Thursday, January 26, 2012

Bald Eagle Days Salutes our National Symbol

A visit to Bald Eagle Days  in the Iowa-Illinois Quad Cities produced a nice outing for our grandchildren and a chance to see and learn a bit about our grand national bird. 




Representatives from the Naiobi Zoo also were on tap with some other fascinating creatures.  









And even some that took a full time crew.




A good time was had by all.

Is Art a Reasonable Investment?

Michigan: For Every $1 State Investment in Arts, $51 Returned
Crain's Detroit Business
, 1/18/12
"For every $1 the state invested in nonprofit arts and cultural groups in 2009, those organizations pumped more than $51 into Michigan's economy through spending on rent, programs, travel, and salaries. The sector employed 15,560 people that year, paying them a total of $152 million in salaries. Creative State Michigan, a new report from the Wixom-based advocacy group ArtServe Michigan, reinforces what ArtServe has known all along, said the group's director of public policy, Mike Latvis. 'For a long time, we've heard that state funding to the arts is a handout, but it's not. This report shows that investment is returned multiple times over to the state's economy'...The 210 participants in the inaugural report represent just ten percent of Michigan's estimated 2,000 nonprofit arts and cultural groups. They span 45 of Michigan's 83 counties."
http://bit.ly/xIIAsT

Monday, January 16, 2012

Who are the one-percent in your town?

The January of my dreams continues.   We have had one minor snowfall and no below zero weather. Although this might be the occasion to wax elouquent on global warming, I prefer to think of it as just a simple pleasure gifted by the spin of the wheel of weather fortune.  I still suspect we will pay big time before the appearance of the daffodils.

What I did notice today was a fascinating chart and an accompanying article on the nature of the 1% in our country.  It comes from the New York Times and is revealing and probably about as even handed as any article on this hyperpolarizing topic can be.  Check it out.    I have discovered that I was not in, am not in now, and will not OCCUPY THE 1% NITCHE IN THE FUTURE.  
    

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