Steve Blanco

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

The parts that appear white are actually black, but covered in ice

[Steve Blanco @StevenBlanco]

Incredible statement: "We do not have great art, because we no longer have the souls for it."

Sadly, I think this is largely true, though remnants do exist. You have to look hard to find them.

[Anthony Esolen @AnthonyEsolen]

How likely is it, asked a well-known commentator on this site, that a 16th century Englishman could be the greatest writer ever? There weren't nearly as many people alive then as there are now, he said.

His analysis was entirely probabilistic, showing no awareness of the cultural foundations of great art.

Instead we should notice that in fact the greatest writer of all time WAS Shakespeare. As Eliot said, "Shakespeare and Dante divide the world between them; there is no third."

We may take issue with the particulars of what Eliot said, and insist that Homer is the third, not covered by the span of what Shakespeare and Dante surveyed and rendered into immortal poetry, but the point is well taken.

Our question then should be, given that we have NOT produced a Shakespeare or a Dante in our time, why have we not? Nor is this failure peculiar to drama and poetry. We do not produce a Bach or a Handel. We do not produce a Michelangelo or a Caravaggio. To set our sights a little lower and closer to home, we do not produce even the composers of art songs or folk songs, such as Stephen Foster. Similarly, it isn't just that we don't build Salisbury Cathedral. The skills in stone, plaster, wood, ceramics, and glass that are evident in a town hall or courthouse or convent or schoolhouse built 150 years ago are mostly gone.

So why don't we have a Shakespeare?

I can think of many reasons, but I'll mention just one here. For whom would such a person write? Certainly not for that well-known scoffer, who is too proud and too impatient or too narrow in the soul to grasp how great Shakespeare was. He himself, then, is one of the reasons. Great art is for, and springs from, people who have a love for it, who are patient and humble enough to wait upon it, to submit to it, to learn from it. Even to do the plaster-work you will see in old rectories or churches or rich men's homes, you require both the skill in the workman's hands and the love of beauty that animates both him and the people he imagines will look upon his work. Artist and audience, craftsman and the common man, must somehow be at one.

And this is what we lack. The ugly violence that such sites as Spark Notes do to Shakespeare is evidence of the divide. We do not have great art, because we no longer have the souls for it.

And that is why a school like Thales College, where I'm going to be, is so desperately needed now.

[Steve Blanco @StevenBlanco]

Great thread.

[Cory Doctorow NO LONGER ON TWIT TER @doctorow]

So there's a great Thai restaurant in my neighborhood called Kiin. Yesterday, I searched for their website to order some takeout. Here's the Google result.

[Steve Blanco @StevenBlanco]

I didn't know about Sir Winton, the "British Schindler", until I saw this on Twitter a few years ago. Amazing story.

[Gurwinder @G_S_Bhogal]

Nicholas Winton helped 669 Jewish children escape the Nazis. His efforts went unrecognized for 50 years. Then in 1988, while sitting as a member of a TV audience, he suddenly found himself surrounded by the kids he’d rescued, now adults.

I like to remember this every Jan 27th.

[Larry Goldberg @TeslaLarry]

This is a long 🧵TL/DR: it replaces my usual projection format for Q4 (which is summarized in the next tweet). However, it does contains my personal analysis as to why $TSLA is better poised today than any other time in its history. (Not investment advice!)

[Steve Blanco @StevenBlanco]

Good to see.

https://t.co/ovqhIrpwSd

[Yashar Ali 🐘 @yashar]

1. It's my birthday today and I only want one thing.

I want these two women, Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, to be famous.

Niloofar and Elahe are Iranian reporters who reported on the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini.

They are now in prison and could face the death penalty.

[Jay Hancock @jayhancock1]

Wrote about sleep apnea. "There is no real evidence" for diagnosis criteria used by sleep-medicine docs, a top expert told me. Result: over-diagnosis & possible overtreatment. Too many CPAPs!
But just how poor are the standards? Makes quite a tale. 🧵
https://t.co/xiwUsZla2q

[Robert Griffin III @RGIII]

NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!!! @BaylorMBB

[Baylor University @Baylor]

THE #NATIONALCHAMPIONSHIP
BELONGS TO BAYLOR!!!!!!!! 🐻🏀🏆

#SicEm #SicEm #SicEm

[Gary Carlo @GaryACarlo]

To all my friends who have a dog as part of your family it's important you are always there for them especially at the end. It's when they need you most.
@terryschappert @BJLaflin @KatiePavlich @dagenmcdowell @KurtSchlichter ��

[Carol Roth @caroljsroth]

This shouldn't be a novel concept, but it clearly needs to be said again:
The government is not the only way to solve problems.*

*In fact, it is often the least efficient and effective problem solver out there...

[Jason ✨👾SaaStr.Ai✨ Lemkin @jasonlk]

You think startups are about a great idea

But in the end they are about being great at recruiting

[Russell Moore @drmoore]

We thought Dr. Huxtable was our role model, and we were wrong.

Elvin is.

[Sully Sullenberger @Captsully]

Multitasking is a myth. When we think we’re multitasking, what we’re really doing is switching rapidly between tasks and not doing any of them well. I chose to do only the most important things but do them very, very well. #Flight1549

[David Burge @iowahawkblog]

"Mr Trump, does it concern you that you enter office with a 35% approval rate?" - people in a profession with a 9% approval rate

[lukewarm skywalker @gayskywalkers]

wHO DID THIS

[Steve Blanco @StevenBlanco]

Whoa...house shaking in Junction. Earthquake?