Starry Night

Surprisingly, Vincent van Gogh only sold one painting during his life; however, Starry Night has become one of the most iconic works of art of the nineteenth century. Van Gogh painted Starry Night in an Asylum at Saint-Remy in 1889. Art is something that means different things to different people, but this painting has many universal symbols in it.
     The viewer is immediately drawn to the swirling night sky, and although some of the features are exaggerated, a starry night sky is something that everyone can identify with. The painter's use of curving lines moves the viewer's eyes along the painting keeping the viewer captivated.
     The cool dark colors in the night sky as well as in the peaceful village below have a calming effect on the viewer. Near the center of town there is a large church steeple sticking up from the town as if casting a sense of religious stability.
     Lastly, there is the large, unavoidable black structure on the left side of the painting. Although I am unsure as to what the structure is (it could be a mountain, or a fortress) the structure is indeed gigantic compared to the rest of the buildings in the painting. Its curving lines mirror that of the sky creating dramatic depth in the painting.
     Although no one will ever know what Vincent Van Gogh had in mind when painting Starry Night, after all wasn't exactly sound of mind at this point in his life, this painting will continue to mystify and amaze future viewers.

Health Insurance in America

Will "Obamacare" cause employers to drop workers' health coverage? According to The Insured and the Unsure, an article in The Economist, it certainly seems that way. Unfortunately, I fell into the latter category, and knowing absolutely nothing about how health insurance works or the economy or federal legislation, and after reading this article, I still don't really have a good idea. The author's purpose was to explain how "Obamacare" might hurt or help employers/employees, but he didn't really do a good job of explaining it in a way that could make sense to everyone.
     Based on my understanding, there are pros and cons to the idea of universal healthcare. For starters, there is health insurance for everyone, meaning no matter the socioeconomic background, a person cannot be denied healthcare. Also, if one were to lose their job, BAM their health insurance could be taken as well, but not if there was universal healthcare. However, one of the cons to universal healthcare is that it would be controlled by the government, and with the bloated bureaucracies in control, it would only be a matter of time until the funds set aside for insurance were bankrupt. Can we really say for certain that our government can be trusted to handle such an important social program? History would answer "no," as we see with the failed Freedman's Bureau and the funds going to support Native American reservations.
     One thing that the author did well in this argument was to avoid biases. Instead of completely bashing "Obamacare" or promoting it, the author was able to maintain a neutral stance on such a touchy issue.