Alighiero Boetti and "I Vedenti"

My wife and I had the good fortune today to catch MOMA's exhibit of the work of the late Italian conceptual artist Alighiero Boetti. The retrospective, which closes tomorrow, offers a marvelous display of Boetti's intellectual concerns and creative choices over three decades. Some of his directions, such as his fascination with Afghanistan prior to the 1982 Soviet invasion, were decidedly outside the art world's carefully considered orbits. Certain episodes, notably his break from the Italian "Arte Povera" movement, seemed more concerned with local Italian polemics than whatever issues moved the art world's major players.

Boetti's Senza Titolo (Untitled), 1969

All of this sounds like a prelude to a recondite exhibit. However, the MOMA show made Boetti's work both accessible and challenging, even for complete conceptual art greenhorns. (Count me among those in that category.) The artist's goal was to lead a viewer into thinking hard about visual and intellectual assumptions. To that end, the curator skillfully allowed only one way in or out of the exhibit, past a collection of pieces called I Vedenti. That translates to "the sighted," a reference to how the blind refer to those who can see. I Vedenti includes geometrically perfect or skewed pieces created from everyday materials whose juxtaposition stimulates a debate about mathematical perfection, duality, appropriate artistic materials, the nature of understanding, and especially how one learns to develop how to truly see.

If blindness is one's original state, how does one learn to see? This speculative outlook, which has been with us since the ancient Athenian philosophers, attempts to identify "pure" formal qualities and relationships that form the core of our perception. To find order amidst seeming disorder was a key goal of Boetti's art, as the work below explores.

Boetti also asserted art is created from what exists, rather than "created" out of thin air. This belief, and his mode of inquiry, carries over to Boetti's other work, notably his Afghan-influenced embroidered objects and a series of eight pieces called Storia Naturale della Moltiplicazione (Natural History of Multiplication).

Finally, the show demonstrated the importance of viewing the actual works. The reproductions, while capably executed by the MOMA staff, don't fully do justice to the objects' important textural qualities, subtle designs, wonderfully rendered colors, and skillfully chosen placement. Seeing the reproductions online was a poignant reminder of the shifting boundaries of blindness, sight, and insight.

Tilda Swinton and "The Impossible Wardrobe"

Tilda Swinton in
The Impossible Wardrobe

I first became aware of Tilda Swinton from a poster for Orlando. Her paleness, sharp features, and thin figure, at that time, seemed in tune with the fashion world's unreasoned lust for a fresh "look of the month." It wasn't for me, and I thought there was a surfeit of British actresses, anyway.

In recent years, Swinton's roles melted my wariness about a Cambridge-educated import over whom Hollywood went ga-ga. She won a deserved Oscar for her performance in Michael Clayton. She also effectively starred in Io sono l'amore, shown in US art houses as I Am Love. Her most recent effort is an intriguing collaborative project currently being shown during Paris' Festival d'Automne. As noted in Women's Wear Daily and Le Monde, the film portion comes via artist and photographer Katerina Jebb. She shot a "fashion performance" of Olivier Saillard's The Impossible Wardrobe, in which Swinton was the featured actress.

According to the Festival d'Automne's website:

In a fashion museum like Galliera, thousands of clothes from various historical times are carefully stored -- often never to be worn again.
Tilda Swinton learned the minute gestures of the fashion archivist and invented others, chaste or romantic. In a mysterious fashion show, she showcases precious dresses in a restrained ritual, reviving the hidden histories weaved into the fabrics.

If you want to see this film, you'd better catch the next flight to Paris. The show closes October 1st.

Obama Cites Obscure Law to KO Chinese Ownership of Oregon Wind Farm

Wind Farm
(photo and related story from Politico)

On a late Friday night, well after the news hounds dropped the scent, President Obama blocked a Chinese firm from owning and operating a wind farm near a militarily sensitive site in Oregon.

This evening's online edition of the BBC reported this very unusual American action. The concern was the wind farm's location, which is near "restricted airspace" the U.S. Navy uses to test unmanned drones and other electronic equipment. That was too close for comfort.

The US Committee on Foreign Investments (CFIUS), an inter-agency group under the Treasury Department's organizational umbrella, had recently reported there was no reliable way to "mitigate the national security risks posed by the Chinese company's plans," according to the BBC piece. CFIUS basically has a Roman emperor's power of life or death over a foreign enterprise's plans to enter US businesses in any strategically important area.

The Financial Times also reported on Obama's decision, and added some useful details about it.

Singer Andy Williams -- RIP

The singer Andy Williams died yesterday at his home in Branson, Missouri. He was 84 years old. The LA Times obit offers a personable portrait of the late popular singer.

Williams was best known for his smooth rendition of "Moon River," a song whose sentiments and style have absolutely no affinity with the country music typically featured at Branson's musical venues. My father enjoyed Williams' singing style. I can still see Pop putting a Williams album on a turntable, watching the needle reach the recording, and listening to some mellow, orchestra-backed vocals. It wasn't my musical taste at the time, but my dad liked the songs and he appreciated Williams' ability to deliver a polished number.

My other memory of Williams involved his defense of his ex-wife Claudine Longet. She was accused of murdering her boyfriend, the Olympic skier "Spider" Sabich. She claimed the weapon fired accidentally. I've never bought her story, and I thought it odd that Williams publicly rallied to her side. However, love can provide powerful motivation. Williams, who cared about Longet (something the ex-Las Vegas dancer did not always reciprocate), felt he did the right thing.

Williams also appeared on Christmas TV specials in which he sang in a warm, unthreatening family setting. They look campy today. Ironically, contemporary hipsters are desperately trying to recreate the wholesome atmosphere Williams could evoke with his voice and presence. However, they are too jaded to deliver what Williams did with such conviction from the Eisenhower era up to the final days of George W. Bush's presidency.

Fraud Rap Nails WaMu Mortgage Banker

When I visited Seattle earlier this year, I walked past Washington Mutual's former headquarters. If I had stopped ten people on the street that day, and asked them about WaMu, they might have suspected I was inquiring about an exotic pharmaceutical substance.

WaMu's ad campaign slogan, circa 2008

Ah, how quickly we forget the good old days of mortgage fraud, of which Washington Mutual was a major player. Just to refresh your memory, it was a half-decade ago when the housing market was characterized as "frothy," when the Liars Club known as the National Association of Realtors described annual housing price increases as "inevitable," and when wink-and-nod mortgage applications were disturbingly routine. As we now know, the housing market of cards collapsed under the weight of its own corruption. The WaMu bank failure was arguably the greatest single bank failure in American history.We also know very, very few people -- and no principal perpetrators of the disaster -- were brought to justice.

Recently, a WaMu sales executive, working at the bank's subprime lending unit Long Beach Mortgage,  took the fall for fraud. According to the Seattle Times, this was not an easy prosecutorial feat. "It took," the paper reported, "four years, two trials, and one unsuccessful prosecutorial appeal to a higher court" to finally nail the crooked suit.

The corruption, of course, went far further than one fallen angel. As the Seattle Times story noted, "In one WaMu email cited by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., an internal 2005 audit found that 83 percent of loans approved by the bank's Montebello, Calif. office were fraudulent." WaMu's senior management remains free to this day. They had no idea there was gambling going on in the casino. Sure.

Man Updates Facebook Page While Holding Hostage

FYI: according to the Reuters story
which appeared in siliconvalley.com,
Facebook took down the perp's page
at the request of law enforcement.

Crimes of passion, crimes for material gain, or crimes of lust for power, have taken a new twist with developments in social media.

The subject of the post, taken word-for-word from siliconvalley.com, tells the story. The episode took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Friday. It's wild to envision someone in the midst of a criminal act reaching out to his or her Facebook "friends" list and providing a psychological window into their activity and thinking. What kind of community dialogue would be generated? What about "likes"? Yikes!

One missing element was a perpetrator-generated YouTube video of the incident, but I may be premature in that assertion.

Brand Name Chefs Fly Into Airport Restaurant Scene

Do you purchase a meal at an airport? There are three reasons I do:

• Getting to the airport at least two hours ahead of departure to accommodate security clearance often leaves time for at least a quick meal.
• Layovers for connecting flights provide time for something to eat.
• Airplane food either does not exist or is dreadful.

Some airports, such as Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, are the culinary equivalent of the Gobi Desert. If you're lucky, they offer vending machine snacks or exorbitantly priced mystery meat sandwiches. In my recent journeys, I observed the more experienced travelers didn't take chances on finding sustenance at an airport. Well, sometimes it's best to go hungry.

Sign outside Tortas Frontera/O'Hare Airport
(photo by Tim Hoey)

Sensing opportunity, commercially savvy "brand name" chefs are starting to open airport restaurants. My introduction to this welcome phenomenon was at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, where Anglo chef Rick Bayless opened Tortas Frontera, a variation on his Mexican restaurants. The food is handmade, freshly prepared, has soul, and is good quality. On my most recent O'Hare layover, I made it a point to allow extra time to linger at Bayless' storefront-style restaurant/bar and enjoy food I can't get in the New York-New Jersey area, where I live.

Today's online edition of the Chicago Tribune published an LA Times video segment showing food empire builders Wolfgang Puck and Masaharu Morimoto talking about the opening of their new LAX restaurant. They discussed their rationale for launching the venture, which essentially paralleled my own experience. Of course, what they didn't discuss was the brand extension and profit making aspect of the business. They also didn't illuminate the high rents airport authorities charge for commercial space. Travelers don't care about the business details, but they do want airport dining options that are steps beyond dog food.

Expect more from this trend, especially once "branded" chefs come up with a winning business formula for airport dining.

UK's Royal Observatory Announces Astronomy Photographer of the Year Awards

Just for fun, check out the Royal Observatory's Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012 link. Some of the pictures remind us of the night sky's mystery and majesty. Best part of the deal is that it's free.

The photograph below was the winning image from the "Young Astrophotographers" category, limited to entrants sixteen years of age or younger. This link connects to both the photographer's remarks and the judge's perspective.

Pleiades Cluster
by Jacob von Chorus (Canada)
Winner of "Young Astrophotographers" category
(photo from Royal Observatory Greenwich)

Phone Hacking Scandal Spurs News Corp Shareholders Lawsuit

A story in today's online edition of the UK newspaper The Guardian reported that certain News Corporation shareholders intend to file a lawsuit against the firm's board of directors "for failing to stop the phone hacking scandal."

Elizabeth Murdoch, whose TV production venture
is at the heart of the Delaware litigation.
(photo from paidcontent.org)

The plaintiffs, including certain labor union organizations, allege that the Murdoch family put the clan's interests ahead of shareholders. The Delaware lawsuit, the Guardian story noted, began in 2011; its original object was to halt News Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Rupert Murdoch's daughter's television production venture. The UK phone hacking scandal developed into a far juicier target for the left-wing opposition, even though its prospects for success appear to be remote.

What's interesting is that the story did not appear, at least with any reasonable prominence, in any major American media outlet today.

Florida Governor Terminates Reporter's Q&A About State's Unemployment Record

Florida governor Rick Scott

Florida governor Rick Scott's press conference today in Tallahassee got a bit testy when a Bloomberg reporter asked Scott to comment on a report from the state legislature's chief economist. The findings suggested the state's unemployment drop "is almost exclusively due to people leaving the workforce," according to a story in today's Miami Herald.

The Republican governor initially answered that 130,000 jobs were created, presumably as a result of his policies. When pressed to clarify how his position so strikingly differed from that of a professional economist, Scott curtly cut the reporter off.

It has been the Republican mantra that their so-called "pro-growth" policies generate significant employment opportunities. Ask a college grad what challenges they face getting an interview (never mind a job), and you'll get a taste of the "pro-growth" truth. Inquire among your acquaintances who've been laid off how their job prospects are. Go to a public library and count how many people are refining their resumes, researching firms, and hoping they'll get a break.

It's possible Governor Scott did not go far enough. Perhaps he should have taken a page from Mitt Romney's campaign playbook. As Mitt did, Scott can simply speak at a fund raiser attended by a room full of one-percenters. He can declare the unemployed deadbeats, burdened with a poor self-image, and motivated by government subsidies of their personal needs. Then he can ask for money.

Will Biometrics Erase Personal Privacy?

Photo from a 2011 Wired magazine article
which claimed the United States kept a biometric file
on 3 million Iraqi citizens.

The first time I encountered biometrics was when I worked in a liquor store. I was required to check in via a fingerprint scanner. It seemed like a lot of fuss over very little. It wasn't as if I were handling the hush-hush formula for a soft drink, or the design of the latest "must-have" gadget.

The scanning episode came to mind as I was reading an article in today's siliconvalley.com about the expansion of biometric use and interest throughout the United States. (It's more than a little ironic that Europeans are more inclined to guard privacy rights than the country whose Constitution enshrines them.) The general sense from the piece is that biometrics have the potential to eliminate anonymity. The notion that this essential, though not always desirable, aspect of the human condition could become extinct is simply incredible. The next, chilling step is wiping out private thoughts.

The enthusiasm for biometrics is a curious development, given that many tech heavyweights are self-proclaimed libertarians. However, while content may yearn to be free, data begs to be controlled. The mug shot photographs, voice prints, eye scans, and other data points that identify one human being as distinct from another may also be translated into bits and bytes. The high priests of tech who want your data do not have any sense of boundaries. For them, data acquisition and management is the current generation's version of the California gold rush. Libertarian sentiments can be -- and will -- conveniently set aside when the mining of personal data becomes sensationally lucrative for its exploiters and providers.

Books Left Behind in Hotel Rooms

The newsletter Travel Daily News recently included a story about books people leave behind in hotels. The article was based on a survey conducted by a British hotel chain. Some results, such as a parade of best sellers, were unsurprising. The goofier details, though, were much more fun to read. Here are three samples from the story's report of the study's findings:

• A bag of Kama Sutra books which belonged to an elderly couple staying for a week
• A briefcase of superhero comics left by a CEO
• 7,000 copies of books from the kinky Fifty Shades series

I have left books in hotel rooms, including a romance novel. It was never an accident. You can't do that with e-books, at least not yet.

Three Florida Charter Schools Close After School Year Opens

According to a story in online editions of the Miami Herald, three Broward County charter schools closed their doors two days ago. The enterprises (yes, that's what they are, folks) had -- ahem -- financial issues, mostly related to significant enrollment declines. That did not stop the trio of schools from registering students and starting classes for the 2012-13 year. Once the schools ran out of money and bad checks, they said "sorry" and told parents and kids to go elsewhere. One school didn't even bother with an apology: it simply locked the doors.

One obvious issue is that it's tough to transfer into another desirable school. Notably, the Florida charter trio are in tough communities whose residents hold the public schools in suspicion. Teachers from the three schools are now without work and, of course, full-time teaching slots elsewhere are now filled. One school's instructors lost pay they were owed. Meanwhile, the charters' CEOs have been less visible, and less talkative, than Greta Garbo.

Life Force Arts & Technology, a charter school in the Tampa, FL area.
It was closed more than a year ago. At one point,
school staff distributed materials
written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
(Photo and link via Tampa Bay Times.)

One issue with privatization, which both Obama apologists and the right-wing have equally avoided, is trusting profit-driven business people with the development of children's minds. It's fair to accept enterprise "solutions" for school furniture. It's quite another to believe someone principally (no pun intended) motivated by financial rewards will put kids' interests ahead of his or her own. However, between the savage political ideologues and technology's smug high priests, there is no choice in the matter. They have already determined the fate of the public school system, and some collateral damage in the process is, from their perspective, "regrettable."

The Miami Herald story noted that "about 12 percent of charter schools in the past 20 years have closed, but in Florida, the closure rate is doubled, according to state figures." That stubborn fact hasn't stopped the pro-charter school drum beaters to spread their version of reality to anyone dull brained enough to listen and believe. Unsurprisingly, the Herald noted comments from a charter school advocate that indicated the Broward closures were far from the end of the world.

"'Parents at these schools voted with their feet,'" the spokesperson asserted. She just couldn't leave well enough alone: "A closure, although it's terrible from a parent point of view...I see it as a system that's working."

How the Obama Campaign Leverages Big Data to Political Advantage

Big Data and the Individual

It is generally agreed that Barack Obama won the 2008 Democratic presidential primary through his shrewd use of social media, a massive volunteer effort, and sophisticated data analysis. His 2012 re-election drive has resorted to similar tactics, except not as many unpaid true believers are working on 44's behalf. However, according to a story in today's online editions of the Financial Times, big data is doing a lot of heavy lifting for President Obama's campaign.

Take time to read the feature piece. It's a fascinating window into modern persuasion campaigns and deftly underlines just how much personal data is available on the average citizen. It's not as if Obama volunteers are knocking on the doors of reclusive one-percenters. Also take time to ponder why Obama and his data exploiters went to Silicon Valley, as the FT story observed, to learn the ropes of big-league data mining. Does this sound like the tactics of someone who respects individual rights and the right to privacy?

"Adopt-A-Guy" Dating Service Visits Paris Streets

Adopt-A-Guy boutique
(Reuters photo)

Paris' meat markets moved to the suburbs many years ago, but human flesh markets have retained a vigorous life inside the City of Light. An imaginative intersection of aroused libido and Gallic skepticism is currently found in the French capital's "Adopt-A-Guy" dating service. This unique, temporary outdoor venture features young men who stand in a transparent box on a street. The idea is that women will consider the merchandise and, if interested, pursue the matter further.

The "Adopt-A-Guy" story is wonderful fun, and told via a BBC video segment. We're not certain if Mitt Romney, who performed his Mormon religious duty in France during the Vietnam War (thank you, military draft deferral on religious grounds), has a foreign policy position on this phenomenon -- other than missionary, of course.

Costco E-mails Survivalist Offer

From Costco advertisement

In an innocuous "New Online-Only Offers Start Today," Costco managed to get my attention in a way I doubt the Seattle-based wholesaler intended. The advertisement features a "one-year, one person emergency food supply," promoted by an image of a great wall of containers. The product line doesn't stop there. Another item touts the benefits of "emergency food storage freeze-dried fruit variety basket," including its 20-year shelf life. There are other products noted, all with a survivalist theme and parallel audience in mind.

It's an extremely odd value proposition for the 11th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Instead of a creepy survivalist theme, Costco might have advertised deals on American flags or books about George W. Bush. What were they thinking in the Emerald City (as Seattle is sometimes called)?

Cougar Night in Silicon Valley

Northern California has been a gold digger's paradise since the original 49ers panned for the precious metal. The current "gold rush" is now found in Silicon Valley. The tech wizards who are generating fabulous wealth on the strength of their innovations are now people of interest to older women, or "cougars." The nexus of this lust for gold and what it can buy is, according to a silicon valley.com article, Menlo Park's Rosewood Hotel.

The establishment has a more wholesome daytime personality as a center for legitimate deal making. Fittingly, the wildlife doesn't enter the hotel's bar area and other public rooms until sundown. The hotel management denies it's turned its adult beverage areas into a cougar prowl zone.

The silicon valley.com story is fun to read, especially how a published spoof of the cougar zone's activities made patrons sweat a bit. It's also instructive to note the article's observations about the conspicuous wealth on display. I suppose this means the recession is over. Doesn't it?

Young Tech Staff, Red Tape Realities Tangle at DC's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Washington Post's Suzy Khimm posted recently about young, tech-believing staffers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and their work experiences at the Obama-created federal office. It's an intriguing piece, depicting how true believers in the web, data-driven solutions, and supposed benefits of tech "efficiency" navigate the presumed "inefficiencies" of bureaucratic regulation and accepted ways of doing things. Some of the staffers' backgrounds are not typical of wonky Washington, although that's not really the point of Khimm's story. (By the way, her post's headline is eye-catching but misleading.)

The CFPB, spawned partly as a response to the 2008 financial disaster, has been controversial since its inception. (The oddity of this link is that Khimm connected to a New York Times thumbnail of the bureau and its history.) Most corporate institutions didn't and don't want it around, as CFPB broke the chokehold of cozy relationships between legislators, corporate interests, and lobbyists. To that end, the GOP waged a somewhat successful war against President Obama's choice to run the office, Elizabeth Warren. Romney-Ryan, if elected, will almost certainly kill CFPB as soon as possible. If that happens, will these staffers believe government can be "transformed"? And if so, how? After all, the right-wing wants to "transform" Washington, too.

Philip Roth Challenges Wikipedia Editors

Philip Roth at a Newark lunch counter
(photo by Bob Peterson, Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Philip Roth recently publicly chided Wikipedia for publishing misleading information relating to his novel The Human Stain. According to a BBC account of the incident, Wikipedia administrators refused to correct the inaccurate entry, claiming "they required a second source." Incredibly, the author of a work of fiction was deemed insufficiently qualified to get the record about his or her own novel straight. Wikipedia's administrators have apparently come around, after this very public black eye, and amended the controversial claims

The novelist's open letter appeared in The New Yorker and has generated considerable media interest. Roth's crisp prose and cogent line of reasoning in this piece are a pleasure to read.

Young Tech Entrepreneurs "Incubate" in SF Mansions; US Student Loan Debt Passes One Trillion Dollar Level

According to a post in siliconvalley.com taken from a Bloomberg BusinessWeek story, a recent trend among technology's young high priests is to find a mansion, rent it, and live there like it's a frat house. In this case, the "campus" is San Francisco and the too-cool-for-school technocrats are having the time of their lives "incubating." Presumably, ideas advancing the cause of sacred technology are hatched in this one-percenter environment.

While the tech-celebrators commune together, Forbes and other mainstream publications have published stories this year noting that the total amount of unpaid student loan debt in the United States is more than one trillion dollars. In case you're keeping score at home, federal law prohibits student loans from being included in personal bankruptcy filings. The legislation was signed into law in 1976.

Beijing Frosty to Hillary Clinton's Long March

Hillary Clinton with Chinese Foreign Secretary Yang Jiechi
(photo from the Telegraph)

Hillary Clinton's swan song tour of Asia, timed to get her out of the United States during the Democratic National Convention, took a surprisingly problematic turn during her visit to the People's Republic of China. Her hosts turned what were presumed routine diplomatic meetings into politically challenged events. According to a Washington Post story about Mrs. Clinton's visit, a meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, scheduled for one hour, ended up being a feisty four-hour-plus encounter.

There's plenty of material here to indulge some speculation about Sino-American relations. Right now, China is in the midst of a leadership change. It's not a fight for the faint of heart. In that context, strong language toward the United States plays well behind the Great Wall. The Chinese also share the uncertainty over who will win the American presidential election. It is, from that perspective, a reasonable time to let Obama and Mitt Romney know China's concerns and willingness to assert itself.

The Chinese are also quite conscious of the current political season's round of China bashing. It has to be annoying to hear American politicians blame the US' economic ills on Chinese currency manipulation, while knowing Beijing remains the largest holder of our country's government bonds.

However, the People's Republic of China that's on the rise remains an undesirable model for global leadership. Its secrecy, suspicion of personal freedom, and economic servitude are definitely not exportable. No one wants that, and no one should. Like it or not, only the United States has the moral clout and economic foundation to offer something more than what China's long march into a grim, oppressive future promises.

While America watches Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic convention, the world watches Secretary of State Clinton's visit to China. There's a lot at stake.

NFL Feeling Weak Economy's Chill

The National Football League, once assumed to be recession proof, is feeling the effects of America's supposedly "recovered" economy. According to an article in today's Los Angeles Times, NFL attendance is down over the past five years. Game day ticket prices have contributed to the downturn. Of course, televised pro games remain enormously popular. However, there's a big difference between sitting in a stadium and watching TV in a man cave.

South Atlantic Yellowtail Harvest To Stop This Month

In what seems a small story, today's Miami Herald noted that a US agency will stop commercial fishing of yellowtail snapper. NOAA Fisheries, the federal office responsible for the decision, determined the possibility of overfishing had reached undesirable levels. The ban will result in higher prices for the fish, popular in sushi preparations.

The larger story involves the worldwide epidemic of overfishing. Many once-rich fishing banks are now nearly destitute. As the developing world becomes increasingly prosperous, its desire for sea-based protein (i.e., fish) will only accelerate. That demand will push "market forces" toward more aggressive harvesting tactics, thus placing even more precious fishing areas in jeopardy.

NOAA Fisheries tried to do the right thing. The response from some affected Florida fishermen was to equate the agency's actions with terrorism. I suppose one could always switch to chicken.

PS. NOAA Fisheries has since changed course on its intended ban.

The Life and Times of the Late Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Sun Myung Moon and his wife
at a mass wedding at Olympic Stadium, Seoul
(photo from the Guardian)

Sun Myung Moon, the self-annointed priest and leader of the Unification Church, died recently in South Korea.

Moon neatly fit into an epoch that featured a parade of odd ball personalities. If nothing else, the South Korean figure understood the power of self-propaganda, the nuances and exploitation of cult behavior, and the clout multinational financial enterprise offered.

Moon's extensive business ventures would have made even a Mormon corporate raider proud. The New York Times' obit of Moon sketched the range of commercial activity Moon and his corporate minions pursued. He was able to leverage his financial empire into spiritual activities centered around the notion that Moon himself was the true Messiah.

The late South Korean's religious activities, as well as those of the Unification Church, ranged from unquestionably bizarre to probably felonious. The church has been dogged over the years by accusations of kidnapping and brainwashing. Followers were "encouraged" to contribute heavily to the Unification Church's fiscal well being. Mass weddings of couples paired at random, such as one that took place in Madison Square Garden in 1982, contributed to an ominous sense of the emergence of a creepy cult.

None of these activities stopped a number of prominent American political conservatives from contributing editorial copy to the Moon-funded newspaper The Washington Times. Right-wing commentators didn't seem to note the incompatibility between defending individual liberty and Moon's ruthless, Stalinist-style elimination of such freedoms in the Unification Church. It's difficult to imagine right-wing Fox News contributors applauding mass weddings or even being associated with them. Yet, Moon's Washington Times became a inside-the-Beltway pulpit for political conservatives. The Unification Church's religious freak show was simply ignored.

Does anyone care who the Unification Church's next spiritual leader will be? Will Mitt Romney or Ayn Rand cultist Paul Ryan say a few words of condolence to the Unification faithful? Or did the Sun Myung Moon Show just close?

Hillary Abroad During Democratic Convention

Secretary of State Clinton during Cook Island visit.
(photo from Reuters, used in Christian Science Monitor story)

Hillary Rodham Clinton will not be attending the upcoming Democratic National Convention. Instead, the former First Lady will be overseas, representing the United States as its Secretary of State. Mrs. Clinton's choice of venues is revealing. According to The Washington Post, She'll be building relationships in nations such as the Cook Islands and Timor-Leste. These Pacific island destinations are as geographically far away from Charlotte, North Carolina, as possible. They are also, from a media standpoint, located in inconvenient time zones and lack any useful media infrastructure.

Clinton's trip assumes greater gravitas when she visits heavyweight contenders China and Russia. Those moments are likely to be dovetailed with President Obama's re-election campaign messages. Mitt Romney, meanwhile, may want to point out how the former corporate raider intends to follow through on his campaign threats to economically "punish" the world's largest holder of American government debt --China -- and resume a Cold War stance against strongman Vladimir Putin's commodity-rich nation. It's difficult to imagine Romney's message winning traction or respect in those two countries.

Of course, Hillary will bid official Washington au revoir in January. However, au revoir is not adieu. 2016 should be a very, very interesting political year.