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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHell must have frozen over
Because as I sit here at our local pizza joint, they have their huge TV screen tuned into MSNBC and not Faux News. I say that because I live in the reddest of red cities in Texas (Plano)
riverbendviewgal
(4,253 posts)Times are a changin....awesome.
narnian60
(3,510 posts)snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)Gothmog
(145,293 posts)sonias
(18,063 posts)Slowly but surely we will get there.
TexasTowelie
(112,232 posts)A friend once made a nasty remark and told me that you know that your neighborhood is going downhill when DART comes to town.
For better or for worse, Plano has become more economically diverse after the telecom bust in 2000. It will be a stretch to see Plano go [font color=blue]blue[/font], but a nice shade of [font color=purple]purple[/font] will be sufficient for awhile!
Saokymo
(273 posts)The times they are a changin'
Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)Could be Midland.
DollarBillHines
(1,922 posts)Memories of Midland...
Now I'm gonna have to pour myself another drink.
On second thought, screw that - I'll drink that bourbon straight from the bottle.
HubertHeaver
(2,522 posts)DollarBillHines
(1,922 posts)or a cult.
There must be thousands of us.
babylonsister
(171,070 posts)I am shocked! and delighted!
rainbow4321
(9,974 posts)Not the weekend Lockup marathon !! The Ed Show is on!
panader0
(25,816 posts)bluestate10
(10,942 posts)I have traveled in the South, I am surprised with MSNBC even being a channel option. Typically, it is either Fox news or some other rightwing bullshit mouthpiece. Heaven help the blue voters there and those voters need to keep fighting their asses off with financial and logistical help from those of us that live in blue states.
decrepittex
(53 posts)every available package; MSNBC only with an upgrade. The norm here in my part of Texas is Faux on every TV in every business you enter. I was shocked when I walked
into a Motel near Houston this past weekend and CNN was playing. Hopefully Texas will become a blue state in 2016. We can hope.
JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)siligut
(12,272 posts)Than shutting down Fox and Rush.
w8liftinglady
(23,278 posts)Collin County Democrats are an active bunch,I hear...
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)hope the pizza was fantastic....I love pizza and this news
uponit7771
(90,347 posts)x
mike dub
(541 posts)as a friend in Chattanooga used to say.
Wasn't sure that Plano was reddest of the red in Texas (my great-aunt is from there). I thought there were more rural/redder areas in Texas.
Hope the MSNBC tuning spreads down to Houston and beyond.
rainbow4321
(9,974 posts)Residents ignore the fact that the county thrived during the Clinton era and tanked when chimp entered the picture. Foreclosures went thru the roof, families used to being well off found themselves having to eye local food banks and other assistance or having to take much lower paying jobs once the telecom bubble burst (we are on the edge of what was dubbed The Telecom Corridor because of all those huge businesses along our stretch of the highway here).
So having tanked so badly financially when the national economy suffered under the chimp's regime, county officials turned their interests to the health care profession, begged hospitals that were/are based in Dallas to open branch hospitals up here so now we have what seems like a huge hospital on every street corner competing. As each new one pops up, they get more sparkly and high tech and doctors (with their patients) flock to the newest one. The oldest one in town at one point had such a drop in census they had to lay off nurses a few years back cuz they could not compete.
Plano is better demographically than it was back when I moved here 20+ years ago because of the influx of California and East Coast workers who had their huge businesses move here or open branches here...so there IS hope!
But make no mistake, we still have a ways to go, our county sheriff just yesterday announced he will NOT "enforce" any new federal laws that go into effect that are about "gun control"...and one of the nation's largest gun indoor ranges is being built just up the street on Frisco!
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)Never thought of Plano as being that red.
Redford
(373 posts)I must go there and give them some business!!!!
rainbow4321
(9,974 posts)robinlynne
(15,481 posts)bluerum
(6,109 posts)virgogal
(10,178 posts)Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)I dread the oil bill this month. Last mo it was over $700.00 and we didn't have any of this freekin frigged weather.
virgogal
(10,178 posts)tpsbmam
(3,927 posts)(Did I really need to show I was dripping sarcasm with that one?)
Left Coast2020
(2,397 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)There really is such a place.
longship
(40,416 posts)It's the best restaurant in town... It's the only restaurant in town. Don't expect to leave hungry... Or sober.
TxDemChem
(1,918 posts)Now if Plano can spread some of that to Denton, Flower Mound and Lewisville, that would make my day!
Ishoutandscream2
(6,662 posts)Liberal In Red State
(442 posts)rainbow4321
(9,974 posts)Good, unique pizza and a bunch of other good food. When I first moved dowtown over 2 years ago it was a sleepy little strip of mom and pop pubs/restaurants downtown. Now it is thriving. When I tried to go a few months ago on a Saturday night to Urban Crust, they told me it would be over an hour wait!
After that, I have learned to go there middle of the week or midday on a weekend day.
That's when I knew the downtown secret was "out". It's good to see the local places get biz. Because I live downtown and can walk to all the places there, the majority my "going out to eat" is there instead of the megachain restaurants in the city.
It is a three story place, top floor being an open air place to sit with a cool view of all around. That area is called "32 Degree Rooftop Bar".
moc
(1,750 posts)Their youngest daughter went to elementary school with my daughter and they were good friends for a time. They parted ways after elementary school, though, as their daughter went eastern cluster, and my daughter went central (she's at PSHS now).
Liberal In Red State
(442 posts)the 32 Degree Bar! You're right about the mega chain eateries! That makes up most if the establishments in Plano.
Phlem
(6,323 posts)That's where my wife lived for most of her youth. East Plano I think was her high school?
She's turned out for the better.
Small world.
-p
rainbow4321
(9,974 posts)Great school for academics and sports. It has the IB program and lots of AP classes..my oldest got A LOT of her college classes out of the way and skipped pretty much the first 2 semesters of the basic college classes because she got credit at PESH classes. The PESH theater dept there got her pointed in the right direction for her career choice that she loves...she graduated in the top 10 percent of her PESH class (not easy thing since her grad class had 1,200 kids), went to UT, got a degree from the theater dept and does stage manager work.
Phlem
(6,323 posts)That school does seem to put out brilliant kids. Doing what you love is SO important these days. That's what I do and it makes the day swim by.
I got lucky is all I can say.
Take Care and I hope to see your daughters name on Broadway some day!
-p
tiredtoo
(2,949 posts)i was at a local car dealer last week and they had headline news on the tv. This is in Michigan but, i have seen a lot of faux in many local business here. And i have always expressed my displeasure with it.
LisaLynne
(14,554 posts)many places around where I live that have switched from Faux lately. Unfortunately, my favorite pizza place still has them on, but hey, maybe the trend will continue.
Mira
(22,380 posts)In waiting rooms or doctor's offices it used to be Fox for sure, and I would complain every time. Now I say thank you for having it turned to a good station that presents real news.
I don't mention the name "Fox" lest it gives them ideas.
virgogal
(10,178 posts)go to the doctor's quite a bit because of my age.
Mira
(22,380 posts)If I find Fox on I ask the people waiting if anyone is watching - if no I ask the person in charge of the desk to turn it off. If yes, I ask for a different waiting room. I once waited outside, once in a big storage room.
I'm brutal and do not budge.
Used to do that when Limbaugh was piped into stores. Asked for the manager and told him/her that I would not return to the store
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)virgogal
(10,178 posts)B Calm
(28,762 posts)in a small town in the reddest part of Indiana. Sitting in the waiting room I was amazed they had their TV on MSNBC!
Cha
(297,282 posts)here!
littlemissmartypants
(22,691 posts)Last edited Fri Jan 25, 2013, 03:34 PM - Edit history (1)
The sea of Davids. Correction: not a sea an army... my gut told me I wasn't right so I had to revisit...
as in...
An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths
by Glenn H. Reynolds
Book Description
Publication Date: February 6, 2007
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when large companies and powerful governments reigned supreme over the little guy. But new technologies are empowering individuals like never before, and the Davids of the world-the amateur journalists, musicians, and small businessmen and women-are suddenly making a huge economic and social impact.
In Army of Davids, author Glenn Reynolds, the man behind the immensely popular Instapundit.com, provides an in-depth, big-picture point-of-view for a world where the small guys matter more and more. Reynolds explores the birth and growth of the individual's surprisingly strong influence in: arts and entertainment, anti-terrorism, nanotech and space research, and much more.
The balance of power between the individual and the organization is finally evening out. And it's high time the Goliaths of the world pay attention, because, as this book proves, an army of Davids is on the rise.
"George Orwell feared that technology would enable dictators to enslave the masses. Glenn Reynolds shows that technology can empower individuals to determine their own futures and to defeat those who would enslave us. This is a book of profound importance-and also a darn good read."
-MICHAEL BARONE, senior writer at U.S. News & World Report and author of Hard America, Soft America
"Blogger extraordinaire Glenn Reynolds shows how average Americans can use new technologies to overcome the twin demons of corporate greed and incompetent government. Reynolds is a compelling evangelist for the power of the individual to change our world."
-ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, author of Pigs at the Trough and Fanatics and Fools
"A smart, fun tour of a major social and economic trend. From home-brewed beer to blogging, Glenn Reynolds is an engaging, uniquely qualified guide to the do-it-yourself movements transforming business, politics, and media."
-VIRGINIA POSTREL, Forbes columnist and author of The Future and its Enemies and The Substance of Style
"A student in her dorm room now commands the resources of a multi-million dollar music recording or movie editing studio of not so many years ago. The tools of creativity have been democratized and the tools of production are not far behind (Karl Marx take note). Glenn Reynolds's beguiling new book tells the insightful story of how an 'army of Davids' is inheriting the Earth, leaving a trail of obsolete business models not to mention cultural, economic, and political institutions in its wake."
-RAY KURZWEIL, scientist, inventor, and author of several books including The Singularity is Near
'Must-read,' 'gotta have,' 'culture-changing' . . . I am suspicious of blurbs with such overused plugs. But Glenn Reynolds's An Army of Davids is in fact a must-read new book that you gotta have if you are going to understand the culture-changing forces that are unleashed and at work across the globe.
-HUGH HEWITT, syndicated talk radio host and author of Blog and Painting the Map Red
"Glenn Reynolds has written an essential book for understanding how technology and markets are creating a bottom-up shift in power to ordinary people that is changing business, government, and our world. Packed with fresh ideas and adorned with graceful prose, An Army of Davids is a masterpiece."
-JOE TRIPPI, author of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
"I cannot think of a better book for the average reader to understand just how the Web and other digital technologies are reversing the polarities of modern society-restoring many features of daily life lost with the Industrial Revolution, while at the same time inventing powerful new cultural institutions. And for those of us who make careers out of watching this transformation, no book to date so well summarizes all of the diverse trends in a single narrative."
-MICHAEL MALONE, "Silicon Insider," ABC News
"Reynolds' highly informative book-a must-read if you want to have some idea of the direction things are taking-is about a lot more than the effect of blogging on Big Media. Its theme is 'the triumph of personal technology over mass technology,' which is a trend Reynolds believes is only 'going to strengthen over the coming decades.'"
- FRANK WILSON, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Instapundit's book reads fast. . . It's just one big idea after another, like a Hollywood thriller that piles on the plot rather than stopping to tie up the loose ends. . . He's fearless. . ."
-MICKEY KAUS, Kausfiles
"The book covers everything from home-brewing beer to space travel, but all the themes are connected by Glenn's faith in human imagination and creativity. It's a must-read for anyone interested in where technology is taking us."
-JIM MEIGS, Popular Mechanics
"Reynolds comes across as a good-humored, reasonable and even modest fellow, so it is astonishing to realize just how ambitious An Army of Davids really is. A hundred years ago, nobody could accurately explain or predict just where the Industrial Revolution would take us. Now, Reynolds attempts nothing short of explaining and predicting where the Information Revolution will take us. . . I will make a prediction-in December, when lists of the most important books of the year are drawn up, this one will be near the top."
- JAMES L. MERRINER, Chicago Sun-Times
"Reynolds argues that we are undergoing a sea change. The balance of advantage-in every aspect of society-is shifting from big organizations to small ones. . . Reynolds presents his case with verve and wit."
-ADRIAN WOOLDRIDGE, Wall Street Journal
". . . crisp and readable. . . "
-The Economist
"Glenn Reynolds isn't just the author of An Army of Davids. He's a living, breathing embodiment of the book's attractive and persuasive thesis. . ."
-NICK GILLESPIE, New York Post
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Army_of_Davids
Peace and Power to We the People! lmsp
flamingdem
(39,313 posts)Cha
(297,282 posts)hell has frozen over in Plano, Tx, rainbow!
sheshe2
(83,786 posts)for the better!
Myrina
(12,296 posts)Every.damn.day. It saddens me to glance around the room to see how many folks are slack-jawed, absorbing the bullshit.
I try to go out to lunch whenever I can but this week it's been extremely cold, and closing in on payday, so "lunching out" hasn't been an option.
littlemissmartypants
(22,691 posts)Your state may be purple by now.
judesedit
(4,439 posts)Island Blue
(5,816 posts)and welcome the change!
shenmue
(38,506 posts)They used to have Fox on two out of six TVs, at the gym I used to go to. So glad I found a different one.
TBF
(32,064 posts)K&R from south of Houston.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)TXN in WA
(102 posts)Montrose, Houston
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Howdy, neighbor!
Left Coast2020
(2,397 posts)I lived in Beaumont (never will leave dark side) and Houston. I liked the way people actually do stuff if it needs to be done. Well, only some are like that.