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UpperWestside

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by UpperWestside

  1. They aren’t doing a real good job of keeping it quiet. I hope Drip gets a 2nd high school. I used to compete against them in sports and academic events when they were a much smaller school in my youth. I can still recall in elementary school tying for the gold medal in UIL Spelling. Got a perfect paper and only one other person did the same. Even my principal missed six words. I can also still remember her name and that she beat me the next year when I misspelled trafficking. 😂
  2. This is the point of it. You will either have parents going deep into debt to make up the difference at the schools or you’ll just confine the poor and their kids to schools where they learn nothing. That perpetuates the cycle of low income people continuing to not have an exit ramp through education, especially minorities.
  3. Even in Texas, especially in rural and solidly R suburban areas. Some of the best teachers I had growing up who really did care about educating students are still voting against their own interests because team first nonsense. One of the teachers that is irate about this is someone I grew up with. She’s got a bullhorn for a mouth (In charge of the debate team) and her child is on the spectrum. Combine a pissed off mother and teacher who has never been the quiet type and you’ve got someone who can at least put up some form of opposition to this garbage. They’ve already started in on the resulting loss of funds to the school district under these voucher plans. It would cut funding for her son’s teachers and other children just like him. That appears to be the red line for a lot of teachers. To be clear the voucher program issue is not just something school related only in Texas. New York is screwing over their public school students with charter schools and they have a Democratic governor. The blatant money grabs and the putting a price on your child is not limited to states like Texas.
  4. Smokey’s really gonna have to hustle this year.
  5. Howard is nuts as well, but his influence is limited. Elmo is absolutely the worst human being he has ever had on there. No argument there. Carson sticks out to me because of how he ruined a friendship for me. I am honestly shocked Carson is not part of this dictatorship in some way. He is a grifter just like they are.
  6. This idiot is responsible for putting this guy, also an idiot, on his podcast. Billy Carson is what happens when you mix drugs together with already insane beliefs. Again idiot #1 put this guy on his show. I had to quit being friends with someone that had been a close friend of 20 plus years because he believed the stuff Carson was saying. You know things like buying a book off of Amazon to translate a language no one has heard in over SIX THOUSAND YEARS. He put Carson in front of millions of listeners. There are not enough ways for me to say how much I loathe Rogan for this one alone. Anyone of you that get through more than 10 minutes of that, well, good luck. The rebuttal to all of it has been posted here by me last summer. It was from an actual person who likes to dispel this conspiracy garbage and it was glorious to watch.
  7. I have seen some fun stuff posted by current and former public school teachers in Texas. Abbott and his wife have now made enemies out of their own voting base. Not that he cares, but this is an interesting development.
  8. Some of them appear to have found their way out here too.
  9. Went to see Paddington in Peru last night. If you have kids you DEFINITELY need to take the to see it. Just a beautiful movie overall. Even if you don't have kids this is a movie to go see because you'll leave the theatre feeling good. It was just a film that makes you feel good and I am glad there is more of this type of stuff out there now.
  10. Cool movie. It took a minute to get used to not seeing Chris Evans, but I think this is going to work out well for Marvel. Enjoyed it all the way through and liked the big fight scene.
  11. One of the things that almost none of the owners of any American media outlets will say out loud is that Trump and his band of racist trolls being back in the big boy chair is good for ratings and that's good for the bottom line. More people tune in to see the illiterate old man say crazy things than the alternative. I mostly will read The Guardian or the website I subscribe to called Defector. I think there are some people here who are Defector members. It's sports, pop culture, animals, science, politics and really whatever else they want to write blogs about. It's the old Deadspin staff that quit and they've made it four and a half years now with no advertising. I will try and post one of David Roth's political blogs sometime soon. He is probably the best American political writer that there is right now. I met him at one of their birthday celebrations. He's a good guy with a gift for writing about Politics and his Mets. He also does their weekly podcast with the lead writer for the site Drew Magary. I would highly suggest some of y'all look at that site if you want to support writers doing some high quality work that is enjoyable to read.
  12. The map comment is one I always think of because I loved Geography as a kid and did UIL competitions in that and spelling in my childhood. When someone is passionately defending a group of people in a foreign land it’s best TO ACTUALLY KNOW WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED AT. Look at a map and at least familiarize yourself with the rest of the world.
  13. Weather in areas where the protests would be largest combined with a media that moves on to the next news cycle plays a fairly outsized role in coverage. In 2020 almost all protesting in NYC came to a halt as it got cold and never really returned. I participated all summer and into the early fall in protests that year. Protest or not, the Palestinians who no longer have a home are largely screwed unless a group of countries come together to fill the gap in leadership we are abdicating. Same as 2016 except with more cruelty this time around.
  14. Terrible liar and a simpleton. This is some elementary school level intellect on display.
  15. After letting the family members beat him he should be left just enough alive to be finished off by a badger. How in the heck was this guy ever released after sexually assaulting two children? I mean how does this happen? Jesus tapdancing Christ New York he should’ve been left to rot in prison for life in solitary.
  16. I completely agree with that for sure. I read a book recently called “The Worst Military Leaders in History.” It was essays written by historians on some of the worst examples of military leadership and then separated into different categories. Some were well known examples like Santa Anna and General Custer and some there were obscure ones. All selections were subjective of course, but cases were made on each as determined by temperament and decisions made etc. What they all shared in common was the ability, or lack thereof, to meet a momentous decision in a war or single battle and instead just make the absolute worst decision or decisions they could possibly make. It goes back to your point about “when the rubber meets the road”. Really interesting read and not everyone who reads it will agree on all of them being bad.
  17. I talk to people from all over the world and the ones that ask about our politicians will have a similarly worded question for me 98 percent of the time. What has happened to America? How can you elect these people? I just tell them they did not get my vote and that we aren’t all like this.
  18. WHOA. That is an extremely rough 42 years. That’s a hangin’ out under an overpass in Houston with our resident crack addict giving out 5 dollar BJ’s all day long 42.
  19. So three months away for Sinner. Conveniently he’ll return just in time for the French Open. What a farce this continues to be.
  20. I still use landwatch to look at properties up there. I would honestly say that if worst comes to worst and you are good at survival in the mountains then that would be a pretty good place to be to get away from things.
  21. By the time that thing arrives I’ll be living a few thousand miles away from the US. Just hit South Florida and call it a successful day.
  22. Oh my gosh so quiet. Just the small birds chirping and that was it. The layout is incredible and seeing the view of Honolulu and Diamond Head is pretty cool. I liked seeing the maps up at the top of the stairs of the battles where so many of these Americans met their end. This is a first class place for our war heroes to be laid to rest in.
  23. So one of the reasons I moved this direction while doing my masters coursework is because the history I am interested in with World War II has to do with the Pacific theater. One place I knew I wanted to visit (It will be multiple visits to take it all in) is the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. I know many of you have been there and yesterday I decided to go. It was as serene and peaceful a place as I have ever stepped foot in, cemetery or not. I took some pictures and I will post more later, but this grave was one I wanted to pay my respects to. What a journey he had in his forty plus years of life.Not too hard to find and there is a computer outside the visitor center where you can print out locations of graves you want to see. I don’t think I have to explain this guy to anyone reading this thread. Buried between two unknown soldiers is absolutely fitting since he was their voice and their friend.
  24. There were so many things that led to what happened in the 30’s and 40’s that it’s takes books being written about all of the different events. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1921 was a big middle finger to Japan. They felt they were relegated to being under the thumb of the United States and Britain in the Far East. That and many other things set them on their self-destruction tour from 1931-1945.
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