I know. But the wards for emotional disorders don’t have the capacity to handle all the despair over a long range projection. Let’s limit, for the moment, to short range.
You guys need to understand that this country is greater than any one man: even if that man is President. I’m old enough to have been around when President Reagan was elected. (My 1st vote was for Nixon)
“Oh my fucking God, we elected an actor as President.”, claimed the doom sayers. “We are so fucked!”, they added.
President Ronald W. Reagan turned out to be one of the most successful Presidents we’ve ever had.
@cinoclav And add to the already long list: The SDI (Star Wars) sinkhole that swallowed up over $30 billion and produced nothing.
I was at the Pentagon during the Reagan/Star Wars era, and I have to say I gained a greater appreciation of Ronald Reagan’s acting abilities. And at least Reagan had experience as Governor of California.
The country is bigger than any one person, and has proved itself to be terribly resilient, true.
But that doesn’t mean it’s never touch and go. And that doesn’t mean that one egomaniac protected by a party in power for political reasons, can’t do enormous harm both domestically and abroad, that lasts for generations.
Or perhaps that costs the US its current leadership position and hands that role off to China (which would not be anything near an improvement in my judgement). China is itching for this, they want it, they can prob afford it, they have the tech and the brains, they are hungry, if we give them a chance they will make the break. We already cannot afford a serious trade war with China. Because they would win.
If the US falls back, western Europe and other traditional post WWII allies ought to be as ready as they can do to pick up and go, or try to. They’re not.
So I just hope it doesn’t get that bad.
Every country, every institution has bad years. All, including the US, are susceptible to deep damage by someone with enormous power and terrible judgment. None are invulnerable.
If Lockheed-Martin tweets some extreme praise of Trump and offers to work out the problems, he’ll respond by tweeting how great they are. Then their stock will recover.
@f00l @compunaut
I believe that the estimate of states with jobs dependent on the F-35 is either 43 or 47. The stock market is insane right now in any case. The top execs at LockMart are protected, and I’ll bet against that early retirement by any of them.
@Shrdlu@f00l Certainly the top execs have nothing to fear, but LM just completed a ‘voluntary retirement’ (soft layoff = funded payments to mid/upper-level workers). If Congress were to follow Tweet-meister’s lead to seriously reduce F-35 funding, many more ‘retirements’ would be necessary.
When I was very young much of the local economy that wasn’t hooked to oil-gas related rose and fell on the revenues and fortunes of General Dynamics and the local military bases. Which meant a fairly steady boom due to the Cold War and Vietnam.
When General Dynamics would slow down, all these kids would disappear. Then a few years later something new would get past Congress and those kids would almost all be back.
Look at a map sometime of the triangle formed by Bryant Irvin in the east, Hwy 183 to the south, and the Trinity River to the NW.
Start with something bigger:
A lot of the land almost from the river to University and Berry Streets was once the Edwards Ranch, back in the 1800s I think. Esp everything going down the hill w of TCU. They sold pieces of it off, little by little over time, to create pretty and expensive residential and commercial development.
So their land over time became Colonial Country Club and Tanglewood and the Hulen shopping area. The Edwards may have owned much more than that - I never knew the full historic boundaries.
When I was quite young, S Hulen’s roadbed had been bulldozed but no more. The streets and buildings stopped right behind Tanglewood Elementary. - to the west was barbed wire fence and forest. The Edwards were pretty nice about letting people use the property - I used to ride or explore with my friends on it all the time. (No one can allow that anymore, because liability). We used to race horses or dirt bikes along the soon-to-be S Hulen roadbed almost every time we went back there. Or perhaps we didn’t have quite the permission I imagined. We acted as if we did. To one ever asked us not to. Curiously, I’m not sure our parents were aware of where we were. Times have changed.
So at some point, I presume, when the Cold War boomed, General Dynamics bought the triangle of land I described in the first paragraph for an enormous employee recreation area. Pretty big stables - I’m guessing 200-400 horses mostly belonging to employees but memory might be somewhat off, exaggerating. Many many football and soccer fields and baseball diamonds. A huge swimming pool or more than one? A golf course I think. Gyms. Tennis courts. A largish building where they taught dance and crafts. I think they may have had some restaurants?
And all these were the busiest in town. It was hopping, and hard to get reservations into classes or on the playing fields so employee leagues spilled onto city park fields. I could only go as a guest - no family worked at GD. But I spent many hours there - when I showed up w a best friend or two who kept horses there, the stable manager, who liked us, would make us promise not that tell, and get me a horse to ride.
Then eventually GD sold the entire FW complex to Lockheed - the plant and main complex beside Carswell, the recreation area, the various other properties.
And peoples’ lives changed. People don’t live outdoors anymore. Employee sports teams mean so much less. The stables closed decades ago. Lockheed started selling off bits of land to developers. They stopped maintenance on the back areas of the recreation complex and shut them down - or so I heard. Haven’t been in the property for decades. They closed more and then leased some to fracking during the boom. And I started hearing that surveyors were all over the property from an acquaintance who lived near. They started publicly seeking a buyer for the main part about 5 years ago perhaps? It sold, and now that’s where the new REI and the coming While Foods will be.
Bit that recreation area is a locus of my Cold War memories, because that was the context of so much of the adult conversation whenever I was there. And with GD and the Air Force Base not so far away, we were all taught to duck and cover. Prime targets, one of my elementary teachers said.
On the eastern side of Bryant Irvin, also the last bits of that part of the old Edwards Ranch are either building as wealthy neoghborhoods or, north of the river, as mixed high-status commercial in the area where the new Neiman-Marcus will open.
@f00l I’m pretty familiar with the GD/LM rec area. Lived nearby & used facilities frequently from the time I moved here in '92 until the property sale was finalized 2-3 years ago. Could perhaps tell you a few more things offline Maybe need to revive idea to meet for $3 craft beer special on Wed night at T&P Tavern on the south end of downtown FtW
Short version:
@Pavlov
@MrsPavlov
@jbartus
Don’t use up your capacity for despair just yet. You need to keep some in reserve, at least 4 years’ worth.
He won’t make it four years.
@Pavlov
You may still need 4 years worth of despair.
@f00l you misunderstand. My despair is at people filling my Meh escape with politics from the real world.
@jbartus
Sorry. But I suspect it will creep into many formerly innocent places.
@jbartus Pot meet kettle. (Patriots)
@Pavlov you must care an awful lot about football if you put those on the same level.
@f00l Only 4 years is getting off easy
@cranky1950
I know. But the wards for emotional disorders don’t have the capacity to handle all the despair over a long range projection. Let’s limit, for the moment, to short range.
@PlacidPenguin The Swearing In ceremony?
@rockblossom
@PlacidPenguin
Way insufficient on bling.
@f00l
That’s your fault.
@PlacidPenguin
@f00l is to blame for
President-Elect needing
So much sparkly bling.
oh America…
In my office, gold plated, right next to ‘Shaq’s’ shoe.
@OldCatLady I found you a present. Hope you like it. :-}
@Shrdlu
You guys need to understand that this country is greater than any one man: even if that man is President. I’m old enough to have been around when President Reagan was elected. (My 1st vote was for Nixon)
“Oh my fucking God, we elected an actor as President.”, claimed the doom sayers. “We are so fucked!”, they added.
President Ronald W. Reagan turned out to be one of the most successful Presidents we’ve ever had.
@Mehrocco_Mole
Of course this country is greater than any one man . . . It’s not ‘us’ that need to understand this - it’s Trump.
@Mehrocco_Mole You and I have vastly different definitions of ‘successful.’ I don’t want to turn this into an endless discussion/disagreement about Reagan and politics in general but I’m just going to leave this here for starters…
https://soapboxie.com/us-politics/21reasonsReaganwasaterriblepresident
@cinoclav amen
@cinoclav And add to the already long list: The SDI (Star Wars) sinkhole that swallowed up over $30 billion and produced nothing.
I was at the Pentagon during the Reagan/Star Wars era, and I have to say I gained a greater appreciation of Ronald Reagan’s acting abilities. And at least Reagan had experience as Governor of California.
@Mehrocco_Mole
The country is bigger than any one person, and has proved itself to be terribly resilient, true.
But that doesn’t mean it’s never touch and go. And that doesn’t mean that one egomaniac protected by a party in power for political reasons, can’t do enormous harm both domestically and abroad, that lasts for generations.
Or perhaps that costs the US its current leadership position and hands that role off to China (which would not be anything near an improvement in my judgement). China is itching for this, they want it, they can prob afford it, they have the tech and the brains, they are hungry, if we give them a chance they will make the break. We already cannot afford a serious trade war with China. Because they would win.
If the US falls back, western Europe and other traditional post WWII allies ought to be as ready as they can do to pick up and go, or try to. They’re not.
So I just hope it doesn’t get that bad.
Every country, every institution has bad years. All, including the US, are susceptible to deep damage by someone with enormous power and terrible judgment. None are invulnerable.
@f00l
FW Star-Telegram headline
“Lockheed stock falls after Trump’s tweet about F-35”
If I can figure out the Trump tweet pattern and game it, I’ll get rich trading stocks!
@f00l Funny, I was thinking the same thing yesterday.
@f00l May prompt some early retirements at LM…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@compunaut
If Lockheed-Martin tweets some extreme praise of Trump and offers to work out the problems, he’ll respond by tweeting how great they are. Then their stock will recover.
@f00l
@compunaut
I believe that the estimate of states with jobs dependent on the F-35 is either 43 or 47. The stock market is insane right now in any case. The top execs at LockMart are protected, and I’ll bet against that early retirement by any of them.
@Shrdlu @f00l Certainly the top execs have nothing to fear, but LM just completed a ‘voluntary retirement’ (soft layoff = funded payments to mid/upper-level workers). If Congress were to follow Tweet-meister’s lead to seriously reduce F-35 funding, many more ‘retirements’ would be necessary.
@compunaut
@shrdlu
As well as line and factory layoffs.
When I was very young much of the local economy that wasn’t hooked to oil-gas related rose and fell on the revenues and fortunes of General Dynamics and the local military bases. Which meant a fairly steady boom due to the Cold War and Vietnam.
When General Dynamics would slow down, all these kids would disappear. Then a few years later something new would get past Congress and those kids would almost all be back.
@compunaut
Look at a map sometime of the triangle formed by Bryant Irvin in the east, Hwy 183 to the south, and the Trinity River to the NW.
Start with something bigger:
A lot of the land almost from the river to University and Berry Streets was once the Edwards Ranch, back in the 1800s I think. Esp everything going down the hill w of TCU. They sold pieces of it off, little by little over time, to create pretty and expensive residential and commercial development.
So their land over time became Colonial Country Club and Tanglewood and the Hulen shopping area. The Edwards may have owned much more than that - I never knew the full historic boundaries.
When I was quite young, S Hulen’s roadbed had been bulldozed but no more. The streets and buildings stopped right behind Tanglewood Elementary. - to the west was barbed wire fence and forest. The Edwards were pretty nice about letting people use the property - I used to ride or explore with my friends on it all the time. (No one can allow that anymore, because liability). We used to race horses or dirt bikes along the soon-to-be S Hulen roadbed almost every time we went back there. Or perhaps we didn’t have quite the permission I imagined. We acted as if we did. To one ever asked us not to. Curiously, I’m not sure our parents were aware of where we were. Times have changed.
So at some point, I presume, when the Cold War boomed, General Dynamics bought the triangle of land I described in the first paragraph for an enormous employee recreation area. Pretty big stables - I’m guessing 200-400 horses mostly belonging to employees but memory might be somewhat off, exaggerating. Many many football and soccer fields and baseball diamonds. A huge swimming pool or more than one? A golf course I think. Gyms. Tennis courts. A largish building where they taught dance and crafts. I think they may have had some restaurants?
And all these were the busiest in town. It was hopping, and hard to get reservations into classes or on the playing fields so employee leagues spilled onto city park fields. I could only go as a guest - no family worked at GD. But I spent many hours there - when I showed up w a best friend or two who kept horses there, the stable manager, who liked us, would make us promise not that tell, and get me a horse to ride.
Then eventually GD sold the entire FW complex to Lockheed - the plant and main complex beside Carswell, the recreation area, the various other properties.
And peoples’ lives changed. People don’t live outdoors anymore. Employee sports teams mean so much less. The stables closed decades ago. Lockheed started selling off bits of land to developers. They stopped maintenance on the back areas of the recreation complex and shut them down - or so I heard. Haven’t been in the property for decades. They closed more and then leased some to fracking during the boom. And I started hearing that surveyors were all over the property from an acquaintance who lived near. They started publicly seeking a buyer for the main part about 5 years ago perhaps? It sold, and now that’s where the new REI and the coming While Foods will be.
Bit that recreation area is a locus of my Cold War memories, because that was the context of so much of the adult conversation whenever I was there. And with GD and the Air Force Base not so far away, we were all taught to duck and cover. Prime targets, one of my elementary teachers said.
On the eastern side of Bryant Irvin, also the last bits of that part of the old Edwards Ranch are either building as wealthy neoghborhoods or, north of the river, as mixed high-status commercial in the area where the new Neiman-Marcus will open.
@f00l I’m pretty familiar with the GD/LM rec area. Lived nearby & used facilities frequently from the time I moved here in '92 until the property sale was finalized 2-3 years ago. Could perhaps tell you a few more things offline
Maybe need to revive idea to meet for $3 craft beer special on Wed night at T&P Tavern on the south end of downtown FtW 
@compunaut
Or perhaps at Salsa Limòn. They have one downtown now. Not been yet.
But not this month. Family and stuff.
This transition is great theatre, it’s like we didn’t even need to let the Vandals invade, they were already here and waiting.
@cranky1950 Invasion of the Barbarians not needed. http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=119&cat=1