august948

No. Just pointing out the similarities in their nature. I love my ways I'm not changing.

I understand that you love your ways and are not changing.  I can see that in your posts.  Are you related to Ross Barnett?

Yes

So you think a guy who has been dead for almost 27 years is posting from beyond the grave?

Is your last name Barnett? I love Mississippi I love my culture.

Do you mean the former Mississippi governor Ross Barnett who died in 1987?

Los Angeles.  Unfortunately, it's not pretty.  I think our hope would have to be that self-driving cars really do 3x the carrying capacity of freeways, and maybe more if uber/lyft-like services can create instantaneous car pools - for example 3 people in Midtown can instantly share a single car to work on the west side in the Energy Corridor.

That makes me wonder if uber/lyft will be early adopters of driverless cars.  Perhaps having them circle or park in selected areas awaitng ride requests.  Something like that could certainly make living car-free inside the city more convenient.

either way it scares the hell out of me. i was sitting in traffic today thinking about these numbers.. i too have often heard Houston is supposed to have 10 million people by 2040 or so, and i just dont see how our streets in the core can handle the additional traffic.. we need alternate modes of transit, and/or some creative reworking of vehicle routes.

Alternate modes are already under study (commuter rail) or underway (light rail and BRT).  I'm sure they will keep developing far into the future.  However, I suspect much of the new population will end up spread out in the edge cities so while the core will certainly densify, as it has been doing, it won't be like every one or even nearly every one of those new residents will be living inside the loop.  I know some may hate to hear this, but what's going to be important in the future is efficient interconnectivity of the edge cities and downtown.  That above all, is going to mean more and better roads.

Ha!  That reminds me of Cynthia McKinney, who among other things claimed the DOD shot 5000 prisoners during Katrina...

 

 

“”In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I had a woman, I’ve never really said this in public, out loud, in front of a lot of cameras, and there’s a lot of cameras in this room now. I had a mother to call me because her son had a very gruesome task. Her son’s charge by the Department of Defense was to process 5000 bodies that had received a single bullet wound to the head — and these were mostly males. And her son was afraid to talk because he signed a silence agreement. So, he only complained to his mother. But, the date about these individuals was entered into a Pentagon computer and then reportedly, the bodies were dumped in a swamp in Louisiana. This is as a result of the tragedy of hurricane Katrina.

Now I have no…no…I have verification from insiders who wish to remain anonymous, at the Red Cross, that this is true. I suspect that these were prisoners. And so, you know, this investigation of the whole prison industrial complex is extremely important. And it should not end with just a question of the nature of prisons in our country, but these five thousand souls also need some justice too.” — Cynthia McKinney

 

http://www.rightwingnews.com/uncategorized/cynthia-mckinney-government-murdered-5000-people-during-katrina-and-dumped-them-in-a-swamp/

And just in case you don't trust that source, here she saying it in person on youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vVIhyWsa10

My kids might, though now they carry their own music so the loss might not be noticed at all.

Of course. 

 

And City government should be doing a much better job of installing crosswalks where people are likely to cross. 

I agree.  They should also put more priority on sidewalk installation/repair and hike/bikeways.  I have seen some progress on both of those, particulalry hike and bike trails, in the last 15 years and I hope they can accelerate both in the future.

Again you're blaming pedestrians for deaths instead of the person driving a machine while possibly distracted. Brakes are powerful in most situations you could avoid hitting a pedestrian. Your sad analogy is stating people knowingly try to put their life at risk.

A train has powerful brakes and they're mounted on all rail cars, not just the engine.  Yet cars (and some pedestrians) are hit by trains al lthe time.  Shouldn't we therefore ban trains since they are not using their powerful brakes to stop and avoid hitting cars on the tracks, even if the car is there due to the stupidity of the driver?  Are those drivers unknowingly putting their lives at risk by crossing a railroad track?

It was irrelevant only in your own mind. If you choose to ignore it because you don't like it that's on you. Accept reality and find a way to move forward. I suggest lowering all speed limits to 30 mph except freeways.

Let's do that, then.  And for the roads that currently have speed limits greater than 30mph, lets...convert them into freeways!

The bigger question is not so much how many houses are going on the market, but how long do they stay there, and what is the sales price trend.  

 

My ITL neighborhood is experiencing a lot of turnover, but much of it is profit taking.  Since the more prosperous new neighbors tend to be far less neighborly, far more entitled, and down right whiny about things that don't seem to fit their world view that master planned suburbs are the utopian ideal, I've considered doing so as well.

Agree.  Summertime is also a prime time for people to move, since the kids are out of school.

Then you'd probably like Steak and Shake's chili. That's pretty much all it was - beans. When I went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a few years back, my cousin, who lives in Cincinnati but grew up here, warned me about the chili when we stopped at one. If there was meat in that chili, I never found it. But there was a whole field's worth of beans in there. So much so they had no room for any kind of spices whatsoever.

 

FWIW, I do remember seeing Steak and Shake has opened up at least one restaurant in the Greater Houston area. The hamburgers are decent enough.

 

I ate at one in Pearland about 6 months ago.  Think I've seen them elsewhere as well.

And if pedestrians are crossing, that doesn't give you the right to kill them.

 

That statement is laughable.  Do you think drivers are out to kill pedestrians?

You've watched this movie a few too many times...

If there aren't marked crosswalks what are you supposed to do? Even if you are jaywalking cars shouldn't be going at such speeds that they would mow you down.

If you want to cross the road and there are no signals to the drivers that you might cross the road then you do so at your own peril.  It's really not that hard.  Remember "look both ways before you cross"?

Italian cypress planted closely together is another possibility.  We planted 5 close together to screen a side patio from the neighbors yard.  It's not a 100% view block but it's pretty good.  The do need full sun to grow the fastest, though.

Yes, chili is bastardized outside of Texas. I am mostly a purist, I like beans, but anything with corn in it is already too far away.

The Feb/2011 issue of Bon Appetit, "The United States of Chili" opens with a horrifying greenish mixtures with potatoes and pork with a dark purplish blob on top of it. I was revolted by what those heathens in say, Ohio, considered "chili".

My grandmother from west Texas used to be adamant that beans don't belong on chili.  My other grandmother, from Wisconsin, liked to make chili-mac...something I still can't bring myself to eat.  Surprisingly, they got along pretty well.  I guess they just never talked chili.  Personally, I like beans in my chili, I just don't tell my west Texas grandma.  But, I draw the line at macaroni.  Macaroni just doesn't belong anywhere near a bowl of chili.

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen.  I'm hooked on wheat beers in general, but this is my favorite.

Hostess chocolate pudding pies.  For some reason they can be hard to find here sometimes.  I've tried competing brands and none taste quite as good.  Could be a childhood memory thing.

Ghiradelli.  Ghiradelli hot chocolate saved my life one cold, dreary day in SF.

Texas pecan flavored coffee.  Usually get Lola Savannah from HEB or Katz's.

As a unapologetic train fan i truly hope this gets the green light. Now if we could create, as others have said, the 'Texas Triangle' route connecting Austin and San Antonio in future expansions I'd be on cloud nine of train nerd heaven!

I hope you are right, but what would really get my train nerd on would be to see a UP Big Boy going down the rails...

Buying a 1911 didn't make the list?

One can blame it on a welding accident, but the fire should have been contained and should not have burned down the entire complex. Fire walls would have confined the blaze to one section, preserving the rest so that it didn't become a gigantic A&M Homecoming Bonfire.

Are you implying that Aggie engineers are involved somehow? 

Huh, I always thought those were called K-rails.

They're also called that.

From the wikipedia article...

 

A Jersey barrier is also known in the western United States as K-rail, a term borrowed from the California Department of Transportation specification for temporary concrete traffic barriers

I look forward to that report. Mainly because there is something that I suspect will go on, but I'd be curious to see if that is actually the case. What I suspect is that it will be little more than a Christian-bashing festival. Seems to me that would be pretty much the only reason for atheists to gather. But, I do stand to be corrected and it will be interesting to see if your report does so.

Maybe they'll also discuss atheist activism?  Keeping God out of the schools, textbooks and such?

Personally, I'm holding out for a revival of the Dionysian Mysteries.  I guess meeting at a lounge might be a good start on that.

I suppose JLB could rename them the Axum Apartments. The Ethiopian community might appreciate it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axum

 

Or they could sell the naming rights to Unilever and call it the Axe Apartments...   

I would like an example of a nice area under a freeway bridge anywhere.

How about the Galata Bridge in Istanbul?  I thought you said elsewhere you've been to Istanbul...

If he starts to run, he has to resign as Sheriff, which means the County Commissioners will appoint a Republican replacement. That's widely seen as a bad thing. Although, I ahve no clue as to why that should be a partisan race, given that the duties of the office don't really change with the party of the holder. Is there a Republican or Democrat way to run a jail? Is there a Republican or Democrat way to patrol unincorporated areas of the County?

If you follow the political pundits then the Republican way to run a jail is to out-source it and the Democrat way is to turn it over to the inmates.  The Republican way to patrol is with humvee's and 50 cal's and the Democrat way is to hug the criminals instead of arresting them. 

Making that appointment (or any), or voting, on the basis of party affiliation rather than competency is a big part of the problems we perennially have with government officials.