C. Scott Sierra

Stanford ‘93 EC-6 Computer Science 8-12 Dicebamus hesterna die...

[Sara McGee for Texas HD 132 @SaraForTexLege]

After 2018 when Beto came close and Dems flipped 12 state house seats, they took away straight ticket voting.

We are still one of only 7 states that doesn’t allow online voter registration and registration closes 30 days before an election.

They are constantly moving/closing polling locations to make it as confusing as possible.

They say you can’t gerrymander a statewide election, to which I say BS, because all of these voter suppression tactics come from heavily gerrymandered local and state districts.

It is going to take a Herculean effort, but we HAVE to take our power back this year. Republicans have been clear about their intentions. If they retain even a small majority in the state house, they are redrawing the lines first thing in 2027 to make sure that we can’t get close again.

It is the most jacked up slap in the face of democracy imaginable.

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@CleanGuayabera @bargimmegimme How strong is your red beans and rice game?

[Vedant Nair @vedantnair__]

Much has been said by racists, politicians, and racist politicians (like Bo French) about Indians and UT Austin admissions. I thought I should shed some light so their racism could be slightly more intelligent.

I'm a brown kid. I grew up in Frisco, went to a massive Texas high school, and went to UT.

I would wager that the kids in this picture and I have practically the same background. Like me, they probably went to a massive, pressure-cooker suburban Texas high school, and survived the gauntlet to earn their admissions.

These aren’t foreigners. State law requires 90% of UT's freshman class to be Texas residents. 75% of those in-state seats go to automatic admission on class rank. These are Texans.

Texas, for better or worse, is one of the few meritocratic college admissions schemes in the country for a school of its caliber. The rules are simple. Today, the top 5% of a public school's graduating class is automatically accepted. There is nothing to game. You can’t fake being a competitive rower or have some consultant write your essays for you. There isn’t anything to steal; it’s all there on the table to compete for.

And the competition starts the moment the bell rings for your first period of freshman year. You are ranked in your class every single year, for us, #1 to #450. You knew exactly where you were, exactly how hard you had to compete. My year was even less competitive than it is today. The top 6% made the cut, so that’s an all-out war for ~27 kids to get auto-accepted into UT.

So we worked our butts off. Here's what my life was like, starting in kindergarten.

Every summer, before the school year started, I had to finish the upcoming year's math textbook.

I sweated over getting As, even in elementary school. One funny memory is walking to my parents' room, crying, to report my first-ever 89 on a report card.

I did Kumon, my least favorite thing in the world. I still hate that weird half-smile that is their logo.

I went to math and science competitions, where I always lost, and came home crying again. (Quite the crybaby, wasn't I!)

And everyone else around me worked just as hard. Actually, a lot of the kids worked much harder. I know people who took extra classes (zero period) just to boost their GPA. Who routinely slept 5 hours a night to nail every assignment they had after band practice. Who were distraught when they got a 98 instead of a 100. People who stopped doing things they loved, like sports or arts, because those classes dragged down their GPA.

People put their entire life force into getting into this school.

I wasn't even in the top 10% of my class. The competition was too good. I wasn't disciplined enough to hang with them. I got in as one of the 22.5% of admits who are at-large Texans.

These are American kids who earned their way into this school in the most American way possible. Competition. They were told the rules, they competed, and they got the number. And on Saturday they were in that stadium in burnt orange, screaming their heads off, like every other Texan at DKR or around the country. I can’t feel anything but pride for them. That they get to live the dream that so many of us dreamt growing up!

Kids like this have helped improve UT’s standing on the national stage. They made it out of the pressure cooker and placed well in Finance, Big Tech, and more recently, startups. They meaningfully contribute to the economies of our state and country. You should be proud of them too.

Overall, this seems like a meritocratic (albeit flawed) way for Texans to be admitted to our state’s flagship school. It’s racially blind. But politicians like Bo French are asking for something different. They want the student body to rebalance racially.

Surely they aren’t advocating for affirmative action, are they?

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@salinisalazini Splootin’ for the win!

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@salinisalazini Yep. They were 10 for $10 last week at HEB with the yellow coupon. Tequila not included.

[TMF @TMFtx]

My office has received calls from voters worried about the voter suspense list. To be clear: voters on the suspense list CAN STILL VOTE!

If you have any concerns at all, call your local elections department. In Bexar County, you can call: 210-335-VOTE (8683)

Find out more at https://t.co/T8dJdeoQ0m

Check your voter registration status today at https://t.co/UAGOblq7rx & make sure you’re registered to vote before October 5th!

#txlege #votolatino #texasdemocrats

[SpursRΞPORTΞR @SpursReporter]

I had no idea San Antonio had its own version of this story until this morning.

When I first attended USC in LA, I remember first hearing the painful, now famous history of Chavez Ravine-how an entire Mexican-American community was displaced to build Dodger Stadium.

Meanwhile in San Antonio, just one year after Dodger stadium opened, 92 acres just east of downtown SA were seized via "urban renewal" for HemisFair '68.

Over 1,300 homes and businesses- a tight-knit community of Mexican-American, Black, German, and Polish families-were just bulldozed. An unreal fact for Spurs fans: part of what went up on that razed neighborhood was HemisFair Arena, the Spurs' home from 1973 to 1993 where I later watched the Iceman play. Share this. It's Important history that shouldn’t be forgotten. 🕊️🏛️

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@salinisalazini I appreciate the practicality and the data of my Apple Watch, but my going out watch makes me feel special.

[Stanford Football @StanfordFball]

GOT IT DONE 👊

[Charles MEANgus @theboogiecowboy]

Dolly Parton, her parents and siblings doing a version of “In The Pines” in 1976, a song long associated with Lead Belly but whose origins predate him…likely came out of a hodgepodge mix of songs from Southern Appalachia.

[cinesthetic. @TheCinesthetic]

Dolly Parton has sadly passed away at 80 💔🕊️

Here’s Dolly Parton and Patti LaBelle harmonizing by using their acrylic nails in 1987. A beautiful reminder of the joy she brought to the world.

[Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol]

In 1988 Dolly Parton pulled every 7th and 8th grader in Sevier County into a room and told them to pick a buddy.

She made them sign a contract.. if BOTH graduate, she hands you both $500. One fails, nobody gets paid.

The county dropout rate went from 35% to 6%.

She handed out the checks herself.

In 1989 she offered $500 to every kid in the county who wanted to go to the local college.

When Gatlinburg burned in 2016, she sent 900 families $1,000 a month for six months.

You've probably heard that part.

Here's the part you haven't:

The fund raised more than expected, so she showed up in May and handed every one of those families another $5,000 on top.

Then she quietly put $3 million into the recovery group that handles the years after the news trucks leave.

She built her county an entire hospital.

She played a benefit concert in 2007, Dollywood and the Stampede matched it, and LeConte Medical Center opened in 2010 with a birthing unit and a women's center in it.

In 2022 she started covering 100% of tuition, books, and fees for Dollywood employees.

Full-time, part-time, AND seasonal.

In 1991 she paid for a bald eagle sanctuary because the birds couldn't be released back into the wild, no press release.

And when Hurricane Helene came through here in Western North Carolina, she wrote a personal check for $1 million and her companies matched it.

She didn't owe North Carolina anything, but she helped us anyway.

She started the Imagination Library because her daddy couldn't read or write. Before he passed, he told her it was the most important thing she ever did.

Rest in Peace, Dolly 🇺🇸

[San Antonio Report @SAReport]

Some say a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, meant as an economic development booster, has flaws with long-range effects on a city's budget. https://t.co/MI7J9dEiE0

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@wolfprincesz___ Back to school shopping with my two youngest children today was exhausting, but yes, a privilege and a blessing. I loved seeing their interaction, their conversation, and their connection. I hope that lasts a lifetime.

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@chargedupemily I read about the MCS revitalization project and hope it drives Ford/Lincoln innovation. I love my 2022 Black Label Aviator GT and hope Ford/Lincoln will revisit their EV roadmap so that my next vehicle will be a Lincoln EV.

[Maritere Rodríguez Bellas @maritererbellas]

Five minutes a day to strengthen the language – and with it, the culture and family bonds. Aim for use and consistency, not perfection! Reading, talking, playing, sharing stories. Great achievements must start somewhere.😀

#MondayReminder #LanguageandCulture

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@SheaSerrano I saw them here in San Antonio at Randy’s Rodeo on Bandera, maybe ‘85 or ‘86. Fishbone opened for them. 15 year-old me was never the same after that.

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@MMedinanews We had our ancient HVAC redone by Comfort-Air. They replaced the retrofitted system that was done in our 1936 house. We were pleased with the work and have kept a maintenance contract with them and had good experiences.

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@SVG__Collection Alcione’s “Sufoco.” I don’t speak Portuguese but the aching, and bitter longing in her voice come through so strong, and with a samba beat! Heartbreak is a universal language I suppose.

[C. Scott Sierra @cssierra]

@starstrickenSF I don’t pray much, but I’m praying for you and your father, as well as the dedicated doctors and researchers. I lost my father to pancreatic cancer 15 years ago and I hope that soon there will be breakthroughs in early diagnosis and treatments.