Well, I've lived here 20 years, and I don't think the driving is any worse today than it was in 2000. There are more cars on the road, however. My wife and I were discussing this the other night. Austin is a shithole compared to how it was in 2000. Back then it still had the feel of a small town; we routinely ran into people we knew while shopping at HEB or Randall's. No more. Less traffic. More law enforcement. A sense of fun, and things to do any time at all. (The lack of all-night restaurants was tiresome; IHOP and Denny's got real old real fast.)

Now it's homeless on every corner and under every overpass, and crime has shot up and my wife has started to shop in Buda and Kyle south of town because she won't go anywhere by herself in Austin. Taxes are raised every year, and the money squandered on progressive bullshit. The town used to have a sensibility that was uniquely Austin; now it's just Dallas lite.

We're leaving in 2027 when we both plan to stand down. Moving to a much small place in the Texas Panhandle. Maybe sooner. But leaving we will be.

It's such a mystery.

https://twitter.com/_thememefactory/status/1336433056924758019

WSJ today:

Next Step Is Getting People to Take Vaccine

Many Americans are wary of assurances from the government and drug companies that Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe.

right next to:

Rollout Will Cost States Billions They Don’t Have

State leaders say they are short billions of dollars needed to provide vaccinations to all Americans who want to be inoculated by health officials’ June goal.

Sooo you are worried the people you can't vaccinate due to insufficient resources won't be sad enough they didn't get vaccinated?

@Ben,

It doesn't help that right after Biden "won" the presidential election, like magic, *poof* the vaccines are ready.

52 oddities Via Imp Kerr.

 A tweet by U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican-Illinois:

I want to be clear: the Supreme Court is not the deep state. The case had no merit and was dispatched 9-0. There was no win here. Complaining and bellyaching is not a manly trait, it’s actually sad. Real men accept a loss with grace.

Yes the politicking is obvious Six. What is even worse is the misinformation about these vaccines. They are aimed at COVID-19. I.e. the virus that came out of Wuhan, China. They do not work against the various mutations it has gone through over the last year. There are at least two new strains of the virus running around the US and these vaccines will not be effective against them.

The WuFlu is here to stay.

It's quite obvious that it is going become another seasonal flu vaccine that you're going to take at least twice a year.

I bet not. The first vaccine may be shitty (apparently lethargy is a frequent side effect), but development is not over. We can continue to refine the response, as we have for every vaccine ever invented.

The thunderclap has been heard: We have the rest of time to dry ourselves off.