Gambling Philadelphia’s Future
The Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, has been pushing for casinos on Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront for many years. However, it wasn’t until recently that his efforts have started to develop into a reality. The story of slot parlor gambling in Philadelphia, which is mired in deceit, cronyism, and secret deals, is flawlessly told in “Gaming the System” by Matthew Teague.
Even if you live nowhere near Philadelphia, this article illustrates the corruption, at all levels of government, that you don’t want to believe could ever be true. For example, Act 71–the Act that would allow gambling in Philadelphia–was passed late at night on the 4th of July with “no public scrutiny, no hearings, and no input from citizens.”
Many concerned citizens have been organizing against casinos in Philadelphia. During the mayoral primaries, which were last week, Casino Free Philadelphia held a vote on a referendum–which was forced off the “legitimate” ballot by the casino control board–that would keep casinos 1,500 feet from homes, schools, and places of worship. The results showed that 95% of voters do NOT want casinos in their neighborhoods.
There are many problems with casinos including traffic and crime. But my biggest issue is that they’re essentially they’re a tax on the poor. The majority of their income, between 30 and 50 percent, comes from “problem gamblers” which leads to increases in divorce, bankruptcy, suicide, white-collar crime, lost work time, stress-related sickness, anxiety and depression.
As an economist interviewed for Teague’s article put it, “In the end for every dollar of benefits casinos bring to Philadelphia, they will cost us more than three.”
Source: Philadelphia Magazine
“American Cities and the Great Divide”
Bob Herbert, one of my favorite columnists, wrote a great editorial in the NY Times this week called “American Cities and the Great Divide.”
In it, Herbert expresses his concern for New Yorkers left behind in what’s been considered a successful era for the nation’s largest city. “It’s a measure of how low the bar has been set for success in America’s cities that New York is thought to be doing well, even though 185,000 of its children ages 5 or younger are poor, and 18,000 are consigned to homeless shelters each night. More than a million New Yorkers get food stamps, and another 700,000 are eligible but not receiving them.”
I whole heartedly agree with Herbert’s concern with urban issues being left out of presidential debates, saying, “There was a time, some decades ago, when urban issues and poverty were important components of presidential campaigns. Now the poor are kept out of sight, which makes it easier to leave them farther and farther behind. We’ve apparently reached a point in our politics when they aren’t even worth mentioning.”
Cali. hospital agrees on procedure for releasing homeless patients
Last November, a hospital in California dropped off a 65-year-old homeless woman, in a hospital gown and diaper, on Skid Row. Now the hospital is trying to make up for it by creating “a new set of procedures that officials hope will become a model for the treatment and release of homeless patients.”
The agreement ends a lawsuit filed by the ACLU. The stipulations aren’t clear, but what’s known is that the hospital “will train and use special procedures in the treatment and release of homeless patients. Among the requirements is that they are provided clothing and transportation and a facility is contacted ahead of their release.”
Properly releasing homeless patients from the hospital is a national problem. The steps being taking by this one California hospital should just be the start of creating federal policy on this issue. For instance, the policy should include admitting the patient to a proper emergency service program.
Source: KnowledgePlex
Zero Emissions Office Building
Spiegel reports, “A German architect is pursuing an ambitious project in the Middle East. He wants to build office towers in Riyadh, Dubai and Bahrain that produce all their own energy.”
The 68-story building cylindrical shape includes a “protective solar shield” that protects the inside from the sun’s glaring rays that can heat some buildings up to 140 degrees. The building will also use seawater to cool the air for its efficient air conditioning system that also uses “suspend hanging gardens inside the air ducts.”
Furthermore, the building will have an “island of solar panels” drifting in the nearby sea to create energy. Any surplus energy created by the 182,986 square foot solar island will be used to extract hydrogen from the seawater to power the building at night.
Lighting will be all-natural too. “In the daytime highly reflective mirrors on the roof direct the sunlight onto a cone of light that goes through the center of the building and provides its various floors with plenty of natural light.”
Source: New Tower Creates All Its Own Energy
Universal healthcare superior to failed US system
“Eds and meds” are the two biggest sectors touted as urban revitalizers. It seems to make sense because both schools and hospitals provide well paying jobs. Yet while hospitals are providing decent jobs for some, they’re leaving most people with high bills and sub-standard care. What we truly need to revitalize our cities is universal healthcare.
We’ll have to wait in line, care will be worse, or it’ll cost too much are common arguments against universal healthcare. However, according to a recent Reuters article, “Americans get the poorest health care and yet pay the most compared to five other rich countries.”
For example, Americans spend twice what Germans do–$6,102 per capita vs. $3,005 per capita–and receive poorer service. Additionally, we leave 45 million Americans uninsured, which means they don’t receive preventative care thus raising long-term costs.
All the money we’re spending for healthcare isn’t going towards the latest technology to keep us safe. Our doctors are, “the least wired, with the lowest percentage using electronic medical records or receiving electronic updates on recommended treatments.”
Maryland first state to mandate living wage
Maryland governor, Martin O’Malley, signed a bill yesterday mandating a living wage for all workers of companies with government contracts valued over $100,000. The bill requires that workers in urban areas to be paid at least $11.30 and hour and workers in rural areas be paid at least $8.50 per hour. Both wage rates will be adjusted annually for inflation.
This is a boost for the living wage movement’s goal to create equitable communities. Let’s hope more states follow Maryland’s example.
Source: Relentlessly Progressive Economics
Using lie detectors to catch welfare cheats
Despite growing evidence that questions the validity of “normal” lie detectors, the UK is considering using lie detecting software to catch welfare cheats over the phone.
Luckily, there’s sharp criticism coming from welfare advocates. “If people know that their voices are to be analyzed for every blip and tremor, the danger is that genuine claimants will be intimidated into withdrawing their claims, or will have to wait ages for their money while they provide extra evidence.”
Source: IT Week
Car-free zones becoming increasingly popular
American cities are beginning to embrace banning cars from parks to allow for pedestrians, bicyclists, and joggers. New York is closing roads in Central park this summer, Philadelphia is closing roads in Fairmount Park for a few days, and even small towns like Davenport, Iowa are creating pedestrian-only roads.
According to the Christian-Science Monitor, American cities are inspired by Latin American cities:
The model city for road closure is Bogotá, Colombia, which in 1983 embarked on a program called ciclovia (bike path), in which designated streets were closed to cars every Sunday but open for jogging, biking, dancing, playing ball, walking pets, strolling with babies – anything but driving. One-and-a-half million people now turn out each week for ciclovia. Other cities in Latin America followed suit, closing parts of parks or whole urban districts to cars – some intermittently, some permanently. A result: revitalized neighborhoods and an influx of people.
Sounds like a win for reducing global warming and high urban obesity rates.
Source: Christian-Science Monitor
Seattle approves greener building codes
Seattle, in an effort to compensate for missing greenery and open space, has approved a plan that “encourages a site-appropriate package of greening possibilities, including green roofs, interior green walls, exterior vertical landscaping, and rain gardens.”
The plan includes incentives for builders that use innovative green technologies in their buildings. Additionally, building owners would benefit from the added “building insulation, shading, air filtration, and stormwater runoff management” provided by green roofs and the like.
Source: www.WorldChanging.com
Architecture for Humanity
For the past month or so, I’ve been working on an article about Architecture for Humanity’s Open Architecture Network for a Wired Magazine supported project called Assignment Zero.
Assignment Zero is a test to see if crowdsourced journalism will work. Crowdsourcing, basically, is where a group of people perform a task that ordinarily only one person would pursue. So, in a sense, Wikipedia is a form of crowdsourced encyclopedia.
Getting to my point. We need someone to interview a designer working with the Open Architecture Network–which is a crowdsourcing design and architecture website. The project our group chose is the ShoeBox Homes project in South Africa.
So, if you’re interested in getting your name published, possibly on Wired.com, please consider helping out. Assignment Zero already got one article published called “Assignment Zero First Take: Wiki Innovators Rethink Openness.”
Go to www.AssignmentZero.com to help us out.
