Damien Hirst Defies The Economy

"Spin" painting, by Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst with The Golden Calf

This past Monday, the Dow Jones plummeted 500 points.

The last time the market reached this low was in the few days after September 11, 2001.

Lovely.

Meanwhile, on the same day, contemporary British artist Damien Hirst made $127.2 million during his auction entitled "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever."  The auction comprised 223 of his works which were created within the last two years.

"Damien Hirst is a global artist that can defy local economies," said Tobias Meyer, global head of contemporary art at Sotheby's.  

The most memorable piece of the auction was called "The Golden Calf," a real white calf preserved in a clear case of formaldehyde.  Its hoofs and horns are made of 18-carat gold, and its head is crowned with a gold disc.

The calf sold for $18.6 million to  a buyer on the phone.

That's what I want in my living room.  Veal, anyone?

Why John McCain, WHY???

Sarah Palin??? Who IS she???  Governor of Alaska for less than two years???  

Yes, she is John McCain's running mate.  It's great that the Republican party has elected the first female candidate for vice president.  However, that feat is overshadowed by McCain's main argument against Obama: that he is too inexperienced.  Yet McCain not only just elected someone who is extremely inexperienced as well, but she is governor of Alaska, which has a population of 700,000.  No offense Alaska, but of all the states to govern, I can't imagine that yours is the most difficult.

"While it's a dramatic and interesting choice, it would make the argument he's making difficult to make," said a McCain adviser.

McCain is trying to attract women voters.  That's fine, except that Palin is a devout Christian and is pro-life.  Just because I'm a woman voter does not mean I am pro life, and I'm sure I can say that for most women voters out there.

 Additionally, McCain and Palin have opposing environmental issues.  McCain supports off-shore drilling, while Palin supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.  Which is in her own state of Alaska.  I find that kind of wrong.

What ever happened to church and state being separate?  The fact that she is Christian should not affect her politics, especially when it comes to abortion rights.  

"People see her as the symbol of purity in an atmosphere of corruption," says Anchorage pollster Marc Hellenthal.  "She's more like Saint Sarah."

Saint Sarah?  Don't make me throw up.

Article sources: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times

Glorious News: The Drinking Age Might Get Lowered.

About a week ago, various news outlets started publishing articles about officials who want to lower the drinking age to 18.  These officials are heads of colleges and universities in the US, and so far, about 100 colleges have signed on to this petition.  

The schools that have signed on so far include Duke, Dartmouth, Tufts, Syracuse, Colgate and Kenyon.

These school presidents believe that the current drinking laws encourage binge drinking on campuses.

"It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory," says John McCardell, former president of Middelbury College in Vermont.

The opposition comes from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who pushed for the "21" law back in 1984.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that driving fatalities of people ages 18-20 have been cut by 13% since the drinking age was raised to 21.  That's the main argument for MADD.

State representatives in Kentucky, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Missouri are also fighting for a lower drinking age, but their argument is based on military service.  

South Carolina state Rep. Fletcher Smith, who sponsors a bill that would let military personnel 18 and older to buy alcohol in South Carolina, says, "If you can take a shot on the battlefield, you ought to be able to take a shot of beer legally."

Amen to that.  I mean come on, at least let the people in the military have a drink.  Lord knows they need it.  As for us regular college kids who aren't in the military, we might have to wait a little longer for our bill to get passed.

Right now, any state is actually allowed to lower the drinking age to 18.  There is a catch, however: that state would have to give up 10% of their federal highway funds.  That pretty much equals billions of dollars for one state to give up, which probably isn't worth it.

A 2007 Gallup Poll found that 77% of Americans oppose lowering the drinking age to 18.  MAYBE because most Americans are over the age of 21 and are automatically biased.  That poll needs to be analyzed a little better before it should be used in an argument.

If the mothers in MADD did a better job of raising their children and instilling better responsibility and morals in them, they wouldn't have to worry about their kids drinking irresponsibly.  

In Europe, a drinking age barely exists and those people get along just fine, if not better.  America has the highest drinking age in the world.  Hopefully not for much longer.

Retail Sales are Struggling, But My Evidence Suggests Otherwise

This article from the New York Times suggests that people are buying their back to school clothes at discount stores like Costco and Wal-Mart instead of apparel stores like Abercrombie and Fitch and Pac Sun.  The reason for this, as it is with everything else now, is the high cost of gas and food.  

As you might know, I was in NYC the other day.  We walked past the Abercrombie and Fitch on 5th avenue, with its cologne-scented air conditioning and techno music pouring out of the front doors onto the sidewalk.  Did the sales people look bored because no one was coming into their store? No.  Was dust accumulating on the stacks of their infamous ass-bearing mini skirts? Quite the contrary. 

Apparently, New York City operates differently than the rest of the country.

There was a line outside of the door of people waiting to get in.  A LINE.  It went around the side of the building.  I had to take a picture:

This is surprising not only because of peoples' thinning wallets, but also because there is an A+F in EVERY SINGLE MALL from here to California.  Of all the stores NY has to offer, you're gonna WAIT IN A LINE to go to a store you have at your local mall???  Come on, people.

I'm assuming these people were all European because for some reason, Europeans think A+F is just the coolest thing around...I guess because they don't have it over there.  But still.  

I'll stop complaining, they're helping our economy.  HA.