The Art World is Dead. Long Live Art.
By now, anyone who cares is well versed in the Tragedy of Becky Smith's Bellwether. Once sales dried up by the fall of 2008, Becky called three of her largest collectors, pleading for some business — “I tried playing it cool, and then I tried playing it direct,” she said. She recounted a typical conversation: “I need to sell you something to continue to be here,” she would tell a collector. “I’m just not buying,” was the reply.“Did you hear me? I have this artist you collect who will have to get another job. If I can’

One More Thing...
One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part I)46. Never acknowledge any one guest over and above any other. All guests are equal.Particularly, never sit down at a table with three ladies who have gathered for lunch, next to the one you find most attractive, and monopolize the conversation for an hour and a half, by describing your job, your last four jobs, the personalities of the restaurant owners, and the stinginess of the diners regarding tips. Additionally, do not fail to bring any change when the ladies put dow

Blaming the Individual
for institutional excess:never have so many members of the nation’s younger generations been so dependent on their parents and grandparents. Should parents set limits, or is this transfer of wealth a social and economic necessity in the long jobless recession? How has this growing dependence changed the country?Although the various answers to this question are interesting, it's the wrong question. The QUESTION is, 'how has the country's economy created this growing dependence?'To anyone who

Base Paranoia
Cheers everybody! It's been yonks. Of course I have had opinions unlimited on the healthcare debate, most of which I cannot now recall. But today's Ross Douthat editorial yanked me out of my haze:It’s the eventual endgame that liberals pushing a “public option” are aiming for: a federal takeover of the health-insurance sector, paid for by rising tax rates, in which the government guarantees universal access while using its monopoly power to hold down costs.Let's leave aside, for a moment, the fact that the 'radical solution' that Mr. Douthat propounds is nearly identical to th