Richardson Santa's Village

From 2010 12 Santas Village

"A heart-warming event for the young and young at heart.....where all of the sights and sounds of the holiday season can be enjoyed! Santa's Village features a variety of dwellings, each with a different activity, and live entertainment on stage."

Santa's Village is located in front of the Richardson City Hall, and will be open from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m., Saturday - Sunday, December 4 - 5, Thursday - Sunday, December 9 - 12, and Thursday - Sunday, December 16 - 19, 2010.

To see more photos from Santa's Village, look here.

Is Texas Too Business Friendly?

Steve Blow (yes, the folksy Metro columnist of The Dallas Morning News) provoked a political debate yesterday with a column asking whether Texas was *too* business-friendly. He points out that Texas ranks 49 out of 50 states in tax revenue per capita but is near the bottom of the rankings in public school quality, clean air and health care.

I know, it sounds blasphemous for a Texan to suggest it's possible to be *too* business friendly, doesn't it? But Steve Blow tossed the question out there anyway, trolling for bites. After the jump, did his bait attract any fish?

Is Mathematics a Divine Language?

Is mathematics a divine language? That's the provocative question posed by Mark Vernon in an article in the Big Questions Online blog.

Readers may remember that editing BQO is the gig of Rod Dreher, former editorial board member of The Dallas Morning News. I assume he's still at BQO, but it's hard to say for sure because someone at the Templeton Foundation dropped the cone of silence over Dreher last summer after he posted several articles about the construction of an Islamic center in lower Manhattan. (Dreher took the anti-Muslim position, naturally.) The ability of readers to comment on BQO articles was shut off at the same time. Because BQO doesn't allow me (or anyone else, for that matter) to comment on Mark Vernon's article on the BQO website, I'll do so here. :-)

After the jump, is mathematics a divine language?

Twitter Tracks: Football, Marching Bands and More

Twitter tracks from November, 2010:

• 2010 11 01 - Lots of people interested in finding out about George M. Clayton. Too late, I'm afraid. Schoolchildren could have used you last March.
• 2010 11 01 - Northwestern’s opinion of getting picked for the Jan 1 Dallas Football Classic bowl game. "Lord have mercy; please, no!" http://goo.gl/64zv
• 2010 11 01 - Rally To Restore Sanity is already paying dividends: Headline: "Keith Olbermann Suspends 'Worst Person' Segment" http://goo.gl/rY0o
• 2010 11 02 - Today's the day. UIL State marching contest. Representing DFW ... "Berkner. Duncanville. Bell. Marcus. All are giants." http://goo.gl/Q5u1
• 2010 11 02 - The forecast is for conditions to be cold, wet and inhospitable to man or beast. The weather ain't so good, either.
• 2010 11 02 - Berkner's Mighty Ram Band has qualified for tonight's Finals competition at UIL State marching contest in San Antonio. "Blow my face off."
• 2010 11 03 - Kudos to Marcus (1), Bell (2), Duncanville (3), Coppell (5), Hebron (6), Berkner (8) for representing DFW well at UIL State marching contest
• 2010 11 03 - "The only surprise election night was that [Texas Gov. Rick Perry] didn't give his acceptance speech in Iowa." -- Glenn Smith.
• 2010 11 03 - Likely? How about definitely? Headline: "Huge GOP majority in Texas House likely dooms transportation funding increase." http://goo.gl/jekLj
• 2010 11 04 - @DalArtsDistrict and @WalkableDFW are talking. That's something at least. Right?

After the jump, more Twitter tracks.

Stefani Carter Supporter "Feels Like a Fool"

The celebrations following the Republican sweep of Texas state offices in the November election didn't last long. The knives are out as the victors, fresh from vanquishing the Democrats, now turn on each other to root out those Republicans whose conservatism is not deemed pure enough. The first litmus test: choice of speaker of the Texas House.

After the jump, a Stefani Carter supporter expresses disappointment and Carter's surprising response.