So I turn to Headline News and encounter the bloviating of Glenn Buck (sic), telling us how desperate the Amerikan people are, that they are "crying out for a leader" in these times of peril. Yes, times are perilous indeed, but the last thing we need is a Leader. You would think, given that our faith in past and present Leaders has been shattered time and time again, we would reject anyone claiming to lead us. But the Leader Principle is the last thing to die in the fascist mind. Even as the walls crumble around them, they cry out for a Fuhrer to lead them by the nose to the gas chambers.
Yet he also says, despite the imminent collapse of civilization, that it will all be okay, since "we are Americans, and we are resilient." Now he sounds like Oprah. No batch of psychologizing and doublespeak can prevent the coming disaster. It will have to be faced in all its gory monstrosity, sooner or later.
In other news, Rush has been provided a contract extension for his right to impinge on the air, until 2016. I highly doubt, by that time, that radio as a technology will exist, due to the philosophies of Rush and his fellow travellers. Thanx, Rush.
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Brought to you by the inner city, here are some rare urban prairie images!
Not two months ago there were houses (occupied homes, too!) on these very properties which now lay vacant and bleaching in the summer sun, the green wilderness of prairie grass rising rapidly to reclaim this once urban land into the jungle.
The loss of the houses was likely no tragedy; they were dilapidated and weren't rare or special specimens of architecture. But the disappearance of any structure from the built environment removes part of the urban form and only serves to accelerate the process of decivilization - a constant devolution from the intelligent and man-made to the bovine and animal.
What productive use will this property be put to? Likely nothing. This patch of green will likely continue to expand, as the bleached bones of the inner city give up the ghost.
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Thought this photo was appropriate for the end of the day:
The essence of our city - largely urban banality somewhat tempered by natural beauty which attempts to assert itself from time to time.
The parking lot you see here is for a restaurant that is considered a local landmark. Can't say much for its surroundings, however.
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A short photoessay, entitled Death of a Building!
The old State Welfare Department building (aka the A. Z. Young Office Building) was constructed by the state in the 1950s, and was a fairly decent example of Mid-Century Modern architecture, if nothing else positive could be said for it (considering what ridiculousness transpired inside its walls). But as all things tend to go down in the Stick, progress came along - in this case, because the state decided it wanted a brand spanking new Capitol office complex, squandering millions of our dollars in the process. So the Welfare building had to go.
Here it is when it still stood, gutted and in the process of demolition:
A few months later, all traces had been removed from the face of the earth:
(Note the white sign in both pictures, touting 'progress'. It lists all the politicians responsible.)
The sole machine on the site was removing the last of the rubble of the former structure as I snapped this photo. The squat white building behind it is the under-patronized Capitol visitor center, of which the Lieutenant Governor is so proud. Be proud also, taxpayers!
Across Lafayette Street (to the left of the above photos) a former parking lot is being readied, along with the old welfare building site, for its planned future role as an "outdoor ampitheatre and park":
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(Not a very people friendly environs, eh?)
This should be as popular with the public as the visitor center, or the visitor center parking garage (seen at upper left, when it was in its last phases of construction).
Well, at least the State Library patrons have a nice view of the river now! Yay for progress!
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