A couple weeks ago here in TX we voted on 17 state constitutional amendments. I want to say 12-13 of those were some form of tax cut for the wealthy. I voted against all of them but they all passed. And they passed big, like 60-70% to 40-30%.

The wording they used to describe the amendments was very much skewed to make them sound wonderful. No negatives, only positives. For instance, something like this may have had the wording “more money for schools”.

On its face it seems like a good idea - fewer taxes for me, more money for schools - what could go wrong? I assume most folks just looked at it said “ok” without much additional thought.

It’s very frustrating to basically have the large majority of voters approve this, giving the state government reassurance that they can do whatever they want, when it’s an obvious lie.

Nothing they do is to help the “regular” people of Texas. It’s all tax breaks for businesses and the super wealthy and Christian Nationalism disguised as “parental choice”.

It’s absolutely disgusting.

From the standpoint of water, it is wet. At least that’s what Trump says.

I’m not familiar enough with it with respect to images I guess, so I didn’t know. But thanks for the tip, I’ll start playing around with it :)

Can someone with talent remake this gif by replacing the word “flames” with “leopards”?

Original link: https://media0.giphy.com/media/xQz492gZVUoms/giphy.gif

Could the mythological good guy with a gun be real?

Yeah, totally makes sense. I wouldn’t want to revisit it either. :(

Oh yeah there’s a doc on Netflix about that showing all the police bodycam footage. It was a good doc but so sad :(

That’s the 12 days: Dec 25 - Jan 6.

Jan 6 is All King’s Day, when the 3 Kings visited Jesus…aka Epiphany…aka the first day of Mardi Gras season.

I’m not religious, I’m just from a culture where Mardi Gras is very important. And imo, we should all celebrate a day for no other reason than to eat, drink, and be merry :)

Edit: Holy shit, just realized I’m replying to the wrong comment lol

Actually it’s fine. This was me until I finally met the person who I decided I felt comfortable being intimate with.

I was raised religious but by that time I wasn’t, but that shame and guilt are still legit.

Anyway, it’s been decades since and we’re still together. I have no regrets.

You literally orchestrated an insurrection because of your “reluctance to relinquish power”.

My first Covid vaccines did this, but I have contact dermatitis and my skin reacts to almost anything, including winter sweaters.

I’m not a doctor and not giving medical advice, but for me this is not necessarily uncommon. That doesn’t mean the same for you, obviously.

I wish we could use a “regular” app like Waze and start reporting “icy weather” as code for ICE. I mean we can, but idk how to make it a thing. Kinda how they were using “winter boots” as code on TikTok for ICE to get around the censors.

fwiw when we got a puppy, the vet instructed us to do just this with our cat who had already been with us for a few years. Worked like a charm.

Good point.

climate.nasa.gov still works, for now.

Don’t threaten me with a good time.

It was a mini-series based on a novel by Ken Follett, but ‘The Pillars of the Earth’. It starred Eddie Redmayne.

Movie - Episode IV/A New Hope (if I had to pick a 2nd/3rd, in no order: Episode 3 and Rogue One)

Show - Andor

Novel - oooh this is tough! The Rogue One prequel ‘Catalyst’ was fantastic, as was the Rogie One novel. ‘Lost Stars’ was another good one set in the OT timeline. There’s also Rebel Rising, about Jyn Erso’s time with Saw Guerra, and Leia: Princess of Alderaan about teenage Leia a few years before ANH showing how she gets involved with the Rebellion. And of course the OG Zahn Trilogy plus the new ones that have come out.

I did read Alphabet Squadron and thought they were good.

Game: Old school Rebellion (PC), the Jedi Knight series, of course KOTOR, Galaxies MMORPG, Galactic Battlegrounds, and I’m getting into Battlefront 2 again. I’m about to start Outlaws so we’ll see how that goes. Oh and Jedi Fallen Order, but I haven’t played Survivor yet.

Star Wars and history - in particular how Lucas had aspects of Nazi Germany and the Vietnam War because he was an anthropology student and knew that empires most often fell from within.

So yeah I’m still on a big Andor high right now, waiting for some novels and other books to drop after that.

Other books I can recommend:

Star Wars and History

The History and Politics of Star Wars - Death Stars and Democracy (the author is a World War I historian)

Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy

Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy

Glad I got the latest Covid booster and flu vaccine yesterday. Hope they’ll still be legal next year.