TIL: US is Choosing to be Poorer

Donald Trump might be the Xenophobe-in-Chief, but both political parties are moving to the right on immigration. This will have a negative impact on GDP, posing threats to everything from Social Security to housing.

Boy Swallows Universe (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Boy Swallows Universe (TV 2024): Australian boy grows up in a broken home surrounded by deadbeat dad, drug-dealing stepdad, hardluck mom, and assorted bullies and crims. Somehow the kid manages not just to survive, but to thrive. Part fantasy, part crime story, altogether captivating. B+

Daisy Jones & the Six (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Daisy Jones & the Six (TV 2023): Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. This is NOT Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, although the filmmakers wouldn't mind if that's what gets you to watch. The two lead singers are both selfish brats who are soulmates, but they are toxic together. It's the TV series that ends up poisoned. B-

Lessons in Power

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
— Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass is not wrong, just incomplete. He was referencing slavery. It took a Civil War to get Texans (and other Southerners, but I live in Texas so let's keep this close to home) to concede their power to hold other human beings in bondage. When it comes to much less consequential matters, people sometimes concede power without a second thought. Sometimes they might not even realize that's what they're doing. The Richardson City Council is in process of ceding power to the Mayor, without a demand. It's an implicit power that Richardson Mayors have wielded since forever, soon to be made explicit by a compliant City Council. See "Committee Appointments" in "Council Recap: Rules of Procedure" for details.

POTD: Closing the Book on Australia

"Monochrome fetish.
Bookshelf swap, a little game.
Order soon restored."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 04 01 Darwin

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken on our visit to Darwin, our last stop in Australia. The interior decorator on the Viking Mars cruise ship that we traveled on had a monochrome design fetish, as the bookshelves in various public rooms were ordered by color. Just wanting to mess with their heads, I sometimes swapped a book from one shelf to another, just to see how long it would take before the staff put things back in Viking's preferred order. I was never disappointed.

A bonus photo is after the jump.