Month: March, 2006

France: Tinder, meet match?

24 March, 2006 (12:27) | Uncategorized |

From today’s New York Times, confirmed by Reuters, a worrying snippet regarding the French labor protests:
 
The protest began in a combative but festive mood, with thousands of students setting off from a large square in southern Paris, boosting colorful banners and chanting slogans against the new “first employment contract.”
 

Reuters
 
But the atmosphere changed quickly as sporadic [...]

NNO: A ghost of New Orleans yet to come?

24 March, 2006 (10:25) | Uncategorized |

As many debate what New New Orleans should be, and as those who live there individually fashion what it will be, we need periodically to remind ourselves of what it could be.  Among all its possible tomorrows, New New Orleans could be the American Venice, or it could be a ghost, city as memory, as [...]

Quick, quick, slow: the waltz between capital and property

23 March, 2006 (09:24) | Uncategorized |

A fascinating bridge between finance’s fastest asset (capital) and its slowest (real estate) is being built in Mexico by an innovative band of financiers and entrepreneurs along the Mexican coast, whose developments provide insights into market work-arounds.
 

‘Work-around’
 
A jury-rigged solution, used when the best is prohibited or impossible, that functionally serves the purpose, often at lower [...]

France: riots, jobs, and housing

22 March, 2006 (09:27) | Uncategorized |

The riots that bloom in the spring, predicted here several months ago, have so far proved to be about not housing but jobs.  As a result, this post has little directly to do with housing, but bear with me: these riots have the same root cause, the French cycle of violence is still rising, and [...]

Send me story links!

21 March, 2006 (09:32) | Uncategorized |

For maximum entertainment value, blog posts should intersect the author’s expertise and the reader’s interests, so I’m always looking for reader suggestions:
 
“Where do you get all your ideas?” — Frequently asked of science fiction writers.
“Utica.” — The standard answer.
 

“I wonder if fishing makes a good blog post.”
 
I’m particularly interested in seeds, which are real-life cases [...]