given what happened at the Boston Marathon. "And although to the United States, a drone strike seems to have very little risk and very little pain, at the receiving end, it feels like war. Americans have got to understand that. If we were to use our technological capabilities carelessly, I don't think we do, but there's always the danger that you will, then we should not be upset when someone responds with their equivalent, which is a suicide bomb in Central Park, because that's what they can respond with."
The third is also Boston related but more related to the NRA's theory that a gun in every hand is the best answer to gun violence. This is from Susan Milligan, "Boston Proves It Takes a Village" in US News and World Report. "And what would an individual do with an AR-15? Go door-to-door, ferreting out a man who might well have another bomb on him? That's one way to wind up dead, perhaps taking a lot of other people with you."
Finally I have to throw in a tweet I just saw as I was writing this. Today is the dedication of former President Dubya's library and in honor of that event I want to share this from the Daily Kos' David Waldman (@KagroX); "Bush says he has "no desire . . . to enhance my standing." I wouldn't sweat it, dude."
Twitter doesn't get much better than that.
