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Samson's Wig

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Everything posted by Samson's Wig

  1. I'm right there with you on every point except that anyone has a "right" to play sports. Perhaps this is an issue of semantics, but that term gets thrown around much too loosely. At this point the more common use of the word has won the day, but the meaning of a legal right still means something within the context of a discussion like this one. It may be fair that everyone should be able to play sports, but there is no inherent right. And I'm also an aging person who enjoys playing tennis, basketball, and hockey. I also acknowledge that people like you and me are privileged to be able to do so. If we're going to talk about a right to play sports, poor folks have a much bigger beef than the trans community. But we're not talking about the right to play sports. We're talking about the right to win awards, break records, get famous, and get endorsement deals. That's the false premise. If this was just about being able to play tennis at the muckity-muck club with fellow well-to-do suburban dwellers there wouldn't be much to discuss.
  2. I think the larger issue underlying all of this is the presumption that anyone has a right to compete in sports to begin with. I can't, no matter how far I stretch the intent of federal law, wrap my head around an inalienable right to play competitive sports. That's where we went off the rails. We place an insane amount of value on athletics to the point we treat organized competition as if it actually has a bearing on fundamental freedom and existence. This trans argument is just an extension of a false premise. I understand the other underlying issues such as funding and its interplay with Title IX, but I see those as extensions of the same false premise. It's all born of an overblown notion of the importance of competitive sports. The benefits of competitive sports are very real, but if we actually gave a shit about citizens partaking in these benefits, we would have intramural teams at each school that everyone participates in. The amount of tax dollars spent on stadiums, arenas, etc. is mind numbingly stupid, but also traces back to that same false premise. We don't think everyone should exercise and engage in cooperative/competitive character building activities. We believe that everyone has a right to become a superstar athlete. It's some kind of collective mental illness. Sports and athletic competition are great. I love(d) participating in them and I loved watching those much better than me compete professionally. Do I think competitive athletic endeavors and my right to participate in them is fundamental to my existence, citizenship, or happiness? Fuck no. And anyone who does is fucked in the head.
  3. Food for thought. Health experts say making daylight saving time permanent is a terrible idea. Permanent standard time, on the other hand ... https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/16/metro/could-making-daylight-saving-time-permanent-affect-our-health-heres-what-research-shows/ Sleep experts say Senate has it wrong: Standard time, not daylight saving, should be permanent https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/03/16/daylight-saving-bill-health-effects/ The Senate Just Voted for You to Get Less Sleep, Expert Says https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/daylight-savings-times-senate-sleep-science-1322200/
  4. We don't need an excuse.
  5. Yeah, it's the snowflakes who like to sleep till noon on their mom's couch and get an extra hour of sunlight for skateboarding before bed time. I'm a night owl and hate morning people. I also love to fish and wouldn't mind the extra hour of sleeping in. I still think it's stupid to set clocks to make it dark outside till almost 10 in the morning in the winter. For those who live in Texas, nighttime is the fucking best time because it cools down by a cunt hair. Pushing that back is also really fucking stupid. Nothing good happens till the sun goes down anyway, why delay it?
  6. I like keeping it the same all year, but they're doing it backwards. DST is fucking bullshit for anyone who has children or works a typical schedule for a living. It doesn't need to be light outside at 9:30 at night. And anyone who whines about how they like to mow their yard later in the evening can go fuck themselves for making a racket when everyone else is trying to relax.
  7. Because too many Americans mistakenly believe they're being independent when they're really being a contrarian pussy who can't think for themselves.
  8. I still live here, and loved it for a very long time. Almost everything I loved about it is gone now, though. The people who created the culture here have been priced out. It's not a bad city now, but it's not anything close to resembling what it was. Now it's just an overpriced big city with less than half the conveniences and perqs of a proper big city. The culture looks and feels like the culture everywhere else, because no one here is from here anymore. Again, Austin is still great for many reasons, but almost none of them are the same reasons that made it great in the past. The cost to purchase a family home in this town passed ludicrous levels a while ago. When the tech industry packs up and leaves (and it will at some point) things will get interesting around here.
  9. My son's schools goes mask optional a week after back from spring break (to account for any diseases picked up by the muckity muck parents and kids while traveling over the break). I'm curious to see how many kids still where them. I have to peel the mask off my son when he gets home each afternoon. I think he just forgets it is there.
  10. So does this mean more people from New York and New Jersey will be moving to Austin and buying a black Mercedes to speed around in?
  11. My bad. I misread/misinterpreted what you wrote.
  12. I agree with all of this post except the part where you intimate that Texas is a blue blood in basketball. We need to pull our heads out of our collective asses on that front. Absent a couple of flashes, we're not a basketball powerhouse and never have been. What Beard did was on brand for him and shouldn't really surprise or bother anyone. As evidenced by "2 Fat Girls" and "Bird Flipping Boomer" in yesterdays broadcast, we've got no leg up in the class department on anyone else, even Tech. And bitching about it otherwise is an aggy thing to do anyway. What Beard did was nothing. Childish, perhaps, but he's an egomaniacal D1 coach. It's a feature not a bug. Whether Beard can change the very much non-blue blood history of the program remains to be seen, but watching that game yesterday wasn't pleasant. The only players who kept us in the game were Shaka's players. Beard clearly challenged the manhood of the team which resulted in some ridiculously over the top play in the first half. His rough approach will run off a ton of players here just like it did at his last stop - but if he can find the right group of players who respond to asshole style coaching he will take a team to a championship. He damn near did it at Tech with that recipe, and that's what we hired him to do. For those upthread who think Beard is going to recruit high school kids and coach them up, you haven't paid much attention to college basketball and Beard in particular. This will be a team of transfers every single year. Beard churns rosters like no coach has even done before. Maybe he'll change his tune now that he should have an easier time recruiting to Texas than he did in the past, but history doesn't indicate that will be the case, nor does the current college athletics landscape.
  13. I take supplements, multivitamin, extra vitamin D and omega 3, zinc, a smattering or other things. I also acknowledge that the benefit of these supplements is based on absolutely no scientific evidence whatsoever and that there's a more than decent chance it's just made up bullshit by an unregulated industry selling snake oil. But why not? The thing I find interesting is how many folks banging the C, Zinc, and D drum during this pandemic just accept that these magic pills work in spite of zero hard evidence while at the same time decry the use of vaccines backed with years of actual study and development by real scientists (unlike whatever hourly wage earner is packing god knows what into those veggie capsules that supplements come in). So what's the real difference between the two? Marketing. That's it. Marketing. Some people are so susceptible to marketing that they will fight you if you dare besmirch the good name of a powdered supplement which may not even contain what the label on the bottle says since there's no regulation of the industry. It's weird how many people are comfortable accepting an acknowledged fairy tale (or at best wishful thinking) as hard cold fact but will stare something based on hard evidence in the eye and say, "That's clearly bullshit being pushed by big pharma for profit! Now, I need to get going as the vitamin store closes at 6:00 - also what do you know about Athletic Greens? They seem legit." Again, I think it's a good idea to take vitamins and believe on a certain level that there is a benefit based on the fact I feel better when I take them and worse when I don't. I also accept that it could all be a placebo. There's literally no way to know. Also - on the fat thing, I've seen a bunch of fatties get Covid and barely feel sick at all, and I've seen some skinny healthy people get hospitalized with it. I'm not saying it doesn't play a role, but trying to blame Covid deaths on weight seems more than a little shortsighted.
  14. I've umped a ton of little league games over the years, as well as coached my son's teams. I started that process as a well adjusted, productive member of society with a positive outlook on life and my fellow man. I now hate everything about existence and hope all parents of young athletes die painfully in a fire so their children can be free of them.
  15. About damn time (although four years too late). Cronk would be next if our leaders had a spine. Austin Water director resigns, 3 employees on administrative leave after boil notice AUSTIN (KXAN) — Greg Meszaros, the director of Austin Water, has resigned amid questions regarding the city’s third boil water notice in the past four years. Meszaros resignation was confirmed by a memo from Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk. Meszaros resignation comes after scrutiny following the city’s most recent boil water notice that was in place for several days. According to Austin Water, the notice was sent out as a precaution on Feb. 5 following an “internal treatment process issue” at the Ulrich Water Treatment Plant. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/3-austin-water-employees-on-administrative-leave-director-resigns-after-boil-notice/
  16. Tell us you're an engineer without telling us you're an engineer.
  17. White knighting is a solid look. While some mouth breather or two might be taking out their anger on Gu, most of us should be able to recognize she's merely the public face for a bad actor. I agree we should have completely boycotted the games. Comcast, like too many American companies, sucks a lot of Chinese tit. It's embarrassing for them, especially when Xi laughs in their face when they try to get much of their content into the Chinese market. It's time to isolate and ostracize China and Russia. Gu may live to regret her decision when she accidentally says something that offends Xi and ends up in an off grid prison.
  18. Of course people are bothered by Gu because it's China. That's the point. I don't think it's some kind of nefarious bias. It's a justifiable bias. China is a shitstain on the face of the planet. The fact she's shilling for them does not speak well of her character, but I don't don't blame her for chasing cash. The issue is with China being able to use the Olympics as a disinformation and propaganda campaign while the West sanctions it. She is a part of that propaganda machine so of course she will ruffle some feathers. The dislike is ultimately with China, though, not her. I do think it's a bit sad that national pride has largely disappeared for many of the athletes, with snowboarders in particular seeming unwilling to even wear their nation's flags or insignia during events (kudos to Chloe Kim for being one of the few repping her country well). Dual citizen athletes play a role in this as well, but it's just a sign of the times and ultimately not a bad thing, imo. Our retirement plans involve settling into a tropical nation and forming a curling team to become the oldest Olympic athletes in the winter games. Good excuse for travel every four years.
  19. To be fair, they're only a 4-5 hour drive from skiing. One of the overlooked aspects of that place. That store is way less ridiculous than the shops we have in Austin selling ski gear.
  20. I don't care if it's Kelly, Casar, or the homeless guy throwing rocks at Far West near Mopac, whoever can hire a functional city manager and hold them accountable should get the keys to the city.
  21. Family member died yesterday. Pneumonia brought on by COVID. Doctor told her not to get vaccinated due to MS. We begged her to get a second opinion on that one, as there seems to be conflicting opinions, but ultimately she's the exact type of person everyone else should be mindful for. She couldn't get vaccinated for medical reasons and ultimately died early after an already difficult life. She lives in an area with low vaccination rates and low participation in any kind of mitigation. She was wheelchair bound for years, but largely self sufficient. Has hid inside for the last couple of years, including avoiding church. Only went one place, ever, and that was to Sonic to get something to drink a couple of time a week. Omicron is contagious as hell and people are still dying. I'm as guilty as anyone of wanting this shit to just be over. But it isn't over.
  22. Wordle 235 6/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ 🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 The puzzles that have numerous words that fit like this drive me a bit nutty.
  23. That athlete has gone missing after failing in competition.
  24. Hint: it's always management's fault.
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