Recycling Styrofoam

City of Richardson

Recently, I offered my own suggestions to the City of Richardson for how to make recycling easier. That prompted Bill McCalpin to inform me (hat tip) that the city recently held a focus group, which generated its own suggestions:

• Make recycling even easier by not having people try to read the tiny print on plastics to see which one it is, but just have people throw all of the plastic in, and have someone else sort it later.
  
• Make the paper bags for yard waste freely available to landscapers.
  

The second suggestion matches my own, except I want the paper bags (or "green" plastic bags) freely available to homeowners, too. (I do my own yard work.)

The first suggestion was new to me. Frankly, it puzzled me. According to the City of Richardson website, "The items below can all be placed in the blue bags: Plastics #1-7 (excluding styrofoam), ..."

All plastics, #1-7, are accepted. That's all there is. So, if it's stamped with a recycling triangle, no matter what number is inside, it's one of those #1-7 recyclable plastics. There's no need to try to read the tiny print inside the triangle to see which one it is. Anyway, that's what I thought. Then I considered that magic asterisk, "excluding styrofoam."

After the jump, what's that all about?

Big Star (2012)

IMDB

Big Star (2012): Documentary of obscure '70s cult band that lacked distribution, not talent. Movie needs more music and less talking. C+

Berkner Sweeps Lake Highlands

From 2014 01 21 Berkner vs Lake Highlands

The Berkner Rams men's basketball team swept their season home-and-away series against the Lake Highlands Wildcats with a 81-64 win Tuesday night at the Lake Highlands gym. With the win, the Rams retain sole possession of first place in District 9-5A, with a record of 7-1. It's a great time to be a Ram!

More photos after the jump.

Jared Patterson Sides with Terrorists

Jared Patterson sides with terrorists against the President.

What? Too much? Is that headline over the top? Inflammatory? Divisive? Juvenile? Yes, to all of the above. You'd hope that political discourse would be more respectful, searching for areas to work together to solve problems. You'd certainly hope that our would-be elected officials would set a good example. You'd be wrong.

Jared Patterson is running for Texas House District 112. He's a former Sachse city council member and is now seeking to replace Angie Chen Button in the Texas House. But he seems to be running more against President Obama than against Button. He's got a bit of a case of Obama Derangement Syndrome. He takes more cheap shots against the President than tell us how he'd solve problems with education, health care, water and transportation here in Texas.

After the jump, the Jared Patterson Facebook post that inspired the headline.

Stefani Carter's Friends are Few, But Rich

When last we looked, Stefani Carter appeared to be short of friends and money. Enough so that she decided to drop her bid for Railroad Commissioner and come back to Richardson to try to keep her District 102 House seat.

After the jump, a new look look at Carter's friend list.

This Is Not a Film (2011)

IMDB

This Is Not a Film (2011): Iranian filmmaker banned from making movies, facing prison, turns camera on himself. More protest than art. C-

Berkner: The End of a Winning Streak

From 2014 01 17 Skyline vs Berkner

The Berkner Rams' men's basketball team lost to the Skyline Raiders 65-62 Friday night in the Rams' gym. The defeat was the first district loss by the Rams since January 24, 2012 (Skyline 68-66), a winning streak of 24 games.

With the first half of the season now history, the Rams have sole possession of first place with a 6-1 record. There's a lot of basketball still to be played. Come on out and watch these talented young athletes put on a great show.

More photos after the jump.

S2L77: Not So Ancient Athens

From 1977 04 21 Greece

National Library of Greece

In the last installment, we toured ancient Athens. Today, we jump forward a millennium or two. Still in the past, but only a few decades and/or centuries. Practically yesterday, in other words.

More photos after the jump.

Anna Karenina (2012)

IMDB

Anna Karenina (2012): Sumptuous. Stylistic. Theatrical. Fans of Tolstoy won't like it, but if you must condense to 2 hrs, this will do. B-

Showdown: Berkner at Richardson

From 2014 01 14 Berkner at Richardson

It was the battle of the unbeatens in District 9-5A men's basketball. Berkner and Richardson, both sporting 5-0 records, met Tuesday night at the Eagles' gym to determine who would take sole possession of first place in the district. The game was played as high school basketball should be played, before an enthusiastic full house cheering every score.

In a wild game, the Berkner Rams prevailed 66-63. The Rams led by eight during the first quarter and by two at the half, then the Eagles led by eleven in the third quarter before the Rams came storming back in the fourth quarter to win by three as Richardson's three point attempt at the buzzer fell short.

A sad note: with 57 seconds left in the game, there was a collision on the court. Berkner's Torey Everett fell to the floor hard, where he lay for twenty minutes before walking off the court on his own power, but he sat quietly on the bench for the final seconds of the game. Let's hope he recovers quickly and fully.

More photos after the jump.