POTD: Goodbye to the Danube

From 2022 07 18 Budapest

Our last photo-of-the-day from the Danube River is a scene of Budapest at night. It shows the Hotel Gellért, which sits on the site of the Gellért Spa, a famous thermal spa that has been used for centuries. In the midground is the Szabadság Bridge, built in 1896 and reconstructed after it suffered heavy damage in World War II (like so much of Europe did). And in the foreground is one of the pleasure ships that offer rides on the beautiful Danube River through Budapest. This was our last night in Europe, having traveled over 700 miles on the Rhine, Main, and Danube Rivers from Amsterdam to Budapest.

POTD: Bálna Budapest

From 2022 07 18 Budapest

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Budapest, Hungary. It shows two of my favorite things. Public transport (a Budapest streetcar), and iconic architecture (Bálna Budapest). Bálna is Hungarian for Whale, which the architecture resembles. It's right on the banks of the Danube. It redevelops and extends an old industrial building on the Danube, repurposing it into a modern mix of shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Everything old is new again in Budapest.

Shrinking a Neighborhood Park

There's a new page in town. The Richardson Independent Facebook Page. It's run by "Lauren Decker; a local, independent journalist residing right here in Richardson." In her first series of articles, she's publishing interviews with the eight contested candidates for Richardson Mayor and City Council. I highly recommend that you, first, read her interviews and, second, follow her page so you don't miss her future work.

One of Decker's questions was, "What is the responsibility of the city council when it comes to ensuring Richardson residents continue to have enough water?" Answers were very revealing about the candidates' attitude towards our neighborhood parks. Let's look at part of mayoral candidate Bob Dubey's answer.

TIL: Gun Violence in the Deep South

Source: Nationhood Lab.

Today I learned something about gun violence. I didn't expect there to be such a marked difference in the rates of gun violence between New York City and the Deep South. And I didn't expect the difference to be in New York City's favor.

What I learned: The death rate from gun violence "varies wildly between regions. Of the larger regions, the Deep South is the most deadly with a smoothed rate of 15.6 per 100,000 residents, followed by Greater Appalachia at 13.5. On the other end of the spectrum, New Netherland – the Dutch-founded area around New York City – has a smoothed rate of just 3.8 per 100,000, a rate less than a quarter that of the Deep South."

The Last of Us (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Last of Us (TV 2023): Joel and Ellie trek across country in quest to save dying world from pandemic. Story predates COVID-19, but exaggerated parallels are timely. Martial law, freedom-fighters, and zombies. Best part of the show isn't any of that, but the maturing of Ellie. B+