The Wheel

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Joji (2021)

Joji (2021): India. Inspired by Macbeth, loosely. Stern family patriarch suffers a stroke and a family fight ensues. Son's greed for an early inheritance leads to a spiral of worsening consequences. No witches, no prophecies, but in the end, that fatal flaw leads to tragedy. B-

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Paved A Way: The Battle of Village Creek


	Amazon

If you have studied the history of Richardson, Texas, you have probably come across this marker in McKamy Spring Park in Brick Row:

The Yoiuane tribe of the Caddo group of Indians lived here as early as 1690 to 1840. They hunted buffalo and deer on the prairie. They used McKamy Spring as a watering place. It was from these friendly Tejas Indians that Texas got her name.

McKamy Spring Historical Marker

Something about that statement should trigger a question in your mind. What happened in 1840 that caused these friendly Tejas Indians to leave the area? I doubt that it was something like "There's a job opportunity in Oklahoma too good to pass up."

I'm reading "Paved A Way: Infrastructure, Policy and Racism in an American City" by Collin Yarbrough. The city is Dallas, Texas. I'm blogging as I go, using whatever parts of the book catch my attention. Yarbrough doesn't discuss Richardson or McKamy Spring, but he has the answer to my question anyway. And, no, it had nothing to do with the local job market.

Goals for our New City Council

Richardson has a new City Council. Three new members were elected in May, taking seats alongside two others who were elected in 2019. That leaves only two members with more than one term of service (Bob Dubey, with two prior terms, and Paul Voelker, with four). Early in each council's term, it's traditional for them to set goals for their own term. I have a suggestion. ;-)

A Father's Day Meditation on Abraham, Isaac, Kierkegaard, and Donald Trump

Thinking about the inherent conflict between American individualism and Christian selflessness, and how some people can comfortably hold both in their heads simultaneously, I found some paragraphs from a Kierkegaard biography relevant. They are about true faith. They also made me think of Donald Trump.

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Friday, June 18, 2021

Paved A Way: Extermination as Government Policy


	Amazon

Who is the worst villain in history? Hitler, right? And what makes him the worst villain? Genocide, right? The word was even coined for him. Where does Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar rank on the list? Top ten? Top hundred? Or so far down the list that your first reaction is "Who is Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar?"

Paved A Way: "Dallas Doesn't Give a Damn About its History"


	Amazon

I've begun reading "Paved A Way: Infrastructure, Policy and Racism in an American City" by Collin Yarbrough. The city referenced in the title is Dallas, Texas. Instead of reading it all the way through and then writing a short review (my usual practice), I've decided to blog as I go, using whatever parts of the book catch my attention.

A good place to start is with this quote in the opening chapter:

Robert Lee Thornton, Dallas’s former mayor, once said, "Dallas doesn’t give a damn about its history; it only cares about the future."

Paved A Way