friend of the built environment

With only a half hour left on this day, I am reminded how lucky I’ve been to have been left so untouched by the AIDS epidemic. No close friends of mine have been affected by it, that I know of. In some cases, maybe people I’ve met along the way have hidden their status, believing [...]

Another journaler I read said recently how tough it seemed to be to actually get people to the club for a goth night he’d been organizing, despite the glut of people fan-ing his Facebook advert for the club.
Whilst the internet has probably been responsible for acquiring me the majority of my real-life friends, it has [...]

At least that’s what I’ve heard (hat-tip, Anatoly):
Canada is a cultured, peaceful nation, which every so often allows a band of rampaging Neanderthals to trample all over it. Timber companies were licensed to log the old-growth forest in Clayaquot Sound; fishing companies were permitted to destroy the Grand Banks: in both cases these get-rich-quick schemes impoverished Canada [...]

I know I’m late to the punch, but isn’t the decision to prevent hoarding by the TTC in preparation for their fare increase counterintuitive?
Most businesses offer incentives for people to hoard because it encourages overspending. Hoarding also produces advanced cash flow for the supplier, thus the introduction of the “Forever Stamp” by the USPS.
I find [...]

If you feel like being generous, feel free to browse my newly updated Wishlist…

Brought to you by the letters “BK”.

Excellent, excellent article (hat-tip, Jim Russell).
Trunk recognizes her condescension, but she also envies the people she’s judging. Because they’re happier.
This is the feeling I get every time I spend a weekend in Lawrenceville. “They po’ but they happy” is a quote David gave me. Of course, happy being subjective, are they really any happier than [...]

There’s really nothing unusual in there — hysteria about the deficit, people who voted for the Bush tax cuts and the unfunded Medicare prescription drug benefit but suddenly think the national debt is killing us, political pandering — but maybe it was the proverbial straw.
I most certainly agree. I’ve been freaked out about the deficit [...]

The Economist sez:
show me the peer-reviewed journal article demonstrating the error here. Otherwise, you’re a crank and this is not a story.
So I had the climate change/pollution/global warming chat with Mom. She thinks China’s trying to tax her power bill so that they can become a more powerful nation than the US. She doesn’t see [...]

I didn’t really want to know who Adam Lambert was, or what he did. Luckily reading this post did not have to involve hearing his music. But it still had some meaty quotes, namely:
In the wake of Lambert’s expulsion from the house of mouse, other networks and shows have jumped to have him as a [...]

I think we need a PGHist site. Who’s with me?

Zarathustra’s eye had noted that a youth avoided him. And one evening as he walked alone through the mountains surrounding the town which was called The Motley Cow - behold, on his walk he found this youth as he sat leaning against a tree, looking wearily into the valley. Zarathustra gripped the tree under which [...]

I was watching and listening to Richard Florida recently, as he basically rehashed his thesis yet again. He uses the word ‘cities’ too much when it’s not necessary. But I realized, somewhat to my own surprise, that I did not disagree with any of his arguments…
Here’s a guy who just wants everyone to be a [...]

Paul Krugman reminds us that the health bill isn’t bad. Anything is better than nothing, probably. If we fail to pass any reforms now, our next chance could be another 10-15 years in the future. Even if it means letting Joe Lieberman have his way every time he throws a tantrum (I still love John [...]

That’s a political party, as opposed to a par-taay.
Will you join us?

Someone on a television was blabbing on and on about how he wished the Obama Administration would pay as much attention to <queue scary music>defending the nation</queue scary music> as he has to the environment and health care.
Personally, considering that environmental annihilation, dire health care options, and reactive military adventures have killed vastly more Americans [...]

But being tough, being armed to the teeth and ready to kick ass, that wouldn’t save you either if it all came down. It’d come down to dull stuff that nobody wants to think about, like organization. That’s what really hits me about these survival fantasies: it’s always about holing up in your house with [...]

Interesting perspective from Washington’s Blog:
We need more real reporting in this country, not less. Bailing out the traditional media will create more consolidation, just as it has in the banking industry.
It could be argued that one thing the current economic crash has failed to do is provide an environment of sustained, palpable erosion in corporate profits. [...]

What is the difference between ideals and goals? Is it only one of scale? How does one determine when a goal is so lofty and ‘unrealistic’ as to have transformed into a perspective-distorting ideal?
What is the difference between idealism and ideology?
Jane Jacobs warned against ideology, as something that can cause people to ignore facts on [...]

From The Vigorous North:
During the 2000s, though, most banks were content to put up cheap offices ringed with drive-thrus. Banks literally sought to emulate fast-food joints, both in the facile idiocy of their products and in the shittiness of their architecture. And then they collapsed.
I’m also glad to see I’m not the only one with [...]

One year ago this evening, David and I were standing on the Fort Duquesne Bridge over the freezing Allegheny welcoming in the new year with riverboat horns and a gaudy Bayer electronic message board on Mt Washington as backdrop. Four months later we would own a cute old house in the most wonderful neighborhood in [...]

It has been suggested that my rosy portrait of the past decade does not work for those who have (or still do) invest in stocks or IRAs or 401(k)s. Agreed - you shouldn’t do those things.