2006 March

Architecture’s Scientific Revolution

Posted by | architecture | No Comments

When architects steal terms like Post Modernism or Deconstruction from the, shrouded in bullshit, fringes of philosophy called ‘literary criticism’ and the like, what they really mean is: ‘new buildings with decoration’ or ‘buildings that look like they are falling apart’, respectively. That does not mean that the buildings aren’t beautiful – just that the justification is pointless and the understanding of other people’s field’s limited. Because of the nature of the scale and function of architecture, architects can pretend to be scientists when they are poor craftsmen and artists when they are bad engineers. Seed magazine has a new piece on innovations in architecture – its true that composite materials, intelligent skins and energy efficiency concerns have created a scientific edge in some styles, but the combination of the fact that you can pretty much build anything these days with the counter swing against minimalism means that by and…

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Another Bourgeois French Revolution

Posted by | globalization | No Comments

The French have a tradition of Bourgeois revolutions and this is no different. Young, predominantly white students, who are by definition not part of France’s growing underclass, are protesting to keep protections that benefit themselves. Trade unions have followed suit, since striking has become a national sport in France – you can’t beat a good strike. What is being proposed is an employment contract that means people don’t get the same job protections for their first job. The empirical results of removing benefits at the bottom of the ladder is that employers can take risks, and in a culture with sectors of society with long term unemployment this creates more of a hiring meritocracy. That is not to say that all benefits should be removed. It would be naive to think that, in a globalized economy, the bottom of the ladder is being filled according to the law. If you…

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Sharia law is immoral – period.

Posted by | Uncategorized | No Comments

Ansarullah Mawlafizada, Afghan trial judge: "Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity. That is why we have told him if he regrets what he did, then we will forgive him," … and if not he will be murdered.link » tags: [religion] posted via Wists: permamark

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