Texas Re-Opening Announced

[TornACL 7792]

Maybe, and here's a thought, the goddamn Governor should get to work on test and trace and spend zero time grandstanding over this absolutely trivial matter. 

[bolverk 30325]

Just now, TornACL said:

Maybe, and here's a thought, the goddamn Governor should get to work on test and trace and spend zero time grandsitting over this absolutely trivial matter. 

fify

[gmr548 16701]

@Brisketexan - Abbott still being reasonable?

[SubliminalHorn 7009]

The party of law and order. 

[Brisketexan 106899]

4 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

@Brisketexan - Abbott still being reasonable?

Not on this he's not.  He's being the Trumpy opportunist that is his worst trait.

[wildcat09 29579]

Now seems an appropriate time to post the best description ever given for conservatism (at least, of American conservatism):

"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."

[MaybeACoordinator 8350]

The shitty thing is, there is no percentage in being on the cautious side. The GOP is going to "win" this no matter what. Well, maybe not a die-off of medieval Great Plague proportions, but anything short of that, nothing....There is no upside, politically, to preventing something, as the absence of one thing (mass deaths, overwhelmed hospitals) is impossible for some to imagine while the reality of another thing (wrecked economy, inconvenience, muh freedomz) is readily apparent.

Worse still, the cautious side can be portrayed as rooting for the virus so that we will be proven right. 

Say the night captain of the Titanic saw the iceberg and rightly reckoned that much of it was underwater. He violently steers the ship to port, sending people tumbling out of their bunks, spilling drinks, wrecking china etc., but keeping the keel of the Titanic intact and seeing to it that it arrives in NYC....Unless another ship followed directly in her wake, hit that iceberg and sank, that night captain is going to get called on the carpet for being a freak. Maybe even a demotion in rank would be in order. History is probably full of unknown heroes who took such actions but we will never know their names.

No matter what we do now with reopening, people are prepared for things to suck to a degree. This inoculates leadership to no small degree. Rural areas are for the most part at less risk than the cities, and for the Texas GOP that's where the votes are, especially given that the rurals at greatest risk (meatpackers etc) probably have a high percentage of non-voting illegals among them. 

So...anything barring a NYC-level catastrophe is good enough for Hot Wheels and Co. Anyone who disagrees will be cast as a Communist pussy who hates Texas and puts green peas in their guacamole. Many more will die than should, of course, but that number will be deemed acceptable. It's just a percentage game. 

[gmr548 16701]

Not on this he's not.  He's being the Trumpy opportunist that is his worst trait.

It's his primary, core trait that will win out every single time.

[zork 629]

39 minutes ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

The shitty thing is, there is no percentage in being on the cautious side. The GOP is going to "win" this no matter what. Well, maybe not a die-off of medieval Great Plague proportions, but anything short of that, nothing....There is no upside, politically, to preventing something, as the absence of one thing (mass deaths, overwhelmed hospitals) is impossible for some to imagine while the reality of another thing (wrecked economy, inconvenience, muh freedomz) is readily apparent.

Worse still, the cautious side can be portrayed as rooting for the virus so that we will be proven right. 

Say the night captain of the Titanic saw the iceberg and rightly reckoned that much of it was underwater. He violently steers the ship to port, sending people tumbling out of their bunks, spilling drinks, wrecking china etc., but keeping the keel of the Titanic intact and seeing to it that it arrives in NYC....Unless another ship followed directly in her wake, hit that iceberg and sank, that night captain is going to get called on the carpet for being a freak. Maybe even a demotion in rank would be in order. History is probably full of unknown heroes who took such actions but we will never know their names.

No matter what we do now with reopening, people are prepared for things to suck to a degree. This inoculates leadership to no small degree. Rural areas are for the most part at less risk than the cities, and for the Texas GOP that's where the votes are, especially given that the rurals at greatest risk (meatpackers etc) probably have a high percentage of non-voting illegals among them. 

So...anything barring a NYC-level catastrophe is good enough for Hot Wheels and Co. Anyone who disagrees will be cast as a Communist pussy who hates Texas and puts green peas in their guacamole. Many more will die than should, of course, but that number will be deemed acceptable. It's just a percentage game. 

You mention the Cuomo catastrophe in NY, including NYC.  What are his ratings, poll numbers, opinions for and against how he has handled the situation there? (as contrast/similarity to Hot Wheeler)  Weren't there calculated decisions on keeping things open or closed up there?   

Most people have to work to pay their bills.  There are liberty and freedom issues involved in this very unique country.  The area under the curves shouldn't be in question, just the shape of it which is now 5-9 weeks further along(till vaccine or treatment breakthrough, perhaps).  Yuge unemployment is happening.

Stay in if you want.  I'm been wearing a mask and a glove or two sometimes depending on where I have been going since early March when cases started showing here in Texas.  We have had 3 separate Zoom meetings happening at once here in the zork-casa.  We live in interesting times.

Edited May 7, 2020 by zork
changed curve to curves, etc

[4th&Five 42005]

i laughed at this from the eater list of austin restaurants reopening. 

Hat Creek Burger Co.: All Austin locations of the Texas burger chain reopened their dining rooms. The restaurant playgrounds will also open, and the restaurant notes that the structures will be cleaned three times every day, and that there will be multiple sanitization stations throughout the areas.

that should do it.

[Hank Scorpio 17924]

 

[TwiceHorn 32079]

So the Texas Supreme Court freed Shelly Luther, the salon twat, on habeas corpus pending a ruling on the merits.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

6 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

History is probably full of unknown heroes who took such actions but we will never know their names.

Real heroes wouldn’t want any recognition anyway. 

[tchookem 3968]

Throughout this while ordeal I was told over and over again that it was wrong to say the "open it up" crowd were fine with people dying. I agreed, after all, who would be that level of asshole? So I avoided using that broad brush.

Well now that the "open it up" crowd is getting what they want, I'm seeing a lot of people not wearing masks. I'd say it's about a 4 to 1 unmasked to masked ratio. It makes it really difficult for me to keep giving those people the benefit of the doubt when they refuse to do this one simple act of kindness. It can't be unintentional at this point, right?

[justhookit 4206]

That’s a pretty big leap. There wasn’t anywhere near a 4-1 ratio of people wanting to open up vs. people who didn’t.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

I went into a grocery store today in LA and I’d say it was about 60/40 mask-no mask. Trumpy area too.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Hugo Stiglitz

[6th Street 6692]

2 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

I went into a grocery store today in LA and I’d say it was about 60/40 mask-no mask. Trumpy area too.

Did you stay or run out the door ASAP?

[Satchel 6982]

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

So the Texas Supreme Court freed Shelly Luther, the salon twat, on habeas corpus pending a ruling on the merits.

That was after Abbott modified his order by removing jail time as a punishment. 

[Wanker Bob 379]

2 hours ago, tchookem said:

Throughout this while ordeal I was told over and over again that it was wrong to say the "open it up" crowd were fine with people dying. I agreed, after all, who would be that level of asshole? So I avoided using that broad brush.

Well now that the "open it up" crowd is getting what they want, I'm seeing a lot of people not wearing masks. I'd say it's about a 4 to 1 unmasked to masked ratio. It makes it really difficult for me to keep giving those people the benefit of the doubt when they refuse to do this one simple act of kindness. It can't be unintentional at this point, right?


 

It's amazing especially when every country that went mandatory masks by law from Austria to Korea to Hong Kong to even Singapore are able to have so much more if their normal day to day activities opened up without overwhelming spikes in cases. Something so simple but Americans are too arrogant, selfish, and stupid to do it even with the lives/hospitalization of hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans in the balance. In my area I've noticed maybe 10 percent at most wearing masks. 

Don't ever want to hear about patriotic bullshit from these callous, selfish idiots again. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Wanker Bob

[Brisketexan 106899]

9 hours ago, Wanker Bob said:

It's amazing especially when every country that went mandatory masks by law from Austria to Korea to Hong Kong to even Singapore are able to have so much more if their normal day to day activities opened up without overwhelming spikes in cases. Something so simple but Americans are too arrogant, selfish, and stupid to do it even with the lives/hospitalization of hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans in the balance. In my area I've noticed maybe 10 percent at most wearing masks. 

Don't ever want to hear about patriotic bullshit from these callous, selfish idiots again. 

This.  It's a very simple thing: for your country and countrymen, please wear a simple mask.  Even a bandana.  Do it for your country and fellow Americans.

Response: "FUCK YOOOOOO!  MAH FREEDOMS!!!!!!"

We now know this about our country -- when asked to do a simple thing to help our fellow man, the response of a huge swath of our country is "no way, fuck you."  Greatest country in the world my ass.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13731]

posted by Pig Bellmont on the CV Pol thread:

 

Information like this is what confuses me about the potential rush of stores or restaurants to open up. There can definitely be winners in a space where only 30% of the customers return but even restaurants that were succeeding in February most likely would find themselves with few customers today. Do you find some method to extend your closing, or do you open and go home crying on the drive home every night? 

I agree that we need to start reopening to some extent but we could be months and months away from people wanting to return. Our lack of preparation for this type of scenario is what killed the economy.

Perhaps restaurants and returning customers are also a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. As customers start to see more people going to restaurants safely, they will return as well. This is a really unique situation that will be studied in many academic fields (psychology, business, economics, etc.) for years.

[Steamboat1874 4353]

9 hours ago, Satchel said:

That was after Abbott modified his order by removing jail time as a punishment. 

So contempt of court is no longer an offense that will land you in jail?

[RexWilson 1502]

Austin Park and Pizza is now reopened. I am sure their staff of 16 & 17 year olds will be following recommended protocols and cleaning thoroughly.

[Ghost of LL 15698]

2 minutes ago, Steamboat1874 said:

So contempt of court is no longer an offense that will land you in jail?

So you get into a whole civil contempt/criminal contempt thing that takes a long time to sort through (and I'd probably just screw up anyway).

Late last year, I was in court in Collin County on a civil matter.  I always show up a bit early for hearings because I want to get a sense for the judge's demeanor/mood.  So on this day, the hearing before me was on a child-support non-payment deal.  Mom--yeah, no shit--mom--was the non-custodial parent who hadn't been paying child support.  So there was a whole evidentiary hearing.  And at the end, the judge said she'd take it under advisement and called a 15-minute recess.

So I'm sitting there in the front row of the gallery behind mom.  Sure.  No big whoop.  I'm reading my own notes for my hearing that's about to be called.

And then it happens.  Judge comes back into the courtroom and takes the bench.  And I watch as very quickly the sheriff takes up a position behind mom.  That's when I put away my notes and started paying attention.  And Judge then holds mom in contempt and the sheriff has her stand up and he cuffs her right there. 

And I'm just sitting there like "oh, fuck--now I have to go before this judge who just sent that pretty little blonde Collin County mom to jail."

 

[DigglerontheHoof 21551]

5 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

"...sent that pretty little blonde Collin County mom to jail."

 

go on...

Edited May 8, 2020 by DigglerontheHoof

[Guest Lobo]

Seems weird that a nail salon can be open, seems like a lot of hand-to-hand contact going on.  But a library can't be open.  

What a world.

[yoladu 4191]

34 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

posted by Pig Bellmont on the CV Pol thread:

 

Information like this is what confuses me about the potential rush of stores or restaurants to open up. There can definitely be winners in a space where only 30% of the customers return but even restaurants that were succeeding in February most likely would find themselves with few customers today. Do you find some method to extend your closing, or do you open and go home crying on the drive home every night? 

I agree that we need to start reopening to some extent but we could be months and months away from people wanting to return. Our lack of preparation for this type of scenario is what killed the economy.

Perhaps restaurants and returning customers are also a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. As customers start to see more people going to restaurants safely, they will return as well. This is a really unique situation that will be studied in many academic fields (psychology, business, economics, etc.) for years.

I can only apply this anecdotally, but has the behavior of me and my family changed in the last week based on "Texas re-opening" measures? No.

It's not the physical shut down that is ruining the economy; it is the VIRUS, stupid.

Our government leaders have not provided concrete measures that gives the public any confidence that it is safe to return to a normal way of life. Fix the public safety issue and the rest will follow.

It's the easiest thing in the world for our leaders to allow business to re-open, the hard part is doing everything we can to squash this virus so we feel safe going to these businesses.  We don't have leaders committed to doing the hard part.

Open everything up! Great!.... however, it doesn't really solve the problem.

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by yoladu

[DDD Dad 14650]

So you get into a whole civil contempt/criminal contempt thing that takes a long time to sort through (and I'd probably just screw up anyway).

Late last year, I was in court in Collin County on a civil matter.  I always show up a bit early for hearings because I want to get a sense for the judge's demeanor/mood.  So on this day, the hearing before me was on a child-support non-payment deal.  Mom--yeah, no shit--mom--was the non-custodial parent who hadn't been paying child support.  So there was a whole evidentiary hearing.  And at the end, the judge said she'd take it under advisement and called a 15-minute recess.

So I'm sitting there in the front row of the gallery behind mom.  Sure.  No big whoop.  I'm reading my own notes for my hearing that's about to be called.

And then it happens.  Judge comes back into the courtroom and takes the bench.  And I watch as very quickly the sheriff takes up a position behind mom.  That's when I put away my notes and started paying attention.  And Judge then holds mom in contempt and the sheriff has her stand up and he cuffs her right there. 

And I'm just sitting there like "oh, fuck--now I have to go before this judge who just sent that pretty little blonde Collin County mom to jail."

 

Negged for not taking a pic of the mom for us.

[Hugo Stiglitz 23367]

35 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Our lack of preparation for this type of scenario is what killed the economy.

Bingo. And the rush to reopen without first working to make consumers and employees feel safe will kill it even more.

I know Brisket reports on all those good guidelines but from my POV, those guidelines are worthless if businesses cannot get masks, hand sanitizers, soap, and disinfectants to create a safe environment for their employees/customers. All that stuff is difficult to come by without pulling strings or paying out the ass. 

Exponential growth of incompetence in this catastrophe.

[Continental Op 3934]

Good guidelines don't do shit when they get walked back 48 hours later.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13731]

1 minute ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Bingo. And the rush to reopen without first working to make consumers and employees feel safe will kill it even more.

I know Brisket reports on all those good guidelines but from my POV, those guidelines are worthless if businesses cannot get masks, hand sanitizers, soap, and disinfectants to create a safe environment for their employees/customers. All that stuff is difficult to come by without pulling strings or paying out the ass. 

Exponential growth of incompetence in this catastrophe.

Given that so many people are remaining at home, I'm not as worried about the reopening. Sure more people will get sick and sadly die but I don't think we will see a tripling or even a doubling of the deaths.

Customers will basically opt into a case study so time will tell what happens.

[Foosters 18280]

38 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

So you get into a whole civil contempt/criminal contempt thing that takes a long time to sort through (and I'd probably just screw up anyway).

Late last year, I was in court in Collin County on a civil matter.  I always show up a bit early for hearings because I want to get a sense for the judge's demeanor/mood.  So on this day, the hearing before me was on a child-support non-payment deal.  Mom--yeah, no shit--mom--was the non-custodial parent who hadn't been paying child support.  So there was a whole evidentiary hearing.  And at the end, the judge said she'd take it under advisement and called a 15-minute recess.

So I'm sitting there in the front row of the gallery behind mom.  Sure.  No big whoop.  I'm reading my own notes for my hearing that's about to be called.

And then it happens.  Judge comes back into the courtroom and takes the bench.  And I watch as very quickly the sheriff takes up a position behind mom.  That's when I put away my notes and started paying attention.  And Judge then holds mom in contempt and the sheriff has her stand up and he cuffs her right there. 

And I'm just sitting there like "oh, fuck--now I have to go before this judge who just sent that pretty little blonde Collin County mom to jail."

 

I hate that dance. Regularly see the unspoken communication between bailiffs and judge - the slight head nod, the mouthing of words - while the defendant stands there oblivious. When defendants finally realize what's about to happen, man, its painful to watch.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

10 hours ago, Satchel said:

That was after Abbott modified his order by removing jail time as a punishment. 

No not really.

She wasn't jailed for violating either the state or county order.  She was fined $1000 for that.

She was jailed for disobeying a civil court's injunction.  When you do that, one of two things happens, the judge imposes a daily fine until you comply, or sends you to jail until you comply.  Because her whole beef is about money, she left him no choice.

Also, I did not realize that habeas corpus jurisdiction for contempt lies directly with the Supreme Court.

Edited May 8, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 32079]

53 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

So you get into a whole civil contempt/criminal contempt thing that takes a long time to sort through (and I'd probably just screw up anyway).

Late last year, I was in court in Collin County on a civil matter.  I always show up a bit early for hearings because I want to get a sense for the judge's demeanor/mood.  So on this day, the hearing before me was on a child-support non-payment deal.  Mom--yeah, no shit--mom--was the non-custodial parent who hadn't been paying child support.  So there was a whole evidentiary hearing.  And at the end, the judge said she'd take it under advisement and called a 15-minute recess.

So I'm sitting there in the front row of the gallery behind mom.  Sure.  No big whoop.  I'm reading my own notes for my hearing that's about to be called.

And then it happens.  Judge comes back into the courtroom and takes the bench.  And I watch as very quickly the sheriff takes up a position behind mom.  That's when I put away my notes and started paying attention.  And Judge then holds mom in contempt and the sheriff has her stand up and he cuffs her right there. 

And I'm just sitting there like "oh, fuck--now I have to go before this judge who just sent that pretty little blonde Collin County mom to jail."

 

It is perhaps a little known fact that there is a jail on the top floor of the George Allen building.  It was unoccupied but for the odd contemnor, at least like 15-20 years ago when I did some state court practice.

Anyone know if it is still used for that purpose?

[Ghost of LL 15698]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

It is perhaps a little known fact that there is a jail on the top floor of the George Allen building.  It was unoccupied but for the odd contemnor, at least like 15-20 years ago when I did some state court practice.

Anyone know if it is still used for that purpose?

I'm reasonably certain it is still available for such use.

More often, though, it's used as a film set.

26 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Bingo. And the rush to reopen without first working to make consumers and employees feel safe will kill it even more.

I know Brisket reports on all those good guidelines but from my POV, those guidelines are worthless if businesses cannot get masks, hand sanitizers, soap, and disinfectants to create a safe environment for their employees/customers. All that stuff is difficult to come by without pulling strings or paying out the ass. 

Exponential growth of incompetence in this catastrophe.

The plan seems to have shifted to trying to cover up the extent of the pandemic.  That's what's behind the refusal to allow Fauci to testify to Congress.  And I'm sure that's what's behind the abortive moves to try to disband task forces (both federal and in Arizona).

Seriously--our entire gameplan is to pretend the disease away.

[GRHorn 105]

Had a nice visit to Guadalupe River State Park yesterday with kids. From looking a little online it looks difficult to get park passes around the state with the capacity rules. That said, if you can get in, the lightened capacity makes for an awesome time. Tons of room to roam. 

[SquishMitten 10497]

Perhaps restaurants and returning customers are also a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. As customers start to see more people going to restaurants safely, they will return as well. This is a really unique situation that will be studied in many academic fields (psychology, business, economics, etc.) for years.

I think we can all agree on that. Once we see more people going out, we’ll feel safer going out ourselves. But that will ONLY happen if those people don’t get sick in large numbers. If masks were mandatory, there’d be a far better chance of that happening. But without masks, we’re most likely going to see a lot of those folks get sick. The result will not only be that we continue to stay inside, but we’ll be even more hesitant to go out the next time there’s a big push to do so.

[HenryJames 67368]

 

[Biff Tannen 46168]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Greatest country in the world my ass.

[skeeter 455]

8 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

I'm sure the barber shop at Parris Island would give him head of the line privileges, also ... high & tight, MOFO.

Edited May 8, 2020 by skeeter

[DDD Dad 14650]

13 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

This image immediately came to mind when I saw this (for both the physical dimensions and the personality):

[zork 629]

Just now, DDD Dad said:

This image immediately came to mind when I saw this (for both the physical dimensions and the personality):

No need to bring Beto into this.

[bolverk 30325]

2 minutes ago, zork said:

No need to bring Beto into this.

You'd have a point if you could find a photo of Beto looking like a doodoo colored triangle.

[DDD Dad 14650]

4 minutes ago, zork said:

No need to bring Beto into this.

[Pescado_Rojo 19587]

The right is getting better at comedy, and it's making the left nervous!!

 

[DDD Dad 14650]

3 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

The right is getting better at comedy, and it's making the left nervous!!

 

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13629]

Last night my friend who works at a nearby high school cafeteria in rural/exurban Texas that has re-opened to feed food-insecure students to-go meals texted me about her first day back at work. She was told there were only going to be 5 people working the kitchen, only to find it was packed with 12. No masks available for the first 3 hours hours and a lot of workers not wearing them in the kitchen anyways due to the supervisor instructions they only had to wear them to take the meal out to the waiting cars. Some of her co-workers who hadn't seen each other in weeks were greeting each other with hugs. One co-worker informed her that her son had tested positive but that she had tested negative. 

I'm happy to hear that a lot of people's circumstances allow them to weather this leadership-less crisis with a certain amount of security and stability, but I'm hoping they don't forget there's a lot of people potentially staring down the barrel of an untenable situation that would be avoidable if our state and federal government would treat its top priority- the lives of its citizens- as it should.

[Dbeasy 15596]

Remember The A La Mode!

[Longhorn_Fan68 34106]

10 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

[DDD Dad 14650]

2 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

I know.  I just like that gif.