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wild_turkey

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Everything posted by wild_turkey

  1. Your summarization is incomplete and the devil is in the details. Here is the full text of the compact: https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/4059a5dd-f3dc-4cf6-bf1f-9e0d98c2f8d9.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_8 For starters, it should be rejected on principal. The federal government, and in particular, a highly partisan and biased presidential administration, should not be overseeing the ideas that can and can’t be taught on a university campus. Look at the shitstorm that A&M just went through for a professor discussing gender in the classroom, and now imagine that the federal government has a signed agreement that gives them authority over this or they withdraw research funding. Secondly, this specific presidential administration is not a reliable negotiator or business partner. The entire tariff debacle should be plain evidence of that. Even if the university felt the demands of the compact were reasonable, Trump has proven time and again that he will change his mind on a whim. There is no reason to willingly enter a formal agreement with him if it can be avoided. Thirdly, the DOJ is responsible for enforcing it. The same DOJ that is currently being used to prosecute Trump’s political enemies. In its current form, this is not a fair or reliable mediator for the compact. It is a weapon that can and will be used by Trump if the university does anything that he is not happy about. And if you want to get further into the language of the compact, the biggest concern I have is section 2 - Marketplace of Ideas & Civil Discourse. This notion of an intellectually open campus environment already exists at UT Austin, so it is a boogeyman request that suggests the curriculum is intentionally designed to persecute conservative ideas. It creates protections specifically for conservative ideas, while failing to provide any similar reciprocal protections for progressive ideas. Conservative ideas don’t need the government to protect them. If they are less prominent at UT Austin compare to a place like A&M or Tech, that is merely the nature of the university and the students and faculty it has attracted for decades. It is not an evil scheme to indoctrinate otherwise innocent conservative young adults. If families or students are afraid of that, they have every opportunity to select a different university in the first place, rather than allow the government to create a mechanism to homogenize all education and restrict the expression of ideas within academia. In normal times, I would feel strongly the same way if a Democrat president wanted to meddle in A&M’s curriculum and force them to become more progressive under the notion that progressive ideas are unfairly targeted. Finally, the language in some key areas is intentionally vague, leaving it open to interpretation and therefore weaponization. What does it mean to “abolish institutional units that purposefully punish or belittle conservative ideas?” Who defines what constitutes as belittling? If a professor discusses climate change and a conservative student gets offended, what happens? If a professor teaches that Tylenol and circumcision do not actually cause Autism, and a MAHA nutjob gets offended and feels belittled, do we lose the professor? Why would any self-respecting professor choose to teach in that environment?
  2. Your summarization is incomplete and the devil is in the details. Here is the full text of the compact: https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/4059a5dd-f3dc-4cf6-bf1f-9e0d98c2f8d9.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_8 For starters, it should be rejected on principal. The federal government, and in particular, a highly partisan and biased presidential administration, should not be overseeing the ideas that can and can’t be taught on a university campus. Look at the shitstorm that A&M just went through for a professor discussing gender in the classroom, and now imagine that the federal government has a signed agreement that gives them authority over this or they withdraw research funding. Secondly, this specific presidential administration is not a reliable negotiator or business partner. The entire tariff debacle should be plain evidence of that. Even if the university felt the demands of the compact were reasonable, Trump has proven time and again that he will change his mind on a whim. There is no reason to willingly enter a formal agreement with him if it can be avoided. Thirdly, the DOJ is responsible for enforcing it. The same DOJ that is currently being used to prosecute Trump’s political enemies. In its current form, this is not a fair or reliable mediator for the compact. It is a weapon that can and will be used by Trump if the university does anything that he is not happy about. And if you want to get further into the language of the compact, the biggest concern I have is section 2 - Marketplace of Ideas & Civil Discourse. This notion of an intellectually open campus environment already exists at UT Austin, so it is a boogeyman request that suggests the curriculum is intentionally designed to persecute conservative ideas. It creates protections specifically for conservative ideas, while failing to provide any similar reciprocal protections for progressive ideas. Conservative ideas don’t need the government to protect them. If they are less prominent at UT Austin compare to a place like A&M or Tech, that is merely the nature of the university and the students and faculty it has attracted for decades. It is not an evil scheme to indoctrinate otherwise innocent conservative young adults. If families or students are afraid of that, they have every opportunity to select a different university in the first place, rather than allow the government to create a mechanism to homogenize all education and restrict the expression of ideas within academia. In normal times, I would feel strongly the same way if a Democrat president wanted to meddle in A&M’s curriculum and force them to become more progressive under the notion that progressive ideas are unfairly targeted. Finally, the language in some key areas is intentionally vague, leaving it open to interpretation and therefore weaponization. What does it mean to “abolish institutional units that purposefully punish or belittle conservative ideas?” Who defines what constitutes as belittling? If a professor discusses climate change and a conservative student gets offended, what happens? If a professor teaches that Tylenol and circumcision do not actually cause Autism, and a MAHA nutjob gets offended and feels belittled, do we lose the professor? Why would any self-respecting professor choose to teach in that environment?
  3. The king is Jesus and the president “has been willing to say it”, right before he posted an AI scat porn video of himself wearing a crown and flying a plane that says King Trump on it. Definitely a guy who believes Christ the King. Oh, but it’s the Marxist and Islamic Democrats who are dividing this country. He should throw Antifa in there for completeness.
  4. We must end indoctrination and return to fundamentals of education at all levels. Also, please hang this poster of the 10 Commandments in every public school classroom from K-12.
  5. Woke up and ran 13.1 miles. Weather was nice. Legs felt good. Ate a breakfast burrito and a protein shake. And coffee. Black. Went to daughter’s dance class. Love it there. It’s pure and innocent. Totally insulated from adult problems. Went to No Kings and marched ~2 miles. Got rained on. Held my sign and chanted. It was great. FDT. Rested and reflected. Browsed flights to Europe. Carved a pumpkin with kiddo. Her first jack-o’-lantern. Drank a beer and an espresso and a coke zero. Made a beef carpaccio and drank some bourgogne blanc. There were olives involved. Texas football was a wet fart on our day. I muted it to play music. Gilroy? Tell me who wins. Kiddo went to bed. Je t’aime et bonne nuit. Made a vol-au-vent with veal and filet de boeuf. It slammed and went hard. Watched a movie. Yahoo sports popup says we won. Okay, cool, hook’em. But don’t sign that fucking compact or I’m out. Drank a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-pape and a bottle of bourgogne rouge. And some crystal light to keep it classy. Had sex with the wife. More than once. Two or three times. It’s fluid. Maybe I’ll run the other half when the sun comes up in a few hours. Or just brunch. That also sounds nice and easier. Fuck that cheeto pedophile fascist racist rapist insurrectionist motherfucker and everyone who supports him. We’re not done here.
  6. Went to the Fort Worth event. There were a ton of people, great signs, great energy, lots of noise. It rained hard at the start of the march and no one left for cover. Everything I saw was peaceful. I was solo due to wife staying home with kiddo. I knew a couple people there but impossible to find them in the crowd and the weather. I was very happy to have a chance encounter with someone I recently met and now knowing that commonality exists. I need more of this type of person in my life. News says about 6,000 people were there. Proud of this city despite being a more conservative city within this red state.
  7. What a game by Ohtani.
  8. I like that. It’s edgy and unique. Maybe drop the Apple logo since it’s getting dated and just focus on the name alone.
  9. Well that’s a new one.
  10. Pretty much how I felt about it. I remember the Camp Fire but I guess I never heard the story of this bus, so I enjoyed it. Thought McConaughey and Ferrera were both good in their roles. It’s not the kind of movie where they’re expected to deliver an Oscar nomination, but they blended into the story in a good way.
  11. Went to see The Lumineers last night at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Have always wanted to see them but it never worked out until now. Great show, exceeded expectations. I was very impressed by their band members’ diversity of musical talents and most of them rotating through multiple instruments throughout the show.
  12. This phrase (and LFG) has become so overused in life but it’s excessive on this show so far.
  13. I love Europe so that part is cool to me, and it seems there won’t be any air travel, which is also an interesting twist. Not that I don’t like TAR in other parts of the world, but a regional focus is different. The Big Brother angle is extremely annoying so far. I guess they were hoping to capture that audience but the risk alienating their existing viewers who don’t like BB. Not every team is annoying, or not any moreso than other seasons, but the constant referencing of BB is tiresome. Could they at least tell us what these people do in their regular life outside of BB? Jersey boys on that cog bike was funny to watch.
  14. I gave Talarico money. My wife gave him more money. We never gave money to anything political until last year when we donated to Harris. And now Talarico and Newsom. I think Talarico is genuine and exactly what Texas needs. I am not optimistic that he will win, but I’ve also grown quite pessimistic about the Texas electorate to ever vote in their best interest. He is speaking in our city next week and we plan to go. Tired of sitting on the sidelines for everything, and I might very well flee this state or even this country soon, but I at least want to be in some minor way involved before throwing in the towel. Was at a party tonight where Talarico came up in conversation. A guy said he’s interested in Talarico but he “wants to see a plan” because he doesn’t like people without plans. I was trying to think of a polite way to say “fuck you” when my other friend said “Trump has a plan and it’s to eliminate people like me.” She’s gay and I love her for speaking up. I backed her up but it’s so frustrating that with all the bullshit happening, people would still look at a guy like Talarico and think “I need to see a plan.”
  15. All of You with Brett Goldstein was a good watch. It’s the kind of romance drama I can enjoy. Reviews are mixed and I can understand why certain people may struggle with it, but it worked for us. The characters felt real and there was just the right amount of that Roy Kent humor.
  16. Imagine saying that to a Jewish person in 1930s Germany or Poland. “Hey, it’s not so bad, you can touch the ground.” Imagine saying that to an immigrant in the United States today, even if that person is here legally and has followed everything they have been asked to do. Imagine saying that to a trans person in the United States today. Imagine saying that to a Mormon person in Michigan who just had their church shot up and burned down by a right wing gun nut. Imagine saying that to a single mom in Texas who works her ass off to feed her kids and now she might lose her Medicaid coverage. Imagine saying that to a person who lost their livelihood simply for repeating a post of Charlie Kirk’s own words, in a way that perhaps his own words made him look a wee bit racist or misogynistic, and it got MAGA snowflakes triggered for portraying him negatively. All of those people should apparently look at the ground at touch it and be thankful they live in Trump’s America. Praise be.
  17. I’m going to Austin for the aggy game and staying 2 nights at The LINE downtown. I’ve stayed there before and liked it, but our friends who gave us the game tickets are already booked there, so it’s also the easy choice. It’s listed for $413 on Expedia (surprisingly good price) or $645 on the Chase portal (typical price). Chase has it listed as both a points boost hotel and The Edit hotel, which means daily breakfast for 2 is included and also $100 hotel credit. Still not enough to offset the $232 price increase, but I called Chase to ask about the $250 credit for The Edit hotels, which they assure me will apply to this booking since I will be staying after my Oct 26 activation of new benefits. So I chose to book through Chase and pay $305 on my card and 17,000 pts. I will get $250 back as a statement credit, as well as the $100 hotel credit and breakfast. The breakfast is the least important perk because I like that Veracruz tacos place they have, but oh well. As a new benefit of CSR, the $250 x 2 credit for The Edit hotels is only partially helpful in this case, due to the Chase price being higher than Expedia. It would almost be a wash, except that the $100 credit helps, and the points boost helps.
  18. What does it say about Netflix that they keep sending me emails and using their home screen to inform me they are getting 10 Things I Hate About You? If that’s all they have to brag about, their new content selection is abysmal.
  19. “and essentially create Transgender operations for everybody.”
  20. It’s incredibly reckless and misleading for Trump to advise pregnant women to avoid Tylenol and tough it out, and to avoid giving Tylenol to children after they are born. There’s a good chance some women will foolishly follow his advice and their untreated fever will cause more harm to their baby. Incredible how much MAGA pretends to care about abortion but then invents new ways to harm unborn babies and living children. Just insane stupidity spewing from the fat orange mouth of the president. He can’t even pronounce acetaminophen and he wants to give medical advice on it.
  21. Camp Mystic pre-July 4, 2025 - “You can trust us with the safety of your young children.” Camp Mystic post-July 4, 2025 - “That was a horrific act of God and there was nothing we could do. We need your sympathy and also buy these yard signs and please don’t sue us.” Camp Mystic September 2025 - “We will be open for business again soon with new safety features (even though we still maintain that last thing could not be prevented). Please send your children back and pay your tuition and you can trust us this time for real.” What kind of lunatic parent would ever drop their daughter off there again? I’d rather send my kid the Fyre Festival.
  22. Just like a lot of MAGA faithful tried hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for the virus-that-didn’t-exist, I guess we’ll see a trend of sick MAGA pregnant women avoiding Tylenol. Unfortunately, some of their feverish kids will be denied its benefits.
  23. Maybe they should ignore this, bring in James Talarico to speak, and let him get ushered off campus or arrested. Make a spectacle of it.
  24. Corsica is very high on my list. You can find my Corsica thread on the travel board. Benefits of France but off the mainland, less expensive, less fuss. It’s absolutely gorgeous with an incredible diversity of geography. Corsicans are proud people with a reluctance to accept outsiders. Part of that is a 1000+ year history of being invaded and conquered by various empires and countries. Part of that is frustration about wealthy people elsewhere buying vacation homes and taking housing away from actual Corsicans who live there full time. People who do that might find their rarely inhabited vacation homes burned down. Their beliefs seem entirely fair, but I think they are willing to accept outsiders who will at least partially assimilate into Corsican culture and contribute to local society. The only drawback for me is that my line of work (physician) is an uphill road. I know a moderate amount of French but I need to pass the language exam at B2 proficiency and I am not quite there. I would also need to pass medical exams in French and serve an apprenticeship. I already teach my 2.5 year old French and she knows about 30 words so far. We’ll get there. My wife is a slower learner but she can say “Je voudrais encore verre de vin, s’il vous plait” without much trouble. She’ll be fine. I need to also learn Corsican. Honestly though, as much as I love my profession, I would rather wait tables in a free country than raise my child in a fascist country.
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