Advanced Citizenship » quotes

Isn’t this illegal?

ajw93 — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 20:16:00 +0000

Via Kevin Drum, here’s a quote which leapt off the screen at me:

O’Beirne’s staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000?

This seems to me to be a patently illegal question insofar as interviewing and fair employment laws and all that. It probably isn’t though, since the guy was interviewing prospective political appointees. However, at my job, wouldn’t it be illegal to ask this?

Quick Thoughts

ajw93 — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:53:00 +0000

Quick Thoughts

This quote always bothers me:

And Mr Bush won the 2004 presidential election with more votes than any president in history.

(Economist, America’s Longest War, August 31, 2006).

That wouldn’t be a function of the fact that there are more, you know, voters than at any time in history?

Argh.

Leon is everywhere

ajw93 — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:12:00 +0000

Matthew Yglesias: A Cop-Out

What strikes me here is the fact that Ms. Senior made the unfortunate choice of quoting Leon Botstein. Why, I wonder, is he so CONSTANTLY quoted in magazines? It’s weird. Maybe I would just for once like to see him explain, in one of these many quotations, why someone would actually WANT to pay that much money to live in that particular town. (I’m from that town and ran at the earliest opportunity!)

And let’s be clear on one thing people: this particular rant has been brought to you by anti-Bard bias, not anti-Jew bias!

(In the interest of full disclosure, both of my parents are or have been married to Jewish people [Ashkenazim, as it happens] and some of my closest relatives are Jewish! Though I, myself, am a mainline Protestant.)

Danforth on Evangelicals

ajw93 — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 14:27:00 +0000

Via The Washington Monthly: Danforth on right-wing evangelicals: “for us, the only absolute standard of behavior is the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.”

Amen, brother.

Condition of Music

ajw93 — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 19:21:00 +0000

All Art Constantly Aspires Toward the Condition of Music. A favorite quote of mine. I am reminded of it while listening to Lennon’s “Imagine”. Granted, the words are a bit treacly, but that easy, simple piano just works wonders for them. Another good example is “Let It Be”, whose “Naked” version is getting play on the classic rock station. It had me near tears recently.

Sunday was spent at the last day of the Hudson Valley School exhibit at the National Gallery. My favorite stuff. It is best viewed from a distance of six to ten feet, so as best to appreciate the diffusion of light which is the hallmark of this school. Also, I spent some time in the lower level sculpture collection, and was depressed to find that I was the only person in the room with all those Rodins, Degas, etc. Such fabulous stuff and no one sees it.

Yes, I like my art (generally) to be representational, and don’t have a lot of patience with the moderns. I spend my time in the West building, not the East, and certainly almost never the Hirshhorn (except for photography exhibits they have there, which are usually pretty good). My experience living with a moderately successful “modern” sculptor taught me that it is more about being able to schmooze dealers and collectors, than actually to speak with your art. Hence the big ugly crap hanging in my office.

But the up side is, the autumn concert season at the NGA is beginning again! One of the best things about DC is that, in addition to being a vibrant, cosmpolitan place, so many of the events and attractions are FREE! My tax dollars at work.