Since we are rapidly closing in on the end of this year, now would be the perfect time to once again purge my inbox of carry-over items, and prepare to start 2011 with a new clean slate of issues. So, with your indulgence, here they are.
1. NIMBY - Once again "Not In My Back Yard" raises its ugly head and threatens to kill the latest site for a homeless shelter in Little Rock. What exactly are people afraid of, particularly in an industrial zone across from a scrap yard? Is it better to have our homeless population roam the streets of our city in a scattered fashion and set up shop in their de facto day resource center on the southwest corner of Markham and Cross Streets, or have a clean, sanitary, safe and protected place for them to go? The need is urgent and the time is now, so I trust our city fathers will not once again cave on this issue and instead will do the absolutely right thing and make that proposed 9th Street location the proud new home for our homeless population. And please don't use that tired old excuse of no money. How about re-appropriating that annual $200,000 unaccounted for gift to the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce as start?
2. Vive la France, and Hawaii, Too - Several years ago there was a flap about extensive, and in some cases questionable, travel of some Little Rock City Directors to foreign countries. One of the off-shoots of that issue as I recall was that at the very least the travelers owed the taxpayers a report of what was learned or gained to the benefit of the city as a result of those travels. Has any such reporting of recent foreign travels by city representatives been made to the public?
3. Here We Go Again - Once again it's time for the revolving door of replacing superintendents of the Little Rock School District to start spinning. At least this time it has taken 3.3 years to make another change when the average tenure of a LRSD superintendent since 1978 has been a dismal 1.7 years (yes, we've had 18 during the past 32 years, some of whom were interim, others repeats). By that measure I guess we should rate the current occupant of this office as a major success. Do the names Masem, Kelly, Jones, Williams, Carnine, James, and Brooks, to name just a few, ring a bell? With all of the challenges that this district has gone through during these past three decades, it would seem that the one thing we need more than any other is stability in leadership, including a firm commitment to this community. In that regard is it necessary to again spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to conduct a national search to find another superintendent (see above list for the track record of that method) when, in fact, there may be other excellent candidates within the State of Arkansas, if not Little Rock, who have a deep appreciation of our history, as well as the professional knowledge, to bring that needed stability to our local situation?
4. I've Got Mine, Now You Get Yours - So, let me get this straight. Our congress is now debating the merits of whether to extend unemployment benefits to those in our country who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own during the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression , but only if the top 2% of the richest members of our society get their reduced taxes extended. What's wrong with this picture? Are we so selfish in this country that we would further penalize those who have been impacted the most by this latest recession at the very time they so desperately need help, and add another $700 billion to our $14 trillion debt in the process? Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Ted Turner among others don't think so, and neither do I.
5. Good-By to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - Simply put, it's past time to put this policy of asking many our brave military personnel to live a lie when they are risking their lives daily to defend our freedoms, one of which is to not be persecuted for sexual orientation. I would suspect that among the multitude of young men and women in uniform under 25 years of age this is a non-issue, so it seems to be influenced by demographics with some post-Vietnam generals just not able to face reality. Somehow we have got to purge ourselves of this homophobia not only in the armed forces, but in our society in general.
6. Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil - Listening to and reading about all of the reaction to the Wiki Leaks matter, I must confess some ambiguity. On the one hand, if the release of all of those documents has caused irreparable harm to our national security and diplomatic apparatus and put people's lives at risk, not unlike the Valerie Plame outing in 2003, then it is obviously a bad thing for which appropriate legal measures should be taken against the perpetrator(s). However, if it is a release of information to which the public is entitled anyway, then my reaction is somewhat tempered. Also, it calls into play the question of how the world might have been different had the public been privy to the truth at critical times in our history had we known about them at the time (e.g. our early engagements with Cuba and the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century, the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, the truth about the Iraq War, etc.). If nothing else I trust this affair will place all diplomats and others in public service on notice to be much more circumspect in their comments, lest they bear the brunt of them being publicly disclosed.
7. The Last Station - As history marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Leo Tolstoy at the Astapovo train station in the bleak cold winter of 1910, may I recommend the movie "The Last Station" about his life and that event. It's a great story with a cast of marvelous actors.
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Sandy Hubler Fine Art at http://sandyhublerfineart.com
George Wittenberg at http://postcard-art-gallery.com
Will Barnet at http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,24472,25834,26095,26328,26562,26637,26761,26790,26849,26992,27095,27126,27139,27147,27178&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=will+barnet&cp=9&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xpfETMT1O4L6lwf66ugE&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQsAQwAQ&biw=1350&bih=501
Barry Thomas at http://barrythomasart.com
Sherry Williamson at http://meowbarkart.com
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
Red Door Gallery at http://reddoorgalleryonline.com
M2 Gallery at http://m2lr.com
UALR Gallery Program at http://ualr.edu/art
Gallery 26 at http://gallery26.com
Boswell Mourot Fine Art at http://boswellmourot.com
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Arrogance of Power
Forty-four years ago Arkansas' own Senator J. William Fulbright published The Arrogance of Power which reflected his deep concern over the growing imperial attitude of the United States fueled by our military power as it was specifically applied to the ever expanding Vietnam War. He called it the "fatal impact of the rich and strong on the poor and the weak". Since that time there have been numerous other tomes written on this subject up to and including those dealing with the similarity between the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq. More recently a different slant on the arrogance of power was written by a Dr. Robert R. Owens just this past March over his belief that "Americans face a naked power grab by those who seek to turn America into a regimented collectivist society", about which you can read more at http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/21252 . Since it is a theme that lives on with many variations, I would like to apply it to some more contemporary examples of "arrogance of power" involving public officials whether elected, appointed or hired.
On the national scene, how many times have we witnessed a fall from grace by members of our congress, as well as their lobbyist cronies, as a result of a blatant abuse of power driven by pure arrogance and, often times, money? Some have even been sent to jail for their misdeeds. Most recently, we have watched a long term veteran of the House of Representatives with a fifty year distinguished career in military and public service to this country, including chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, be convicted and censored by his own peers for his self-inflected mistakes. How sad to witness the picture of a dejected and beaten man, a victim of his own form of arrogance. Ironically, it was our own Wilbur Mills who, as chairman of that same committee, suffered a similar fate many years ago.
Then, we have state-wide examples of that same arrogance in state employees who game the retirement system by entering into brief periods of retirement to, essentially, double dip into the state treasury; state lottery officials who award themselves comp time, pay unsubstantiated and excessive travel expenses, fail to file proper financial reports, enter into unauthorized contracts and hire people without proper background checks (per an article by John Lyon of the Arkansas News Bureau at http://arkansasnews.com/2010/11/21/problem-filled-audit-report-may-lead-to-closer-scrutiny-of-lottery/ ); and then there is the mother of all examples of arrogance of power the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission which wants to write its own set of laws. Thankfully, in every one of these cases it has been that ever present and pesky press which has exposed these practices and, thereby, brought about some correction and needed reform to them.
And, finally, there is the local situation surrounding our Little Rock National Airport's recent experience with inappropriate spending of public funds by its Executive Director. This is an example of what could be best described as "Cookie Jar Arrogance" where responsible parties treat their access to the public treasury as if it were their own private account and spend it accordingly. In this case, thanks to one particularly vigilant Airport Commissioner and, once again, the press, this misdeed was exposed, appropriate contrition expressed by the offender and full restitution made by the recipient of these errant funds.
But the obvious danger in all of this type of misbehavior is that it completely destroys public trust in our political institutions, the people running them and those in oversight positions whose job it is to play watchdog over their activities. Along with that mistrust is the nagging feeling of what other indiscretions these people might be engaged in that we know nothing about. Or, just as disgraceful, will they resume practicing that same exposed "arrogance of power" once the dust settles? The key is to make sure that people of the highest character, ethics and judgment are placed in those positions to begin with and that they are made abundantly aware of what is and is not acceptable conduct.
On a more positive note, as we go into the holiday season, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Sandy Hubler Fine Art at http://sandyhublerfineart.com
George Wittenberg at http://postcard-art-gallery.com
Will Barnet at http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,24472,25834,26095,26328,26562,26637,26761,26790,26849,26992,27095,27126,27139,27147,27178&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=will+barnet&cp=9&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xpfETMT1O4L6lwf66ugE&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQsAQwAQ&biw=1350&bih=501
Barry Thomas at http://barrythomasart.com
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
Red Door Gallery at http://reddoorgalleryonline.com
M2 Gallery at http://m2lr.com
UALR Gallery Program at http://ualr.edu/art
Gallery 26 at http://gallery26.com
Boswell Mourot Fine Art at http://boswellmourot.com
On the national scene, how many times have we witnessed a fall from grace by members of our congress, as well as their lobbyist cronies, as a result of a blatant abuse of power driven by pure arrogance and, often times, money? Some have even been sent to jail for their misdeeds. Most recently, we have watched a long term veteran of the House of Representatives with a fifty year distinguished career in military and public service to this country, including chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, be convicted and censored by his own peers for his self-inflected mistakes. How sad to witness the picture of a dejected and beaten man, a victim of his own form of arrogance. Ironically, it was our own Wilbur Mills who, as chairman of that same committee, suffered a similar fate many years ago.
Then, we have state-wide examples of that same arrogance in state employees who game the retirement system by entering into brief periods of retirement to, essentially, double dip into the state treasury; state lottery officials who award themselves comp time, pay unsubstantiated and excessive travel expenses, fail to file proper financial reports, enter into unauthorized contracts and hire people without proper background checks (per an article by John Lyon of the Arkansas News Bureau at http://arkansasnews.com/2010/11/21/problem-filled-audit-report-may-lead-to-closer-scrutiny-of-lottery/ ); and then there is the mother of all examples of arrogance of power the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission which wants to write its own set of laws. Thankfully, in every one of these cases it has been that ever present and pesky press which has exposed these practices and, thereby, brought about some correction and needed reform to them.
And, finally, there is the local situation surrounding our Little Rock National Airport's recent experience with inappropriate spending of public funds by its Executive Director. This is an example of what could be best described as "Cookie Jar Arrogance" where responsible parties treat their access to the public treasury as if it were their own private account and spend it accordingly. In this case, thanks to one particularly vigilant Airport Commissioner and, once again, the press, this misdeed was exposed, appropriate contrition expressed by the offender and full restitution made by the recipient of these errant funds.
But the obvious danger in all of this type of misbehavior is that it completely destroys public trust in our political institutions, the people running them and those in oversight positions whose job it is to play watchdog over their activities. Along with that mistrust is the nagging feeling of what other indiscretions these people might be engaged in that we know nothing about. Or, just as disgraceful, will they resume practicing that same exposed "arrogance of power" once the dust settles? The key is to make sure that people of the highest character, ethics and judgment are placed in those positions to begin with and that they are made abundantly aware of what is and is not acceptable conduct.
On a more positive note, as we go into the holiday season, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Sandy Hubler Fine Art at http://sandyhublerfineart.com
George Wittenberg at http://postcard-art-gallery.com
Will Barnet at http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,24472,25834,26095,26328,26562,26637,26761,26790,26849,26992,27095,27126,27139,27147,27178&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=will+barnet&cp=9&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xpfETMT1O4L6lwf66ugE&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQsAQwAQ&biw=1350&bih=501
Barry Thomas at http://barrythomasart.com
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
Red Door Gallery at http://reddoorgalleryonline.com
M2 Gallery at http://m2lr.com
UALR Gallery Program at http://ualr.edu/art
Gallery 26 at http://gallery26.com
Boswell Mourot Fine Art at http://boswellmourot.com
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Meet the New Alexander Pushkin
As the old saying goes, "Life is full of surprises", and I was richly treated to an extraordinary one this past weekend while visiting my son and his family in California and being his guest at a most unusual and unique event (thus the reason for no new post on Sunday). The occasion was the unveiling of an amazing creation by one of the many brilliant Silicon Valley innovators who, out of respect for his desire to remain nameless shall be referred to as Mr. X, collaborated with Francois Junod, considered one of the world's foremost builders of automates. As defined by Ron Decourte in February 2005, "an automate is a combination of art, sculpture and mechanics used to create articulated, moving models resembling life and fantasy in all its forms". To learn more about Monsieur Junod and his dazzling art form, please go to http://www.francoisjunod.com/index.php?id=539.
Briefly, as I understood from the presentation, Mr. X's idea was to utilize the well-known, old world watch-making skills of the Swiss to construct a mechanical replica of a known poet from history which would be able to compose and illustrate randomly generated short poems. In addition this particular creation would be able to actually hand write multiple variations of these poems in the exact font of the original person, while previous automatons of this type have always been limited to writing just one repetitive sentence over and over in some standard font. To accomplish this feat this automaton would rely totally on a series of intricate gears that would be energized solely by winding mechanisms much like antique wall clocks which would be able, in the exact words of the invitation, "....to implement through purely mechanical means a grammar, a random number generator, a motion memory bank, and a memory address offset calculator". As such, no electrical sources, batteries or microchips of any kind would be used. While seemingly simple in concept, I cannot begin to relay the enormity of the many difficult challenges that were encountered in this project, not the least of which was a communication problem in the beginning between Mr. X and Monsieur Junod. In fact this obstacle was eventually solved by Mr. X writing a complex computer program to generate a rotating three dimensional model of exactly what he wanted. Then there were the added difficulties with physics, mass, size, weight, friction, etc., as well as just the practical aspects of hand crafting every one of the almost 3,500 mainly movable parts. And, finally, the exact physical features and period dress of the chosen poet had to be duplicated. Remarkably, all of this highly technical and complex development was driven strictly out of intellectual curiosity, as no commercial purpose is intended.
The end result of all this effort was the birth of the new Alexander Pushkin who you will meet in a moment. As a point of reference, the original Alexander Pushkin, born in Moscow in 1799, was Russia's premier poet and the first to use everyday speech in his poems. Also, he was one of the founders of modern Russian literature, and died in 1837 (learn more at http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/puskin.htm). The new Mr. Pushkin, conceived in a factory in Switzerland in 2003 but actually born only just this year, is approximately 45% of his namesake's size, has no heart, no brain, no sight, no hearing or other bodily functions whatsoever but can create poetry just the same. I was privileged to watch him do it firsthand, but now thanks to the wonderful world of technology you can also enjoy his marvelous creativity, as well as observe his internal mechanizations, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivIHcHwR6b0. You will be richly rewarded, too, so enjoy!
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Sandy Hubler Fine Art at http://sandyhublerfineart.com
George Wittenberg at http://postcard-art-gallery.com
Will Barnet at http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,24472,25834,26095,26328,26562,26637,26761,26790,26849,26992,27095,27126,27139,27147,27178&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=will+barnet&cp=9&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xpfETMT1O4L6lwf66ugE&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQsAQwAQ&biw=1350&bih=501
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
Red Door Gallery at http://reddoorgalleryonline.com
M2 Gallery at http://m2lr.com
UALR Gallery Program at http://ualr.edu/art
Gallery 26 at http://gallery26.com
Boswell Mourot Fine Art at http://boswellmourot.com
NOTE: Regular weekly postings will resume on Sunday, November 21st, with the exception of December 26th following Christmas Day.
Briefly, as I understood from the presentation, Mr. X's idea was to utilize the well-known, old world watch-making skills of the Swiss to construct a mechanical replica of a known poet from history which would be able to compose and illustrate randomly generated short poems. In addition this particular creation would be able to actually hand write multiple variations of these poems in the exact font of the original person, while previous automatons of this type have always been limited to writing just one repetitive sentence over and over in some standard font. To accomplish this feat this automaton would rely totally on a series of intricate gears that would be energized solely by winding mechanisms much like antique wall clocks which would be able, in the exact words of the invitation, "....to implement through purely mechanical means a grammar, a random number generator, a motion memory bank, and a memory address offset calculator". As such, no electrical sources, batteries or microchips of any kind would be used. While seemingly simple in concept, I cannot begin to relay the enormity of the many difficult challenges that were encountered in this project, not the least of which was a communication problem in the beginning between Mr. X and Monsieur Junod. In fact this obstacle was eventually solved by Mr. X writing a complex computer program to generate a rotating three dimensional model of exactly what he wanted. Then there were the added difficulties with physics, mass, size, weight, friction, etc., as well as just the practical aspects of hand crafting every one of the almost 3,500 mainly movable parts. And, finally, the exact physical features and period dress of the chosen poet had to be duplicated. Remarkably, all of this highly technical and complex development was driven strictly out of intellectual curiosity, as no commercial purpose is intended.
The end result of all this effort was the birth of the new Alexander Pushkin who you will meet in a moment. As a point of reference, the original Alexander Pushkin, born in Moscow in 1799, was Russia's premier poet and the first to use everyday speech in his poems. Also, he was one of the founders of modern Russian literature, and died in 1837 (learn more at http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/puskin.htm). The new Mr. Pushkin, conceived in a factory in Switzerland in 2003 but actually born only just this year, is approximately 45% of his namesake's size, has no heart, no brain, no sight, no hearing or other bodily functions whatsoever but can create poetry just the same. I was privileged to watch him do it firsthand, but now thanks to the wonderful world of technology you can also enjoy his marvelous creativity, as well as observe his internal mechanizations, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivIHcHwR6b0. You will be richly rewarded, too, so enjoy!
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Sandy Hubler Fine Art at http://sandyhublerfineart.com
George Wittenberg at http://postcard-art-gallery.com
Will Barnet at http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,24472,25834,26095,26328,26562,26637,26761,26790,26849,26992,27095,27126,27139,27147,27178&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=will+barnet&cp=9&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xpfETMT1O4L6lwf66ugE&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQsAQwAQ&biw=1350&bih=501
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
Red Door Gallery at http://reddoorgalleryonline.com
M2 Gallery at http://m2lr.com
UALR Gallery Program at http://ualr.edu/art
Gallery 26 at http://gallery26.com
Boswell Mourot Fine Art at http://boswellmourot.com
NOTE: Regular weekly postings will resume on Sunday, November 21st, with the exception of December 26th following Christmas Day.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
POLITICAL SMACK-DOWN
Thankfully, in approximately 48 hours this crazy and wacky mid-term election cycle will come to an end and not any too soon. It has been a true sight to behold as various campaigns devolve into the political equivalent of a WWE SmackDown or, even worse, extreme cage fighting, to wit:
1. Political operative stomps on the head of a subdued female protester in Kentucky.
2. Private, para-military "security guards" arrest and handcuff a reporter in Alaska.
3. A candidate in New York threatens another reporter to "take you out".
4. A candidate in Nevada recommends a "second amendment solution" to the current political situation.
5. Unauthorized uniformed thugs with batons man a polling precinct in Philadelphia.
6. A candidate in Ohio participates in Nazi war re-enactments, and is endorsed by the potential new Speaker of the House.
7. A candidate in Rhode Island tells the President of the United States to "take his endorsement and shove it".
8. A candidate in Delaware who proudly dabbled in witchcraft in her youthful years, and seems to know very little about the very Constitution she constantly wants to invoke.
And then there is the avalanche of campaign money that is expected to top $3 billion, $250 million of which has been provided by just three candidates to their own respective campaigns, as if personal wealth is all that is required to run for office. By the 2012 cycle it is estimated that the total may exceed $10 billion!
When you have the volatile mixture of anger and endless money, I guess this is what you get. But the truly sad thing is that while candidates beat up on each other in what Tom Friedman terms a "dysfunctional political system", the rest of the industrialized world proceeds to pass us by in education and technological development, as summarized in his column in the New York Times on October 27th. Specifically, he references last month's updated version of a 2005 report from the National Academies that recommended 10 actions our federal government could take to "enhance science and technology so America could successfully compete in the 21st century". Entitled "Rising Above the Gathering Storm Revisited: Rapidly approaching Category 5", this latest report concludes that despite all of the efforts of government and the private sector, America's ability to compete has "further deteriorated over the past five years" ( go to http://www.ucar.edu/oga/pdf/Revisited%20Hearing.pdf and learn more). Here are just some of the rankings to ponder:
1. 6th in global innovation-based competitiveness, but 40th in the rate of change over the past 40 years.
2. 11th in the fraction of 25-34-year-olds who have graduated from high school.
3. 16th in college completion rates.
4. 22nd in broadband Internet access.
5. 27th in the proportion of college graduates with degrees in science or engineering.
6. 48th in the quality of K-12 education in math and science.
Finally, we learn that China has built the world's fastest computer which has enormous implications for our defense, energy, finance, science and mainstream businesses (i.e. our total economy). This is just the latest achievement in China's quest to become a technological superpower, so it comes as no real surprise. When are we going to wake up to the fact that while our politicians engage in all of this outrageous and unacceptable conduct we are slipping from being number one in practically all of these categories? It's almost as if we are watching a combination of the TV reality program SURVIVOR, the movie JACKASS and a national Halloween Party. But the truly scary thing is that next Tuesday's election results will just be a pit stop on the way to 2012!
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Sandy Hubler Fine Art at http://sandyhublerfineart.com
George Wittenberg at http://postcard-art-gallery.com
Will Barnet at http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,24472,25834,26095,26328,26562,26637,26761,26790,26849,26992,27095,27126,27139,27147,27178&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=will+barnet&cp=9&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xpfETMT1O4L6lwf66ugE&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQsAQwAQ&biw=1350&bih=501
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
Red Door Gallery at http://reddoorgalleryonline.com
M2 Gallery at http://m2lr.com
UALR Gallery Program at http://ualr.edu/art
Gallery 26 at http://gallery26.com
1. Political operative stomps on the head of a subdued female protester in Kentucky.
2. Private, para-military "security guards" arrest and handcuff a reporter in Alaska.
3. A candidate in New York threatens another reporter to "take you out".
4. A candidate in Nevada recommends a "second amendment solution" to the current political situation.
5. Unauthorized uniformed thugs with batons man a polling precinct in Philadelphia.
6. A candidate in Ohio participates in Nazi war re-enactments, and is endorsed by the potential new Speaker of the House.
7. A candidate in Rhode Island tells the President of the United States to "take his endorsement and shove it".
8. A candidate in Delaware who proudly dabbled in witchcraft in her youthful years, and seems to know very little about the very Constitution she constantly wants to invoke.
And then there is the avalanche of campaign money that is expected to top $3 billion, $250 million of which has been provided by just three candidates to their own respective campaigns, as if personal wealth is all that is required to run for office. By the 2012 cycle it is estimated that the total may exceed $10 billion!
When you have the volatile mixture of anger and endless money, I guess this is what you get. But the truly sad thing is that while candidates beat up on each other in what Tom Friedman terms a "dysfunctional political system", the rest of the industrialized world proceeds to pass us by in education and technological development, as summarized in his column in the New York Times on October 27th. Specifically, he references last month's updated version of a 2005 report from the National Academies that recommended 10 actions our federal government could take to "enhance science and technology so America could successfully compete in the 21st century". Entitled "Rising Above the Gathering Storm Revisited: Rapidly approaching Category 5", this latest report concludes that despite all of the efforts of government and the private sector, America's ability to compete has "further deteriorated over the past five years" ( go to http://www.ucar.edu/oga/pdf/Revisited%20Hearing.pdf and learn more). Here are just some of the rankings to ponder:
1. 6th in global innovation-based competitiveness, but 40th in the rate of change over the past 40 years.
2. 11th in the fraction of 25-34-year-olds who have graduated from high school.
3. 16th in college completion rates.
4. 22nd in broadband Internet access.
5. 27th in the proportion of college graduates with degrees in science or engineering.
6. 48th in the quality of K-12 education in math and science.
Finally, we learn that China has built the world's fastest computer which has enormous implications for our defense, energy, finance, science and mainstream businesses (i.e. our total economy). This is just the latest achievement in China's quest to become a technological superpower, so it comes as no real surprise. When are we going to wake up to the fact that while our politicians engage in all of this outrageous and unacceptable conduct we are slipping from being number one in practically all of these categories? It's almost as if we are watching a combination of the TV reality program SURVIVOR, the movie JACKASS and a national Halloween Party. But the truly scary thing is that next Tuesday's election results will just be a pit stop on the way to 2012!
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Sandy Hubler Fine Art at http://sandyhublerfineart.com
George Wittenberg at http://postcard-art-gallery.com
Will Barnet at http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,24472,25834,26095,26328,26562,26637,26761,26790,26849,26992,27095,27126,27139,27147,27178&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=will+barnet&cp=9&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=xpfETMT1O4L6lwf66ugE&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQsAQwAQ&biw=1350&bih=501
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
Red Door Gallery at http://reddoorgalleryonline.com
M2 Gallery at http://m2lr.com
UALR Gallery Program at http://ualr.edu/art
Gallery 26 at http://gallery26.com
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