A black day in Texas

[amigocabal]

Texas has some good things: Austin, at least, is a pretty progressive city. And Texas has some great Universities, Texas A&M being the most notable. At least, Texas has a lot more going for it than other shitty right-wing states like Kansas.

And much more so than California.

According to a Manhattan Institute study, "The Great California Exodus: A Closer Look," by Thomas Gray and Robert Scardamalia (October 2012), roughly 225,000 residents leave California each year -- and have done so for the past 10 years. They take their money with them. Using census and Internal Revenue Service data, Gray and Scardamalia estimate that California's out-migration results in large shares of income going to other states, mostly to Nevada ($5.67 billion), Arizona ($4.96 billion), Texas ($4.07 billion) and Oregon ($3.85 billion).

[TheFeniX]

Texas has the biggest city in the country with an openly gay mayor(Houston).
Take that Left Coast(tm).

Houston is probably what will keep me in Texas the rest of my life. Sure, it's ugly, smoggy, and the people drive like maniacs. But there's actually very little "Texas crazy" coming out of it when compared to the rest of the state, Austin aside. But Austin sucks, so it doesn't count.

[Lonestar]

Man Houston is a malarial swamp. DC wishes it could be as swamp-ass as Houston is.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Texas has the biggest city in the country with an openly gay mayor(Houston).
Take that Left Coast(tm).

Houston is probably what will keep me in Texas the rest of my life. Sure, it's ugly, smoggy, and the people drive like maniacs. But there's actually very little "Texas crazy" coming out of it when compared to the rest of the state, Austin aside. But Austin sucks, so it doesn't count.

Why does Austin suck? No no no. DFW sucks (I live in Arlington). Austin actually has culture, gays, a MASSIVE university environ, and there is never any lack for things to do.

Houston on the other hand... Houston is one of the biggest hubs for the sex-slave trade in the US.

flag waving
pretending to be special
being a pseudo tough guy like don't mess with texas
executing more black people than any other state

kinda qualifies at least for being dicks

Taking pride in executing more black people than the rest of the country combined.
Executing innocent black people
Blocking probes into the execution of innocent black people.

So executions of white people do not bother you?

No idiot. I am categorically against the death penalty for anything but crimes against humanity and what I will call "high crimes against society itself" such as official corruption that poisons the water supplies of an entire state etc. A life for a life? Insufficient to outweigh the moral hazard. Several thousand? Yeah. Kill them, provided due process is procedurally and substantively adequate.

Texas however does its level best to execute not just more people, but more poor under-represented and often over-charged minorities than any other state--and up-prioritize evidence that is particularly suspect. The state government blocked a probe into its use of mythic "fire science" that lead to the execution of a man for murdering his children--when the fire was electrical. There was a thing a while back (read it in the local dead-tree paper) where a group of Dallas cops earned their wings, so to speak, by beating up black people.

It was a jab at both the profligate use of the death penalty on evidence everyone knows is shaky, AND the casual racism in the state.

Not to pick at nits, but why do y'all have a problem with an anti-littering campaign? Did you know "Don't mess with Texas" is credited with reducing the litter on Texas highways roughly 72% in its first 4 years?

Sorry. Usage has changed. It is now a statement of state-bravado.

[TheFeniX]

Why does Austin suck? No no no. DFW sucks (I live in Arlington). Austin actually has culture, gays, a MASSIVE university environ, and there is never any lack for things to do.

I've never been to DFW, only as close as Frankston. That said, fuck Austin. The only "pro" you gave for Austin that didn't make me roll my eyes was "gays." Houston also has a thriving gay community. It also has a whole lot of people who actually work for a living. Whereas College Station might be filled with hill-billy-ass rednecks, at least you can talk to any given person and not be met with an overwhelming deluge of "Smug" from self-absorbed man-children. I'd take their university environ over UT any day because Austin is the only place I've been talked down to for not smoking pot. It's too bad my IQ is to high to go to A&M (and my THC concentration not high enough for UT).

Houston on the other hand... Houston is one of the biggest hubs for the sex-slave trade in the US.

Wait, the 4th most populated city in the US and a massive travel hub has issues with crime? No fucking way.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I've never been to DFW, only as close as Frankston. That said, fuck Austin.

In fairness, I restrict my company, because Hipsters are one of the many scourges of humanity. Thus, my time in Austin is spent with people who dont suck (like our very own Anguirus, or a friend of mine from undergrad who just finished her JD) often doing nerdy things like dive in Barton Springs looking for (but not harassing) cave salamanders, or wading through a stream looking for PIT tagged watersnakes. The university environ for me reminds me of home. It is similar to ASU, which once you get past the hipsters, one can enjoy the art galleries and natural history collections, and open bohemian feel that is completely different from the stark architecture, incompetent urban planning (my god, I hate poor urban planning. It is a pet peeve. Austin is not awesome like Phoenix, but christ it is at least navigable), republican infested hell that is DFW. The only saving grace of the metroplex is the existence of the zoos and classical music scene--if you can get to either set without wanting to resurrect the roman legions to modernize the road networks.

I also am obligated to enjoy a city that the state legislature decided to jerrymander into pizza slices.

Wait, the 4th most populated city in the US and a massive travel hub has issues with crime? No fucking way.

There is "crime" and then there is "hub for sexual slavery". The amount of sexual slavery there is not proportionate to population. 1 in 5 victims of human trafficking victims (mostly sex slaves) pass through or live in that fucking cesspit. It is not really the city's fault (other than law enforcement not being able to do much, but that is a common thing), rather it is due to a number of other factors (location location location). On the other hand, my response to slavery is a distinct desire to cleanse it from the earth with fire.

That, and my experience with the streets is "labyrinthine morass", of course, that is one of the reasons I hate Dallas with the burning of a thousand suns.

[gizmojumpjet]

flag waving
pretending to be special
being a pseudo tough guy like don't mess with texas
executing more black people than any other state

kinda qualifies at least for being dicks

Taking pride in executing more black people than the rest of the country combined.
Executing innocent black people
Blocking probes into the execution of innocent black people.
"Fast lane" for executing black people based on the most unreliable evidence imaginable.
"Dont Mess With Texas"
"Everything is bigger in texas" (with the obvious implications), including teen pregnancy rates, divorce rates, STI infection rates, and illiteracy rate (currently hovering around 20%)
"remember the alamo" (forgetting, or pointedly not forgetting, why that happened in the first place and DEFINITELY forgetting why texan settlers were in the wrong both morally and legally)
state-sponsored prayer for rain--to which god responds with gigantic fires.
state-sponsored prayer rallies-- which blame gays for the holocaust.
Being in a race with AZ to be the most regressive state in the union.

I can go on...

Two people answer a question that was directed at a third, who hasn't answered. Thanks all around, cunts.

[TheFeniX]

In fairness, I restrict my company, because Hipsters are one of the many scourges of humanity. Thus, my time in Austin is spent with people who dont suck

There's not really a rational basis for my distaste of Austin. Merely saying the name makes me physically want to roll my eyes.

There is "crime" and then there is "hub for sexual slavery".

I can't hate a city for trying to clean up crime. You probably have the same irrational distaste for Houston that I do for Austin. But California has these same problems with trafficking

The state’s extensive international border, its major harbors and airports, its powerful economy and accelerating population, its large immigrant population and its industries make it a prime target for traffickers.

Sound familiar? I don't know the stats, but LA is pretty high on the trafficking list. I'll bail out of Houston the first time someone asks me "You don't use underage prostitutes?" Until then, I'd rather support the numerous groups trying to fix the problem.

I could hate Houston for all it's Sophisticant wannabe bars (like the Skybar) where people look down on you for wearing a nice pair of Levi's and a button up shirt. But I'd rather applaud Houston for caging them all up in small locations, because that's not my average encounter there. I'm glad you found a way to avoid these people in Austin, because I sure as fuck couldn't. Man, Austin's "Dive Bars" are even filled to the brim with these idiots.