February 2009
84 posts
For all those following this tumblr
we gots to shut it down and start a new one! we’ll let you know what it is on www.bigthink.com. If you want to follow Brett, you can find him here: catsinbagbagsinriver.tumblr.com
Feb 6th
Chuck Close on the Clintons →
The contemporary artist nominates Hillary to the Supreme Court. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close on Obama and the Arts →
The contemporary artist applauds the president for his “enlightened view” of the arts. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close on Photographing Brad Pitt →
The contemporary artist praises the passion of Brangelina. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close Remembers John F. Kennedy →
The contemporary artist draws comparisons between Kennedy and Obama Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close Justifies Public Art Expenditures →
The contemporary artist talks about why public money should support art. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close Says You Don't Need to Buy Art →
The contemporary artist on selling a nonessential product Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close on the Real Value of Art →
The contemporary artist reminds us that sales should not be the measure of artistic success. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Is the Art Market More Corrupt than Wall Street? →
The contemporary artist says to compare art dealers to Wall Street crooks is unfair. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close on Regulating Auction Houses →
The contemporary artist refutes the notion that auction houses need government oversight. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close's Advice to Artists During a Crisis →
The contemporary artist says the best time to make art is when everyone thinks art is dead. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Chuck Close on Race →
The contemporary artist talks about where he was when Martin Luther King, Jr. died and meeting Malcolm X. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
1 note
Chuck Close on American Values →
The contemporary artist on what it means to be an American. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Your Smartphone is Now Way Smarter Than You →
A team of hyper-geniuses at MIT’s Media Lab has designed a cellphone type device that gathers data on the environment around you, searches for information using the Internet, aggregates the results,…
Feb 6th
Our Complex Relationship With Binational Divorce →
<!— By line —> <!— Summary —> <!— The Content —> The New York Times Ideas Blog today highlights an Economist article about divorce, globalization style. “There’s a global meltdown…
Feb 6th
Cory Booker's "Moral Imagination" Speech →
Political engagement and social justice were the themes of a speech Newark Mayor Cory Booker delivered at Duke yesterday.  Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
There is a Green Comet Gunning For Planet Earth →
According to NASA, there is a green comet named Lulin approaching Earth. One astronomer calls it “a green beauty that could become visible to the naked eye any day now.” Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Reflections on Athletes and Their Scandals →
Lance Armstrong and doping. Marion Jones and steroids. Tanya Harding and a lead pipe. Scandal seems to inevitably follow on the heels of—or, in some cases, preclude—gold medals. So it comes as no…
Feb 6th
Nat Hentoff is Still a Fierce Libertarian →
Libertarian music critic Nat Hentoff, one of the foremost authorities on the First Amendment, has joined the Cato Institute as a senior fellow. Continue Reading >
Feb 6th
Oliver Sacks Hallucinates, The World Learns →
The British neurologist and author Oliver Sacks recently chronicled the experience of losing his sight from ocular melanoma in a series of journals and an interview with Wired magazine. …
Feb 5th
Mugabe's Craziness Impedes Legislation →
I’ve more or less stopped paying attention to political news from Zimbabwe. As an increasing number of “talks” seem to end in reaffirmation of still President Mugabe’s Reign of Terror, the foregone…
Feb 5th
Should Newspapers Become Ivory Towers? →
The Editors at Columbia Journalism Review continue the debate about how to remodel the newspaper business today. Continue Reading >
Feb 5th
Trade Military Secrets With Your iPod →
There might be easier ways to infiltrate the DOD than Jack Bauer-style espionage. A New Zealand man was able to get 60 free pages of sensitive military intelligence, including personal contact…
Feb 5th
What is your question? →
“How did we get here?” Continue Reading >
Feb 5th
What is your outlook? →
Pinker is a cautious optimist. Continue Reading >
Feb 5th
Reactions to Obama's Op-Ed Decidedly Mixed →
In an editorial that strongly echoes the inaugural address and his reminder to Congress last week that “we don’t have a moment to spare,” Barack Obama told Washington Post readers this morning…
Feb 5th
Whom would you interview and what would you ask? →
Thomas Hobbs Continue Reading >
Feb 5th
Steven Pinker on Absolutes and Relatives →
Not all problems have to have a moralistic solution. Continue Reading >
Feb 5th
Just Released: Government 2.0 →
Demonstrated by his activity on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the official White House portal, President Obama is institutionalizing social networking as the interactive feature par excellence in…
Feb 5th
Steven Pinker on Morality and Ethics →
“Any reason that I give you for how you should behave has to apply to me in order for me not to be a hypocrite or to contradict myself.” Continue Reading 
Feb 5th
Who are we? →
“I think science show us is that the idea that there’s some purpose to the universe is one that we should outgrow.” Continue Reading >
Feb 5th
What do you believe? →
Pinker’s personal philosophy is based on reason. Continue Reading >
Feb 5th
Republicans Love Stimulus Too! →
The chief executive of Cisco, John Chambers, has emerged as one of Silicon Valley’s few optimists, proclaiming that the U.S. economy will recover this year. Oh my! Continue Reading >
Feb 5th
Awaiting Return of the Buyout King →
Investment banks, suddenly the target of pitchforks rather than perky Ivy Leaguers, are defunct. Hedge funds are all but wiped out—some of the remaining ones still in the game only because they’ve…
Feb 5th
To Refrigerate or Not to Refrigerate →
The next step in green living involves about 1,300 fewer kilowatt hours and 2,000 pounds less carbon per year. That’s the energy required and pollution caused to run the common behemoth…
Feb 5th
You Stole My Photograph of Obama And Made It Huge! →
All of a sudden, the Associated Press says it’s entitled to money and credit for the photo that became the ubiquitous icon of the Obama campaign, the “Hope” poster made by former street artist…
Feb 5th
Guangzhou Is Looking A Lot Like Lagos →
Here’s one demographic that’s been lurking under the surface of the new China: Nigerians living in Guangzhou. Apparently with nothing more than a few yuan in their pockets, Nigerians with a head for…
Feb 4th
Katrina vanden Heuvel on Immigration →
Katrina vanden Heuvel explains what immigrants to the US desperately need. Continue Reading >
Feb 4th
Will Google Rescue Green Energy? →
The financial crisis and energy crisis loom like two grim reapers over 2009. Now these evil twins are feeding off each other. Today The New York Times reported a dearth of loans and capital…
Feb 4th
Change Has Come to the Dry Martini →
In these economic times, it’s hard to imagine anyone who doesn’t long for a dry martini. But Jason Wilson in the Washington Post today asserts that the “post-war era dry martini” has gone the way…
Feb 4th
Rebecca Hall on acting in Woody Allen's "Vicky... →
The Golden Globe nominated actress talks about working with the director and stars of “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. Distributed in partnership with Uinterview.com. Continue Reading >
Feb 4th
Katrina vanden Heuvel on Progressive Foreign... →
Katrina vanden Heuvel mentions some truly farsighted thinkers in foreign policy today. Continue Reading >
Feb 4th
Katrina vanden Heuvel on Health Care →
Katrina vanden Heuvel says it is completely feasible to extend the right of health care to all Americans. Continue Reading >
Feb 4th
Katrina vanden Heuvel on Barack Obama →
Katrina vanden Heuvel advises the new president. Continue Reading >
Feb 4th
Katrina vanden Heuvel on the Future of the... →
Katrina vanden Heuvel speaks to the strength of the libertarian tradition in the US. Continue Reading >
Feb 4th
Katrina vanden Heuvel on the Bush Adminstration →
Katrina vanden Heuvel positions the Bush legacy in history and speculates about legal repercussions. Continue Reading >
Feb 4th
Katrina vanden Heuvel on Iraq and Afghanistan →
Katrina vanden Heuvel maps the way forward in the two countries. Continue Reading >
Feb 4th
How Will President Obama Affect U.S.-Japan... →
His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States of America, will discuss the impact of the Obama administration on U.S.-Japan…
Feb 4th
The Inconvienent Truth About Green-collar Jobs →
Today kicks off the 2009 Green Jobs Conference in Washington, DC, hosted by the Blue Green Alliance, a coalition of labor groups such as SEIU and the United Steel Workers and environmental…
Feb 4th
Does the Geithner Bank Plan Encourage More Bad... →
Simon Johnson at The Baseline Scenario today, ponders expectations of the Geithner bank plan. “Listening carefully to the messaging from the top, you are probably hoping for an increase in bank…
Feb 4th