DramatistDreamer

This is the third time she's come through this dreaded disease. She's a tough woman! Just an observation from having followed his career since the days he lived in public housing (by choice) is that Booker seems very earnest, to the point of appearing over eager. This likely springs from the days of him trying to make his way among a constituency that tends to be wary and distrustful of politicians. Whether people believe he was trying to bring the city or Newark into focus among the political elite (who likely would have gone on completely ignoring the city) or using his time among low-income and blue collar constituents as a stepping stone to higher aspirations, Booker did get people to pay attention to the city of Newark and it's residents as something more than a city past redemption and an unfortunate holdover of the riots from the Civil Rights era. People started to actually regard Newark as a city that could be revived. And I seriously doubt John Edwards would've spent all that time living in public housing...by choice.

I can't even keep up with all these resignations anymore. It's ridiculous.

Even though a large portion of the 1988 episodes that are up on You Tube, particularly during the strike, seemed to be bloated by endless flashbacks, there are some interesting BTS facts. The actor who played Barclay Lang, John Ottavino, his 1988 stint doesn't appear on IMDB but his 2007 appearance (as Dr. Sherwood?) does. One would think that the more memorable storyline with Angel and Henry Lang would've been listed on his page but it isn't. With the appearance of Lilith as well as Tom's discovery in Greece of Margo's pregnancy, the episodes become less redundant with filler and flashbacks, less Snyder-centric (somewhat) and more interesting on a consistent basis. Also by this time, the writer's strike has been over since August and these episodes are mid September. Speaking of Lilith, so interesting to discover that Sara Botsford has been doing quite a bit of family-friendly fare these days. She recently played Marilla Cuthbert in the most recent Anne of Green Gables T.V. movies (Fire & Dew, The Good Stars) that aired on Canadian television last year. She's also appearing the Holly Hobbie television series (didn't know there was such a thing!). As a fan of the Anne of Green Gable series, novels and original Canadian t.v. series in the late 80s/early 90s, I'm intrigued. Ironically, Botsford's character Lillith used to scare me as a child.

At this point, it appears that the only way to avert a government shutdown is for Congress to override any presidential veto. The unpredictability and hubris of Trump is what will likely send the U.S. back into an economic recession.

Nothing like a stock market plunge a few days before Christmas.

Italy compromised on a budget. It looks as if they are backing away from any possible confrontation with the E.U. at this point. Perhaps the contentious Brexit talks are having an effect on how member countries approach the E.U.

FedEx will be cutting jobs in the next year, a result they say of the fallout from the trade policies. Their CEO is directly pointing the finger at Trump.

And the Fed just raised rates.

This looks...suspicious.

I wish these pundits would dispense with the sports analogies. This is not a game for most of us, it is deadly serious, something many of us were trying to get across in the last presidential election but many ignored. I doubt the media has learned anything since then.

Bye bye, fake charity.

With each subsequent writing regime, the Stenbeck heir origin stories became worse. I think the very worst had to be Henry Colman's Stenbeck heir story. Totally pointless, idiotic and annoying. It seems by that time, TIIC were determined to have Barbara's endgame story to be tied to a Stenbeck man, even if they had to invent yet another Stenbeck man. By that time, Gunnar would've been the least illogical option, lol. I watched a block of ATWT episodes from 1988 and Meg's hair...whewww! Not only the hair but the outfits...Meg looks like she wandered off the set of The Golden Girls.

Written properly, Gunnar could've been brought back virtually any time up to the show's cancellation, the possibilities were endless for any writer worth their salt, especially seeing that the character never 'died' onscreen. Barbara had him declared legally dead (eventually) but I don't remember there being any solid evidence.

As you all may have already guessed, things are not going well at CBS.

Having Gunnar leave in a hot air balloon (wasn't that how he left Oakdale?) makes me wonder whether they were deliberately leaving open the possibility for a surprise return and miraculous recovery of the character. Even a year later, Barbara was still looking for proof of Gunnar's death, from what I remember..

Speaking of Cons-

So much for the patriotism of the GOP.

And the thread was so focused until seven hours ago, now we are starting to have odd, rambling posts again. Sigh. If someone doesn't recognize the difference between the way Obama's legacy is being handled by his successor and the way Bush's legacy was handled by his successor then he is beyond hope. Also, Antonio Sabato Jr. was always just a chiseled face and body. I seriously doubt anyone looked at him for his thoughts and ideas on...anything. He wasn't even a good actor. Yeah, that Ignore feature really needs to become functional sometime soon so rambling posts can be skimmed over quicker.

And apparently, when the university pushed the Economics Department to find qualified female candidates for professorships, this man Roland Fryer claimed that no such candidates exist!

How the hell does someone get tenure at a major college or university before the age of 40?!!