POTD: Water and Electricity

From 2019 11 21 Kom Ombo and Edfu

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the bank of the Nile River. They say Egypt is the gift of the Nile and these photos show why. From the air, the Nile is a strip of blue bordered by a strip of green, both placed in an endless expanse of sandy brown. The water brings life to the desert, but it brings something else, too. Fifty miles to the south is the Aswan Dam with its hydroelectric generators. The power lines carry electricity up the Nile, powering cities all the way to Cairo.

Bonus photo after the jump.

How a Tax Rate Cut is a Tax Hike

The Richardson City Council voted to approve the 2021-2022 budget, a one cent tax rate cut, and ratified a tax increase. You read that right. Residents will enjoy a tax rate cut but the City is forced to say it's a tax increase. I doubt one person in a hundred can explain that. Don't blame the confusion on the City. It's the State of Texas who all but guarantees everything is always a tax increase.

Reminiscence (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Reminiscence (2021): Sci-fi film noir. Blade Runner set in a future Miami that's under water. Hugh Jackman is a private investigator who can replay subjects' memories. Makes solving crime easy, unless you fall for the beautiful woman involved. Premise is better than movie. C-

Review: Tokyo Ueno Station

From Tokyo Ueno Station, by Yu Miri:

There’s that sound again. That sound— I hear it. But I don’t know if it’s in my ears or in my mind. I don’t know if it’s inside me or outside. I don’t know when it was or who it was either. Is that important? Was it? Who was it?"
	Amazon

The reason the narrator is having trouble locating the source of the sound is because he's a ghost.

Pose - Season 1 (TV 2018)

Rotten Tomatoes

Pose - Season 1 (TV 2018): Melodrama about New York's LGBTQ ball culture for POC in the 1980s, an environment I never knew about. Trans actors playing trans roles. Acting is stilted until they get to the balls where it's electric. It's the '80s so AIDS has to play a role, too. B-

#VeryTardyReview

"Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction"

"Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction." That was the headline of the Minneapolis police department's statement on the day of George Floyd's murder. But thanks to a bystander's eight minutes 46 second video, the public has a much fuller understanding of the "interaction" than is admitted in that police statement.

The City Council of Richardson reacted to the murder of George Floyd by asking Chief Jim Spivey to brief the City Council on the RPD's policy on use of force. I was generally pleased with what I heard. But...you just knew there'd be a but.

The White Lotus (TV 2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

The White Lotus (TV 2021): Rich Americans in a Hawaiian resort for a week. Through a dozen subplots, a look at white privilege from A to B. Like someone thought reviving "The Love Boat" was a good idea. Saved by a great cast. Watchable. B-

Mulan (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Mulan (2020): Disney takes on Chinese history and culture. The girl is the hero and has to overcome not just fierce enemies in war but sexism among her own family and comrades. Movie plods along, with everything playing out as expected. 10 year-olds should like it. B-

Review: How the Word is Passed

From How the Word is Passed, by Clint Smith:

The history of slavery is the history of the United States. It was not peripheral to our founding; it was central to it. It is not irrelevant to our contemporary society; it created it. This history is in our soil, it is in our policies, and it must, too, be in our memories."
	Amazon

If you didn't learn this in school, it's not because it didn't happen. It's not because it wasn't important. It's because the people who wrote the history in this country didn't want you to learn this, to the point where even today's teachers don't know what they aren't teaching.

POTD: Down an Old Corridor

From 2019 11 21 Kom Ombo and Edfu

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Temple of Kom Ombo on the Nile River in Egypt. Ellen is taking the same photo as mine, only without her in the frame. That's why I like mine better. ;-)