victor: i was reading this article today and just make me wonder about the situation over in east-asia. The Sino-Japanese (Korean-Japanese, Korean-Korean, China-Taiwan) situation has been prevalent in the region since WW2. Right now I would characterize the region as in a uneasy-peace. The Japanese, although formally have apologized for the WW2 atrocities, refuse to degrade the vernartion of their leaders in war-time because of cultural ideologies. China wont let Taiwan go because, although it took them until the death of Mao, found that Taiwan to be a direct challenge to their legitamacy as the official representative of the Chinese people. Korea, under the grips of communism in the north and consumerism in the south, will never have the pride to back-down and reunite. Is this all a result of cultural ideologies clashing with global politics? The world is running on a system developed by western cultures. Western time, western economics, and western politics are all essential in gaining a political foothold on the world scene. Yet, obviously not all cultures share the same values and mentalities as Europe and America, so there will be inconsistancies when trying to integrate these two systems into one. So where will this all lead us? The Europeans went through a simliarly drastic change around the turn of the 20th century which resulted in things from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the rise of Facism in Spain, Italy, and Germany, two world wars, and a general upheavel of the entire continent. Of course they have implemented the UN following WW2 (and with the failure of the League of Nations in mind) but it is by no means a perfect institution. Just consider the Rwanda and Darfur situtaion where the UN neglected the blantant genocide of a entire population. I dont see the asian situation getting as much out of hand as it did in Europe but there are some striking similarities in the tensions and developments lately. I feel that the world is still going through growing pains in adjusting the this new "flat-globe" policy (yes its economics but you could argue it as a political one). Those governments need to come to grips with their situations and resolve them otherwise it will be a power-keg that is just waiting to blow up.  ¶ 3:23 PM 0 comments

  victor: i found this website which i found to be quite... well just go look.  ¶ 10:04 PM 0 comments

  Hmmm... I take it all back...how's that? Happy?  ¶ 9:55 PM 7 comments

  click here because I know everyone loves mindless entertainment(the musical lecture video is pretty funny... go check out the archives too)  ¶ 8:51 AM 0 comments

  victor: Well, as everyone knows Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI. Talk about a short conclave, 2 days... who would have thought it would have been so fast? Well I dont know much about the German cardinal but here are some facts I dragged out from a few websites:

- 6th German Pope
- 1st since the 11th century
- previous Dean of the College of Cardinals
- against Liberation theology
- in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith
- believed that Muslim Turkey did not belong in Christian Europe
- issued a document saying that Catholicism was the only true religion (against other christian denomonations)
- condemned communism
- supports fundamentalism and against relativism
- son of a police officer
- served in the German Military in WW2
- defected near the end of the war and taken as a POW
- ordained in 1951
- Cardinal of Munich

so, that is the short on the new pope. What do you guys think about the selection and what it will mean for the Catholic church and the world in the near future?  ¶ 10:05 PM 0 comments

  victor: Alright, it seems that we have been neglecting a very important issue in the news these past few weeks. I am talking about the death of the pope of course. What makes the man such an influencial figure in our society? Why did 3 million people, catholics and otherwise, travel from around to world to hold a vigil during the final days of the pope's life? One could argue that the importance of the pope lies in the number of followers of the Catholic faith which he led. I believe that Catholicism is one of the largest christian denominations (yes, catholics are christians)in the world but does sheer number justify the impact his death had on the world? He has also done extensive work throughout the world to patch shaky relations between governments, the secular and spiritual, and people's of different cultures. His work in Africa and influence over the leaders of the major powers in the world have made him a pivatol figure in world politics but often, work alone dosn't acrue such a following. Yet, one also has to take into account that he is one of the longest reigning popes in history. Perhaps its the combination of these three things that have made him such an important and influencial figure in our world but it is for sure that he will be missed.  ¶ 3:10 PM 0 comments

  gatech architecture: The Architecture Program Lecture Series invites you this Wednesday, April 6th at 7:00 pm for a lecture by Andres Duany. The lecture will be held at the Ferst Center for the Arts on the Tech campus. It is free and open to public.

This lecture is sponsored by the Architecture Program at Georgia Institute of Technology in conjunction with Andres Duany and the SmartCode Workshop. More information may be obtained online at www.placemakers.com.

ANDRES DUANY

Wednesday | 04.06.05 | 7pm
[Opening Reception at 6 pm]

Ferst Center for the Arts,
Georgia Institute of Technology
1349 Ferst Drive NW
Atlanta, GA 30332

www.ferstcenter.gatech.edu | 404.894.9600

Andres Duany is a cofounder of the Congress for the New Urbanism and a principal in the architecture and town planning firm of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company with offices in Miami, Washington, and Charlotte. He has designed more than 140 neighborhoods, towns, and urban districts around the world, including the highly influential towns of Seaside, FL and Kentlands, MD. He is the co-author of Suburban Nation – The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, the Smart Growth Manual, New Civic Art – Elements of Townplanning, and Towns and Townmaking Principles. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, has taught as visiting professor at many other institutions, including Yale University and Harvard Graduate School of Design. DPZ has been the subject of over 800 articles, received the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Medal of Architecture and the Vincent Scully Award, along with numerous awards for individual projects. Along with his B.A in Architecture and Planning from Princeton, his M.Arch from Yale, and his study at the École des Beaux Arts, Mr. Duany also holds two honorary doctorates.  ¶ 6:23 PM 0 comments

  some wisdom please Oh the dilemmas... I have been going back and forth this week about schools. I was recently accepted into two master programs. One is a very well respected Ivy league school and the other is a strong public program. Well, originally I recieved the notification for the Ivy school some... 3 weeks ago and since then I was pretty much set on attending their program. But this week I recieved my offer from the public school. They are offering me one of the three fellowships to attend the masters program at the public school. This pretty much means that with a assistanceship (teaching or otherwise) I will be getting paid to get my masters at the public school. Granted the reputation of the school is not that of the Ivy but the public is still a reputable school. The Ivy has not made a financial offer yet and I am forseeing (without any help) an average of 40k a year for about 3 years. The public's program (since I was admitted with full advance standing) will be only 2. I will be visiting both schools next week. Would the added reputation be worth the extra time and money? If any of you have any insight i would appreciate your knowledge, wisdom, or suggestions.  ¶ 9:22 AM 2 comments