It seems to me that the rancorous tone of the rivalry between HRC and Obama is primarily driven by the level of hypercompetition that is fostered by their driven type-A staffs...who else would get involved in this fray. It's informed by our national obsession with sports and american exceptionalism, to compete and win at all costs (and no doubt, the costs and rewards are considerable)with the "winner" bathed in glory; god being on our side.

I hope that their meeting found them looking at the practical realities instead of the hyperbolic trajectories of invective and accusation that's characterized the race as portrayed in the press. I know that the civilized confines of the Feinstein home on San Francisco's northern edge, with its beautiful location overlooking the Golden Gate should be conducive to their recognizing the reality of what is at stake and the need for sound leadership for our future through cooperation. There is plenty of glory to go around, but we're running out of time, and I'd be most happy if beyond my wildest dreams the leadership of this country saw the wisdom in bringing the executive office's reach back into alignment with something approaching the scope of the founders' original intent. Fat chance.

I've come to live for these articles and agree with many of these comments; a cut above the rest and worth waitin' for.

The race for the prestige of having the tallest or oddest shaped structure is becoming a bit of a bore and equating the beauty of a city's skyline with the number of jabbing needles it's managed to agglomerate by dint of the residents obscenely bloated finances is really mistaking quantity for quality. You mention Sir Norman Foster, however and I think in his work we're beginning to see the direction of construction not just go "up" but also "out". The large scale architecture that is becomming his trademark has expanded into the area of controlled volume reminiscent of R. Buckminster Fuller's ideas of the dymaxion city where geodesic domes free entire populations from the expense, exposure to foul weather and dirty soot of current cities and makes them efficient, healthy and enjoyable, while conserving their surroundings. Check out Foster's "Khan Shatyry" in Astana and Moscow's "Crystal City" which will do for cities what beautiful homes do for families and expand the concept of cultural activity.

I'm not always crazy for his aesthetics however and every architect seems to be determined to out-do Frank Gehry with his cockeyed slant but none seem to understand humans' instinctive draw to natural beauty. That maybe will be the next step.

I know, for most Gore is the great statesman, and I appreciate him for that, but every single one of his inisghts will be forever flavored by his singular or maybe typical lack of understanding as exhibited by is selecting Lieberman as his running mate and not taking responsibility for it...letting his supporters blame Nader instead.

So now this guy wants to buddy up with the next convenient package of promotional materials...what a surprise. I hope he does for McCain what he did for Gore...or rather what Gore did to himself.

Of course, all three of these stooges have signed onto the global warming orthodoxy. Yes, here we are...the enemy, asking all the uncomfortable questions.

But seriously...great article and nice description and sane recommendation. I've never done the stuff but I am due and will look for the next opportunity to explore the inner void. Happy travelling.

Did I just read a comment above that a reader suggested the visual of the bonobos in embrace was too sexual for their work space? Can this be? Are we back in the victorian age or worse, have we gone back to the dark ages?

Thanks for bringing our attention to this exhibit and the image of the bonobos was very nicely done...in a world filled with artwork that contorts itself to be "different" it was nice to see art that represents the reality of our existence. I'm tired of being bullied by sex-negative types insisting that sex doesn't exist in the public world, thereby warping and distorting our understanding and undermining our only hope of alleviating the ignorance that brings the world such an abundance of pain and suffering.

I try not to hate but it's hard not to hate the perversely small minded, adamantly ignorant arbiters of decency out there. So I wont...but I do appreciate that hidden love is dirtier and somehow nicer.

From the beginning when Hanson rigged the public's opinion for what I'm sure he considered "their own good" we've been asked to believe something that is being amplified beyond its likely significance. The damage is that genuine, legitimate environmental concerns go unrecognized because AGW sucks all the air out of the room and then defames any voice that offers a perspective other than what the orthodoxy insists is the "only way" and label any variance as the rantings of "denialists", it is a sad and unproductive path we are taking and one that is likely to find that political solutions to scientific problems is inevitably a poor way to go about it.

We can go back to just pretending we don't know it exists like we have ever since the establishment of the modern sociological model?