Mayor's Conflict of Interest

Source: City of Richardson.

Two documents have been filed with the City of Richardson that demand further explanation.

1. Local Government Officer Conflicts Disclosure Statement by Mayor Laura Maczka
2. Conflict of Interest Questionnaire by Mark Jordan of JP Realty Partners

In the first, filed March 19, 2015, Mayor Maczka discloses a business relationship with JP Realty Partners involving "leasing, marketing & communications." In the second, also filed March 19, 2015, Mark Jordan discloses that Mayor Maczka is "receiving or likely to receive taxable income" from JP Realty Partners.

Comet Town Is Coming

Source: Dallas Business Journal.

The long-planned Comet Town is finally getting close to ground-breaking. OK, it's not called that anymore (probably for the better). It's called Northside at UT Dallas (a mouthful; most will probably call it just Northside). Judging from the photo, it holds some promise of being mixed-use, just like the recently announced planned development west of the DART station at 75 and the Bush turnpike. That's all good.

Repeat Tweets: ISIS Bans Evolution

Repeat tweets from March, 2015:

• Mar 2 2015: Headline: "ISIS Bans Teaching Evolution In Schools." I must have missed it. When did Texas SBOE join ISIS? talkingpointsmemo.com
• Mar 2 2015: MT @TexasTechMBB "I think the future is very bright." -- Tubby Smith. Well, d'oh. He's got Berkner's Keenan Evans!
• Mar 3 2015: 3rd round playoffs. Final: Berkner 59, Skyline 53. It's a great time to be a Ram. #txhshoops
• Mar 3 2015: Headline: "Congress approves Homeland Security Funding." 166 GOP reps voted not to fund border security. So much for that coming first.
• Mar 3 2015: Headline: "Alabama Supreme Court halts same-sex marriage." Time for some federal marshals in Alabama again. cbsnews.com

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Citizenfour (2014)

IMDB

Citizenfour (2014): Greenwald interviews Snowden in Hong Kong hotel room. Oscar winning doc. Serious issue; dull cinema. One-sided. C+

Illegal Freestanding Structure?

Illegal freestanding structure? I hope not. Little Free Library.

In my neighborhood in Seattle, these adorable book-lending birdhouses liven up almost every other block. Whenever I see one -- even if I'm mid-run rocking out to Nicki Minaj -- I stop, I look, and I smile up at the sky thinking, "God, I love this city." Little Free Libraries give you that kind of feeling -- they just do.

Source: Grist.

Finding Vivian Maier (2014)

IMDB

Finding Vivian Maier (2014): Private, eccentric hoarder who took 100,000 great street photos but never shared. Want more of her photos. B+

Now You See Me (2013)

IMDB

Now You See Me (2013): I wish I hadn't. I never suspended disbelief in the hole-filled plot. Movie magic, yes. Movies about magic, no. C+

Copenhagen (2014)

IMDB

Copenhagen (2014): Too young Effy befriends too immature Will seeking his long-lost grandfather. Not creepy. Charming. City is a co-star. B+

Exceptionalism or Tribalism

I've never been a fan of Exceptionalism, the notion that the U.S. is favored by God and is exempt from historical forces that have affected other countries. I've believed those who hold this notion to be guilty of, at best, hubris and at worst, preposterousness.

Even though I can't subscribe to (capital "E") Exceptionalism, I do believe that American history is (small "e") exceptional. I used to think the difference between (capital "E") Exceptionalism and (small "e") exceptional was a difference of degree, not kind. But something Paul Krugman said recently has changed my mind.

Review: 1493

Amazon

From 1493, by Charles C. Mann:

What happened after Columbus, this new research says, was nothing less than the forming of a single new world from the collision of two old worlds -- three, if one counts Africa as separate from Eurasia. Born in the sixteenth century from European desires to join the thriving Asian trade sphere, the economic system for exchange ended up transforming the globe into a single ecological system by the nineteenth century -- almost instantly, in biological terms."

After the jump, my review.