Monday, December 3, 2012

Repeat Tweets: America Votes

Repeat tweets from November, 2012:

  • 1 Nov 2012: A British look at the election: "America could do better than Barack Obama; sadly, Mitt Romney does not fit the bill." economist.com
  • 1 Nov 2012: Today I've read three different calls for Obama's impeachment. Could GOP be reconciling themselves to defeat and moving on?
  • 1 Nov 2012: Yelling at Nate Silver is like yelling at a thermometer. We're learning just how many news pros just don't get math. nytimes.com
  • 1 Nov 2012: The good news of Daylight Saving Time: you get an extra hour of sleep Sunday. The bad news: the election campaign is extended another hour.
  • 2 Nov 2012: Headline: "Sandy cost $50B." When will business decide the cost of ignoring global warming is higher than the cost of addressing it? #Sandy

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Big Ten Champs -- Rose Bowl Bound

Big Ten Champs

Everything's coming up roses. The Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers 70-31 Saturday night in the Big Ten Championship game to earn their third consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl, the "Granddaddy of them all," where they'll face the Stanford Cardinal on January 1, 2013. It was reported that Bucky Badger was on suicide watch during the game, the football team torturing him, forcing him to do so many push-ups. Go Badgers, the best 8-5 team in the country! ;-)

Look back on last year's Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game.

Friday, November 30, 2012

S2L77: Kota Bharu

Kota Bahru, Malaysia
February 9-11, 1977

I woke up with a dozen insect bites on my arms. Then, I discovered cockroaches and a rat in this hotel.
It rained most of the day preventing us from seeing much of Kota Bharu.
Something tells me I'm not going to have good memories of Kota Bharu.
We went to the beach at Pantai Cinta Berahi. The sea was rough.
Source: Personal travel notes.

From 1977 02 02 Malaysia

The photo above is of the market outside our hotel in Kota Bharu, on the east coast of Malaysia. Except for the photo, I don't remember the market. I don't remember the rain. I don't remember the roaches or rats or insect bites. So much for the predicted bad memories.

I do remember the beach, but I didn't save any photos. It was a gray, windy day at the beach. The South China Sea was rough. I remember that. I didn't realize that this would be my last view of the sea for the next 7,000 miles, when I would arrive at the Mediterranean coast. But I get ahead of myself. Next stop, Thailand.

One of a continuing series.
Start: Around the World in 800 Days
Previous: Taman Negara
Next: Bangkok's Chatuchak Weekend Market

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Mayoral Campaign: It's On

Richardson's city council elections are still five months away. In past elections, that meant that no candidates were doing anything at this stage, in public anyway. That's all changed this year, with voters having approved a city charter amendment calling for direct election of the mayor. That change led to a prediction that elections would get longer and more expensive. Money was going to become more important at the city level, just like it has swamped state and federal elections. That prediction is coming true.

Amir Omar was the first candidate to jump into the race. If anyone thought Omar's early move would cause some other likely candidates to rethink their own plan to run, he was wrong. Laura Maczka has now jumped into the race as well. Whether any other candidates enter the race remains to be seen, but it's not expected that any other council members will run for mayor, including incumbent mayor Bob Townsend.

After the jump, my early thoughts on the race.