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[nickgerlich]

Back To The Mall

Sometimes I like to return to the well of a topic we have already touched on, albeit only a few days ago. It’s just that the topic lends itself to so many discussions, and can be explored in much greater depth by revisiting it. And it helps when it is one of your favorite discussion topics.

I’m talking about the shopping mall, y’all, not because I love to shop, but because when I ponder their very existence, I see more than just retailing. They are a shining example of social engineering.

When Austrian architect Victor Gruen designed the first fully enclosed mall in the US, the Southdale Center in Edina Minnesota, he envisioned a new Main Street, a new Central Business District (CBD) for the modern era. Whereas we had previously gone downtown to tall department stores with mom-and-pop shops sandwiched between, we could now go to one place and never have to step foot outside this climate-controlled behemoth that was a world unto its own.

With the new emphasis on inward-facing commerce, malls did not have to look pretty on the outside. They could just be nondescript big boxes, with the major tenants’ names on their end cap buildings but little more. It could be described as Brutalist architecture, a fad that took root in the 1950s.

Thanks to a story about malls running on CNN.com, I was nudged to digress a bit. Good timing, too, since Retail is one of our topics of the week.

Shopping malls and casinos have two things in common: No windows, and no clocks. The goal is for the folks on the inside to completely lose track of time, to get lost in their escape from reality, to part with more of their hard-earned cash. And yes, it was cash back then, not plastic.

When you are cognizant of time, or the weather outside, or darkness, etc., your mind starts to drift back to reality. As soon as that happens, it’s all downhill for both the retailer and casino operator.

In some regards, the enclosed mall is like the manufactured community represented in The Truman Show, so utterly fake yet completely believable. Everything is orchestrated and scripted, and as long as you suspend rational thought, you are one with the eco-system.

I am not so old that I was around for Gruen’s masterpiece to open, but I wasn’t far off. I recall growing up in Harvey Illinois, one of Chicago’s south suburbs. I lived a middle class existence, with a younger brother, a father who took the train every day to his job downtown, and a mother who held down the fort. We went shopping at what was then a marvel of retail, the Dixie Square Mall that opened in 1966.

As malls go, it was actually quite different from what we see today. It had a JC Penney and Montgomery Ward as anchor tenants, but then also had a supermarket, a rarity in the modern era. I guess they weren’t thinking too much, because if you buy groceries, the odds are good you need to get home with your perishables, and not venture into the department stores or other shops. On a hot summer day, your burgers could be grilled before you ever got home.

There was also a large centerpiece artsy thing, not exactly a fountain, but it looked like one with hundreds of nylon strings or whatever vertically hung from the ceiling, and water or oil droplets slowly cascading downward on those lines, only to be recycled back to top in a never ending loop. Well, at least that’s how I remember it. It was mesmerizing, and you could look at it for hours. Gruen envisioned these centerpieces as being where shoppers congregated for conversation, taking a break from their shopping.

I also recall the Woolworth, basically a huge so-called dime store filled with trinkets, toys, crafts, fabric, and the like. And next door was the Harvest House Cafeteria, not much unlike the Furr’s Cafeterias we have had in Texas. You went through a line, pointed to the things you wanted, and someone handed it to you. It wasn’t a three-Michelin-star experience, but for middle class folks, it may as well have been. “Meatloaf…some mashed potatoes…green beans, …oh, and a slice of lemon meringue pie, please. Thank you.” We went often on Sundays after church.

As we have already discussed, malls eventually starting falling into disfavor, their carefully constructed micro-environments contributing to the ennui of multiple generations. And as for Dixie Square, it met its demise much sooner than most malls, because by November 1978, it was shuttered after only 12 years of existence. Turns out that Harvey underwent a different kind of social change, this time white flight as the city became increasingly black. Crime shot up. There were muggings and shootings, and no one wanted to shop there, especially after dark. I must also point out that back then Chicago was very racist. Everyone hated everybody else.

Director John Landis rented the vacant mall in 1979 to shoot a scene for The Blues Brothers movie, featuring a chase scene that found cops in pursuit of Elwood and Jake Blues right through a well-stocked mall. You can imagine the chaotic scene, or watch it online. They trashed the place, not bothering to clean it up, and left it for Mother Nature to reclaim.

That mall soon became legendary among Urban Explorers. Murders and drug deals did not deter people from wanting to check it out, myself included. I went in the summer of 2010—yeah, it was still standing—but by 2012, after decades of deciding who would pay for the asbestos abatement, it was demolished.

In many regards, Dixie Square became emblematic of a failed social experiment, the very one championed by Gruen. In fact, Gruen, who was a socialist, came to loathe his contribution to society. Then again, the notion of climate-controlled environments was popular back then, witnessed in little terrariums people bought for their homes, usually with multiple strata of differently colored sand, pebbles, and cactuses. By the late-80s, we even had Biosphere 2, a fully enclosed research facility in Arizona designed to study the living systems of Earth.

Along the way, as malls grew in popularity, we lost the heart and soul of our communities. Downtowns became ghost towns. The neon nights of old, with each shop sporting its own luminescent sign hung over their doorway, flickered and went away, replaced by the banalities of our suburban existence.

Maybe the current trend away from malls will cause us to reconsider our collective past, and find us clamoring about to build new city centers, complete with department stores and the little shops in between. I have my doubts, but a guy can dream. The answer will probably be somewhere in the middle, with, as I have said before, a lot of strip malls all outward facing. It’s better than the mall as we know it.

As for this grand social experiment, we can say that it served us for a season, but in the end, the rats in the maze won out and we rebelled.

Dr “Let’s Re-Engineer This” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[findingtruewealth]

Threads: the newly released social media app from Instagram

Article from CNN.com

Facebook has tried to compete with Twitter in numerous ways over the years, including copying signature Twitter features such as hashtags and trending topics. But now Facebook’s parent company is taking perhaps its biggest swipe at Twitter yet.

Meta on Wednesday officially launched a new app called Threads, which is intended to offer a space for real-time conversations online, a function that has long been Twitter’s core selling point.

The app appears to have many similarities to Twitter, from the layout to the product description. The listing, which first appeared earlier this week as a teaser, emphasizes its potential to build a following and connect with like-minded people.

“The vision for Threads is to create an option and friendly public space for conversation,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Threads post following the launch. “We hope to take what Instagram does best and create a new experience around text, ideas, and discussing what’s on your mind.”

The app’s listing describes it as a place where communities can come together to discuss everything from the topics they care about today to what’s trending.

“Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world,” it reads.

Meta said messages posted to Threads will have a 500 character limit. The company said it was bringing the app to 100 countries via Apple’s iOS and Android.

After downloading the app, users are asked to link up their Instagram page, customize their profile and follow the same accounts they already follow on Instagram. The look is similar to Twitter with a familiar layout, text-based feed, the ability repost and quote other Thread posts. But it also blends Instagram’s existing aesthetic and offers the ability to share posts from Threads directly to Instagram Stories. Verified Instagram accounts are also automatically verified on Threads. Thread accounts can also be listed as public or private.

The new app joins a growing list of Twitter rivals and could pose the biggest threat to Twitter of the bunch, given Meta’s vast resources and its massive audience.

© 2023 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.

CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.

Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things — or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world.

A few things you can do on Threads…

■ Access your Instagram followers

■ Share your point of view

■ Connect with friends and your favorite creators

■ Control the conversation

Customize your settings and use controls to manage who can see your content, reply to your threads, or mention you.

■ Find ideas and inspiration

■ Never miss a moment

Stay on top of the latest trends and live events.

From Google Play

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details%3Fid%3Dcom.instagram.barcelona%26hl%3Den_US%26gl%3DUS&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwip9oqyqfn_AhVAnGoFHbPKBDoQFnoECAQQAg&usg=AOvVaw2pANpdxMC9qnA1WSLoNFE4

[groovyanchorwerewolf]

SOUL

[kemetic-dreams]

Child molesters!! It’s one thing if it’s that one person or every now and then. Few bad bananas 🍌. This shit is systematic and organized and well known. And if the pope and priests are doing it. 🤔 then the ppl who are catholic doing it too.

[nathanyel7]

#jewish liberals fire #CNNs #MarcLamontHill

[myfaireyre]

[groovyanchorwerewolf]

Use your voice even if you don’t have a big following/audience, sign petitions, go protest, donate if you can, support black-owned business! Don’t be silent!!!

[filmcutpaste-blog]

Earphones makes CNN go away...

[groovyanchorwerewolf]

[kemetic-dreams]

It’s over. Trump about to take the plane into a downward spiral. The United States is getting overwhelming browner. Political parties are so bipolar. It’s done in the generations

[daftyphun]

We lost. But it isn’t over yet. No.

[darnkmemes]

[therealmarxistcamp]

“Caution: You are about to enter a No Spin Zone!”

[groovyanchorwerewolf]

It should be illegal to break someone's heart. The penalty should be a tooth pulled. So eventually if you run out of teeth from breaking so many hearts. It'll be hard for someone to love your toothless ass.

[masterxseawell-blog]

Republicans in the Florida House Are Confused About Case Regarding Assault Weapons

Tuesday, February 20, 2018… Lawmakers in the state of Florida vote on a measure that would have allowed the Legislative body to CONSIDER a piece of legislation that could ban assault weapons in the state. The hearing was attended by survivors of the recent Parkland School shooting. State Republicans decided to vote against this motion to consider the ban. This is in part due to the NRA being a donor to pretty much all of them. I am not saying that the Democrats would not have the NRA backing them as well, I am just saying that they did not vote no on this motion.

Matt Caldwell (R), Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 79th District, had this to say about why he voted no. “Honestly that bill would have been nearly all guns… so let’s be honest about the proposal was. But the House doesn’t pull bills out of the committee.”

- Ok wait, let me be clear about this. He voted no because he believes the bill, that they would never vote yes on, would come to the floor as a bill to ban all weapons. This man is a few cents short of a dollar. He doesn’t seem to understand that they were only voting to see if the House of Representatives would consider a bill to ban assault weapons. Do you see why I am saying this man is obviously a few cards short of full deck? Back to his unbelievable quote…

“The way you read the definition is that essentially all guns would be banned under that bill. It is not just talking about high-capacity rifles. Look, what we need to be focused on is solutions to this.”

- He was asked by CNN about what the definition was. Here is what he has to say…

”I don’t remember. You would have to pull up the bill on the House website. We have an open Government. You can see what was in the bill and would include much more than just assault rifles.”

- This guy is so out of touch with reality it is literally mind numbing. How can you still not understand that this, was a motion to allow a bill to be drafted and then voted on once finished. There was no bill proposed for vote. Only a motion to consider it. He was then told by CNN that clearly it is just his interpretation of the bill. To which he replied…

”No it isn’t just my interpretation, it is on the House website and I encourage anyone to look it up. And remember Florida has a record of sunshine. You can see what the definition was on the bill that was proposed. But again we want to get to a real debate on this. We want to have a debate in our committee process. We are committed to do that. We are waiting for the Governor to give us his recommendations and he has been meeting with people all day yesterday. And I even spoke with some Parkland Survivors today, and I got to hear what they had to say and what their suggestions are. Some of which, I think, we can work on.”

- I really am having a hard time believing that he would even consider some of their plans. Because their plans include bans on assault rifles and their high capacity magazines. Regardless this man is a complete tool. He believes the real problem is…

“The real problem is Lone-Wolf Terrorists. That is what these people are. Whether you’re motivated by religion, civil unrest or Maniac Fame. Which is what most of it is. We need to identify those individuals. We saw a breakdown here between the FBI, the local Police and the School District, and if there is any way we can help facilitate that, that is what we need to achieve. And then we have to make sure empower to protect themselves. It is no coincidence, no coincidence that these shootings continue to happen in places that we have identified, where no one is able to defend themselves. Nobody can carry concealed. Even though concealed weapon holders are the safest people in our society. You look around in Florida, 2 million people have that permit. If you go to a mall, one out of every ten people that you see is likely, concealed carry. And that is not some problem that is metastasizing, it actually making our streets safer. People are willing to defend themselves and that is what the 2nd Amendment is all about…”

- Let me stop there… I mean, c’mon. Really, man? No one asked about the 2nd Amendment, but these 2nd Amendment Thugs have to throw that it there anytime they have to say anything about guns. In my personal opinion, people who use guns are PUSSIES. And no DONALD, you are not allowed to grab all of them. Caldwell did not have anything else to say. I looked on the website myself, https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?PublicationType=Session&CommitteeId=&Session=2018&DocumentType=Session%20Weekly%20Schedules&FileName=Session%20Weekly%20Schedule%20for%20Week%207%20February%2019%20-%2023,%202018%20-%201st%20Amended.pdf

The bill was a bill to propose hearing a case about a bill banning assault rifles. Not all guns.

SOURCES:

The Ring of Fire on YouTube

TYT on YouTube

CNN on YouTube

FOX on YouTube

MSNBC on YouTube

myfloridahouse.gov

In closing I would like to let everyone know that some of which is in this post is purely my opinion. If you have any problems with the way I speak or any other concerns, I would encourage you to GO-F**K-YOURSELVES. That is all and have a pleasant tomorrow.