recursion

Salon has an interesting article on "second generation" traffic calming, which is a new movement in Europe -- where streets have traditionally been multi-modal -- to open streets to all sorts of uses. The interesting part is how they do this: by removing all traffic signs, markings, and sidewalks. Cars, motorcycles, bikes, pedestrians and roadside merchants share the street equally. Because everything is chaotic, cars have to stay around 20 miles per hour, which also just happens to be the maximum speed humans can maintain eye contact. Drivers and pedestrians have to look at each other to communicate shared usage of the street.

The article is marred by a semi-off topic comparison to the lawless streets of China, which sparked a number of "Are you crazy?" letters (which the author had to correct in a response)

Ignore the part about China, but read the article and the interesting responses

I have had trouble taking heavy music seriously ever since Jenny pointed out that all hardcore sounds as if it's sung by Cookie Monster. She even talked about doing a hardcore cover of "C is for Cookie" called "H is for Hardcore".

Via BoingBoing, I see that this is not a unique observation. Check out Cookie Mongoloid, the Sesame Street speed metal cover band (check out their songs).

OK. Let me get this straight. The Bush administration used faulty intelligence from Ahmad Chalabi to justify the war on Iraq. Chalabi also pawned off his nonsense on other intelligence agencies, so when the US went looking to confirm the reports of Iraq's WMD program, other nations backed them up (any guesses on who came up with the forged uranium letter?). In the run up to the war, Chalabi also was a major source for the New York Times, helping to solidify backing for the war among the press, and hence the public.

All this happened even though it was painfully obvious that Chalabi was a huckster (The Prince counsels against ever trusting exiles) and the evidence coming from Hans Blix's inspections show that Iraq didn't have any WMDs.

Now, it turns out that Chalibi's intelligence guy was an Iranian agent. Iran, one third of the "Axis of Evil", manipulated George W. Bush into a war to destroy their greatest enemy, Saddam Hussien's Iraq.

Because of the Bush administration's lack of judgment, we went to war on a lie -- an Iranian lie -- and over 900 coalition troops have died, along with thousands of Iraqi civilians. Growing frustrated with their inability to find the WMDs, the Pentagon approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques supposedly reserved for terrorists. This order is implemented by untrained and unsupervised National Guard MPs. At least a few of them turn out to be sadists who torture the prisoners at Abu Gharib (and else where?) above and beyond their already cruel orders. Photos from the prison ricochet around the world, destroying the myth of American Exceptionalism. The country that once considered itself the shining City on the Hill is now ashamed.

To top it all off, a new intelligence report indicates that Al Qaeda recruitment is up and the terrorist group now has over 18,000 fighters.

Is that about right? Unbelievable. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the war would go this bad.