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| From 2024 12 22 Rome |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from a cafe by the River Tiber outside Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. It's where we stopped on our walk back to our hotel from the Vatican to enjoy hot chocolate. Our family's Christmas Eve in Rome will forever be our favorite Christmas memory.
A bonus photo is after the jump.
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| From 2024 12 22 Rome |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The photo was taken on Christmas Eve during our family vacation in Rome. We witnessed (via a big screen TV in Vatican Square) Pope Francis opening the Jubilee Door.
A bonus photo is after the jump.
I've been keeping a collection of civic virtues that I once thought were generally non-controversial in American politics, but as I get older I'm finding aren't universally valued at all. Civic virtues like tolerance, compromise, and civility, even virtues like kindness, and democracy itself are no longer valued by some.
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Netflix
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Disney+
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Netflix
The Richardson City Council's "Rules of Order and Procedure", as approved by Resolution No. 24-03 on February 26, 2024, is the single best place to get your questions answered about how things are run at City Hall on Monday nights. I don't have a change history for that document, but rereading it just now, I see that it (finally) answers questions that I first had years ago. I still have some ideas on future changes needed.
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| From 2024 12 22 Rome |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Victor Emmanuel II Monument in Rome. It's at the head of the Roman forum, but it looks too modern to be from ancient Rome. That's because it is modern. According to Wikipedia, "The monument would celebrate the legacy of the first king of a united Italy and would become a symbol of national patriotism. The project was realized by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885, in an eclectic style."
A bonus photo is after the jump.
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| From 2024 12 22 Rome |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The "lady in red" is Dessy.
"Ancient hall of Rome.
A single spark of crimson
contrasts with gray stone."
—h/t ChatGPT
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| From 2024 12 22 Rome |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Capitoline Museums in Rome. I don't know much about the statue itself, even its age. I neglected to look at the information sign for it — my bad. But, according to EBSCO, an online research service, "Grotesque art is a decorative style characterized by strange, fantastic human and animal forms interwoven with elaborate designs and natural elements, such as plants. Originating in ancient Rome, this style gained renewed interest during the Italian Renaissance after the discovery of the Domus Aurea, Emperor Nero's lavish palace. Artists of the Renaissance, including Raphael and Hieronymus Bosch, embraced grotesque motifs, creating imaginative and playful artworks that contrasted with the era's emphasis on realism. The term "grotesque," derived from the Italian word for cave, evolved to encompass both whimsical and absurd elements, which often included bizarre combinations of figures and intricate patterns. While grotesque art peaked in the sixteenth century, its influence persisted, inspiring later artists like Francisco de Goya."
"Whimsy and terror,
A scream frozen in marble,
Absurdly grotesque."
— h/t ChatGPT
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Prime
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Netflix
Graphic by City of Richardson.
The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best, 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 ten worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores for last month. Not all Richardson restaurants are included in this ranking. Each month, different restaurants are visited by the Health Department. Only those visited last month are ranked here. Only the lowest scores are shown.
Graphic by City of Richardson.
Note: This post is late. July's scores were not published on time. (My Bad).
The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best, 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 ten worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores for July. Not all Richardson restaurants are included in this ranking. Each month, different restaurants are visited by the Health Department. Only those visited last month are ranked here. Only the lowest scores are shown.
2025-08-05: "Progressivism — forgive me, left-wing readers — has a conformity problem. Even more than on the right, there are incredible social pressures in left-wing circles to not say anything objectionable. (On the right, by contrast, it seems that you get rewarded the more objectionable things you can say.)"
-- David Brooks.
I can't say he's wrong.
2025-08-08: Headline: "Texas GOP sics FBI on absent Democrats as Texas Senate panel advances gerrymandered congressional map."
I'm old enough to remember when the Texas GOP wanted nothing more than the feds to stay out of Texas's business. I guess it was never about states' rights at all.