One Presidential Library worth visiting is the Lincoln Library in Springfield Illinois. Obama's "library" will hopefully be demolished after his conviction for treason.
That visit to that certain “center” needs to occur in daylight hours only. As an ex-Chicagoan, trust me on this. Do not take public transportation to visit that dump. Do not venture beyond the boundaries of Jackson Park. Your route in and out should only be on Lake Shore Drive along the lakefront from downtown Chicago to the park. Do not approach from any other direction. Direct routes from Point A to Point B in Chicago are not wise in many cases. Also, places in Chicago that “look” safe are often not safe.
Slight correction: that dystopian center is most definitely NOT a Presidential Library administered by the National Archives (NARA). The actual Presidential Library for the Marxist is located at 2500 W. Golf Road in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. This official library is located in a former furniture showroom and warehouse that NARA spent $5mm on. I’m not making that up.
There are some fantastic Marxist parallels with how Mr. Russia Conspiracy set up his intended monument to himself. First is the illusion that the dystopian center is his actual library. Potemkin Village, anyone? Second, the official library in the former furniture warehouse in the Chicago suburbs is the first Presidential Library that’s not ………. wait for it ………. open to the American public! Talk about Russian levels of secrecy and obfuscation! Is there a single thing the Dems do that is not a projection?
It would make a nice contrast to visit the real library vs. the fake library. By the way, Hoffman Estates is safe to visit any hour of the day, unlike the fake library’s location.
One more thing about the Marxist parallels here. The look and siting of the dystopian building in Chicago’s beautiful Jackson Park is an intentional Marxist middle finger to Truth, Beauty and Goodness. Think the Soviets building brutalist concrete buildings in the middle of beautiful European cities. This is exactly the intent of the dystopian center, and placing it in one of the most beautiful parks in Chicago gives the Marxist game away.
As a dying city, Chicago is full of open land that is much more appropriate for such a building. But for the chief American Marxist, it had to be THAT design at THAT site, with the pure intent of ruining a beautiful landscape. That is the true horror of this whole sordid episode. You’ll see what I’m talking about when you visit the site. As I have fond memories of Jackson Park, I will never visit it again.
I know I used the word Marxist a lot in my comment, but that’s only because it’s totally appropriate for what is going on here. The only thing the dystopian building is missing is a reviewing stand for the Politburo members to watch the May Day parades.
> As a dying city, Chicago is full of open land that is much more appropriate for such a building. But for the chief American Marxist, it had to be THAT design at THAT site, with the pure intent of ruining a beautiful landscape. That is the true horror of this whole sordid episode
Absolutely spot on, At.
I've noted in the past how in the '90s I took calls from "urban ag" ladies I knew in Alice Palmer's district, wondering if I ("You follow politics, Korp....") knew anything about one "Barack Obama," "a total unknown/an outsider/a stranger" whom they perceived was being "inflicted on" them.
This entire operation is orchestrated at a much higher level than the on-the-ground manifestations of it. But those manifestations are carefully, deliberately engineered for effect. Uglification and brutality are a big part of the intent. The killing fields are on hold. For now.
Just a quick reminder to everyone: the Marxist intent to eradicate Truth, Beauty, and Goodness is solely meant to eradicate God from the public square.
I grew up near the Truman library, located a few miles from his home off the town square in Independence. I never toured it but a few time on a school trip, but would go by the grounds where trees were planted commemorating soldiers from the area that died in WW2, one being my uncle. The library has the modernist look popular on the 50’s, yet the inside is old school. It sits on very well kept grounds. The Truman library is what I thought presidential libraries were supposed to be like.
Then I saw the ugly dystopian obelisk Obama has created. A perfect representation of his 8 years of “managed decline” for America, and conversion of the executive branch into a politburo. So yes, the library should reflect the man in office.
BTW, I don’t mind reading about your lived experience in LA, but I have thoroughly enjoyed your field trips like the bullet train ruins, and the $100mil+ unfinished animal bridge, for the dozen or so animals that find themselves in that locale. Definitely more of that would be great.
Chris, no apologies are needed or should be given. I tire of almost every writer except you, and that's because you write well about things that move you.
I think you deserve a break from the LA area. The European visitors who are here for FIFA are driving through America and experiencing things that are impossible in Europe, and having a blast. I love their refreshing takes (as opposed to all of the America-hating left).
Back in the 80's when I was in HS, the euro's would come over on transfer students (name?) and they would have all their plans for what to visit. Today we're going to washington DC and then tomorrow we're going to drive to yellowstone and the day after that we're going to the Grand Canyon.................... Or they would tell us how they would travel to the next country over and it was 150 miles and they took rest breaks and had to stay overnight and were completely blown away when beginning to realize that 150 miles wouldn't even get you out of our state (not all that big of state).
Like the SIZE of the United States totally didn't compute for them. I don't know if it's still true (but i suspect it is from online conversations) but it's quite funny when they realize how big it really is. and how empty most of the mid west/west is.
My mother's cousin was a PanAm stewardess back in the day. She befriended a lady from New Zealand and invited this woman to stay with her at her home in California.
One day the nice lady from New Zealand asked Mom's cousin if they might take a day trip to see Graceland. Cousin Mary took out a map of the US and explained just how far they'd have to drive; New Zealand lady was shocked by the distance.
I never tire of your LA/California posts on yet another debacle. I think it's important that it comes to light. It's also cathartic to read something that roundly criticizes and makes fun of foolishness for those of us living in deep blue states also doing unbelievably destructive and/or stupid things.
You're so succinct and talented,Chris. And absolutely spot on.
In 1993,my mother and I witnessed something disturbing in Orlando, Fl. We had driven there from Miami for the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, checking out Florida's first super- high end mall and a group of at least a dozen women in floor length black long sleeved tent/robe- like dresses with stand up neck collars and veils were huddled together at the entrance. Their backs were turned and we assumed they were nuns. The mall was weirdly quiet and soon as we turned the corned, another large group appeared, walking towards us.And they were whispering, glared at us and moved as far away from us as possible. I looked and them and the hostility was chilling.It wasn't shyness, instead, it was brazen and ominous. No polite smiles, nor were they nuns. They were wearing veils that nearly covered their faces , foreheads /eyebrows/ cheeks included , head to toe black wool. It was 95 degrees and humid outside. My mom and I were wearing sleeveless sundresses, I'm blonde as at the time, had waist length hair, my mom's hair was light and chin length with soft, full waves. We could feel the "hate". My mom said, "I feel as though I'm having one of those awful dreams when everybody is dressed and I'm naked with nowhere to hide". I felt the same way, We were the strangers in a parallel universe. Vulnerable and scorned. We decided to turn the corner and be done with them. No luck. They were everywhere. Reminded me of " The Birds". The scene where the crows were gathering on the telephone and electrical wires. Tippi Hedren and Suzanne Pleshette were terrified and the birds began filling the entire plaza . They needed to cross the plaza to get home and the birds swarmed and attacked.These freaks had literally " occupied" the mall. My mom said,"Gail , we have to get out of here,to use one of your expressions, it has dark energy and a bad vibe.As we were walking out the door , one of"whispered" ( loudly) " Western whores. With their bare arms and loose hair! They are demons! Kaffirs. Massoud says these Americans will know their place soon enough!".
That was it. I let go of the door, walked over to them and asked when they'd last bathed? The mall smelled like sulphur and rot.
We went to Epcot the next day and there was a smattering of them with their keepers. The men wearing shorts and cotton short sleeved shirts, the male children , too and the little girls wore hijabs, long sleeves, skirts just above their ankles with think socks, mary janes .. the men and boys had ice cream cones, the girls didn't and they sat behind their husbands and walked behind them, eyes facing the ground.
My mom and I assumed they were all in Orlando for an event or on a junket. Wrong. I took my daughters to the food festival a few years later and they had enclaves of Muslim communities. markets,Islamic clothing, "learning centers" with the windows painted black, the doors guarded, halal restaurants that were not "kafir" friendly. There were also Indian Hindu conclaves with a much different feel. Very friendly, beautiful, interesting clothing and home goods, spice markets and the little restaurants were wonderful. They didn't have " guards " outside. They had greeters. But everything else felt " off".
The third visit in 2007-My daughter's freshman year at University of Florida- Occupied. But 2009 in Tampa. That was it. Everything was wrong .As in big time. I wasn't crazy. I contacted the FBI.
TBC- With a proviso. You can warn, provide photos,volunteer to take people to events, sites, seminars, to meet people who've been victimized, grown up in Islamist nations, been mutilated.. they don't care. Look at the insane reaction to the Hamas massacre of Israelis. Somehow, the victims deserved it.
Nobody listened to Huxley's urgent warnings beginning in 1956. And here we are.
I’m not tired of your musings about California Chris. I live in Belfast which, as the world has seen this week, has its own laundry list of problems. But yet, reading about California makes me realise that Belfast still has a loooooong way to go to reach west coast levels of crazy
Chris you’re in no way to blame for being the truth teller. Yes it sucks and is hard to hear and it does numb the mind because it’s so outrageous. But anyone who would prefer to sleep through it deserves to live through it. Count me a grateful supporter.
"The sheer scale of a trillion dollars can be hard to comprehend. Let me put it in perspective. You would be able to buy 42 miles of high speed rail in California with that much money."
> masses of people--the majority--who've never done a lick of real-world/productive work in their lives have no idea what's involved in planning, building, and maintaining logistics and infrastructure.
I love the California on the ground reporting and agree it’s a signal of what is coming our way. Chris Bray - On the Road in America - is something to look forward to, though!
I've been reading you for several months now, and I say keep it up, whether you're writing about the agonizing decline of LA, California in general, or the sad state of the U.S. When you write about California, it brings back bittersweet memories for me. I've spent most of my life in the Northeast, but I was out in northern California for 6 months in 1975 when my dad was on sabbatical, then out to Pasadena and the Bay Area for a couple of business trips in the 90's. When you wrote about Point Reyes Station, it was particularly poignant for me because I was there in '97, sightseeing during one of those business trips. Thinking back to those three brief sojourns makes me realize how much things have changed out there during my lifetime.
It's amazing how different the world is when you just look around and notice things! Story of my life...
It reads more like the tale of a nurse or doctor noting on the chart how the patient's illness is coming along, with the patient refusing treatement and instead insisting on keeping up the behaviour that is causing the illness in the first place.
When I tell (normal, average, well-adjusted) people here about that high-speed rail, they don't believe me. Not in the sense that I'm lying, but because it's too alien to their thinking and experience. Meanwhile, the junkies and ex-cons and sundry others from the underbelly of society I meet at the charity (a lot of them come there weekly just to be able to talk to another human about pretty much anything) accept it as truth and give off that wry chuckle of someone who learned cynicism as a mental health-mechanism long ago.
Perhaps that is the case with many of the normal, average and well-adjusted Californians? They had a good upbringing and youth and life, and so never developed their innate BS-detectors, pattern recognition and cerebral cynicism-sensors?
Oh well. As someone smarter than me wrote once: "Some people would, even after an Apocalypse, still insist on keeping up appearances and make sure people held their plate with roasted rat the correct way" (or something along those lines).
They find life so much simpler without BS detectors, Rikard.
The bat-shit crazy optimism that allows them to believe that all problems are Trump’s fault and simply getting rid of him will make everything fine, reads like mania. They will never accept responsibility for creating him. With no 'pattern recognition and no cerebral cynicism sensors’ (love that) they float right by responsibility.
They cluster at No Kings events, ‘pride’ parades, and ICE obstruction chaos activities, breathless with excitement about the importance of ‘participation.' The rest of us are expected to applaud while they set fire to civilization and hand the scorched remains to the truly cynical goblins waiting in the dark.
I think we've exchanged in the past on my idea that if you think that failure of thie high-speed rail project is bad, just imagine if it had succeeded. Imagine how much more rapidly the powers that be could discard/transfer their unwanted population sectors, e.g.
This way, bricks-and-mortar-and-rail workers are employed...stasis is maintained...and everyone gets to be ritualistically grumpy. (A nonpareil American genre.)
California's future is largely sculpted by its past.
I don't see a lot of understanding of the history of the state, and what it teaches. I don't see a lot of understanding about how real stuff gets done by real people in the real world. The focus is somehow always on the present moment...with effusions about some utopian future that either is possible, or can never happen.
No apology needed! Please don't stop your truthful writing about what's happening in CA. You are one of the rare few who writes so well and backs it up with photos. Where else would the rest of us find this truth?
I should mention that I have firm travel plans now to see two new presidential libraries this summer. One looks like a thumb.
If one of them is what comes most quickly to mind, it's really a middle finger.
Presidential libraries are how America deifies it's former presidents, Roman style.
Their growth and ostentatiousness is another sign of the decline of the American republic.
I don't disagree.
One Presidential Library worth visiting is the Lincoln Library in Springfield Illinois. Obama's "library" will hopefully be demolished after his conviction for treason.
Chris, if you do visit the Lincoln Library I’d love to know the date. I’ll drive over and join you.
The Eisenhower Library, museum and boyhood home in Abilene is also worth a visit if you get as far as Kansas
Good idea. I'm also not far from Springfield. Thankfully, far south of Chicago.
I’m definitely too close, but then my idea of too close is within a 200 mile radius😏
Stop teasing.
Don’t board the Deathstar without a plentiful supply of photon torpedos.
Don't cross the streams.
Hope the other is a pile of dog excrement
Good article
What happens in CA tries to move easterly
The Gerald R Ford is not the least bit pretentious, just like the man himself was.
Perhaps come to west Michigan, where we have a presidential library celebrating Leslie Lynch King Jr. That could be fun? Probably?
On the plus side, west Michigan is really nice in the summer.
That visit to that certain “center” needs to occur in daylight hours only. As an ex-Chicagoan, trust me on this. Do not take public transportation to visit that dump. Do not venture beyond the boundaries of Jackson Park. Your route in and out should only be on Lake Shore Drive along the lakefront from downtown Chicago to the park. Do not approach from any other direction. Direct routes from Point A to Point B in Chicago are not wise in many cases. Also, places in Chicago that “look” safe are often not safe.
Slight correction: that dystopian center is most definitely NOT a Presidential Library administered by the National Archives (NARA). The actual Presidential Library for the Marxist is located at 2500 W. Golf Road in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. This official library is located in a former furniture showroom and warehouse that NARA spent $5mm on. I’m not making that up.
There are some fantastic Marxist parallels with how Mr. Russia Conspiracy set up his intended monument to himself. First is the illusion that the dystopian center is his actual library. Potemkin Village, anyone? Second, the official library in the former furniture warehouse in the Chicago suburbs is the first Presidential Library that’s not ………. wait for it ………. open to the American public! Talk about Russian levels of secrecy and obfuscation! Is there a single thing the Dems do that is not a projection?
It would make a nice contrast to visit the real library vs. the fake library. By the way, Hoffman Estates is safe to visit any hour of the day, unlike the fake library’s location.
One more thing about the Marxist parallels here. The look and siting of the dystopian building in Chicago’s beautiful Jackson Park is an intentional Marxist middle finger to Truth, Beauty and Goodness. Think the Soviets building brutalist concrete buildings in the middle of beautiful European cities. This is exactly the intent of the dystopian center, and placing it in one of the most beautiful parks in Chicago gives the Marxist game away.
As a dying city, Chicago is full of open land that is much more appropriate for such a building. But for the chief American Marxist, it had to be THAT design at THAT site, with the pure intent of ruining a beautiful landscape. That is the true horror of this whole sordid episode. You’ll see what I’m talking about when you visit the site. As I have fond memories of Jackson Park, I will never visit it again.
I know I used the word Marxist a lot in my comment, but that’s only because it’s totally appropriate for what is going on here. The only thing the dystopian building is missing is a reviewing stand for the Politburo members to watch the May Day parades.
Underappreciated comment.
> As a dying city, Chicago is full of open land that is much more appropriate for such a building. But for the chief American Marxist, it had to be THAT design at THAT site, with the pure intent of ruining a beautiful landscape. That is the true horror of this whole sordid episode
Absolutely spot on, At.
I've noted in the past how in the '90s I took calls from "urban ag" ladies I knew in Alice Palmer's district, wondering if I ("You follow politics, Korp....") knew anything about one "Barack Obama," "a total unknown/an outsider/a stranger" whom they perceived was being "inflicted on" them.
This entire operation is orchestrated at a much higher level than the on-the-ground manifestations of it. But those manifestations are carefully, deliberately engineered for effect. Uglification and brutality are a big part of the intent. The killing fields are on hold. For now.
Thanks, you get it. I wish everyone did.
Just a quick reminder to everyone: the Marxist intent to eradicate Truth, Beauty, and Goodness is solely meant to eradicate God from the public square.
How many copies of Rules for Radicals can they stock? Pretty sure it's the only book the man read.
I grew up near the Truman library, located a few miles from his home off the town square in Independence. I never toured it but a few time on a school trip, but would go by the grounds where trees were planted commemorating soldiers from the area that died in WW2, one being my uncle. The library has the modernist look popular on the 50’s, yet the inside is old school. It sits on very well kept grounds. The Truman library is what I thought presidential libraries were supposed to be like.
Then I saw the ugly dystopian obelisk Obama has created. A perfect representation of his 8 years of “managed decline” for America, and conversion of the executive branch into a politburo. So yes, the library should reflect the man in office.
BTW, I don’t mind reading about your lived experience in LA, but I have thoroughly enjoyed your field trips like the bullet train ruins, and the $100mil+ unfinished animal bridge, for the dozen or so animals that find themselves in that locale. Definitely more of that would be great.
Chris, no apologies are needed or should be given. I tire of almost every writer except you, and that's because you write well about things that move you.
I think you deserve a break from the LA area. The European visitors who are here for FIFA are driving through America and experiencing things that are impossible in Europe, and having a blast. I love their refreshing takes (as opposed to all of the America-hating left).
Road tripping is good for the soul.
Back in the 80's when I was in HS, the euro's would come over on transfer students (name?) and they would have all their plans for what to visit. Today we're going to washington DC and then tomorrow we're going to drive to yellowstone and the day after that we're going to the Grand Canyon.................... Or they would tell us how they would travel to the next country over and it was 150 miles and they took rest breaks and had to stay overnight and were completely blown away when beginning to realize that 150 miles wouldn't even get you out of our state (not all that big of state).
Like the SIZE of the United States totally didn't compute for them. I don't know if it's still true (but i suspect it is from online conversations) but it's quite funny when they realize how big it really is. and how empty most of the mid west/west is.
Reminds me of an incident in our family.
My mother's cousin was a PanAm stewardess back in the day. She befriended a lady from New Zealand and invited this woman to stay with her at her home in California.
One day the nice lady from New Zealand asked Mom's cousin if they might take a day trip to see Graceland. Cousin Mary took out a map of the US and explained just how far they'd have to drive; New Zealand lady was shocked by the distance.
What you've got, Chris, is a case of righteous anger mixed with the frustration of having absolutely no say in how you're taxed and governed.
There are a lot of us who feel the same way.
But the 300,000 residents of California convalescent hospitals, who the SEIU helped vote Democrat, are a happy and contented lot.
But not quite as happy as the leaders of the SEIU.
Fun fact: election workers in California are in the SEIU. Couldn’t make that up.
I never tire of your LA/California posts on yet another debacle. I think it's important that it comes to light. It's also cathartic to read something that roundly criticizes and makes fun of foolishness for those of us living in deep blue states also doing unbelievably destructive and/or stupid things.
Chris Bray, please keep on doing what you do. We need you.
My thoughts exactly- thank you!
You're so succinct and talented,Chris. And absolutely spot on.
In 1993,my mother and I witnessed something disturbing in Orlando, Fl. We had driven there from Miami for the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, checking out Florida's first super- high end mall and a group of at least a dozen women in floor length black long sleeved tent/robe- like dresses with stand up neck collars and veils were huddled together at the entrance. Their backs were turned and we assumed they were nuns. The mall was weirdly quiet and soon as we turned the corned, another large group appeared, walking towards us.And they were whispering, glared at us and moved as far away from us as possible. I looked and them and the hostility was chilling.It wasn't shyness, instead, it was brazen and ominous. No polite smiles, nor were they nuns. They were wearing veils that nearly covered their faces , foreheads /eyebrows/ cheeks included , head to toe black wool. It was 95 degrees and humid outside. My mom and I were wearing sleeveless sundresses, I'm blonde as at the time, had waist length hair, my mom's hair was light and chin length with soft, full waves. We could feel the "hate". My mom said, "I feel as though I'm having one of those awful dreams when everybody is dressed and I'm naked with nowhere to hide". I felt the same way, We were the strangers in a parallel universe. Vulnerable and scorned. We decided to turn the corner and be done with them. No luck. They were everywhere. Reminded me of " The Birds". The scene where the crows were gathering on the telephone and electrical wires. Tippi Hedren and Suzanne Pleshette were terrified and the birds began filling the entire plaza . They needed to cross the plaza to get home and the birds swarmed and attacked.These freaks had literally " occupied" the mall. My mom said,"Gail , we have to get out of here,to use one of your expressions, it has dark energy and a bad vibe.As we were walking out the door , one of"whispered" ( loudly) " Western whores. With their bare arms and loose hair! They are demons! Kaffirs. Massoud says these Americans will know their place soon enough!".
That was it. I let go of the door, walked over to them and asked when they'd last bathed? The mall smelled like sulphur and rot.
We went to Epcot the next day and there was a smattering of them with their keepers. The men wearing shorts and cotton short sleeved shirts, the male children , too and the little girls wore hijabs, long sleeves, skirts just above their ankles with think socks, mary janes .. the men and boys had ice cream cones, the girls didn't and they sat behind their husbands and walked behind them, eyes facing the ground.
My mom and I assumed they were all in Orlando for an event or on a junket. Wrong. I took my daughters to the food festival a few years later and they had enclaves of Muslim communities. markets,Islamic clothing, "learning centers" with the windows painted black, the doors guarded, halal restaurants that were not "kafir" friendly. There were also Indian Hindu conclaves with a much different feel. Very friendly, beautiful, interesting clothing and home goods, spice markets and the little restaurants were wonderful. They didn't have " guards " outside. They had greeters. But everything else felt " off".
The third visit in 2007-My daughter's freshman year at University of Florida- Occupied. But 2009 in Tampa. That was it. Everything was wrong .As in big time. I wasn't crazy. I contacted the FBI.
TBC- With a proviso. You can warn, provide photos,volunteer to take people to events, sites, seminars, to meet people who've been victimized, grown up in Islamist nations, been mutilated.. they don't care. Look at the insane reaction to the Hamas massacre of Israelis. Somehow, the victims deserved it.
Nobody listened to Huxley's urgent warnings beginning in 1956. And here we are.
I’m not tired of your musings about California Chris. I live in Belfast which, as the world has seen this week, has its own laundry list of problems. But yet, reading about California makes me realise that Belfast still has a loooooong way to go to reach west coast levels of crazy
Chris you’re in no way to blame for being the truth teller. Yes it sucks and is hard to hear and it does numb the mind because it’s so outrageous. But anyone who would prefer to sleep through it deserves to live through it. Count me a grateful supporter.
"The sheer scale of a trillion dollars can be hard to comprehend. Let me put it in perspective. You would be able to buy 42 miles of high speed rail in California with that much money."
Stolen off X.
Californians didn't understand the terms of the deal. The politicians use the money to get high and lots of speed, while the citizens get railed.
> masses of people--the majority--who've never done a lick of real-world/productive work in their lives have no idea what's involved in planning, building, and maintaining logistics and infrastructure.
No kidding.
I don't live in California, but I find your writing important. I don't want our country to turn into California.
I love the California on the ground reporting and agree it’s a signal of what is coming our way. Chris Bray - On the Road in America - is something to look forward to, though!
Somebody wrote, back in the prehistoric era, when I was in high school, that, "As goes California, so goes the nation".
For 65 years I have witnessed the truth of that observation.
Keep writing, Chris.
Chris,
I've been reading you for several months now, and I say keep it up, whether you're writing about the agonizing decline of LA, California in general, or the sad state of the U.S. When you write about California, it brings back bittersweet memories for me. I've spent most of my life in the Northeast, but I was out in northern California for 6 months in 1975 when my dad was on sabbatical, then out to Pasadena and the Bay Area for a couple of business trips in the 90's. When you wrote about Point Reyes Station, it was particularly poignant for me because I was there in '97, sightseeing during one of those business trips. Thinking back to those three brief sojourns makes me realize how much things have changed out there during my lifetime.
It's amazing how different the world is when you just look around and notice things! Story of my life...
Doug E.
Oops! Didn't mean to "like" my own comment. That looks narcissistic :-(
You photo essays are your best work. Of course, they are the 'exception, not the rule' which helps them stand out.
It reads more like the tale of a nurse or doctor noting on the chart how the patient's illness is coming along, with the patient refusing treatement and instead insisting on keeping up the behaviour that is causing the illness in the first place.
When I tell (normal, average, well-adjusted) people here about that high-speed rail, they don't believe me. Not in the sense that I'm lying, but because it's too alien to their thinking and experience. Meanwhile, the junkies and ex-cons and sundry others from the underbelly of society I meet at the charity (a lot of them come there weekly just to be able to talk to another human about pretty much anything) accept it as truth and give off that wry chuckle of someone who learned cynicism as a mental health-mechanism long ago.
Perhaps that is the case with many of the normal, average and well-adjusted Californians? They had a good upbringing and youth and life, and so never developed their innate BS-detectors, pattern recognition and cerebral cynicism-sensors?
Oh well. As someone smarter than me wrote once: "Some people would, even after an Apocalypse, still insist on keeping up appearances and make sure people held their plate with roasted rat the correct way" (or something along those lines).
They find life so much simpler without BS detectors, Rikard.
The bat-shit crazy optimism that allows them to believe that all problems are Trump’s fault and simply getting rid of him will make everything fine, reads like mania. They will never accept responsibility for creating him. With no 'pattern recognition and no cerebral cynicism sensors’ (love that) they float right by responsibility.
They cluster at No Kings events, ‘pride’ parades, and ICE obstruction chaos activities, breathless with excitement about the importance of ‘participation.' The rest of us are expected to applaud while they set fire to civilization and hand the scorched remains to the truly cynical goblins waiting in the dark.
I think we've exchanged in the past on my idea that if you think that failure of thie high-speed rail project is bad, just imagine if it had succeeded. Imagine how much more rapidly the powers that be could discard/transfer their unwanted population sectors, e.g.
This way, bricks-and-mortar-and-rail workers are employed...stasis is maintained...and everyone gets to be ritualistically grumpy. (A nonpareil American genre.)
California's future is largely sculpted by its past.
I don't see a lot of understanding of the history of the state, and what it teaches. I don't see a lot of understanding about how real stuff gets done by real people in the real world. The focus is somehow always on the present moment...with effusions about some utopian future that either is possible, or can never happen.
And nothing is more California than that mindset.
No apology needed! Please don't stop your truthful writing about what's happening in CA. You are one of the rare few who writes so well and backs it up with photos. Where else would the rest of us find this truth?