Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats
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Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to US.
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, I'm not in Houston, DFW, Austin or San Antonio so I'm as close as makes no difference, but that's part of my point, and the point Terrik was making, too... civilization does not end outside NY or LA, the country is dotted with small-to-medium cities where you can get all the night life and Thai/Mongolian fusion cuisine you desire and yet not have to fight off rats with a hacksaw to eat it in peace. They'll even sell you a large coke with it.I'm not afraid of cars, I'm annoyed by the huge waste of time. And "pizza, Mexican and Chinese" doesn't count as a wide variety of delivery food, mateAnd you're not in the Middle of Nowhere, really.
As for cars, they're part of the American culture, even moreso than guns. With apologies to Ash, here it really doesn't feel like you're an independent adult unless you have a car. The road is our calling, and a half hour on a 70mph highway is an easy commute to work.
GasBandit
Staff member
It's mostly Czech-German with Mexican seasoning. Culture doesn't have to smell like mahogany and 19th century paperCulture. Aggieland. Culture. Aggieland.
Nope, not seeing it.
This is very much a generational disconnect. Most millenials would rather forego cars and just be able to get where ever they wanted to go via bus or foot. It's part of being a generation raised in the suburbs, away from from fun things to do: they know the value of being able to get places without investing several thousand into a machine that basically eats money.
I don't think that's what the smell is.It's mostly Czech-German with Mexican seasoning. Culture doesn't have to smell like mahogany and 19th century paper
I'll be honest, I sure didn't miss having a car when I was in China, that's for sure.
GasBandit
Staff member
If that's true, I would blame Cash for Clunkers. Used to be you could get a perfectly good used car for $500 - good enough for a high school/college student to get around in anyway. Then Obama had us ruin 700,000 perfectly adequate engines.
I'd consider half an hour an easy commute too, but our situation's just too different. Belgium's got the densest network of highways/freeways/etc in the world, I live right in the heart of the biggest node, and there's not a single piece of highway where I could possibly hit 70 mph during commuting hours. I've driven through NYC and DC rush hour and they're a joke
I think it's a personality thing. I don't crave the ability to get the exact type of social interaction or entertainment that I want when I want it regardless of time. I'm not much into that scene. I have friends, though, who are sad to live here and decry the fact that they can't leave the house at 2am and go out for a specific type of food and see a specific type of show on a whim.
If I want that, I have to drive 48 minutes to Detroit. For a smaller range of things I can go 23 minutes to Ann Arbor, essentially a very large university town. My own town has a small range of food delivery and takeout (chinese, pizza, etc) but if I want thai, japanese, or (now, since the local place closed) german I have to go 23 minutes and find parking in Ann Arbor. If I need authentic columbian or russian food, I've gotta go to Detroit, almost an hour away. There's an active theater community in Ann Arbor, but if I want broadway I have to go to Detroit, or Toronto or Chicago for "regular" showings (4-5 hours each).
That would seem incredibly limiting to some people, but I don't see it as a problem.
Personally I'd rather do more creating than connecting though people from both places do plenty of consuming, and you can certainly connect out here, and create in there.
I tend to think that on the surface it has something to do with introversion vs extroversion, but I know plenty of both types that live in both places that aren't necessarily out of place.
There's a strong demarcation between political affiliation and city/rural affiliation, though. Those who live in the city see problems as something the city or government should do something about - and when you're living rear to ear in tight knit communities that sort of thinking is fundamentally how you get along with your neighbors - appeal to a higher authority and make a rule you both have to live by. Those who live in the rural areas know that the police are 20 minutes away, the ambulance and firefighters are 10 minutes away, and when you have a problem you don't trek down to the city or county and ask them to fix it, you figure it out yourself.
It's a fundamental difference in approaching problems, and it's easy to be confused by the problem solving method and see it as something it's not. Democrats aren't really asking for a nanny state - but many of them don't understand that you can solve problems without implementing another expensive government program. Republicans aren't really blaming the victim - but many of them don't understand that circumstances could possible prevent a person from obtaining help under their own will and power.
If I want that, I have to drive 48 minutes to Detroit. For a smaller range of things I can go 23 minutes to Ann Arbor, essentially a very large university town. My own town has a small range of food delivery and takeout (chinese, pizza, etc) but if I want thai, japanese, or (now, since the local place closed) german I have to go 23 minutes and find parking in Ann Arbor. If I need authentic columbian or russian food, I've gotta go to Detroit, almost an hour away. There's an active theater community in Ann Arbor, but if I want broadway I have to go to Detroit, or Toronto or Chicago for "regular" showings (4-5 hours each).
That would seem incredibly limiting to some people, but I don't see it as a problem.
Personally I'd rather do more creating than connecting though people from both places do plenty of consuming, and you can certainly connect out here, and create in there.
I tend to think that on the surface it has something to do with introversion vs extroversion, but I know plenty of both types that live in both places that aren't necessarily out of place.
There's a strong demarcation between political affiliation and city/rural affiliation, though. Those who live in the city see problems as something the city or government should do something about - and when you're living rear to ear in tight knit communities that sort of thinking is fundamentally how you get along with your neighbors - appeal to a higher authority and make a rule you both have to live by. Those who live in the rural areas know that the police are 20 minutes away, the ambulance and firefighters are 10 minutes away, and when you have a problem you don't trek down to the city or county and ask them to fix it, you figure it out yourself.
It's a fundamental difference in approaching problems, and it's easy to be confused by the problem solving method and see it as something it's not. Democrats aren't really asking for a nanny state - but many of them don't understand that you can solve problems without implementing another expensive government program. Republicans aren't really blaming the victim - but many of them don't understand that circumstances could possible prevent a person from obtaining help under their own will and power.
City life has it's pros and cons, just like living in the country. Different strokes for different folks. Why would I want to live in NYC if I had the means? Because it's literally the financial and international hub for the Eastern US. The diversity and culture is remarkable. For a person that's into hustle and bustle, there's no better option than living downtown. On the downside, yes, it's dirty and noisy, and no one gives a rat's ass about each other. On the flip-side, country life is boring and tedious, but you know your neighbors, you feel safe, land is cheap, and your kids have a great opportunity to explore.
Personally, when I was younger, I loved living in the city (NYC and Philly), and as I got older and settled down, my priorities shifted and now I like my 1 acre, suburbia plot. That said, I don't mince words when people try to tell me how "cultured" mid-PA has gotten. No. It's still redneck/bumfuckville, USA. Just now we have a Buffalo Wild Wings when the only restaurant in town was an Olive Garden. I know people that consider take out Chinese to be "foreign food".
What I liked living about growing up in NYC was that it tempers you to life. You learn a specific set of street smarts and perspective that people growing up in flyover country just don't develop, and fail miserably outside their little comfortable cornfield bubble. I do just fine in the country, but my wife (who grow up there) would get eaten alive in a big city. So, it's insulting when idiots like Ted Cruz state that NYC values are corrupt and inferior. On the contrary, people in more urban areas tend to have a better global perspective than most.
GasBandit
Staff member
What date range did you live in NYC, out of curiosity?
Shit-hole late 80's era, and later in early 2000's golden utopia of gentrification. Then Philly, but Philly's always a shit-hole. But, I'll be damned if I find a place with better beer pubs and variety of authentic food than Philly.
*I mean, are you asking because you have a preconceived notion of when NYC was good to live in and want to apply it to my experience? I have family and friends in and around Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn and frequent there multiple times a year too.
*I mean, are you asking because you have a preconceived notion of when NYC was good to live in and want to apply it to my experience? I have family and friends in and around Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn and frequent there multiple times a year too.
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I wonder if this is the year that the definition of Natural Born Citizen will start heading towards the Supreme Court. Probably not, since polls *still* seem to favor Trump [emoji33] [emoji33] [emoji33] [emoji33] but it's getting to the point where it is almost guaranteed to become an issue soon.
http://harvardlawreview.org/2015/03/on-the-meaning-of-natural-born-citizen/
I have to admit, it would be funny if Cruz won the primary and a democrat birther movement started.
I have to admit, it would be funny if Cruz won the primary and a democrat birther movement started.
Natural born citizen debates are pretty old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_A._Arthur#Birth_and_family
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_A._Arthur#Birth_and_family
The fact that people still debate it, and that there has never been an "official" statement one way or the other are why I expect it to happen at some point soon. The debates are old, and an official statement/decision/clarification would not be amiss with the way the world is interconnected.
(As a note, I agree that being born to a citizen counts, as long as your parents actually "claimed" your citizenship at birth, if that makes sense)
(As a note, I agree that being born to a citizen counts, as long as your parents actually "claimed" your citizenship at birth, if that makes sense)
I'm sure the Chinese will have something to say about this; they've been flying to Hawaii and the East Coast to give birth to their kids for decades, both to give their kids an advantage with their dual citizenship and as an escape hatch if things go to shit in China and another revolution starts.
....East coast? Now, my geography isn't all that fantastic, but....
East (of China) coast, of course.
I don't think I've met any chinese worried about some new revolution. The reason is as already as you stated--advantages for kids. A lot easier to get into State universities when you're already a citizen.
A friend of mine who was bored while working at Google once decided to plot housing prices in New York with the announcement of ethic investigations, criminal arrests, and similar involving government officials in both mainland China and Taiwan (has family in both who helped him identify things), and he found the correlation between the rise of housing prices and events that might prompt the suspiciously well-heeled members of both countries' bureaucracies to shift wealth beyond their national borders was actually very strong.
While NYC is on the East Coast, it's very socially-connected to certain Chinese/Taiwanese immigration patterns of the last 100 years, and since there is so much housing in absolute unit# terms, it's a good place to sink your assets if you're a foreign oligarch and want to hide a few things. Taxes are high, but owning high-end luxury housing here means huge rental revenue above and beyond the cost of the property, and NYC is one of those global housing markets that almost never loses value relative to the rest of the world.
While NYC is on the East Coast, it's very socially-connected to certain Chinese/Taiwanese immigration patterns of the last 100 years, and since there is so much housing in absolute unit# terms, it's a good place to sink your assets if you're a foreign oligarch and want to hide a few things. Taxes are high, but owning high-end luxury housing here means huge rental revenue above and beyond the cost of the property, and NYC is one of those global housing markets that almost never loses value relative to the rest of the world.
Whoops. Yeah, West coast. My bad.
Sure, and the obvious choice to relocate. China's nothing like Mexico (despite what some people think) but there are still reasons to relocate to the US. I know more than one Japanese family that loved Marysville, Ohio enough to make permanent roots after a parent worked at the Honda plants for years.
Doesn't Cruz's birthplace negate Trump's argument for Obama? Obama's mother was a US born citizen.
And now for the most horrifying thing I have seen today.
GasBandit
Staff member
It does kind of remind me of something. No, not that, something more recent.
I assume Obama supporters were equally as outraged.
GasBandit
Staff member
Guy robs KFC with a handgun.
Policeman confronts robber.
Robber points handgun at police.
Policeman tells him to drop the gun.
Robber does not.
Policeman fires twice, killing the robber.
And because it's St. Louis, of course there's immediately a protest.
Though it sounds like it dispersed in short order, at least. Because come on, you guys, really?
Policeman confronts robber.
Robber points handgun at police.
Policeman tells him to drop the gun.
Robber does not.
Policeman fires twice, killing the robber.
And because it's St. Louis, of course there's immediately a protest.
Though it sounds like it dispersed in short order, at least. Because come on, you guys, really?
GasBandit
Staff member
The whine thread's trip down memory lane, BBS style, got me thinking about what I used to do on those BBSes. One of the things I did was play USURPER.
I wonder what the delicate flowers of video game journalism would make of a game that came out today with that kind of tagline. I'd put one of my paychecks up against anyone else's that the phrase "toxic masculinity" would be involved.
I wonder what the delicate flowers of video game journalism would make of a game that came out today with that kind of tagline. I'd put one of my paychecks up against anyone else's that the phrase "toxic masculinity" would be involved.