"From launch she rises,
Skier flies like summer bird.
Olympic dreams."
— h/t ChatGPT
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| From 2024 07 07 Lillehammer |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Lillehammer, Norway, site of the 1994 Winter Olympics. With the ski jump behind her, "L" soars over Lillehammer, demonstrating mastery of the sport in her first jump.
"Olympic glory
Fades into bright flowerbeds—
Peace outlives the flame."
— h/t ChatGPT
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| From 2024 07 07 Lillehammer |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Lillehammer, Norway, site of the 1994 Winter Olympics. The city has a population of 28,560. As you can imagine, a small city that caters to tourists, even in the summer, would be very walkable. And so it is.
Source: BBC.
Habēmus Maiōrem Urbis! We Have a Mayor! Richardson elected a new mayor on May 3. Mayor Bob Dubey will be succeeded by Mayor Amir Omar. It might not make headlines the world over like the selection of Pope Leo XIV did in Rome, but it's significant news here in Richardson, Texas.
Richardson hasn't had a mayor lose re-election since 1987. That was undeniably a change election. Three council members lost, two more retired. We didn't have that kind of turnover on the council May 3. But any election that results in an incumbent mayor being sent packing is a change election. It's up to the rest of us to understand just what change the voters are looking for.
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It's often said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. In some ways, that was true in 2025. To see why, we have to go back to what I wrote in this space in 2013:
Money *did* make the Richardson mayoral election go around, but like a carnival ride that goes around and around and never gets anywhere. And here's the irony: for the backers of direct election who thought this would increase democracy, know that the cost of entry into electoral politics in Richardson just went up big time. Electoral politics in Richardson are likely to get less democratic in future, not more. Who has the deep pockets who can pay that cost of entry? Land developers, for one.
That brings me to the one money angle to this election that, had I noticed in time, I just might have made something of. Laura Maczka collected $5,000 from a developer who has come before the City Council seeking zoning approval for development projects in Richardson, and may do so again in future. That's sketchy, especially when it's this guy. It may not be illegal, but it just looks bad. Really bad.
Source: The Wheel, May 16, 2013.
Artist: John Trumbull.
On May 1, 2025, the Richardson Charter Review Commission continued their review of the Richardson Charter, covering Article 3 (City Council) and returning to Article 4 (Nomination and Election of City Council Members), as these two articles are interdependent. I anticipated big changes to Richardson's way of electing City Council, but in the end, not much was changed. Read on for details.
Still no video by the City to link you to, something that this commission isn't about to change. To paraphrase City policy: "Move along. There's nothing to see here."
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 bottom ten are shown.
2025-04-03: "Bruce Springsteen will release a boxed set of seven albums of songs never before released."
Boxed set. Tell me you are from a bygone era without telling me your name or what years your biggest hits were released.
2025-04-03: In reaction to Trump's announcement of the imposition of broad tariffs on almost all of America's trading partners, the Dollar Tree announced an immediate name change to "$1.10 Tree."
2025-04-03: The Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act was a 1930 law that implemented protectionist trade policies in the United States. The Constitution says, "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises." What I don't understand is why did Congress cede this power to the President?
Thomas More: "I have one question to ask the witness. That's a chain of office you are wearing. May I see it? The red dragon. What's this?"
Cromwell: "Sir Richard is appointed Attorney-General for Wales."
Thomas More: (Looking into Rich's face, with pain and amusement) "For Wales? Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world . . . But for Wales!"
Source: A Man for All Seasons.
Election Day is near. This campaign season has had more people selling their souls with smears in text messages, robocalls, and mailers than any election since the 2013 election for mayor. I sometimes felt like I needed a shower after rebutting some of the attacks. The largest number and most hurtful of the smears came from the Dubey camp. They are spending thousands of dollars trashing a man's reputation in an effort to prevent him from becoming mayor for Richardson. Not the world, but for Richardson! It reminds me of that fateful scene in "A Man for All Seasons" where Thomas More confronts his false accuser, Richard Rich, in court. "But for Wales!"
As this is (probably) the last blog article I'll write before the election, I feel like I should document some of the questions I've never gotten to the bottom of. It wasn't for lack of trying.
