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Showing posts from June, 2018

The Way We Counter China, Ten Approaches

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Art generated by Ideogram in response to author's prompt (Not about Enfield) The way we counter China: 1. Destroy our R&D basic research capability. Check. 2. Scare off foreign students. Check. 3. Discourage investment by putting economy at risk of recession. Check. 4. Let China and EU lead in EV and alternative energy development. Check. 5. Prompt our allies to rebuild supply chains away from America. Check. 6. Undermine the global standing of our leading research universities. Check. 7. Implement mass deportations without a plan to counter our low population replacement rate. Check. 8. Impose an incoherent tariff policy. Check. 9. Prompt China and the EU to spend more on R&D and education in response to trade restrictions. Check. 10. Get into a trade war with China without alternative sources, or a stockpile, of rare earth minerals. Check. 

MGM is dramatically changing downtown Springfield for the better

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MGM casino view from Main Street.  The developers opted for a style in character with surrounding properties. Note the 1940s-style hotel sign.  Red Rose Pizza to the left. It's not obvious from I-91 that a radical transformation is underway in Springfield's downtown. The view from the highway won't give you a sense of the scale of change. For a better understanding, get off the highway and park near Main Street, and prepare to be wowed.  Springfield has a lot of older commercial buildings that have survived redevelopment. It's fortunate in this respect. The city has retained an urban feel. It just needs the stores, shops and restaurants to make that happen.  MGM could have walled off their casino from the city, much like a shopping mall. But they did the exact opposite. They made this development an integrated part of Springfield's downtown. On the casino side of Main Street, MGM has preserved the facades of the older buildings. This section of ...