POTD: Using Their Heads

From 2016 02 12 Udaipur

Today's photo-of-the-day is a street scene in Udaipur, India.

Mustang (2015)

IMDB

Mustang (2015): Modern Turkish girls rebel against strict home life. Controversial depiction of rural Turkey. Clichéd, but still moving. B+

POTD: Chitchat

From 2016 02 11 Jodhpur

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Ranakpur Jain Temple in Rajasthan, India. Is the boy being excluded from the women's chitchat? Does he care? Take a close look at what's in his left hand. It looks like a car key to me. My guess is that he's got other things on his mind than what the women are chatting about.

What's Interesting About Richardson?

Are there lots of activities, lots of things to do near you? An update to Google Maps now answers that question for you.

In a shade of pale orange, Google Maps now highlights "areas of interest," or "places where there's a lot of activities and things to do," determined by "an algorithmic process that allows us to highlight the areas with the highest concentration of restaurants, bars and shops," according to the company's blog.

Source: CityLab.

CityLab highlights a few disconcerting findings with Google's choices in other parts of the country. Some neighborhoods, "packed with restaurants, businesses, and schools," but relatively low-income and predominantly Latino, get overlooked by Google's orange highlighting. Areas of interest — to whom? So, take Google's automated algorithms with some reservations.

Still, let's see what Google thinks of Richardson. Spoiler alert: it's pretty accurate, not necessarily in our favor.

Joy (2015)

IMDB

Joy (2015): Many A-list stars, all upstaged by an infomercial mop. Not even earnest Jennifer Lawrence can save this predictable story. C+

POTD: Uplifting of the Soul

From 2016 02 11 Jodhpur

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the steps of the Ranakpur Jain Temple in Rajasthan, India. According to the temple's website, "To behold this holy shrine in its spectacularly sublime setting is to experience instant uplifting of the soul." OK then. Surely this family is experiencing fun. And witnessing that fun uplifted my own soul. May this POTD do a little to uplift your soul as well.

I Support Free Trade

From 2015 05 07 Portland

#ConfessYourUnpopularOpinion. I support free trade.

There, I said it. I know it's an unpopular opinion in this election campaign. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders made opposition to free trade a major issue in their campaigns (which differ in almost every other other way). Hillary Clinton has taken to opposing free trade as well, or at least one trade deal, the TPP, although it's reasonable to doubt whether her heart is in it.

Well, my heart is on the side of free trade, even if it's an electoral loser.

How to Control Richardson Housing Costs

"Dallas joins Portland, Seattle and Denver as a top market for home price gains". That's the headline in The Dallas Morning News. And by "Dallas" the News means "Dallas-area" which includes Richardson. Everyone has heard the stories of Richardson houses going on the market and immediately receiving bids above asking price.

If you're selling, that's good news. If you're buying, that's bad news. And if you're doing neither, if you already own a house and just don't like seeing your property taxes go up, that's also not such good news. I'm here to tell you that, no matter your circumstances, if you consider housing inflation to be a problem in general, that there is a solution. And it comes from Tokyo.

Trails, Apartments, and Retail

At its July 25 meeting, the Richardson City Council approved a zoning change to accommodate the development of a 43-unit community of apartments and/or townhomes on 2.7 acres on the east side of Plano Road south of Arapaho Road.

Predictably, the neighbors were opposed. That required a super-majority from the council to approve the rezoning, which was delivered by way of a unanimous 7-0 vote. I was drawn to the statements made by council members before voting to approve. There's a lot to unpack in just the comments made by Mayor Paul Voelker.

Richardson Town Hall Meeting

A town hall meeting is an informal public meeting derived from the traditional town meetings of New England. Typically open to everybody in a town community and held at the local municipal building, attendees generally present ideas, voice their opinions, and ask questions of the public figures at the town hall.

Source: Adapted from Wikipedia.

In the spirit of a traditional town hall meeting, The Wheel has offered the members of the Richardson City Council the opportunity to answer questions posed by the public (and by public I mean me). Call it the first (and possibly last) informal online town hall meeting sponsored by The Wheel. All council members graciously cooperated with this imposition on their time. The questions and their answers follow.