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BillyBadAss

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Everything posted by BillyBadAss

  1. Your logic is flawed unless there are slots that would go unfilled if only 1B'ers were able to take them. If all the slots are filled by 1B'ers then the maximum number of people that can be vaccinated are being vaccinated. If all the slots aren't able to be filled by 1B'ers, then it's a different story. We can argue whether there should be people prioritized, whether we're justified in ignoring those priorities, whether it's in the greater good or not - and in fact that's what I'm trying to grapple with. It's difficult to argue that jumping ahead in line is not jumping ahead in line - cause logic and stuff.
  2. That's are defendable position, but it's not what the CDC has recommended nor that the State of Texas has adopted. They defined higher risk categories and prioritized those people to receive the vaccine first. There is indeed a "line", and if you get a vaccine during the 1B phase without a 1B criterion then you are jumping ahead in it. An apt analogy might be: I might think it's dumb that First Class passengers board the plane first as it doesn't help the plane load faster - studies have shown that a random boarding pattern is most efficient. But if I in in boarding group C and I board with first class then I've jumped ahead of my place in line. I might feel or even be justified in doing so - but it doesn't change the fact.
  3. Those 40% aren't in the line. It's still difficult-ish to get an appointment (I think). You can hustle and get one, but there are few if any appt slots going unfilled. (If I'm wrong here let me know, it changes the calculus a bit*) I'd conclude one of two things is happening: 1) There are still many legit 1B'ers trying to get appts and get the vaccine. 2) Most legit 1B'ers (who wanted it) have gotten it now, and the people taking the slots are not legit 1B. If (1) is the case, I'd be selfish to take a slot from someone who needs it more. If (2) I'd be a sucker for trying to act for the greater good/fairness when many people are not. *If slots are going unfilled I'd be in the "screw it, every shot is a good shot" camp.
  4. The airplane mask analogy works for health and critical workers. It doesn't work for Joe Schmo jumping the line.
  5. To clarify, I didn't state those as things I think are true, rather I was trying to think of reasons one could justify to themselves jumping the line. I haven't gotten there myself yet, but if it's just become a free for all I might be close.
  6. What's your reasoning? Here are the reasons I could think of to justify it to myself. - There is more supply than current demand and Texas is flubbing this thing. Me getting a vaccine is not taking away from someone else. - Texas and the CDC got it wrong, there should be no priorities. - Everyone else is ignoring the guidelines, I might as well too.
  7. It seems there is a second category for 1b eligibility in Texas - selfish people who know they are not requiring documentation. Am I wrong? Should we all ignore the guidelines and sign up anyway?
  8. What's the calculus for doing a cash-out refi vs a home equity. UFCU can do 3.25% on a $100k 10/year home equity loan - which equals my mortgage rate. Closing costs would be ~2k/2%. The rate steps up a quarter for a 15 year, another quarter for a 20 year. Anybody see better than that? @UTPhil2006, you guys do home equity loans?
  9. Some good stuff here. I've seen a couple of mentions, but I think the two most important things aren't getting enough attention. 1) portable hiking water filter 2) decent sleeping bags in the 15-30 degree range Those are cheap, generally useful in other situations, and portable if you have to change locations. With those you'll likely stay alive no matter the situation. Then add other stuff for convenience, quality of life, cost/benefit etc.
  10. Exterior cheap Styrofoam bibs. Never checked them til it warmed up. Dripped the 2 indoor faucets closest to the spigots at night. Ran those faucets for a couple of minutes before bed and in the morning hot and cold. Never lost power. No problems.
  11. Does anyone have any experience with or opinions of the Waldorf School in Austin, or Waldorf education in general? In my case would be looking to start at 6th grade for a kid who won't do well in a traditional 20+ kid classroom.
  12. Gale, Apologies if you know this, but you generally need more than a single piece of wood to keep a flame going. Two pieces will help feed each other, and you need some spacing between, around and under them so o2 can flow to feed the flames. And if the wood is too large it won't catch easily, especially if you don't have a nice bed of hot coals established. I'll take a smaller piece, then lay larger piece on top in sort of an X. So they are touching at a point but not smothering each other. Again, need space for o2. Move/rotate/poke them as they start to burn down. Add another piece on top as needed. Lay your wet wood in front of the fireplace to dry by the heat, rotate it so will dry on all sides.
  13. I'd always heard to put a log in the pool if it starts to freeze. Can't vouch for the effectiveness.
  14. Could they be using all the O2 and going dormant?
  15. Pretty poorly supported article, imo. At least on the IT side it gave very few examples. Take Amazon. What patents are they holding that got Bezos rich by stifling competition? There are plenty of e-commerce companies, and Azure and Google and others have competing cloud services. The barriers to entry in those areas aren't, to my knowledge, around IP that nobody else can recreate. Bezos got rich by innovation and common practices in all industries where the big guys buy or bury their competition. I'm sure there are some cases where a questionable patent or copyright stifled competition, but I don't see it being a major factor.
  16. B_T, you have me curious. Beto had about as much momentum as I could imagine in 2018. He was pretty damn progressive, he mostly came across as genuine, he was charismatic, women loved him. He campaigned very hard statewide. Hell, willie nelson publicly supported him. He got more press than any statewide candidate that I can remember. He was running against Ted fucking Cruz with Trump in the WH. You think he wasn't progressive enough to motivate more potential D voters? I appreciate your view points, but i just can't buy it. Who are these potential D voters who weren't motivated to turn out in 2018 just waiting to be wooed?
  17. I think most here are arguing that the Texas Dem Party should NOT focus on gun control as an issue. Recognize you're not going to win on that right now, and focus on things you can possibly do something about. And if gun control is your thing, maybe attack it from a different angle - focus on mental health services and care instead.
  18. If you want to fire up democratic voter bases in Texas I'd argue there are much better issues to focus on than gun control. Gun control is guaranteed to lose you a fixed/large percentage of voters. Maybe most of those voters wouldn't support you anyway, but gun control all but guarantees quite a few won't listen to another word you say. If there is to be any meaningful gun control legislation it has to start at the federal level. And frankly is Sandy Hook didn't tip the scales, you have to conclude it's a losing proposition for the foreseeable future. Why hamstring yourself with it?
  19. Well, I'm not necessarily saying anyone here is wrong - many good points made and I certainly don't know the definitive "solution". The fact seems that it's an uphill battle no matter what so maybe nothing will work short of the old "wait for the demographics to change." The real goal I think is to do whatever necessary to gain control of the redistricting process and un-gerrymander the state. That is a prerequisite to be able to affect any policy change in this state, IMO. Even if a majority would support more progressive policy it doesn't matter right now - it won't win most places because it's a stacked deck. @Mrs Whiggins raised some good points about gerrymandering and starting local.
  20. Without controlling the legislature and Governor's office they won't be able to deliver on any promises - which won't help future races. I guess you could still hammer those issues and promise to fight for them, but I don't see it helping to get a critical mass elected. I'm more in-line that they need to run common-sense, moderate Texans whom people can relate to and who don't trigger the red-button issues.
  21. But how do you get "regular people"? Regular people can't up and quit their jobs to run for office. You have to either: - be a supported spouse - in which case you're probably raising kids or wealthy - be wealthy - work in politics professionally - on campaigns, as staff, etc. So that if you don't win your race you still can get a job back in politics easily working for someone who did win.
  22. Selective parts of GWBs "compassionate conservatism" shtick could fly with moderates and dems alike in this state. I mean, not the actual neo-con and anti-environment parts, but the "idea" of it. Neonmoon stated it pretty well. I still wonder if Beto had STFU about guns if he would have won. So. fucking. close.
  23. Some good discussion here about how these people fell into it, and what to do about it. I think it's a confluence of Trump appealing to large groups of previously apolitical people, right-wing media's increasing demonization of the left for the last 20? years, and social media algorithms. You get large groups of people suddenly paying attention because they like the orange man, what news they have received or paid attention to the last X years has constantly told them the other side is basically evil, then some whackos with youtube channels peddling conspiracy theories start getting pushed at them in a feedback loop. Oh, and let's not forget Russia's social media manipulation to help kick things off. The good news, perhaps, is that the social media part can be fixed if Google/Facebook are willing to do so. And without the orange man hopefully people start to lose interest in politics again.
  24. Since nobody will really be there, I would really love it if the new Press Secretary starts the first briefing claiming it was the largest inauguration crowd of all time with a big shit eating grin- just to troll the fuckers.
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