Readin', Ritin', and Republican

Richardson City Council member Kyle Kepner injected party politics into the nonpartisan city council race. That was bad enough, but then he compounded his error. I don't know which is more annoying to me, people making endorsements based on political party affiliation, or city council members endorsing in school board races (or vice versa). Today we examine Kyle Kepner's twofer.

City Council Member Again. Gullible? Reckless?

Yesterday, I charged Richardson City Council member Kyle Kepner with violating the city's Code of Ethics by failing to maintain the city council as a nonpartisan body, when he endorsed two other council candidates for the sole reason that they are Republicans. He has since apologized...with a lot of extraneous word salad to go along with the meat and potatoes. To loosely paraphrase the original statement and the apology:

The sky is blue.
[...]
It was not my intention to give the impression that I believe the sky is any particular color. Besides, I'm the real victim here. They ganged up on me in 2019.

Eventually he gets to the meat of his apology. I accept him at his word when he says, "I made a mistake, and I am sorry...Please accept my apologies. I promise to learn from this and do better."

So let's take him at his word and accept the apology. Besides, there's another social media comment Kyle Kepner made on another subject altogether that needs attention. The subject is the mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado. Kepner's response raises the question, "Is Kyle Kepner too gullible or too reckless to serve on City Council?"

Upping the Charges against a City Council Member

Yesterday, I charged a Richardson City Council member with violating the norms and customs of remaining nonpartisan in city council elections. Current council member Kyle Kepner endorsed two other council candidates for the sole reason that they are Republicans. Today, I up the charge.

Partisan NonPartisan Elections, 2021 Edition

The Richardson City Council elections are officially nonpartisan, meaning no political party affiliation appears on the ballots. Traditionally, political parties steered clear of endorsements and campaigning. Those traditions are breaking down. Here's what I said about it in 2019.

The Richardson City Council elections in 2019 laid a muddy trail along the same lines, only with Democratic state representative Ana-Maria Ramos and Democratic Party affiliated groups working (and failing) to elect an unofficial slate of candidates for Richardson City Council. I won't be surprised if that trend continues in 2021 and my own appeals to keep local elections nonpartisan look even more like a cry in the wilderness than they did then.

Source: The Wheel.

Billions - Season 1 (TV 2016)

Rotten Tomatoes

Billions - Season 1 (TV 2016): US attorney goes after hedge fund billionaire. Flips old adage on its head: it's not business, it's strictly personal. Manipulating both is a woman, a smart woman (and sexy for the gratuitous kinky sex scenes). Shallow plot slowly deepens, a bit. B-

Four more seasons queued up to watch.

#VeryTardyReview

Godzilla vs Kong (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Godzilla vs Kong (2021): Hollow Earth. Gravity inversion. Super energy. We came for the brawl, not this yada, yada. And why, when you have two heavyweight titans, would you introduce a third titan to the fight? Too long. Little dramatic buildup to a nothing climax. Who won? C-

POTD: Resting Place of Kings

From 2019 11 24 Egyptian Museum

Thuya's outer coffin, 18th Dynasty, ca 1375 BCE

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Or perhaps I should call it the old Egyptian Museum. According to a story in Saturday's Washington Post, "It was a parade unlike any other this city has seen. A procession of 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies streamed Saturday from downtown Cairo...to a new museum three miles away that represents Egypt’s future as much as its past."

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in the old museum. It shows one of many, many ancient royal coffins on display in the crowded, old museum, along many other artifacts. There is a separate room with the royal mummies themselves (photographs not allowed). The mummified kings are jammed side by side and head to toe. The new museum will have room to more respectfully present these ancient kings, but I'll regret their departure from the 19th century museum. It had the look and feel that an old, haunted museum has in my imagination. We drove by the new museum, under construction at the time, and I fear visiting it will be more like a Disney experience. Long live the old.

Small Axe: Education (TV 2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Small Axe: Education (TV 2020): West Indian boy in London in 1980s, getting substandard education, is reassigned to a "special" school where education is even worse. Racism at work. Vicious cycle until members of the community begin a Saturday school. Frustrating but hopeful. B-

See my review of the previous movie in this limited series: "Small Axe: Alex Wheatle".

The Father (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Father (2020): Woman deals with her aging father. Characters come and go, scenes repeat, each time slightly differently, until you aren't sure if you are seeing reality or the world through the father's dementia. Deserved Oscar noms for Olivia Coleman and Anthony Hopkins. B+

Random Thoughts: 43,909. A Stake in the Ground.

Tweets from March, 2021:

• 2021-03-02: 516,346. In Texas, 43,909. Might as well put a stake in the ground to mark where we were when Abbott declared the pandemic was over in Texas.
• 2021-03-02: With this action, Texas GOP forfeits any claim to be pro-life.
• 2021-03-03: GOP cancel culture strikes a blow against mean tweets, unironically.
• 2021-03-03: North Texas GOP didn't want her for Texas House. Now north Texas GOP doesn't want her for US House. Katrina Pierson is failing at a higher level now.

After the jump, more random thoughts.