friend of the built environment

There are three basic types of results from the activity of the creative mind: the raw, the refined and the contrived.
“Raw” is not necessarily normative, and describes the results of creativity in its most basic form, prior to any true product or end result. The raw result of a musician’s creative process is in most [...]

It is often baffling to me how small-thinking our leaders are when it comes to the issue of immigration. It’s a hotly debated topic these days, but it seems that neither “side” of the issue have the concept down correctly, nor understand the wider implications of the issue.
The “left” views immigration negatively due to its [...]

The fever of Olympiana has once again consumed the world. Every few years, the governments of the world, both autocratic and democratic, rally their minions to their flags to support an institution which purports to enshrine values which every human should supposely appreciate: national pride, athleticism, cameraderie, etc.
All the while, we never seem to question [...]

I’ve become especially sensitive lately with the way every public medium and social institution today seems to be less concerned with its own specialized role and more dedicated to a sort of “catalogue” response to the world. This spans everything from social clubs to political candidates, public issues to editorial stances. I’ve written about it [...]

My thesis today: liberty is dying in America not because so many Americans are Right-wing fascists, but because those who support liberty tend to be wishy-washy about it to the point of aiding the enemy.
A leader in The Economist a few weeks back noted that the word “liberal” has lost much of its meaning today. [...]

You know what American cities need? More subsidies for rich liberal young whites, that’s what.Or, at least, that’s what Richard Florida thinks…Note (31 March 2008): My latest, most comprehensive, and (in my opinion) best essay on this topic can be found here:The Early Bird vs the Night OwlUrban Mythology and its FundiesSure, he has an [...]

The rise of modern China is one of the most lamented events in the news today. never before have I seen such an inevitable occurrence be so roundly loathed from every desk and aisle and corner of the globe (save, of course, China and the Chinese diaspora itself). I, for one, think this is wholly [...]

Francis Fukuyama, in his book The End of History and the Last Man discussed the “Universal and Homogenous State” as that polity which existed when man had reached the end of his political-intellectual development. In Fukuyama’s thesis, this state was the capitalistic post-industrial constitutional democracy. His identification of this system as the culmination of mankind’s [...]

America’s Demographic Future
Americans, as a group, are clamoring for more restrictive immigration laws in the US. The populist reasoning behind this is the perception that the primary immigrant class today are low-skilled Latin-American workers, and that their entry into the US is placing an unacceptable burden on the economy of this country. The rhetoric usually [...]

My mother in-law is a Pack Rat. She goes to yard sales, swap meets, closeouts and random stores and just buys stuff - everything: dishes, books, gadgets, containers, furniture, doo-dads, whatever - everything.
Sometimes she convinces herself that she needs it for her home or life, sometimes she convinces herself she will give it as a [...]

I have often tried to do a comprehensive essay about my opinions on universal, single-payer health care proposals. Unfortunately, when addressing a general audience, I am likely to come off as a right-wing kook screaming about the downfall of American society. The fact is, like any welfare option, I simply dislike the idea of helping [...]

It’s been seven years since I bought my first new Mac. Over that time, I’m been a pretty intense Apple fanboy. For the first few years I was repeatedly amazed at the things Apple hardware and software enabled me to do that I didn’t even realize I wanted to do.
My oh my how times change. [...]

Djarum Blacks are already selling for $30/pack on Ebay, four days before the sale ban. I assume Ebay will not allow listings after Monday.
All the shops I’ve casually stopped in in SF are already sold out - they haven’t placed any new orders for a couple months for fear of being stuck with inventory they [...]

I’ve spent about 7 years in San Francisco. I tend not to think about the past four years of my life as years spent in San Francisco, since the majority of my home life has taken place in NC and Pittsburgh, but in fact the majority of my time since 2005 has been spent in [...]

Last night was the first New Years Eve in memory that I did not watch Dick Clark. This was because I was in San Francisco where I do not have a television, rather than for any conscious reason.
Giving it up has crossed my mind many times in the past few years. But the description of [...]