has dedicated it's third issue to the topic of 'Political Urbanism', with a bunch of good reads. Check it out. Also, here is another collection of articles relative to the topic in different contexts.
Military Urbanism
Pentagon's footprint impacts the world. Perceptions ride on realignment of U.S. bases
US challenged over 'secret jails': Two Yemeni men claim they were held in secret, underground US jails for more than 18 months without being charged, Amnesty International has said.
If the world's major cities don't rethink what they're willing to accept in the name of security, they risk becoming ghost towns as people seek safe havens from a growing terrorist threat, says Joel Kotkin.
Remote-Controlled Humans?: This sort of electrical stimulation is known as galvanic vestibular stimulation, or GVS. When a weak DC current is delivered to the mastoid behind your ear, your body responds by shifting your balance toward the anode. The stronger the current, the more powerful its pull. If it is strong enough, it not only throws you off balance but alters the course of your movement... (via net_perf)
Borderisms
In the face of Orange vs. Blue, Israel considers plans for Gaza's borders, then decides to keep them tight. Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority is hoping for a foreign investment boom in Gaza after the pullout.
Beyond the season of death on the US-Mexico border: The record pace of migrant deaths in the southern desert is caused by faulty US policy.
Gordon Matta-Clark's Fake Estates: The grossly underrated Queens Museum of Art revisits Gordon Matta-Clark's own particular and peculiar urban cartography from September 11, 2005 to January 22, 2006 (via urban cartography)
Crime rates tick up across national parks: Amid the daisies and national monuments, more rangers find themselves battling lawlessness.
Squatter Politics and Urban Planning in India
Saving India's Cities
Two laws to spruce up Mumbai devastated it
Torrential Rains Highlight India's Fragile Urban Landscape
Blogs & SMS step in to revive Mumbai: With self-help being the best help for flood-hit Mumbai, a profusion of blogs, websites and SMS campaigns has been helping people deal with the disaster as civil society steps in where the government has not, reports The Economic Times.
Related:
Report: World Land Use Is Top Environmental Issue
UN: Evictions in Zimbabwe Continue!!!
Surveillance
HiperCatalunya analyzes every component of a territory, using Catalonia as a case study but saying as much or more about the entire world. Part one of this dynamically-designed two-volume set (which holds together magnetically) takes a statistical approach to territorial research. Bursting with inventive charts and graphics, it makes use of statistics on population, climate, gross national product, surface area, flora and fauna, economic fluctuation, airplane flights in vs. flights out, transportation infrastructure, construction, energy resources, energy consumption, student migration, libraries per capita, etc., to compare the facts of Catalonia to those of territories around the world, from Djakarta to Chicago to Finland. Variables are cross-referenced with others to form suggestive connections between, for instance, education and cultural consumption. ~Part two takes an architectural and urban planning tack, inviting a world of innovative designers to propose projects and strategies, specifically for application in Catalonia, but with obvious relevance to anywhere and everywhere.
FCC Issues Rule Allowing FBI to Dictate Wiretap-Friendly Design for Internet Services: Tech Mandates Force Companies to Build Backdoors into Broadband
"I-Powder" Tracks Criminals Through "Unique DNA Code"
Shooting surveillance cameras: Flickr is hosting several pools of images, where people take pictures of surveillance cameras. * ** *** (via Smartmobs > BoingBoing)
1 Comment
some discussion about remote controlled human navigation, or "galvanic vestibular stimulation," here.
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