Traffic Light Mystery

Those flashing yellow unprotected turn arrows that caused confusion and mocking in Richardson when they were introduced two years ago are finally coming to Plano. Expect the same commotion to prevail there ... until it doesn't.

But flashing yellow arrows are not what I want to talk about today. It's plain old-fashioned green and red lights, specifically the traffic signal at the intersection of Yale Blvd and Campbell Rd. That's the scene in the photo below, looking north on Yale Blvd. The school bus across the street is southbound on Yale Blvd.

Source: Google Street View.

After the jump, has anyone ever seen another case of this traffic light sequence?

Playoffs: Berkner 66, Jesuit 57

The Berkner Rams men's basketball team met their District 9-5A foe Jesuit Rangers in the third round of the UIL playoffs Tuesday night in front of a standing-room-only packed house at the neutral site of Lake Highlands HS. Berkner had won the two regular season meetings between these two teams. It's been said that it's difficult to beat a team three times in one season. The Jesuit Rangers showed the truth of the saying. After the jump, how the third meeting played out.

Review: Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power

Amazon

From Drift, by Rachel Maddow:

Remember the words of James Madison: 'The Constitution supposes, what the History of all Governments demonstrates, that the Executive is the branch of power most interested in war, and most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care vested the question of war in the Legislature.'"

After the jump, my review.

NIMBY versus NIABY

NIMBY is an acronym for the phrase "Not In My Back Yard." It's often used to describe a selfish attitude of neighborhoods that oppose some development or other simply because of its location -- that is, too close to them. There is a recognition of the need for the unpopular development, but also an insistence that someone else pay the price of living next to it. Landfills are a classic NIMBY target.

NIABY is an acronym for the phrase "Not In Anybody's Back Yard." It's a more universal stand than NIMBY, opposing some development or other as unwise no matter where it is located. NIABY would like to see the development not just moved out of one's own neighborhood, but canceled altogether. Drug houses are a classic NIABY target.

I can create scenarios where a NIMBY attitude can be right and other scenarios where it can be wrong. Same for a NIABY attitude. In this blog post, I resist the urge to issue blanket judgments. What I want to do is review various developments in Richardson and identify elements of NIMBY and NIABY thinking that they evoke. After the jump.

Playoffs: Berkner 81, Mesquite Horn 54

The Berkner Rams men's basketball team defeated the Mesquite John Horn Jaguars 81-54 Friday in the second round of the Texas UIL state playoffs. It's a great time to be a Ram!

Update: The Richardson Eagles advanced to the third round of the playoffs also with a thrilling, buzzer-beating, back-court basket by Nylan Yancy. Watch it here.

S2L77: The Plains of India

From 1977 03 02 India

The highway down the Himalayan mountains is serpentine and slow. Whereas in Nepal the mountains are everywhere hemming in the land, at the bottom is the flat plain of northern India stretching out endlessly, filled with villages and fields. At night, you see the harsh lights of gas lanterns in the unelectrified villages that line the highway. "Highway" is a generous term. Cars and buses must share the road with ox-drawn carts, bicycles and, sometimes, working elephants.

More photos after the jump.

Ft Worth Feels Snubbed by "Dallas 2024"

International Olympic Committee rules say that bids must come from a single city, but events can be organized regionally and held outside the city. So, the name "DFW 2024" won't do. Nor will "NorthTexas 2024" or "Metroplex 2024," which would never do even if the IOC was OK with it. So, "Dallas 2024" it is. The organizers are trying to be inclusive. They have pretty pictures of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, and Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. They sound like civic boosters for the whole area.

The Dallas 2024 Committee is a grassroots organization formed by area Olympians, business leaders and other members of our community who share a common goal of engaging all of North Texas with the ideals of Olympism and are preparing to initiate an Olympic bid on behalf of the City of Dallas and all of North Texas.

Source: Dallas 2024.

What's to get offended about? There's always something. After the jump.