The Pro-Idee Scale Spoon

From Gizmodo--a spoon with a built-in scale.  Oh, those wacky Brits.

 

I've thought for a long time that "urban planning" as currently practiced almost everywhere--at least in the U.S.--is hopelessly out of touch with the realities of how cities--and people--need to live.  The planner wants to segregate residential areas, shopping areas, industrial areas, parks, etc., etc. into nice, regularly colored areas on a map.

But that's not how cities grew throughout human history.  People lived on the top floor and worked on the street level--manufactured things, sold things, fixed things.  Lived life.  Knew their neighbors, because they lived and worked at the same place. 

Now, it's not totally realistic to think that we can take modern post-industrial society back to anything like that.  We know too much about how certain things, such as manufacturing processes, are really, really, really unpleasant (or unhealthy) to actually live next door to.  But the hyper-zoning of America has, I think, had a significant social cost.  We don't know our neighbors any more.  We drive to the regional shopping area.  When I grew up, my siblings and I rode our bikes, or walked three blocks to the little neighborhood grocery store.  Even if you wanted to do that anymore, you can't.  The neighborhood grocery store is now the convenience store a mile and a half down the five-lane major arterial road with so much traffic that no sane parent would ever let their kids near it with a bike.

I think that the whole edifice of modern American zoning is utterly wrongheaded.

Via the blog Futuristic comes an article titled Sane in the City, which serves to reinforce my attitudes:

Research has documented that pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods can be particularly important for maintaining good mental health, especially in the elderly. A study published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society found that senior men showed fewer symptoms of depression if they lived in more "walkable" neighborhoods, which have smaller blocks, fewer office buildings, and greater proximity to grocery stores, restaurants, and retail shopping areas.

Prior research had suggested a link between exercise and reduced depression. But in this study, the men's levels of depression did not depend on how much they exercised. So the benefits of walkable neighborhoods seemed to go beyond their ability to encourage physical activity, suggesting that "it's something about the environment itself" that's associated with lower levels of depression, according to Ethan Berke, the study's lead author.

Berke speculates that walkable neighborhoods might be so important because they promote social connection and reduce isolation, a major predictor of depression. "If people are out walking to destinations, they run into each other", he says. "And then they talk, or interact, or share ideas".  He adds that city streets with their shorter blocks, more direct routes, and greater number of intersections—can be more walkable than suburban ones. They also have greater population density, which increases the probability that people meet one another by chance.

I live in a very nice suburban neighborhood.  I almost never walk.  There's nowhere to walk to.  I need somewhere to walk to.

In general, I think we're better off putting our trust in the "little brother" of our family, friends, and neighbors, rather than in "Big Brother" as represented by city and regional Planning Boards--made up of people who , more often than not, have overriding financial interests in promoting the command-and-control mentality of modern planning and zoning practice.

Hugh Hewitt nails the #1 reason why Obama makes me very, very nervous.  He just doesn't seem to choose his friends carefully.

Barack Obama seems like a very nice guy with a good heart and a wonderful family.  He is obviously bright and extremely well spoken.  He's a down-the-line leftist with the most left-leaning voting record in the Senate from 2005-2006. 

But of even more concern than his ideas is the fact that his judgment about people and ideas is terribly flawed.  It had to have been not to have been able to see the quite obvious anti-American extremism of Ayers and Dohrn or to have objected not just to a handful of Pastor Wright’s sermons but to much of the material published in his church’s bulletin.

Courage matters most in a president, for as Thucydides wrote, “The secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is courage.”

But immediately after courage comes judgment, and after that the ideological agenda that will inform that judgment.

If Barack Obama did not see the problem in befriending and accepting the support of  Ayers and Dohrn  --and he didn’t—and if Obama really thinks Senator Tom Coburn can fairly be compared with Ayers and Dohrn –and he did make that comparison-- then Senator Obama lacks the judgment necessary to be president.

My wife thinks I'm weird.  You know, guy-type hobbies and interests rather than being tuned in to fashion and Hollywood gossip and the like.

Well, I'm not weird, thank you very much.  These guys are weird.

Although I do admit, once in a blue moon, I do sneak over to the airport to take a look at planes taking off and landing.  OK, maybe I take a picture or twelve.  But I don't take notes, OK?  I'm not weird.

John Stossel has the answer:

Politicians love a "crisis." John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama all think that the government should bail out homeowners who can't pay their mortgages. When they say the government should do this, they mean the taxpayers, including those who  are paying their mortgages. They also think the government should regulate the lending and investment industries further.

Why?

Because "crisis" justifies making big government bigger.

I would add to that the fact that journalists grow and flourish in the reflected power of the politicians that they cover.  I do not see any incentive today for journalists to question the sky-is-falling pronouncements of politicians.  Indeed, journalists (with some notable exceptions such as Mr. Strossel) are often out in front of the politicians, whipping up angst, unrest, and panic, preparing the battlefield for the politicians to come riding in on their white horses to save us all--again.  The journalists then get their Pulitzers and other awards for their reporting which "made a difference."  Oh, yeah, it made a difference, all right.

The thing is, those "crises" that we all get saved from in the nick of time by those politicians on their white horses and their legions of water-carrying journalists are usually caused by the unnecessary and destructive "solutions" to a previous politician- and journalist-fueled "crisis."

It's a sweet system, really. 

Evan Sayet at Sayet Right nails it:

. . . when testifying to the world about what it is like to have been "born in the USA," rather than tell the story of a country that saw a bus driver's son who never had a job becoming a superstar with, in his own words, "a life of leisure and a pirate's treasure," Springsteen instead told the world that being "Born in the USA" is a horrible curse:

"Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up."

Kansas City Star:

Connie Roberts of Brandsville in southern Missouri was driving a Chevy Blazer Sunday night as she, her husband and foster son returned home from a fishing trip when a black bear suddenly bolted into the roadway. She estimated she was driving 60 mph.

“I hollered ‘bear,’ and that was it,” Roberts said. “After I hit it I went back but couldn’t find it.”

No immediate comment from the administration of Missouri State University in Springfield.  The Bears, of course.

South Dakota State beats Minnesota 5-4 in ten innings.

Photo credit: South Dakota State University

The Argus-Leader article, by T. Vandrovec:

It was SDSU’s first win against the Gophers (16-22) since 1966, ending a streak of nine consecutive losses in the series since moving to the NCAA Division I level, including three defeats by a total of four runs last month.

“It was just a great win,” Jacks coach Reggie Christiansen said. “This might be one of the biggest wins we’ve had in the four years I’ve been here. I can’t be more proud of our guys.”

From SDSU Sports Information, the box score:

SDSU 5, MINNESOTA 4 (10 inn.)

MINN	000	102	100	0	4-8-1
SDSU	030	100	000	1	5-7-3

 

MINN: Scott Fern, Chauncy Handran (4), Dustin Klabunde (10) and Kyle Knudson.

SDSU: Mike Robinson, Matt Spinar (4), Isaac Johnson (5), Jared Koch (6), Caleb Thielbar (7), Kirby Morsching (8) and Tony Martin.

W-Morsching (2-4). L-Klabunde (0-1)

HR: SDSU-Nick Adams (2).

 

We're planning a trip to Europe in the near future, so it's nice to see that the Euro's value fell today vs. the Dollar.

It's only one day, but it's the right direction--for us as travelers, anyway.

This one moves the BS meter:

Science Daily:  Chocolate bar shown to lower cholesterol

Why do I suspect that other dietary factors were not sufficiently controlled for in this particular study.

Oh, yeah, it was sponsored by a candy company.  Not that that would skew the results, of course.

The sample size was 49 people, divided into two groups (presumably of 25 and 24).  That's an awfully, awfully small sample size when you're dealing with something as complex as human biochemistry.  So, the BS meter twitches.