Samson's Wig

VC and tech have been digging their own grave for a long time now, propping up fake businesses and silly ideas just to funnel money into the hands of investors. It's contributed to the large wealth disparity in this country as much as anything else, and they can all go die in a fire as far as I'm concerned. Maybe everyone will grow up and actually start real businesses with a longer-term view than just getting to acquisition. It's complete bullshit on its face and has to come crashing down at some point.

You can still buy long-bed trucks. They just don't market them as heavily as crew cab/short beds. If you need a true work truck, you need one. You don't need an ad campaign.

Wife is naturalized, so the kids are first gen on her side. Her folks moved to Canada from Ireland and England. My people have been here so long that the dirt smells like us.

The whiplash caused by reading the back-and-forth between pedantic and indiscriminate comments in this thread might sideline more people than Covid. We need Yogi Berra in here for a low-brow and on-the-nose summary of the situation.

Not the first time, and it won't be the last, that West Texas cotton is decimated by drought. Something tells me this won't be the one that does them in for good. Long term, I agree climate change will shift growing regions, but we're not there yet.

If the next global crisis leads to a shortage of hair dye, botox, etc., and is coupled with a huge spike in cigarette usage, we're all going to be reminded just how old a 35-year-old can look pretty quickly.

I showed this to my elderly father, as most of the family had one of these in their houses at one point. His comment was, "Fourteen months, tops!" I remember them lasting forever, but he wasn't impressed apparently.

I had indeed forgotten that. Highland Mall parking lot was also a hot spot for this crap for a while.

That's only served in the sacristy, one helping at a time.

Sounds a loooooot like bicyclists. They should all hang out.

I know the default position is to laugh at people who bemoan the loss of the good old days of Austin, but shit like this sure does make those folks seem at least a little bit right.

Young people are more disengaged, isolated, and afraid than they have been in generations. Of course they're seeking something that makes them feel safe. The time is ripe for cult leaders to go to work, not unlike the supposed 4th Great Awakening in the late sixties and early seventies. That was not really a revival either, nor was the one following WWII. Both were times when young people didn't like the world being handed to them by older generations and sought alternatives. Wake me up when we have an authentic 18th or 19th-century style awakening (not likely ever to happen again). Until then, it's just a continuation of the same circle jerk that gave us the Christian Coalition, Jerry Falwell, and all the rest of the complete bullshit of manipulating the intense feelings of youth for political and monetary gain. I'm sure some genuine feelings and concerns were being addressed when this was kicked off, but c'mon, it's not going to amount to anything unless they can somehow attach this to the outrage over Rhiana's fully clothed super bowl performance and ride that wave to some more money in the coffers and weaponized religion in government. We might see a genuine awakening of religion again in this country at some point, but I highly doubt it happens until we have massive societal collapse. Despite the media's best attempts to make us think that the country is falling apart, the reality is things are going pretty fucking well for the majority of people. Religion is not likely to see any kind of major growth as most people don't turn to it unless times are truly terrible. The Asbury story won't move the needle one bit for culture at large. Not enough people care.

Why have a SWAT team if you don't deploy it? j/k. maybe.

Yep. As I recall it works fairly well. At least as well as the fucked up regular justice system.

Breaking into a strangers house to throw a kegger is next-level shit, not run-of-the-mill high school hijinks. This isn't someone throwing a party because mom and dad left town. The ringleaders should see jail time, and anyone attending should be charged and sentenced to community service of some kind. We hear lots of talk about entitled kids these days. Well, this is what happens when that attitude goes too far. Not surprised in the slightest that Westlake and Lake Travis kids are involved. Bunch of Baker Mayfield douchebag starter kits deserve whatever they get. A minor criminal record to fuck up the next phase of life is precisely what they deserve, and it just might course correct an attitude that will only lead to more poor choices. They can enjoy JUCO for a couple of years and make room for decent human beings at real universities. Hopefully a win for everyone. I remember some municipalities had "teen court" years ago, don't know if they still do it or not, but teens served as the jury and dorks from local high schools served as prosecution and defense reps. If you were facing a charge, mostly traffic violations and other minor infractions, you also served on a jury, so you might be passing judgment on a kid who would then be sitting on your jury. Made for interesting results, primarily extensive community service judgments. So many ways to party as a high schooler. This was epically stupid. Could have got someone killed if the wrong homeowner showed up in the middle of it, or if a bunch of drunk teens stumbled upon some firearms. A father with a young child isn't likely to take a measured approach to a home invasion, nor should he.

OP's midlife crisis is adorable. Stage one tends to be noticing how old your friends are acting. Once you do your damnedest to convince yourself you're not like them, the painful and prolonged hangover will slap you back into reality. Ride out that low point, and things will eventually even out for you. Hang in there.

People who don't feel loved or seen/understood by their families, justifiably or not, turn to cults. There's a reason Scientology targets lonely young people in big cities. They make for easy prey for the assholes out there who know all they need is a little focused attention. I still need to watch this doc.

Totally agree. That dude is an idiot. I'm just enjoying the telenovela version better. Murdering someone and blaming it on the MRI machine is a brilliantly stupid scheme for a soap.

Thanks. I still think the mom did it, though.

I'm not a gun guy, but this doesn't seem to pass the smell test. I can understand how the MRI magnet pulled the gun from him, but how on earth did it fire? TL/DR: The lawyer's mom shot him and the hospital is helping her cover it up.

I'm all for paid maternal and paternal leave, free daycare, etc. etc., but these won't solve the birth rate issue. Such measures have been in place in countries such as Canada and most of Western Europe for a long time and they are even more reliant on immigration for population growth than the U.S., aren't they? Add in the fact that the American economy relies heavily on small businesses, much moreso than Western Europe, Canada, etc. and you're talking about policies that the majority of American employers would be exempt from - thereby having even less impact. Unless we're also adding destroying small businesses into the equation here (which seems to be the unintended consequence of most well-intended legislation). This would be akin to pouring gasoline on our economy and lighting a match. That's going to have a significant impact on birth rates as well, but not for the better. Educated people, on the whole, don't want more kids, and it's not significantly about finances. It's about lifestyle for the parents and the kids they do have. Religious people, generally speaking, are less educated than secular people. Many major religions actively push procreation as part of their message, for obvious reasons. The only thing that will spike a birth rate would be for a major religion to truly seize control, kill off the educated populace, and enforce their nonsense from the top down - almost the inverse of Mao's moves. Sign me up! Here's a solution of the top of my head. Start paying educated couples for their embryos. Put otherwise healthy folks through IVF and have them squirt out 7-10 embryos a pop. Store the embryos and offer free immigration, or a pile of money, whatever, to anyone who will carry 2-3 to term. Maybe start a civil service program where girls get their college paid for if they go through a couple of pregnancies for the team. Blamo! Population growth guaranteed. Now the educated class is doing their part to add numbers without having to raise them. All we have to do now is figure out how to pay to raise all the new babies in a healthy manner that makes them contributing members to society. What could go wrong‽‽‽?‽‽‽ Or maybe, just maybe, our economy will adjust as populations decline, and while there will be bumps in the road (which will happen no matter what anyway) we resourceful humans will find a way to make it all work out just fine.

I think that would be a good thing for the vast majority of people.

The city showed up today to pick up branches that were chopped and ready to go. Obviously, only about a third of the houses in our hood managed to have their shit chopped and ready. Hope they come back again soon, but I suspect those who missed them are now at the back of the line.