august948

4 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

What was the old saying?  Everyone was a Communist until they weren't?  A fine lesson for these days--it always seems to catch up with you when you have ideologues in charge.

Not since they left the neighborhood.  I still feel jilted.

To each his or her own . . . but I'd say you have, er, quite the unique taste there, Augie.

I do have to say that I like girls with guns.  But then I like girls with curly hair, too.  Bonus point to Alex, though, as I just noticed she has a roll of gorilla tape molle'd to her tactical vest.

2 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Augie if you think the most salient feature of Fascism is government control of the economy, and not, er, all the general “vibes” and aesthetics well, I think you miss the point.  The truth of the matter is plenty of Republicans (and certainly party media) are speaking in the same themes as a long line of sordid authoritarians who are manufacturing a crisis as an excuse to assume more power. If you think because they don’t say “We’re going to take over Ford like the Nazis took over Volkswagen” somehow distinguishes them from otherwise having the same general tone and intentions of their Fashy forbears, well, again, I’d say you’re missing the point entirely. 

And to imply that there is some universally accepted Fascist political philosophy like the one you can point to in The Communist Manifesto is nonsense—the philosophy is the aesthetic, end of story.

(I must say BTW that this is a tad bit disturbing as the implication seems to be you’re OK with the aesthetic as long as they don’t nationalize the economy. Man the Republicans who came of age under Reagan are a weird bunch. I see the new Tucker talking point is “How can it be Fascism if the people vote for it?” I suppose you subscribe to that gem, too.)

I think you need to read my second sentence again (again).

Fascism is a fairly well defined, documented, and researched political and economic order.  It's not just about aesthetics. It's about total control of society and squashing all forms of dissent.  But how it's used in the media is just as a way to smear anyone who doesn't toe the Democratic party line.  Unfortunately, there are many who have bought into the propaganda and can't distinguish the difference.

Since we both can recall the Reagan era, you might remember that every Republican leader has been impugned this way since at least that point.  And it becomes especially pointed when that leader is popular and a threat to Democratic party control.  Thus, once we're done with the Trump era, Trump will be forgotten and the next Republican leader will be given the same treatment for the same reason.

17 hours ago, Amlaham said:

Maybe we should rename Bush into Kinder International Airport 😂, I feel like this family has done A LOT for Houston!

Why not both?  We can have a Kinder, gentler airport.

45 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

MAGA has made clear that cronyism and punishing and rewarding corporations for their political views is A-OK, and it's only becoming more apparent.  It may not be centralized production, but they're not shying away from direct government involvement in the private sector AT ALL.  

Once you throw in Fashy standard-bearers like Trump, Ted Cruz, MTG, the list goes on and on, the obsession with law enforcement (see above), overthrowing elections due to feelz, cosplay militia obsessions, and weird infatuations with other people's sex lives (abortion, gender, etc.), and, I don't know, it rates at least a 75% on my Fashy scale--with it being heavily weighted towards where the party has signaled it wants to be headed, of course (i.e., less Liz Cheney and more JD "Why Not Kill Em All" Vance).

Shall we ask the My Pillow guy about how that works?

The whole centralized control of everything was a salient feature of fascism.  That's why calling someone a fascist or nazi is meaningless nowadays.  It's just become a empty pejorative that one side always throws at the other.

I believe @Texasotais correct.  I bike on the sidewalks all the time, including going right past the westside police station on a regular basis.  The main problem I've found with sidewalks is that sometimes they're in poor repair.  West of the beltway they've been rebuilding the sidewalks along Richmond.  I don't think I've seen that work going on east of the beltway, though.

9 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

Someone has his head in the sand in San Antonio (and it’s been hot again recently, so that can’t be comfortable!).

Yes, I finally clicked on the profile (not sure why I hadn’t before) … Alex’s #1 supporter is a proud resident of … San Antonio.  (I guess he’s scared all the rampant crime will make its way west? Sounds about right … I’m told basic logic is “evolving” (as if the D were silent … they really seem to hate that letter) … but I am reminded that reading is difficult for a not-too-insignificant (yet sadly increasingly significant) slice of the population.)

I’ll hand you something, BD, if the race were determined by the endorsements of police officers (along with green posters, long names, and straight hair as opposed to curls of course!), Alex would be sitting pretty (for the first time in her life, incidentally). But, alas, one person, one vote. And, I feel obliged to advise, plenty of people see police unions and don’t have the psychosomatic reaction you seem to have (i.e., My Little Pony sharting rainbows … I jest … that’s at least partially a shout out to the Harris County Log Cabin Republicans, MAN … whoever is left must have a real sadistic bent, wonder how often they break bread with Steve Hotze … wowza … yet I suppose Steve H himself is a glutton for punishment … it may be all starting to make sense …)

(BTW Mr Dogs, I totally endorse the sheriff of your fair and difficult-to-pronounce county … a tip of the hat to him for going against blatant  government corruption and Floridian political interference … Florida … interfering in Texas … must be like … San Antonio … interfering in Houston … I dunno, maybe you’re all for it. One side effect is I like seeing Ron DeSantis totally troll “the best governor in Texas history” as the weak poser he is and always has been 🤣.) DeSantis appears to be in for some flooding soon, maybe Greggo can send him some water?

Sr BDs (fine Mexican-American culture there in San Antonio, so I shan’t presume and “cover both bases,” so to speak), as a first-time reader of your profile, I do feel the need to end a high note (warning … metaphor!). I went to the Symphony this weekend and noted for the first time that KTRK is a blue-ribbon sponsor. I found that impressive in this day and age. I’ve always been a KPRC guy myself (triskaidekaphobia perhaps?) but I shall give them a second look now that I know they are great corporate citizens. (WHOOPS … on second thought, it was Shostakovich. They may be into Communism.)

Shostakovich was more of a survivor than a communist.  Maybe you should be watching KHOU?

You know full well that this is not the first time in her life Alex has been sitting pretty.  I provided photographic proof of that earlier in this thread.

On 9/9/2022 at 12:15 AM, mattyt36 said:

I understand in theory the idea of a "leftist takeover" of the U.S. and how that would not be any more or less beneficial than a MAGA takeover.  At the end of the day, as far as I'm concerned, MAGA government and leftist government means an economy entirely ruled by the government. 

I missed this point and only caught it while rereading.  I can see how a truly leftist government would mean an economy entirely ruled by the government, but am not seeing how a MAGA government would mean the same thing.  Surely you're not suggesting that MAGA is in fact the full-fledged fascist philosophy that Democratic party propaganda claims?

4 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Both would be worthwhile, but Richmond more so. I work on Westpark, so I'd be very happy with  either, but a Richmond lane would serve more destinations than Westpark, with a lot more shade.

Point about shade well taken.  Further west Richmond does have bike lanes, though I don't trust those at all since they just narrowed the existing lanes.  Is that what we are talking about or something a bit more protected?

1 hour ago, Amlaham said:

I live in the uptown area and it truly sucks how we have absolutely no bike lanes....like at all...zero. I feel like one going down Richmond from beltway 8 all the way to midtown makes sense in my opinion. Traffic on Richmond isn't anywhere near as bad as other streets, so creating a bike lane and connecting Westchase district to Uptown to Greenway to Midtown seems like it would be the obvious answer :/ 

I would think that the proposed westpark off-street path would be a better fit for that corridor.

12 hours ago, scarface said:

Being semi-envious and semi- dirty, I keep checking this thread with some hopes of an announcement that there have been some kind of changes to the proposed height of this building that finds it unattainable.😁

But oh well. Wishful thinking. I just have to accept that Houston's days of being the Texas's tallest city are numbered. ..  

I gather it's only going to be 20' taller, is that correct?  If so, isn't it an architecturally accepted practice to add something decorative to push the height up?  I'm sure we could fabricate something to top Austin.  My vote would be a giant spinning Buc-ee's sign...

Or perhaps a 30' hand sculpture in a familiar gesture with one finger up and the others folded in...pointed in the direction of Austin?

3 hours ago, player1videogames said:

I worked at Aladdins castle in Galvez Mall in 1992 and loved this little mall. I saw so many free movies because I would give free games to the guys that worked at the theater. Loved Kay Bee Toys. They had a great selection of Nes games back then. Wished you had pics of that area. Eibands had great hamburgers too believe it or not. 

Aladdin's castle...now that brings back some memories.

Is James Coney Island still in business?  The one near city centre has seemed vacant for a while now.

It's the next area being developed just west of Cinco Ranch/Katy.  Once they complete the Bray's bayou trail all the way to Fiorenza park at hwy 6 you'll be able to bike a mostly protected route from Harrisburg Blvd near the ship channel to all the way to the edge of Fulshear.  I'm pumped about that because a connector to the trail runs along the edge of my subdivision.  Once it's complete, I'm thinking about doing a multiday bike tour of Houston, staying at hotels like the UH Hilton along the way (or maybe the ZaZa in the museum district if I decide I can part with the requisite cash.  😀)

5 minutes ago, Ross said:

Most of the fentanyl comes through in commercial shipments according to the statistics I've seen, as opposed to being carried by illegal border crossers.

Commercial shipment across which border?

2 hours ago, editor said:

Do people smoke crack anymore?  Didn't that go out of fashion in like 1987?  Then it was hillbilly heroin.  Then it was soccer mom heroin.  The cocaine came back briefly.  Now it's pills, right?  Or is crack back?

Perhaps fentanyl coming through our "secure" southern border?

2 hours ago, BeerNut said:

Myself and some friends are planning to sign up to do this.   I'll be working most of the month but will try to knock out several neighborhoods Oct 1-6.

So is the procedure just to checkout a bike, ride to the next station, check it in and then check out another one or is there a way to do this without switching bikes at every station?

1 hour ago, Ross said:

ended the use of Microsoft products

The should have led with this...😛

Unless their proposal was to replace with Apple products, in which case they should be immediately impeached...😮

44 minutes ago, Ross said:

Another 1,000 would help a bunch, but there's no room in they City budget for that many new officers, given the revenue caps at the city and state level.

I recall recently seeing a proposal to hire 1,000 new officers, but for a different law enforcement organization.

40 minutes ago, trymahjong said:

I’ve pretty much covered all my experience meeting up with HPD community programs and hearing the crime stats ( good and bad) from their prospective.

Here’s my current mull over question.

Which is the more potent HPD crime fighting proposal…..having current HPD officers work 12 hour shifts……..or hire more officers?

Would 12 hr shifts lead to burnout?

I kept this one pinned to the wall during my years in cubicle-land. 

4 hours ago, editor said:

September 14, 2022 in the Chronicle:

September 14, 2022 in other newspapers:

 

The Chronicle strip is a run from 2014. 

There's a chance that the cartoon they ran in this case was a reflection of how chron employees feel about their workplace.  Perhaps it's a coded plea for help...

On 9/12/2022 at 10:12 PM, mattyt36 said:

Thank you for sharing @trymahjong.  I don't know if this is the first substantive article the Chronicle has written about the subject but it sure feels like it.

Key points from the article:

The success of the GOP approach depends less on statistical trends and more on whether crime is “visible” to voters on the nightly news, Adams said.

Which is my sense--this is more about "feelings" than reality.

Contrary to Young’s claim, Houston is far from the most dangerous city in the country. In 2020, the first year of the homicide surge, Houston tallied about 17 murders per 100,000 people, less than half the rates recorded by several other large cities, including St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, Detroit, Memphis and Cleveland.

Either Ed Young "feels" this way, or it was deliberately political.  I know what my guess is.

Still, Houston has seen a sharp rise in homicides each of the last two years, starting with a 43 percent surge from 2019 to 2020 — similar to the increase measured across all of Harris County, including Houston and the other incorporated cities. Murders across the country spiked by 29 percent that year, as a number of large cities — including Chicago and New York — recorded increases north of 50 percent.

Awful statistics.  43% surge 2019-2020, all on Mr Law and Order's watch, if you want to get political.

I prefer not to.

Seems like we should figure out what exactly is going on first before making ridiculous promises about hiring 1,000 new police officers "just because . . . feelings."

Politics is usually more about feelings than reality.  That really should be no surprise.

What I think we can agree on is that there has been a spike in crime here and nationwide.  While I'm skeptical that anyone can suddenly hire 1.000 new officers, is there some doubt that a greatly increased police presence would serve to dampen crime in general?  Or, without even hiring the new officers, just giving the impression that there will be a crackdown will lead many criminals to be less active?

4 hours ago, Ross said:

Social media like Nextdoor hasn't helped with perception, since very last little issue gets blown up, especially when higher end neighborhoods get hit with a crime or two. I am really annoyed at the people in areas like Tanglewood that say "I pay a lot of taxes, and think HPD should be spending more time patrolling my neighborhood", when HPD is spending their time patrolling areas where crime is much worse, but the residents are poor. I see demands to hire more officers, but there is no understanding of the constraints on budget increases when the City has had a revenue cap for property taxes since 2004. Police and fire budgets already exceed the total amount of property taxes collected. If they want more police protection, then taxes will have to increase.

Nextdoor is hot mess of nimbyism and overconcern for everyone else's business.

5 hours ago, wilcal said:

I wish the Chronicle would stop wasting my subscriber dollars by giving any of them to Scott Adams. 

Scott Adams is a genius.  Dilbert is proof.

3 hours ago, trymahjong said:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/home/article/What-s-the-state-of-violent-crime-in-Houston-17431491.php
 

The Chronicle stated it’s a complicated issue- I agree.

That article is behind a paywall.  Any chance you can summarize what they said?