you know there should honestly be a handbook for parenting or at least a test you have to pass..... Venting here of course, but gotta get something off my chest..... We (Jeremy and I) watched Kick Ass tonight and let me tell you it is NOT!!! a kid's movie, but my stepson's mother who needs her head reexamined took him to see it at the movie theater when it came out. He is 5yrs old btw and she also took the baby, why you ask cause she wanted to see it so why should she allow completely messing up her kids psyche to stop her... Why not get a babysitter you ask? Well in her words "this makes me the coolest mom ever!!"......
He has seen Kick Ass in the movie theater(I don't even wanna try to list all the not kid friendly movies), Gremlins at his Grandma's, watches Bones w/mom every week... He plays COD, Modern Warfare etc with his step-dad and they don't censor anything he watch or plays. I just worry about what it does to his psyche at 5yrs old to watch and play this kind of violent shit you know?
What I want to know is now that dad has seen the movie is he going to say anything to her about it? Well noooooo cause as he says "I bet he forgot it five minutes later"..... Is he really serious? Seriously imo that makes him as ignorant as her..... Sad really that I could not enjoy what a Kick Ass movie that was because the whole time I worried about that poor kid I love so very much!
Showing posts with label Idiots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Idiots. Show all posts
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Stop babysitting neighbors' kids!
My Two Cents: I find this to be COMPLETELY ridiculous!! Seriously I understand why they put that law into effect, but they need to change it now so that it does not effect neighbors trying to help each other!
"Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood's children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.
"Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood's children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.
Regulators who oversee child care, however, don't see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she'd be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.
"I was freaked out. I was blown away," she said. "I got on the phone immediately, called my husband, then I called all the girls" — that is, the mothers whose kids she watches — "every one of them."
Snyder's predicament has led to a debate in Michigan about whether a law that says no one may care for unrelated children in their home for more than four weeks each calendar year unless they are licensed day-care providers needs to be changed. It also has irked parents who say they depend on such friendly offers to help them balance work and family.
On Tuesday, agency Director Ismael Ahmed said good neighbors should be allowed to help each other ensure their children are safe. Gov. Jennifer Granholm instructed Ahmed to work with the state Legislature to change the law, he said.
"Being a good neighbor means helping your neighbors who are in need," Ahmed said in a written statement. "This could be as simple as providing a cup of sugar, monitoring their house while they're on vacation or making sure their children are safe while they wait for the school bus."
Snyder learned that the agency was responding to a neighbor's complaint.
Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the agency was following standard procedure in its response. "But we feel this (law) really gets in the way of common sense," Boyd said.
"We want to protect kids, but the law needs to be reasonable," she said. "When the governor learned of this, she acted quickly and called the director personally to ask him to intervene."
Here is the full story
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Swine Flu and no shaking hands!
Today at Cameron's graduation ceremony from the 6th grade, the Principal was telling us how the whole presentation would go and she let us know that she would not be shaking hands with each child as she gave them their awards because of the Swine Flu. That they have been asked by the district not to shake hands because if she does shake hands with every child by the time she gets to the last kid they will have shaken hands with everyone therefore spreading lots of germs.How do YOU feel about this? Are YOU worried about the Swine Flu?
I personally think this is crap and that we have lived this long why are we so overly concerned with germs. I mean I do understand the need to be clean and all, but I think this pushes the envelope. After all if we try to shelter ourselves from all germs we will never build up an immunity to those that can really harm us imo.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Austin, Tx Roadway Rant!
This was written by my little brother, who is currently 19 yrs old. He has always shown an affinity for transportation issues! ;)
Lately, I've been obsessing over the future of transportation in Austin. Consider this: At present the city has, by all accounts, the worst traffic in the world per capita - and the population is booming. The 2007 census estimate for the city limit is 743,074, the 2000 census pegged the urban area at 901,920 (they don't do yearly estimates for this stat. It has probably grown to about 1.2 million since 2000), and the 2008 estimate for the metropolitan area is 1,652,602! If the current rate of growth is sustained, by the year 2015 the urban area alone will have surpassed 1.5 million, with an additional half million within the metropolitan area (the large discrepancy is due to the two satellite cities, San Marcos and Georgetown) - a total of around 2 million. By 2020 the population is speculated to have boomed to 3 million - all of it substantially urbanized! Larger that current San Antonio, and larger than projected 2020 San Antonio.
TxDot has already tried easing the congestion on 35 by creating a bypass route to the east: State Highway 130. It ties in the the interstate system just north of Georgetown, but the current southern terminus empties onto desolate US 183 with future plans for it to extend to Interstate 10 in Seguin. This route is also connected in two different places to 35 by SH 45: Round Rock and southern Austin. The problem with this is that it's fucking tolled. Nobody is going to be taking this route when they can just as easily get free access to San Antonio through 35 (which is becoming increasingly congested - I know this because I drive it every weekend).
In the past there have been many proposed freeways that had the potential to relieve a lot of the traffic Austin sees today. 2222 was proposed as a toll road twice before, the first plan in the late sixties the first plan in the late sixties called for a tolled road which spanned from 35 to Lamar. After being canceled in the early seventies, it was proposed a second time as part of a much more ambitious plan. The second option called for a freeway from 35 which had a western terminus at 620. Both times the freeway was not canceled due to lack of funding, not canceled due to lack of right of way, but canceled due to voter outrage.
The first plan was proposed as part of a series of freeways. The others in this series included Lamar (with which the 2222 freeway would have merged) from downtown extending north until 183, 35th would have been reworked as a small freeway from MoPac to Lamar, Enfield and 15th would have constituted a single freeway traveling east from MoPac until Springfield. There the freeway would turned north aligning to Springfield presumably until 183. The final proposed expressway of the late sixties was an amalgamation of Cesar Chavez and Riverside. From MoPac until Trinity Cesar Chavez would have been constructed as a small freeway from which a bridge would emerge to span the Colorado and connect to a similarly small freeway where Riverside exists today. That freeway would continue east of 35 until Pleasant Valley. Presumably these freeways would have since been lengthened and limitedly expanded. For instance, I can imagine that the Riverside freeway would have easily been commissioned to end with an expansive overpass system at the intersection of 183 and 71. Unfortunately, all of these ideas were scrapped due to voter outrage in the early seventies.
Another idea was 360. This limitedly succeeded. Today there are small sections which are free of stoplights and have high speed limits. Also, a large enough right of way exists for this road to be expanded to a six lane freeway. Although the plans exist, there has been no initiative and there is a lack of funding. Freeway sections could only be accommodated south of 183 and the Pennybacker Bridge would have to be re-lined (it does have the capacity for three lanes in each direction, but only without the shoulders currently present on the exterior margin).
The freeway sections of highways 290 and 71 need to be lengthened on the west side of town in order to cut down on congestion. These would be short expansions of the highway. The combined highway needs to all be revamped as freeway (a paltry 1 mile) and 290 should only extend to Fitzhugh Road (a 5 mile stretch of road). This should take the freeway just past the last remnants of population center which should negate bottlenecking at the western terminus that is presently an issue. The freeway section of 71 should extend to a terminus located somewhere between the intersections with 620 and Hamilton Pool Road. The variation in terminus here would give somewhere between 7 to 8 new miles of freeway in a soon to be developed area of land.
Another current plan allows for the extension of 71 on the eastern side of town. The new terminus would be tolled 130. This plan is relatively easily accomplished. The only traffic intersection currently maintained are Riverside, Thornberry, and the two offshoots of FM 973. With the demolition of the current structures on the north side of the freeway (across from the Airport) - which could all easily be labeled unfit for inhabitation - a westbound access road would easily fit. This construction would also mark a 5 mile increase in freeway length.
Excepting lights at Loyola, 51st Street, Techni Center Drive, Vargas Road, and Thompson Lane, there is only a need to build access roads to erase direct access from side roads to make this a fully functioning freeway the entire length north of Highway 71 - a 7 mile stretch. The need also exists to create a freeway along 290 north past 183 with a terminus at the 130. With only a few lights and a massive right of way, the logistics of this 5 mile length are simple. At the intersection of these two highways would be a need for a full five level interchange. There also exists a need to finish MoPac. Austin needs to extend freeway down the two mile stretch to the terminus at 45. Upon the completion of this, there will also be the need to complete 45 and connect it, WITHOUT toll, to the southeastern section of the same highway which terminates at 35.
Now, for the truly outrageous ideas. There exists a need for two to three new east-west freeways in the Austin area. Austin truly is a mainly north south transport city with few east-west freeways. The only true east-west highway is 290/71 in the south; even 183 is more of a north-south thoroughfare when taken in context with the metro area. Development of the area within the confines of Parmer, 130, and Dessau will require a new freeway connecting the area to MoPac and 35. I propose that Parmer, not just this length, but the entirety of the road (at least until a northern terminus at 1431), be converted into a freeway. Two molds exist for this concept: on the sections outside MoPac and 35 the road should be fully converted into freeway with full access roads and the like (this should be easy as the right of way for Parmer is tremendous in both areas), and the section within the two preexisting freeways be developed similar to the corresponding length of 183. The total cost of such a project would be similar to the total freeway costs of 183, which was around 200 million.
The also exists a need for a short freeway on 2222 between 360 and 620. Residents of lakeside communities currently have to drive on a congested divided signaled highway on the way to work in the morning, creating this new freeway would allow these commuters to travel in on a 2222 freeway which would merge with either southbound or north bound freeway 360 (whichever posed the greater need and expediency - in regard to such commuter travel).
The final major burgeoning area of Austin's metropolitan is Round Rock, but not on the eastern side of the interstate. The developing area is between 183 and 35 just north of 45. Unfortunately, the area is centered around 1431 instead of the toll road. There is ample room for a freeway to be aligned with 1431 from the tolled 183A to 35 with flyovers present at those and Parmer (by then hopefully a freeway).
The need for a east-west freeway is at its highest in downtown Austin where all traffic from MoPac eastward is forced to drive through residential area to get the the central business district. For this I'm at a loss... Cesar Chavez won't work, Barton Spring goes through an environmentally sensitive area, forget extensions of Riverside (though a freeway east of 35 until 71 isn't out of the question - by then the area may need it to relieve congestion on both 183 and 71)...
By 2020 the population will have doubled, but our roads will have only increased (if all these additions - or equivalents - are produced) by around 1.5 percent. Our congestion will be even worse still at that point simply because we would still only have three primary routes: 35, 183, and MoPac.
His blog is here at Fish and Chips!
Lately, I've been obsessing over the future of transportation in Austin. Consider this: At present the city has, by all accounts, the worst traffic in the world per capita - and the population is booming. The 2007 census estimate for the city limit is 743,074, the 2000 census pegged the urban area at 901,920 (they don't do yearly estimates for this stat. It has probably grown to about 1.2 million since 2000), and the 2008 estimate for the metropolitan area is 1,652,602! If the current rate of growth is sustained, by the year 2015 the urban area alone will have surpassed 1.5 million, with an additional half million within the metropolitan area (the large discrepancy is due to the two satellite cities, San Marcos and Georgetown) - a total of around 2 million. By 2020 the population is speculated to have boomed to 3 million - all of it substantially urbanized! Larger that current San Antonio, and larger than projected 2020 San Antonio.
TxDot has already tried easing the congestion on 35 by creating a bypass route to the east: State Highway 130. It ties in the the interstate system just north of Georgetown, but the current southern terminus empties onto desolate US 183 with future plans for it to extend to Interstate 10 in Seguin. This route is also connected in two different places to 35 by SH 45: Round Rock and southern Austin. The problem with this is that it's fucking tolled. Nobody is going to be taking this route when they can just as easily get free access to San Antonio through 35 (which is becoming increasingly congested - I know this because I drive it every weekend).
In the past there have been many proposed freeways that had the potential to relieve a lot of the traffic Austin sees today. 2222 was proposed as a toll road twice before, the first plan in the late sixties the first plan in the late sixties called for a tolled road which spanned from 35 to Lamar. After being canceled in the early seventies, it was proposed a second time as part of a much more ambitious plan. The second option called for a freeway from 35 which had a western terminus at 620. Both times the freeway was not canceled due to lack of funding, not canceled due to lack of right of way, but canceled due to voter outrage.
The first plan was proposed as part of a series of freeways. The others in this series included Lamar (with which the 2222 freeway would have merged) from downtown extending north until 183, 35th would have been reworked as a small freeway from MoPac to Lamar, Enfield and 15th would have constituted a single freeway traveling east from MoPac until Springfield. There the freeway would turned north aligning to Springfield presumably until 183. The final proposed expressway of the late sixties was an amalgamation of Cesar Chavez and Riverside. From MoPac until Trinity Cesar Chavez would have been constructed as a small freeway from which a bridge would emerge to span the Colorado and connect to a similarly small freeway where Riverside exists today. That freeway would continue east of 35 until Pleasant Valley. Presumably these freeways would have since been lengthened and limitedly expanded. For instance, I can imagine that the Riverside freeway would have easily been commissioned to end with an expansive overpass system at the intersection of 183 and 71. Unfortunately, all of these ideas were scrapped due to voter outrage in the early seventies.
Another idea was 360. This limitedly succeeded. Today there are small sections which are free of stoplights and have high speed limits. Also, a large enough right of way exists for this road to be expanded to a six lane freeway. Although the plans exist, there has been no initiative and there is a lack of funding. Freeway sections could only be accommodated south of 183 and the Pennybacker Bridge would have to be re-lined (it does have the capacity for three lanes in each direction, but only without the shoulders currently present on the exterior margin).
The freeway sections of highways 290 and 71 need to be lengthened on the west side of town in order to cut down on congestion. These would be short expansions of the highway. The combined highway needs to all be revamped as freeway (a paltry 1 mile) and 290 should only extend to Fitzhugh Road (a 5 mile stretch of road). This should take the freeway just past the last remnants of population center which should negate bottlenecking at the western terminus that is presently an issue. The freeway section of 71 should extend to a terminus located somewhere between the intersections with 620 and Hamilton Pool Road. The variation in terminus here would give somewhere between 7 to 8 new miles of freeway in a soon to be developed area of land.
Another current plan allows for the extension of 71 on the eastern side of town. The new terminus would be tolled 130. This plan is relatively easily accomplished. The only traffic intersection currently maintained are Riverside, Thornberry, and the two offshoots of FM 973. With the demolition of the current structures on the north side of the freeway (across from the Airport) - which could all easily be labeled unfit for inhabitation - a westbound access road would easily fit. This construction would also mark a 5 mile increase in freeway length.
Excepting lights at Loyola, 51st Street, Techni Center Drive, Vargas Road, and Thompson Lane, there is only a need to build access roads to erase direct access from side roads to make this a fully functioning freeway the entire length north of Highway 71 - a 7 mile stretch. The need also exists to create a freeway along 290 north past 183 with a terminus at the 130. With only a few lights and a massive right of way, the logistics of this 5 mile length are simple. At the intersection of these two highways would be a need for a full five level interchange. There also exists a need to finish MoPac. Austin needs to extend freeway down the two mile stretch to the terminus at 45. Upon the completion of this, there will also be the need to complete 45 and connect it, WITHOUT toll, to the southeastern section of the same highway which terminates at 35.
Now, for the truly outrageous ideas. There exists a need for two to three new east-west freeways in the Austin area. Austin truly is a mainly north south transport city with few east-west freeways. The only true east-west highway is 290/71 in the south; even 183 is more of a north-south thoroughfare when taken in context with the metro area. Development of the area within the confines of Parmer, 130, and Dessau will require a new freeway connecting the area to MoPac and 35. I propose that Parmer, not just this length, but the entirety of the road (at least until a northern terminus at 1431), be converted into a freeway. Two molds exist for this concept: on the sections outside MoPac and 35 the road should be fully converted into freeway with full access roads and the like (this should be easy as the right of way for Parmer is tremendous in both areas), and the section within the two preexisting freeways be developed similar to the corresponding length of 183. The total cost of such a project would be similar to the total freeway costs of 183, which was around 200 million.
The also exists a need for a short freeway on 2222 between 360 and 620. Residents of lakeside communities currently have to drive on a congested divided signaled highway on the way to work in the morning, creating this new freeway would allow these commuters to travel in on a 2222 freeway which would merge with either southbound or north bound freeway 360 (whichever posed the greater need and expediency - in regard to such commuter travel).
The final major burgeoning area of Austin's metropolitan is Round Rock, but not on the eastern side of the interstate. The developing area is between 183 and 35 just north of 45. Unfortunately, the area is centered around 1431 instead of the toll road. There is ample room for a freeway to be aligned with 1431 from the tolled 183A to 35 with flyovers present at those and Parmer (by then hopefully a freeway).
The need for a east-west freeway is at its highest in downtown Austin where all traffic from MoPac eastward is forced to drive through residential area to get the the central business district. For this I'm at a loss... Cesar Chavez won't work, Barton Spring goes through an environmentally sensitive area, forget extensions of Riverside (though a freeway east of 35 until 71 isn't out of the question - by then the area may need it to relieve congestion on both 183 and 71)...
By 2020 the population will have doubled, but our roads will have only increased (if all these additions - or equivalents - are produced) by around 1.5 percent. Our congestion will be even worse still at that point simply because we would still only have three primary routes: 35, 183, and MoPac.
His blog is here at Fish and Chips!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Idiots like this do NOT make me proud to be a Texan!
On Tuesday, State Rep. Betty Brown (R) caused a firestorm during House testimony on voter identification legislation when she said that Asian-Americans should change their names because they’re too hard to pronounce: “Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.
Brown later told [Organization of Chinese Americans representative Ramey] Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”
Yesterday, Brown continued to resist calls to apologize. Her spokesman said that Democrats “want this to just be about race.”
Source
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