Free Republic

THERE are plenty of people rooting for this latest Whitney Biennial, hoping it recalibrates the image of the art world as something other than youth-besotted and money-obsessed. It's a start, just barely. I imagine it will provoke much head scratching by uninitiated visitors. This typically huge exhibition is very much an insider's affair, a hermetic take on what has been making waves. It will seem old hat to aficionados and inscrutable to many others. Maybe it's impossible, or impossible for the Whitney, to do a show today that doesn't seem beholden to fashion and, for art world types, familiar. Francesco...

Senate passes $117.7 billion budget BY CONNIE MABIN Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - The Texas Senate on Tuesday approved a $117.7 billion budget bill that trims spending to education, public safety and other areas, while slightly increasing funding to health and human services. The 2004-05 proposed spending plan provoked passionate discussion in the the 31-member Senate, but the bill passed 26-5 without the days-long, divisive debate the House engaged in when it OK'd its budget two weeks ago. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he was proud of the bipartisan effort. "We've focused on maintaining our core, essential services," he said....