Classical music is simply music that is good enough to transcend time and place. Of course Mozart did not set out to write "classical" music, but he was very much aware of past tradition. He knew the works of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, as well as the music of his friend, Haydn. This is no different from traditions developing in art or literature. I think it is fair to say that the great tradition of western art music did reach a crisis in the twentieth century beyond which it was not possible to develop further. We experienced this crisis in the form of piano music consisting of four minutes of silence or even of a piano being dropped into the ocean by helicopter. This is not art, but anti-art. The destructivness reflects the frustration of a tradition having exhausted all possible avenues of development. The value of the greatest art of the past - whether by Mozart or Shakespeare or Giotto is not diminished by the end of the traditions to which they belong because great works of art transcend both time and place. Popular music is emphemeral. It provides momentary pleasure, but is not good enough or rich enough to last. Who wants to listen to the Titanic theme song today? But whether you like classical or popular, we are fortunate to be living at a time when we can listen to a recording of a gregorian chant one minute and a Beatles song the next. Through recordings, all music from all places and all times is available to everyone. I do not lament the death of the western classical tradition because the music is all there for anyone who cares to listen, as fresh now as it was 300 years ago. You can also explore the music of India or China or Africa. Take your pick!

That dangerous terrorist, Gore Vidal, is on the no fly list.

Who cares that Singapore Airline's A380 is not beautiful? Their hostesses are.

A government that can plan and perpetrate the atrocities of 9/11 which killed 3,000 innocent people will have no qualms about sending people to Syria to be tortured. If you doubt this, I suggest you read David Ray Griffin's "Debunking 9/11 debunking : an answer to Popular mechanics and other defenders of the official conspiracy theory". The American government is a puppet show designed to distract us from the real decision makers - the banks and corporations, who have profited enormously from the Iraq war and from lending money at interest to the government. The Iraq war has already cost the average American family $20,000. This is nothing new. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson said

"We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominate men. I have unwittingly betrayed my country." — President Woodrow Wilson, 1916

I look forward to the next episodes in this series of commercials:

(Brain surgeon in operating theater) "So I was in this guy's head poking around and, like, totally forget where the frontal lobe was. Whipped out my iPhone, did a google search and, sure enough, the diagram was right there. Thanks, Apple."

(Nuclear Reactor technician) "So I was working the night shift at the reactor and, like, bells and sirens started going off like crazy. Meltdown was imminent. What to do? In a moment of inspiration, I got out my iPhone and found the proper shut down sequence, thereby saving upwards of 2 million lives. Thank, Apple."

"The airlines win. We don't give a shit what happens and they don't pretend anymore to deliver anything resembling even crappy service straight out of the third world."

This is a misconception. Service here is much worse than in "the third world". I once waited 5 hours in line at LaGuardia to talk to their agent after a cancelled flight. Last time I flew in China, the terminals were brand new and spotless. We arrived at the China Southern desk in the new airport at Xian 10 minutes before takeoff. We were treated like VIPs, rushed through security and they held the plane a few minutes for us to board. Everyone was polite and efficient. They closed the door and we took off on time. I imagine it was like that here in the sixties.

Most of the energy used in washing clothes is used to heat the water. I switched to cold water a year ago and am saving oil that is used to heat my boiler that supplies hot water and heat to my house. I think the energy used to gyrate and spin the clothes is a small fraction of the energy used to heat the water. The clothes seem to be just as clean, and don't seem to mind the cold. By the way, I have a coil on demand water heating system instead of a hot water tank. The water is heated when you turn on the tap, and no energy is wasted storing hot water. With the on demand system, you never run out of hot water. You may, however, have to reduce the volume of flow a bit so the boiler can heat the water fast enough. These systems are common in Europe.