Hi all.
I recently went to Taiwan for the first time and had a great time. I have one curiosity though. Since we were on vacation, there were some moments during days of lots of walking around where we just wanted to pop into a bar and have a beer while we figured out out what to do next. Except we could never find anything open. It seemed like many bars did not open until particularly late, for example 9pm. Is there some reason behind this? Is it a legal requirement? I was surprised that we literally never found a single bar open during the day. Once nightfall hit we obviously never had trouble finding libations, but it seemed like during daytime hours the only options for a drink was to go to a restaurant or a 7-11. Just curious. Thanks in advance.

You can bring it in and it will safe you $$$ on warm meals. There are some very good restaurants that are worth the $50-$70 per plate but many are overrated (for my taste). Supermarkets are a great option and not too expensive really. Buy beer and wine at the airport - right next to where you pickup your luggage (not the first grocery shop in the main area after arrival). Buy beer and wine. Once out, you pay $$$ for a good beer or bottle of wine. A beer in a bar is about $10-12. That’s mostly due to tax. It’s just like that. Don‘t let that keep you from enjoying places like The Old Bookstore in Reykjavik.

Anyone else ramp up their NA beer drinking to where it’s causing you to pause? I’m catching myself on Friday saying “can’t wait to get home and crack a Athletic Hazy IPA.” I’m concerned because of the feelings, that need or craving sends pangs of remembering the alcohol urges. Am I on a slippery slope? I don’t feel any desire to switch to the alcohol version. Not a lick. But maybe am I simply not realizing that this is a dangerous road. Should I stop the NAs completely for a time to examine my need? Thanks.

Yesterday was the last day of week-long bender (though I only had one beer as I felt I had already burned out by then). It was a pretty eventful bender as far and my normal ones are usually about me drinking alone in my room. I had the inside of my penis swabbed by the urologist to find out if I have HPV, went to a stand-up comedy night in English (I live in Poland), totally blew off attending a work social event as I wisely realised that I was in too much of state to attend (thank god), and instead hit up the local gay sauna. Ended up leaving after like 3 drinks as I didn’t seem to provoke any sort of interest. I thought by virtue of my reasonably young age and reasonably normal looks I would be in at least the top 50% of guys there, but no dice. Nowadays, there are so many well-kempt, physically active young gay men, on can no longer coast by on the fact I’ve yet to develop a beer belly yet, despite not doing any physical exercise except walking at least 15,000 steps a day.
Now I’m sat on a bench outside of AA eating a egg salad sandwich, the first thing I’ve been able to stomach since Friday. It’s bland as fuck, almost taste like an ice cream, but that could be my shot taste buds. Need to try and be sober for a while, because my life is falling apart. Had a few drunk work calls this week, think I got away with it, but we will see. Also the Polish scholarship agency keeps emailing me to harass me about my master’s thesis that I haven’t even started yet despite having been given a year extension.
Thankful for the bland ass egg salad sandwich for tasting bland enough to swallow and for providing some sort of nourishment whilst I try to recover. I’m too scared to be at home in case my housemates noticed my weeklong bender and want to have a word with me. I’ve paid to have 4 ass piss shits at the train strati on to avoid shitting at home. Also, there’s a high chance once of them messaged me on Grindr last night looking for weed.
Chairs!

Hey,
I remember hearing from someone there is a Belgian guy who owns a bar in Mui Ne that sells Duval beer on draft and in bottles. Is this true and if yes, does anyone know the name?
Thanks.

Aup. My dirty backpacker mates and me are looking to watch a game and have a beer Tuesday, not arsed what standard or level. (A bar there would be a bonus) Any suggestions?

We planned a barbeque gathering with friends and as we were getting foods and drinks from the shop I just decided that I gonna get drunk and bought myself some beer. Later that night we did go to bars and I drank plenty of more alcohol, smoked cigarettes and had little bit of weed. Just like in the old days.
I am not sure why I decided to do that. Maybe I was little bit upset that I did not get job I was looking forward to. Maybe I wanted to my unhappiness to go away for moment. Even if the night was fun it did not feel fullfilling and I am not feeling like spiraling out of control. So I want to stay in sober path.
I struggle to find joy in my life and I stress about everything. I find myself lost from time to time and not sure what to do. I think that being a live is amazing thing and it makes me sad that I can't enjoy it.

Yesterday, I went out with some friends. We started at some bars, had some beers and shots(probably too many), we went to a club. Now the night was great. Had a blast, but I am extremely hungover today after arriving home around 5a.m. Then it happened, one of the worst realizations one can make on a Sunday hungover.......I had Kehrwoche. So there I was, on the verge of vomiting with the worst headache imaginable, sweeping and moping my stairwell. But I did it, and learned a valuable lesson... never wait to do Kehrwoche until the last minute.

Hi Everyone,
I'm seeking some advice, as a new sink pisser and ecological warrior.
Let me start from the beginning. To understand my journey you will need to understand the origins of my sink pissing obsession.
I was born in the dark, cold hinterland of northern Scandanavia - a fishing village. I won't give you the name for fear of my anonymity being compromised. During the lighter months, fishing boats with tough, hardy men used to come and go at our small harbour, and the fishermen would unload their hauls of salmon; and then unload their piss into the sinks in the local taverns.
The locals called them savages. When I was a boy - old enough to be influenced by what I saw - I went into the toilet at my local public house, and there I saw a great big man, with a huge, hairy back and, leathery skin... He was standing on his tiptoes, completely naked, groaning with pleasure as he pissed heartily into the sink, the golden nectar from his member letting off a gentle steam that wafted delicately through the air, juxtaposed with the harshness of his body.
"SEVEN LITRES" he groaned, as he finished up, and started putting his clothes back on, stuffing his newly-relieved dong back into his overalls. I didn't know what he meant, but I didn't have time to ask, as he shuffled past me and back to the bar, spitting blood on the floor as he went.
I ran home right away.... "Mama, Papa!" I shouted, "Brothers, Sisters..." I gathered everyone in the toilet, eager to show them my new trick. I took off all my clothes, grabbed my boyish penis, white and untouched like the rest of my body, and began to piss in the sink. "Edgar, what are you doing?!" shouted Papa. He slapped me around the cheek and I was sent to my room for a week, only to eat bread and water. My family told me I was shameful, and that I must never do this again.
Years passed, and I left home. I studied to become a plumbing engineer. I left home and went to work for bathroom company in the USA. I invented new toilets, sinks... showers, with more efficient effects. I got married, and had two children.
I was obsessed with pissing in the sink, but I could never bring myself to do it. Even in my own home. The shame was too much. My father shared my shame. On my wedding day, he couldn't look me in the eye.
My wife thought I loved her, but how could I love another when deep down I felt this overbearing shame? I looked at my kids. "Do you love us, Papa?" They asked. I looked away in disgust.
Therapy was no help.
"Why don't you just... piss in the sink?" One of these $200-an-hour-charlatans asked me." I spat in his face, threw my money on the ground, and walked out... "It's not that simple."
I didn't sleep, but when I did, I dreamt of the burly man in the fishing village, butt naked, pissing into the sink. So eco-friendly, such as good way to save space in the bathroom... but requiring such confidence and freedom. That I did not have. I broke every mirror in my house in a blind rage. I got drunk and sang sea shantys and hit my wife.
Then, one day I got a call. "Edgar, it's your father."
Heart attack. The funeral would be held two weeks later.
I gathered my family, who cowered in fear under my fists and alcoholic rage, and told them to pack their things. My children, whose names I could not often remember, were glad to be out of the house.
On the plane over, I drank ten beers and locked myself in one of the toilets. I heard a knock on the door after an hour or so. "Excuse me, are you okay in there." It was a woman's voice. I told her to go away. I was in floods of tears, looking at the sink, willing myself to piss. But I couldn't. I smashed the mirror with my forehead and heard more knocks. "Leave me alone, I yelled." Eventually a woman opened the door. I smacked her around the face with the plastic cup I was drinking from, causing a bruise. I was immediately apprehended by several passengers and the flight was diverted. I spent several days in an airport holding facility before finally being let out again.
Luckily, we were already back in the fatherland, so we could continue via train. My family cowered next to me as I drank an entire bottle of vodka on the six hour journey northward, listening to Genesis on my phone and spitting at any of the other passengers who tried to tell me to turn it down. "What have I become?" I said to myself, as Invisible Touch reached its crescendo on the tinny sound of my scratched iPhone 11.
We arrived at the funeral in poor spirits. I was becoming increasingly consumed with the idea of pissing in the sink, and my tragic inability to follow through. I spoke loudly to the other guests about my failing marriage and disappointing children, making sure they were in earshot. "Just look at her," I said, motioning to my wife, as I told my Uncle Olaf about our intimacy problems.
I continued to get drunk throughout the funeral, drinking heavily throughout the morning, into the main proceedings. I vomited heavily during the ceremony, dropping to all fours and spitting chunks all over the floor. "Don't look at me!" I bellowed at my mother. What an embarrassment.
I went to the toilet. I looked into the mirror and saw myself - a shadow of a man - looking back at me. But hang on a second, there was someone else there. A burly, hairy hand gripped my shoulder. It was the sailor, from all those years ago. But he looked like he hadn't aged a day. Still naked. Still strong and proud.
Without a word, he grabbed my penis from inside my vomit-soaked trousers. He pulled it out, and motioned towards the sink. "Now... you can," he said. I pissed... slowly at first, and then; the dam broke. I hadn't pissed all day. My vision was blurry, I was shaking uncontrollably and swaying too and fro because of the booze. But my sailor held me steady, guiding my excited member into the sink... The feeling of liberation was instant. I saw the ghosts of my forefathers standing by me. My father was there, he was nodding with pride. He looked my in the eye, his ghostly figure glancing between my eyes and my stream of piss.
My wife was there too, in all her natural beauty, and my children! And, I remembered their names. Little Kobe and Le Bron - my brood. And they were beautiful too, and I loved them. I felt the weight of years of failure and shame lift off me as the flow of my de-hydrated piss filled the sink, skimming the outside of the rim like a beyblade which has just been let rip, and then dancing towards the plughole with joy.
At the end, I was done. I collapsed in a heap. Soon after, my wife came to find me.
"Oh Edgar..." she saw immediately in my eyes that I was healed. She came to me and held me close on the floor, covered in piss and vomit. My penis had again flopped out of my trousers and immediately became erect at my wife's touch. "I am going to make you feel like a woman" I said, slurring through the alcoholic daze and elation, as the sailor watched over us both. I mounted her right there on the toilet floor, and my children gathered around, and all of my extended family, watching and cheering as we climaxed together. After we were done, I got up, spat on the floor, a mixture of vomit, blood and whiskey, and walked out of the bathroom, standing taller than ever, holding one arm in the air like a champion.
"Did you see him?" I asked my wife as we walked past the procession.
"Who? There was no one in there but you, Edgar"
I smiled... My guardian angel, I thought to myself.

My (27F) bf (34M) have been together for about 6 months. In the beginning, it was very rocky because of his drinking. I do not drink, by the way, because I have many food allergies. Anyways, whenever he would get drunk, he would call me mean names and be verbally abusive (never physically) and would threaten to break up with me. There were times where we had plans but instead of us going on a date, he would take me along with his friends and they would get drunk. This didn't happen every time, but it happened enough to bother me. There were a few times he would outright drink and drive with me in the car, although I would snatch the drink out of his hand. I kept telling him he shouldn't drink 6 beers and drive, but he did this on a regular basis. Sure enough, in April, he ended up getting a DUI and was in jail overnight. That very night, he had texted me saying he was going straight home. Well, obviously this wasn't the case. I ended up bailing him out for $850. His roommate refused to do so (but is also a hypocrite because he's had a DUI himself.) My bf's backstory is his mom abandoned him as a child and his dad was also neglectful so he was mostly raised by his grandma. He lived on his own since he was 16. After he got out of jail, he told me he wouldn't drink anymore and even got one of those staying sober apps. He has a lawyer and his court date is on July 1st. The problem is on Tuesday, I saw on his location he was at a bar. I called him and yelled at him all night for that. He said he only had one beer, then he ended up telling me he had four drinks. I was extremely upset by this. Tonight, I saw his location at a bar again. I called him up and he said he had three vodka waters. At this point, I don't know what to do. I feel very strongly about this mostly because how I was treated badly whenever he got outright drunk and also because he has that DUI charge and had promised he won't drink anymore. I hate being lied to. If anyone can give any advice, I'd like to hear it.

I just watched the "Conservatives Hate Trans People" vid, and I think Steven does a great job picking apart the veneer the far right puts on to hide their hatred of trans people. With that said, I feel like there are even more examples he could've used to make his case even stronger than it already was. Namely, one, all of the policies and rhetoric that the far right uses against trans adults and, two, their reaction to the Nashville shooting.
On the first point, as compelling of a case as Destiny made against the far right's crusade against trans kids going a long way to prove their true and stubborn hatred of trans people, at least on that front, the far right could just say to cover their tracks, "oh well kids aren't old enough or mentally developed enough to make those kinds of decisions or understand being transgender," which I agree with to some extent in that I believe that trans kids should only be given puberty blockers (no HRT or surgeries whatsoever) until they're 18 due to the permanent (or at least very hard to reverse) effects of the other stuff. The far right just goes too far by banning everything, including puberty blockers, despite the objective harm it causes.
When it comes to how they treat trans adults, on the other hand, it's a lot harder for them to hide their true hatred as there's no reason to do things like try to legally define trans people out of existence, force trans people to use the wrong restroom or risk either having to register as a sex offender (as Arkansas attempted to do) or just generally be arrested for daring to make someone mildly uncomfortable for a little bit (the horror! 😱), make it borderline impossible for consenting adults to access gender-affirming care, seek to scapegoat trans people (especially women) for every problem under the Sun, concern troll about "science and biology" whilst holding a belief system that is objectively far less based in science and biology, criminalize drag shows, weaponize Feminism (an ideology they were against like 5 minutes ago) and its rhetoric just to target trans women, advocate Bud Light be investigated by Congress for putting a trans woman on a fucking can of beer, etc. without, A, hating trans people & GNC's and wanting to intentionally be malicious towards or, in some cases, actively inflict harm on people, or B, being legit the dumbest motherfucker on the face of the planet.
When it comes to the Nashville shooting, I'm not even talking about just misgendering the shooter because you could at least say that trans etiquette is still very new to a lot of people, and they should, therefore, be taught not to target an irrelevant immutable characteristic of a criminal (no matter how evil they are) like their trans status just as you wouldn't with their race, disability, etc. I'm talking about things like hardcore "2nd Amendment absolutists" all of a sudden being anti-2nd when it comes to trans people just out of spite, saying that "the transes need to stop killing us!" when there have only been 3 of thousands of mass shootings in the past 5 years committed by trans people (really low even with the already low trans populace) as a way to make trans people seem especially deranged and violent, and posting a video of a law-abiding trans person simply with a firearm and saying something along the lines of "these sick freaks need to be instiutionalized!" (again, for simply owning a firearm; so much for being "2nd Amendment absolutists" lol). If that's not pure unadulterated hatred, I don't know what is.

35m masters degree. 24f GED, clean but previous meth user. I had a office job at the time. Laid off for 2-3 wks now. She drives 2/3 hrs to greater Houston and mows grass during the week. Stays in motels all week.
I was about to leave when she drove into the parking lot right in front of us. I thought damn she is smoking ho when she walked by. I was about to head back to the gym as my buddy called me right before I started my daily work out. So I stay and we play pool for 2 hours. Being at the bar on v day means you’re def single. I got hungry and asked her to get sushi. Came back and played a few more games. That was a Tuesday. I got her number and saw her again on Friday night. We went hiking with our dogs at my fav place to camp/swim.
This time we slept together. She mentioned just going through a break up a month before. She stayed all day And Saturday night. On Sunday she didn’t want to leave.
The next weekend she was watching her younger cousin. I’m not a spring chicken. Staying out until 1am on Saturday is not for me anymore. I took all 3 of us bowling, they went home at 930-10. Gave her an hour to come back. I told her I was going to wait at the gym for her until 11. And at 11 I went home. When I got home I told her the gate and door code to get in and jokenly told her to wake me up when she got there. Passed out. I wake up at 3am to a cold hand on my warm inner thigh. It’s a 45 min drive to my house from the bar and a little over an hour to her place. Sex was very good that morning.
She ignored every message I sent after that for over a week.
Another week goes by and I get the drunk come over and fuck text at midnight after I’m asleep.
I go off on her and say unless she going to go out with me, don’t ask me to come fuck when she knows I go to bed at 9 and wake up at 5. I don’t just want a casual hookup. I was cheated on 2-3 years ago by someone I would have taken a bullet for and I’m finally ready to date again. No contact for 3 months. Two weeks ago, she passed me on the highway when I was on the Harley and reached out.
Last week we linked up at the bar and I followed her home, she got on the bike and we rode to my place. She was too drunk to drive that far. I’ve been sober 50 days at this point. Sex was not good that morning because I was tired AF at 3 am.
Yesterday I spent all day fixing her camper ac with the parts I ordered on Monday. She was affectionate and grateful because it hasn’t worked in 2 years and Texas summers suck.
I left at 5pm. The plan was to come to my place after she went out and at 3 am. Wake up and I drive us 3 hours to go salt water fishing. I sent the door code at 9 last night. She read it and said she wouldn’t get too drunk. Well I’m alone in the truck. I’m kinda disappointed.
I know she constantly misplaces her phone when I’m with her, but on the flip side I know she ignores some notifications when she does have it in hand. She’s not glued to it.
I wasn’t like that at 24. I don’t know if it’s the age gap or the previous drug use. She was a forward in high school soccer with the potential to scholarship for it (then the drugs happened)
Her personality is awesome.
I know she hasn’t had the best raising and easiest life so far and might not know what a genuine person/relationship is; so I don’t want to throw in the towel too early but there has to be a line in the sand somewhere. I just don’t know where to draw it.

[WP] describe a mythical creature who is chasing you in the woods. In the end it catches you but doesn’t kill you, what do you do?
I wasn't entirely sure where it all went wrong. It started off great. Just a normal day enjoying the beautiful summer weather. Hung out with thr boys; we had a few beers then went to the bar and had a few more beers. Of course after closing out the bar we had to stumble to our respective homes. I lived the furthest away so I normally cut through the forest that separated the downtown from the suburbs. This shortcut usually saved me 15 to 20 minutes sober and considerablt more when intoxicated.
I had made this trip dozens if not hundreds of times but this trip felt different. I had this chill up my spine as I left the bar. It felt as though eyes were boring a hole through my soul. I figured I was just way more intoxicated than I realized. It wasn't until I reached the edge of the forest I noticed a shadowy figure following me. As I ducked into the forest I heard what sounded like a loud snarl or hiss. It was blood curdling and terrifying. Before I even realized I was running through the forest as fast as I possibly could. Being drunk and rather uncoordinated this probably felt a lot faster than it was but the cool night air and the rush of adrenaline quickly sobered me up. Before I knew it was covered in sweat; whether it was from running or fear i couldn't say.
I ran as fast as I could. I was determined not to let whoever or whatever it was that made that noise catch me. With my chest burning and my lungs gasping for air I finally stopped running. I tried to catch my breath as a light rain begin to fall. My body already damp from sweat was now shivering and covered in goosebumps from the rain. As my breath began to return I heard it. The snapping of twigs and swishing of branches. A low snarl and swift footsteps. Whoever or whatever that thing was it was still chasing me and gaining on me quickly. I searched my surroundings quickly scanning for any possible hiding spot. I was realizing I couldn't out run it but maybe I could hide from it.
Searching was difficult due to the tiny amount of light the trees allowed through from the moon and my own poor night vision. I spotted a large oak tree with a semi exposed network of roots that might be able to conceal me. I made a mad dash and dove in like an action hero out running an explosion. In my hiding spot I struggled to keep warm. The dirt was partially washed away creating a nook in the exposed roots. It wasn't much in the way of shelter but it felt slightly safer than being completely exposed. As an added bonus it blocked some of the wind blowing through my damp clothes chilling me to the core.
I pulled my knees into my chest and made myself as small as possible. I slowed my breathing taking long deeps breaths trying to listen to ever tiny movement. I closed my eyes hoping this was all some bad dream.
I thought I was imaging it at first. The smell of wet dog, a gust of warmth against my skin. Then the low snarl right beside my ears piercing me to my very core. I was too terrified to look. I was still telling myself none of this was real.
"Get up kid!" Whatever chased me down snarled in gruff and raspy voice. "I said get up!" This time more forcefully.
I quickly jumped to my feet still trembling. The hairs on my neck standing up. The cold hand of fear wrapping around my heart. I couldn't stop thinking about what a cowardly way to die this would be.
"Here! You're lucky I didn't just keep it after all this trouble!" The gruff voice spoke again.
I quickly looked up and made eye contact with what was chasing me. He looked similar to the bartender but he stood much taller and slightly hunched over. I'd guess he stood about 7 or 8 feet tall. His eyes a piercing yellow and his hands now resembled claws. His fingernails shapes into a deadly point. Even in my current state I immediately recognized him as a werewolf.
"Stop staring and take the damn thing!" He was clearly very agitated now.
I quickly looked to his outstretched hand and saw my wallet. "That's my wallet!" I exclaimed.
"Wow clearly your intelligence is of a higher quality. Of course its your wallet; why else would I have chased you from the bar to here? You're not some naive human assuming I was hunting you did you? Because that would be pathetic and I would probably end up keeping this."
"Oh no definitely not. I'm not one of those people!" I laughed nervously as I took my wallet back.
"Sure whatever you say. Just be more careful next time. Later."
And with that he bolted off leaving shivering in the roots of the oak tree. I quickly ran the rest of the way home with my wallet clutched safely in my hand. Once inside I stripped off my wet clothes and jumped into my nice warm bed. Feeling safe and comfortable under the covers. As I drifted off to sleep I could swear I still heard howling nearby.

Defying a last-minute appeal by former President Donald Trump, the Texas House voted overwhelmingly Saturday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, suspending him from office over allegations of misconduct that included bribery and abuse of office.

The vote to adopt the 20 articles of impeachment was 121-23.
The stunning vote came two days after an investigative committee unveiled the articles — and two days before the close of a biennial legislative session that saw significant right-wing victories, including a ban on transgender health care for minors and new restrictions on public universities’ diversity efforts.
The vote revealed substantial divisions within the Republican Party of Texas — the largest, richest and most powerful state GOP party in the United States. Although the party has won every statewide election for a quarter-century and has controlled both houses of the Legislature since 2003, it has deep underlying fissures, many of them exacerbated by Trump’s rise and influence.
Few attorneys general have been as prominent as Paxton, who made a career of suing the Obama and Biden administrations. One of Trump’s closest allies in Texas, along with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Paxton unsuccessfully sued to challenge the 2020 presidential election results in four states.
Attention now shifts to the Texas Senate, which will conduct a trial with senators acting as jurors and designated House members presenting their case as impeachment managers.
Permanently removing Paxton from office and barring him from holding future elected office in Texas would require the support of two-thirds of senators.
Impeachment was supported by 60 Republicans, including Speaker Dade Phelan and all five of the representatives from Collin County — where Paxton and his wife have lived for decades. All 23 votes in opposition came from Republicans.
Afterward, Paxton called the vote “illegal, unethical, and profoundly unjust,” adding that he looked forward to a quick resolution in the Senate.
The move to impeach came less than a week after the House General Investigating Committee revealed that it was investigating Paxton for what members described as a yearslong pattern of misconduct and questionable actions that include bribery, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice. They presented the case against him Saturday, acknowledging the weight of their actions.
“Today is a very grim and difficult day for this House and for the state of Texas,” Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, a committee member, told House members.
“We have a duty and an obligation to protect the citizens of Texas from elected officials who abuse their office and their powers for personal gain,” Spiller said. “As a body, we should not be complicit in allowing that behavior.”
Paxton supporters criticized the impeachment proceedings as rushed, secretive and based on hearsay accounts of actions taken by Paxton, who they said was not given the opportunity to defend himself to the investigating committee.
“This process is indefensible,” said Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, who complained that the vote was taking place on a holiday weekend before members had time to conduct a thorough review of the accusations. “It concerns me a lot because today it could be General Paxton, tomorrow it could be you and the next day it could be me.”
Saturday’s vote temporarily removes a controversial but influential Republican figure in Texas and nationally. He has led an office that initiated lawsuits that overturned or blocked major Biden and Obama administration policies, particularly on immigration; sought to reverse Trump’s electoral defeat in 2020; aggressively pursued voter fraud claims; and targeted hospitals that provided gender care to minors.
The Legislature had impeached state officials just twice since 1876 — and never an attorney general — but the House committee members who proposed impeachment argued Saturday that Paxton’s misconduct in office was so egregious that it warranted his removal.
“This gentleman is no longer fit for service or for office,” said committee member Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston. “Either this is going to be the beginning of the end of his criminal reign, or God help us with the harms that will come to all Texans if he's allowed to stay the top cop on the take, if millions of Texans can’t trust us to do the right thing, right here, right now.”
Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, a member of the investigative committee, used his presentation time to criticize Paxton for calling representatives as they worked on the House floor to “personally threaten them with political consequences in the next election” if they supported impeachment.
Speaking against impeachment, Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, called the process “wrong.”
“Don’t end our session this way. Don’t tarnish this institution,” Tinderholt said. “Don’t cheapen the act of impeachment. Don’t undermine the will of the voters. Don’t give Democrats another victory handed to them on a silver platter.”
The vote came as hardline conservatives supportive of Paxton’s aggressive strategy of suing the Biden administration were lining up in support of him. Trump — a close political ally to Paxton — blasted the impeachment proceedings as an attempt to unseat “the most hard working and effective” attorney general and thwart the “large number of American Patriots” who voted for Paxton.
Trump vowed to target any Republican who supported impeaching Paxton, adding after the vote: “What is our Country coming to?” In the evening, he called Abbott “missing in action,” asking followers on his Truth Social network, “Where is the Governor of Texas on his Attorney General’s Impeachment?”
As lawmakers listened to the committee members make their case, Paxton took to social media to boost conservatives who had come to his defense, including Trump, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, and conservative radio host Grant Stinchfield, who tweeted, “Kangaroo Court in Texas.”
About 90 minutes into the debate, the official Twitter account of the Texas attorney general’s office began tweeting at members of the committee to challenge some of the claims being made.
“Please tell the truth,” the agency’s account said.
Under the Texas Constitution, Paxton is suspended from office pending the outcome of the Senate trial. The Senate had recessed before the House voted to impeach, and Patrick, who presides over the Senate, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about a timeline for an impeachment trial.
Because Paxton was impeached while the Legislature was in session, the Texas Constitution requires the Senate to remain in Austin after the regular session ends Monday or set a trial date for the future, with no deadline for a trial spelled out in the law.
The constitution also allows the governor to appoint a provisional replacement. Gov. Greg Abbott had not weighed in on the calls to impeach Paxton and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
Impeachment represents the greatest political threat to date for Paxton, who has been reelected twice despite a 2015 indictment for felony securities fraud and an ongoing federal investigation into allegations of official misconduct that began in 2020.
The impeachment vote capped a tumultuous week at the Capitol. From Tuesday to Thursday:
Paxton abruptly accused Phelan of presiding over the chamber while drunk and demanded that he resign.
The House General Investigating Committee revealed it had been investigating Paxton in secret since March.
The committee heard a three-hour presentation from its investigators detailing allegations of corruption against the attorney general.
The committee’s three Republicans and two Democrats voted to forward 20 articles of impeachment to the full House.
Paxton, who was comfortably elected to a third term last year, made a rare appearance before assembled reporters Friday to criticize the process, saying he was not given a chance to present favorable evidence. He called impeachment an effort by Democrats and “liberal” Republicans to remove him from office, violating the will of voters and sidelining an effective warrior against Biden administration policies.
“The corrupt politicians in the Texas House are demonstrating that blind loyalty to Speaker Dade Phelan is more important than upholding their oath of office,” Paxton said. He added, “They are showcasing their absolute contempt for the electoral process.”
Many of the articles of impeachment focused on allegations that Paxton had repeatedly abused his powers of office to help a political donor and friend, Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.
In fall 2020, eight top deputies in the attorney general’s office approached federal and state investigators to report their concerns about Paxton’s relationship with Paul.
All eight quit or were fired in the following months, and most of the details of their allegations against Paxton were revealed in a lawsuit by four former executives who claim they were fired — in violation of the Texas Whistleblower Act — in retaliation for reporting Paxton to the authorities. Paxton’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit is awaiting action by the Dallas-based 5th Court of Appeals.
According to the lawsuit, the whistleblowers accused Paxton of engaging in a series of “intense and bizarre” actions to help Paul, including intervening in an open-records case to help Paul gain documents from federal and state investigations into the real estate investor’s businesses. They also accused Paxton of directing his agency to intervene in a lawsuit between Paul and a charity, pushing through a rushed legal opinion to help Paul avoid a pending foreclosure sale on properties and ignoring agency rules to hire an outside lawyer to pursue an investigation helpful to Paul’s businesses.
In return, the whistleblower lawsuit alleged, Paul paid for all or part of a major renovation of a home Paxton owns in Austin. Paul also helped Paxton keep an extramarital affair quiet by employing the woman Paxton had been seeing, the lawsuit said, adding that the attorney general may also have been motivated by a $25,000 contribution Paul made to Paxton’s campaign in 2018.
In their report to the House General Investigating Committee on Wednesday, the panel’s investigators concluded that Paxton may have committed numerous crimes and violated his oath of office.
Investigators said possible felonies included abuse of official capacity by, among other actions, diverting staff time to help Paul at a labor cost of at least $72,000; misuse of official information by possibly helping Paul gain access to investigative documents; and retaliation and official oppression by firing employees who complained of Paxton’s actions to the FBI.
The articles of impeachment accused Paxton of accepting bribes, disregarding his official duties and misapplying public resources to help Paul.
The articles also referred to felony charges of securities fraud, and one felony count of failing to register with state securities officials, that have been pending against Paxton since 2015, months after he took office as attorney general. The fraud charges stem from Paxton’s work in 2011 to solicit investors in Servergy Inc. without disclosing that the McKinney company was paying him for the work.
The impeachment articles also accused Paxton of obstruction of justice by acting to delay the criminal cases with legal challenges and because a Paxton donor pursued legal action that limited the pay to prosecutors in the case, causing further delays “to Paxton’s advantage.”
Taken in total, the accusations showed a pattern of dereliction of duty in violation of the Texas Constitution, Paxton’s oaths of office and state laws against public officials acting against the public’s interest, the impeachment resolution said.
“Paxton engaged in misconduct, private or public, of such character as to indicate his unfitness for office,” the articles said.
An attorney general had never before been impeached by the Legislature, an extraordinary step that lawmakers have reserved for public officials who faced serious allegations of misconduct. Only two Texas officials have been removed from office by Senate conviction, Gov. James Ferguson in 1917 and District Judge O.P. Carrillo in 1975.
If Paxton is to survive, he will need to secure the support of 11 senators. With the 12 Democratic senators likely to support his removal, any votes for acquittal would need to come from the 19 Republican members.
Several Republican senators issued statements Saturday evening warning constituents and others that their role as jurors in the upcoming impeachment trial prohibited them from discussing the case. In a television interview Thursday, Patrick said merely that he believed senators would be responsible jurors and “do their duty.”
A complicating factor is Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, Paxton’s wife. State law requires all senators to attend an impeachment trial, though whether she will recuse herself from voting is unclear.
Paxton’s political base lies in the far-right faction of the Republican Party, where he has positioned himself as a champion of conservative causes and a thorn in the side of Democratic President Joe Biden. Paxton has criticized his opponents as RINOs (Republicans in name only) who “want nothing more than to sabotage our legal challenges to Biden’s extremist agenda by taking me out.”
He also retained the backing of the state Republican Party, led by former state Rep. Matt Rinaldi, who frequently attacks Republicans he considers to be insufficiently conservative. On Friday, Rinaldi said the impeachment was Phelan’s fault for allowing Democrats to have too much influence in the House.
“The impeachment proceedings against the attorney general are but the latest front in the Texas House’s war against Republicans to stop the conservative direction of her state,” Rinaldi said in a statement.
Paxton also has maintained a close relationship with Trump and filed an unsuccessful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the 2020 presidential election. Paxton also spoke at Trump’s rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, shortly before the president’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Ken Paxton has plagued Texas for far too long. I'm glad to see a modicum of justice being done.

[WP] You and your group of friends always thought life was boring you wanted an adventure like in the books. But now in the apocalypse with monsters crawling you wish for those old days back.
Tried something different for this story and wrote the first little bit in tandem with another writer. I don't feel like our styles meshed well but I kept the results anyways.
It was Friday night and the house smelled like mom's meatloaf had just taken a dump. Ugh, the stench was so strong that I could practically taste it through my nose. I was in dire need of a shower and like, pronto! As I yanked out my scrunchie, I strutted towards the door, glancing at my reflection in the mirror. Damn, I looked good! But wait, what was I doing again? Oh yeah, I needed to make sure my obnoxious, gross pungent brother didn't try to invade my space - not that it would be anything new. I triple checked the deadbolt. It was definitely locked. Thankfully when choosing bedrooms in the new house I chose first. I obviously chose the bedroom with the attached bathroom so I wouldn't have to share with my brother. Gross!
I made my way over to the bathroom dropping a trail of meatloaf clothes along the way and into the shower. The cool air made goosebumps run over by entire body.
"This sucks, hurry up water!"
I quickly adjusted the temperature to the molten Lava setting and stepped in. A tingling sensation went from my toes all the way up until the back of my head was tingly. If my boyfriend was here he'd say I liked it hot as hell, almost hot enough to melt skin off. But he wasn't here and I enjoyed the extra clean feel I had when it was hot. I scrubbed the stench off my body, then rinsed off tilting my head back in the hot steady stream. I loved the way the steam filled the shower like a soothing hug; a blanket of extra warmth and protection. I took a deep inhale and the meatloaf was gone. The rose scented bubbles swirl down the drain and infuse the entire bathroom. I was just starting to feel relaxed and accustomed to the water. My peace and serenity was suddenly interrupted by a loud and strange noise.
"Earth to Jude. Hello? You still in there?" Ezra was shaking me roughly.
"Dude what the fuck?! I was having the best dream of a shower and you know how long it's been since we could actually have one!" I was pissed. I was in my happy place and now I'd been brought back to reality.
Reality was harsh and unforgiving. Huddled in what used to be a subway station; dark, damp and smelly. We were part of as best as we could tell a small pockets of survivors; the last of humanity. To say the rest had died would be somewhat inaccurate. They had died at some point but due to some weird illicit drug usage and vaccine reactions of patient zero they didn't stay dead long. At first the zombies moved fast and swift spreading to all but the most isolated places within a few weeks. As the supply of humans for food ran out and the zombies bodies decayed, the zombies moved much slower. This allowed the last remnants to build shelters and try to survive. It was a sad and pitiful existence. Crammed together for hours on end in almost constant darkness. Days, weeks, months, they were all meaningless now. Nobody wanted to leave the safety of the shelter and this lead to mandatoy rotating foraging excuraions. I was lucky enough to have been able to pick my best friend, her boyfriend and my boyfriend as my excursion squad. Every seven days we would scramble out of the shelter armed with makeshift weapons to defend ourselves and shoddy body armour if you could call it that. It was just old sports padding that was way too big in all the wrong places and too small where it mattered. The only entertainment was teasing each other about how ridiculous we all looked. It helped lighten the mood and kept us from thinking about what could actually happen to us.
It was ironic that back in elementary school we dreamed of dystopian futures, the collapse of civilization and a zombie apocalypse as a way to escape our mundane and boring lives. We never thought about how terrifying and sad it could actually be. It wasn't anything like the movies, people we knew. Our friends and our families we had all lost those closest to us. Living in constant fear of death from not jusy zombies but lawless humans, starvation or illness. You were as likely to die from a cut as a zombie with the lack of medical supplies and clean water. Food was scarce so you ate what you could. Before this I wondered what dog and cat food tasted like; now I not only knew the taste but its texture and how hard it was to swallow. Of course some flavors were better than others but at the end of the day it wasn't really meant for human consumption. The upside was the protein content which was hard to find, but sometimes even that wasn't enough to make it go down. Sometimes it even made me miss the terrible cafeteria food but only sometimes.
"Its time to go. Were up again for an excursion," Ezra said.
"You've got to be kidding me?! Didn't we just go on one?!" I was annoyed. The only thing worse than being brought to reality from my dream was also getting bad news at the same time.
"I know and we did but unfortunately since Denver's party never came back we're really short on supplies. This means they're sending out 3 parties instead of just one." He said quietly.
I immediately understood how bad things were. The only time multiple parties were sent out was because supplies were at critical levels. Best case scenario they would all return with some extra provisions or worst case none of them return but the reduced number of people would require less supplies. Its was win-win for those in the shelter as it put survival first and as long as you focused on that the guilty feelings would leave.
We headed to the armoury and began grabbing supplies. There we met up with best friend and best friends BF. We began suiting up: Knee pads, helmets, some oversized former football shoulder pads and elbow pads. Today I got a baseball bat with nails driven through the head to make a mace like weapon. Ezra got a dull looking pitchfork, Jessie got a bent up tire iron and Owen got a crowbar. All of the weapons looked well used already and barely hanging on. They were covered in dried blood and duct tape. Whether the blood was zombie or survivior nobody seemed to know or care. We were just grateful to have some sort of protection from the dangers outside.
Once armed we gathered near the main gate. It was a wall of iron bars, wooden planks and barbed wire with a small reinforced steel door in the middle. It was located at the bottom of the old subway stairs. I rememberes when the escalators still worked and the tiled walls were clean. The stainless steel handrails still had their shine. We would often take the subway after class to go for coffee, a movie or concert or sometimes just to get a little out of the city to star gaze. Those days were long past. Now the escalators were long dead and powerless. The walls covered in thick soot, dried blood and dirt. The handrails were bent and dinged every which way now more of a hazard than helpful. The stairs were littered with random trash and loose debris. The most obvious change was the gate at which they stood at the bottom and the matching one at the top. Only one was opened at a time like an airlock to reduce the chance of a breach.
The gate opened and slammed behind the three parties as they made their way up the stairs. Although familiar with the other two groups the climb was pretty quiet. The only sound was the soft shuffle of their feet on the stairs. As they reached the top the guards removed the large steel brace behind the solid door. Although muscular and well over six feet tall they struggled to lift it reminding us just how heavy the bar was and how serious they were on keeping everything outside on the outside.
As we left through the gate the bright sunshine in our eyes; I craved the little things I missed like sun glasses and sunscreen. Summer days spent bored and laying in the grass wishing for some apocalypse to break up the monotonous life we lived. I laughed at how ridiculous it seemed wish for this to be real and now wishing for the past. I guess life never really turns out how you expect.

First time in a long time I've done AF Friday and Saturday night. I've had a mantra for a long time which is personal advice that I don't heed very often. Treat Yourself To Something Better Than A Hangover.
It was BBQ last night, but just AF beers.
Taking myself off to the swimming pool in a bit, not been for a swim since early march.
Tomorrow,,,,,planning a morning pedal. That's the treat. It's so much easier to get up and exercise without a raging hangover (I'd just not bother really, then be unmotivated by the afternoon to do any exercise, then just drink more)
2 day stint so far. Planning on the rest of the weekend, not done this since August, afraid to say.
IWNDWYT

So me and my boyfriend are in relationship for over 3 years. At the beginning we were drinking almost every weekend or so, meeting with friends all the time etc. 2 years ago we moved to another city and since we don't have too many friends here, we slowed down with going out. Now, I like to grab a beer sometime, but mostly when we are with someone else, not just the two of us. At first I was drinking few beers on the weekends with my boyfriend, while watching a movie or something, but after a while I felt more tired during the week, I couldn't enjoy the mornings on the weekends because of hungover so at first I moderated and now I stopped almost completely (not every weekend, 1-2 beers max, other weekends I don't drink at all). He has different habits though. He still drinks every weekend. When I'm going to bed at 10/11 p.m. he says he'll be playing games or watching movies and that's fine, but he also drinks like 6-7 beers on Saturday and Sunday (sometimes Friday too - mind we are from Europe so it has 0.5l or 16.9 oz and 5-6%). I'm thinking it's too much but every time I say so, he is getting deffensive and he is saying I'm overreacting because it's not like he is passing out, vomiting or anything else, he just drinks some beers and go to sleep and it's not a big deal. He is not drinking during the week (sometimes it happens but not like every week), he's responsible at his job, he is very sweet to me and besides that we are getting along great. So how to resolve this issue with him?

Why I'm posting this
I sat in the RAINN online chat session waiting room for ~1.5 hrs and as I stared at my screen looking at the number of visitors ahead of me dwindle to (1), I suddenly wanted to exit the window and forget it again. Push it away and not dwell or analyze or pick apart. But I knew by now that if I did just push it away, I'd spend the next week thinking about not thinking about it so I stayed in the waiting room window as the number changed to a status change: I was directly next. I waited ~30 mins more, wiggling my mouse and making sure I didn't accidentally click anything. Then it froze and I was presented with an error message, alerting me to a connection issue and apologizing for the inconvenience and to just rejoin the waiting room. There were 24 people ahead of me. I just cried.
Now, I'm sitting here again staring at my computer screen and feeling defeated. I've never been one to share vulnerabilities or stories where I might even potentially be thought of as a victim or damsel in distress or unable to handle herself out in the world. My mom worries enough about me for the both of us. But I can't keep trying to convince myself that what happened happened and I should probably get STI tested. It's been the recommended 2 week wait period.
I'm sorry this is long and in some parts graphic\*, angry, and confused. And I'm sorry if this isn't the right forum, please let me know if I've messed up, and with that I'd like to present my case to myself to maybe hopefully convince myself that he was right when he said "I feel a bit rapey".
*This will be graphic because the details are so important to me**, however I want to emphasize that no one should continue to read if they begin to or believe they may be triggered by it. Your peace is too important, please protect it as best you can.** I don't "need" external validation of the story (though I can't say it wouldn't hurt? Idk) but to see it spelled out and slapped in my face for me to accept it I guess.
Before
He was the guy who lived downstairs, was friends with my roommate and played in a small makeshift band together on Friday nights (and I was lucky enough to get a front row seat to one of their performances), was roommates with another guy who had asked me if I wanted to be FWB with him at the bar the semester before everything happened (edit: I had laughed at the time and only added him on snap, but never pursued anything and neither did he). We saw each other at the gym and would acknowledge each other sometimes and other times we would carry on as if having no clue who the other was.
It was the weekend of graduation and I went out with my friend and her group of friends to the bar to celebrate. I'm not a big drinker and I had (2) drinks, one was a double and one was a single, and (1) shot of what I'm pretty sure was vodka. At the end of the night, while my friend was corralling her friends to get to the Uber, I was lightly hit on my shoulder and he was standing there. I smiled, giving him a hug when he suddenly held onto my waist and whispered that he'd always found me attractive, especially at the gym but never wanted to approach there because it was inappropriate (oh how inappropriate you'd later make the night) but now at the bar you felt emboldened by the atmosphere and alcohol to plant a kiss on my lips while holding me in my place. I remember my initial reaction was to push away, but I didn't because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Why? I wish I would've. Somehow you'd talked yourself and me into leaving the bar with us and I remember hoping my friend would say no that the Uber was only for us or something. But that's unfair to expect her to read my mind, I'm a big girl with my own voice, right? Why couldn't I use it? I remember hiding under the bar table when I told him I was going to the bathroom before leaving. Why couldn't I just speak up?
During\*
(Reiterating it, and I cannot stress this enough, please protect your peace first and foremost as best as you can)
I was so tired and sleepy. Those are the two words that I said over and over and over.
"I'm just really tired"
"I'm just really sleepy"
"I just wanna go to bed"
"Please let me sleep"
I was on my back, laying on the left side of my bed with my jeans still on with my shoelace makeshift belt still tied tightly because my pants were a bit too big. And then I wasn't wearing pants, or underwear, and neither was he. I remember repeatedly closing my eyes and my legs and he would just.. grab my calf (edit: and it was always my right leg, Idk why that strikes me but I just remember I'd close my legs and turn my hips and he would just use it that way before getting bored of that position and then grabbing my leg) and open my legs. Over and over. But all I said was I'm so tired.
I remember feeling his skin against mine and how sweaty and hot it was and how I thought about when in other situations (consensual ones I suppose is the word) I liked that part of the act, but I suddenly couldn't stand it then. I remember his sweat dripping off his brow ridge, down his nose, and onto my cheek. That's when I'd closed my eyes again and turned my head into the pillow by now because closing my eyes wasn't enough to block out the shadow of his body over me created by the stupid LED lights I turned on.
There's a specific moment in this event where he was leaning over me and I had turned my head into my pillow. Using his index and thumb he moved my head using my chin and said, "Look and me, you gotta talk to me. I'm starting to feel a bit rapey."
I said, "I'm just tired." And I kept wondering why that wasn't enough and why I couldn't just say stop, no I don't want this. I still wonder that (I know the real trauma-based reason, but the whole executing it in practice is much harder).
He finished four times. I never moved.
After
Somehow he got my number from my roommate and he texted me the next day. I deliberately chose to overlook the previous night as a drunk mistake and it wasn't anything serious or bad and I was overreacting and he was worth getting to know. It quickly turned into him asking to come over that night - me replying I was tired and needed to shower still and eat dinner and so on (never quite having the ability to say the easiest word in the English language: NO). I told him I wanted to hangout again but on a different day and I was just sleepy. I hate that word now.
But, then he texted three back-to-back-to-back messages saying I was being indecisive so he was taking matters into his own hands and deciding for the both of us and he'd be upstairs in 10 minutes. I just started crying and for the FIRST FUCKING TIME I SAID NO. I immediately said No I Don't Want That. And for 10 minutes he didn't respond and I cried holding a metal bat my mom had given me when I first moved to college.
He didn't come upstairs and he said "Fine but another night ok?" And I avoided the gym for three weeks until he moved out. I watched him pack the U-Haul from behind a tree coming back from a walk around the block, he was specifically moving his mattress in a white tank top and black shorts. And I thought, "huh he's not bad looking" and immediately bolted to my apartment hoping he didn't see me.
Now
I promise I'll end this post, and I'm sorry it's so long. But, I'm sad and processing and writing a novel is the new, free therapy (just ask Jeanette McCurdy!). Anyway, I think looking at everything and just thinking about it and what I didn't explicitly repeat in the post has convinced the inner critic that getting STI tested is the smart thing to do, especially because he didn't use a condom, even if I literally had got tested the Thursday before so it was like a waste of me getting tested I should've just waited until after that weekend to get tested I guess.
The other issue I think I had with this whole event was that I did find him attractive (taking out the behavior) so being confronted with this by someone who I would have willingly and (probably) sober-me would've happily hookedup with had the previous night not happened. Why is it harder to call an assault by someone I find/found attractive what it actually is? Because I blame myself because if I had just said yes then I wouldn't be dealing with all these thoughts? I know that's not right, but is it? Do you see the dilemma?
That's it, folks. I'll schedule my appointment tomorrow (I tell myself that now, but who knows when I'll actually do it - probably when I'm fed up with thinking I have some rare STI even though I have no symptoms of anything Idk). <3

During that first COVID summer I bought an inflatable boat (it's a real boat not a toy lol) so my wife and I could get out on some of the lakes in the parks near our house without investing in a truck & trailer. It sat in the garage unopened for the past 3 years.
I landed on cirrhosis last weekend and spiralled. Something stuck, because I've done what I couldn't do for years/over a decade - shut down the drinking.
This morning, after the first Friday I didn't drink in memory, my wife and I were having coffee together (already a great Saturday morning) and I remembered the boat. Now, I had remembered the boat several times in the past and I love being out on the water, but I had been too lazy, too out of shape, too hungover, and too unwilling to give up a socially acceptable afternoon drinking window to commit to unboxing and figuring out the damn thing.
From the time I had the idea this morning I; unboxed it, figured it out, packed in into the car, packed a full-on picnic, went to the park, paddled it across the lake where they were having an art fair, did the art fair thing, had a picnic with my wife (coke zero, no beer or white claw), got back in the boat, she did some reading I did some fishing, paddled back, and we spent the early evening heading to a few stores to get the trolling motor setup because we wanted to go back out tomorrow.
My wife said it was the best day she'd had with me in a long time. I agreed.
It's 1am on my 7th day here. IWNDWYT