Reading this reminded me of what happened to Poncho Barne's Happy Bottom Riding Club just outside Edwards AFB.

The Air Force wanted to buy out Poncho Barne's place to extend a runway but she wouldn't sell.  The case was litigated in court for several years with Barne's prevailing every time.  But then The Happy Bottom Riding Club mysteriously caught fire and the club and house and stables were burnt.

The Air Force got the land.  Poncho Barnes lived quietly not far from her former club and some Air Force officers who frequented the club like Chuk Yeager often stopped by to help her out.  They finally found her dead in a shack in the desert surrounded by her dogs.

Musk is going to win and his space port is going to sacrifice the wetland and wildlife in the name of the Moon and Mars.  Interesting reading here about how big money, the local county government, and the FAA are destroying a community and their beach.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/disgruntled-neighbors-dwindling-shorebirds-jeopardize-spacex-expansion-rcna7792

Noel

PS:  I am posting this knowing I risk it's being shut down.

I think we would have to see independent evidence of the threat to wildlife and these birds that are supposed to be dropping out of the sky due to the "pressure" of the launch. Rather than from disgruntled former home owners in the region.

But yes, I would imagine it would be unreasonable to expect zero impact on the surroundings.

So based on this logic I should fault the disgruntled homeowners for building big American houses in this precious wetland and ruining it.

Dave

Elon Musk. Only the historians can tell his tale. He'll undoubtedly be remembered along with Mark Zukerberg as having a significant impact on our world. The tragedy of it all is that we, in the present, have to live through it.

3 hours ago, birdguy said:

Musk is going to win and his space port is going to sacrifice the wetland and wildlife in the name of the Moon and Mars.  Interesting reading here about how big money, the local county government, and the FAA are destroying a community and their beach.

The wetlands around Cape Canaveral seem to be doing pretty well despite the rocket launches, and occasional RUD. This really sounds a lot like some of the locals don't want their little corner of the world to change, while others welcome the new jobs.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/faa-conducts-hearing-on-spacex-launch-site-hears-pro-and-con-views/

4 hours ago, birdguy said:

The Air Force wanted to buy out Poncho Barne's place to extend a runway but she wouldn't sell.  The case was litigated in court for several years with Barne's prevailing every time.  But then The Happy Bottom Riding Club mysteriously caught fire and the club and house and stables were burnt.

For another case involving the USAF, check out the story of the family that had front row seats to Area 51.

https://jalopnik.com/the-unlikely-struggle-of-the-family-whose-neighbor-is-a-1741346156

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/6359/family-says-land-overlooking-area-51-is-worth-116m-usaf-says-330k

What an incredible story! Heck, a movie could be made about this family's long-suffering at the hands of the Air Force.

A nicer story is what happened to Hamilton Air Force Base after it closed.

Hamilton was a showcase of the Air Force with its mission style buildings and landscaping.  I had lived near there and had visited the base as a teenager.  Later in my life I was stationed there.

After the base closed it was given to Marin County.  They turned the barracks into apartments for seniors.  My bother lived there for a while. The commissary became the local grocery store.  Base housing was sold to people who wanted to live there.

The hangars on the flightline became businesses; one of them used by Disney.

The taxiways and runway were torn up and the land they occupied was turned into salt water tidal wetland for fish and birds.

I'm glad the original post was allowed to stay.  I thought it might not because it would cause conflict between those who were on the side of the environment and those who were on the side of the environment and the people who lived there.

So far that hasn't happened.  But there is one statement I would like to respond to.

3 hours ago, goates said:

This really sounds a lot like some of the locals don't want their little corner of the world to change

I would say when someone else's little corner of the world is changed against their will for something we support we expect them to silently submit; leave their homes and go away.

But how many of us would do that if our own little part of the world were taken away by big money and/or the government?  Would you pack up, leave the home you have lived in for years and silently go away?

Noel

12 hours ago, W2DR said:

He'll undoubtedly be remembered along with Mark Zukerberg as having a significant impact on our world. The tragedy of it all is that we, in the present, have to live through it.

 

Its not a tragedy that we have to live through/with his innovative electric car business that has put EV's on the map and taken gas cars off the road. Or his space vehicles which one day we will be grateful for. Or the grid scale batteries he provides. Or the power walls he provides for home energy storage. Or the solar roof tiles he provides. Or the solar panels he provides. Or the millions of dollars he has provided for the carbon capture XPrize. I mean he isn't perfect, but the guy is actively trying to solve existential problems like climate change and everybody being wiped out by an asteroid or other threat. For that reason I find your opinion strange. 

 

 

8 hours ago, birdguy said:

But how many of us would do that if our own little part of the world were taken away by big money and/or the government?  Would you pack up, leave the home you have lived in for years and silently go away?

 

This is true. The issue seems to be the company (and their tactics) that SpaceX employed to oversee the negotiations with the residents of Bocca Chica. I see no reason why SpaceX couldn't have offered them a huge payment for their properties, well over the market value, a sum most would regard as too good to  refuse

Edited December 10, 20214 yr by martin-w

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

I see no reason why SpaceX couldn't have offered them a huge payment for their properties, well over the market value, a sum most would regard as too good to  refuse

Because he's not dealing with them directly.  He has a real-estate company doing it for him.  They lowball the residents to make a greater profit for themselves.  They are the ones threatening eminent domain and have the city council behind them.

Beach properties and the homes on them are very expensive.  Most people who own beach properties and houses on them are not willing to sell.  Many of them on South Padre Island are used as rentals for income.  That one lady owned two houses on Musk's Rocket site.  One she lived in and one she rented to tourists.

As far as Musks good works go this is something he could have afforded to take care of himself given he is probably the richest man on earth.

It only takes one 'awword not allowed' to erase a hundred 'atta boys'.  

Noel

 

18 minutes ago, birdguy said:

Because he's not dealing with them directly.  He has a real-estate company doing it for him.  They lowball the residents to make a greater profit for themselves.

 

Yes, I know, I mentioned the company and their tactics. I guess he has so many things on his plate that he simply tells his minions to get it sorted and then they do their thing. 

 

5 hours ago, martin-w said:

I find your opinion strange

Here's just one example Martin. All the accomplishments in the world won't make him a decent human being. As Noel said, one aw word-not-allowed...

https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/heres-the-real-problem-with-elon-musk-a-modern-day-robber-baron/

 

Edited December 10, 20214 yr by W2DR

29 minutes ago, W2DR said:

Here's just one example Martin. All the accomplishments in the world won't make him a decent human being. As Noel said, one aw word-not-allowed...

https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/heres-the-real-problem-with-elon-musk-a-modern-day-robber-baron/

 

 

As we've said many times on the forum and as I said in this thread, he's not perfect. He's not beyond reproach. But you said you had an issue with having to "live through" his exitance. Strange because he doesn't impact your life in a negative way at all. However you could benefit from the many things he has done that are of a more positive nature, listed above. As we all ultimately will. Not paying his workers enough, doubting the danger of the pandemic, doesn't wipe out the many positive things he's done, those positive endeavours are still manifest. 

1 hour ago, W2DR said:

All the accomplishments in the world won't make him a decent human being.

Certainly not if those accomplishments are made on the backs of his serfs.  

Noel