Carrie Schneider built 15 houses over 2 years.  She burned them all down, taking pictures in the snow, through the dark, under a spring sky filled with smoke.

“Lovers who touch…have lower cortisol levels – they are less stressed. People in loving relationships have a higher pain threshold. Laughter shared between friends is so powerful that three letters in a text message – LOL – can make us happy. Evidence really does seem to show that people trust their family more than…their friends, and that they will make sacrifices for their family that they would not make for their friends – since this is often a terrible mistake it is hard not to think that this has something to do with sharing genes in common. Dogs can count as people where friendships are concerned. We aren’t wired up to have lots of friends (Facebook notwithstanding), and one lover is worth two friends – so people who fall in love drop two of their close friends.”

I’m willing to forgive Mitt Romney for a school age incident over which he may (or may not) feel remorse.  I teased others growing up and regret it, though I never pulled out a pair of scissors to use on anyone.  I think focusing on mistakes in one’s youth is silly, unless patterns emerge.  There’s a certain amount of “presentism” in the critique that misses the point.

Which gets me to the pattern emerging: this article reinforces the narrative of Romney’s distance, interested only in what others’ parents did for a living.  He’s out-of-touch.  The single most important narrative we have going in this country right now is the deeping gulf between those the government helps and those it doesn’t.  This guy personifies that gulf.

From the Hirshhorn Museum in DC:

To Thailand’s floating Archipelago Cinema:

As Romney - a candidate who thinks Russia is the biggest threat to America - readies himself to challenge a successful foreign policy President on just that topic, Foreign Affairs publishes two articles that call into question the trope that the world is an ever more dangerous place. 

As China dials back its agressive posture in the South China Sea, Zenko and Cohen believe America to be much more secure than the rhetoric coming from both the campaign trail and the foreign policy elite.  The suspects are usual: electoral politics, the power of control through fear, and a military budget seeking justifcation for its own distension.

If you don’t read John Sides’ post on “Mascotology” for the brilliant ranking system he applies to college mascots, at least read it for the interesting origin stories of familiar mascots like Billikens, Jayhawks, and Tarheels.

Who knew the Duke Blue Devils were French?

I wish it surprised me to read that most Americans who recieve “transparently delivered” federal benefits (like food stamps) are more likely to believe the government positively impacts lives than those who recieve more opaque benefits (like mortgage interest reductions).

What’s worse, these “invisible handouts” may undermine the government’s ability to convince citizens that programs largely thought of as wasteful or frivolous are particularly beneficial.  The phenomenon is so stong that often middle-class voters are bamboozled into opposing the very benefits that support their way of life.

It’s hard to say if my father enjoyed Sherlock Holmes as much as I enjoy storytelling in general. Probably not, though he did get a kick out of Arthur Conan Doyle.  

Fortunately, Michael Dirda has written a book about both, held together by the thread of Conan Doyle himself: a tireless writer and promoter of social justice.

As Calvin said to Hobbes: “When you’re actually confronted with the stillness of nature, its kind of startling.  This is making me nervous, let’s go in.”  Timothy Egan highlights the catabolic campaigns of the Republican contenders: ignorant of the values of stillness, and a far cry from Teddy Roosevelt.