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  • I think that it’s now safe to say that we Texans now live in a failed state.  30 years of GOP rule, setting our own standard, living the “Texas Dream,” which they’ve bragged about relentlessly…and let’s see where we are:

    A majority of the state in complete failure, unable to deliver the most BASIC of services (things that are called “utilities,” not “luxuries,” for a reason).  No power.  No water.  No means of clearing roads (that one, I can’t fault the state so much….but it wouldn’t be as big a crisis if people weren’t stuck in their homes with no power and water).  So citizens are stuck in their homes, some of them dying there. 

    Water resource planning?  After pretending for decades that a drought would never happen again, and not doing ANYTHING to develop resources in the state water plan (a document actually developed using science and mathematical projections), we had several locations, including actual cities, down to a few days of water supply.  We’ve finally gotten on our horse a bit, but it may be too late if the next drought comes anytime soon.  

    State rank in key categories:

    Education – 34

    Health Care - 37

    Infrastructure - 33

    Opportunity - 39

    Environment - 44

    Infrastructure - 33 

    In overall quality of life ranking by US News, we are now #38, down from #36 just two years ago.  At that rate, we’ll be in the bottom 3 within ten years.

    We are SUPER independent, and FUCK the feds….but we have requested federal disaster assistance more than any other state in the past decade or so.

    But hey, our economy is ranked #15!

    That’s right, we have a “roaring economy” and the “Texas Miracle!”  But we can’t deliver the basics for our citizens.  The economy is VERY efficient at funneling bazillions to the very few…..with little of it “trickling down” to most Texans.  Yeah, the people on this board generally do fine, but face the facts – we’re the top 10% or so.  We are educated, older, and fortunate.

    Our federal system allows for state-by-state experiments.  Texas is the poster child for near anarcho-capitalism and zero regulation or oversight.  We have tested that approach, for over a generation now (30 years of Republican rule).  That approach is a failure.  The evidence is undeniable, and overwhelming.  It doesn’t matter how many River Oaks millionaires you produce if the rest of your people are dying in their homes.  Shit, some of those River Oaks millionaires might be freezing to death today, too.

    The kids of a middle class family can hardly afford to go to a good state school.  Their prospects for employment are mediocre.  Their prospects of suffering crippling medical debt at some point are significant.  Their chances of not having basic utilities needed for life safety at some point – all but certain.  Their chances of becoming ill or dying from a pollution-caused illness are material.

    What’s the result?  Our leaders have sold Texas as a paradise – move here!  Bring your business here!  And some businesses have done so, adding opportunity…..but providing little to no tax support for the infrastructure we all depend on.  To the contrary, over the past few years, I know more and more people – educated people, people who can do their jobs elsewhere, who are looking to bail on this state.  It’s people with young kids, who want them to grow up in a better place.  It’s people in their working years, who simply want a better path.  It’s retirees, who want a safe and secure place to live.

    We have consumed our seed stock.  We have burned through our reserves.  We are now consuming ourselves.  The ability to pitch Texas as the land of opportunity is done.  Seeing what we have become, the tentative thought/plan my wife and I had of wrapping up our careers here and then getting the hell out of Dodge is becoming much more concrete.  My children are already unlikely to make their future in this state.  Now we are, too.

    But the response from the Republican leadership and their sycophants – “how are you gonna pay for it?  Taxes?  That’s socialism!  You want that stuff, you have to pay for it!”

    Fuck yes I do, and I’m okay with that.  I want groceries…so I have to pay HEB.  I want a car…so I have to pay Ford.  I want clothes…..so I have to pay Dillards.  I want my population educated….so I have to pay the school district.  I want electricity, with enough capacity to keep us running when we need it…..so I have to pay my bill, maybe with a capacity surcharge.  I want water to come out of the taps….so I have to pay for development of resources and maintenance of infrastructure.  I want roads….so I pay taxes to build and maintain them.  YES, I have to pay for all of those things, and “nothing is free” – no fucking shit.  So, let’s pay for it.  We have the #15 economy….we HAVE the funds in this state.  An economy with the flow of funds that ours has can produce and maintain all of those results.  But we have chosen a different path; funnel all the dollars to the top, and spend next to nothing for the public good.  We have privatized profit….we have socialized the costs.  And we are dying because of it.

    My fellow Texans are dying in their homes….and there’s nothing I can do about it today.  And I am enraged.

    I love Texas.  I am 6th generation here.  My ancestors have Texas historical markers on their graves.  We helped make this state, and this state helped make us.  It educated us (back when college was affordable).  But it’s time to face the fact – this state is a failure, and on its current path, with its current leadership and philosophy, it will only get worse.  This state has a terrible future, unless we dramatically change our path.   Chances of that happening?  0.0% -- because we’ll continue to vote for the guys who make our leadership priorities bathroom bills, and transgender sports, and requiring the national anthem be played at certain events.  Any bill that has been proposed to improve emergency preparedness of gov’t entities has been crushed by the Republicans controlling the lege….but we will definitely stick with those guys.  No taxes.  No government functionality.

    What we are seeing happening right now is our system working EXACTLY AS IT WAS DESIGNED AND INTENDED TO WORK.  And we will, I guarantee it, collectively decide to stick with that.  This state is in free-fall, and anyone with eyes can see it.  And anyone with a brain is starting to think of ways to make their life elsewhere.  It breaks my goddamned heart to see us commit collective suicide, but here we are.

     

     


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    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    cool graphic, dfw please get out the dem vote ...

    image.thumb.png.021f26d0b253656627cf47f6c0968c14.png

    • Hook 'Em 5
    • Rage+1 1
    Pato del Muerto

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

    cool graphic, dfw please get out the dem vote ...

    image.thumb.png.021f26d0b253656627cf47f6c0968c14.png

    Most of the counties in that graphic are pro Trump. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Rage+1 2
    Chopper

    Posted

     

    • Haha 5
    Fudge Nuggets

    Posted (edited)

    Good time to rob a bank on the other side of town.  Or for Mexico to invade and annex the RGV.

    Edited by Fudge Nuggets
    Brisketexan

    Posted

    21 minutes ago, Chopper said:

     

    Chances of seeing Mrs. Brisket shot with a pepper ball while wearing her pastoral collar are just going up.

    Chances of hearing Mrs. Brisket say the words "I wish a motherfucker would" in the next 48 hours: approaching 100%.

    • Hook 'Em 4
    • Haha 2
    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
    South Austin

    Posted

    30 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

    Good time to rob a bank on the other side of town. 

    image.gif.f7af2dd0b9563092fd294d62a433cebf.gif

    • Like 2
    Michael Knight

    Posted

    Texas doing the important amendments making rich investors feel better about something Texas already isn't doing by banning taxes on capital gains and banning non citizens from voting just to make double sure. I mean who cares about the families of drowned or shot children

    • Like 1
    • Rage+1 1
    The Hot Dog Buffet

    Posted

    22 minutes ago, Michael Knight said:

    Texas doing the important amendments making rich investors feel better about something Texas already isn't doing by banning taxes on capital gains and banning non citizens from voting just to make double sure. I mean who cares about the families of drowned or shot children

    Well, their prayers keep going unanswered, and if God doesn't care, then why should they?

    • Hook 'Em 2
    Bozo_Casanova

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Chopper said:

     

    Should I openly carry at the rally? I normally disapprove of people attending protests armed, but considering that this is a “No Kings” event, maybe it makes sense…

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

    Chances of seeing Mrs. Brisket shot with a pepper ball while wearing her pastoral collar are just going up.

    Chances of hearing Mrs. Brisket say the words "I wish a motherfucker would" in the next 48 hours: approaching 100%.

     

     

    • Haha 1
    • Drool 3
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

     

    abbott and the tx ledge gave this guy all the power over texas university administrators 

    • Rage+1 3
    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    The ombudsman’s office was created as part of Senate Bill 37, which was passed by the Texas Legislature earlier this year and went into effect on Sept. 1. The office will have the power to investigate complaints claiming that universities and colleges aren’t following the new law or the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as recommend funding cuts for violators. 

    SB 37 gives governor-appointed regents new authority to approve or deny the hiring of top university administrators as well as courses that they consider do not align with the state’s workforce demands. Traditionally, faculty have advised university administrators on such academic matters and hiring decisions, but SB 37 also limits professors’ influence on campuses. 

    Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand

    Posted

    14 hours ago, Chopper said:

     

    When right-wing agitators initiate violence, they know they'll have a pardon waiting for them.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    CooterBrown

    Posted

     

    The 100-200 students that sign up for gender studies at each university are god fearing red blooded conservatives that can have their entire worldview destroyed in less than 3 hours a week?
    HenryJames

    Posted

    7 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

     

    abbott and the tx ledge gave this guy all the power over texas university administrators 

    Nice hairline, faget!

     

    • Haha 2
    South Austin

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

    faget!

    spacer.png

    • Haha 1
    Evil Bill Obrien

    Posted

    1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:


    The 100-200 students that sign up for gender studies at each university are god fearing red blooded conservatives that can have their entire worldview destroyed in less than 3 hours a week?

    Conservative values must really suck ass if all it takes to destroy 18 years of being taught them at home is 1 college course...

    • Like 4
    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
    Longhorn_Fan68

    Posted

    11 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

     

    abbott and the tx ledge gave this guy all the power over texas university administrators 

    most punchable face award has a new candidate

    Satchel

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    most punchable face award has a new candidate

    When it all goes to hell, they can blame the biscuit.

    SimonBolivar

    Posted (edited)

    We talk about this yet?

    Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/us/bible-public-school-curriculum-texas.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uU8.YOHu.eMlg7jJCEfFY&smid=url-share

     

    Quote

    Inside a New Bible-Infused Texas English Curriculum
    This school year, many Texas districts are teaching from an elementary curriculum that features extensive content about the Christian faith, according to a New York Times analysis.

    Troy Closson
    By Troy Closson
    Oct. 14, 2025
    A new state-sponsored English curriculum infused with lessons about the Bible and Christianity could reach tens of thousands of Texas schoolchildren this year.

    More than 300 of the state’s roughly 1,200 districts signed up to use the English language arts lessons, according to data obtained by The New York Times through a public records request. Many are rural, and relatively small.

    The curriculum was created as several states, including Oklahoma and Louisiana, fought to bring prayer or religious texts like the Ten Commandments into public school classrooms, blurring the line between church and state.

    Texas leaders adapted the curriculum from a popular reading program made by the education company Amplify. A large majority of its lessons are typical for grade-school children, but the Texas version features new content on Christianity, the Old and New Testaments and the life of Jesus, according to a Times analysis of thousands of pages of teaching guides and activity books.

    The emphasis on Christianity is greater than in other popular reading programs, scholars say. It is especially notable as Republican leaders mount campaigns against public school curriculums that they argue indoctrinates children in left-leaning ideologies.

    And as a national movement to expand religious instruction arises in public education, the lessons could serve as a potent blueprint for other states.

    History lessons weave in stories about Jesus
    It is not unusual for public schools to introduce students to religious texts and figures.

    A typical elementary school lesson on ancient Roman civilization, for example, might describe how Christianity influenced the Roman Empire. The old Amplify curriculum spends about four paragraphs on Jesus’s parables, his crucifixion and the Christian belief in his resurrection.

    In the original grade unit, Jesus is mentioned 19 times.

    The Texas lessons include several new pages about the life of Jesus. They detail the Biblical story of his birth in a Bethlehem manger, New Testament accounts of an angel describing him as the Messiah and stories about the miracles he performed.

    Jesus is mentioned 87 times.

    State education leaders have said that the lessons do not include explicit religious instruction, but that the curriculum references several religious texts “when contextually relevant for historical and literary value.”

    “These references create a strong background of knowledge for students with rich texts to further their understanding of our society, including our history, economy and culture,” said Jake Kobersky, a spokesman for the state’s education agency.

    Many religious scholars, though, argue that the lessons too often subtly present Christian beliefs as the truth.

    Texas created entire new lessons on Bible stories
    The Texas curriculum also includes more extensive, complete lessons on Bible stories.

    Fifth graders examine a psalm in a poetry unit. First-grade students discuss the parable of the prodigal son alongside stories like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Kindergarten children learn in depth about the Book of Genesis in a lesson on art exploration that notes that “many artists have found inspiration for creating art from the words in creation stories in religious books.”

    None of these lessons were in the old Amplify curriculum.

    Both versions, for example, teach young children about the British royal family and Cinderella in a unit called “Kings and Queens.” But the Texas adaptation includes a new 18-page lesson on King Solomon.

    In both curriculums, second graders learn about Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks in a unit on ordinary people who fought for causes. The Texas version adds a two-part lesson on the biblical Queen Esther, whom some conservative Christians have turned to in recent years as a model of female leadership.

    Christianity gets more space than other religions
    Under the Texas curriculum, students will be exposed to Christianity far more often than other major religions. In teaching materials for second grade, for example, Christianity, the Bible and Jesus are referenced about 110 times. By contrast, Islam, Muslims, the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad are mentioned roughly 31 times in lessons spanning from kindergarten to fifth grade.

    Share full article550


    Inside a New Bible-Infused Texas English Curriculum
    This school year, many Texas districts are teaching from an elementary curriculum that features extensive content about the Christian faith, according to a New York Times analysis.

    Troy Closson
    By Troy Closson
    Oct. 14, 2025
    A new state-sponsored English curriculum infused with lessons about the Bible and Christianity could reach tens of thousands of Texas schoolchildren this year.

    More than 300 of the state’s roughly 1,200 districts signed up to use the English language arts lessons, according to data obtained by The New York Times through a public records request. Many are rural, and relatively small.

    The curriculum was created as several states, including Oklahoma and Louisiana, fought to bring prayer or religious texts like the Ten Commandments into public school classrooms, blurring the line between church and state.

    Texas leaders adapted the curriculum from a popular reading program made by the education company Amplify. A large majority of its lessons are typical for grade-school children, but the Texas version features new content on Christianity, the Old and New Testaments and the life of Jesus, according to a Times analysis of thousands of pages of teaching guides and activity books.

    Advertisement

    SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

    The emphasis on Christianity is greater than in other popular reading programs, scholars say. It is especially notable as Republican leaders mount campaigns against public school curriculums that they argue indoctrinates children in left-leaning ideologies.

    And as a national movement to expand religious instruction arises in public education, the lessons could serve as a potent blueprint for other states.

    History lessons weave in stories about Jesus
    It is not unusual for public schools to introduce students to religious texts and figures.

    A typical elementary school lesson on ancient Roman civilization, for example, might describe how Christianity influenced the Roman Empire. The old Amplify curriculum spends about four paragraphs on Jesus’s parables, his crucifixion and the Christian belief in his resurrection.

    In the original grade unit, Jesus is mentioned 19 times.

    The Texas lessons include several new pages about the life of Jesus. They detail the Biblical story of his birth in a Bethlehem manger, New Testament accounts of an angel describing him as the Messiah and stories about the miracles he performed.

    ImageAn excerpt from a lesson on Jesus’s birth. 
    Jesus is mentioned 87 times.

    State education leaders have said that the lessons do not include explicit religious instruction, but that the curriculum references several religious texts “when contextually relevant for historical and literary value.”

    “These references create a strong background of knowledge for students with rich texts to further their understanding of our society, including our history, economy and culture,” said Jake Kobersky, a spokesman for the state’s education agency.

    Many religious scholars, though, argue that the lessons too often subtly present Christian beliefs as the truth.

    Texas created entire new lessons on Bible stories
    The Texas curriculum also includes more extensive, complete lessons on Bible stories.

    Fifth graders examine a psalm in a poetry unit. First-grade students discuss the parable of the prodigal son alongside stories like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Kindergarten children learn in depth about the Book of Genesis in a lesson on art exploration that notes that “many artists have found inspiration for creating art from the words in creation stories in religious books.”

    Image
    An excerpt from a lesson on the Book of Genesis. 
    None of these lessons were in the old Amplify curriculum.

    Both versions, for example, teach young children about the British royal family and Cinderella in a unit called “Kings and Queens.” But the Texas adaptation includes a new 18-page lesson on King Solomon.

    Image
    An excerpt from a lesson on King Solomon. 
    In both curriculums, second graders learn about Jackie Robinson and Rosa Parks in a unit on ordinary people who fought for causes. The Texas version adds a two-part lesson on the biblical Queen Esther, whom some conservative Christians have turned to in recent years as a model of female leadership.

    Christianity gets more space than other religions
    Under the Texas curriculum, students will be exposed to Christianity far more often than other major religions. In teaching materials for second grade, for example, Christianity, the Bible and Jesus are referenced about 110 times. By contrast, Islam, Muslims, the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad are mentioned roughly 31 times in lessons spanning from kindergarten to fifth grade.

    Advertisement

    SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

    In the original Amplify curriculum, students are exposed to the three major monotheistic religions together in a first-grade unit. Children learn that Mecca was the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and that praying five times a day in the direction of Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam.

    Texas cut that unit in its own adaptation of the lessons. State education officials and the curriculum’s supporters say that the new curriculum’s focus on Christianity will benefit children because of the religion’s outsize role in the nation’s development and modern culture.

    In the new curriculum, one of the most robust lessons on Islam is about the ancient king Mansa Musa and “his special religious journey to a holy city called Mecca.” Students do not learn about the site’s relevance to Islam or about the Prophet Muhammad.

    Scholars question the curriculum’s take on Christianity
    Religious scholars say the Texas curriculum presents a partial picture of Christianity’s role in the nation’s development, especially during moments of conflict.

    Some of the changes are small but meaningful, according to historians, including a wording change in a lesson on colonial America. The Amplify version tells students that “the Spanish also sent missionaries who worked to convert the native people to Christianity.”

    The Texas adaptation notes that “the Spaniards sent missionaries who worked to introduce the Native people to Christianity.”

    The Amplify version and Texas adaptation include many of the same descriptions on slavery in the early colonies for third graders. Both teach about trade routes like the Middle Passage and the exchange of enslaved people for goods like sugar.

     

    But the Texas lesson includes a new line mentioning Christian resistance to slavery:

     

    Even as the use of slave labor grew, opposition to slavery also grew, driven by colonists morally opposed to the practice, often based on their beliefs as Christians.

     

    Similarly, the Texas curriculum tells fifth graders that leading abolitionists like Abraham Lincoln relied in part on their Christian faith to guide their opposition to slavery. Historians point out that it does not mention that other Christians leaned on the same religion to defend it.

     

    A Martin Luther King Jr. lesson has drawn criticism

    The Texas curriculum features a new fifth grade lesson on the well-known “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” written by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

     

    Dr. King, who was a Baptist, was often guided in his activism by his Christian faith and ministry. The new curriculum focuses on the letter’s reference to the biblical characters Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego — and asks students to compare it to the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament.

    Some historians question the approach. Lerone A. Martin, the director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford, said he appreciated that the curriculum did not depict Dr. King as a “political activist who was moved by secular ideals.”

    Still, he noted that the curriculum — and the sections of the letter it features — left out that “his is a particular kind of faith,” one that was opposed by many white moderate Christians.

    “I thought, ‘My God, they’re trying to turn him into this sort of hero of religious freedom,” he said. “This whole letter is about racism in America. And the words ‘white’ and ‘Negro’ are, like, stripped from the excerpts.”

    A long addition on ‘The Last Supper’
    One of the most dramatic changes in the Texas curriculum comes in a fifth-grade unit on the Renaissance.

    Both curriculums teach students about Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting “The Last Supper,” and much of the content is identical.

    But the Texas version adds more than five new paragraphs on biblical background.

    Students are taught in greater detail about the 12 disciples of Jesus and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. They are asked to read passages from the Gospel of Matthew. And they learn about the scene’s significance to the Christian rite of communion.

    Bible study or American history?
    Supporters of the Texas curriculum say that because concepts, references and ideas from the Bible are prevalent throughout American society, a robust understanding of stories like this are crucial to building students’ reading comprehension.

    But religion scholars question whether the depth and detail are warranted for an elementary school lesson, or whether it is more appropriate for a Christian Sunday school.

    David R. Brockman, a Christian theologian and religious studies scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy who reviewed all of the Texas materials, said he believed the lesson “amounts to Bible study in a public school curriculum.”

    Mr. Brockman said he worried that the state’s adaptation would send an implicit message to children “that Christianity is the only important religion.”

    Texas education leaders have pointed out that the lessons meet all state standards for high-quality classroom materials, and that public schools are not required to teach them.

    Some superintendents have been reluctant to adopt the lessons, reflecting a potent backlash to the curriculum in a state where a third of the population does not identify as Christian, and where even some Christian school leaders reject its religious content.

    But districts receive a financial incentive to adopt it, meaning more could acquire the materials in the coming years.

     

     

    Edited by SimonBolivar
    • Rage+1 1



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