Today, Glitter and Doom*** walk hand in hand on the front page of the New York Times:

Doom, above the fold,

Ethiopia Is Said to Block Food to Rebel Region

The Ethiopian government is blockading emergency food aid and choking off trade to large swaths of a remote region in the eastern part of the country that is home to a rebel force, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of starvation, Western diplomats and humanitarian officials say.

unimaginable glitter below:

Setting Restaurant Records by Selling the Sizzle

This is Tao Las Vegas, the highest grossing independent restaurant in the United States, according to Restaurants & Institutions magazine, which for 24 years has been ranking the top 100. In 2006, its first full year open, Tao did $55.2 million in business, or $16 million more than its closest competitor, Tavern on the Green in New York [e.a.].

I know, I know—we live in a capitalist country. There’s nothing wrong with making money. Still … Dude!

We’re gorging ourselves under the protection of 20-foot Buddhas!

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*** Inspired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s German Expressionist show of the same name, I wrote about Glitter and Doom here and here.

And once again, for your viewing pleasure:

“I Shall Exterminate Everything around me That Restricts Me from Being the Master,” George Grosz, 1921

(image scanned from the book that accompanies the show)