Advanced Storytelling

Framing Budgets and Taxes: Elizabeth Warren Gets It Right Yup.

Haven shaken my fist at a fair number of right-wing billboards calling public transit and New Urbanism "social engineering" (but freeways and suburbs aren't?!?), I've got to wonder if former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist and current head of the Congress for the New Urbanism knew exactly what he was doing when he used the phrase "leftist architects" to describe architects like Le Corbusier, who championed glass-encased, high-rise apartment buildings set apart from cities, and Oscar Niemeyer, who designed the city of Brasília with its high-rise, above grade roads. Norquist added that the only life and culture you will find in Brasília is outside the city limits in the slums. As much as I like his other designs, I'd add Frank Lloyd Wright to that list, simply for Broadacre City . Ugh. Now, I know from a philosophical and artistic perspective, it's an accurate description of their work (ooh, Stalinists !). But in using it in opposition to New Urbanism,...

So I was part of a pretty spirited conversation at the Co-op the other day about Growing Power 's acceptance of a $1 million grant from Wal-Mart . On one side, the sustainable businessman who referred to Wal-Mart either as the Devil or Satan, I forget, but who absolutely supported Will Allen's decision. I'm blanking on the other guy, who just stopped at Wal-Mart is the Devil, no compromises. In the middle (literally and figuratively), was me. As in, "Thank God I wasn't asked to make that decision." My first thought on seeing that headline was, "Ooo, boy, that's gonna be controversial." Does anyone really think there wasn't some serious soul searching going on over there before they said yes? Which brings me to this post on Civil Eats this morning. For Andy Fisher of the Community Food Security Coalition , it comes down to this: Wal-Mart’s and the “Good Food Revolution’s” interests may dovetail in bringing groceries into food deserts. Howev...