The Middle Class Is Dying. Thanks, Internet

Jason Lanier: “If you had talked to anyone involved in it twenty years ago, everyone would have said that the ability for people to inexpensively have access to a tremendous global computation and networking facility ought to create wealth. This ought to create wellbeing; this ought to create this incredible expansion in just people living decently, and in personal liberty.” But it’s not happening. Why?

Australian Chamber Orchestra Plans Surfing-And-Music Tour

Next July, ACO violinist/director Richard Tognetti – already known in Australia as a serious surfer – “leads a band of intrepid musicians and surfers from Darwin to Perth via Ningaloo Reef to explore the relationship between surfing, music, desert and ocean” for a multimedia project Tognetti sees as the sequel to his 2008 project Musica Surfica.

A Battle In Denver Over Sale Of Clyfford Still Paintings

“Still’s widow in 2004 bequeathed her husband’s valuable collection to Denver with the understanding that a museum would be constructed to display the works. The proceeds of the sale of four paintings will go to fund an endowment that will pay for the museum’s operations. The museum’s collection will include 825 paintings, 1600 drawings and three sculptures. Both New York-based Sotheby’s and London-based Christie’s auction houses bid to sell the works. Sotheby’s won, outraging Christie’s and setting off a public dispute.”