BevoAbyss

There's a lot of forgetful history in here regarding Reagan. Reagan was the presidential ringleader of the GOP's full merger with Falwell's vast tribe of evangelical-creationists who were billed as the (alleged) "Moral Majority." The Christian evangelical-creationist "moral" vision was always an anti-science theocracy, fascist style. Always! Reagan wanted God in schools and said so at a 1984 campaign rally in Austin. Today's lunatic, theocratic, history-denying GOP is the fruition of the Falwell-Reagan vision. Don't forget that Nancy was literally guiding his decisions with astrology readings! Lulz.

It's only a matter of time until MAGA goes from banning books to burning books. In which state does this happen first: Texas or Florida? Or has it already happened? Hell, Christians burned Beatles albums in the South after John Lennon said the "Beatles were bigger than Jesus" (which was probably true among youth at the height of Beatlemania). Of course, the Beatles were also part of a communist plot to control the minds of American and Christian youth in the 1960s. Now it is the Left trying to hypnotize the Christian kids into being woke!

Spot on. It is a strategic MAGA move. A clear attack on intelligence, intellectual/educational standards, and the idea that someone worked hard to grasp a body of knowledge and was awarded a PhD. Versus "doing your own research" with an hour of YouTube videos after dinner. The goal is to destroy all intellectual standards to make 5-6 hours of YouTube studies the equivalent of 5-6 years of grad school. MAGA is attacking intelligence across the board—education, science, the humanities, etc. This is necessary to pave the way for authoritarians to impose their fascist regime without much intellectual challenge.

There is nothing confusing or befuddling about Abbott and his policies. It has next to nothing do with his paralysis. The reality is right before our eyes. Abbott and Texas MAGA are building a fascist theocracy in the Lone Star State. That's been the R goal since the 1980s. That is obvious to me, but then I was never a conservative or forced to go to church and be brainwashed by preachers and their Bible fables. Have any of the Texas newspapers, TV stations, or public intellectuals labeled Abbott and MAGA as fascist or theocratic? I seriously doubt it. I also doubt any Democrats have, but I could be wrong. Hard to win a battle against an opposition you don't correctly identify or fully understand.

I am not freaking "Randolph Duke." For the record, I am a surely a bit cray cray (too idealistic), but I am nowhere near "Randolph Duke" level of obsessive crazy (about all things A&M). That's legit crazy!

Of course, no conference is perfect. But, only one conference is centered in the former confederacy. I guess the Pac 12 was too liberal for the BOR -- oh I know, it was about the "money" and "late night" games -- even though UT and Austin align far better with Stanford, Cal-Berkeley, Silicon Valley, and Washington. Arizona and UT have partnered (with other universities) to build the world's largest optical telescope. (Don't know enough about UCLA and Oregon academic research.) Apple, Google, Facebook, and Tesla (etc.) have built factories in Austin area and have offices in high profile skyscrapers in Austin. Hiring tens of thousands of workers. A massive tech-economic boom. Tell me which cutting-edge firms from the South are planting roots in Austin area? With big factories and skyscrapers? Are there any? Ah hell, who gives a damn about aligning the State of Texas's freaking flagship university with cutting-edge tech, science, and astronomical universities when we gotta go play "big boy" football in the Deep South. Lulz.

Meanwhile, I received President Hartzell's email (cheerleading or propaganda?) this morning about the move to the SEC. Regarding academics, Hartzell said the move will: -- "strengthen our global brand and reputation, leading more people to consider our university as a place to study, teach and work" -- "Our academic mission will benefit as a result" Could someone explain how allying UT with the most racist, backward states of America achieves the above goals? In effect, UT is literally allying itself with the former confederacy. I think it is a regressive, disgraceful move.

"Conspiracy theory is the poor man's cognitive map." Fredric Jameson, famous Leftist/Marxist literary critic. First heard of this dude while at UT back in the day, probably in the Cactus Cafe while discussing "postmodernism" and philosophy with fellow grad students. Oliver Stone/JFK conspiracies were running amok and X-Files was ramping up. (No CR)

The goal of Second Amendment theory has gone far beyond merely protecting the "right to own a gun." Referencing the Founders is a smoke screen. The real goals are to effect a terrified society, with random gun violence everywhere and mass shootings galore. In the name of saving "freedom" and promoting a Christian America, the AR-15/Second Amendment cults will proudly turn their guns on the rest of us to impose their dreams of a fully-armed fascist, theocratic regime -- as supposedly "prophesied" in the sacred scrolls (aka Bible). Democrats, Corporate America, and the mainstream media will never stand up to religion and the sacred scrolls. NEVER. Violence and religion go hand-in-hand, as history has clearly shown. All this only empowers the gun cults.

Friend sent me this. He found it in Reddit. Federer was my favorite, followed by Nadal, but the stats are on the side Djokovic.

True. The ongoing massive intellectual collapse in America will — almost certainly — be followed by the descent into full-on fascism and theocracy. Then the police of America will be there to violently impose and defend the fascist-theocratic regime. The idea that the police will protect us non-fascists is laughable. The blue line flag tells you all you need to know. Same goes for the Second Amendment gun cults who will never resist the police. They will join with the police to install and the defend the fascist regime. The Supreme Court will back them. Meanwhile, MAGA and Fox News will be celebrating the new "freedom."

You are correct. The Horns have devolved into a similar situation, though for only 13 years, not 26 years. I have not lived in Texas for over two decades because of career, so I am far less exposed to the Texas football media coverage in Dallas, Austin, etc. I cheer/hope for Texas to win because I am an alum, but now am only certain to tune in for the big games (OU, Bama) and maybe some of the others. The eras of Strong, Herman, and Sarkisian have just eroded my fandom. Every year, I seem to care less and less. I guess that makes me a lame fan in some alum's eyes. Sorry.

The Tom Ford Book. "High Fashion" for nouveau riche with no sense of fashion. The interior design in that house is 100% lame...

All true. And we must realize that the "Second Amendment" ideology is no longer about merely protecting gun rights. The unstated gun-loving ideology is about effecting a culture of “ultraviolence” — as described by Anthony Burgess in A Clockwork Orange (1962). “Ultraviolence” is random, senseless, and excessive violence running amok in society. Welcome to 21st century America. Schools, grocery stores, night clubs, movie theaters, college campuses, military bases, fast food restaurants, and so on — all subject to random, senseless, mass shootings. It's all ultraviolence, with the aim of gun rights to help terrorize a fearful, hateful society armed to their teeth. The Second Amendment will be used to justify and impose violent tyranny (not prevent it).

T-BONE's truck decals are just another example of the intellectual collapse of 120-150 million Americans. Complete worship of idiocy, hate, violence, and dictatorial bombastic leaders, all historical markers for fascism. It will only get worse in America.

The Texans not drafting Vince might well be the dumbest decision in the history of all sports in the state of Texas. And there have been a lot of stupid decisions (see, Jerry Jones and others). The city of Houston would have been electric with VY at QB. That's why I will never, ever be a Texans fan. Hell, does Vince turn pro if the Texans do not have the top pick? Perhaps, but with Vince playing his senior year, that's another BCS title for UT. No one was beating that team. Would have been a 33-game winning streak, too....... Grrrr.....

We humans are not merely "changing" the climate, we are disrupting the climate as we wreak havoc on the living systems on Earth and transform the surface of Earth. Check out this 3-minute video.

Santos is yet another example of the intellectual collapse of a huge swath of the American population, 120-150 million people who literally don't give a crap about facts, evidence, reason, logic, or proof of anything that inconveniences their little premodern belief system. That's the effect of being brainwashed from childbirth that the sacred scrolls (Bible) don't need no proof or evidence. Just take the prophets' word on it! There is no larger enabler of idiocy and the destruction of clear thinking than religion, the belief that the mythical Creator of the entire universe (two trillion galaxies stretched across 100 billion light years) has your back. And you don't need no facts to back your quest for power and domination.

This dude is nothing more than a terrorist, empowered by one thing—the evidence-free belief that the sacred scrolls (Bible) have empowered him to violently impose mythical and patriarchal commandments on women, including his girlfriend. This is what happens when fascism and theocracy merge as a political ideology known here as the GQP.

Cross post. Legit question. Not aimed any one in particular. How/why do you continue to care about Jerrah's Carnival? Really, why bother? I am really curious. Same with the Texans, I guess. Why care? I grew up in Austin/DFW, was a Cowboys fan in 70s-80s. Could not believe that O&G hillbilly bought the Cowboys while Texans with real money were screwing around and not paying attention--during a oil/real estate bust. So obvious Jerrah lucked into Jimmy Johnson and 3 Super Bowls. No Jimmy, Jerrah has no titles. Gradually checked out of the Cowboys somewhere between the reigns of Switzer-Gailey. Have barely watched a complete Cowboy game since. I can't cheer for anything Jerrah does. Jerrah is a glorified huckster-carnival showman, the PT Barnum of the NFL. The Dallas and national media lap it up and so do most fans, it seems. The Cowboys will be in Arkansas hands for the rest of the century. How in the hell did Texas let that happen? Boggles the mind.

Legit question. Not aimed any one in particular. How/why do you continue to care about Jerrah's Carnival? Really, why bother? I am really curious. Same with the Texans, I guess. Why care? I grew up in Austin/DFW, was a Cowboys fan in 70s-80s. Could not believe that O&G hillbilly bought the Cowboys while Texans with real money were screwing around and not paying attention--during a oil/real estate bust. So obvious Jerrah lucked into Jimmy Johnson and 3 Super Bowls. No Jimmy, Jerrah has no titles. Gradually checked out of the Cowboys somewhere between the reigns of Switzer-Gailey. Have barely watched a complete Cowboy game since. I can't cheer for anything Jerrah does. Jerrah is a glorified huckster-carnival showman, the PT Barnum of the NFL. The Dallas and national media lap it up and so do most fans, it seems. The Cowboys will be in Arkansas hands for the rest of the century. How in the hell did Texas let that happen? Amazing.

With all due respect, the above is deeply flawed. 1. Pointing out that the MAGA-GQP is fascist and theocratic is not mere hand-wringing or a claim. It's an observation of a blatant empirical truth. Hell, the Christian/Creationist theocrats are up front with America being ruled by the Bible. I grew up in Texas. I've seen the desire for Christian domination for decades, especially in Dallas. MAGA and Trump are not blips on the political radar. Reagan and Falwell got all this rolling along in the 1980s with the so-called Moral Majority, the precursor to MAGA. They are creationists bent upon attacking evolution. Ross Perot foreshadowed Trump as billionaire businessman, the all-knowing, all powerful wise man. 2. MAGA-GQP are not really legislating or governing? Tell that to women in America and Texas. Hell, the Christian theocrats got Roe overturned, with a Supreme Court they stacked. They legislated a bounty on abortion-seeking women in Texas. They are coming for contraception. They are targeting the LGBTQIA communities. They are openly racist. Abbott is busing migrants out of the state, a clear fascist signal that worse is coming. They worship Trump, Musk, and crave dictatorial/autocratic leadership over a militarized and regimented society, terrified and armed to the teeth. The whole battle over Kevin McCarthy was a mere struggle for more power among the most fascist of the GQP. More anti-science is coming. 3. I could list more, but those are clear examples of fascism and theocracy. It's not hand-wringing, yet it seems too late for a warning. Any GOP-Republican (or conservative) not denouncing the above is a fascist/theocrat or an enabler. Either way, the result is the same.

See post/likes near bottom of page 562.

No offense to anyone here, but it is incredibly naive to think that MAGA-GQP fascism and theocracy are "shrinking every day" or somehow going away. I'll say it again, MAGA-GQP fascism/theocracy has been building since Reagan and Falwell merged Republicans with fanatical religion. They have stacked the Supreme Court and federal courts, they plan on stealing elections, they have embraced and empowered creationist anti-science and conspiracy idiocy for decades. The Republican Party is not conservative. It is fascist and theocratic, as on perfect display in Texas. Sad, but true.