Ironhold

If you were to take a look at a modern (2000s-plus) marketing program at your average business college, you'd be in tears for how much of it is essentially psychological warfare. The general idea is to get inside of a person's head, see what makes them tick, and use it against them in such a fashion that they're doing what you want them to do while still thinking it's their own idea. Everything from the arrangement of elements in an advertising copy to the arrangement of products in an actual store is designed to attack your grey matter and part you from your money. 
This overall tendency was noted as early as the 1980s (for example, Marvel Comics writer Larry Hama, himself a military veteran, made fun of this when he introduced the G. I. Joe team's psychological warfare expert in 1987), but it's really ramped up since then. 
Throw in the criminal justice training I've had and my 20+ years of experience dealing with cyber-bullies and other individuals online, and yeah... let's just say there are things I don't expect to be forgiven for. 
A big part of what I do now as a newspaper writer is break down for my readers what sorts of games companies and other entities are playing with them and how they can turn it around. 
 
 
As far as the transportation sector goes, this is another unpaid bill. 
For several generations now, kids in the US were made to dance to the drum beat of "college is for winners, trade school is for losers". To go to a trade school, even if that's where someone's aptitude lay, was seen as "failure" and could bring shame and stigma. In fact, there are college types who won't even talk to anyone who doesn't likewise have a college degree of their same level. As a result, we're desperately short-handed when it comes to many of the skilled trades, including heavy vehicle operators. There just aren't enough truckers, train conductors, forklift operators, aircraft pilots, naval crew members, and others to keep the supply lines properly running. 

As I've mentioned before, I have an MBA and have been trained in what is essentially psychological warfare. 
This has allowed me to predict several things that have happened over the years, even if only in general terms. 
I've been telling everyone for some time now that we're looking at a period of great cultural, societal, and even legal upheaval as a lot of unpaid bills come due and the consequences of the last few decades' "social experiments" come about. 
...And yet there are people who are *still* taken by surprise when such-and-such event happens despite my warning that such a thing could occur. 
It's frustrating, I agree. 

Thanks to a sudden manic phase, I completed three weeks' worth of columns in a single day, something I haven't done in over a year. 
I basically have all of my weekly columns done for July now given my seasonal "Christmas In July" piece. 

Thanks to a sudden manic phase, I completed three weeks' worth of columns in a single day, something I haven't done in over a year. 
I basically have all of my weekly columns done for July now given my seasonal "Christmas In July" piece. 

The controversy is that officially undergoing gender reassignment has permanent consequences. Even the hormones and other chemicals can be life-altering if someone holds to the routine for too long regardless of whether or not they actually undergo the physical surgery. 
Basically, it's something that there's no going back from. 
Because of this, quite a few individuals, including individuals who did transition, are objecting to the prospect of minors transitioning, and feel that only legal adults who have undergone psychiatric evaluation should begin the process. This is where the controversy and legal battles are coming from, whether or not minors are informed and mature enough to consent to the process. 

The controversy is that officially undergoing gender reassignment has permanent consequences. Even the hormones and other chemicals can be life-altering if someone holds to the routine for too long regardless of whether or not they actually undergo the physical surgery. 
Basically, it's something that there's no going back from. 
Because of this, quite a few individuals, including individuals who did transition, are objecting to the prospect of minors transitioning, and feel that only legal adults who have undergone psychiatric evaluation should begin the process. This is where the controversy and legal battles are coming from, whether or not minors are informed and mature enough to consent to the process. 

It's the local economies. 
For example, I live in Central Texas. 
Find Austin on a map, follow I-35 north until you hit Belton, then follow I-14 / US Highway 190 west until you get to Fort Hood. That's the part of the state I live in.
Land here has traditionally been quite cheap, and as a result housing is plentiful. Thus, there were periods where it was actually cheaper to *buy* than rent, with military service members using local real estate companies as property managers for their homes while they were deployed abroad or reassigned elsewhere. This has helped to keep the overall cost-of-living down. 
Not only that, remember Fort Hood. A rather large chunk of the people who live and work here are tied to the base in some fashion. They could be actual military service members (in which case they can seek on-base housing instead of living in the city), civilians who work for the military in some fashion (such as clerks or working at an on-base eatery), retirees, or private companies who have contracts to support the military. This means local wages are often tethered to Uncle Sam's wallet, and so anyone who seeks to charge what people on military wages can't afford is going to be in trouble sooner rather than later if they don't have product that is affordable. 
For example, if you were to look around at the vehicles everyone drives, you'll see that people tend to have vehicles like the Kia Soul, Dodge Charger, Toyota Tacoma, and Chevy Suburban. "Luxury" brands like Cadillac and Lexus are rare, but not unheard of. If you're a young hotshot you're likely driving a Dodge Challenger, although you might find yourself up against the occasional Chevy Camaro, Chevy Corvette, or Nissan 370Z depending upon which neighborhood you blunder into. 
I haven't seen a Lamborghini around here in over a decade, and the only Porsche I'm aware of is a vintage number from the 80s someone keeps for car shows. 

I first moved to my present city in 1990 when the Army reassigned my dad to the local military base. 
As we moved over Winter Break, we didn't have a lot of time and so a relative agreed to put us up for the rest of the school year. My parents used the time to find a house, and we found a nice rental property about a mile or so away from where we already were. Not only was it a nice neighborhood, it meant that my brothers and I could stay in the same schools. The house itself had an odd layout (for example, since it was on an intersection, the front door faced one street but the garage another), and we had to install drainage to keep it from flooding, but there were two massive pear trees in the back yard that kept us in fresh fruit. 
About two years later, however, we were informed that the landlord was coming back and so we had to vacate. Thus, we moved to our present house on the other end of town.
I drive past the old house when I'm running my delivery route, and noticed that after what seemed like years of being empty it was now being cleaned up and repaired. Sure enough, a for sale sign finally went up in the front yard. 
A sense of nostalgia caused me to look up the online real estate listings and I did a double-take.
Yes, they removed a wall that was in an awkward location, a wall I honestly thought was structural. 
...But the bathrooms and the kitchen were the exact same as they'd been when we lived there 30 years ago, barring the additional 30 years' wear and tear. 
Yet despite this the listing was for $135,500 and there was a tag reading "sale pending". 
Either the housing market in my part of Texas is getting super hot right now, or something screwy is going on. 
 
Anyone else have any such encounters regarding houses they once lived in?

If you were to take a look at a modern (2000s-plus) marketing program at your average business college, you'd be in tears for how much of it is essentially psychological warfare. The general idea is to get inside of a person's head, see what makes them tick, and use it against them in such a fashion that they're doing what you want them to do while still thinking it's their own idea. Everything from the arrangement of elements in an advertising copy to the arrangement of products in an actual store is designed to attack your grey matter and part you from your money. 
This overall tendency was noted as early as the 1980s (for example, Marvel Comics writer Larry Hama, himself a military veteran, made fun of this when he introduced the G. I. Joe team's psychological warfare expert in 1987), but it's really ramped up since then. 
Throw in the criminal justice training I've had and my 20+ years of experience dealing with cyber-bullies and other individuals online, and yeah... let's just say there are things I don't expect to be forgiven for. 
A big part of what I do now as a newspaper writer is break down for my readers what sorts of games companies and other entities are playing with them and how they can turn it around. 
 
 
As far as the transportation sector goes, this is another unpaid bill. 
For several generations now, kids in the US were made to dance to the drum beat of "college is for winners, trade school is for losers". To go to a trade school, even if that's where someone's aptitude lay, was seen as "failure" and could bring shame and stigma. In fact, there are college types who won't even talk to anyone who doesn't likewise have a college degree of their same level. As a result, we're desperately short-handed when it comes to many of the skilled trades, including heavy vehicle operators. There just aren't enough truckers, train conductors, forklift operators, aircraft pilots, naval crew members, and others to keep the supply lines properly running. 

The church didn't decide to plunk it down in the middle of a busy district; the busy district came to the temple.

Speaking as an MBA with marketing training?
Any group, person, or organization can say whatever they want one month of the year. 
It's what they *do* the other 11 that you have to keep an eye out on. 
For example, right now there's a to-do on Twitter because the Saudi Arabian branches of several global businesses are *not* displaying the "Pride" images and statements on the official global accounts, and people are grilling these companies as to why. 

Speaking as an MBA with marketing training?
Any group, person, or organization can say whatever they want one month of the year. 
It's what they *do* the other 11 that you have to keep an eye out on. 
For example, right now there's a to-do on Twitter because the Saudi Arabian branches of several global businesses are *not* displaying the "Pride" images and statements on the official global accounts, and people are grilling these companies as to why. 

If you were to take a look at a modern (2000s-plus) marketing program at your average business college, you'd be in tears for how much of it is essentially psychological warfare. The general idea is to get inside of a person's head, see what makes them tick, and use it against them in such a fashion that they're doing what you want them to do while still thinking it's their own idea. Everything from the arrangement of elements in an advertising copy to the arrangement of products in an actual store is designed to attack your grey matter and part you from your money. 
This overall tendency was noted as early as the 1980s (for example, Marvel Comics writer Larry Hama, himself a military veteran, made fun of this when he introduced the G. I. Joe team's psychological warfare expert in 1987), but it's really ramped up since then. 
Throw in the criminal justice training I've had and my 20+ years of experience dealing with cyber-bullies and other individuals online, and yeah... let's just say there are things I don't expect to be forgiven for. 
A big part of what I do now as a newspaper writer is break down for my readers what sorts of games companies and other entities are playing with them and how they can turn it around. 
 
 
As far as the transportation sector goes, this is another unpaid bill. 
For several generations now, kids in the US were made to dance to the drum beat of "college is for winners, trade school is for losers". To go to a trade school, even if that's where someone's aptitude lay, was seen as "failure" and could bring shame and stigma. In fact, there are college types who won't even talk to anyone who doesn't likewise have a college degree of their same level. As a result, we're desperately short-handed when it comes to many of the skilled trades, including heavy vehicle operators. There just aren't enough truckers, train conductors, forklift operators, aircraft pilots, naval crew members, and others to keep the supply lines properly running. 

It's the local economies. 
For example, I live in Central Texas. 
Find Austin on a map, follow I-35 north until you hit Belton, then follow I-14 / US Highway 190 west until you get to Fort Hood. That's the part of the state I live in.
Land here has traditionally been quite cheap, and as a result housing is plentiful. Thus, there were periods where it was actually cheaper to *buy* than rent, with military service members using local real estate companies as property managers for their homes while they were deployed abroad or reassigned elsewhere. This has helped to keep the overall cost-of-living down. 
Not only that, remember Fort Hood. A rather large chunk of the people who live and work here are tied to the base in some fashion. They could be actual military service members (in which case they can seek on-base housing instead of living in the city), civilians who work for the military in some fashion (such as clerks or working at an on-base eatery), retirees, or private companies who have contracts to support the military. This means local wages are often tethered to Uncle Sam's wallet, and so anyone who seeks to charge what people on military wages can't afford is going to be in trouble sooner rather than later if they don't have product that is affordable. 
For example, if you were to look around at the vehicles everyone drives, you'll see that people tend to have vehicles like the Kia Soul, Dodge Charger, Toyota Tacoma, and Chevy Suburban. "Luxury" brands like Cadillac and Lexus are rare, but not unheard of. If you're a young hotshot you're likely driving a Dodge Challenger, although you might find yourself up against the occasional Chevy Camaro, Chevy Corvette, or Nissan 370Z depending upon which neighborhood you blunder into. 
I haven't seen a Lamborghini around here in over a decade, and the only Porsche I'm aware of is a vintage number from the 80s someone keeps for car shows. 

For those who are thinking of moving to my part of Texas but working in Austin, there are three primary ways to get there - 
One way is to take Farm-To-Market Road 2657 west of Copperas Cove and ride it south to the city of Burnet, where you catch a state highway through to the heart of Austin. However, there's a part of 2657 where you go down a hillside and *immediately* wind up on a bridge over a valley. If your car isn't up to snuff, you're not paying attention, or the road is slick, you're going over the railing. Also, the portion of the state highway that runs through Austin has been converted into a toll road. 
Another way is to take State Highway 195 from Killeen south through Ding Dong & Florence before winding up at Georgetown. But parts of that route are so dangerous, especially at night, that Fort Hood once forbade its soldiers from taking that route. This is due to the numerous blind curves and elevation changes once you get south of Florence. 
Hence most people taking I-14 / US 190 to Belton, then taking I-35 south to Austin. It's a little more out of the way and is often crowded, but it's safer.

30 to 45? 
Double that.
Although there are three ways to get to Austin from here, two of them are physically dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and/or there's inclement weather. So most everyone takes I-35, causing it to be jammed. 
That being said, depending upon what kind of work you're doing and what job skills you have, you might find something in this area anyway. While the powers-that-be in Copperas Cove *insist* upon keeping Cove as a bedroom community (I'll believe that they're serious about the Hills shopping center when I see them break ground...), Killeen, Harker Heights, Belton, and Gatesville are all plowing ahead on expansion, with Belton actually now hosting its own Comic Con each August. 
Failing this, you've also got Temple and Waco to the northeast, both of which are major cities in their own right. 
Focus on what job listings you can find for your career field, and that'll tell you where it'd be best to set up camp, especially with everyone from California and New York coming in & driving up housing prices.

Oooo - like the unnamed parents of the lady who married Hawkeye in the MCU?   That would be a fun story.  I can see a lot of different ways it would go, based on the parents' personalities.  Like an annoyingly-clueless-to-the-point-of-being-dangerous character like Lwaxana Troi.  Or a greying-former-military parent who gets it, and runs a safehouse for daughter and person.  
Or, the daughter makes up some cover story that buys silence, like "dude is a mob informant".

It's the local economies. 
For example, I live in Central Texas. 
Find Austin on a map, follow I-35 north until you hit Belton, then follow I-14 / US Highway 190 west until you get to Fort Hood. That's the part of the state I live in.
Land here has traditionally been quite cheap, and as a result housing is plentiful. Thus, there were periods where it was actually cheaper to *buy* than rent, with military service members using local real estate companies as property managers for their homes while they were deployed abroad or reassigned elsewhere. This has helped to keep the overall cost-of-living down. 
Not only that, remember Fort Hood. A rather large chunk of the people who live and work here are tied to the base in some fashion. They could be actual military service members (in which case they can seek on-base housing instead of living in the city), civilians who work for the military in some fashion (such as clerks or working at an on-base eatery), retirees, or private companies who have contracts to support the military. This means local wages are often tethered to Uncle Sam's wallet, and so anyone who seeks to charge what people on military wages can't afford is going to be in trouble sooner rather than later if they don't have product that is affordable. 
For example, if you were to look around at the vehicles everyone drives, you'll see that people tend to have vehicles like the Kia Soul, Dodge Charger, Toyota Tacoma, and Chevy Suburban. "Luxury" brands like Cadillac and Lexus are rare, but not unheard of. If you're a young hotshot you're likely driving a Dodge Challenger, although you might find yourself up against the occasional Chevy Camaro, Chevy Corvette, or Nissan 370Z depending upon which neighborhood you blunder into. 
I haven't seen a Lamborghini around here in over a decade, and the only Porsche I'm aware of is a vintage number from the 80s someone keeps for car shows. 

In my area, a house that size in that condition would normally only go for $85K at most because of where it's located. 
The housing market has gotten so hot they were asking an extra $50K for it. 

In my area, a house that size in that condition would normally only go for $85K at most because of where it's located. 
The housing market has gotten so hot they were asking an extra $50K for it. 

I've been taking a look at mass shooting events since the early 2000s when I was super into politics.
What I found is that the vast majority of shooters I looked at either:
1. had overt warning signs of mental instability
2. had a substance abuse issue
3. were known to the authorities, who failed to intervene
4. some combination thereof
For example, the guy who shot up Virginia Tech was clearly unwell his entire life, but his family feared taking him for treatment because they presumed there would be a stigma.
Or with Nidal Hassan, his co-workers at Walter Reed Army Hospital had every reason to believe he'd become unstable, but feared that since they were white and he was Middle Eastern any attempts to report him would end with *them* being flagged as "racist" and so they never spoke up.
The school shooter in Florida? Numerous reports to law enforcement about erratic, unstable, and potentially dangerous behavior. No action.
Sandy Hook? The shooter was *legally prohibited* from owning guns, so his mother bought them and he took them from her after killing her.
Southerland Springs church shooting? The shooter was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force for domestic violence, but the Air Force failed to report this to the federal background check database and so it never turned up.
Et cetra.
It's this, the human element, that needs to be examined more closely.

I've been taking a look at mass shooting events since the early 2000s when I was super into politics.
What I found is that the vast majority of shooters I looked at either:
1. had overt warning signs of mental instability
2. had a substance abuse issue
3. were known to the authorities, who failed to intervene
4. some combination thereof
For example, the guy who shot up Virginia Tech was clearly unwell his entire life, but his family feared taking him for treatment because they presumed there would be a stigma.
Or with Nidal Hassan, his co-workers at Walter Reed Army Hospital had every reason to believe he'd become unstable, but feared that since they were white and he was Middle Eastern any attempts to report him would end with *them* being flagged as "racist" and so they never spoke up.
The school shooter in Florida? Numerous reports to law enforcement about erratic, unstable, and potentially dangerous behavior. No action.
Sandy Hook? The shooter was *legally prohibited* from owning guns, so his mother bought them and he took them from her after killing her.
Southerland Springs church shooting? The shooter was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force for domestic violence, but the Air Force failed to report this to the federal background check database and so it never turned up.
Et cetra.
It's this, the human element, that needs to be examined more closely.

I've been taking a look at mass shooting events since the early 2000s when I was super into politics.
What I found is that the vast majority of shooters I looked at either:
1. had overt warning signs of mental instability
2. had a substance abuse issue
3. were known to the authorities, who failed to intervene
4. some combination thereof
For example, the guy who shot up Virginia Tech was clearly unwell his entire life, but his family feared taking him for treatment because they presumed there would be a stigma.
Or with Nidal Hassan, his co-workers at Walter Reed Army Hospital had every reason to believe he'd become unstable, but feared that since they were white and he was Middle Eastern any attempts to report him would end with *them* being flagged as "racist" and so they never spoke up.
The school shooter in Florida? Numerous reports to law enforcement about erratic, unstable, and potentially dangerous behavior. No action.
Sandy Hook? The shooter was *legally prohibited* from owning guns, so his mother bought them and he took them from her after killing her.
Southerland Springs church shooting? The shooter was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force for domestic violence, but the Air Force failed to report this to the federal background check database and so it never turned up.
Et cetra.
It's this, the human element, that needs to be examined more closely.

I've been taking a look at mass shooting events since the early 2000s when I was super into politics.
What I found is that the vast majority of shooters I looked at either:
1. had overt warning signs of mental instability
2. had a substance abuse issue
3. were known to the authorities, who failed to intervene
4. some combination thereof
For example, the guy who shot up Virginia Tech was clearly unwell his entire life, but his family feared taking him for treatment because they presumed there would be a stigma.
Or with Nidal Hassan, his co-workers at Walter Reed Army Hospital had every reason to believe he'd become unstable, but feared that since they were white and he was Middle Eastern any attempts to report him would end with *them* being flagged as "racist" and so they never spoke up.
The school shooter in Florida? Numerous reports to law enforcement about erratic, unstable, and potentially dangerous behavior. No action.
Sandy Hook? The shooter was *legally prohibited* from owning guns, so his mother bought them and he took them from her after killing her.
Southerland Springs church shooting? The shooter was dishonorably discharged from the Air Force for domestic violence, but the Air Force failed to report this to the federal background check database and so it never turned up.
Et cetra.
It's this, the human element, that needs to be examined more closely.

I'm here in *Texas* and the news is flying fast & furious. Give it a few hours for the media to get the facts together.