Political Discussion

In Texas, AC is no longer classified as an Amenity. It is now classified as essential, and thus landlords must service with priority.

Texas for sure has seen a lot of heat this summer, and sadly, a lot of of landlords are slow with AC repairs or don't do it at all. And this can be dangerous, especially for the elderly.

Glad to hear it's now a priority / emergency like having no heat during the winter around here. But wow, it boggles my mind it's taken this long to get to that point in a state as hot as Texas.
 
In Texas, AC is no longer classified as an Amenity. It is now classified as essential, and thus landlords must service with priority.

Texas for sure has seen a lot of heat this summer, and sadly, a lot of of landlords are slow with AC repairs or don't do it at all. And this can be dangerous, especially for the elderly.

Glad to hear it's now a priority / emergency like having no heat during the winter around here. But wow, it boggles my mind it's taken this long to get to that point in a state as hot as Texas.
When I was a kid, in Jacksonville, NC. Where 95 degrees was an almost certainty at the beginning and end of the school year. There was no AC and we were not allowed to wear shorts to Junior or Senior High School.
 
When I was a kid, in Jacksonville, NC. Where 95 degrees was an almost certainty at the beginning and end of the school year. There was no AC and we were not allowed to wear shorts to Junior or Senior High School.

The majority of schools in the North East do not have AC. With that said, we are experiencing a heat wave this week. So students are back to school as of last Wednesday only to get this week off due to school being canceled because of not having AC. Many school districts are canceling classes today and tomorrow and likely Thursday as well because of the heat wave.
 
In Texas, AC is no longer classified as an Amenity. It is now classified as essential, and thus landlords must service with priority.

Texas for sure has seen a lot of heat this summer, and sadly, a lot of of landlords are slow with AC repairs or don't do it at all. And this can be dangerous, especially for the elderly.

Glad to hear it's now a priority / emergency like having no heat during the winter around here. But wow, it boggles my mind it's taken this long to get to that point in a state as hot as Texas.
When I lived in Texas about 20 years ago, landlords were required by law to have ice makers in tenants’ fridges. It’s crazy to me that they required ice makers long before AC.
 
The EU has passed The Digital Markets Act (DMA).

This act defines what a "gatekeeper" is and prohibits companies from being "gatekeepers". "Gatekeeping" can result in substantial fines and/or products being banned from sale in the EU.

The DMA seeks to create open and fair market places and give consumers control over their devices.

Opponents of the act say it will substantially impact consumers privacy.

The Act states that all tech devices must allow for consumers to install apps through alternative sources and that said apps shall not be subject to the tech companies rules and restrictions.

Essentially, what this means is that companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Sony can not be regulators of privacy and control and manage what personal data apps have access too. Apps can do what ever they want, collect what ever data they want and it's up to the developer to regulate their own privacy terms.

But the issue here is who is going to regulate the developers / apps. Right now it's not the Government outside of key types of data. Do we expect them to pick it up? They certainly will not have regulation in place for a few years if at all.

Companies like Facebook are expected to pull their apps off the App Store and make you install them from alternative sources. Facebook in particular has been very vocal about Apples privacy restrictions and how it prevents them from mining and selling data, which is a key part of their business and how they make their money.

The law seeks to open up the market place and increase innovation. But sadly, laws like this have time and time again only tend to stifle innovation and entrench and enrich the existing giants.
 

@Joe Mac would love your take on this and what is really going on here and how bad it is across the UK.

Local authorities have been historically massively underfunded in British history. They’re derided and mocked from central government. It’s only got worse under the Tory led coalition govt and then outright Tory govts because they slashed both the civil and wider public services.

Councils are legally obliged to carry out certain tasks. Collect bins, provide certain care etc. That will continue. Without a bail out the wider services will be slashed to within an inch of their lives.
 
Last edited:
As we get nearer to the 2024 Election I'm only growing more concerned.

I don't think Biden is the guy for the democratic party. The only thing he has going for himself is he is the lesser to two evils.

The biggest liability in Biden's reelection chances has always been his popularity. And he's never been able to fix it. The latest polls continue to show that only 30% of Americans approve of Biden and how things are going.
 
As we get nearer to the 2024 Election I'm only growing more concerned.

I don't think Biden is the guy for the democratic party. The only thing he has going for himself is he is the lesser to two evils.

The biggest liability in Biden's reelection chances has always been his popularity. And he's never been able to fix it. The latest polls continue to show that only 30% of Americans approve of Biden and how things are going.
It seems to get worse with each cycle. An unending parade of undesirable candidates on both sides of the aisle. You vote not for who you believe will do a good job and can be a uniter, but only who has the more tolerable extreme viewpoint from your perspective.
 
I would love for some new blood and I don't think anyone should be *satisfied* with where we are today, but his presidency has been marked by a series of pretty significant legislative successes. People are free to reject that as a reason he should be reelected, but it's a mistake to act as if that record doesn't exist, especially facing the headwinds of an opposition party populated by extremist morons.
Funny because the right and the media portray him as completely ineffective, but if you dig into it this is true. His popularity ratings have more to do with the fucked up dynamics of politics in the country/world than it had to do with whether or not he is doing a good job. It’s a fucking stupid state of things. Honestly in the current climate, I don’t think we will get a good/great president because why would they want all the heartache. I say that working tirelessly as a leader with a fairly thankless role.
 
Is Biden extreme?

If you listen to people on the right, absolutely.

But no. He's not extreme. He's very center if not slightly right leaning.

But then again, any form of socialism is considered "Extremist" in the United States. So any attempt to reestablish programs that have been cut gets him labeled as an extremist, a commie and so on.

And god forbid we try to do anything that most of the left wants and doesn't consider extreme, like universal healthcare. Which you know, most of the rest of the developed world already has.
 
If you listen to people on the right, absolutely.

But no. He's not extreme. He's very center if not slightly right leaning.

But then again, any form of socialism is considered "Extremist" in the United States. So any attempt to reestablish programs that have been cut gets him labeled as an extremist, a commie and so on.

And god forbid we try to do anything that most of the left wants and doesn't consider extreme, like universal healthcare. Which you know, most of the rest of the developed world already has.
That’s the thing though, he isn’t at all. At some point, we will need to take control of the narrative. The extreme right has been allowed to run amuck. To the point where red headed folk buffoon probably sincerely believes he is centrist.
 
Back
Top