In this issue:
1. The Latest
French Fashion
2. Two Days and
Three Sleepless Nights in Baghdad!
3. Libby's
Fibby: A Motive?
4. Quick
Hits
5. New at Reason
Online - Casey at the Bench
6. News and
Events
1. The Latest French Fashion
One tiny positive to flow from almost two weeks of rioting in Paris and across France is that maybe, just maybe, would-be city planners from America will pause for a second before simply assuming that Euro-style living is the best thing ever. Or to put it bluntly, would some front-load garages come in handy when the New Urbanist, pedestrian-friendly on-street parking is just a bull's-eye for a firebomb?
The occasional three-day trip to the French countryside is probably responsible for more bad ideas about zoning and land-use than all advanced degrees put together. The ugly images of the past few days should not be more persuasive than common sense, but they might puncture Euro trendiness among America's planner set all the same.
That might at least balance out the truly senseless violence that was met by an almost Katrina-esque response from French officials. Presumably Jacques Chirac had a reason for waiting 11 days to comment on the riots, but needing time to come up with great oratory surely was not among them. The situation seems ripe for some real leadership to bubble up from below the ossified political structure and point France back toward sanity.
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2. Two Days and Three Sleepless Nights in Baghdad!
Running a close second to events in France in the "most bizarre reaction to a crisis" category must be plans to turn Baghdad into a destination location, complete with a ritzy hotel and a theme park in Tikrit. In fact, the grab for tourist dollars suggests nothing so much as those same trendy land-use dreams of America's central planners run amok.
Ignoring basic needs like roads and police in favor of convention centers and sports arenas is the bread-and-butter of modern city planning in the U.S. Most every city of any size has an under-utilized, publicly funded convention center in its midst. Iraq is just applying this notion slightly more aggressively. Not only is the public infrastructure ignored, it is non-existent in places. Not only is public safety an afterthought, tourists are advised to travel with their own armed body guards.
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