Dreamways

Sarah Palin has suddenly, spectacularly and confrontationally leaped onto the stage of national American politics. Her name and image have quickly taken up an enormous space in the American psyche, much like a powerful and disturbing sleep-dream image. Like a dream image, Ms Palin’s appearance has disrupted the American status quo. Her selection as the Republican vice presidential candidate has stirred things up. She evokes extremely powerful reactions, both positive and negative.

“Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce goods and services. What could be scarcer or more precious than love? It is rare, hard to come by and often fragile.” With these words economic writer Ben Stein introduces some guidelines for what he calls “the economics of love,” combining financial savviness with wisdom about love. ( “Lessons in Love, by Way of Economics,” The New York Times, 13 Jul 08)

Bella, sent off to finish high school in the state of Washington, “catches the eye of a gorgeous boy in her biology class named Edward. He turns out to be a member of a commune of vampires, who have banded together to fight their inclination to drink human blood." So begins Gail Collins’ synopsis of “The Twilight Saga,” a series of extraordinarily popular books by Stephenie Meyer (“A Virginal Goth Girl,” The New York Times, 12 Jul 08).

The dance of shadow and light; known and unknown; familiar and other

"Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that.  This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week.

“A measure seeking to commemorate President Bush’s years in office by slapping his name on a San Francisco sewage plant has qualified for the November ballot. The measure certified … would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.” (“Bush Sewage Plant pushed,” The Denver Post, 18 Jul 08)