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Brisketexan

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Posts posted by Brisketexan

  1. 2 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

    Totally agree.

     

    From my perspective, I have seen shit moving forward faster to the same standard of workplace safety,  environmental and other standards.  There hasn’t been a fuck it, dump whatever, don’t worry about workers and cut corners change.

    I mean, except for, you know, multiple instances of relaxation/rollback of regulations to allow for toxic discharges in numerous cases in the past couple of years.  Just as one example (see the regs on coal waste, for example).

  2. 7 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Quite true, particularly in Austin. However, a better regulatory regime would streamline the development process while containing externalities, not simply eliminate guardrails that prevent the public from paying the cost of development in the form of flooding, public safety problems, pollution, water quality issues, etc. 

     

    That....is about as solid and concise of a smackdown that y'all will see around here, folks.

    • Like 1
  3. 3 minutes ago, hornhorn said:

    But that's not entirely the truth is it? Society has realized that it could be difficult for people to pay for these fines so we have:

    - Payment plans for these people(I've seen as low as $5/month) But people won't even call to get on these because they're too lazy to do it. Would rather get a warrant issued after avoiding these things and then blame the system once arrested with several people white knighting for them on how unfair this system is. It isn't. 

    - Traffic school(some states have these that get rid of these citations completely if you attend one of these)

    - Just call and ask for reduction or more time(many many counties allow this as well)

    But no, we are going to hold the system as irresponsible here instead of the person who drives like a maniac(especially if you're getting these tickets on a regular) even when we know the number of fatalities we see on the roads every year. 

    Once you are done paying these, maybe just maybe be more careful and not get these tickets over and over?  I know, too much to ask. 

    And these same people who cannot afford whatever $$$ in speeding tickets can afford alcohol and cigarettes in the same amount every month. Sorry no study to cite here. 

    Read the ABA piece I cited.  And read the literally hundreds of others on the same subject.  And read the REBUTTAL of some of your very points (payment plan my ass -- how about the opposite?  How about incredibly high interest and penalties piled up on top of the fines and costs?)

    See the number of those fines etc. related to minor drug and alcohol offenses (not just traffic offenses)...the kind of offense that a well-dressed white kid gets sent home to his parents for, but the "thug" on the street gets taken in for.

    It is a cold hard fact that poor people have low/zero margin for error.  Yet we happily perpetuate a system that doesn't just fail to acknowledge that lack of margin, it preys on it.  But you know, fuck 'em.....they shouldn't be all poor and shit.

    • Like 1
  4. Just now, Incredulity said:

    Which isn’t really related to the topic of Trump regulatory relief.  

     

    It's offered by way of contrast.  Regulations that, if removed, make life easier for a developer to make $50 million -- ROLL THEM BACK!  THIS IS A PRIORITY!  Regulations that, if removed, make life livable for poor people -- crickets chirping.

     

    • Like 1
  5. 47 minutes ago, hornhorn said:

    Are you saying once you're rich you don't get traffic citations? Or are you saying that the ungodly rich make cars for the poor that only go 15 over the speed limit while theirs doesn't?

    Bear with me because I'm just spitballing here but I know there has to be a way to not get speeding tickets...ooh ooh, what about not speeding??? I know plenty of people who average 2 tickets/decade, so it is possible to avoid those absolutely gut wrenching anti poor speed traps.

    Nope.  What we're saying is that traffic fines 1) disproportionately affect the poor ($250 to you and me is nothing....$250 to someone who only has $100 left at the end of the month after paying for groceries and rent is backbreaking), 2) delinquency related to issue 1) leads to huge additional penalties, exacerbating the problem of inability to pay, and they are capped off with 3) suspension of your license, so now you can't drive...to your job....where you earn money.

    I get a $250 ticket, I pay it.

    Poor person gets a $250 ticket, they can't pay it.  So now they owe $1,000.  Which they SUPER can't pay.  So their license gets suspended and they lose their job.  So now they SUPER DUPER can't pay.  And they're unemployed.  And their entire life crashes around them.

    That's just one example.  The American Bar Association has offered extensive analysis on this issue in a variety of contexts: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/childrens-rights/articles/2016/criminalizing-poverty-fines-fees-costs/

    Oh.....and I didn't even mention the part where we it's no secret that minorities are pulled over by police at a materially higher rate than non-minorities, and we all know that if a cop wants to write you a citation for something, he'll find something. You lingered too long in the passing lane (totally subjective - I got pulled over for this one time: I'd passed one car, and was 100 yards away from passing the next, traveling faster than he was, with nobody behind me), you didn't properly signal your last lane change, you didn't come to a perfect complete stop back there, you were going 2 mph over the limit, the light bulb on your rear license plate is out (yep, got pulled over for that one), and we could go on.  For a fucking page.  But again, we don't even need to mention that.  The whole point is that what's a minor administrative hiccup to you and me can be a backbreaking financial event for tens of millions of your fellow Americans.  The poor ones.  You know, the fuckers who don't matter who only have themselves to blame for where they are, and who deserve every bit of shit they get.

     

    • Like 1
  6. 6 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

     

    Yes.  It had ZERO racist connotation before then.  For example, it was just a coincidence that Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama added elements of the confederate flag to their flags during [checks notes] the rise of Jim Crow and the birth of modern lynching culture.  And another coincidence that Georgia added it in 1956 amid [checks notes again] the Civil Rights struggle.

    Nikki Haley can go fuck herself in the ass with a rusty Confederate bayonet. 

    • Like 3
  7. 7 hours ago, JimmyJames said:

    A lot of dumb white people were ok with democracy when they were the clear majority but don’t like it so much when they’re not and have all decided to congregate in the nihilistic Republican Party so that hopefully trump will establish apartheid or some sort of dictatorship thus destroying America. 

    Argue against that trolls. 

    Even for trolls, that's gonna be a tough task.  I mean, they'll yell "NUH-UH!" and "BOTH SIDES," but they won't really put much heart into it.

    "Fair play" is fine so long as you have all the 400 lb linemen and two Heisman winners in the backfield.  But as soon as the other guys start getting some talent, well then, you're gonna pay off the refs and hold all day long.  The REAL fucking tragedy?  WE'RE NOT ON OPPOSING TEAMS.  We can all be in this together.  But the current ruling class/race assumes that the next iteration of a power structure is gonna fuck them over as hard as they fucked over the weak when they had absolute power, and that stark fear that maybe everyone else is as shitty as they are drives them to panic.

  8. 15 minutes ago, Chrispy_ said:

    I say tinkering because the latest jobs report was better than I anticipated, unemployment is at a 50 year low, and stocks an all time high.

    And under the horrible, awful, evil, no good, very bad Democratic regime of 2009-17 (see our crowdsourced moron friend, your pal).....how were all of those things trending, before Trump ever stepped foot in the WH?   Hmmmm......

    unemploymentrate.1556887348436.png

    It seems that figures like the unemployment rate are a benchmark for governmental success in your mind.  Why, I agree!  You and I are on the same page, so let's run with it!  Who lowered the unemployment rate more than any president in the past 50 years?

    Unemployment-Rate_September.png

    You should ADORE that president!  You should praise his policies, which obviously worked -- the proof is in the statistics that matter (you know, the ones that you yourself say matter)!  Huzzah! Cheers for .....OBAMA!

    You fucking moron.

    • Like 2
  9. 29 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

    I thought the two ousted members had a good point. If a judge is performing civil ceremonies, then why not leave personal religion out of it? If Abbott were not governor, and a judge were of a different belief than Christianity, he would be okay with the same standard?

    Let's be perfectly clear here: this isn't even about governmental support and favoritism of Christianity.  It is governmental favoritism of a particular BRAND of Christianity.

    For example, there is a significant group of Christians in the US who think that the current GOP platform is sinful and very contrary to the Gospel.  Imagine if such a person refused to perform marriage ceremonies for anyone who supports Trump on the basis that their support for Trump conflicted with their religious beliefs, and they couldn't support them in any way.  Or what if a muslim judge refused to marry a couple made up of a muslim and a non-muslim, because it's against his muslim beliefs for a muslim to marry outside the faith?  Think this regime would be all about defending their "religious freedom?"

    Nope.  Not in the least.  "Religious Freedom" is a lie of a battle cry.  It's about religious favoritism, and cloaking a particular brand of American Christianity with the power and protection of the State. Make no mistake, we have a state religion right now, at this very moment -- fundamentalist Christianity.  It is supported, protected, and defended, including with retributive action, by our current government.

    • Like 7
  10. 30 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

    What happens when the Supreme Court rules, Trump says “no”, and not a single republican does a thing?

    What I've been saying for a while now happens:

    giphy.gif

    We call it a day for the Republic*, and move on to whatever's next.  And whatever's next....won't be pretty, and won't last long.

    * Spoiler: the Republic has been dead for a while now, they're just keeping it on the machines so they can claim it's still alive.  The GOP's conspiracy to kill it finally succeeded.

  11. 3 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

    Knew it was gonna be this story when I saw the thread title. Thread-worthy indeed.

    Yep.  Adoption day is the best day of the year at the courthouse, every year.  Without question.

    I've been at the courthouse in the middle of a contentious trial.  We had to take a break and move to the gallery while the judge took care of a previously scheduled adoption.  Buncha hardened trial lawyers in the gallery, all of us with tears running down our faces.  Best damned day ever.

    • Like 2
  12. 4 minutes ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

    Furthermore, the age-old conservative commitment to de-regulation applies almost exclusively to the more well-off, wealthy, developers, corporations, etc...

    Proposed or enacted regulations/requirements from the party that has used Rolling Back Regulations and Freedom as a mantra as it pertains to those at the other end of the economic spectrum have all been tightened.

    Work requirements for food assistance- tightened (while successfully opposing raising the minimum wage)

    Qualifications for student debt relief under existing fraud laws- tightened

    Qualifications re: application for citizenship- tightened

    Rules for those seeking asylum- tightened

     

     

     

    Let's not forget infinite regulations and penalties for poor people who get a traffic citation, etc.

    Poor folks need LOTS of regulations and penalties.  But the well-off?  Well, they've demonstrated their virtue (because in AmericaChristendomProsperityGospelLand, the only proof of virtue is wealth), so they can be trusted.

    Republicans aren't opposed to regulations.  That is a flat-out lie.  They are opposed only to regulations that cost them money.  They love regulations that 1) make them money, 2) impede their competition, or 3) keep...you know....those people....in their place.

    • Like 5
  13. 5 hours ago, Iceman said:

    A group of players adopted the phrase after seeing it in the action movie "Stone Cold," starring former NFL linebacker Brian Bosworth.

    The adoption of the slogan seems benign, and this looks to have been well-handled by the administration.

    BUT....the quoted text above causes me to have serious, major, terrifying doubts about the quality and reliability of our armed forces.  I mean....they're inspired by Stone Cold?  FFS....

    • Like 2
  14. 1 minute ago, Underdog said:

    Boones Farm maybe Bartles & James work well with a popeye's spicy sandwich. 

    I don't know about with the sandwich, but when I have a bidness trip to the right kinda place, picking up a 4-piece spicy, then grabbing a bud light tall boy from the finest local convenience store, and enjoying it all at the little table in my cheap hotel room....well, that's L-I-V-I-N.

    • Like 1
  15. Well, shit.  We're a year out from my original post.

    They Keytruda worked great.  Until it didn't.  Last couple of scans have shown significant tumor re-growth.  Docs seem to think that she won't get any further results from the Keytruda.  And they don't really understand all the ins and outs, or why it would stop working.

    So, looking at chemo options.  Seems that the realistic goal is to try and buy her 1-2 more good years.  And when the price of treatment is greater than the benefits (physically), she'll know when to say when.  My folks are feeling pretty vulnerable and scared.  They shared all of their anxieties, from the big to the little. As I sat in their living room last night, doing what I do -- calmly discussing the logistics, and how we tackle problems and go to experts (we're having an eldercare specialist come in to talk about every aspect of life management for folks in decline) -- I was in my zone.  It's what I do -- solve problems, take people's worries off of their shoulders.

    But goddamn, it didn't feel right.

    And my old man isn't doing great.  The news has thrown him for a loop, and he's had some health issues push him into more of a decline than he'd been in.  He's 82.  I wouldn't be surprised if they both passed within a few months of each other.

    I was hoping they'd see both kids graduate college.  Now, I'm hoping they make it a year and a half, and get to see the boy graduate high school.

    After our conversation, it was late, and we needed to grab dinner (too late to cook).  They suggested that we all go together, so we picked up the boy at home and went to Cabo Bob's (the boy had been wanting to introduce them to it soon).  As we're standing in line, trying to explain the menu to them, the male half of a young couple in front of us turned around - "First time here? I can help, I'm a bit of an expert," chuckling to himself.  He walked them through how the ordering works, made suggestions, etc.  

    We check out, and we're headed to the drink station.  My folks already sat down with their orders.  As their filling their cups, the man leans over to my son and tells him "it's really cool that you're getting time like this with your grandparents.  Enjoy it."  He came to the table grinning, telling us about the conversation.  Damn near broke me, right there.

    Life rolls on.  It will roll on without some of us.  That's the way it goes.  And we'll just roll together until then.

    • Like 8
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