The Nature of Things

Here's another post from the past about one of my favorite day trips. *~*~*~* Few things are calculated to make me feel my ignorance more keenly than a trip to the wonderful  Museum of Fine Arts Houston . The place is a cultural treasure for our area and one that should be visited and enjoyed as often as possible. Even if it does make you feel stupid. And so, to Houston we headed this morning, fighting heavy Friday traffic on our hour-long trek into the city. The museum has expanded and renovated several times since my first trip there back in the 1980s. Today it is barely recognizable as its former self. Indeed, it has grown so that it is no longer possible to see it all in one visit - if it ever was. Looking at art takes time. You have to give each painting, each sculpture its due. You can't just rush through it. We hardly even made a dent in seeing what was available to us today and yet after a couple of hours I was completely overwhelmed. The museum doesn't have any big...

Well, that certainly caused quite a stir! Republicans everywhere have been outraged, outraged I tell you, over the  "blatant politicization," "partisanship," the "free political ad for Obama" which they attribute to this ad by Chrysler that played during halftime of the Super Bowl on Sunday. Of course, President Obama did work to save the American auto industry and to bail out two of the three major carmakers (one of which was Chrysler) in the face of much Republican opposition, including that of Mitt Romney who spoke out against the plan and even wrote a strong op-ed piece saying that the auto makers should declare bankruptcy and move on. Never mind all the jobs that would be lost and their ripple effect in a failing economy. But the industries were saved and have come back strong. They've even paid back to the American taxpayer most of the money that was used to bail them out. They are a contemporary American success story, one that we need in these ...