Jump to content

BevoAbyss

Full Members
  • Posts

    414
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by BevoAbyss

  1. With an 88% chance of beating Okie Lite, if Texas loses followed by FSU or Michigan losing, it will go down as one of the most EPIC losses and chokes in UT history.

    Better have some extra terabytes or something Immamac, because this board will meltdown through China, past the moon, and create a black hole out past Jupiter. A black hole with a burnt orange event horizon!

  2. 2 hours ago, Disco Strangler said:

    Somebody apparently thinks about the Roman Empire on a frequent basis.

    Or ... it could be that UT gave me a fucking education!

    Some great profs and smart students... learned so much.

    • Hook 'Em 1
  3. On 11/27/2023 at 10:18 PM, Satchel said:

    Texas is no longer a business friendly state, then what the hell is it,

    What the hell is Texas? Texas is a 21st century Rome with:

    -- Endless gladiatorial spectacles for the masses.

    -- Grand architecture for people to work in and gather around. 

    -- Conspicuous displays of wealth, privilege, and consumption ... along side soul-sucking poverty. 

    -- Widespread worship of those with wealth.

    -- Chariots in the form of flashy cars, trucks, SUVs.

    -- Rampant corruption and conspiracy theories.

    -- Electronic versions of stone tablets and papyrus for mass media.

    -- etc etc etc.

    Only the Christians & fascists have seized political power and are busy:

    -- Throwing to the lions pregnant women, immigrants, poor people, people of color, LGBTQIA, and other groups in the future. 

    -- Building megachurch temples and rewriting history with their creation museums, bible schools, book bans, anti-science, etc. 

    -- Building walls to secure their glorious eternal empire.

    -- All supposedly for their unseen god's promise of a divine destiny. 

    In other words, Texas is a giant mirror of America, a 21st century Rome.

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Like 1
  4. 1 hour ago, BrickHorn said:

    On the right wing, “political freedom” equals “nobody tells me what an asshole I am when I say my weird, awful political views out loud.” 

    Let me make that a bit more accurate:

    ".... when I repeatedly state my fascist beliefs and fact-free religious fanaticism out loud."

    • Hook 'Em 2
  5. I can't speak for everyone in here.... but seeing UT at 10-1 and TCU back to the middle-of-the-pack means the college football universe is moving back to its proper alignment. F*ck the Toads. Hook'em!

    • Like 1
  6. 2 hours ago, Pimphand said:

    wish we would have joined the Pac-12 with Tech and OSU in 2012

    Agree 100%. More of the Pac 12 schools align with UT as a research university or Austin with its general liberalism/blue-democratic-leaning populace. Plus, LA, San Fran/Bay, Seattle, Oregon are way cooler areas to visit than most of SEC, with crappy redneck, red state towns. Facebook, Google, Apple, Tesla are all California-based global tech firms with skyscrapers or factories in Austin. What big tech firms from SEC-Land are in Austin with skyscrapers or factories? None?

    (The move to SEC was orchestrated from top -- BOR, BMD, Abbott -- and was about way more than money and "big boy" football. Also about post-BLM, red state political alignment. No CR. Just saying... it is obvious.)

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Fuck You 4
  7. 5 hours ago, BamaATL said:

    Sovereign Citizen Island, and just drop these folks off after time served.  Let them know they are finally free of the tyranny.  You know, somewhere out in the middle of the Pacific.

    Some "libertarians" tried that in the early 1970s. It was called the Republic of Minerva.

    -- They claimed a small Pacific reef and planned to make it an full-fledged island for a libertarian utopia. They even minted some Minerva Dollars.

    -- But, alas, Tonga said "Nope, not in our part of the Pacific" and chased them off the reef. Apparently, some libertarians went back in 1980s and Tongans chased them off again.

    -- I first heard about this in 1990 from some rando dude at "Les Amis Cafe" (one-time Leftist hangout near UT on 24th, featured in Linklater's "Slacker"). Now replaced by a Starbucks. Said his dad was one of the people who tried to start Minerva. Somewhere in a box in my closet, I think I still have one of those Minerva dollars, which I bought for kicks. 

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Minerva

     

    MinervaDollar.jpg

  8. 4 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    There was a time that the right actually had issues of substance to discuss.

    Really, now. This is a mind-boggling statement in clear denial of what's happening right before our eyes.

    Are you suggesting that women's right to control their own bodies, or the Dobbs ruling, are not issues of substance? I have a feeling 100+ million women might disagree. 

    Or endless mass shootings and the militarization America with millions of AR-15s are not issues of substance. Pretty sure there are many families with dead children who think mass murder/gun control are issues of substance.

    Or the denial of the climate catastrophe and massive ecological destruction are not issues of substance. 

    Or the 1.2 million Americans dead from Covid and the Texas lege passing no mandated vaxxing for workplace safety. 

    Or the clear efforts to smash down the Establishment Clause separating Church and State. 

    Or the banning of books from libraries. 

    Or the efforts to overthrow elections, purge voter rolls, make it harder to vote. 

    Hell, Abbott just endorsed the fascist leader of an insurrection for President. 

    MAGA-GQP have plenty of issues of substance. And, guess what, they are busy imposing them. Right before our eyes.

  9. 3 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

    so many of us former-Republicans are weirded out by what it’s become.  The people who cared about policy were boring and have been replaced fully by the grifters and nutcases.

    Let me correct that: the real terms are fascists and theocrats,  which includes grifters and nutcases. As for MAGA-GQP, they have a clear platform and set of policies: To impose a violent fascist theocracy on America. Just look at Trump, Pence, Abbott, the new Speaker of the House, the Supreme Court in Dobbs, the politicalization of churches, Fox News, and endless other examples. 

    I am so tired of this claim that "a bunch of grifters hijacked our GOP." That's complete BS. Y'all "former Republicans" can be "weirded out" all you want. But, you must had your head in the sand for 40 years. MAGA GQP fascism-theocracy has been building since Reagan-Falwell. If you voted for Reagan, Bush 1, Bush 2, Abbott, or Trump (or supported Perot, United We Stand, or the Tea Party), then you enabled where we are. Just f*cking own it. 

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 1
  10. No surprise, Elon Musk is a flat-out fascist. So are Abbott, Paxton, and so must be their entire governing staffs/attorneys.

    Intellectual fascists/theocrats (and their apologists) are at UT, at that Civitas Institute. Hiding behind Ivy League credentials and "prestigious" universities and publishers, plus that libertarian/conservative smoke screen propaganda of "civic virtue" and "a free society" at the website. Funded with millions of dollars from the Board of Regents. No doubt the BOR has its MAGA fascists, who also aligned UT with the SEC SEC SEC fascist south. 

    Fascism is busy organizing, gaining economic and academic power, and ground zero is Texas, right smack in the middle of Austin, no less. 

     

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Rage+1 2
  11. Abbott endorses Trump. So that means the Governor of Texas is a fascist. That's right, a flat-out f*cking fascist who does not care about facts, truth, violent insurrections, attempts to steal elections, or mass shootings. All right out of the fascist playbook.

    And Abbott rolls around on the UT football sideline, chats it up with McConaughey, Clemens, CDC, and other UT celebs. 

    And then there is Musk, another fascist, with Tesla in Austin and rockets flying off the Texas coast.

    And not one media outlet, not one business exec, not one political leader, not one sports figure will call any these fascist f*ucks what they are: fascists!  

    Fascists and fascism are being completely normalized in Texas and America. Right smack in the middle of Austin, no less.

     

     

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 2
    • Haha 1
    • Rage+1 3
  12. 1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

    majority of these idealogues will ignore their oath, and that's just fucking stupid.

    Thanks for the insult, yet again. Looks like my atheism/existentialism is still bothering you. 

    I normally don't reply to insults, but will this one time. After this, it is adios, JJ.

    -------

    It should be easy to see how honoring one's "oath" can be bent, twisted, and weaponized via propaganda/social media to serve MAGA-Trump-GQP agenda and "Save America" and "Do God's Will" (etc etc) after a close, contentious election. That's happened throughout fascist-communist-authoritarian history.

    Hell, the current Supreme Court is violating oaths, logic, reason, precdent, etc. Alito and Dobbs showed us that. Hunt bought Thomas. Oaths? Lulz. 

    Facts and reality do not matter in such regimes and eras, except when bent to serve political goals of domination, control, power, etc. Orwell showed how that would work in 1984. It's called "doublethink" and it permeates 21st century American consciousness.

    I'm also wondering; did all those virtuous, patriotic, freedom loving soldiers think they were honoring their "oath" when they were waterboarding prisoners, deploying torture methods in the Middle East, violating the Geneva Convention, following the orders of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld (all three war criminals) to invade and bomb Iraq based on propaganda of "weapons of mass destruction." The majority of Americans favored using torture, like 55-60%.

    What about the "oath" those moments? Oaths were weaponized in service to patriotism, religion, and political barbarism. And thus the oaths were worthless. 

     

  13. 3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

    I think that's right.  The real risk here is that we are going to see American Loyalist units of our military facing off against MAGA-commanded units of our military.  Flynn's brother's troops against actual loyal units following their oath.  Actually shooting at each other.

    Agree, this is quite possible. It is utterly naive and dangerous to think the military is immune to -- or outside of -- the dominant beliefs ideologies in our culture. I bet there are tons of "patriotic" soldiers who are MAGA-GQP, wouldn't surprise me if military MAGA is close to the percent of the population supporting Trump: about 45%. 

    If the soldiers have a smart phone and internet connection, they can slide down into the Q rabbit hole and right into fascist Team USA. And be roused to violence by Trump, Bannon, and their fascist lackies. That's a powder keg waiting to explode in the days after a contentious, close election. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
  14. 31 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

    Above all else, they're all self-preserving cockroaches. They latched on to MAGA because they helped them win elections. They and Trump have no use if they can't win.

    Nope. With all due respect. Not even close. 

    MAGA-GQP fascism/theocracy has been building for decades, long before Trump arrived on the scene.

    From Reagan-Falwell >>> to Perot-United We Stand >>> Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld war criminals >>> to Tea Party >>> Trump-MAGA-GQP. Republicans have been moving into fascism/theocracy since Reagan era. That's a fact. 

    And the fascism/theocracy will continue after Trump is gone. Count on it. 

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Rage+1 2
  15. Hey dudes, toss out all ad hominems you want about atheists, keep up with evasions and apologia. Seen it for decades, especially in the free speech area (next to the Union Bldg) at UT in the 1980s and 1990s. All across America, too.

    But, you have no idea about me, how I got my atheist beliefs, or how I talk in public to anyone, or anything else. 

    You see, I was lucky, just damn lucky. 

    Raised in a middle class secular household in Texas that placed a premium on education, honesty, and hard work to get ahead. And a trust in relying on evidence and logic to make a point or have position on something. And a trust in basic science, medical and otherwise. 

    Oh sure, my mom (grew up on a farm) believed in the Bible, but never went to church because she thought preachers were scammers and con men. My dad was an agnostic, served in the Navy in Korean War, saw the lunacy of war, went to UT on the GI Bill and never set foot in a church. So, I escaped all the religious brainwashing that happens to the youth of Texas and America and the world. Damn lucky, I was. Just pure luck.

    -- On the other hand, my cousins were brainwashed by my mom's highly religious brothers and sisters and those cousins are all MAGA-GQP, as far as I know. I avoid them. 

    I've been atheist for 40+ years, at least my first years of college. Since I started grasping all the BS hypocrisies in religion and in reading existentialist writings, especially Sartre. Plus, Carl Sagan and many other scientists and many philosophers. Took philosophy courses at UT while getting my PhD in something else. Not a TED Talk atheist. Authored numerous books and articles, so I don't feel the need to spout off about atheism at the cocktail parties. 

    Last time I looked, America was packed with churches -- tiny churches in strip malls to suburban megachurches to urban cathedrals. Looks more like the Sky Daddy fans can't stop talking about their beliefs ... and ramming them down everyone's throats and inside women's bodies. 

    As for posting about atheism in Surly, it's because America is descending into a violent fascist theocracy, led by Texas and Abbott, the most disgraceful UT alum I know of. A freaking fascist and theocrat making women with unwanted pregnancies fear for their lives. And for some deep-seated reason, I still care about UT and its alums. I guess because my did did, too. That's probably why i post here.

    Totally futile gestures, for sure. 

     

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Haha 1
  16. On 11/8/2023 at 2:19 PM, Biff Tannen said:

    Take a drive through west texas and it’s just flares as far as the eye can see. We literally are pumping so much fossil fuel out of the ground we just have to burn some of it off. Future generations should be aghast at our stupidity. 

    Spot on.

    Image 1: Texas light pollution 2012.

    Image 2:Texas light pollution 2022.

    The Big Bend National Park is home to the last realm of Texas darkness being erased. The McDonald Observatory would be rendered useless for optical telescopes, unless the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve can reign it in. (See my post on previous page.)

    -- Note huge light pollution from the fracking fields north of the Big Bend and west of Odessa Midland.

    We are literally erasing the night sky from human consciousness. It's madness driven by consumerism and the narcissistic belief that we humans, individually and collectively, are the center of all value, meaning, and purpose on Planet Earth and the entire freaking universe. 

    But hey, we got plenty of juice for selfies at ACL and SXSW. 

    2012.jpg

    2021.jpg

    • Rage+1 2
  17. 14 hours ago, Born to Run said:

    The religion itself is not to blame. Jesus didn't instruct us to be dicks, and would be disgusted with 90% of his followers. His gospel was pretty simple and very libtard.

    Religion is entirely to blame. Completely. Utterly. 100%. Why? 

    1) It teaches people to believe in evidence-free, non-existent Sky Daddies. 

    -- Genesis 1, Verse 1 is the starting point for the destruction of reason, logic, rationality, evidence, general cognitive sanity, etc. 

    -- FYI: Sartre destroyed all such fallacies in Being and Nothingness, as have many others in various works.

    2) Genesis 1, Verse 1 and religion is the ground for all conspiracy theory, with the unseen Creator (the good guy) supposedly running the show on Planet Earth, but in a deadly battle with the unseen Devil (the evil dude) and his machinations. Unseen forces controlling the world against the supposed "good guys," that's conspiracy theory in a nutshell. 

    3) It teaches people to believe that agrarian era farmers and current era preachers/ministers (from the two-bit Bible school or high brow Ivy League tower) know more about the universe and human origins than:

    -- the hundreds thousands of scientists who have confirmed Darwin's evolution. It ain't a theory. It's true.

    -- the medical scientists who cure diseases that once wiped out millions, drawing from that very evolutionary biology the religious people deny.

    -- the scientists who now know that all human bodies and brains are made of the most common elements of the cosmos, namely oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and various trace elements. And we humans all share 99.5% of the same DNA. We are one single, evolutionary species, made of the elements from which our solar system evolved. There are no privileged peoples. We are all starstuff.

    -- NASA and the world's astronomers who know that the observable universe contains 2 trillion galaxies, 3 sextillion stars, trillions of black holes, untold numbers of planets and lifeforms, in an expanding universe stretching across 100 billion light years.  Yeah, we are tiny little specks, though we're pretty good with science/technology/curiosity to figure all this out. 

    -- And we're supposed to believe Mr. Sky Daddy is running the show for every atom in the NASA-scientific universe? Laughable.

    -- Just imagine, in this universe of two trillion galaxies, Sky Daddy loves me and has an special divine plan so I can live forever, perhaps the most narcissistic belief ever made. Yeah, religion are narcissistic cults. 

    Oh, sure, you can cherry pick a few phrases ("Jesus said ...") from the Bible ignore all the other violence and idiocy in the verses, myths, and superstitions.  But it is all nonsense... and thus dangerous.

    4) All of the above is why Sky Daddy (aka Mr. Good Guy) does absolutely nothing to prevent war, disease, famine, destruction, etc. Oh, but "He works in strange ways." Lulz.

    TLDR Bottom line, religion teaches people to believe in crap that is utterly false. Religion does violence to facts, reason, and logic. No wonder religion ends up being so violent across the millennia. 

     

    • Hook 'Em 5
    • Like 3
    • Drool 1
  18. 1 hour ago, Born to Run said:

    These fake Christians clearly don't read the Bible

    Nope. They are not fake. 

    What is fact is that Christianity (and almost all world religions) has never been about "peace and love" for everyone.

    Christianity and its non-existent Sky Daddy have brainwashed 250-300 million Americans (and so many otherwise smart posters on this site). Christians are about peace only after they have colonized, conquered, and converted. Then some temporary "peace."  It's always the three C's. Colonize, conquer, convert.

    Just ask the native and indigenous peoples across North, Central and South America about how peaceful the Christians were. It was a freaking genocide committed by the God worshipping Euro Christians across three continents, with the support of the US government and many farmers, miners, and businesses ready to size the land. And their Sky Daddy did nothing to stop it.

    What we are seeing with MAGA-Christians in America is the historical norm, not the exception. Christian violence is coming to America again. What else is the Dobbs opinion about other than imposing medical violence against women? What else was January 6 about? What else are all those AR-15s for? 

    • Hook 'Em 6
    • Like 1
×
×
  • Create New...