20 April 2003
Perhaps hope does spring eternal: “That grown men and women can make a living pondering such matters [in this case, topology] is a sign that civilization, as fragile as it may sometimes seem, remains intact.” NYT
19 April 2003
Silence = Death, part 2.
18 April 2003
the zoning work I’ve been up to lately has borne media fruit, even if Fran Spielman misspelled my name.
17 April 2003
“Naked” motorcycles are just the latest attempt by Americans to search out authentic, unmediated experiences within the consumerist system. Of course, it’s bound to fail in the long run since mass production will necessarily cheapen the authenticity, but at least we might have had fun trying before moving on to the next fad. Right?
16 April 2003
Stealing by the stolen from is okay, unless perhaps corporations are doing the stealing.
15 April 2003
westnorth.com now forwards here. I’ll be building out a new site at that address eventually.
The new factory for Americans
California’s latest export: poor Californians. Even in the late ’90s, California sent over 100,000 residents a year to other states — including a growing number of third-generation Latinos and Asians. (But is L.A. as good a “factory for Americans” as Brooklyn was?) Those moving into California from other states, like gentrifiers anywhere, have fewer children and more money than those they’re replacing. Incidentally, more Californians moved to the Midwest in the 1990s than vice versa, even though Illinois is the largest exporter to the Golden State (60,000 residents).
13 April 2003
It will take much work to rebuild the Washington Consensus after the Bush administration’s trashing of the global system — which might be a blessing in disguise.
12 April 2003
Taking name your own price to its logical retail conclusion is, sadly, illegal.
The lords of the ring roads
Logic? In Chicago, transportation spending priorities aren’t even ranked by staff. Instead, everything gets into the plan, and everyone jockeys for political points or for expanded fiefs: random new highways here, contracts awarded there.
10 April 2003
Wine pricing: the guesswork explained.
FUVs
Foot, meet mouth: Canadian leaders drive huge SUVs and urge passage of the Kyoto Protocol, while new Bummer ads sell FUVs to outlandishly selfish bastards. That such advertising is even socially acceptable, much less “cool,” speaks volumes about social decay.
