Improv at RISD Board Meeting

At the November 15, 2021, Richardson ISD school board meeting, roughly thirty people spoke during the public comment section of the meeting. By my rough estimate, the speakers were evenly divided. Call it what you will. Left vs Right. Liberal vs Conservative. Masked vs Unmasked. Vaxed vs Unvaxed. Pro-DEI vs Anti-CRT. I became increasingly annoyed at something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Then it struck me. It was like watching improv at a comedy club when the actors don't know the first rule of improv.

Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021): Immigrant to America returns to China, where his father's grief for his dead wife is so great that son resolves to kill him. Huh? Movie has a kid-cuddly creature, kung-fu action every five minutes, dragons, and Awkwafina! C+

RISD: The Night of the Long Knives

"June 10, 2019, is a big day," Superintendent Jeannie Stone said. "It's a big, big day." It was the day that the Richardson ISD Board of Trustees adopted the RISD Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) Policy in a unanimous 7-0 vote. "Once approved, trustees and members of the public delivered a standing ovation."

That was 2019. It was the same year that RISD adopted a 5-2 single-member district voting system, putting to rest a lawsuit against the district for violating voting rights of minorities. It was the same year the Texas PTA named Dr. Jeannie Stone "Superintendent of the Year." All of that was just two years ago, but somehow it now seems like so long ago.

Spencer (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes

Spencer (2021): Diana's last Christmas with the Windsor family at Sandringham House. More fable than fact. Diana is shown as on the verge of insanity. Despite the big house, big staff, extended family, movie and Kristin Stewart do a great job of portraying Diana's loneliness. B+

Review: Unworthy Republic

From Unworthy Republic, by Claudio Sant:

"Indians," like Jews, Gypsies, slaves, and "free negroes," wrote the Georgia Journal in 1825, were "a kind of citizens of an inferior order." What was to be done with them? By the 1830s, the expression "the Indian question" was circulating widely in the United States."
	Amazon

The answer to the question posed by Georgia whites in 1825, was voluntary self-deportation, forced expulsion, or not necessarily as a last resort, extermination.

Dr. Stone's Talk: The Power of Love

"RISD’s diversity is a community strength, and as educators we have an obligation to curate an inclusive academic and social culture rooted in equitable practices and opportunities."

So states the Richardson ISD. The policy was developed by the RISD community. Apparently not everyone is on board.

"Get this shit out of our Texas schools now!!!!"

Luxor (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Luxor (2020): Surgeon from war zone on R&R in Egypt reconnects with her former lover, an archaeologist. He lives in past. She is traumatized by her work in the present. Very slow, meandering movie. Movie is a treat for tourists who have visited Luxor and its temples and tombs. B-

Smooth Sailing for RISD Redistricting

The Richardson ISD is performing its first-ever redistricting exercise, having just adopted single member districts in 2019. Monday night, at the meeting of the RISD Board of Trustees, the three maps that the district is considering were shown to the public for feedback.

POTD: Dress Shop

From 2019 11 21 Kom Ombo and Edfu

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Edfu, Egypt. It shows a dress shop.

Richardson City Council Goals 2021-2023

The City Council of Richardson held three secret meetings to set their Council Goals for the 2021-2023 term. I say secret because there were no videos. There were no minutes. The only way for you to know what was said, and by whom, was if one of the three members of the public who managed to find their way upstairs to the chamber of secrets told you what happened. Your faithful correspondent was one of them. You can read about that part of the story using the links at the bottom of this post.