Show Us Your Privates

To the command "Show us your papers" we can now add "Show us your privates." After previously approving a draconian anti-sanctuary cities bill, the Texas House now has approved a so-called "bathroom" bill with only the fig leaf of an amendment to claim it's not discriminatory. It is. Despite what the legislators might try to have you believe, all you need to know is that the bill keeps transgender students out of bathrooms that match their gender identity.

"If they are biologically considered to be a female, they must use that [facility]," [Chris] Paddie said in laying out this amendment. "Otherwise, there will be accommodations made for them to use a single-occupancy facility."

Source: Texas Tribune.

Local representatives Angie Chen Button, Linda Koop, and Jason Villalba all voted in favor of this discriminatory bill. Sine die can't come soon enough. Neither can Election Day 2018, when I can register my own vote — against legislators who discriminate. We are living in hard times.

The Lobster (2015)

IMDB

The Lobster (2015): Hotel where singles get turned into animals. Black comedy with deadpan, robotic style. Watch Black Mirror instead. D+

Snatched (2017)

IMDB

Snatched (2017): Mother/daughter buddy comedy. Amy Schumer gets the good lines, not Goldie Hahn. Better than my low expectations for it. C+

POTD: PDA in VA

From 2016 10 09 Alexandria

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the streets of Alexandria, Virginia, where a public display of affection brightens the day.

Colossal (2016)

IMDB

Colossal (2016): Days of Wine and Roses with big monsters. More a study of alcoholism and codependency than a sci-fi movie. Different. B-

Review: To Build a Castle

Amazon

From To Build a Castle: My Life as a Dissenter, by Vladimir Bukovsky:

Only greenhorns, when they come in for their first stretch, look forward to their release and count the days. Life outside appears to them as some bright, sunny, unattainable shore. But I was in for the fourth time, I knew that there is nothing more disillusioning in life than to be released from jail. I also knew that I had never managed to last longer than a single damned year outside — and never would. Because the reasons that had landed me in jail in the first place would land me there again and again. These reasons were immutable, just as Soviet life itself was immutable, just as you yourself could never change."

This 1979 book is a memoir of one man's run-ins with the KGB, prisons, work camps, and the mental hospitals used to suppress dissent in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s. Given the state of affairs today, I thought it would be a good time to research this earlier time, suddenly relevant again, closer to home.

Surge in Democratic Votes in CoR?

According to "Indivisible Richardson", there was a "223% Increase in Democratic turnout in May 6 election." I think that refers to Collin County races, not the City of Richardson, but if true and if it carried over to Richardson, that might explain Cory Montfort's surprisingly (to me) good showing in her city council race, losing by only 284 votes out of 5,488 total. She didn't explicitly run as a Democrat in this non-partisan race, but if asked she didn't try to hide her party leanings either.

20th Century Women (2016)

IMDB

20th Century Women (2016): Single mom enlists help in raising teen boy in 1979 LA. Great acting. Great evocation of the period. Feminism. B-

POTD: Repurposing the Old

From 2016 10 09 Alexandria

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Alexandria, Virginia. Just a block or so from where George Washington enjoyed a pint or two at Gadsby's Tavern is the King Street Blues, purveyor of comfort food with a Southern accent. Old buildings don't have to be torn down to be saved.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

IMDB

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017): Star Wars with more wisecracks and explosions. Same "I am your dad." More Cat Stevens, please. C+