69 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2023
  2. Feb 2023
  3. Sep 2022
    1. The idea here isn’t to actually protect each grain of rice, or salmon, or squirrel, as if it’s a human being.

      Then why is the rice itself "pressing the lawsuit?"

    2. The most obvious change would be to the local area — it would be a blow to the continued use of the Line 3 pipeline, which has been operational since October of last year.

      What would be the potential effects to the surrounding area and the people living in it?

    3. by writing it into the law, you’re saying that you think nature’s personhood is just as valid as, say, tax law.

      Nature is a physical thing. It does have a conscience, a psyche, or whatever you'd like to call it. It cannot argue for itself in a court of law. Why would the proceeds go to nature and not to the indigenous folk that land was stolen from?

    4. t might sound unusual, but we’ve used conceptual versions of what a person is in law for quite some time — corporations, schools and law firms, for example, are all technically allowed to enter into contracts as if they were singular human beings.

      Corporations, schools, and law firms all have people in them affected by law. Rice is significantly different from a company.

    5. But can wild rice sue a state agency? The short answer is: yes. This is the story about what might happen if rice wins.

      What does the rice win? Money? What's it going to do, spend it on jewelry?

    1. “Colors are cultural creations and they’re kind of shifting all the time, sort of like tectonic plates. Color is not a precise thing. It’s changing, it’s living, it’s constantly being redefined and argued over and that’s part of the magic of it!”

      Everything ever created has social rules and associations, even things as natural as color.

    2. The color blue became associated with Mary and rose in prominence.

      When did blue start to be considered a "male" color?

    3. It was only with the rise of Christianity and the cult of the Virgin Mary that blue became fashionable in the West.

      That's interesting. I've always though of blue as the universally loved color, for all of civilization.

    4. This green pigment was derived from a compound copper arsenite which is incredibly toxic — and  that a piece of Scheele’s green wallpaper that was only a few inches long had enough arsenic to kill two adults.

      Why use a pigment so toxic? It seems that the cons outweigh the pros in this situation.

    5. political turmoil in the Mediterranean where it was manufactured

      Why was a color so politically controversial?

    6. When squeezed or prodded, this gland produces a single drop of clear garlic-smelling liquid that when exposed to sunlight, turns from green to blue, and then finally to a dark reddish purple.

      I wonder how the sunlight affected a clear liquid this way?

    7. eams that wore red during matches statistically did better than they should have

      This is a statistic I have heard for years and years as a soccer player. To extent it seems to be "true": for example, a team I used to play against called the Mustangs wore red, and they were consistently one of the top teams inn the league. However, another team called the Islanders who also wore red consistently ranked near the bottom. I believe this is a myth, somewhat of a placebo effect.

    1. By some estimates, one-quarter of all power outages are squirrel-related.

      Is there any way to prevent squirrels from chewing on wires or even having access to them at all?

    2. No one stopped to wonder if there could be such a thing as too many squirrels, which might have been a mistake.

      Why wasn't overpopulation an original concern? A few dozen growing to 5000 in a few years seems to be a tipoff.

    3. People would hunt birds of prey because they were considered “mean.” Meanwhile, other animals like pigeons and squirrels were considered peaceful.

      Predators vs. prey? Eliminating "threats"

    4. at least: certain kinds of animals.

      Interesting how humans pick and choose which species are worth our protection.

    5. the idea of populating them with squirrels traveled, too.

      It makes sense but somehow I never would have thought that squirrels were brought into the city by humans.

    6. you could walk through a place like Boston or Philadelphia or Manhattan and you would not see a single squirrel

      How did they wind up in urban society?

    7. grey squirrels are so much a part of the urban fabric that for a long time, it never occurred to anyone to study urban squirrels at all

      They are such a regular part of life that they go unquestioned. They become a part of the background and we grow accustomed to their behavior, so it doesn't occur to us to look closer in to it.

  4. Nov 2020
  5. Nov 2016
    1. But the general process of neighbor-hood change entails a loss of urban cohesiveness and the growth of a new pluralism among residents that will compel congregations to reexamine their identities and play new roles

      Nice conclusion to apply to New Community

    2. The rapid-fire changes that can reconfigure neighborhoods during gen-trification (whether from rezoning laws or the closing of long-established retail outlets) makes transitions between niches both a problem and a pos-sibility for congregations

      A problem all congregations face, not just New Community

    3. Mainline congregations seem best able to bridge the gap between old-timers and a segment of newcomers; their openness to the neighborhood and their liberal positions on women in leadership, gay rights, and other social issues seem a natural fit with new residents
    4. he evangelical lifestyle enclave’s demand that members hold to a common belief system lends itself to the formation of social networks of like-minded believers who define themselves against an unbelieving society

      Similar people do similar things and believe similar things -- Practice at similar churches

    5. the stress on intimacy, authenticity, and community that strikes a powerful chord among young urban newcomers arriving on the current wave of gentrification

      i.e. New Community

    6. The thirty congregations are compared according to nine analytic dimensions: (1) primary identification, (2) neighborhood attachment, (3) membership compo-sition, (4) neighborhood investment, (5) neighborhood activism, (6) prospects for growth, (7) tenure, (8) member proximity and commutation to congrega-tion, and (9) sources of funding and other resources

      Method to surviving

    7. All of these congregations have sought (some more self-consciously than oth-ers) to find their own niche in the religious ecology of Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

      Have had to work to survive the gentrification, but it worked

    8. Following the model of social ecology, these neighborhoods have experienced long-term organizational mortality and adaptations and, most noticeably, the birth of congregations

      So gentrification helped their congregations???

    9. Such a growth in the number of nontraditional families is partly tied to the young age of the newcomers–the median age of the new arrivals between 1990 and 2000 was thirty-five. The study found that older Italian, Hispanic, and Polish communities were in danger of being displaced.

      Similar to the black community being pushed out of Shaw

    10. Far more than belonging to the same neighborhood, congregations tend to attract those of particular age groups or generations as well as those with similar beliefs and worship styles, even eclipsing the importance of denomination (i.e., it is more important to have a born-again experience than to be Methodist, Baptist, etc.)

      so.... churches are more successful when they are multi denominational (aka - New Community)

    11. This chapter looks at how congregations meet the needs of both newcomers and longtime residents in a period of drastic neighborhood change

      Exactly what New Community has gone through!!!

    12. Most social scientists who study gentrification tend to see religious groups and particularly congregations as largely marginal and passive by-standers in the larger structural processes of neighborhood change

      Not New Community

    13. Yet Ley and Martin admit that while conventional congregations may suf-fer losses and even shut their doors, alternative spiritual groups

      That is kind of what New Community is... flexible to the conversation of faith

    14. David Ley and R. Bruce Martin (1993) argue not only that the creative class moving into gentrified zones is secular to begin with, but also that the establishments (such as restaurants and entertainment venues) they bring into neighborhoods force congregations out of these areas.

      Not just the people who push out religion, but new establishments (entertainments/restaurants)

    15. This raises the question of not only how congregations adapt but also how they influence these gentrified zones and their residents.

      The question my commonplace addresses

    16. In many cases, new residents coming into a neighborhood through gen-trification are viewed as potential members with identifiable needs that a con-gregation can meet, as well as talents that a congregation can use.

      How the church views gentrification, but not necessarily how the newcomers see it.

    17. This brief encounter between the puzzled hipster and the Roman Catho-lic participants in the procession of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Williams-burg, Brooklyn, during the summer of 2008 illuminates the ongoing cultural disconnect between newcomers and old-time residents in this gentrifying neighborhood.

      I can see this as a normal occurrence, especially around here. Religion/older traditions are not practiced as much, so when they are people tend to view them in awe/suspicion.

    1. For this report, an initial test determined a tract was eligible to gentrify if its median household income and median home value were both in the bottom 40th percentile of all tracts within a metro area at the beginning of the decade. To assess gentrification, growth rates were computed for eligible tracts’ inflation-adjusted median home values and percentage of adults with bachelors’ degrees.

      define the variables/tests

    2. The District is home to some of the county’s fastest-gentrifying communities.

      It is amazing to see the areas of gentrification in the 1990s compared to now on this map.

      http://www.governing.com/gov-data/washington-dc-gentrification-maps-demographic-data.html

    3. Neighborhoods gentrifying since 2000 recorded population increases and became whiter, with the share of non-Hispanic white residents increasing an average of 4.3 percentage points. Meanwhile, lower-income neighborhoods that failed to gentrify experienced slight population losses and saw the concentration of minorities increase

      Racial impact on gentrification.

    4. In the District of Columbia, for example, 54 neighborhoods were found to have gentrified since 2000. Back in the 1990s, just five neighborhoods had gentrified in a decade when the city was dubbed the nation’s “murder capital.” 

      Distinction between the 1990s and now. It had been known as the "murder capital" or dodge city, yet know it is on its way to being completely gentrified.

    5. Portland, OR 58.1% 36 26 80 142 Washington, DC 51.9% 54 50 75 179 Minneapolis, MN 50.6% 39 38 39 116

      Fascinating to look at the different statistics for gentrification across the US.

    6. Compared to lower-income areas that failed to gentrify, gentrifying Census tracts recorded increases in the non-Hispanic white population and declines in the poverty rate.

      Not beneficial to minorities or poor... Not very surprising.

    7. Gentrification greatly accelerated in several cities. Nearly 20 percent of neighborhoods with lower incomes and home values have experienced gentrification since 2000, compared to only 9 percent during the 1990s.
    8. Gentrification still remains rare nationally, with only 8 percent of all neighborhoods reviewed experiencing gentrification since the 2000 Census.

      Surprising that it is not more common. You always here about how cities are being gentrified, yet it only occurs in 8% of neighborhoods.

  6. Oct 2016
    1. Early efforts to renovate the rowhouses raised concerns of displacement among poor black renters. In a 1972 Washington Post article, rowhouse tenants in the 1800 block of Eighth Street NW predicted their eventual replacement by wealthier whites, a forecast that became reality in a few short decades

      This concern was also addressed in Rev Melsons interview

    2. Mostly, renewal efforts resulted in construction of a few high-rise federally subsidized low-income apartments sponsored by church groups

      Including New Community Church & Rev Dickerson

    3. The 1968 riots gave birth to Shaw in a previously unnamed neighborhood of 1910-era rowhouses. There were African-American churches, and small businesses concentrated along U Street

      Background.

    4. The neighborhood “reminded us of the meatpacking district of New York,” said Kai Reynolds, a JBG partner. In their search for what he calls “authentic,” they also visited the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles and the Pearl District of Portland, Ore.

      This process of gentrification can be seen throughout neighborhoods in most large cities.

    1. Cosby didn't want the movement to become institutional and frozen by inertia

      Wanted to ensure that his legacy (the work, not his name) continues on past his retirement/death.

    2. After decades of bringing white, middle- and upper-class people into neighborhoods around Columbia Road and Adams Morgan to serve the poor and lecturing to seminarians and faith leaders, Cosby has concluded that societal change might go in the other direction.

      The rich-white are not the only ones who can help...

    3. "We've got to move from believing so deeply to doing," he preached. "We've got to keep in mind the discrepancy between belief and embodiment."

      -Cosby

      In his last sermon he makes sure that his parishioners know: it is not enough to come up with a way to help, but you must go into the field and give aid to those who need it.

  7. Sep 2016
    1. “routine burden of citizenship”

      New York Times Editorial

      Justice Thurgood Marshall's dissent was more faithful to the evidence: ''A group of white citizens,'' he wrote, ''has decided to act to keep Negro citizens from traveling through their urban 'utopia,' and the city has placed its seal of approval on the scheme.'' Despite a national commitment to equality, blacks were being kept quite literally in their place.

    2. The effect of these types of residency requirements is often to exclude people who do not live in a given neighborhood from that neighborhood.

      Most of DC allows for two-hour street parking in neighborhoods without a permit.

    3. Documents produced during trial

      These are public record. We could find them.

    4. Washington, D.C.,128
    5. buses, subways, and light rail—in larger metropolitan areas, low-income people and people of color often rely more heavily on public transportation than people from other groups.1

      ATL exemplifies. Try to use their MARTA in and of itself to get to work.

    6. local governments have the power to prohibit these barriers

      I've never thought of this, but I guess we all have a right to access streets, rights?

    7. a public housing project in Hollander Ridge

      There's a fence around the one conspicuous housing project on the new 14th Street. Would be an interesting Built Environment for one of you to work on.

    8. Eight Mile Wall

      M&M, right?

    9. difficult for pedestrians to cross streets or for cars to turn

      I think about this all the time when I see people crossing the street in the middle of the highway. But what choice do they have? It wasn't built with them in mind.

    10. Public education and engagement could also serve to bring more awareness to the fact that the built environment often excludes. This Article seeks to serve that end by offering examples of architectural exclusion with the hope that citizens,

      And its one of the ways you could approach your assignments.

    11. architectural decisions are enduring and hard to change.

      Scary thought!

    12. cation of highways and transit stops, and even residential parking permit requirements can shape the demographics of a city and isolate a neighborhood from those surrounding it, often intentionally.

      How do these work here in DC? How can we find the answers?

  8. Dec 2015
    1. A simultaneous transformation in modes of human interaction with waterand social attitudes towards the body found its logical endpoint in the modern bathroom:a private space that marks a clear manifestation of indirect social control of the type

      Interesting example of how society interacts with its built environment and how they influence it.

  9. Oct 2015
    1. They are also venues where people forge collective identitiesand extend their solidarities beyond their immediate familiar circles toinclude also the unknown, the strangers.

      People are using their built environment to form connections with others who share the same passion or interest.. this can be seen almost anywhere, not just the streets.

    2. But forthose (such as the unemployed, housewives, and broadly the “informalpeople”) who lack such institutional power/settings, streets become acrucial arena to express discontent.

      Riots and defiant parades/organizational rebellions are led along streets... They're literally using their built environment in an abstract way that was probably never thought of being purposed in that way.