The H-Bomb of this Election

From former President Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention:

But it gets worse. They also want to block grant Medicaid and cut it by a third over the coming decade. Of course, that will hurt poor kids, but that's not all. Almost two-thirds of Medicaid is spent on nursing home care for seniors and on people with disabilities, including kids from middle class families, with special needs like, Down syndrome or autism. I don't know how those families are going to deal with it. We can't let it happen.

Source: President Bill Clinton.

David Frum, former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, says, "The nursing home argument is the H-bomb of this election."

After the jump, how H-bombs are not precision weapons.

Of Buffaloes and Polar Bears

I'm reading a biography of Teddy Roosevelt. I'll have more to say about that when I write my review (maybe like how it's completely understandable that a political party might deny evolution when it's own history descends from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush). For now, I want to talk about one item of Teddy Roosevelt's biography - his reputation as a big game hunter. One offhand comment by Roosevelt in earning that reputation caused me to question one of my fundamental beliefs about society: "Roosevelt wistfully remarked that he would like to shoot a buffalo 'while there were still buffalo left to shoot.'"

After the jump, why I was so discouraged about this sentence ... and what it has to to with polar bears.

Review: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Amazon

From The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce

Harold felt winded. If he moved so much as a limb, a muscle, he was afraid it would trigger an abundance of feeling he was doing his best to contain. Why had he left twenty years pass without trying to find Queenie Hennessy?"

After the jump, my review.

OTBR: A Wheat Field in the UK

Latitude: N 52° 18.702
Longitude: E 000° 19.710
A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

Repeat Tweets: Lyin' Ryan

Repeat tweets from August, 2012:

• 2012 08 06 - I wish Richardson would spend a tenth of the effort keeping residents informed about redevelopment plans as it does about mosquito spraying.
  
• 2012 08 06 - The Second Amendment was our Founding Fathers' biggest Fail, except for that whole thing about Slavery. #no-one-is-perfect
  
• 2012 08 08 - Life of Super-Earths, by Dimitry Sasselov: Surprising pairing of alien worlds and the origin of life. Easy read on the latest science. C+
  
• 2012 08 09 - "Nancy Brinker’s Komen shakeup too little and way too late" http://t.co/z0UcBcX7
  
• 2012 08 09 - Headline: "July Set Mark as U.S.’s Hottest Month" Weather isn't climate blah, blah, blah. OK, expect lots more weather like this. http://t.co/kI3nmPGv
  
• 2012 08 09 - Breaking: Greenhouse gases lead to global warming leads to extreme weather. ... Breaking news from 1997, that is.
  
• 2012 08 11 - Romney/Rand 2012: Bold VP pick by Romney -- a woman and an atheist for VP. But how is that possible? Isn't Ayn Rand dead? ... oh, nevermind.
  
• 2012 08 11 - McCain/Palin 2008. Romney/Ryan 2012. Why does the GOP keep putting their preferred candidate in the second slot of the ticket?
  

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Allen Eagles 24, Southlake Carroll Dragons 0

High school football is back in action. The Allen Eagles inaugurated their new stadium in style Friday night with a 24-0 shutout of the defending state champions Southlake Carroll Dragons. Attendance exceeded the 18,000 seating capacity of the stadium, as several thousand standing-room-only attendees lined the railings along the wide concourses of the new stadium.

What Does $60 Million Buy?

$60 million buys an 18,000 seat high school football stadium. That's the price tag approved by the voters of the Allen school district for a new stadium for the Allen Eagles football team. The Eagles' first game in their new stadium will be Friday night against the defending state champion Southlake Carroll Dragons. Naturally, it's a sellout.

After the jump, what $60 million does not buy.

Continental Inn Opens In Richardson

That's right. A new hotel. In southwest Richardson. And what a nice hotel at that. "Handsome." "Beautifully decorated." "Contemporary design." "Tropical surroundings." I don't know how I missed this news when it happened, but better late than never. Here it is. Enjoy.

October 12, 1960

The Dallas Continental Inn, recently completed in Richardson, opened to the public last weekend, and Texas-Oklahoma football fans quickly filled the handsome new Electronic City motor hotel and gathering place to capacity.

Dallas Continental Inn is located on the west side of Central Expressway off Floyd Rd., only a few minutes from downtown Dallas. There are 60 rooms now, with ground space for an additional 40. The rooms are beautifully decorated in either turquoise or

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Source: The Richardson Echo.

Magnet Schools and Racial Segregation

Last week, I blogged about one person's fear that the Richardson ISD (RISD) is restricting enrollment at one elementary school to students who speak Spanish. (That person was misinformed, but it did prompt some good discussion about the RISD's enrollment policy.) Yesterday, I blogged about the efforts of the RISD to get out from under decades-old federal court supervision regarding racial segregation.

All this talk made me wonder about the effects of magnet schools in Richardson. After the jump, what I always thought the purpose of magnet schools was and what now has me questioning that.

Racial Segregation and Richardson Schools

That sounds like a headline out of the distant past, right? If you consider 1970 ancient history, then yes, it would be. But I'm talking about 2012. The Richardson Independent School District (RISD) is *still* under the watchful eye of the federal courts, as this news item from the RISD explains:

05/31/12
Richardson ISD has been operating under a federal desegregation order since 1970, which imposes federal judicial supervision on various district operations. Many school districts around the state and country have operated under civil rights-era desegregation orders.

Over the years, many of those districts have successfully sought unitary status -- which is the process through which a district asks the court to dismiss the desegregation litigation.

The RISD Board of Trustees authorized the district to begin the process of seeking unitary status in 2009, so that more local control would be returned to the district, which will enhance operational efficiency and flexibility.

To obtain unitary status, a school district must establish that it has eliminated the vestiges of past discrimination and that is has complied with the court's orders.

The federal court has set this matter for trial beginning June 11, 2012. RISD is hopeful that the court will agree that the district has attained unitary status and that federal supervision under the 42 year old court order no longer is necessary.

Source: RISD.

After the jump, what's new in the case and how it ties in with a recent discussion on these pages.