Thursday, May 13, 2021

POTD: Portrait of an Egyptian Man

From 2019 11 20 Abu Simbel
Today's photo-of-the-day is of an unidentified Egyptian, taken on the ferry from the Temple of Philae on Agilkia Island back to the marina at Aswan.

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

"Cruelty is the Greater Compassion"

Chico, California, is not Richardson, Texas. But recent events there have a lesson for us here. The story is in The Intercept. In 2018 the Camp Fire burned the neighboring town of Paradise to the ground. Residents of Chico welcomed thousands of evacuees, opening their homes and shelters and turning parks and even a Walmart parking lot into campgrounds, with the Chico residents donating tents and sleeping bags. But...there always has to be a but.

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Tenet (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes
Tenet (2020): Action thriller. Our hero stops WW III by keeping evil arms dealer from getting plutonium, but the threat isn't nuclear war, it's inverted time. Bad guys use, not time travel, but reverse time. Events happen backwards. Maybe it all makes sense, but I doubt it. C+

Monday, May 10, 2021

RPD is Eager to Move On

The Richardson Police Department is eager to move on. Not everyone. The rank and file still have a complaint they want investigated. Let's just say the City Manager, to whom the department reports, wants to move on. From what, you ask? Pull up a chair. This will take a while.

The nominal need to move on is that long-time Police Chief Jim Spivey is retiring at the end of May. So, in a Friday news dump, the City named Assistant Chief Gary Tittle as the new Police Chief effective June 1. But before we get distracted by the new chef, we have some other pots simmering on the stove to deal with.

Friday, May 7, 2021

Single-Member Districts in RISD are a Winner

The recent election for two Richardson ISD trustees completes the transition to a new election system that consists of five single-member districts and two at-large places. Or rather, the run-off election June 5 for the at-large Place 7 will complete the transition. And if there's anything that demonstrates the need for single-member districts it's the voting map for that at-large Place 7 election.

Dallas County Elections