More importantly, unlike Mr Haqqani, whether it is Pakistan's military or civilian leadership or the US administration, anyone dealing with her will have the confidence that she is just what she comes across as, a straight-talking politician rather than a career bureaucrat skilled in the art of double speak and intrigue.

BBC: Pakistan's new US envoy takes on 'toughest job'

While people differ in their opinions -- as most do when it comes to art -- I believe the images speak for themselves.

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The fact is that works of art, literature, works of history, they speak to our condition and they affirm our desire for something more and something better.

WHITEHOUSE: The 2010 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal Ceremony | The White House

The wall texts are informative, but the revelation is how powerfully the works speak for themselves, and how varied Islamic art is.

ECONOMIST: Islamic galleries at the Met

And whether they make record prices, or whether not a single paddle goes up for any of these starring works, the market will collapse only if we forget what really matters here: not the superlatives, not the ad-speak, not the money, but the art.

FORBES: Will Competition Kill The Art Market?

We speak to the founder and principal players of comedy performance art group Improv Everywhere about the role technology has played in the rise of the group and some of its most famous (and infamous) pranks.

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They speak to a global elite that believes in the holy trinity of sex, art and money.

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If you can speak of any aesthetic divide in America nowadays, it is more between rural art and city art.

ECONOMIST: Forget the cowboy boots