DonkeyCigars

Fill in RR for George Washington, Thomas Jefferson-- heck any of the founding fathers then, right? Using your logic?

Wow, I guess I should have seen this turn of events coming. Signs and wonders; what's next? You guys gonna tell me JFK was actually a good president?

A lot of this. Specifically how it is the role of the head of the household to set the strategy and any failures borne out by the dependents/children is NOT their fault. Just like with anything else with children, it is the parents who are impacting and affecting the child. They are clay and what you do, or don't do, molds them. It's both a terrific and terrible responsibility and unfortunately, we live in a culture and country where what passes the bar of minimum standards of upkeep for your family is (controversially and debatably depending on beliefs) child abuse, at times. And I get not wanting to give your children an inferiority complex or mental hang up-- there are ways to administer help and advice in loving and healthy ways-- but to either ignore and avoid the conversations as children balloon in front of your eyes or, worse yet, enable it and create an environment where you are actively promoting their obesity is obscene and should get you called to the carpet to explain yourself. We do it with every other form of abuse or neglect, from truancy to malnutrition, this is just another flavor (no pun intended) of malnutrition.

Ronald Reagan is absolutely in the conversation for one of the greatest president's we've ever had. Differences in opinions, I guess. But do you think Ronnie had dementia during his tenure?

Because you, too, enjoy SAS and have matured in your tastes and refinement with respect to hearing true and poignant pro basketball opinions?

Also if you guys aren't enjoying "BIG PERK" Kendrick Perkins and his takes, then I can't help you. He's awesome and I like watching his clips. Also, unpopular sports opinion... ... ... I'm timidly getting ready to say this and duck.... ... ... (I've come around and actually like/enjoy SAS, but only during basketball season and when it comes to talking about basketball. He's hilarious and with merit-- I think he's wildly entertaining and I would say I agree with his takes 80% of the time).

The first thought I had when I read this was the Bill Burr quote and how Nichols wears Gucci pumps, I'm sure.

Yea, people don't seem to realize that irony isn't a monolith and there are sub-verticals: dramatic irony, literal irony, situational irony etc. I guess to help the literal-minded folks who have a hard time with flexible/creative thinking on their feet, the author should actually denote which flavor of irony they are referencing as a "belts and suspenders", but I personally feel like people shouldn't be so bent out of shape and pedantic in the first place. That said, my favorite cartoon clip in an ocean of awesome clips, after a couple of scenes where Bender corrects a character by chiding "That's not ironic, it's just ____"

This, and has anyone spent any length of time in Jackson and/or Jackson Hole lately? That place is lousy with 20-30 year olds in Patagonia's working remote or long-term renting during ski season, off-season, etc. because a) it has all the outdoor requirements talked about and b) there is a vibe/scene for these folks that have been built (largely because of the "wannabe" or "me too" aspirations as young, white males bought into Jackson Hole to be like the older white males who made it a corporate retreat/thing).

Interesting article as someone, obviously a guy though, from that time.

What is the culture you are referencing? "Fat" culture? They don't want to see one of their own get skinny and so there is negative reinforcement to eat bad because misery loves company? Educator culture? Mexican-American culture? I don't know if you are hispanic but you have an avatar and the name mole, which is probably not healthy and maybe informs your identity?

This is why I say don’t fat shame people, but absolutely shame the bad parents letting freaking toddlers and prepubescent children get fat. It’s sad and it’s not the children’s fault; it’s 100% the parents. Just like any other unhealthy and potentially toxic substance, parents should be at risk if they have obese children. You wouldn’t put up with parents letting their kids get drunk or smoke cigarettes, but we let these parents let their kids mainline Cheetos and Big Macs daily. This is another reason why Dr. Thunder and Taki’s shouldn’t be paid for by EBT/SNAP benefits, or they should be capped at a certain % or $ of overall food purchase. Also I’m all for making it more expensive for fat people; insurance or airlines or whatever. We already do that with life insurance, if you are fat you pay a higher premium. If you smoke you pay more for insurance, etc., it’s the same thing.

"Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change." Which maybe is why being shamed can be helpful. If you feel like crap when you go to the waterpark with your kids because you are fat and feel lesser or less attractive, then maybe you dig a bit deeper when life gets in the way of your best laid plans or whatever that post I'm quoting was trying to say by way of distractions. Also the company you keep helps-- if everyone is ordering a healthy lunch, maybe you won't order the fatty special and you'd feel absurd by doing so.

Yea eating out is tough for casual dining, when we go on vacation, short of fancier fare, we have to stick to seafood restaurants or find any generic place that has grilled chickens or salad entrees, etc. When I eat out for work/business though, I can always find good options because the dining is much higher quality (and of course 2-3x more expensive than casual sit down dining).

Also I think an underrated aspect of fat people is the understanding that food is a chemical and like with any chemical, there is a chance (and some people or populations of people are more prone than others) to addiction. Especially with sugar. So you have people who are getting cheap hits of dopamine from eating pleasurable and tasty foods, and over and over and over, they build a tolerance. So now they have to eat like crap all day long to get those highs. Or else the alternative is they feel like crap even when heating "healthy" so they think, why bother eating healthy when it makes me feel sick? So they relapse back to the stuff that is killing them. No different than heroin, at that point, directionally speaking. As many can attest after a long boys weekend or a vacation of eating like crap-- you feel like crap and have a sort of hangover or detox period complete with headaches or lethargy or migraines-- now put yourself in a 260 lb, 6 foot or shorter person (and beyond) and you start to see the real problem is that once you've become food/sugar addicted, it takes a level of commitment and mental strength to break that cycle that isn't for everyone. And if you are an adult and say, "meh, i'll take the trade-off of feeling/looking like crap and a half dozen years of lifespan because I get to eat decadent foods at semi-leisure and on whim", then so be it. Still, I'll die on the hill that if you are raising fat kids, you should be talked to about it-- whether it from a doctor or a social worker. Don't put your own unhealthiness and poor decisions and choices and food addictions on innocent kids, just like you wouldnt give them booze or cigarettes.

Good point-- I think poor people get a little more sympathy for being fat, considering they probably live in an apartment with a crappy small kitchen and eat off paper plates and don't have appropriate cookware, etc. so they have to eat Wendy's 4 for 4 for them and their kids. But any middle class and above person should have the requisite tools and mindset to at least have part-time healthy habits.

Good post. I just left the beach for a vacation and was stunned by how fat children (4-12 years old range) are. Maybe it's the pandemic and sitting around playing ipads all day, but you never see a fat kid without a fat parent. I think being fat is unique in that it is the "sin" you wear on the outside. You can be a great person in all other respects of life, but you betray your gluttony or slothfullness or laziness or just addiction to food by being highly visible. Someone else said it upthread but also, being fat is one thing. You or anyone can choose to overeat and be a glutton or make poor decisions, but I think it's really bad-- and maybe could be child abuse based on severity-- for raising kids in a lifestyle that is unhealthy and makes them fat. Nothing is sadder than seeing fat children (like pre-teen and younger) because that is 100% on the parents and they never had a chance. Be fat if you want think of your children and the life you are empowering them with--why would you want that for your kids anyways? Would you raise them in a dirty/unhealthy environment or household? Would you let them smoke or inhale bad chemicals? No. Why would you let them overeat and ingest bad food and learn horrible habits that is creating a food addiction or allowing them to think overeating is normal?

I read this today, do smart people think COVID-19 could be similar?

Whatever happened to adding 5 supreme court justices or whatever the "Pack the Courts" plank that Dems were saying and/or running on? Is that dead in the water?

I don't have a dog in this fight because I think Austin was awesome for the 15 years I lived there-- and for a variety of reasons (real estate prices being a big one) it's not for me now. Good on those who love it for their personal reasons, why are we quibbling over matters of personal taste? At any rate, read this today and thought it a bit absurd:

What does this mean?

Thought Steve Carrell really nailed his part in the movie Cheney.

Very timely thread for this article I just read, titled: Why some biologists and ecologists think social media is a risk to humanity https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/26/22550981/carl-bergstrom-joe-bak-coleman-biologists-ecologists-social-media-risk-humanity-research-academics?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4

Right before COVID-19 I went into a migas/migitas phase. I couldn't find decent migas (read: NOT chilaquiles) anywhere. It's like nobody makes them anymore or they aren't posh, I don't know. I get their origins were very humble, but I've always enjoyed migas and seem to remember having some good ones in Austin when I lived there: Dario's, Cisco's and even Juan in a million. I can't find them anywhere in the suburbs of Dallas or Houston.

Where are the trans racial allies? Allyship is needed.