Understanding urban and rural spaces on the basis of mixed use is pretty amazing.

Quoted: A US charity helps Detroit's poorest people turn vacant lots into blooming gardens, the BBC's Matt Wells finds.

A link to a link.

From Crimeth.Inc:

Our favorite radio show, This American Life, recently did a hour show examining the current mortgage crisis— the straw that broke the camel’s back and triggered a global financial crisis, the end of which is nowhere in sight. As the U.S. stumbles forward deeper and deeper into a recession, it would behoove those of us who don’t understand what has happened to take a minute to learn about the economic process—which was truly not a major aberration from business as usual—behind the credit collapse that has many economists warning of a new economic depression.

As usual, TAL makes the dry subject matter absolutely fascinating and entertaining, interviewing victims and perpetrators at every level of the travesty, and as they say:

We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

Listen to the show here, for free, by clicking on the ‘Full Episode’ link. For those looking for more details, another radio favorite of ours, Fresh Air, has some more perspectives here, and here. And of course, Wikipedia comes through with 12,000 words on the subject.

poor kobayashi...

Quoted: He was trying to reclaim his title after a disappointing three-dog loss last year to Californian Joey Chestnut shattered his six-year winning streak. But it ...

so effing stupid...

Quoted: Page last updated at 16:41 GMT, Thursday, 3 July 2008 17:41 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version Bright ideas in the Wild West ...

Wow. I'm trying this. I need to be able to wake up at six in the morning with a full night's sleep for the day of my departure. I've been consistently waking up at 10:30 for the first time in 9 months (that's early for me). tomorrow I make it 9:30.

Quoted: I looked like a cross between Bono and Henry Kissenger...So this is what being a morning person is like, I thought. It's like being 80 years old.

holy shit this sounds fun

Quoted: A small red berry called miracle fruit temporarily rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.

listening to this now. he makes a few decent brief points about prospects for the 2008 elections, the notion of the collective act, the emergence of new evental sites, and so on...the second part of the interview was aired on may 12.

edit: oh damn...i just read this from the transcript while the audio's downloading:

Quoted: Today’s legacy of that ’68 is alive. And, you know, they have in California, and now it’s spreading to Europe, a terrible thing called masturbation. People gather, you masturbate publicly, you’re not allowed to touch the other, and, of course, each one has to pay some money, which goes to politically correct causes and so on. And the idea, it’s like self-expression: you are alone, but in a crowd. This kind of—this is what I don’t like.

Quoted: Slavoj Žižek, the renowned philosopher, psychoanalyst and cultural theorist, joins us in our firehouse studio for a wide-ranging discussion. Žižek has been called "the Elvis of cultural theory" and is widely considered to be one of Europe's leading intellectuals. He has written more than fifty books and speaks to sold-out audiences around the world. [includes rush transcript]

holy crap.

Quoted: With factory hooters and car horns blaring, China began three days of national mourning for the 50,000 dead of the Sichuan earthquake.

tfwright redot....there seriously needs to be more david cross to laugh at...

Quoted: Odenkirk and Cross worked this closely was on Mr. Show and