Andrew Hazlett // This page is a notepad for ideas, links, and things of interest to me and probably few others. My Internet home-base is at http://www.TheOccasional.org.
I am establishing a cultural commentary and curation website called The New Modern. Visit http://www.TheNewModern.net for more information.
"Metropolitan" is a personal favorite. Comments from Stillman and also actors Chris Eigeman and Taylor Nichols. This "slightly squashed" video was posted at the wonderful unofficial Whit Stillman website.
Public figures, bloggers, and journalists from the left and right unite behind an idea I think is long overdue...
An Open Letter to Our Fellow Americans
February 3, 2010
We live in a world that increasingly demands more dialogue than monologue. President Obama’s January 29th question-and-answer session with Republican leaders gave the public a remarkable window into the state of our union and governing process. It was riveting and educational. The exchanges were substantive, civil and candid. And in a rare break from our modern politics, sharp differences between elected leaders were on full public display without rancor or ridicule.
This was one of the best national political debates in many years. Citizens who watched the event were impressed, by many accounts. Journalists and commentators immediately responded by continuing the conversation of the ideas put forward by the president and his opponents — even the cable news cycle was disrupted for a day.
America could use more of this — an unfettered and public airing of political differences by our elected representatives. So we call on President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner to hold these sessions regularly — and allow them to be broadcast and webcast live and without commercial interruption, sponsorship or intermediaries. We also urge the President and the Republican Senate caucus to follow suit. And we ask the President and the House and Senate caucuses of his own party to consider mounting similar direct question-and-answer sessions. We will ask future Presidents and Congresses to do the same.
It is time to make Question Time a regular feature of our democracy.
Please join us by signing the Demand Question Time petition.
Cutting Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America grant programs at the National Park Service. Save America’s Treasures program was started to mark the millennium and was supposed to last for two years. Both programs lack rigorous performance metrics and evaluation efforts so the benefits are unclear.
Update: The National Trust for Historic Preservation responds to the budget announcement:
Not since the 1980’s has there been such an assault on the programs that protect America’s heritage. Since 2000, SAT has been the federal government’s most successful tool to preserve the important places that tell our nation’s story. Due to the broad, bi-partisan Congressional support it has on the Hill, the program has saved over 700 of America’s most significant places in all 50 states, supporting jobs and economic development in every single project it covers.
Read more at the National Trust website.
"'A Way Forward in Afghanistan' by Jamie Kennedy"
"The Daily Show Was Funny Yesterday... You Should Watch It Embedded Next To Our Ads"
Baltimore Symphony music director Marin Alsop talks about the American classical composer Roy Harris. A podcast interview from Naxos.
Jesse Thorn has many insights based on his experience as an independent producer of programming in media old and new.
