Donald Trump's physical as well as mental health has become an issue of late, and that is not even addressing his personality defects as described of him by the person who claimed he was Trump's "best friend" for over a decade 1. Even Fox Business had to scratch its head over evidence of something more extreme than simple narcissism here 2, which was only underlined further by Trump bragging about how he has made transportation “great” again, this time taking credit for Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill in 2021 that improved Amtrak operations.
Perhaps it is fault of voters whose memories are not all that "great" either. Remember when Trump claimed that he was going to create “great” jobs with the “infrastructure” plan he promised his first term? Of course you do, because he talked about it all the time. But just because it is on his brain doesn't mean it has any reality. We can see it was all for show, because he never seemed to get that "urge" to "persuade"--let alone threaten--that initial Republican-controlled Congress to pass such a bill (you know, they had to pass those trillions in tax cuts for billionaires first).
And of course he soon lost interest in that "infrastructure" himself—after all, Trump is really only "good" at selling an image of himself that appeals to people who are much like him, essentially insecure people who must inflate their sense of importance by tearing down the evidence of their failures. "Infrastructure" was something that was just a "word' for Trump, and since it didn't have an immediate political benefit, he never did any "work" on it.
It is just like he "handles" everything, unless he uses that executive authority he is told he can use however he feels like, such as ordering a missile strike on what he claims was a boat with Venezuelan gang members hauling drugs 6 which we will never know if it is true or another fabrication because the "evidence"--including all 11 people on the boat--is down at the bottom of the sea, and of course swarming the country with his ICE thugs and the National Guard, that latter defending the nation's capitol thus...
...which is alright with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who apparently has made a "deal" with Trump to "coordinate" city law enforcement with other federal thugs, especially against immigrants, to the "maximum extent of the law" for an indefinite time; this of course is angering many city leaders, who note she doesn't seem to have the backbone of Los Angeles' mayor.
By the way, here in Seattle with the threat of masked ICE thugs and Border Patrol swarming the city "after Labor Day," I encountered this poster in Capitol Hill:
What is this? To remind people who are "black" that they are still the "real victims" here? Of course white women might say that they are, but these are not the particular "skin-tone" being targeted for ambush on the streets, at workplaces or at immigration offices. To me, this is just another example of Seattle's culture of prejudice against Hispanics of actual indigenous "blood."
Anyways, in "practice" Trump's own idea of "leadership" means enabling his evil henchpersons, who take advantage of his deficient habits to conduct their own personal vision of destruction of the infrastructure of health care, housing, labor and voting rights, the environment and national parks besides the rule of law, foreign policy and the economy. Of course, not everyone, even in Tennessee, is fooled by what motivates them or who constitutes the greater threat to this country:
Trump of course is actually doing real damage to “traditional” infrastructure, by withholding federal money for infrastructure projects from blue states unless their policies are changed to align with his real “priorities,” which is the self-destruction of this country, because, well, he just hates anything he can't claim credit for, which was recognized by many back in 2016 when this mints case was produced...
...which of course is something he can claim "credit" for.
As we see on his personal social media page, Trump spends most of his time whining and complaining insanely about anything, and is mostly what passes for "work" for him--besides putting his ugly lettering on pieces of paper he is told are “executive orders” that have to be summarized by an aide beforehand so that he has a clue about what he is signing--which of course explains why he likes using those charts that he probably doesn't understand but look "great."
And since we are on the topic of how “great” everything is under Trump (when the new fill-in CDC director has as much health care credentials as RFK Jr., which is to say none), remember that History Channel show “Life After People”? We may be a step or two away from there now in this country, since it is difficult to discern if there is any actual “people” in the Trump administration.
Unlike MAGA people, some of us so-called "liberals" are interested in what is really happening in this country, and not just manufactured "crises." There is a place in Kent that we see “life after people” actually happening, falling into ruins after it was apparently abandoned quite suddenly 14 years ago. Since I like those YouTube videos of abandoned places, and I thought it might be “cool” to add one to that collection.
I was unaware of the existence of the place in question until I found myself with too much time on my hands lately and decided to take a stroll down the Green River Trail. Yes, that is the river made "infamous" by serial killer Gary Ridgway, the so-called “Green River Killer.” The reality was not many of the victims were found there, just in the initial phase. I have talked about this case in one of my earliest posts here 1 where we learn that there are some disturbing details about how the case was “handled”—particularly by the lead detective who used his “fame” to a U.S. House seat.
Anyways, when I encountered the ruin, there were two Kent Works employees at the site. After discussing what the site used to be used for, I was told that there were plans to tear it down by the end of the year. There was a “No Trespassing” sign at the location, so I just continued on my way; on the return journey they were gone, so I decided to do a little investigating.
But my initial arrival at the site had been some hours away, and so in the meantime I will mention a few other derelicts along the way. Quite mysterious is the Java Junction espresso stand near the corner of James St. and Central Ave.:
Comments on the Internet about the place seem to suggest that I am not the only one who thinks the owner may have died a few years ago and yet somehow the rent is still being paid. Nothing inside of it seems to have been disturbed, and from this video I took of it you can still hear the piped-in music:
Further down the road is this residence that was briefly leased a couple times as a “community center”…
…and this apartment (I guess) seems to have been abandoned, and queries on the Internet suggest it is waiting for a “buyer”:
But I digress. Once on the trail I encountered several of these along the river…
…which likely are remnants of the river's long-dead part in the logging industry. There are also several markers indicating where "landings" were along the river, used for ferry travel during the 19th century. Further on I encountered the unexpected sight of beekeeper hives like this one hidden off the trail:
The trail then went “on road” on Frager St. where I encountered this house which I had seen most days a week when I was traveling to and from a job at the airport; from a distance it appeared to be abandoned and still did closer-up, and I wondered what it looked like inside:
But while the place still had that “abandoned” look as I passed it, as can be seen by this image, the property has at least one resident, that brown object to the left being a horse:
Further up the road would be our destination. I had done a Google Map search earlier and was able to identify it with certainty:
According to Google AI, the Heritage Farm Training Center “was a long-time horse boarding facility” and “was one of the closest horse-boarding facilities to Seattle.” This Wikimedia image shows it when it was still a going concern in 2009:
It apparently closed in 2011 for no disclosed reason, and the property was supposedly sold for $2.425 million to a “residential developer.” That may still be the case (probably the city or the county was the "buyer"), but that was 14 years ago, and the condition of the buildings on the property is long past their expiration date to remain still standing. It certainly isn't close enough to anywhere to be a city "landmark."
When I came back later the city employees were gone, so I could ignore the "No Trespassing" sign, and decided to take a quick video of the surroundings. However, my phone battery was dying and I wasn’t happy with the video I originally posted on YouTube, so I returned a week later and did a re-do, this time offering commentary on the proceedings :
As you can see it hasn’t been occupied by horses for some time. It was likely vacated quickly, as it appeared it wasn’t “cleaned up” afterwards, leaving most of the stalls filled with dried manure, and at least one with bales of straw inside. Judging from a few locations filled with "new" garbage, it appeared that vagrants had made a home there at some point. There is at least one bathroom, although there was no longer any running water as I turn on the faucets to check.
Maybe this country isn’t quite in the throes of "Life After People" now or anytime soon, but then again change isn't so apparent from day-to-day, is it? It just explodes on us at once as it is doing now. Perhaps we are insensitive to some forms of death, like that of culture as in the (speaking of horses) the demise of the Longacres racetrack in Renton, which I talked about here 5 .
In this age of people constantly consumed by their cell phones, maybe they just don't even notice the fact that Trump and his “drill-baby-drill” philosophy and ending funding for wind and solar power projects, that he clearly doesn’t care what he is doing is speeding-up global warming and environmental destruction as well as anything resembling intelligent responses to what is ailing this country. Unless, of course, it is violent action against his perceived political enemies, which is why he is so busy with "crises" of his own creation to suit his ill mind.
Meanwhile Bondi and Noem compete with each other to prove their minds are as ill as his. While Bondi seems consumed with threatening her critics with imminent stays in concentration camps, and responds to questions during Congressional hearings about corruption both personal and public with "whataboutism" filibustering, Noem tries to "one-up" her by looking ridiculous making claims that Los Angeles would be crumbling to pieces if not for Trump's "intervention"; we are talking about the same person who was banned from entering South Dakota reservations after accusations of racism against Native Americans.
And what's this? These D.C. grand juries just won't give Jeanine Pirro a break 5 . This time the "defendant" was accused of calling Trump a "Nazi" and a "terrorist" and thus posing a "threat" to his life. I don't understand why her family and friends are claiming she has "mental health" issues as a "defense" for this. There are probably many millions of completely sane people in this country (including me) who think Trump is a Nazi and a terrorist. I mean according to former wife Ivana he did keep a book of Hitler's speeches by his bedside; it was given to him by someone who thought he'd "like" it. I "wonder" why.
Here is something else I came across during my travel down the trail: on one side of the river was one of many new residential constructions in Kent for those "tech" people...
...and directly opposite of it on the other side of the river will be the state of this country when Trump is finished with it:
