GOP Elephant Art & the Bigger Picture
The recent public exhibition of portraits painted by George W Bush, retired President of the United States, has managed to throw a lot of people into a tizzy. Critiques of his work ranged from relatively benign (it’s “simple-minded”), to strangely overwrought (“dangerous”), but every commentator seemed to assume that his paintings were art. As if it was perfectly self-evident that Bush was making art and not, well, merely painting stuff. Which got me thinking: can elephants be artists? By this, I mean not only Republican elephants, but actual elephants. Asian elephants, to be exact. For several years now, a group…
AK Teens Rate Credibility of Famous Figures
A group of Anchorage high school juniors in an advanced placement class were asked to do the following in class: Analyze the following list of famous figures. Rank them from 1 on down based on their credibility. Remember to weigh honesty, wisdom, and credibility equally. Margaret Thatcher Martin Luther King, Jr. Sarah Palin Hillary Clinton Bill Gates Sandra Day O’Connor Martha Stewart Thomas Jefferson Lady Ga Ga George W. Bush Barack Obama Anthony Weiner After each student had compiled his or her personal list ranking, they were asked to come together as a class, and present one list that they…