Trump II

[JoeKitchen]

Alan, you make many good points as well.  However, in the examples you cited and the overall decline of city can also be related to poor development and local political decisions. 

Rochester is a nice area to live, but has quite the tax burden.  Not as much as NYC, but NYC has the sex appeal!  People are willing to pay fro NYC (for my specialities it is hard to get the work anywhere else), not so much for Rochester, especially from a business stand point. 

Declines in other cities is exactly why what you cited, just a suburbia within a city limit.  (Short cited development.) 

The most livable and currently successfully cities have nothing to do with universities or colleges being nearby, but the walkability and the ability to development an efficient mass transit system.  The East coast cities were largely developed prior to the automobile, and were built with these things in mind.  Of course, they made room for cars, but the density is allowing for the easy return to walking and public transportation.  Not to mention it is faster.  Trying to get from Manhattan to Brooklyn via car during rush hour could take an hour or more, but on the subway, 20 to 30 minutes (so long as you're not going to Coney Island). 

Anything West is in for serious trouble once gas goes back up. 

Insofar as Bethesda, it had it coming for sure.  It is sad to see so much more development then what was there before whenever I get down there, but gas is going up (in the long run at least).  DC is a well designed city and those areas around it are positioned to progress nicely to a carless society. 

I really don't see how Houston or LA is going to progress well. 

[Alan Klein]

Goldhammer:...However, let us consider that Donald Trump, fresh out of U Penn, decides to go to work for Acme Widget and makes a nice career in the Widget industry eventually rising to CEO.  Would the quality of life in New York be different today?  I don't think so.  The things that made New York (and of course we are speaking of Manhattan but it can probably also extend to parts of Brooklyn these days) were already laid out years before the first Donald Trump development.  All the development in the loft space in Manhattan was underway before Trump and not impacted by his projects at all.

============================================================

I think you ought to come to NYC from Maryland and check on these things before making such a statement. 

Of course, no one person can change that much in such a large, established city like New York.  However, Trump Towers Trump Plaza, Trump International and his other properties have made statements of quality that have forced other developers to compete in their buildings.  Everyone's workmanship had to improve to compete in such an aggressive market.  (Curious Joe, what do you do?) 

Additionally, some his projects effected portions of the city that weren't developed at all.  Such as the railroad yards on the west side that now have beautiful, multi- million dollar high-rise condos that overlook the Hudson River.  These have changed the view of the Manhattan skyline when you approach from the new Jersey side.  The city was forced to improve the parks, roads, walkways, bicycle paths,  and access along the west side to accommodate such development.  All a plus for the city.  And the city has grown along with Trump properties or maybe because of them.  There were 7 million people in NYC in the 1970's.  Now there are 8 1/2 million plus a lot more illegals that the government doesn't count.  Over 50 million people visited NYC last year many staying at Trump developed hotels. 

Yet, you continue to read the Washington Post which tries to diminish his ability as a real estate developer. You're caught up in the Washington DC beltway echo-chamber where you live and listen to all the things that people there missed about him because they weren't listening or seeing.

 

[Alan Klein]

I can't seem to get the quote and other italics, bold etc working.  What am I doing wrong?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I can't seem to get the quote and other italics, bold etc working.  What am I doing wrong?

Select text, then click relevant icon?

Affected text will be wrapped between opening [] and closing [/] markups.

Cheers,
Bart

[Farmer]

Trump's companies are all privately held by him and his family.   So he can hide his assets from the nosey public and Democrats who want to tear him apart.

They're private because he wants complete control (which is fine).

[JoeKitchen]

(Curious Joe, what do you do?) 

I did not grow up in NYC, so I have little first hand knowledge of how the city progressed or what it was.  However, I do give Trump, along with other developers, credit for making the city what it is today, along with Rudy G. (although his politics does not exacting line up with mine, I strongly disagree with "stop and frisk" and I absolutely hate the Disneyfication of Times Square.  However, I have to give him credit for taking down the mob and with the overall policy of clean streets make clean neighborhoods.)

The fact is that good developments throughout Manhattan made even the least popular areas desirable.  When I was in college, the idea of walking through the Village at night did not exist.  Hells Kitchen was a hell of a place to live.  Times Square was a sex and drug center (and I would go back to that to replace what it has become; did I mention I hate Times Square). 

Good development fixed this and I have many clients (mainly architects) who would agree with me here.  This has brought in a lot of money and investments into the city and made the economy boom. 

Of course gentrification has become rampant, but Manhattan has always been expensive, so it really is not an concern or problem there just by default.  Brooklyn & Queens is where the city has problems with that. 

The problem with NYC though is it will eat you alive if you let it.  There are so many things to do, and so many things to spend money on, you got to be careful not to go broke or become house poor. 

[Farmer]

Just to let you know that Trump paid plumbers in NYC about $55 per hour plus additional union benefits to build his buildings here.  Other tradesmen make comparable wages.  That's over $100,000 a year.  Plumbers make double that when working overtime.  Electricians make 1 1/2 times base rate for overtime.  What do factory workers earn assuming they still have their jobs?

A lot less, since tradesmen are highly skilled and in demand and most factory workers are less skilled and in less demand.

[ppmax2]

I do not like negroes (see, I even use almost an N word on purpose)...

I can't believe I missed this (emphasis mine). WOW. Are you f'ing kidding me? While you are certainly entitled to your own opinions, you and others like you are exactly what is wrong with this world. Heaven help us.

Thanks for sharing your racism...If this forum had an ignore list you'd be on it.

[Alan Klein]

author=BartvanderWolf link=topic=116264.msg961894#msg961894 date=1487716377]
Select text, then click relevant icon?

Affected text will be wrapped between opening [] and closing [/] markups.

Cheers,

When I highlight the words, and hit Bold let's say, nothing happens.  Is there something that's suppose to be set somewhere in Preferences or elsewhere?

[Schewe]

Thanks for sharing your racism...If this forum had an ignore list you'd be on it.

At the lower right part of the message window is a Report to Moderator button and the moderator while reluctant to do so will ban members either temporarily or permanently. The button is there to use...

[Schewe]

Donald J. Trump Verified account‏@realDonaldTrump  Feb 17

The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

Sorry, but I'm not sure we've talked about this enough...(I haven't anyway)

Introducing the enemies of the American people:   By George Rodrigue, The Plain Dealer



A wall at The Newseum in Washington, D.C., commemorates the men and women who died while working as journalists. (Courtesy of The Newseum)

"Know your enemy" is a bit of wisdom that dates back to the 5th century B.C. President Trump has tweeted that journalists are "enemies of the American people." So, how can the American people better know their enemies?

Just down the street from the White House, at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, The Newseum displays a list of more than 2,000 of them, stretching back more than a century.

–snip–

The nation's founders realized that journalists who told the truth would sometimes anger politicians, and perhaps even be put on enemies lists. They also knew that an attack on the press is an attack on an informed public. That's why the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech, assembly, religion, and the press -- not for journalists, but for the people.


The image above is in stark contract with the image of Trump in front of the hundred and seventeen stars on the white marble Memorial Wall at C.I.A. headquarters where he had the gaul to blame any misunderstanding about what he had said about the intelligence community on the media. “They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth,” he said. (The official White House transcript notes “laughter” and “applause” here.)


Photo: Olivier Douliery, Pool/European Pressphoto Agency)

Remember Trump also boasted about how many times he was on the cover of Time "the President noted that he had set an “all-time record” in Time magazine cover stories. “I’ve been on it for fifteen times this year. I don’t think that’s a record that can ever be broken.”

Hum, Obama was on the cover 31 times and Reagan 45 times. The all time winner in Time covers was Nixon...heck even Hillary beat Trump Trump with 18 times. In point of fact I only count 10 covers since the Aug. 31, 2015 issue of TIME and one cover Jan. 16, 1989 issue.

But of course, we aren't supposed to take Trump 'literally"...we just need to grasp to the big picture...the media is an enemy of the American people even if they have given their lives and the fallen officers in the CIA don't need mentioning because he was the Time Person of the Year and was on the cover a lot of times–probably a record, right? that's what people tell me...

Enemy of the people? Not according to Senator John McCain (a republican as I recall)
McCain defends free press, raises specter of dictatorship from Trump's attacks


(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)

"If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free -- and many times adversarial — press," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaking on NBC's Meet The Press. "And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time — that's how dictators get started."

I think we need to think about this a little more and remember exactly what the 1st amendment says, what it means and how many people (journalists, spies, solders and civilians) have died trying to protect it...

The amendment as adopted in 1791 reads as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In case it's not clear to Trump, while it says Congress, that also means the President...and to think he swore an oath "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.". I think it's crucial we hold him to that oath or get rid of him.

[Alan Klein]

Trump complained about the press and government before the election and was elected in part because many people agreed with him. As an aside,  I remember decades when liberals hated the CIA because of their shadow government ways.  And all the messes and wars they got us in. 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

When I highlight the words, and hit Bold let's say, nothing happens.  Is there something that's suppose to be set somewhere in Preferences or elsewhere?

No settings required that I'm aware of.

Have you tried a different browser?

Otherwise, I'd ask the Forum support people.

Cheers,
Bart

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I can't seem to get the quote and other italics, bold etc working.  What am I doing wrong?

Don't know about you, but it happens to me occasionally: when previewing a draft response, especially a long one, or when quoting, I sometimes start highlighting (for bolding, italics, etc.) not inside the draft window, but inside the preview one. Highlighting works, but then nothing happens when trying to, say, bold it. I then have to move to the draft window and it works there, of course. But that's just me, you might have the same issue, or an intirely different one.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Trump complained about the press and government before the election and was elected in part because many people agreed with him.

Trump complains about, or sues, anybody who doesn't agree with him and might expose his errors. Of course, creating a common (abstract) enemy, like the dishonest press (who'd want that?), Iran (unknown is scary), Mexicans stealing your jobs (not the jobs you'd like to do, and at those wage levels), the 'political elite', etc, is one of the first things done to make people group together in support for 'their savior', and whatever (symbolic, or even counter-productive) solutions he presents.

Critical self-reflection is not Trump's strong suit, the only reflection he likes is from his mirror.

Of course, by spreading Alternative facts (AKA falsehoods) like in the Sweden riot case (he likes to believe propaganda that suits his agenda, facts be damned), someone is bound to reveal the lies and thereby becomes another attacking enemy that needs to be isolated and defeated by his supporters, AKA Trumpettes (who's only function is to cheer/vote for him, he couldn't care less for them otherwise because he only cares about himself).

As an aside,  I remember decades when liberals hated the CIA because of their shadow government ways.  And all the messes and wars they got us in.

Not sure what you are remembering, but maybe it makes sense to keep a tight reign on such organizations, to avoid some of the things (like spying on all citizens without a specific reason) that e.g. Edward Snowden revealed.

Cheers,
Bart

[Alan Goldhammer]

Goldhammer:...However, let us consider that Donald Trump, fresh out of U Penn, decides to go to work for Acme Widget and makes a nice career in the Widget industry eventually rising to CEO.  Would the quality of life in New York be different today?  I don't think so.  The things that made New York (and of course we are speaking of Manhattan but it can probably also extend to parts of Brooklyn these days) were already laid out years before the first Donald Trump development.  All the development in the loft space in Manhattan was underway before Trump and not impacted by his projects at all.

============================================================

I think you ought to come to NYC from Maryland and check on these things before making such a statement. 

We come up to NYC all the time.  My wife's mother has a co-op two blocks off of Union Square that we have used when she is away on travel.  My wife was born in Brooklyn.

[Alan Goldhammer]

They're private because he wants complete control (which is fine).

A number of the Trump real estate holdings are lease rights and minority shares.  If you look closely at the Forbes Article that Alan Klein posted you also see that there were some joint ventures along the way.  His company is complicated with a number of LLCs under the parent holding company.  this is a common way of protecting liability and there is nothing wrong about it; numerous real estate developers do the same thing. 

[Alan Goldhammer]

A lot less, since tradesmen are highly skilled and in demand and most factory workers are less skilled and in less demand.

Phil, salaries are going up for those that do computer assisted manufacturing.  There is a pretty steep learning curve here; it's not the same as putting door panels on cars or riveting things on airplanes.

[scyth]

Phil, salaries are going up for those that do computer assisted manufacturing.  There is a pretty steep learning curve here; it's not the same as putting door panels on cars or riveting things on airplanes.

http://www.iam-boeing-apprenticeship.com/PrepPack.pdf

now remind me how much plumber apprentice is paid ?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Introducing the enemies of the American people:   By George Rodrigue, The Plain Dealer

Yes, the final paragraph says it all:

The nation's founders realized that journalists who told the truth would sometimes anger politicians, and perhaps even be put on enemies lists. They also knew that an attack on the press is an attack on an informed public. That's why the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects freedom of speech, assembly, religion, and the press -- not for journalists, but for the people.

"If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free -- and many times adversarial — press," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaking on NBC's Meet The Press. "And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time — that's how dictators get started."

True words from Sen. John McCain indeed.

Trump's rhetoric about Iran, is also alarming. Does he want to start a war to bolster earnings of the weapons industry, or is it just an instrument to create a common enemy for uniting the people (a WMD scenario)?

Cheers,
Bart