A New Old Problem

Bigger Isn't Always Better

I've refrained so far from commenting on the Beijing Olympics. Randy Alcorn has some excellent thoughts on the games and I read his novel Safely Home prior to the games. I highly recommend it! I share many of the sentements he expresses.

What I do want to think about at the moment is China's entry into the Syd Mead super-sized urban core and the loss of its neigborhoods. This News Story covers it very well. Japan has dealt with this phenomenom as it has seen old Kyoto's traditional houses fall to the wrecking ball.

Europe saw postwar reconstruction of monsterous blocks of sterile housing and America built urban renewal projects of the same genre. No longer did the life of the village surround the plaza. Now Paris, which survived Hitler and Le Corbusier, faces similar urban renewal as detailed Here in City Journal. Clearly the challenge of preserving the fabric of community is greater than ever.

The answer is probably over simplified by calling for replicating Nineteenth Century Main Street architecture. I could see some really lovely infusion of the work of Hugh Newell Jacobsen, for example. Jacobsen deftly manipulates pure form but he lives and works in Georgetown where there is a rich community fabric, which he appreciates. Also, there are places in Manhattan where the market for community spaces thrives amidst twenty story buildings.


Le Corbusier's vision for Paris


Seward Park is typical of American Urban Renewal Projects.

A New Village Square

New Life for an Old Strip Center


Old shopping centers like this exist in most of our suburbs.

Let's face it, people flock to the suburbs because they offer a house in the village. Unfortunately their is no center to most of these villages and that is the mission of Traditional Neighborhood Design. Here is a great idea! Take the tired old shopping centers that abound in our suburbs and create village centers like the one below proposed for Crozet. Residential and office space is created by adding upper stories to the existing retail spaces, creating a very nice mixed-use town center.


Here is the new village center which fits right in the footprint of the old strip center.


Detail of the new village center.


Elevation Rendering.


View looking West.

Purpose Driven Forum

Seeing the Candidates in a New Light

I was pleasantly surprised by the Civil Forum hosted by Pastor Rick Warren on CNN last night for the two presumptive nominees. First of all, the forum was indeed civil and allowed one, as it were, to meet the person rather than the perception. Senator Obama and Senator McCain were each interviewed for an hour by themselves, receiving the same questions. The time and space were given for thoughtful answers and the individual interview format allowed the viewer time to process what each man was saying.

Pastor Warren dug politely but directly to find out what the candidates believe personally and how it affects the decisions they make [and will have to make]. This led to the telling of some interesting personal stories and the unfolding of some pretty positive visions for the future that both men hold. It was a brief window into what motivates the two contenders for the Presidency and allowed us a chance to know them as men.

Click Here to Watch the Forum

We could use a lot more of such dialogue.

The Modern Siege of Vienna

History Tells Us How to Fight the War on Terror


Vienna, on the outskirts of Metropolitan Washington, DC.

In 1529 and again in 1683, the Ottoman Empire invaded Hungary, working their way to the outskirts of the Habsburg Capital of Vienna. Central Europe was threatened and in 1529 the onset of Winter drove the Turkish invaders back to Istanbul. The second siege in 1683 was ended by Polish troops under Jan Sobieski who showed up to relieve the defenders of Vienna.

As Bruce S. Thornton points out in This Piece in City Journal, the Ottoman Empire was a dangerous place for the non-islamic inhabitants. What would have happened if the Turks had prevailed at Vienna? Europe would have likely become a very different place.

It took a decisive victory, that of Setember 11, 1683, to turn the tide and secure Europe from the Ottoman threat. Likewise the young Republic dealt with the Barbary Pirates. These North African pirates looted ships and captured crew members from the 16th Century to the beginning of the Nineteenth. In 1801 the First Barbary War was fought by the United States against Tripoli to secure the safety of the seas. In 1815 the Second Barbary War was fought.

As the smoke from the Pentagon could be seen over the Washington suburb of Vienna on September 11, 2001 the forces of Islam took up the struggle where they had left off at the gates of the Habsburg Capital.

The Gates of Vienna Blog is an excellent resource for learning about the historical perspective of the modern war on terror. Visit them Here.

Today's Heroes

Modern Soldiers Deserve Our Respect and Admiration

Having given up on the mainstream media before the surge, I suppose this is old news to some, but I found this group: Veterans for Freedom a breath of fresh air. Their mission is simply to make sure the real story gets told. Indeed there is plenty of heroic good to report and I think it is a shame that the press goes silent when there is progress.

Perhaps it is just the "bad news sells papers" phenomenom but the young men and women who put themselves in harm's way deserve better from a free press that thrives in a free nation who owes that freedom to the sacrifice of such men and women.

So stop by their Website and learn more about their mission.


Run for the Fallen came through Rockfish Gap this weekend. Each mile they run is in honor of a fallen soldier. Here the gaurdrail at the crest of the Blue Ridge becomes a memorial.

Preserving the Dream

David Tenenbaum's Story and Why it Matters

This Story as Reported in Jewish World Review should cause all of us to pause. Mr. Tenenbaum was doing important work on armorment for military vehicles when he was singled out for hostile treatment because he is an observant Jew. The real tragedy is the lives that could have been saved by his research.

We need to remember our beginnings as a nation and not tolerate such persecution.

Looking Back -- Looking Ahead

Celebrating Twenty-three Years


Biosphere illustration for WDEF

It's been an interesting twenty-three years. Take a look at Twenty-three Years in Pictures at our website.

Kirchman Printable Portfolio

A Better Way to See Our Work



If you are an art director or architect who's ever needed rendering style sheets for an important meeting with a client, this new printable portfolio is designed for you. You choose the illustrations you need and print them at 300dpi on letter sized paper. We save unnecessary waste of paper and you have access to quality reproductions of the work you want to use.

Click Here to Access the Printable Portfolio.

Find the Best Gas Prices

It Even Works in Hawaii

Click Here and enter your zip code to find the best gas prices in your area. It is updated every evening.

Apollo 11

It's Hard to Believe it Happened 39 Years Ago


Apollo 11 Lifts off on its way to the moon.




Armstrong after the famous first steps on the moon.

These photos are from The Apollo Archive, one of the best collections of NASA photos I have ever seen. Click Here to enjoy many more fine photos taken by our astronauts.


"And G-D saw that it was good..." Earthrise from Apollo 8

Reaching for the Stars

Bill Cosby's Challenge to Real Greatness

I saw This Piece by Myron Magnet in City Journal that references Bill Cosby's 2004 speech where he challenged a lot of people's cultural assumptions. I've enjoyed Bill Cosby from my youth and still can recall some of his stand-up routines [Noah!!!!] with great clarity. Cosby has always seen himself as an educator and takes that role seriously.

As we laughed at 'Fat Albert' and 'The Chicken Heart that Ate New York,' Cosby gave us a window into his own youth and the culture he was raised in. Bill Cosby began a wonderful dialogue for a lot of us and helped a lot of Americans to relate to one another. Now he speaks from the heart and shares the dream we all share for our children. It is a dream that requires articulation, for it is sadly not a reality for so many youth today.

May we take his message seriously and strive to reach the next generation with his message of hope and personal responsibility.

Reaching for the Moon

Remembering the Apollo Missions

Last night I watched In the Shadow of the Moon, Ron Howard's documentary featuring interviews with the men who actually flew the missions and landed on the moon. It was riveting! Men who had seemed so much larger than life in their younger days talked honestly about their participation in this amazing endeavor.

You really sensed their excitement and their honest apprehension as well. They were setting off into uncharted territory and they knew full well the risks. Most of them had flown combat missions and had gone on to become test pilots before joining the space program. They talked openly about the majesty of cosmic order and Charlie Duke gave testimony of how he came to faith in G-d.

Towards the end of the film, all of them expressed gratitude for being born at the right time to be a part of this amazing journey. They all were born in 1930 or close to that time. And here's the amazing thing about that. If you remember your history you are looking at about a year into the great depression. These men grew up in hard and bleak looking times. They got into flying at the end of a terrible conflict and flew experimental aircraft at a time when the stakes were considered pretty high.

The Soviets and the Americans had captured Hitler's missle scientists and were rushing to build ICBMS. Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin had us at 2 - 0. Alan Shepard flew a 15 minute lob into the ocean and then John Kennedy made a bold stroke. He laid out the mission to put a man on the moon "...and return him safely to Earth!" In this decade.

So much of the required technology had to be invented. A lot of medical advances like replacement heart valves and artificial hips, guess where they came from. Environmental science is another spin-off. There were no satellites monitoring pollution over Nineteenth-century Birmingham, England but now we can see exactly what we produce and where it goes [or doesn't go, as in Los Angeles]. The alternative technologies we must develop now involve innovations that came from the space program.

I hope the next American president will lay down a similar challenge. We should become energy independent in the next decade, with an even longer term development of cleaner, more efficient technologies. May our grandchildren be able to express their gratitude for being born at the right time to be a part of this amazing journey!


My father's contribution to the space program was in leading the team designing this 'Launch Phase Simulator.' This amazing machine was used to test spacecraft components by subjecting them to increased g forces, vibration, vacuum, cooling and solar baking. All of which would be felt during launch into outer space. You are looking at the counterweight end of what was basically a giant centrifuge. A vacuum chamber on the far end was where the component to be tested was bolted to a vibrator. High intensity lamps and cryogenic systems were used to simulate the extremes of temperatures.

Anticipation!

Don't Waste It on Less Than the Best

There has been plenty of anticipation in our house over the past few months. After the wedding I finally got around to checking Randy Alcorn's Blog and what should he be writing about but Anticipating a Redeemed Earth. Wow! I'm told that the reason they break the glass at a wedding is because as great is the joy of the present moment, it cannot be complete until we are in Jerusalem. Looking at Revelation chapter 21 in that light, we anticipate our Master arriving as the bridegroom. We celebrate marriage for the joy it brings us now and for the picture it is of our Master's great love for us. The picture G-d paints for us of His love was painted on the faces of our young couple as they exchanged vows, rings, kisses and tender glances.

To welcome our families, I planted shrubs, cleared brush and nurtured flowers. That might be a picture of our lives on this present Earth. Nurturing our garden in anticipation of the one who longs to walk with us in the garden again. In fact He is often mistaken for the gardener.


Anticipating the Bridegroom [Revelation 21]

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" -- Revelation 21:2

Although I was not always cheerful in these labours, it was deeply satisfying. After the bride and groom departed and the 'formal' reception ended, I found myself on our front lawn playing bocci with my neices and nephews. My son-in-law had introduced the game to our family so it was fitting that we include it in the 'informal' party. My son and his girlfriend graciously built a campfire on the hill behind our house. We stayed up pretty late.

A baton has been passed. A new generation begins and affirms our belief in the promise of the future.

Time to Celebrate!

Congratulations to my daughter and her new husband!

Tony Snow

He Will be Missed

I always enjoyed listening to Tony Snow. He made you think. Agree or disagree with him and your perception of the issue would always be widened. Tony had a way of challenging discussions to higher ground. He was upbeat and likeable even when he took your viewpoint apart.

His passing this weekend leaves a large vacuum to be filled.

Alternatives to Logic Won't Work

This Piece by Jonathan Tobin lays out the problem before us in a very direct way. We need to develop Terror Free Energy now and open our eyes to the fact that if we don't, the result will most certainly not be a pristine planet. Does anybody remember when Saddam set Kuwait's oil fields afire? It took every wild-well and blowout specialist in Texas to put it out.

Caterpillar Corporation used to run advertisments that stated: "There are no simple answers, only intelligent choices." That is true now more than ever. Choking off our energy supply will not result in our living a cleaner life. Diversifying it makes a lot of sense and will achieve far better results than the 'luddite environmentalism' that is being pushed on us. The Prius makes better use of less fuel and creates less pollution by pushing a car smarter, not by denying you transportation. We should look forward to more innovation on the same level.

Build Them Back

More Thoughts on Rebuilding the Towers

This Piece by Ann Coulter is not new, but the sentiments expressed resonate with a fresh wind of desire to see the restoration of the Twin Towers as an expression. Consider this quote from a man who worked on the 77th floor of Tower 1: "Please do not diminish the memory of all of the people who died there by building 50-, 60- or 70-story mediocre buildings on the site.

Rebuild the Twin Towers

A Lot of Us Secretly Wish it Would Happen

This Article by Nicole Gelinas in City Journal expresses what a lot of us have felt or wished at some point in the discussion of what should happen at Ground Zero.


Herb Belton's proposal for rebuilding the World Trade Center.

For the record, I like Daniel Libeskind's original concept for the Freedom Tower as architecture but somehow it doesn't belong there. Minoru Yamasaki's distinctive towers had become an icon and rebuilding their profile sends a strong message to those who would attempt to destroy our way of life. This Article by Frank Gaffney gives even more reasons to desire such a statement.

A Mother's Love

In Her Death She Bequeathed Her Daughter Life

Five-month-old Efrat was saved by her Mother's quick action.

This story really put a face on terrorism for me. Most news stories tell you numbers and leave you to imagine the rest. Bat Sheva Unterman was in her car with the five-month old daughter when a terrorist attacked with a bulldozer in Jerusalem. As her car was being crushed, Mrs. Unterman unstrapped the little girl from her safety seat and pushed her out the window to safety. Seconds later she was killed as the bulldozer rolled over her.

The Story as Told by Judith A. Klinghoffer gives a more personal account of the horror of terrorism. Mrs. Unterman was a kindergarten teacher at Ganei Homat Shmuel.

Another victim in Wednesday's terror attack was Elizabeth Devorah Goren-Friedman, 54, a teacher of the blind in Jerusalem.

"You were a good friend and a good mother. You made sure we were all happy," said her son Issachar, "You have taught us that volunteering is part of a person's life."

"A sinful murderer destroyed a brave life that was filled with your courage to fight back. In spite of the difficulties you encountered during your life, you overcame everything with a smile on your face," said her husband.

Also killed was Jan Raluay, 68, who had moved from Iran to India before coming to Israel. He was about to become a grandfather.

'Don't Know Much About History'

Those Who Rewrite History Risk Falling into a Well Marked Pit

When I was very young, and perhaps in answer to one of my youthful impolite questions, my mother explained to me one day the origin of the tattoos. I must have noticed them on some ladies' arms and as gently as she could, Mom explained the hideous and well orchestrated death of six million people. Before I was born we fought a war that brought an end to the killing, but the horror lingers on in pictures I later saw of what went on in the camps.

There is a movement afoot in intellectual circles to dismiss our role in preserving civilized society that time. This Piece by Jonathan Tobin is required reading as we celebrate this Independence Day. I know Charles Linbergh and other notable individuals argued against our involvement in the war, thinking Hitler would counterbalance Stalin. Appeasement didn't work with Hitler and Europe was on the verge of becoming a reincarnation of the Roman Empire.

The war was not without blunders on the part of the allies, but it must be noted that an American reporter in Leningrad in the seventies was surprised by the warm greeting he received from an older lady there. Clearly the Americans have been the liberators many times and there are those who remember their liberators with great kindness.

Honest history will do well to remember as much!

Celebrating Independence Day

Some Practical Ways to Say Thank You

Click Here to Show Your Support for our brave men and women in the Armed Services. This website offers a number of practical opportunities to say "thank you" for the freedom we celebrate on July 4th!

One Change We Need to Make Now

You Get What You Pay For

This Piece about who's funding the terrorists really hits close to home. I'd say its time for some good old American innovation to kick in.

Co-belligerants for Real Change

Coming Together in Communication is the Beginning

Francis Schaeffer called Christians "co-belligerants" with Jews and Muslims on certain points; likewise, Christians may share with agnostics and New Agers a common concern for taking good care of our planet, even though we have extremely different world views. People can disagree about heaven and hell and even Jesus yet still stand together against child pornography and drunk driving and animal abuse, or for cleaner water, lower taxes, or better parks and schools. -- Randy Alcorn

In a recent blog entry Randy Alcorn mentions Nat Hentoff, the often ultra-liberal activist. who is also an ardent defender of human life [including the unborn and people like Terry Shiavo]. In fact, Hentoff spoke out Against Barak Obama's Call for her death Here and says:

"In none of the endless presidential candidates' debates has there been a meaningful discussion of the rights of disabled Americans. However, in the Feb. 26 debate in Cleveland, Barack Obama casually and ignorantly revealed his misunderstanding of the basic issue in the highly visible and still-resonating official death sentence of a disabled woman, Terri Schiavo. I have repeatedly called her death the result of "the longest public execution in American history."

Somewhere along the way we classify issues as 'liberal' or 'conservative' and there is no meaningful discussion. Hentoff is thinking of the issue and it is obvious that he is thinking for himself. My point is that we can and should come to a point where we can discuss our beliefs and desires. Real change requires real discussion. We might be pleasantly surprised to find liberal and conservative passionately joined in building a better world. Let's go for it!