Samson's Wig

What I'm gathering from this discussion is that polyamory is the new CrossFit. "Polyamory: for when being vegan just isn't enough anymore."

I don't like that AISD number. Vaccines shouldn't be mandatory, but they should be mandatory for participating in society, including public school. If you want to die on a hill of misinformation and ignorance because you have such a pressing need to feel important, you should be welcome to do so, with open eyes that you will take your kids down with you. The only exceptions should be extreme cases of a health issue that would make a vaccine dangerous for the individual. A real one, not some bullshit someone gets a quack they share a pew with to make up for them. Exceptions for being a fucking idiot should go away entirely, especially as we're seeing rising numbers of these types of fucking idiots. It's insane to me that you can just opt out and put everyone else at risk, especially in a school setting.

If we can't get rid of the death penalty, which would be my preference, I would like to see two nuances added to the equation, both involving the victim's survivors. 1. Victims' survivors get one get-out-of-jail-free card to deal with the fucker personally. (I'm half kidding with this one, but the next option is serious.) 2. If they're not interested in the first option, the survivors decide whether the guilty party is executed or spends life in prison. Many (perhaps most) families of victims would rather the guilty person not be executed. There are several reasons for this; the most common one is they don't see how another killing will do anything to make right what happened, and another major reason is that death sentences prolong the suffering of the victims' families, dragging out a process for years that almost never leads to any kind of closure. It only serves to delay the grieving process, sometimes for decades. The death penalty is not for the survivors, it's for the rest of us. The rest of us should grow up. A deterrence-based approach to criminal justice doesn't work. Never has, never will. It appeals to a certain mindset and sounds reasonable on paper, but it doesn't work. A reform-based approach has also failed miserably in this country, but it has succeeded in other cultures. So we're left with retribution based justice, and boy do we lean into this one with gusto in America. The notion appealed to me as a younger man, but I'm getting older and softer and would prefer we start looking at ways to incorporate a reformation-based approach utilizing successes from other nations who are perhaps a touch more civilized than we are. We should, at a bar minimum, start with prison reform.

Mhh, hmm. Outta my fucking cab!

I suggested this very thing to Chris Harrison at lunch a year or so ago. He laughed like I was crazy. Then he quickly jotted down a note.

While I agree with your sentiment, you may want to reread that passage, especially considering the context of this particular discussion.

The Internet was always a piece of shit. It just used to be more fun. Probably a good thing if people are actually spending less time on it.

Cronk was a waste of oxygen and needed to go. I'm not familiar enough with the assistant city managers, but if they were hired by Cronk or were in line with his way of handling things, I support not hiring one of them. However, bringing Garza back was clearly some tit for tat, and his reasoning that Garza knows how to run the city because he did it from '94-2002 is hilarious. This isn't even remotely the same city as it was in that era. It's the same flawed argument that got Watson reelected. Garza is ill-equipped, and Watson has been a huge disappointment. In my opinion, making up a know-nothing job and giving it to Art Vandelay is nothing short of corruption. This city will never have decent leadership because we don't want it. We're getting exactly what we deserve, and will follow a long tradition of big American cities who continue to elect corrupt pieces of shit to run the show. The fascinating part is how little these people bother to hide what they're doing anymore. There is almost no press to hold them accountable, so why bother?

Austin is getting exactly what it asks for. Nothing more, nothing less. I say this as a resident. My kids will be destroyed if we move, but damn if I don't think about it every time some stupid shit like this happens.

The other day, I chatted with a guy at the HEB on Far West who parked his cybertruck next to me. I drive an actual off-road truck and enjoy taking it to remote fishing spots, up into the mountains, rock crawling, you name it. I asked him how the cybertruck handled such conditions, and he looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. He had no clue what I was talking about when I asked about the tri-motor setup, how the locking front differential operates, or how I thought it was cool that it didn't need a rear locker due to the independent motors on each rear wheel. All blank stares. I offered to take him out to Hidden Falls to see what it could do, and he not only had no idea what I was talking about, but once I explained it, he had zero interest in it. These things are poorly made toys for cosplayers. I think people should drive what they want in whatever way they want, but anyone in one of these things is hanging a neon sign that they're a clueless dweeb. I really, really, really wanted him to say yes to Hidden Falls just so I could get video and pics of that monstrosity trying to handle even a basic trail. Elon claiming this thing is the "greatest off road truck" is right in line with his claims regarding auto-driving. It's all complete bullshit.

Oh shit. Just when you think the city can't get any fucking dumber.

Those numbers are not surprising. The last few days have been a fucking beatdown.

If you have to go in, whether for a new license or because it's time to take a fresh photo, it's a gigantic pain in the ass. Scheduling an appointment can take months. Months. Renewing typically takes place online, and yes it's very easy - but that's not what was being discussed. I know this first hand from just this past fall. I never renewed my motorcycle license after leaving the state and moving back, but I wanted to start riding again, so I had to go in person to get the endorsement added, which is essentially the same process as getting a new license (even the same form). It's fucking insane. No appointments are available for months, no matter how far into rural Texas you are willing to drive. Not only is the process, including the document deliverable requirements, completely stupid, but the DMV is so short-staffed they can barely take care of anyone. Even with an appointment, you'll be there for a few hours, and once you finally sit your happy ass down with someone, you're getting about the same IQ of ~70 that we've always dealt with from DMV employees, only now they're also overworked and surly. All of this was for someone who already has a Texas driver's license and just needed to add the letter "M" to it so I can ride a bike. I can't imagine how much more difficult it is if you move from out of state or need a TX license for the first time. My wife had an easier time getting a TX driver's license as an immigrant, but that was over twenty years ago. The state government is blaming the pandemic for the shortfall in staff, which is about as laughable as it gets. The pandemic that was overblown by blue states? The pandemic that has been over for at least a couple of years at this point? That pandemic? You have to be pretty dense not to recognize what they're doing and why.

a.k.a. the "big tech" era. The sooner VCs and tech bros become a thing of the past, the better for this nation and the world. We're funneling all the money and influence into the hands of folks with no discernable skillset beyond unsubtle grifting.

lol at PilotsError being a little bitch and negging posts from a week ago. Go root for Ole Miss, if you love that sawed-off rage monger so much. What's coming?

Skimming this thread just makes me all the more amazed that some folks think we're not already overpopulated.

Someone planted palm trees in DFW? How fucking stupid are they?

They convinced a bunch of moms to pay $10k or more over invoice for those tellurides, selling a mediocre tin can for the price of an entry-level luxury SUV. I'd be more impressed if I thought they didn't just do what has been done for decades and slip JD Power, Edmunds, et al. a ton of cash to rank them first in category. They are the pandemic success story.

It's sad that something like that isn't immediately recognizable as a joke.

How much time do you think he actually spent there? I have to assume, with any of their coaches, it's as little as humanly possible.

Dude, that's Owen Wilson.

This is the type of shit you get when your city government runs the airport, the water supply, the power supply . . . There is nothing like ensuring the basic needs for day-to-day existence are being managed by folks incapable of being hired for a real job.

It's interesting how similar their posting styles are to one another, and they have similar usernames, presumably selected independently. Twins separated at birth?

They will start by banning Kias. The numbers will drop immediately. From there, they've got nothing.