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  • I think that it’s now safe to say that we Texans now live in a failed state.  30 years of GOP rule, setting our own standard, living the “Texas Dream,” which they’ve bragged about relentlessly…and let’s see where we are:

    A majority of the state in complete failure, unable to deliver the most BASIC of services (things that are called “utilities,” not “luxuries,” for a reason).  No power.  No water.  No means of clearing roads (that one, I can’t fault the state so much….but it wouldn’t be as big a crisis if people weren’t stuck in their homes with no power and water).  So citizens are stuck in their homes, some of them dying there. 

    Water resource planning?  After pretending for decades that a drought would never happen again, and not doing ANYTHING to develop resources in the state water plan (a document actually developed using science and mathematical projections), we had several locations, including actual cities, down to a few days of water supply.  We’ve finally gotten on our horse a bit, but it may be too late if the next drought comes anytime soon.  

    State rank in key categories:

    Education – 34

    Health Care - 37

    Infrastructure - 33

    Opportunity - 39

    Environment - 44

    Infrastructure - 33 

    In overall quality of life ranking by US News, we are now #38, down from #36 just two years ago.  At that rate, we’ll be in the bottom 3 within ten years.

    We are SUPER independent, and FUCK the feds….but we have requested federal disaster assistance more than any other state in the past decade or so.

    But hey, our economy is ranked #15!

    That’s right, we have a “roaring economy” and the “Texas Miracle!”  But we can’t deliver the basics for our citizens.  The economy is VERY efficient at funneling bazillions to the very few…..with little of it “trickling down” to most Texans.  Yeah, the people on this board generally do fine, but face the facts – we’re the top 10% or so.  We are educated, older, and fortunate.

    Our federal system allows for state-by-state experiments.  Texas is the poster child for near anarcho-capitalism and zero regulation or oversight.  We have tested that approach, for over a generation now (30 years of Republican rule).  That approach is a failure.  The evidence is undeniable, and overwhelming.  It doesn’t matter how many River Oaks millionaires you produce if the rest of your people are dying in their homes.  Shit, some of those River Oaks millionaires might be freezing to death today, too.

    The kids of a middle class family can hardly afford to go to a good state school.  Their prospects for employment are mediocre.  Their prospects of suffering crippling medical debt at some point are significant.  Their chances of not having basic utilities needed for life safety at some point – all but certain.  Their chances of becoming ill or dying from a pollution-caused illness are material.

    What’s the result?  Our leaders have sold Texas as a paradise – move here!  Bring your business here!  And some businesses have done so, adding opportunity…..but providing little to no tax support for the infrastructure we all depend on.  To the contrary, over the past few years, I know more and more people – educated people, people who can do their jobs elsewhere, who are looking to bail on this state.  It’s people with young kids, who want them to grow up in a better place.  It’s people in their working years, who simply want a better path.  It’s retirees, who want a safe and secure place to live.

    We have consumed our seed stock.  We have burned through our reserves.  We are now consuming ourselves.  The ability to pitch Texas as the land of opportunity is done.  Seeing what we have become, the tentative thought/plan my wife and I had of wrapping up our careers here and then getting the hell out of Dodge is becoming much more concrete.  My children are already unlikely to make their future in this state.  Now we are, too.

    But the response from the Republican leadership and their sycophants – “how are you gonna pay for it?  Taxes?  That’s socialism!  You want that stuff, you have to pay for it!”

    Fuck yes I do, and I’m okay with that.  I want groceries…so I have to pay HEB.  I want a car…so I have to pay Ford.  I want clothes…..so I have to pay Dillards.  I want my population educated….so I have to pay the school district.  I want electricity, with enough capacity to keep us running when we need it…..so I have to pay my bill, maybe with a capacity surcharge.  I want water to come out of the taps….so I have to pay for development of resources and maintenance of infrastructure.  I want roads….so I pay taxes to build and maintain them.  YES, I have to pay for all of those things, and “nothing is free” – no fucking shit.  So, let’s pay for it.  We have the #15 economy….we HAVE the funds in this state.  An economy with the flow of funds that ours has can produce and maintain all of those results.  But we have chosen a different path; funnel all the dollars to the top, and spend next to nothing for the public good.  We have privatized profit….we have socialized the costs.  And we are dying because of it.

    My fellow Texans are dying in their homes….and there’s nothing I can do about it today.  And I am enraged.

    I love Texas.  I am 6th generation here.  My ancestors have Texas historical markers on their graves.  We helped make this state, and this state helped make us.  It educated us (back when college was affordable).  But it’s time to face the fact – this state is a failure, and on its current path, with its current leadership and philosophy, it will only get worse.  This state has a terrible future, unless we dramatically change our path.   Chances of that happening?  0.0% -- because we’ll continue to vote for the guys who make our leadership priorities bathroom bills, and transgender sports, and requiring the national anthem be played at certain events.  Any bill that has been proposed to improve emergency preparedness of gov’t entities has been crushed by the Republicans controlling the lege….but we will definitely stick with those guys.  No taxes.  No government functionality.

    What we are seeing happening right now is our system working EXACTLY AS IT WAS DESIGNED AND INTENDED TO WORK.  And we will, I guarantee it, collectively decide to stick with that.  This state is in free-fall, and anyone with eyes can see it.  And anyone with a brain is starting to think of ways to make their life elsewhere.  It breaks my goddamned heart to see us commit collective suicide, but here we are.

     

     


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    kevwun

    Posted

    I

    11 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

    Texas state universities are supposed to require six hours of US history covering colonial times to roughly the present.

    Wtf, Angelo State.

    I don't think we ever finished a history book when I was in high school.  Carter is to far in the back of the book to get covered I would wager.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    bolverk

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, kevwun said:

    I

    I don't think we ever finished a history book when I was in high school.  Carter is to far in the back of the book to get covered I would wager.

    The most recent event in any history class I ever took was World War II. Of course, I graduated high school in 1989, so hopefully, they're at least getting to Vietnam by now.

    Todd Gack

    Posted

    11 hours ago, F250 said:

    Hook 'em Horns

    AOC with the burnt orange.

    RDT_20241002_2138534280844587321389429.thumb.jpg.5a293e893ede8dbccbc68087b54a2e62.jpg

     

     

    Hmm... I'm seeing early onset mommy boobies there.  Might be knocked up.  That's hot.

    • Haha 1
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    NeverMarryAStripper

    Posted

    27 minutes ago, bolverk said:

    The most recent event in any history class I ever took was World War II. Of course, I graduated high school in 1989, so hopefully, they're at least getting to Vietnam by now.

    My youngest son graduated from High School in 2021, and he studied about Vietnam in History.  We he talked to me about it, I told him "that's not history, that's current events".

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    bolverk

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

    My youngest son graduated from High School in 2021, and he studied about Vietnam in History.  We he talked to me about it, I told him "that's not history, that's current events".

    What constitutes "history" is a matter of perspective as we all get older, I suppose.

    Brisketexan

    Posted

    7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

    Don't mean to be Debbie Downer on an awesome page, but Abbott is probably the only person that can save an autistic guy who was failed by the hospital/doctors that he took his daughter to.

    https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-lawmakers-urge-mercy-for-autistic-man-set-to-be-executed-in-childs-death/

    Knowing Abbott, he'll let the guy die, even though Republicans and Democrats both believe he needs to grant him clemency.

     

    3 hours ago, SubliminalHorn said:

    If anything he’ll speed up the execution 

    Speed it up?  Shit, he'll want to go down there and push the button himself.

    The cruelty is the point, because it's a display of raw power.

    A government that executes citizens guilty of heinous crimes is powerful.

    But you wannna know what's REALLY powerful?  A government that can execute innocent citizens, without being stopped and suffering no repercussions.  THAT'S power.  The GQP loves exercises of power that are morally wrong and indefensible, because being able to get away with the "wrong and indefensible" is something only someone with absolute power can do.  And "absolute power" is their only goal.

    • Rage+1 6
    HenryJames

    Posted

    57 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

    My youngest son graduated from High School in 2021, and he studied about Vietnam in History.  We he talked to me about it, I told him "that's not history, that's current events".

    Amazing Sam Kinison (Professor Terguson from"Back to School") - YouTube

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    wildcat09

    Posted

    In on this page for...reasons...

    • Like 1
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    Chad Fuck

    Posted

    3 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

    Gameday sign suggestion for OU

    image.png.6c3580dc6667836f387fd85752a93cf7.png

     

    200w.gif?cid=82a1493bjhzpv5rqlgv86fakc3x

    • Haha 1
    atomheartbevo

    Posted

    4 hours ago, bolverk said:

    The most recent event in any history class I ever took was World War II. Of course, I graduated high school in 1989, so hopefully, they're at least getting to Vietnam by now.

    I needed some history credits and I took a History of the Cold War class at ACC a couple of years ago.

    The professor and I were both alive during a decent chunk of the Cold War.

    The rest of the class was born after the Cold War.

    Old Man Smile GIF by F*CK, THAT'S DELICIOUS

    It was actually a really good class, but most of the others in the class thought it was weird that we used to have duck-and-cover drills as kids.

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    SydneyCarton

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

    I needed some history credits and I took a History of the Cold War class at ACC a couple of years ago.

    The professor and I were both alive during a decent chunk of the Cold War.

    The rest of the class was born after the Cold War.

    Old Man Smile GIF by F*CK, THAT'S DELICIOUS

    It was actually a really good class, but most of the others in the class thought it was weird that we used to have duck-and-cover drills as kids.

    I'm guessing you average 20 year old today woudln't think it was weird. 

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    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    16 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

    Texas state universities are supposed to require six hours of US history covering colonial times to roughly the present.

    Wtf, Angelo State.

     

    soon to be texas maga’s us history 

    Satchel

    Posted

    16 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

    Texas state universities are supposed to require six hours of US history covering colonial times to roughly the present.

    Wtf, Angelo State.

    Ever since Sister Fabian made us memorize the names of all US presidents, and all of the president’s cabinet officials, I’ve felt the need to know stuff.

    • Hook 'Em 2
    Chad Fuck

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

    I'm guessing you average 20 year old today woudln't think it was weird. 

    mourning-nod.gif

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    Brisketexan

    Posted

    4 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

    My youngest son graduated from High School in 2021, and he studied about Vietnam in History.  We he talked to me about it, I told him "that's not history, that's current events".

    CSB:

    I met my now-wife in a class on the Vietnam War that we took together our jr. year of high school. 

    At the time, she hated me, because (to hear her tell it) I was a pompous know-it-all asshole. 

    Man, the fucking NERVE of her.  Talk about getting the wrong read on a guy, right?

    • Haha 6
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    Loch Ness Monster

    Posted

    Screenshot_20241003_171602_Google.thumb.jpg.ac98b7872fee79d30d22cd52a40a975e.jpg

    --

    One in five adults can't read at a 4th grade reading level in my area. Cool cool.

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    Anastasis

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

    At the time, she hated me, because (to hear her tell it) I was a pompous know-it-all asshole. 

    I know that feel. Fortunately probably for both of us, good looks won out. 

    Brisketexan

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Loch Ness Monster said:

    Screenshot_20241003_171602_Google.thumb.jpg.ac98b7872fee79d30d22cd52a40a975e.jpg

    --

    One in five adults can't read at a 4th grade reading level in my area. Cool cool.

    Why are you hating on cops?

    • Haha 1
    wildcat09

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

    CSB:

    I met my now-wife in a class on the Vietnam War that we took together our jr. year of high school. 

    At the time, she hated me, because (to hear her tell it) I was a pompous know-it-all asshole. 

    Man, the fucking NERVE of her.  Talk about getting the wrong read on a guy, right?

    You lied and told her she could change you, didn’t you?

    Brisketexan

    Posted

    Just now, wildcat09 said:

    You lied and told her she could change you, didn’t you?

    Her explanation is that, when we met back up in college, I was able to "make her laugh."  That's credible, because we know I didn't overcome her prior sentiment with my good looks or money.

    atomheartbevo

    Posted

    4 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

    I'm guessing you average 20 year old today woudln't think it was weird. 

    Ducking and covering for a nuclear war that was never going to happen = weird.

    Ducking and covering for school shootings that happen multiple times every year...yeah.

     

    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

     

    At the time, she hated me, because (to hear her tell it) I was a pompous know-it-all asshole. 

     

    shocked philip j fry GIF

     

    i guess you become numb to things over time 

    • Like 1
    bolverk

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Loch Ness Monster said:

    Screenshot_20241003_171602_Google.thumb.jpg.ac98b7872fee79d30d22cd52a40a975e.jpg

    --

    One in five adults can't read at a 4th grade reading level in my area. Cool cool.

     

    I've spent some time over on the football board, so none of those figures is surprising. 

    • Haha 3
    NeverMarryAStripper

    Posted

    1 hour ago, bolverk said:

     

    I've spent some time over on the football cloak room board, so none of those figures is surprising seem low

     

    The Royal We

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

    I will cast my vote for anyone who promises to disable pre-sunrise Blue Alerts.

    Some cop got into a tussle 7 hours away from me so I have to be screamed at by my phone at 4:30am. 

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    SydneyCarton

    Posted

    15 minutes ago, Chuckie Finster said:

    I will cast my vote for anyone who promises to disable pre-sunrise Blue Alerts.

    Motherfucker got me too. 

    miguelito

    Posted

    That's why I don't keep my phone in the bedroom.

    My wife on the other hand, has her phone, her work phone, her tablet, her apple watch.

    kevwun

    Posted

    Fucking woke us up while we’re in Port A for the weekend.  I had to look up where Hall County is.  Not a statewide emergency assholes.

    Radical Larry

    Posted

    Thanks for the heads up, assholes. I’ll keep an eye out in about 6 hours if he’s heading in this direction. 

    DaysOff

    Posted

    Appropriate 63c84f9e1d41c98a4adf4a812a4899dc.jpg

    • Haha 1
    Pam Cummings

    Posted

    Is there anything more useless than a "blue alert"? Get fucked.

     

     

     

    Nice Guy Eddie

    Posted

    21 hours ago, bolverk said:

    The most recent event in any history class I ever took was World War II. Of course, I graduated high school in 1989, so hopefully, they're at least getting to Vietnam by now.

    ‘88 grad here with the same experience and probably same textbook. We spent more time on the teapot dome scandal than anything after 1945.

    If the same logic applied today students probably get up to Watergate. You probably need to be 25+ years behind so that some parents don’t have strong aversion to the history being taught.

    • Like 1
    CooterBrown

    Posted

    I only want to get notified when a cop is killed.  Free free to use a this ringtone:

    Today Was A Good Day GIF

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    royiv

    Posted

    School shooting: Cops stand around while kids get murdered

    Cop gets shot (not killed) five hundred miles away from me: wake up the entire state of Texas

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    Longhorn_Fan68

    Posted

    just got notice that the state registration and inspection requirements go away at the end of the year. but still required Dallas, Houston, Austin and eventually SA. gonna be a lot more broken down cars along the interstate. lovely.

    Firemans4Horn

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    just got notice that the state registration and inspection requirements go away at the end of the year. but still required Dallas, Houston, Austin and eventually SA. gonna be a lot more broken down cars along the interstate. lovely.


     

    idiocracy GIF

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    Nice Guy Eddie

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    just got notice that the state registration and inspection requirements go away at the end of the year. but still required Dallas, Houston, Austin and eventually SA. gonna be a lot more broken down cars along the interstate. lovely.

    years ago worked with this very conservative/libertarian type. He complained to no end about the inspection and smog check being unconstitutional. Of course, his pos car spewed smoke and I guessed he added a pint of oil per week. One day he shared a story that he spent a Saturday afternoon finding a state inspection station that didn't really check his car.

    I always wanted to add that he was the reason that we had these inspections not the rest of us but my goal was to avoid any unnecessary conversations with the guy.

    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
    Brisketexan

    Posted

    32 minutes ago, royiv said:

    School shooting: Cops stand around while kids get murdered

    Cop gets shot (not killed) five hundred miles away from me: wake up the entire state of Texas

    royiv gets it.

    The lives of a school full of children are worth less than the life of a single cop.  You all have empirical proof from Uvalde and Hall County.  The truth stares us right in the face - believe it.

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    royiv

    Posted

    7 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    just got notice that the state registration and inspection requirements go away at the end of the year. but still required Dallas, Houston, Austin and eventually SA. gonna be a lot more broken down cars along the interstate. lovely.

    Registration doesn’t go away, just inspection. The required inspections in the urban areas will be emissions testing only. FWIW, I lived in AZ for nearly 20 years and they have the same setup. Emissions testing only for Maricopa County and no other sort of safety or mechanical inspection. In reality, I saw no difference in the vehicles on the road. I see multiple vehicles on the road here in Texas every single day that can’t pass the current inspection. People just don’t get them inspected. We have posters on this board who have admitted that they haven’t registered their vehicles for years meaning they also haven’t had them inspected. On the surface, it does seem stupid, but I don’t think inspections do anything meaningful to keep unsafe vehicles off the road. 

    • Hook 'Em 2
    bolverk

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    just got notice that the state registration and inspection requirements go away at the end of the year. but still required Dallas, Houston, Austin and eventually SA. gonna be a lot more broken down cars along the interstate. lovely.

    Registration will still be required because it's essentially a road tax, but the standard inspection is being done away with. For the big metros, I imagine that they still need to be inspected because they tend to be (or are very close to it, like Austin) EPA air quality nonattainment areas.

    Longhorn_Fan68

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, royiv said:

    Registration doesn’t go away, just inspection. The required inspections in the urban areas will be emissions testing only. FWIW, I lived in AZ for nearly 20 years and they have the same setup. Emissions testing only for Maricopa County and no other sort of safety or mechanical inspection. In reality, I saw no difference in the vehicles on the road. I see multiple vehicles on the road here in Texas every single day that can’t pass the current inspection. People just don’t get them inspected. We have posters on this board who have admitted that they haven’t registered their vehicles for years meaning they also haven’t had them inspected. On the surface, it does seem stupid, but I don’t think inspections do anything meaningful to keep unsafe vehicles off the road. 

     

    2 minutes ago, bolverk said:

    Registration will still be required because it's essentially a road tax, but the standard inspection is being done away with. For the big metros, I imagine that they still need to be inspected because they tend to be (or are very close to it, like Austin) EPA air quality nonattainment areas.

    I stand corrected!

    Foosters

    Posted

    47 minutes ago, royiv said:

    School shooting: Cops stand around while kids get murdered

    Cop gets shot (not killed) five hundred miles away from me: wake up the entire state of Texas

    Somewhat related, but a few months ago in Downtown LA, I got stuck in traffic on the outskirts of downtown. And when I say stuck, I mean car did not move for over 30 minutes, drivers were getting out of their cars to walk up the street to get a look. Once I got to work - an hour late - I learned that the LA County Sherriff's department was holding a funeral for a fallen deputy in the downtown Cathedral, and they figured they better block off most access to the area, for unknown reasons. No prior notice. This impacted thousands of workers who were delayed in getting to work.

    Learned later that day that the deputy died of cancer. 

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    Loch Ness Monster

    Posted

    5 hours ago, The Royal We said:

    Some cop got into a tussle 7 hours away from me so I have to be screamed at by my phone at 4:30am. 

    Seriously fuck these state wide alerts about a missing person or murderer 6 hours away from me with no pictures provided. Fucking idiots. 

    • Rage+1 1
    VivaNaranja

    Posted

    I hate those alerts as much as anyone. You can turn them off.

    Just a public service. I slept beautifully through the night.

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    Macanudo

    Posted

    Cop getting hurt in Memphis.  By the time it was actually sent, the dude was in Amarillo by morning.  

    Dnaguy

    Posted

    On 10/4/2024 at 6:58 AM, Pam Cummings said:

    Is there anything more useless than a "blue alert"? Get fucked.

     

     

     

    I care.

    That shit has now woken me up TWICE in the last week in the middle of the night.

    WTF? 
    I don’t get amber alerts or Silver alerts.

    Yet I get those shits at like 3 am.

    In what world do I as a citizen need to know about a person on the lose who’s killed a cop if i don’t get an alert for EVERY murderer on the lose?

    I could potentially find and make a difference for a kidnapped kid. I could also keep an eye out for a wayward old.

    A cop killer? I’m getting the da fuq out of there and hunkering down. That’s their fucking job to hunt that MFer down.

    I don’t need to lose sleep bc of it.

    Sorry.

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    pacman

    Posted

    Screenshot_20241005_081733_X.jpg

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