news

The sky is getting darker. I am always startled by the degree to which we can affect this big planet.

The National Parks are underfunded, and really beautiful, by the way.

A Tel Aviv rally to support withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Sudan's ambiguous place in the war on terror. Contrasting the state of democracy in India and Pakistan.

Some of the pundits who cheered us into Iraq now "feel foolish". They feel foolish because they are foolish. They were fools. They were paid well by large corporations to do no investigation, to apply no critical thought, to publicly disregard facts and contingencies that were not hard to discover, to ingest and regurgitate the assertions of authority figures. Words of remorse are all well and good, but why are these people still talking at all?

art

Architecture critic Herbert Muschamp says the new Seattle library is "the most exciting new building" he has ever reviewed. The photographs are astonishing, but Muschamp should not use the word "bling-bling" again.

An interview with John Cleese. Not mentioned is the theatrical rerelease of Life of Brian--I heard a few clips on the radio the other day and was laughing out loud.

What happened to ABC? I don't know why TV critics always put down ABC's "TV is good" ad campaign. I think it's the best thing they've done in years.

Bringing sculpture to strip malls. "Even the bemused Applebee's waiter, watching Mr. Maltz pile cinder block upon cinder block, was hopeful. 'Maybe tomorrow,' he said, 'it will look like art.'"

life

A profile of Patricia Miranda, likely Olympic wrestler.

Advice for job hoppers.

Teenagers like their parents. Screenwriters like cafes.

I almost didn't read them, but a trio of travel pieces on India were my favorite part of today's paper. R. W. Apple finds wildlife and color in Kerala. Nancy R. Newhouse visits the dentist in Rajasthan. And Amy Waldman explores the contradictory narratives of the Taj Mahal.