From On the Calculation of Volume (Book I), by Solvej Balle:
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| From 2025 03 23 Chiang Mai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at a food store at the foot of Doi Suthep, the site of a popular temple. As healthful as I imagine the products on sale here to be, we didn't partake.
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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| From 2025 03 23 Chiang Mai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. According to Wikipedia, it "is a Theravada Buddhist temple (wat) in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. The temple is often referred to as "Doi Suthep" although this is actually the name of the mountain where it is located. It is a sacred site to many Thai people...The temple is said to have been founded in 1383 when the first stupa was built."
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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In theatres
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AppleTV
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Netflix
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer.
I first wrote about the loss of values in American politics in 2011, with "Civility: What's Not To Like?". But "civility" was not the first word to transform from being a value to being offensive. I wrote in 2017: For me, "it started with 'tolerance'. Long ago, I was surprised to learn that tolerance is not universally considered to be a virtue. (Tolerance was imagined to be synonymous with approval - approval of gays, of Muslims, of sin.) Then, I learned that 'compromise' is not universally considered to be a virtue, either. (Compromise was imagined to require a surrender of principle.)" That article was called, "Now Kindness is a Dirty Word, Too".
Now in 2025, I learned a whole bunch of other words that have transformed from being values to being offensive. Also, I learned an explanation of what's behind it.
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| From 2025 03 23 Chiang Mai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at an umbrella factory in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Beautiful. That is all.
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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| From 2025 03 23 Chiang Mai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at an Elephant Sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Think of it as a retirement home for elephants who age out of being worked in the logging industry, in circuses, in zoos. Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Camp 6 is an internationally accredited elephant camp with recognized welfare standards. It falls into the category of ethical tourism-funded sanctuaries. Tourists still interact with the elephants, feeding them, petting them, bathing them. It's probably a good middle ground that generates income for animal welfare. Anyway, that's our story and we're sticking with it.
Bonus photos are after the jump.
From "Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane", by S. Frederick Starr:
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Hulu
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Netflix
Source: Richardson Convention & Visitors Center.The 1% of CityLine that makes all the brochures
We all know where you can get to from Arapaho Station: wherever DART goes. What I want to know is where the City of Richardson will get to with the redevelopment of Arapaho Station. Is CityLine an exemplar of how it should be done or a cautionary tale?
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| From 2025 03 22 Chiang Rai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Wat Rong Khun Temple (White Temple) in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. According to Wikipedia, "The White Temple was created by master Chalermchai Kositpipat, the national artist who designed, constructed, and opened it to visitors in 1997."
Contrast it with the newer Blue Temple, also in Chiang Rai.
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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| From 2025 03 22 Chiang Rai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in an Akha village near Chiang Rai, Thailand. These two people speak languages without a word in common, yet without a word, both could share a dance game that originated in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. Laughter is a universal language.
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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Netflix
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HBO Max
#VeryTardyReview
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Netflix
Source: Dallas International District.
"At long last, development is coming: six stories/296 luxury
apartments of approximately 2600 square feet, ground floor restaurant
and retail."
— Candy's Dirt
No, we're not talking about downtown Richardson, where we're going to get the ho-hum, sticks-and-bricks, four-story apartments (Polk Street Residences) with the least amount of "retail ready" space possible that still allows the city to call it mixed-use.
We're also not talking about Richardson's future Arapaho DART Station redevelopment, where we're going to get...who knows what?
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| From 2025 03 22 Chiang Rai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in a classroom in the Karen ("Long Neck") village near Chiang Rai, Thailand. School wasn't in session, but these two girls were in attendance anyway.
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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| From 2025 03 22 Chiang Rai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in the Karen ("Long Neck") village near Chiang Rai, Thailand. The Karen people are indigenous to Myanmar, but, according to Wikipedia, "Due to the ongoing insurgency, hundreds of thousands of Karen fled to refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border...Approximately 400,000 Karen live in Thailand, where they are by far the largest of the hill tribes."
Bonus photos are after the jump.
On December 1, 2025, following the regular council meeting ("Council Recap: 2026 Bond Money for Streets"), the Richardson City Council adjourned and moved to a small conference room in the back of city hall and opened a special called meeting out of the camera's reach. There's no official video record of this meeting.
I was present (at least until the special meeting went into executive session to discuss candidates for quasi-judicial boards). Mine might be the only eyewitness account of this meeting by the Richardson City Council. I could have video recorded the public part of the meeting. The public interest would be better served by making all such council meetings accessible to everyone, even those who can't make it to meetings in person.
The Richardson City Council met Monday, December 1, 2025. There were two agenda items that I want to discuss. Video of the full meeting is available, as usual, on the City's website.
Just kidding. The second agenda item I want to discuss was part of the council's special called meeting, held in a back room, and not recorded. But I found my way back there and will have a thing or two to say about that meeting in tomorrow's post.
Graphic by City of Richardson.
The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best and most diverse dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). But that doesn't mean every restaurant in Richardson exceeds in every measure. Here is a list of the worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores from inspections last month. Not all Richardson restaurants are inspected each and every month. Only those inspected last month are ranked here. Only the lowest scores are shown.
2025-11-04: BREAKING: Dick Cheney, one of the most powerful vice presidents in United States history, has died.
I guess now we'll find out, once and for all, whether George W Bush can speak.
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| From 2025 03 22 Chiang Rai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Rong Suea Ten Temple (Blue Temple) in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. According to Wikipedia, "Its final design was realized by Chiang Rai folk artist Mr. Phuttha Kabkaew. He gained skills and learned from Chalermchai Kositpipat while working on his famous Wat Rong Khun, just outside the city. Wat Rong Suea Ten's main building was completed on 22 January 2016. It took 11 years to complete the construction...It follows in the unconventional 'neo-traditional' style of Buddhist art pioneered by Chalermchai, employing lavishly ornamented sculptures and psychedelic visual imagery."
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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| From 2025 03 22 Chiang Rai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken outside our lunch spot in the Golden Triangle of southeast Asia. According to Wikpedia, "The Golden Triangle is a large, mountainous region in northeastern Myanmar, Northern Thailand and northern Laos, centered on the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. The Golden Triangle has been one of the largest opium-producing areas of the world since the 1950s. Today, the Thai side of the river confluence, Sop Ruak, has become a tourist attraction with no opium cultivation."
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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Peacock
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Netflix
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The Dallas Morning News.
This post isn't about upcoming elections in four cities to withdraw from DART. For that, see "DART Plays Chicken with Plano". No, this post is about how Plano is getting input from Plano's residents. According to The Dallas Morning News, "Plano is also forming a citizen's committee to look at the future of its regional transit. The Collin County Connects Committee will explore alternative transit options and providers, according to Plano's transit site. Each of Plano's eight City Council members will appoint one Plano resident to serve on the committee."
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| From 2025 03 22 Chiang Rai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Golden Triangle of southeast Asia. According to Wikpedia, "The Golden Triangle is a large, mountainous region in northeastern Myanmar, Northern Thailand and northern Laos, centered on the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. The name "Golden Triangle" was coined by Marshall Green, a U.S. State Department official, in 1971 in a press conference on the opium trade. The Golden Triangle has been one of the largest opium-producing areas of the world since the 1950s. Most of the world's heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century when opium production in Afghanistan increased. Myanmar was the world's second-largest source of opium after Afghanistan up to 2022, producing some 25% of the world's opium, forming part of the Golden Triangle. Today, the Thai side of the river confluence, Sop Ruak, has become a tourist attraction, with the House of Opium Museum, a Hall of Opium, a Golden Triangle Park, and no opium cultivation."
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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| From 2025 03 22 Chiang Rai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Choui Fong Tea Plantation in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. It's a family-owned and operated tea producer founded in 1977.
Bonus photos are after the jump.
When I read something that changes my mind, I sit up and take notice. In two recent posts on Facebook, I said I learned, contrary to my earlier beliefs, that younger generations in America are doing OK compared to older generations, at least as measured by income and wealth. I used the two graphs above as evidence.
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Hulu
#VeryTardyReview
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Prime
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Disney+
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Netflix
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| From 2025 03 20 Sukhothai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at a temple complex in Sukhothai, Thailand, the ancient capital of the first Siamese kingdom in north-central Thailand. The kingdom expanded to its greatest extent during the reign of Ram Khamhaeng the Great (1279—1298).
A bonus photo is after the jump.
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| From 2025 03 20 Sukhothai |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at a roadside stop by Khao No (Monkey Mountain) in central Thailand. A roadside stop where hundreds of monkeys gather in hopes of getting a free meal from tourists who stop. For the physically fit (a category in which I no longer include myself), there's a steep trail with stairs and ladders to the top of the 300 meter mountain, which despite its modest height offers impressive views.
Bonus photos are after the jump.
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Netflix
Based on "Destiny of the Republic", reviewed by The Wheel in 2012.
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Max
Source: "¡Que Onda! Magazine".
On October 27, 2025, the Richardson City Council reviewed and discussed the city's housing needs assessment and strategy. In two hours and fifteen minutes, the words "homeless" and "unhoused" were spoken exactly zero times.
The City of Houston shows how it should be done. It's an option that the City of Richardson needs to have on the table if it's serious about doing something about homelessness.
Plano, and Farmers Branch, Highland Park, and Irving have all called spring elections for their voters to decide whether to withdraw from DART. According to WFAA, Plano "has until 45 days before the election to call off the vote, and Mayor John Muns says he's hopeful they'll do just that after negotiating a better deal with DART. And the Mayor has an offer: Let us pay half a penny of every dollar collected through sales tax instead of the current full penny, and we’ll get rid of the buses, but keep the rail."
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| From 2025 03 17 Central Thailand |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at an assembly at "North of Bangkok’s hum,
the schoolyard blooms with rhythm—
every grin a song."
h/t ChatGPT
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| From 2025 03 17 Central Thailand |
Today's photo-of-the-day was taken at the Wat Chaiwatthanaram, a Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya north of Bangkok, Thailand. I could bore you with a bunch of photos of the old temple. Or hopefully catch your interest with a photo of a young woman who was visiting the site on the day we were.
Now the boring stuff. According to Wikipedia, "The temple was constructed in 1630 by the king, Prasat Thong, as the first temple of his reign, as a memorial of his mother's residence in that area. The temple's name literally means the Temple of long reign and glorious era. It was designed in Khmer style to gain Buddhist merit and as a memorial to his mother, however Prince Damrong believed it was built to celebrate Ayutthaya Kingdom's victory over Longvek."
A bonus photo of a tourist photobombing the temple is after the jump.
"The only solution to homelessness is housing. Start from there
and all the other issues of those living on the streets can be
addressed."
— Christy Respress, Executive Director of Pathways to Housing DC.
On October 27, 2025, the Richardson City Council reviewed and discussed the city's housing needs assessment and strategy. In two hours and fifteen minutes, the words "homeless" and "unhoused" were spoken exactly zero times.
On November 3, 2025, the City Council reviewed and discussed the city's unhoused initiatives. In just under an hour of discussion, that previous meeting about the city's housing needs assessment was referenced exactly zero times. It was like homelessness and housing needs were two completely different problems. Some of us are living on the same planet but in different worlds.
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Netflix
#VeryTardyReview
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Max
