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Samson's Wig

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Everything posted by Samson's Wig

  1. I've seen a lot of narrowing of streets and widening of sidewalks in neighborhoods that absolutely don't need it. That money is being spent, just stupidly. Did anyone really expect anything else? And yes, lots of bike lanes that almost never get used for commuting, but provide a nice place to exercise for 50yo old assholes at the expense of everyone else. All based on studies done in cities with nothing in common with Austin. Ideology uber alles.
  2. The message being sent by these assholes is clear: You're a piece of shit for driving a car and should find other ways to get places even though they have no interest in actually providing them. This city has, for a long time now, insisted on implementing solutions that work really well in older cities with cooler climates that will not and never will work here. Austin is a western city and for better or worse is laid out like one. The opportunity to build a city with reasonable public transportation options passed decades ago, and Austin Metro will remain vehicle dependent long after these twats have lived and died. Instead of acknowledging this reality and finding solutions to improve environmental impact that actually works within the framework we're stuck with, these idiots will keep trying to jam that square peg into this round hole until the city is completely unlivable for almost everyone. It's difficult to imagine this being a place anyone wants to live in another thirty years, especially when the tech jobs inevitably move elsewhere.
  3. I have preteen twins. Around age eight I started having "philosophy snacks" with them on Sundays, where we sit down and discuss a particular question about life and how different thinkers, including religious ones of varying faiths, approach the question. It has been an amazing thing for them and for me. This book was the one we started with for guidance: Philosophy for Kids: 40 Fun Questions That Help You Wonder About Everything! Sample topics: Are you a fair and just person? How do you know who your friends are? It is your duty to give to charity? What makes something you say true? We have taken the kids to worship services of a wide range of religions to expose them to what's out there and really want them to find their own way. We're not religious but don't want to prevent them from being so if that's what they want. As for explaining to them that I don't believe in a god, I was simple and straightforward about it. My autistic son made it easy when he came to me very young and told me he didn't think there was a god. He got there on his own before I ever said anything.
  4. Depends on what you're praying about, I suspect.
  5. Prayer = meditation = vision boards = exercise = therapy = whatever you do to center yourself or focus on your journey. Whatever works for you, go for it. While I think prayer can have an impact internally on the individual, much like any other form of self-reflection, I do find it odd that some believe that prayer generates external results. It seems to primarily be an evangelical way of thinking.
  6. No one should be surprised by the latest city council moves regarding parking and development, but it's still rage-inducing.
  7. Good question. Surely there's an attorney who owns a sports car with vanity plates around here somewhere who knows the answer. Or if we're not rolling in that high of cotton maybe there's a PD in a cheap suit and a spare two seconds who can chime in.
  8. Coffee talk not going away. Also - did Bolivia just feel the need to remind everyone they harbored Nazis after WWII? We get it, Bolivia. You don't like Jews. You don't have to rub it in.
  9. While certainly possible, my wife was on the other side of me. If the young lady hadn't been shit-faced drunk the evening may have been much more interesting.
  10. Do you go to a laundromat and spit-clean your dishes? I don't blame you for going aggro on the boy, that's not a lot of water.
  11. Was in the Denver airport over the weekend and a young lady sat down next to me at the bar and was already completely and clearly drunk. The bartender served her three more doubles over the course of an hour or so. She just kept getting louder and more obnoxious by the minute. At some point, she mentioned she was headed to Austin and I thought it was my turn to see some shenanigans. Sure enough, she stumbles onto the same plane and sits down across the aisle from me. She just passed out and snored the entire flight. I was a little disappointed. I thought the same thing you posted above while watching the entire thing. Idiots will ruin things for the rest of us, per usual.
  12. Can't recall now, but didn't the boyfriend have a solid alibi? If not, she may well get away with it.
  13. Real story or not, fuck that fucking fuck. What is wrong with people?
  14. Likely a British expat living in Mueller who hasn't ventured west of Mopac other than that one trip to Fredericksburg for wine tasting with the gals. She's got dreams, though. We all do.
  15. The luxury isn't in the houses, it's in the people.
  16. I absolutely agree that young people are not being taught history in grade school, and are being manipulated by special interest groups and professors on campuses. I've seen that nonsense firsthand. I wasn't picking a fight or arguing with you above at all, but I can see how it may have come across that way. I was just being pedantic for no good reason, and failing at it to boot.
  17. That would make a difference, for sure.
  18. Thanks, I skimmed right past that part - my bad. They must have polled college students, as I doubt 51% of Americans aged 18-24 could point out the Gaza Strip (or Israel) on a map with ten tries, much less know what Hamas is or that there is even a conflict.
  19. I would believe that 51% of Harvard students think this way, but no way 51% of Americans do. Polls are stupid.
  20. The humor there was that it was an aggie that punched his douche face. All the violence was aggie on aggie. Otherwise it was high school kids with a goal post.
  21. Still no N antibodies for this guy as of bloodwork last week, despite wife and son having had the rona at different times in the last couple of years. I like to think I'm some form of mutant who just can't get it (although it's more likely the vaccinations and working from home).
  22. Hans Rosling. Factfulness is definitely worth a read.
  23. I agree completely with what you're saying. I think the mistake is thinking that any of these attempts to change the zoning and code regs have anything to do with actually helping with housing in Austin. It's about lining the pockets of a handful of folks, and they make more money building 2 and 3 unit properties in central Austin that can be quickly sold to investors for use as short-term rentals than they do with an apartment/condo building (and thereby making the housing situation worse, not better). If they actually wanted to add affordable housing, then of course apartment buildings are the answer, but that's not how the grift is set up. Developers want to build cheaply and sell quickly, not maintain a building. Supposedly we have a bunch of new apartments coming onto the market soon. I have no idea where and haven't noticed significant amounts of construction, but I keep hearing that they're coming. I don't know if they'll be real apartments or those money laundering bullshit condo buildings we have downtown that no actual working humans live in. Any significant apartment development should be scattered throughout town, though, and not crammed into one area. I agree that using existing multi-unit locations is the smart move. The problem is the lack of interest in developing such properties. Just like banning short-term rentals, this obvious solution isn't one the crooked assholes in charge have any interest in because it's not how their bread is buttered.
  24. Otherwise known as MTG country. Lots of edumacated folks up 'at way.
  25. One was some kind of road rage incident involving people shooting on the highway who I don't believe live in the area. Another was an accidental shooting at a home, whatever that entails. The third (the one inside 360) was very recent and not many details are available, but someone murdered a woman and dropped her body in the neighborhood, then lit it on fire. About as grisly as it gets.
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