2009-10-25 2100: I sat down to watch 60 Minutes this evening, even though the lead story didn't seem particularly interesting: Medicare fraud. But the numbers they claimed were completely astounding—$60 billion in fraud, out of $430 billion in benefits paid by Medicare each year, or 14%. I find this tremendously disturbing, partly because of the sheer magnitude of the fraud, but also because of the timing of this story: it aired as negotiations are reaching a critical stage in Congress over a public option in the health care reform. I wondered if this story might be the result of some kind of well-executed last-minute swift boat campaign against the public option. (It appears to me that 60 Minutes got gulled earlier this year on a story about cold fusion; see my blog post of 2009-05-01 2045. So I can imagine 60 Minutes being mislead on this issue.) Unfortunately, after spending some time on Google, I was unable to find anything that convinces me that the figures they quoted were not credible. Indeed, I found a disturbing testimony to Congress by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government professor Malcom Sparrow that reinforces the gravity of the problem and the inadequacy of efforts to control it. I hope that the people in Congress who are putting together a public option are taking care to provide protections against fraud robust enough to convince Congress to pass a public option and to ensure it is not prey to this kind of abuse when it is operational. And I would certainly hope that the existing problems in Medicare and Medicaid are brought under control as expeditiously as possible.
2009-10-25 2030: Today's NY Times crossword puzzle didn't seem very promising at first; from the clues, it was clear that the main clues (seven of them) would together give a quote from a certain sports writer. I had to look up the usual obscure actors or movie titles, etc, and I got a few words wrong; the puzzle wasn't very fun. But I'm glad that I kept at it, because when I figured out one critical bit of the long quote, it all quickly fell together—and I laughed out loud—the Sports Illustrated writer Peter King got his wish today: to be a clue in a NY Times crossword puzzle!
2009-10-21 2315: According to news reports, the Roman Catholic Church has decided to expedite the entry of disaffected Anglicans into the RCC, in a special status allowing them to use their own liturgies and clergy. (The blog The Friends of Jake links to the cute headline that appeared in the Times of London: "Vatican Moves to Poach Traditional Anglicans.") This brings to mind the charming, antique language of the Articles of Religion found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church: Article XXII. Of Purgatory. The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.
Added 2009-10-22 0830: I heard an Steve Inskeep interview this morning on Morning Edition of a National Catholic Reporter writer, John Allen. Most of the interview focused on the implications of the move by the RCC on the question of married priests—married Anglican priests will become Roman Catholic priests—but he made a salient point about the RCC's move: In the olden days, what divided Christians were issues such as how much authority to give the Pope versus how much authority to give the Bible. He said that these issues are still around, but now what divides Christians are issues related to the culture wars on sexual morality, which are redefining the fault lines that matter in Christianity.
2009-10-18 2320: I enjoyed a weekend of fine music. Saturday evening was an excellent concert by the Louisville Orchestra, which played Haydn's Symphony No. 82 ("The Bear"), and the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10. This evening, I saw a musical performance much more intimate in scale, a harpsichord and recorder recital by the Galhano/Montgomery Duo. This was at Christ Church Cathedral, as part of its Cathedral Arts series. The recital was rich and warm in sound; it featured work from the Baroque era, including sonatas by J. S. Bach, but it also included contemporary pieces. I couldn't recall ever hearing harpsichord compositions from after 1750 (say), except for 'baroque rock' by the Beatles or other bands from the 1960s. The Duo performed a playful composition written by the husband of the harpsichordist, Vivian Montgomery, to express his love for her. They also played two compositions from Brazil, homeland of the recorder player Cléa Galhano. These were especially rich and warm.
2009-10-18 2300: I finished a fun Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle. It had an unusual design, with a spiral shape to the black squares in the middle of the puzzle (unusual in part because crossword puzzles are usually expected to show symmetry in the layout of the black squares). It was clear that the puzzle was about art (certain clues appeared to be the titles of art works), and I soon realized that the puzzle was about the Guggenheim Museum, with its famous spiral shape. This turns out to be in honor of the 50th anniversary of the museum, which is on October 21, and in honor of its architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (one set of words informs the puzzle-solver that the Guggenheim was Wright's last major work). The NY Times crossword puzzle blog had links to the Guggenheim web site showing all nine art works that appeared in the puzzle. They also had a link to another story about an unusual project Wright worked on that involved a spiral shape: a large domed structure with a spiral automobile ramp. This was never built, but some wag was prompted to post the following comment after this story:
I always thought Frank Lloyd Wright’ s Guggenheim Art Museum, though a archietectural [sic] landmark, resembled a parking garage with a wide ramp climbing the central core of the structure. Parking stalls are the adjoining art galleries for SUV sized paintings. With a lot of 'modern' non-representational art, a garage can resemble a gallery. But the oil stains are on the walls not the floor.
Question: Did Frank Llloyd Wright ever design a dedicated parking structure?
Bluto, Esq.
I remember my visit to the Guggenheim, in the summer of 1980. I was entranced. They happened to be showing a major retrospective on 20th century art, with many important works on display on the spiral ramp (along with the permanent collections in the adjoining galleries). But I thought the building itself was beautiful, with its futuristic and optimistic design. I don't recall specifically what was on display. I do recall something by Warhol. And I recall a marvelous kinetic sculpture, consisting of a wooden staircase with wooden balls on the steps, rigged with some sort of motor and some fishing line to shift slightly in position from time to time.
2009-10-06 2230: This evening, I watched part of the two-hour NOVA special on PBS, "Darwin's Darkest Hour." This was particularly interesting in its commentary on religion and science. This was a drama about Charles Darwin's decision to publish his theory of evolution, a decision he made with his wife Emma knowing that his theory would be tremendously controversial and would challenge religious faith. Emma herself maintained a Christian faith based on Unitarianism, against the agnosticism of Charles. But they married already knowing that he had doubts about religion. In the drama, Emma is shown telling Charles that "an honest and conscientious doubt is never sinful." (This is followed by a scene where Charles Darwin's father Robert, a nonbeliever, observes that "Unitarianism is a featherbed for fallen Christians.")
2009-10-04 2200: I've gone around the sun fifty times, or so I announced on Facebook this morning. And I have had a very busy weekend celebrating this milestone. I am so grateful to all the friends who have wished me happy birthday, and who have helped me celebrate.
Yesterday, I treated myself to a matinee performance of the musical Rocky Horror Show, and a concert in the evening by the Louisville Orchestra. The concert was very pleasant—they performed the 23rd piano concerto by Mozart, and the 4th symphony of Tchaikovsky. But I had a lot more fun at the Rocky Horror Show, whcih was produced by the local theater group Pandora Productions. Rocky Horror is of course very campy and kinky, but they made it cute more than sexy or sexual, often adorably cute. They mentioned that they thought they might make this an annual event. I certainly hope they do.