“Danas park, sutra crkva” ili “program kreativnog urbanizma”

Crkvena urbanizacija (gore: Sućidar, Split; sredina: Voltino, Zagreb; dolje: Savica, Zagreb)

Prvi dio triptiha na desnoj strani predstavlja crkvu sv. Andrije na Sućidru u Splitu. Na mjestu današnje crkve ja sam subotom prijepodne sa školskim prijateljima godinama igrao košarku, kao uostalom i bezbrojni drugi. Pred 4 godine Crkva je usmjerila svoju pažnju i utjecaj da bi se na mjestu tadašnjeg igrališta podigla crkva i, kako to često biva, crkva je na tom mjestu i niknula. Nadbiskup je izrazio nadu da će novi sakralni prostor potaknuti mladiće i djevojke na dublji duhovni život i odaziv Božjem pozivu na svećeničko ili redovničko zvanje…u čemu ih vjerojatno više neće ometati gubljenje vremena na igralištu.

Referendum o tome čiji je tata jači

Par u New Yorku 2011. slavi novostečeno pravo da se vjenča (CC BY NC ND, asterix611)

Kao što siguran sam znate, u tijeku je prikupljanje potpisa za raspisivanje referenduma o promjeni Ustava Republike Hrvatske. Tamo negdje, možda iza 3. članka o slobodi, jednakosti i ravnopravnosti spolova, potpisnici bi voljeli dodati stavak o neporecivoj, nedvojbenoj, jednoznačnoj heteroseksualnoj prirodi braka. Možda bi novi stavak bolje sjeo pored članka 62. u kojem se država obvezuje promicati ostvarivanje prava na dostojanstven život…Uglavnom, nije bitno što se Ustavom od braka ne traži npr. da bude monogaman, da zabrani stupanje u brak čovjeka i životinje itd, ali ako se pita potpisnike, u Ustavu će stajati da je brak zajednica muža i žene.

Ali pored svega što se događa, odakle sad uopće priča o tome?

Kronika jednog promašaja: Milan Bandić

Milan Bandić, kandidat za gradonačelnika hrvatskog glavnog grada

2009. Wikileaks je objavio znatan broj diplomatskih dopisa koji su uznemirili duhove širom svijeta, a neki od njih tiču se i našeg malog kutka svijeta. Jedan takav dopis porijeklom iz veleposlanstva SAD-a u Zagrebu posvećen je profilu Milana Bandića, gradonačelnika grada Zagreba i kandidatu za novi mandat. U kratkim crtama piše ovako: Milan Bandić vješto deaktivira političke protivnike potkupljivanjem pozicijama i uslugama. On je autoritativan, okružio se sebi vjernim ljudima, osnovao Zagrebački Holding i za direktore gradskih poduzeća postavio svoje poslušnike, čvrsto kontrolira gdje i tko će što u gradu graditi i ne propušta priliku da zaobiđe gradsku skupštinu kad mu stane na put.

Dopis na stranu, Bandić je za sobom ostavio dugi, masni trag u društvu, medijima i sudskim spisima pa se pred ove lokalne izbore vrijedi prošetati kroz neke od zanimljivosti i složiti malo opsežniji profil ličnosti…

Zar se “hitno” i “strateški” međusobno ne isključuju?

CC BY Kecko

Vlada RH 15.1.2013. objavila je Prijedlog Zakona o strateškim investicijskim projektima Republike Hrvatske. Obzirom na bujicu prigovora raznih investitora na razne prepreke ulaganju u Hrvatskoj, inicijativa je načelno za pozdraviti, ali pitanje naravno nije tako jednostavno.

Prije nego krenem s komentarima, ističem da nisam pravnik i da sam prijedlog vidio u zadnji čas, bez prilike da odvojim vrijeme da mu se dublje posvetim pa biste komentare koje ću iznijeti trebali uzeti s rezervom. “Zadnjem času” ću se još vratiti na kraju članka…

Dakle,

Troškovi

Nije li lijepo kada se tvrtka kojoj ste klijent brine da racionalno koristite njihove usluge nauštrb priliva gotovine ovog mjeseca?

Novi jezik, novi blog

Već neko vrijeme čini mi se da su neki tekstovi primjereniji hrvatskom jeziku, a drugi engleskom. S obzirom na to, regoc.wordpress.com od danas postaje namijenjen domaćem sadržaju, a theusualmix.wordpress.com svemu ostalom.

Svima vama koji rado pročitate poneki članak zahvaljujem na pažnji i komentarima do sada i pozivam vas da se pretplate na obavijesti s oba bloga ili jednostavno povremeno  navratite i vidite što ima novog.

Face to Face with Ultimate Catastrophy

If you feel good at the moment, maybe you should move on or read this at a more appropriate time.

That out of the way, humans have passed the 7 billion people mark and mankind is still growing in size. Despite the most successful and largest campaign to put it under control – the one undertaken in China over the last few decades – that growth not only remains strong, but is also accelerating.

We have taken a large part of potentially arable land – the best, most fruitful parts, basically – away from the rest of the live world and dedicated it to producing food for ourselves and for the food of our food. And the food of our machines, as of late. Aside from all the nutrients, what we need from food is energy. At least 90% of that energy now comes from fossil fuels. In terms of food production, we are eating oil: look at your plate at your next meal and see how you feel about that. Many oil-extracting countries (the more wide-spread euphemism is “oil-producing”, but oil is not actually produced) have reached peak oil extraction: a point at which they cannot extract oil as fast as it is being consumed. Other oil-extracting countries treat the amount of oil they can still extract as a state secret of the highest rank, but

Religion, Part 2: Consequences

Faith, by definition, does not base itself on facts or logic. Unsurprisingly, that has a wide variety of – when you think about them – extremely weird consequences. In countries with Sharia law, artificial insemination may only be performed by a woman’s husband and only with a husband’s sperm. In  In parts of India, they throw small children from rooftops to improve the children’s luck and health. Someone managed to convince a woman in Switzerland that she can live off of sunshine and that she doesn’t need food…so she died of starvation. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions, effectively preventing donating or receiving blood or organs. The Catholic Church considers condoms evil, but does not seem to mind millions dying from AIDS as a consequence. Abortion is not allowed, regardless of e.g. rape, health hazards etc. Religious differences have forced or prevented countless marriages…it is woefully easy to continue this enumeration ad nauseum. All of this stems more or less from faith, which is based on promises, instead of evidence and logic. All of it is useless, a lot of it is dangerous, and some of it is fatal.

A less clean-cut consequence of faith and by extension religion is the cultural context it creates when it reaches a certain critical mass. The cultural context is one of

Religion, Part 1: Introduction

The problem…one of the problems with religions

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then why call him omnipotent?
Is he able to prevent evil, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Than why call him God?” [Epicurus, 341-270 BCE]

In its origins, religion probably appeared to satisfy a need for purpose and understanding in the face of very limited knowledge. (In addition, it was a tool to promote special interests.) Religion filled the void the only way it could: it prescribed truth, when no other truth was readily available.

An Automatic Progress Prevention System

[or "How to Make Sure a Society doesn't Advance too Fast"]

Modern societies, especially capitalistic ones, revolve around the concept of money, and more specifically, profit. People chase profit to secure resources (buyable with money) necessary to survive, enjoy luxury etc. This has many consequences, but one of the most obvious ones is that almost all available resources – time, attention and focus – are directed towards goals which are between a few hours and a few months away. That, in turn, has many consequences of its own and one of them is that such extreme focus on the immediate future hides and therefore facilitates a severely debilitating effect on a society because its consequences become obvious decades after the damage has already been done. It works something like this…