2023-10-04: Headline: "THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH IS BREAKING APART." In fact, the church has been breaking apart since Martin Luther. Or since 1054. Take your pick. It's like Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there will be a schism." (Matthew 18:20).
"Every religion is crazy, by definition, to a nonbeliever." — Jeffrey Weiss
I miss Jeffrey Weiss. He wore multiple hats at The Dallas Morning News. For a while, he covered the Richardson ISD. Remember the days when The Dallas Morning News assigned reporters to Richardson? I do. For a while, he wrote for the Religion section of the newspaper. Remember when The Dallas Morning News even had a Religion section? I do. Writing for "Politics Daily" way back in 2010 (see, I told you Weiss wore many hats), Weiss called for a movement against “political nastiness,” coining the term "civilogue" for more civil speech in the public square. I do miss Jeffrey Weiss.
2023-09-01: "Dan Patrick says he won't accept donations during impeachment trial." He wants to remove the appearance of "the trial being wide open to outside political influence."
Logically, doesn't this mean he should quit accepting campaign contributions during regular sessions, too, to remove the appearance of legislation being wide open to outside political influence? Which it is, of course.
2023-08-02: Today's NextDoor top post:
"I am trying to understand why people say climate change isn't real.
It's 107 degrees."
The post was promptly deleted.
Because, of course it was.
2023-08-03: She asked, "I need WOWZA headshots. Who do you recommend?"
Without thinking, I answered, "Charlize Theron. No contest."
And that's how I got canceled.
2023-08-10: A person I was with, seeing a car's license plate bracket: "Dickinson State University. Where is that?"
Me, shrugging: "Dunno. But my guess would be it's now in the Big Ten."
2023-08-22: I ate in a fast-food restaurant today. At the POS machine the woman who waited on me told me to press "No tip" when it asked. I hesitated. She explained, "We don't get the tips. The manager does, and he's not here."
More random thoughts can be found on Mastodon.
Are you in the camp of people who think celebrities (singers, actors, athletes) are overpaid? If so, I understand where you are coming from. But Paul Krugman, economics columnist for the New York Times, isn't so sure. He provides some facts that caused me to change my mind. Try changing your mind now and then. I highly recommend the feeling it gives you. Now Paul Krugman has me asking, is Taylor Swift perhaps underpaid?
2023-07-01: In the "Black Mirror" episode "Beyond the Sea" (S6, E3), astronauts on a deep space mission get R&R by periodically transferring their consciousness to replicas on Earth. If this technology exists, why wouldn't NASA use it the other way around, sending replicas into space and keeping the humans safe on Earth, except when needed in space?
2023-07-03: Life would be easier to figure out if it were accompanied by melodramatic music like in bad movies.
2023-07-03: I'm reminded of when I taught high school in Australia in 1976. I told my students that in honor of the upcoming American bicentennial, there would be no school on July 4. An initial burst of excitement was quicky followed by irritation when they realized July 4, 1976, fell on a Sunday.
2023-06-01: Mike Pence is the 2024 presidential campaign's Connor Roy.
Headline: "Mike Pence is a man without a constituency."
2023-06-01: Ted Lasso series finale (with spoilers): True to the end, Ted Lasso stays nice win or lose. Laughs were never the main goal here (warm fuzzies were), and became less a goal as the series wore on. Series could continue without Ted, with a sharper edge (I'd watch that), but won't. B-
2023-06-04: TIL: "In a typical year, the country builds more three-car garages than one-bedroom apartments."
How Parking Ruined Everything - The Atlantic
2023-05-02: Headline: "2023 NFL Draft team-by-team grades: Eagles, Steelers and Lions clean up; Cowboys, Patriots among worst marks."
Time for a new general manager. Amiright???
2023-05-03: UT-Dallas is an asset for Richardson that the City should leverage.
"Allegro officials cited the number of other technology companies in the area and the talent pipeline created by The University of Texas at Dallas as reasons for expanding to the city."
2023-05-03: The cost of Brexit to Great Britain:
"By 2024, the average British household will likely have a lower living standard than the average household in Slovenia. On present trends, the average British household will be poorer than the average in Poland by 2030."
The Costs of Brexit Are Undeniable Now - The Atlantic
2023-05-08: You know, back in my day, someone who seemed to be obsessed with guns was looked at suspiciously and often reported to police. Today, such a person is considered by many to be just another patriotic American.
2023-04-02: Jeff Leach had it coming:
"Texas GOP lawmaker is tricked into reading dirty names during committee meeting."
2023-04-07: "On a vote of 86-52 the Texas House adopts amendment to ban school vouchers."
Richardson's representative, Angie Chen Button, who campaigns on a message of supporting public schools, votes to support vouchers.
2023-03-01: Headline: "'Havana syndrome' not caused by energy weapon or foreign adversary, intelligence review finds."
That leaves "lab leak" as the only logical explanation, say conspiracy theorists.
2023-03-03: Pet peeve time: When people are awarded something, they should be "grateful and honored," not "grateful and humbled." You'd think a school board trustee would know the difference.
OK, time to get back to our normal business of arguing whether it's crazy for a husband and wife to order the same entree in a restaurant.
2023-02-01: Irony: "As Officers Beat Tyre Nichols, a Crime-Prevention Camera Watched Over Them."
2023-02-01: "If football fans are far and away the most TV-destructive sports fans, then Cowboy fans are far and away the most TV-destructive football fans. In a way, this makes sense: No team has combined a sense of entitlement to victory with a consistent failure to achieve it in quite the way Dallas has over the past 25 years."
He's not wrong.
2023-02-01: The best of neighborhood Facebook:
"I did see several kids sliding down hills on the golf course. They have been reported to Oncor. Thanks!"
(posted on a snow day that closed schools in Texas)
2023-02-03: Judging by when I saw the announcements, Richardson ISD led Dallas ISD and Plano ISD in calling off school on Friday due to several factors related to this week's ice storm. RISD, always a step ahead!
2023-01-01: Headline: "Teary Bolsonaro calls loss unfair, condemns violence, flies to Florida."
Florida, the refuge of criminal ex-presidents everywhere.
Brazilian president mimics Trump in two out of three.
2023-01-01: The football gods meted out justice. Ohio State couldn't even win their own conference. They had no business playing for the national championship. Of course TCU lost its conference championship game, but they did have their conference's best overall record. Georgia is the only deserving champion, despite winning because of Ohio State's last-second, missed field goal. Football isn't fair.
2023-01-03: The closed meetings Republicans in Congress are having right now to decide whether to support Kevin McCarthy as Speaker could never happen if Congress had to follow rules like the Texas Open Meetings Act. Is that good or bad?
2023-01-04: The late great Arizona Rep. Mo Udall once said, "You know the difference between a cactus and a caucus? A cactus has the pricks on the outside."
-- Matthew Dowd
2022-11-23: I just migrated from one Mastodon server to another. Unknown to me when I did this, my old posts did not migrate. I only lost a few posts, so it's no big deal, but, I'm starting fresh (again).
2022-11-23: Mastodon's decentralized, distributed server system is good. It helps ensure against a failure of the whole system. But if migration of one's post history from one server to another isn't possible, then one big benefit of the distributed system is lost.
2022-11-29: We are enjoying unusually good fall colors here in Richardson, Texas...and beautiful weather for at least a day or so.
2022-11-30: Periodic reminder: Confederate Heroes Day is still a state holiday in Texas.
2022-12-02: The fact that even Texas state legislators are asked to sign NDAs in order to get access to information about the Uvalde shootings shows how broken our government's willingness to share information is.
2022-12-04: It's long past time for Jerry Jones to step away from the Dallas Cowboys. His era, 1957, which he has never adequately stepped away from, is long gone.
2022-12-05: On the Richardson City Council agenda is an item to review the city's social media launch for its Convention and Visitors Bureau. I find it ironic that the City wants to promote a Visitors Bureau so soon after passing an ordinance to discourage short term rentals.
2022-12-07: If the Georgia run-off taught us one thing, it's that R’s need to focus on candidate quality. Like maybe not think of wanting to run someone whose namesake company has been convicted of 17 counts of felony tax fraud.
2022-12-07: "Volodymyr Zelensky" (sic) is TIME's POYY (sic).
2022-12-08: Headline: "WNBA star Brittney Griner released from Russian prison in a high-profile prisoner swap."
Thanks, Joe.
2022-12-08: Finally, something both Dems and GOP can celebrate.
Dems thankful for an American released.
GOP for a Russian.
2022-12-09: According to RISD policy "Access to challenged material shall not be restricted during the reconsideration process."
If, as a poster elsewhere alleges, the district has begun pulling books from shelves and classroom libraries for "review"" in response to parents' complaints, then the RISD is violating their own policy. This seems like an allegation that needs to be answered.
2022-12-13: Tornado watch in effect for most of North Texas. Nothing says winter in Texas like tornadoes. With climate change, tornado season is now pretty much from January to December. [/snark]
2022-12-13: Despite today's exciting news, when will fusion energy be cost-effective? That's still decades away. Why? It's because we're not serious about investing in it. The US invests $700 million/year on fusion research. Sounds like a lot. But compare that to the current cost of a single SLS/Orion moon rocket of $4.1 billion per launch. Then tell me which investment we're serious about.
2022-12-15: I've been told by a good source inside the district that, this year, they know of only one book that has been removed from RISD inventory for failure to meet district criteria. Something is going on, but it doesn't appear to be exactly what's being alleged.
2022-12-15: I drove by a street corner in Dallas yesterday where a grizzled old man was standing on the corner with a cardboard sign that read: "Lost my job as a stripper. Need $$$ for glitter."
2022-12-15: One case where the actor's name seems better suited for a sci-fi character than the name the fiction writers actually gave him: Diego Luna as Cassian Andor.
2022-12-16: I'm at a Christmas concert and they have the music program online. It's great. I can have my phone out and my eyes glued to the screen and everyone thinks I'm following along.
2022-12-16: I keep seeing stories about "Twitter Files this" and "Twitter Files that." Each time I expect it to be "Twitter Files Bankruptcy".
2022-12-21: CNN: "Zelensky on his way to Washington in US military jet to meet Biden as war with Russia enters new phase."
Wait. What? I saw nothing wrong with reporting Elon Musk's whereabouts, but if there is one person who needs privacy while in the air, it's Zelensky.
After the jump, more random thoughts.
After the jump, more random thoughts.
After the jump, more random thoughts.
After the jump, more random thoughts.
After the jump, more random thoughts.
After the jump, more random thoughts.
After the jump, more random thoughts.