Is some person or persons violating Texas law pertaining to a mailer that some Richardson voters received this week? The answer might hinge on just how many people this advertising was sent to. Even if it turns out this advertising is legal, it can be considered a rookie mistake because it was so, so easy to prevent the question in the first place. But here we are...again.
The LWV of Richardson hosted a forum for the candidates for Richardson ISD school board Monday evening at the RISD Administration Building. All four candidates participated. For District 3, Bonnie Abadie and Debbie Renteria. For Place 6, Blake Sawyer and Eric Eager. Former Richardson mayor Steve Mitchell moderated. Nine questions were asked. Here's a quick recap.
Candidates file campaign finance reports 30 days before elections. For the Richardson ISD, that means all candidates for Board of Trustees have filed reports. In recent posts, I looked at the money races for Richardson mayor and the Richardson City Council. In this post, I'll focus on the two races in Richardson ISD.
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| From 2022 07 16 Vienna |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Schönbrunn Palace the summer residence of the Habsburg rulers, just outside Vienna, Austria. The photo was deliberately chosen to pass on an important tourist tip: give yourself plenty of time to tour the palace. It's huge. You might tire out just walking across the courtyard at the entrance.
Bonus photo after the jump.
Source: Dubey for Richardson.
The mayor's race is heating up. The Dallas Morning News endorsed Janet DePuy. In its interview with her opponent, "[Bob] Dubey said Voelker’s 'micromanagement from the top down' has deterred some council members and residents from speaking at council meetings." Then, in a Facebook post, Dubey said, "I vow to show each city council person and city staff member respect and let their voices be heard." It all sounds good (if you ignore the disrespectful subtext Dubey himself shows towards Mayor Voelker), but what's really behind it?
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| From 2022 07 16 Vienna |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, Austria. I'll let Wikipedia explain what makes this place special.
Hotel Sacher is a five-star luxury hotel in Vienna, Austria, facing the Vienna State Opera in the city's central Innere Stadt district. It is famous for the specialty of the house, the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with apricot filling.Source: Wikipedia.
Bonus photos after the jump.
Candidates file campaign finance reports 30 days before elections. For the City of Richardson, that means all candidates in contested races for City Council, including mayor, have filed reports. In a recent post, I looked at the money race for mayor. In this post, I'll focus on the other City Council races. We'll look at the Richardson ISD later.
Candidates file campaign finance reports 30 days before elections. For the City of Richardson, that means candidates for City Council, including mayor, should have filed reports by now. In this post, I'll focus on the main draw on the card, the mayor's race between Bob Dubey and Janet DePuy. We'll look at the other races (and the Richardson ISD) later.
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| From 2022 07 16 Vienna |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty.
Bonus photos after the jump.
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| From 2022 07 16 Vienna |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Vienna, Austria. It shows modern Vienna, maybe an unusual view of this major city of Europe better known for its rich history. Vienna was the site of a fortress built by the ancient Romans to guard the frontier against Germanic tribes. For five hundred years it was the seat of the Hapsburg emperors. That history has resulted in so many historic buildings and sites that the city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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#VeryTardyReview
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| From 2022 07 15 Melk and Gottweig |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Göttweig Abbey on the Danube River in Austria. Founded in the 11th Century, the abbey was rebuilt in Baroque style after a catastrophic fire in 1719. The photo shows the imperial staircase, the largest Baroque staircase in Austria.
After the jump, there is a photo of the organ in Gottweig Abbey church.
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| From 2022 07 15 Melk and Gottweig |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Dürnstein Abbey and Castle on the Danube River in Austria's Wachau region. There are many castles to see on this stretch of the Danube, but Dürnstein is a highlight of any tour. The castle ruins have a history almost anyone can relate to. I'll let Wikipedia tell the story of the castle.
Dürnstein was first mentioned in 1192 when, in the castle above the town, King Richard I of England [Richard the Lionheart] was held captive by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, after their dispute during the Third Crusade. Richard the Lionheart had offended Leopold the Virtuous by casting down his standard from the walls at the Battle of Acre, and the duke suspected that King Richard ordered the murder of his cousin Conrad of Montferrat in Jerusalem. In consequence Pope Celestine III excommunicated Leopold for capturing a fellow crusader. The duke finally gave custody of the king to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who imprisoned Richard at Trifels Castle.Dürnstein Castle was almost completely destroyed by the troops of the Swedish Empire under Field Marshal Lennart Torstenson in 1645.
Source: Wikipedia.
After the jump, a photo of the abbey, with the castle ruins above.
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.
The City of Richardson has two candidates for mayor. They have different backgrounds. Their online campaigns emphasize those, illustrating the difficulty of reinventing yourself for electoral reasons. Instead, you try to put the best spin on the resume you have to work with.
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Four years ago, I wrote a blog post ("The Ice House Goeth") giving the history of a little, neglected, unused commercial building on Richardson's Main Street in old downtown. I didn't stop at the history. I also advocated for the City of Richardson to do something to preserve this little bit of its history. I didn't hear from the City at the time. I still haven't, but this week the City of Richardson's Facebook page dedicated to posting history for the City's sesquicentennial celebration lifted my blog post without attribution. They included the history I had researched, but left out all of my advocacy for the City to preserve that history. I conclude the City is interested in celebrating its history, at least every 150 years, but is less interested in preserving the history they extol.
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| From 2022 07 15 Melk and Gottweig |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Melk Abbey in Austria. It doesn't show the historic abbey (dating to 1089) sitting high above the Danube River town of Melk, Austria. Instead it shows the magnificent view from the abbey.
After the jump, a bonus photo of Melk from the abbey.
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| From 2022 07 14 Passau and Scharding |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Scharding, Germany on the river Inn, which forms the border between Germany and Austria here. The photo was taken from the German shore. The building across the river is in Austria. The building dates to 1320, when it was built by Duke Heinrich of Bavaria as a castle to protect the bridge leading to Schärding. The castle was converted to a baroque palace in 1752. Today it's a school.
From Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale-Hurston:
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Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men."
Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God: 1937 novel by a too-long forgotten author who was a pioneer of Black, feminist, American stories. Here, she tells the growing maturity of a Black woman, using Black vernacular dialect that recalls Twain's Huck Finn. A-
After the jump, my full review.
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"You shall know the person by the company he keeps." — Proverb
The City of Richardson has two candidates for mayor. If that proverb has any truth to it, it's sending a clear message to us today in those two candidates and the company they keep. It may not be everything, but it's not nothing either.
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| From 2022 07 14 Passau and Scharding |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Passau, Germany. It shows the banks of the river Inn. In the background is a cruise company's longship, similar to the Viking Gefjon that we were on. Passau is built on the pie wedge of land formed by the confluence of the river Inn with the river Danube.
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| From 2022 07 14 Passau and Scharding |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Passau, Germany. It's sited where the river Danube is joined by the river Inn from the south and the river Ilz from the north. The skyline and river make for dramatic sunsets, good enough for two photos today.
Bonus photos after the jump.
Source: Ben Hickey.
What can America learn from the French about identity politics? Google defines identity politics as "a tendency for people of a particular religion, ethnic group, social background, etc., to form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad-based party politics." The Republican Party claims that describes the Left. The Democratic Party denies it, arguing that their party is not divided by identity but organized by an ideology of diversity, equity, and inclusion of persons of all religions, ethnic groups and social backgrounds. And Americans endlessly argue about it.
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| From 2022 07 13 Regensburg |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Regensburg, Germany. Regensburg dates to Roman times. It was the site of a Roman fort at the northernmost point of the river Danube. Long story short, it's seen a lot of history.
Bonus photos after the jump.
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| From 2022 07 13 Regensburg |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Regensburg, Germany. It was taken on the island of Stadtamhof, which was once a separate village, but now serves as a entry point to the old walled city of Regensburg.
Source: DALL-E.
The Academy Awards will be given out Sunday, March 12, 2023. I've seen all the nominees for Best Picture. That means my opinion means something. Right?
I've ranked the movies in order of my preference for "Best Picture." The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science uses proportional ranked choice voting (RCV) to ensure that the winner has broad support throughout the Academy members. I wish US political elections used a similar system (or perhaps some form of proportional voting system). But that's for another post.
My personal ranked choice of the Oscar nominees is based on the grades I gave the movies immediately after seeing them. In case of ties, I ordered them by my judgment today. Note this is not my prediction of which movie will win, but how I would vote, had I a vote.
The envelope please. The winner of "The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures" goes to...
The City of Richardson has called for a bond election to raise $46 million to go toward replacing the Richardson City Hall, which has been vacant since it was damaged by fire in August, 2022. Using the numbers provided by the City, I put pencil to paper to see if I could get the City's figures to add up. Follow along with me.
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| From 2022 07 12 Nuremberg |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Nuremberg, Germany. It shows the Hangman's Bridge (Henkersteg) over the river Regnitz. Built in 1595, the wooden bridge connects the city to an island where the executioner for the city lived. It's strange how picturesque scenes can have gruesome history.
Bonus photo after the jump.
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| From 2022 07 12 Nuremberg |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Nuremberg, Germany, a thousand-year-old city in Bavaria. With that history, it has many notable events to fill its Wikipedia page, but the one most personal to me is that my great grandfather lived in a town near Nuremberg before his emigration to America in 1892. I've told that story before ("Roots"). Now, I finally managed to get back to my ancestral roots.
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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!
From The 1619 Project, by Nikole Hannah-Jones:
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Why hadn’t any teacher or textbook, in telling the story of Jamestown, taught us the story of 1619? No history can ever be complete, of course. Millions of moments, thousands of dates weave the tapestry of a country’s past. But I knew immediately, viscerally, that this was not an innocuous omission. The year white Virginians first purchased enslaved Africans, the start of American slavery, an institution so influential and corrosive that it both helped create the nation and nearly led to its demise, is indisputably a foundational historical date. And yet I’d never heard of it before."
Book Review: The 1619 Project: American history as it's rarely told, with the true story of what's been done by and to Blacks. With separate authors on chapters on democracy, capitalism, politics, citizenship, religion, music, healthcare, and more, its power builds relentlessly to a call for action at the end.
After the jump, my full review.
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| From 2022 07 11 Bamberg |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Bamberg, Germany. It shows golden yellow mushrooms (pfifferlinge) offered for sale in a street market in the center of this medieval town.
Bonus photo after the jump.
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| From 2022 07 11 Bamberg |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Bamberg, Germany. According to Wikipedia, Bamberg is "one of Germany's most beautiful towns, with medieval streets and Europe's largest intact old city wall, the old town of Bamberg has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993." This view is of the river Regnitz which runs through Bamberg close to its confluence with the river Main.
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| From MLB |
I remember listening to spring training games on the radio from Wisconsin. I remember Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, and, yes, Bob Uecker, who all played for the Milwaukee Braves when I was young. I'm that old. I remember shoveling snow from the grass in the yard to make enough room to play catch. I remember baseball.
David Letterman: "Is that right?"
Bob Uecker: “Whether it’s true or not, I’m going to tell the story.”
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Wikipedia . |
General George Washington ordered the burning of New York City in 1776 after his retreat from the city before the advancing British. Well, that's not exactly historically proven. The headline in The Atlantic article by Daniel Immerwahr is less definitive: "Did George Washington Burn New York?" There's a lot of circumstantial evidence saying he did and he wanted his involvement kept secret.
What Immerwahr does make clear is that total war is a tactic as old as, well, war itself. And the side telling the story always blames the other side for engaging in it, never themselves. And that includes George "I cannot tell a lie" Washington.
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| From 2022 07 10 Rothenburg and Wurzburg |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Würzburg, Germany. It shows a modern power station for the City. Normally, I take photos of historic sites and buildings. This one caught my eye because of the lone woman, barely visible, sitting on the steps down to the river. I thought the closeup of that made for an artsy photo. That photo is after the jump.
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| From 2022 07 10 Rothenburg and Wurzburg |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Würzburg, Germany. That's the historic city center of Würzburg in the background. In the foreground is the Old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke) over the River Main, built in the 15th Century.
Bonus photo after the jump.
The deadline to file for a place on the May ballot was February 17, 2023. The lineup for elections for City of Richardson City Council and Richardson ISD Board of Trustees is now set. Here are some mentions of the candidates in opposed races from The Wheel's archives. There is more to draw on, but these will do for first impressions. Some of these are from endorsements from past elections. Do not take any of these old quotes as an endorsement in 2023. Which candidates are worthy of endorsement in 2023 remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
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Source: Starz.
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This week, I've been exploring various rabbit warrens prompted by Lee Roddy's 1977 book, "Gallant Christian Soldier: Robert E. Lee". First, I examined Lee's purported flawless character. Then I examined Lee's purported military genius. I found both lacking. Today, I want to examine something Lee said in a letter to his wife. I want to thank Lee Roddy for including it in his biography. I learned something from it at least.
