Friday, April 23, 2010

WEB BOHEMIAN (Friday, April 23, 2010)
(1)- SUN VERSUS COMET -- The destruction of a comet as it approached the sun is caught on camera by a long-lived space observatory. The comet death, a stranger to astronomers, is all recorded by the sun-watching Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

(2)- DID NOT LIKE HER -- No one who wrote about the Holocaust nettled Raul Hilberg more than Hannah Arendt. Hilberg's anger toward the German refugee and New York intellectual erupted with the publication of Eichmann in Jerusalem.

(3) –ROOTS OF GEORGE -- You don’t really think about Curious George saving the day, as a new exhibition puts it. A “good little monkey,” he is called in the classic series of picture books by Margret and H. A. Rey, but he was no savior.

(4)- WAGNER -- Wagner has become a symbol of what is inaccessible and unreachable about classical music: which is absurd. Yes, some of his operas may be four hours or more long. But it is compelling in its originality and beauty.

(5)- LEGAL DOG DEATHS -- The seizures, detentions, and exterminations of pit bulls—sanctioned by laws in many states—expose the statutory logic for making preemptive justice constitutionally permissible:

(6)- ABOUT WOMEN AND MEN -- New research suggests that women from countries with healthier populations prefer more feminine-looking men. Jena Pincott on the science behind attraction and masculinity, and the future for manly men.

(7)- FAMINE HISTORY – We now know enough about the history of famine for Cormac Ó Gráda to state confidently that the common denominator in most of the worst famines on record has been rain--too much of it or too little of it.

(8)- NO JOY -- Most newspaper and broadcast news editors think American journalism is in decline, and about half believe that their employers will go out of business if they do not find new sources of revenue, according to a survey.

(9)- GREEN FRANCE -- Cecile Duflot, the head of France's Green Party, has become a rising star in Paris power politics. Following her party's success in the European Parliament and last month's regional elections, Duflot is a kingmaker.

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

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