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#atx

6 posts6 participants0 posts today
Public *
Bo Elder

That house explosion in northwest Austin this morning shook our house over 15 miles away. Honestly, thought at the time it was an earthquake, but nothing was coming in on the quake monitoring.

I'm pretty sure I found the house on Google maps, and it wasn't a small structure. Completely obliterated. Here's some interesting drone footage of the aftermath:

youtube.com/watch?v=TiOKk4dNDx

YouTube04/13/2025 - House explosion in North Austin near Spicewood Village TrailBy KXSR Labs
#atx#austin#boom
Public
Preston Maness ☭

An excellent interview conducted between Maggie Quinlan Thompson of the Austin Chronicle and Texas state senator Sarah Eckhardt, who represents the Austin area:

austinchronicle.com/news/2025-

The entire interview does an *excellent* job of interjecting important bits of context when needed. That is a breath of fresh air compared to raw dumps of dialog that assume every reader/listener is just as wired in to said context as the writers/speakers.

As well, one point in particular makes a very concise and convincing case against bad political theatre, likening it, across several important political axes, to nutritionally barren candy:

>**Chronicle**: *You were talking about political pragmatism, which could be thought of as political performance. Before you were an attorney, you studied arts and performed in theatre productions. We have this phrase “political theatre,” which implies something nefarious, but in a pure sense of what theatre is, is there artistry in the work of being a lawmaker?*
>
>*Eckhardt*: As a public servant you have to tell the story outside the building, so I don’t consider political theatre a bad thing. I think you need to be sufficiently theatrical, a sufficient storyteller, so that your community knows what their government is up to.
>
>There are also posturing bills. These are examples of really bad theatre. It’s candy politics. It has no nutritional value. It doesn’t increase your public safety. It doesn’t increase your prosperity. It doesn’t improve your health care. It doesn’t reduce the price of groceries. It’s purely about looking good and doesn’t do any good.

Finally, another salient piece of advice regarding the intersection of ego and politics:

>**Chronicle**: *Do you feel genuine partnership and teamwork with many or any of your Republican colleagues?*
>
>**Eckhardt**: One way I can get policy passed is by quietly talking to my Republican colleagues and acting like a superstaffer saying, “Hey, I read your bill. I think it’s really, really good. I can’t vote for it yet. Here are a couple of things that would improve it, that would make it possible for me to vote for it.”
>
>Another way I can influence policy is I can propose a bill and file it and then float it to see how many Republicans I can get to co-author, and if I can’t get any to co-author, but one of them says, “I really like this bill, but politically, I can’t be seen on a bill with you.” I’ll say: “file the identical bill, and I’ll co-author yours. Take my bill. Cool.” You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

#atx#txpol#txlege
Public *
Preston Maness ☭

Recently heard about DeFlock:

404media.co/the-open-source-pr

The #AustinDSA #DSA tried to stop these things from cropping up in #Austin #atx, and failed (though they did keep retention times down IIRC).

Whelp. #FortWorth, where I live now, has plenty of open data sources and portals to dig through in search of ALPR stuff too. Which *did* lead me to a contract the city has maintained, since 2020, with Flock for 200+ #ALPR cameras, some new cameras (which Flock apparently gets to own/operate forever despite charging 2500 USD+ per camera) and some licenses for IP cameras to turn them into ALPRs (for these, presumably, they are for cameras the City of Fort Worth already owns/operates).

However, no maps of the cameras' locations are available in these online data portals. More interestingly, the required permits for Right of Way Encroachment don't appear available online either (there are some independent Flock deployments listed for various HOAs, but nothing from the 2020-2021 time-period when theses cameras first went up by the city that I could find). However however, the contract specifically states that such a map must be provided to the city by Flock, and integrated into its GIS, if requested. I'mma go out on a limb and assume that such a request has been made at least once in the last five or so years. So, I made a Public Information Request ( #PIR / #FOIA ) for the info. Hopefully they already have it as shapefiles.

Then, I can get the data added to #OpenStreetMap #osm. Looks like cities near Fort Worth -- Burleson (S), Mansfield (SE), North Richland Hills (NE), Colleyville (NE) -- have some ALPRs mapped. But nothing in Fort Worth proper (or west of Fort Worth).

#dfw #Texas

Every day I remain unemployed is a day I will do everything in my power to be a pain in the ruling capitalist class's ass.

404 Media · The Open Source Project DeFlock Is Mapping License Plate Surveillance Cameras All Over the WorldDeFlock has mapped the locations of more than a thousand ALPRs around the United States and thousands more around the world.
Public
Brandon Kraft

The see is vacant.

Archbishop Joe Vásquez is being installed as the 3rd Archbishop of Galveston-Houston. Parishes in Austin were instructed to include Archbishop-Elect Vásquez in the Eucharistic Prayer until 2 p.m., when the installation Mass starts.

#catholic #atx

(wp.me p1Apvp-tu6)

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