#158 In which RFK, Jr., claims 38% of teenagers have diabetes or pre-diabetes, which is off by a mere 37.65%.

The Master Builder in the White House (who really hasn’t built so much as lent his name to people who do build) has decreed that we will make federal architecture beautiful again. “Major emphasis should be placed on the choice of designs that embody architectural excellence,” the executive order reads. This loosely translates as putting columns in front of everything.

While we will grant that the hifalutin Greeks did think of columns as embodying their cultural ideals, they also found them sort of useful in holding up their roofs. Two things they didn’t have that modern builders do have are reinforced concrete and modern steel, so roofs today aren’t quite the same problem. The Greeks also didn’t have electricity, but Trump hasn’t suggested that we go so far as to install oil lamps in our newly built hallowed hallways. Will our beautiful new federal buildings have indoor plumbing? It’s probably too soon to know.

FYI, we asked Google’s AI about 21st century architecture. They mentioned these: Burj Khalifa, Beijing National Stadium, Heydar Aliyev Center, Seattle Central Library, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Pretty much none of their nonsense would be permitted by our new US standards.

 

Howard Roark is rolling in his grave (so to speak).