[Robotgroup] Wired Magazines Best Geek Cities

[Leslie Filip]

OK then, South Austin, specifically my neighborhood (except for my  
one neighbor to the north) is an island of independent thinkers  
floating in a sea of... well, never mind. There are jerks everywhere,  
but some are more memorable and publicized than others. Since Texas  
is such a large state we appear to have a disproportionately larger  
supply of idiots than elsewhere. No disrespect meant.

Les


On 13 Feb 2007, at 5:05 PM, Def Egge wrote:

> One of the great things about the United States of America is the
> First Amendment to the Constitution[1].  One can say anything, no
> matter how inane, uninformed, or insulting - as long as you believe
> that it is true - without fear of retribution.
>
> Having only been in Texas for 31 years, I cannot consider myself an
> expert.  I resided in only two places in the panhandle, in addition to
> Lubbock, before relocating to Austin.  Nevertheless, I find the
> author's contention grossly inaccurate  and largely inapplicable to my
> experience in the state.  Furthermore, I'll guess that s/he/it has
> never traveled beyond the larger cities to learn - firsthand - what
> this great state has to offer.
>
> It is interesting to see that the authors's logic is acceptable when
> used to bitch-slap the rest of the State of Texas[3] in a left-handed
> compliment to Austin.  I wonder if such broad strokes of
> generalization would be considered as politically correct if applied
> to women, gays, Muslims, hispanics, or blacks.
>
> Austin, from my 21 years of residence, has neither a great lock on
> independent-mindedness nor on free-thinking.  There are more than
> enough conformists to go around.  I have met no fewer racists,
> closed-minded, and hateful individuals here than I have elsewhere.
>
> So believe as you wish.  I have no intention of trying to persuade you
> otherwise.  I was not born here.  I chose (and still choose) to live
> here.
>
> I apologize for the injection of politics into the list.  Let's return
> to the discussion of robots and robotic art.
>
> [1] A greater thing, to my humble way of thinking, is the Second
> Amendment to the Constitution, since it guarantees the existence of
> the remainder of the Bill of Rights[2]
>
> [2] The three boxes of representative democracy: the ballot box, the
> jury box, and the cartridge box.
>
> [3] the complement, so so speak
>
>
> All the best....
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> Quoting Leslie Filip <lfilip at mac.com>:
>
>> Austin is an island of independent thinkers floating in a sea of
>> ultra-right wing crazies and rednecks, that's all. Texas gets a bad
>> name not only from "W" but from white boys dragging people of color
>> behind pickup trucks down gravel roads on the end of a chain. I
>> actually believe the writer of the article is fully justified in
>> saying what he did. He complimented Austin while simultaneously bitch
>> slapping the rest of Texas.
>>
>> Les, native Texan
>>
>>
>> On 13 Feb 2007, at 11:27 AM, Vern Graner wrote:
>>
>>> Def Egge wrote:
>>>> Old news ... and the writer is still an a$$hole!  Pardon me. but I
>>>> don't find that last line funny in the least.
>>>
>>> I don't know if it was designed to be funny/critical, but rather to
>>> be a
>>> "compliment" (if somewhat backhanded) to the city and its
>>> denizens.. at
>>> least thats how I interpreted it.
>>>
>>> When you compare the folks in Austin to the folks in say, Vidor or
>>> Odessalate, you can see how comparatively Austin and it's embrace of
>>> "weirdness" was an anomaly.
>>>
>>> My $0.02 anyway... :)
>>>
>>> Vern
>>>
>>> --
>>> Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE    | "If the network is down, then you're
>>> Senior Systems Engineer    | obviously incompetent so why are we
>>> Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
>>> http://www.txis.com        | is up, then we obviously don't need
>>> Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" ©VLG
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Robotgroup mailing list
>>> Robotgroup at puremagic.com
>>> http://lists.puremagic.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/robotgroup
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Robotgroup mailing list
>> Robotgroup at puremagic.com
>> http://lists.puremagic.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/robotgroup
>>
>
>
>
> -- 
>
>
> All the best....
>
>
> Mike
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Robotgroup mailing list
> Robotgroup at puremagic.com
> http://lists.puremagic.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/robotgroup