Is It A Frans Hals Or Ain't It?

This portrait was determined to be produced by the hand of 16th century Dutch artist Frans Hals, which led to its subsequent sale for $10 million. Now it seems that it's not.

Which makes one wonder why the works of Hals or any other artist should be worth such fabulous sums of money if experts can't reliably tell one from another. 

Raising Legislator's Pay

In the land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota voters will decide this fall whether to amend the state constitution to establish a compensation council that will be able to raise legislator salaries, according to this opinion piece in the Minneapolis  Star-Tribune. Voters won't select the members of the council.

"If the amendment passes, a 16-member salary council — eight DFLers, eight Republicans — would be formed to decide legislator pay every two years. The governor and the Minnesota Supreme Court chief justice would choose its members"

You'll note that the council will be limited to ostensible members of the two dominant political parties. Thus we see that two separate entities, government and politics, are increasingly merging into one, marginalizing any other competition for influence in the public arena.