AtticaFlinch

Who's the business owner, and how much faith do you place in his word that the problem is the rail and not his own piss-poor managerial skills?

Which cities? And don't give me a city with a mountain backdrop or one on a breathtaking body of water. Give me something comparable to Houston's topography, like Orlando or Jackson, Mississippi. Which of these cities are more pleasing to the eye and why? Again, don't mention mountains or oceans in your explanation. There's nothing a developer or city planner can do about Houston's geography.

Buy the land, get the investors and get it done. Stop expecting everybody else to do your work for you. Once you get your harsh lesson in the realities of economics we'll all be happy to commiserate with you and your miserable choices to build big, build now and to give no heed to the future.

Giza, Egypt: Tikal, Guatemala (Maya): Teotihuacan: Cahokia (a personal favorite - outside St Louis): China (pyramid of the Terracotta Army): Despite the religious reasoning for building these, these were all really built as extensions of the phallus. But, you know the unifying theme with these in the photos? None of the kingdoms still exist. None. But you can buy tacky tourist crap at every one. More tall buildings serve no purpose beyond bragging rights and as places to sell tacky crap in the future..

Like spending a billion dollars on a park? Or digging up traffic lanes to plant trees? What exactly do you people want the city to do, throw glitter around everywhere? Damn the costs and idea of functionality, let's throw all caution to the wind and build the world's biggest skyscraper built to resemble the International Space Station! (Or whatever else.) Geezus. If that's what you want, then get it done, man. Buy a plot of land Downtown, hire architects to design the building, get the proper permits and then build it. But, if you don't have the sack to venture into that realm of capitalism, then don't be upset if other people don't either.

Have no fear, I'll dust off that little gem when an even less appropriate time presents itself. I don't know if you can accurately say I'm railing against this injustice. Initially I was seeking clarification, and now I'm just having some fun with it. It's a logic exercise for me, a fairly unsustainable one at that, but whatever. I was enjoying it nonetheless. Anyhow, I concede defeat at this point. I think I've taken my position about as far as it can go.

Absolutely. I realize it's a stretch, but it still generates conversation. So I probably shouldn't break out the disco ball next time I see a gaggle of cops?

Pretty gross and utilitarian, I agree. So yeah, you have some weird assumptions about what Houston does and doesn't do and the reasons for it as viewed through your particular aesthetic goggles. Also, I have a bit of a problem (call me a populist) with your assumption that we should tailor that train only to people who shop at the Galleria. People are employed at those many shops, not to mention the area is the city's second largest business district housing tons of office space. Do you think all those people are merely concerned with a handful of shoppers sweating with their shopping bags for six minutes?

I blame kids who walk across old men's lawns. -Or- Social mores evolve over time, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse (according only to those commenting from the bleachers like us). Regardless of your impression of the quality of the evolution, the fact remains the world changes. The ever present video camera coupled with the exceptionally odd desire to achieve 15 seconds of fame on Youtube has stretched the boundaries of etiquette from even my own early adulthood. It doesn't make it worse, and it doesn't make it better, and it doesn't indicate that people are showing less social sense. It just means they're showing a different social sense. A 20-year-old man today grew up in a completely digital world, and this is the world he feels most comfortable with. In this world, he's home and the cop was the interloper. In this world, his actions made perfect sense. In this world, the cop's actions were the oddity. In another 20 years, the whole world will be full of what you now consider senseless social situations, and at that time, cops who act as this one did will be viewed very oddly indeed.* And then, I'll probably be the guy defending his actions as a product of a different time. I do so enjoy playing Devil's advocate. *Assuming we haven't moved totally into a violent police state and completely stripped of our rights by then.

I don't think anyone suggested that. In fact, I'm sure we'd all agree with you.

Well... it's not socially accepted, but illegal? Somehow I doubt that. But is he interfering or just being pesky? A fly at the dinner table doesn't prohibit you from eating. I agree. That's not what I was saying. Are you sure about that. I know the what-if game is fairly useless at times, but what if there's no police tape surrounding an active crime scene, and all the cops are off on a donut break and some random pedestrian walks through it. Is that pedestrian breaking a law? Wouldn't the tape be absolutely necessary? Plus, I bet that tape does less to keep away the looky-loos and actually acts more as a magnet. There's just something about carnage that attracts everyone's eyes. If that happened, I would definitely expect the cop to do something. That wouldn't be interfering with his job. That would be his job. Blood soaked arms should attract more of the cop's attention than his PI citation quota. Now that sounds illegal.

I know you're right with a crime scene. That's why they cordon those off with that yellow tape. I don't think the same applies to a scene where a cop is arresting somebody though. It's stupid for the guy to do have done what he did, just as it would have been stupid for him to dip his arm in antelope blood and wave it around two feet from a lion's face. But, isn't that still legal?

Oishii is a great place. You're not in the least bit crazy for liking it. It's probably the most authentically Japanese sushi bar in the entire city. The rest try too hard to be upscale or artsy-fartsy and their ridiculous prices reflect that.

The city of Juneau, Alaska covers over 3,000 square miles to support a population of around 30,000 people. The city limits include sheer mountains and glacier fields where it may be possible for only a house or two to stand for several miles in any direction. If no crime occurs in those houses, is it then reasonable to say Juneau contains the 100 percent safest neighborhood in the US? You know, besides the crippling meth problems and rampant pedophilia plaguing the rest of the residents in the city, the ones who actually live in or near the city core?

Anybody know if any high school football stadiums, basketball arenas or waterpolo natatoriums are named after a corporate sponser? Betting on the name of a gaming venue to predict bad stocks may be a better retirement plan than my current plan of hitting the lottery. BTW, does the Shell Houston Open count against Royal Dutch's chances of eluding future scandals, or is it because they sponsor the event and not the specific golf course they'll be just dandy?

Does he not? Isn't he perfectly within his rights doing that very thing? I understand cops are granted a certain latitude in enforcement due to the stresses of their jobs, and I also understand it's imprudent to crowd a cop with a camera, but is that action still not legal? Was the PI a trumped up charge falsely concocted by the cop to deal with the meddling kid? It wouldn't be the first time a cop made crap up. Those old school beat-em-up cops need to be wary these days. Cameras are everywhere, and if they're concerned about being caught doing illegal or unethical crap, they better not do it. That's a hell of a lot less difficult than trying to stop the cameras from rolling.

No, that's next door. That's the lot I was referring to when I wrote this previously:

Ain't that the truth. I'm a mere 32 and already on my third career - not third job, third career.

Is this new? I wonder why they chose that plot of land. Wait. This can't be new. There's an incomplete development right next door that appears to have been abandoned, and the apartment complex on the site of this development has been aggressively trying to attract new residents with promises of a month or two of free rent. Those aren't the actions of a complex that's planning on shutting their doors to make way for the bulldozers, plus I would imagine the undeveloped land next door would be less expensive to acquire.

I guess the word "in" is now relative. Edit: Also, anyone think it's a bit scary that in the safest neighborhood in Detroit, you have a 1 in 57 chance of being a crime victim each year? The worst neighborhood must be even money.

Pulled pork?.. In Texas?! Blasphemy!!

Well... I don't know how scandalous this Toyota thing really is. What you have is a Japanese car company that's acting no differently than an American company, and it hasn't acted any differently in at least two decades. They reason people are so shocked by this whole thing is simply because they've allowed themselves to be duped into believing the Japanese were more concerned with quality and reliability over profits when in reality they are no different than their American capitalist counterparts. Japan's economy didn't rise to the number two spot in the world by being full of corporations actively practicing responsibility and ethics. The truth hurts and it's made some people realize that in a pure capitalist system, there's no such thing as "the good guys". All that exists are amoral, unsentient machines driven to make money regardless of the human costs.

Musicman, you're full of nawn sekwitters.

This is known as the Barry Horn paradox.

After last year's drought, is there even any water to put your kayak in?