EARTH ~

John Rogers Cox, Cloud Trails (1944)

Good painting offers a mysterious pleasure that one cannot quite put his finger on because the painter, through honesty and hard work, has actually painted his own personality in a familiar subject; and any person’s personality or character or soul, or whatever your word is for it, is something of an enigma.

—John Rogers Cox, 1951

EARTH ~

Police 'Tank' Purchase Riles New Hampshire Town

"We're going to have our own tank." That's what Keene, N.H., Mayor Kendall Lane whispered to Councilman Mitch Greenwood during a December city council meeting. It's not quite a tank. But the quaint town of 23,000 -- scene of just two murders since 1999 -- had just accepted a $285,933 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to purchase a Bearcat, an eight-ton armored personnel vehicle made by Lenco Industries Inc. But those plans are on hold for now, thanks to a backlash from feisty residents...." Wouldn’t you enjoy seeing one of these behind you as realize you’re doing 40 in a 35? The sales manager for the Pittsfield, Mass.-based manufacturer, stated: “If a group of terrorists decide to shoot up a shopping mall in a town like Keene, N.H. wouldn't you rather be prepared?"

now that you've given someone an idea