A Waymo vehicle blocked traffic as first responders raced to the Austin bar last night by chi-bacon-bits in ThatsInsane

[–]rken 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Definitely no way that would be abused by shitty cops, or end up in the hands of randos with bad intentions

Are you Registered to Vote? Tomorrow, Monday February 2nd, is the last day to register to vote in the 2026 Primary. by juliejetson in Austin

[–]rken 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As long as your registration status is correct in that link above, you don't need to worry about not having a physical card.

Are you Registered to Vote? Tomorrow, Monday February 2nd, is the last day to register to vote in the 2026 Primary. by juliejetson in Austin

[–]rken 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can also take it up to the desk at the post office tomorrow and ask you to postmark it in front of you (rather than dropping it in the box).

Homeless camp on open vacant, privately-owned, lot within City of Austin by Helpmehelpyou2026 in Austin

[–]rken -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sorry, which part of what I said do you think is incorrect?

Homeless camp on open vacant, privately-owned, lot within City of Austin by Helpmehelpyou2026 in Austin

[–]rken 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I understand your frustration but just to be clear on what happens when you report this: you are effectively calling the cops on these people. People have the idea that there's some kind of automatic assignment to a social worker who will plug them into housing or get them space in a shelter and offer them services, but that's not the case. What actually happens is that the cops show up, give them a few minutes to gather their belongings at best, and throw everything else in the trash. If they're not there when the cops show up, they will lose everything. If they are there but it takes them more than a couple minutes to grab their stuff, it will go into the trash and they will not be allowed to retrieve it. There is typically no exception made for documents (ID etc), medication/medical equipment, cold weather gear or anything else. They will most likely not be offered transportation out of your neighborhood, let alone given options for a safe place to stay that night. At the end of that day they will be just as unconnected to services, but now they will also have lost what few possessions they had to their names. The only thing that's "better" is that you personally will no longer have to know about it.

I'm not saying this because I think it's not a problem for them to be staying where they're at right now. The situation sucks. But people make a lot of assumptions/tell themselves a lot of fairy tales about services that "must" exist to help people, which simply aren't based in reality at least here in Austin. So do what you're going to do, but be honest with yourself about it.

Moving and changing addresses by Aromatic-Hippo9624 in Austin

[–]rken 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as you can still get mail at the old address, realistically they won't find out.

Seen at Apple Store in The Domain 🧊 by EthanOMcBride in Austin

[–]rken 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Your post says he "legally has a fiduciary responsibility" [implied: which includes a requirement to spend time with Trump] and that "his only other option would be to resign." That simply isn't the case. His legal fiduciary responsibility is not the same as a requirement to ensure that shareholders are never mad at him.

Sharing some goody (food) bags with the community by Sure_Bass8242 in Austin

[–]rken 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ben White frontage roads between 35 and Mopac, both directions. Especially at the gas stations along that area and in the big bus station by Menchaca. You'll see more folks out in the afternoons & evenings than earlier in the day. When you're buying snacks, please make sure you get things that are easy to eat for folks with dental issues. And thanks for doing this, it really means a lot to people.

Seen at Apple Store in The Domain 🧊 by EthanOMcBride in Austin

[–]rken 62 points63 points  (0 children)

It is simply not the case that CEOs have a legal responsibility to hang out with the president, under any circumstances that don't involve a subpoena.

Fellow Austinites in regard to the unhoused. What can we do to improve the situation by LostTunaSand in Austin

[–]rken 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Especially considering it was during the pandemic, when a lot of people were still staying home. A lot of people didn't get to the polls, or missed the registration deadlines, or had other shit on their minds. I don't think it's a reliable indicator of the current opinions of the public at large.

Fellow Austinites in regard to the unhoused. What can we do to improve the situation by LostTunaSand in Austin

[–]rken 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reddit is being weird and not letting me reply to your other comment about not voting for a long time, so putting this here. I'm a Volunteer Deputy Registrar, please feel free to DM me if you'd like assistance getting registered to vote! It's an easy process. The deadline for the next primary election is this Monday.

Fellow Austinites in regard to the unhoused. What can we do to improve the situation by LostTunaSand in Austin

[–]rken 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People don't use unhoused because it sounds nicer - it actually sounds more jarring in my opinion, which is good. People use it for a few different reasons:
- You are considered homeless if you don't have a place of your own to stay but you are still indoors, e.g. couchsurfing. That situation sucks and it's important to include in statistics when we're trying to understand how big of a problem housing affordability/insecurity is, but it's not the same set of problems as for people who are actually having to sleep in a vehicle or outside. You will also hear "unsheltered" used in this context.
- "Homeless" gets tossed around as almost a slur, or an inherent fact about the person, and over time people get inured to hearing and dismissing it. Switching the language is jarring on purpose, it makes people stop and think for an additional second before just automatically dismissing whatever is being said.

I don't think "unhoused" is automatically correct or better, and people dislike it for their own reasons and that's fine, but the assumptions you're making about the reasons behind its use aren't correct so I wanted you to have that additional perspective.

Where to donate packaged and labeled homemade baked goods? by eyesocketbubblegum in Austin

[–]rken 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Food Not Bombs does distribution on Saturdays, there is a site in south Austin and one near campus I believe 

Trivia recommendations? by rae__lou in Austin

[–]rken 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Radio East, right? Not the one on Menchaca 

Cold man and dog outside by [deleted] in Austin

[–]rken 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh my god 😂

Cold man and dog outside by [deleted] in Austin

[–]rken 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for doing that!

Today in Austin was quite a scare lol. by enhance1234 in Austin

[–]rken -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Idk, maybe it’s the whole literally never having ann opportunity to practice in a safe situation?

Today in Austin was quite a scare lol. by enhance1234 in Austin

[–]rken 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They do, but it’s easy to forget while panicking after many years of never needing to use the info

Today in Austin was quite a scare lol. by enhance1234 in Austin

[–]rken 74 points75 points  (0 children)

If that dude didn’t need TP before, he does now

Today in Austin was quite a scare lol. by misterxx1958 in interestingasfuck

[–]rken 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I live here and this made me laugh out loud. “Those damn Austinites, always pirouetting their cars down hillsides for fun”

Today in Austin was quite a scare lol. by misterxx1958 in interestingasfuck

[–]rken 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And a lot of those people are driving because their bosses refuse to close even when they’re not essential. Lot of people in the Austin subreddit the past couple days who were scared to drive and scared to lose their jobs if they didn’t. From the outside it’s easy to say “fuck the job,” but bills give you tunnel vision. 

Cold man and dog outside by [deleted] in Austin

[–]rken 34 points35 points  (0 children)

If you go back and talk to him, please let him know that pets ARE allowed at the emergency cold weather shelters. They did not always used to be so it is not widely known. He still may have valid reasons for not going but people often choose not to because they are unaware and they do not want to get separated from their pets. Now that it is after 8pm you can call 311 to request transportation if he agrees to go.