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A disaster area isn't known in advance would be the point. And the proposed law says nothing of infrastructure.

https://capitol.texas.gov/tlod...

Congestion is. A disaster area is the place where caps are most justified.

No.... Nothing in the text of the bill really indicates carriers cannot manage congestion in fact the only restriction it gives is "service provider may not impair or degrade lawful mobile Internet service access in an area subject to a declared state of disaster" ----- So they can still manage their network, in fact they could still throttle to slightly lower top speeds which are not slow enough to constitute impairment. Failing to manage congestion in its own right can be considered impairing access through neglect. The issue is throttling after a certain monthly quota --- they can still utilize means of prioritizing the traffic of emergency services and those with lower total usage.

The throttling the carriers normally due is based on arbitrary monthly caps in the total amount of data used --- access is greatly impaired (throttled to a ridiculously slow speed) after reaching a monthly quota that has nothing to do with congestion or network management, because nothing stops 10000 people who have not used up their data allowance from coming on simultaneously and maxing out the local tower capacity.

No, you also can't force it there. Don't like it, keep your kid at home. In Canada at least, education is a right. Forcing a vaccine isn't.

College - where is your data coming from that you must have vaccine for most colleges?

Private schools set up their own requirements (including vaccinations). You should google to see if your state requires vaccinations for college / university admissions. As an example, here are the vaccination requirements in Texas (I didn't have time to search all 50 states, DC, plus territories). Another resource is vaxopedia

Accept that in a world of freedom, not everyone will agree with you. And as much as I want others to follow my ideology (science based or not), we won't always agree. Telling someone that that if they don't vaccinate their kids, they can't go to school where YOU send your kids is ridiculous. I get the issues, but accept the consequences of a free world. Try to find another solution to work with those that aren't like you.

My sect believes in agency. We are agents unto ourselves. We can choose our actions, but we can't choose the consequences. If you choose not to be vaccinated, you will limit your college choices. If you choose to attend a school where virtually everyone is vaccinated, you limit your choices.

Farting? Assault? Hardly. Disorderly Conduct? It is in Texas.
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.42.htm#42.01

Sec. 42.01. DISORDERLY CONDUCT. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly:

(3) creates, by chemical means, a noxious and unreasonable odor in a public place;

Notice that there is nothing stated in the law that someone has to "take offense" to actually determine if the action is offensive.

Here's some info from the Texas Department of Insurance for you.
https://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs... [texas.gov]

In Texas , two different kinds of homeowners insurance can legally be sold. One is actual cash value, deprecation and all. The other is replacement cost - what it would cost to build a new home of the same size. I have replacement cost coverage. Because of various factors with the housing market, most new Texas policies are replacement (cost to build new) rather than cash value.

The Texas Department of Insurance web site has the precise rules if you want to know exactly what they actually are, as opposed to what you've heard from your brother-in-law, who is a carpenter who once got an insurance check for a job.
https://www.tdi.texas.gov/

Alongside those rules is the negotiation between the public adjuster you should hire and the insurance company's adjuster. It might go something like this:

Your adjuster: we estimate replacement cost at $390K to $420K.

Company: Our estimate is $395-$405k, so we're in the same ballpark, slightly lower.

Yours: Due to the storm, construction crews are very busy right now. Under rule x subsection y, you have no more than 30 days to issue the initial payment. It's already been 22 days. It could get very expensive to get a crew to drop their current project and start on this this week. Very expensive. Might end up costing $435K to get it done within the required time frame. ... We'll take $400K cash today, though.

> It won't pay off your house AND build you a new one. It will ONLY rebuild same like, kind and quality

Yes, the amount (on my policy) is to build a new house of the same size, 3,500 square feet. That's a really big house. About $400,000 to build a new house the same size.

I wouldn't build a new house twice the size of what I need, a five bedroom house for me, my, wife, and our 4yo. Instead I'd use half of the $400,000 to buy an existing 1,800 square foot house, half to pay off the existing mortgage.

> Pay you ALS (i.e. apply depreciation to everything) if you want to walk away. That is how it works in ALL states.

Here's some info from the Texas Department of Insurance for you.
https://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs...

In Texas , two different kinds of homeowners insurance can legally be sold. One is actual cash value, deprecation and all. The other is replacement cost - what it would cost to build a new home of the same size. I have replacement cost coverage. Because of various factors with the housing market, most new Texas policies are replacement (cost to build new) rather than cash value.

New things get the benefit of being open for a while but as is human nature more than enough of someones are going to come along and decide what you are doing with it must be regulated.

It is the basic nature of humans. adults regulate the children, economics regulate the adults, and government regulates it all. You can slice and dice it up however you like but the end result is NEVER different. It will be regulated.

Even in the ever anti-regulation (is that really a thing or just gas people emit?) state of texas you need to a permit to handle unpackaged food.
https://www.learn2serve.com/te...

There is even a temporary suspension in some areas for training for hurricane relief.
http://dshs.texas.gov/food-han...

Isn't it nice that your legislators are so busy that you can't even legally carry a tray of food from the kitchen to a table without a license or permit of some kind in some places?

Like I said, stop with these pipe dreams a free and open internet is no longer possible because it is no longer new enough to escape the clutches of human meddling. There are numerous calls to regulation on it by businesses and lay people and it will become just another arm of the bureaucracy. It's not prophecy, it's not politics, it is just flat human reality! Or you could say everybody's religion. Because that is tribalism in it's most basic form. Grouping up to gain power to tell people how to live and is as natural for humans as talking to each other!

I've lived in Dallas. There are towns were a street can have 4 different tax rates. All in the same zip code, on the same street. Only with a full tax-map could a retailer hope to keep up.

I found this:

Texas imposes a 6.25 percent state sales and use tax on all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services. Local taxing jurisdictions (cities, counties, special purpose districts and transit authorities) can also impose up to 2 percent sales and use tax for a maximum combined rate of 8.25 percent.

Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/...

And the state comptroller helpfully provides a 12 page booklet regarding tax collections: https://comptroller.texas.gov/...

Texas has a 6.25 state sales tax (remember, no state income tax) and up to 2% local taxes. When I checked my address, I saw that one percent went to the local transit authority, one percent went to the local gov't BUT Sales Taxes are calculated based on the SELLER's address/location, not the buyer's location, in most cases.

I've lived in Dallas. There are towns were a street can have 4 different tax rates. All in the same zip code, on the same street. Only with a full tax-map could a retailer hope to keep up.

I found this:

Texas imposes a 6.25 percent state sales and use tax on all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services. Local taxing jurisdictions (cities, counties, special purpose districts and transit authorities) can also impose up to 2 percent sales and use tax for a maximum combined rate of 8.25 percent.

Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/...

And the state comptroller helpfully provides a 12 page booklet regarding tax collections: https://comptroller.texas.gov/...

Texas has a 6.25 state sales tax (remember, no state income tax) and up to 2% local taxes. When I checked my address, I saw that one percent went to the local transit authority, one percent went to the local gov't BUT Sales Taxes are calculated based on the SELLER's address/location, not the buyer's location, in most cases.

You are a fucking monster [latimes.com].

For those of you who aren't following along, the article SuperKendall links to talks about how the giant sollar thermal collection plant in California kills 6000 birds a year.

What it doesn't tell you is that the federal Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that a minimum of 10 BILLION birds breed in the United States every year and that as many as 20 BILLION may be in the country during the fall migratory season. It also doesn't tell you that during the 2016-2017 hunting season, Texas hunters killed over 24 MILLION birds for sport. And they do this every goddamn year.

To summarize, 6000 birds die at a power station and it's the fucking bird apocalypse, but 24 MILLION birds get blown all to shit by Texas hunters and it's a manly and culturally significant ritual. I wonder what all that birdshot does to the lead levels in Texas surface water.

Oh, here's the statistics from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, in case you want to see for yourself what goes on in that god-forsaken state.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publica...

Well the "jury is out" but there is a lot more data around! Here is a 2013 peer reviewed paper, "Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects" by Martin L Pall* https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
You can see a list of his other papers here; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...
2016 by same, "Microwave frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produce widespread neuropsychiatric effects including depression." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p... "Non-thermal microwave/lower frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) act via voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) activation. " So much for the 'thermal is everything' approach at least on this band.

Hourlong video with Pall https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
And here is another one with that devious hippie Mercola; https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

A whole bunch of bills in Massachusetts https://sites.google.com/site/...

Maryland did a whole thing on wifi and kids https://phpa.health.maryland.g...

The site Undark went a ways into the topic https://undark.org/article/cel...

0.08 W/kg they say from FCC. Per here a lot of other health bodies demand or advise far far lower RF exposure. https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/7...
Regulatory FCC/ANSI– USA– 900MHzrange 610,000 nW/cm2
Regulatory Italy,Poland,Hungary,Bulgaria,China,Russia 10,000nW/cm2
Regulatory Switzerland 4,500nW/cm2
Recommendation– EcologInstitute (2000) 300nW/cm2
Recommendation– SalzburgResolution(2000) 100nW/cm2
Recommendation– BioInitiativeReport(2008) https://www.newlook.dteenergy....

big texas report (everything bigger in texas) http://www.puc.texas.gov/indus...

Anyways I suggest you dig around, there is all sorts of interesting stuff coming up on this topic.

Even in Texas, where climate change doesn't exist, cough, "Temperature extremes have far-reaching consequences nationwide. Public health impacts, including mortality, have been well documented"

https://www.dshs.texas.gov/chs...

I saw on Fox, one Officer Barbrady said there's nothing to see here, move along.

If you're leaving a state that has high unemployment and a ridiculously high cost of living, amd high taxes, going to a state with low costs, high pay, amd low taxes, recognize that those conditions were created by policies.

Well, turns outs out California is doing great. Unemployment is only 4.9%, lower than Texas at 5%. What a huge difference!

Of course, Texas has a history of poverty and failing schools as well as a dangerous obsession with bathroom inspections.

Even Texas's own governor admits that the state has a problem when it comes to transportation and congestion. And in fact, the California High-Speed Rail project is not light rail, but like the Houston-Dallas link a inter-city connection.

Furthermore, no, Trumpcare does not grant states more freedom. Of course, it turns out, somebody who voted for it admitted they didn't read it.

Maybe that's your problem? You didn't read it, so you couldn't find out what was in it?

Depending on where you work there is a very clear line for being an engineer. In many cases Engineer is a protected title with legal obligations.

Only passing the PE as an EIT can you actually call yourself an Engineer in Texas. Even software developers in Texas, USA have to site before the Board of Professional Engineers and pass the Exam to call themselves an Engineer.

You can't just walk in with your freshly minted Software 'Engineering' degree from an ABET certified college program. You have to be a Texas Engineer in Training (EIT) to register to take the PE exam. That is usually having worked under a PE mentor in the capacity you are training for.

This is very similar to other protected titles in other counties like Registered Pharmacist in the UK.

This title caries with it a lot of ethical and legal requirements that most "coders" or "programmers" would not be able to meet just based on the code they write. But such titles carry with it the authority to tell management where they can stick it when they ask for faster, cheaper by cutting corners that are not Salespeople Features.

The biggest lie, just based on the number of empty GitHub Projects is probably "I can do this."

I'd say a chemistry set, but they have been completely nerfed to the point of not being interesting anymore.

Yes, there has been a war on chemistry now for at least 30 years. Most outlets selling chemicals to hobbyists have disappeared.

However even now there are some decent options.

The only chemistry set on the market worth considering is the Thames & Kosmos C3000 set for $280. The less expensive Thames & Kosmos chem sets are not bad - they all have some real chemistry in them - but too limited. The Thamses & Kosmos set might get you busted in Texas though since it contains an Erlenmeyer flask (a special license is needed to possess one).

But you can buy any chemical or equipment needed for a legitimate hobby from Elemental Scientific LLC, and there is a nice book available by Robert Bruce Thompson called Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments which tells you everything you need to get. And, even better, Elemental Scientific sells its own chemistry sets based on the Thompson book! You buy the equipment and chemical sets separately.

2. There is no federally issued or even state issue (to my knowledge) photo ID in the US. This is the biggest reason voter photo ID laws are regularly overturned as a form of voter suppression. If the government either at the state or federal level had a system for the distribution of free of charge photo IDs, these laws would be okay. However in this grand old free country of ours no such thing exists. You must pay for a driver's license and or state ID or a federally issued passport. Many low income individuals have no need for these and in many cases could not afford one if they wanted it. If the government makes getting a passport as free and easy as your social security card, which as it happens is an acceptable form of non-photo ID for voting, then this issue would be different.

To the best of my knowledge, every state that currently requires and ID to vote (like Texas) has a free state photo ID available.(Free Texas ID: http://www.dps.texas.gov/drive... )
In the past, these free IDs have not been adequate to counter the cries of 'voter suppression' that have often managed to get voter ID laws removed.

I'm not going to lie. I tried paying the use tax once (no, seriously). I went to the state and was immediately met with such a barrage of over-the-top jargon and legalese that I suspect that anyone trying to actually make good on this tax requires both an accountant and a lawyer to have a snowball's chance in hell of correctly doing this. Heretounderforeforthwiths aside, it appears that I have to personally know every taxing authority that applies to my address (they suggested that a database mapping addresses to the appropriate tax authorities and tax rates could be purchased for a not-insignificant amount) and personally divvy up my contribution to their coffers (the transportation tax zone collects 0.5% of every purchase except for those related to vehicles in which case it is 1%, except when your location has an overlapping road improvement zone in which case the transportation zone always receives 0.5% and the road improvement zone always receives 0.5% and blah blah blah.

That was over a decade ago. It looks like things are a slight bit better now, there's apparently an online system to find which tax authorities determine your rates. I say apparently because the link gives me a 404 error. Half the stuff on the page seems to be for people selling things (why the hell would I have a sales tax certificate number?) It also appears that they have consolidated receipts now so that I would make a payment to the Texas Comptroller rather than having to hunt down the address for all of the different authorities to send them a check for $0.08 whenever I make a purchase.

Maybe I'll send in a check this year.

Are you yelling at people selling beakers and bunsenburners?

Fun fact: In Republican stronghold Texas, you are not allowed to buy certain beakers and flasks without a license. "Conservatives" at their finest - the freedom to do what they want you to do, because otherwise you might do the wrong thing.

I'm going to go ahead and share these again, since people can't be bothered to do any research.

Here's one example: Texas.

6 days of testing per semester. Sure, amortized that is 48 hours out of 720 (90 * 8), and it seems like a pretty small number... Remember that because of the teachers/schools getting punished for poor grades, they teach to the test to ensure the kid in the corner eating glue can remember how to add.

That must be a typo. Not your math, the 20 hours number.

Here's the Albuquerque tests schedule for Elementary School. Notice here they have 6 different standardized tests for 4-5th grade. Even if each one only took 1 day (they don't... though I can't find hard numbers to support that), that's still 48 hours of tests. PARCC (Common Core, best I can tell) is 2-3 days by itself.

In Texas, they have no fewer than 6 days per semester. That 20 hour number is total B.S.

Out of a typical 180-day schedule, Texas students really only get 168 days of education. Many of which likely go to teaching to the test, instead of educating the students. So lets say it's a 1-for-1. We're trying to get 180 days of education into 154, that's over a month spent on testing and prep for the standardized test. Why? Because the teachers and schools are the ones that get funding cuts and reprimanded. Nevermind that not every kid will be an astronaut.

Same for me. At the time of my graduation, it wasn't offered, and even had it been, I very much so doubt I would have taken it. It is offered now, however: http://engineers.texas.gov/sof...

And in Texas, there's a particular exemption carved out in the rules and laws that exempts software folks (see: 1001.057(d)). It's what allows us to legally use the term "Software Engineer".

Same for me. At the time of my graduation, it wasn't offered, and even had it been, I very much so doubt I would have taken it. It is offered now, however: http://engineers.texas.gov/sof...

And in Texas, there's a particular exemption carved out in the rules and laws that exempts software folks (see: 1001.057(d)). It's what allows us to legally use the term "Software Engineer".

Indeed. And now if you put software designer you can often get HR to pay you more because designers are more important than engineers in "technology" companies.
The time for Professional Engineer Licenses (P.E.) in safety critical applications may have come. The preliminary test known as the Fundamental of Engineering (FE) was really designed for structural engineers, but one might argue that if you can understand and pass it you have no business writing software for ABS brakes, emission controls, railroad switch, x-ray therapy equipment, elevator controls or other safety critical applications. Of course it is easy to miss that everyday IT applications can have life/safety impact. Consider an everyday ERP (inventory) system that spits out a BOM (Bill Of Materials) for a power supply to be built with the wrong fuse and causes homes to burn down. Now some Java intern is writing life safety code without a clue for the impacts and rules for parts substitution.
Texas seems to have started this process.

In Texas (one of the states in question) a driver's license is $25 but a state ID is more like $10 and an election ID certificate is $0. http://www.dps.texas.gov/drive...

So get your free election identification card. http://www.dps.texas.gov/drive...

In Texas (one of the states where a voter ID law is being challenged) if you can't afford an ID or even if you can and don't have one the state will provide it for free.
http://www.dps.texas.gov/drive...

Also, voting in person requires photo ID but voting by mail (since it's tied to your address) does not require ID. http://www.votetexas.gov/helpf...

The American Civil War most certainly was fought over slavery.

Indeed it was. Here are the official words of the southerners themselves, expressed at the time of secession:

From the Mississippi declaration of secession:Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery.

From the Texas declaration of the Causes of Secession: ... maintaining and protecting the institution known as negro slavery--the servitude of the African to the white race within her limits

From the South Carolina Declaration of Secession: ... an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery

From the Georgia Declaration of Secession:The South with great unanimity declared her purpose to resist the principle of prohibition [of slavery] to the last extremity.

In every declaration of secession, slavery was given as the first and most prominent reason for secession. Secession was popular in flat states, where large plantations were viable. It was less popular in mountainous areas, where slaves were less common, including what is now West Virginia, and the mountain state of Tennessee which was the last to secede and the first to rejoin the union. There was a rebellion within the rebellion in the hilly areas of northern Alabama. By the end of the war, every state but South Carolina (the flattest state, most dependent on plantation agriculture) raised volunteer regiments to fight in the Union Army, mostly from mountain areas.

Thought I'd look it up since not going every flipping year would be nice. Per the tx.gov site: all cars must be inspected annually but brand new cars can go two years before their first one.

See: http://www.dps.texas.gov/RSD/VI/CostOfInsp.htm