Review: Empire of the Summer Moon

Amazon

From Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne:

Behind it all is the story of the rise and fall of the Comanches. No tribe in the history of North America had more to say about the nation's destiny. Quanah was merely the final product of everything they had believed and dreamed of and fought for over a span of two hundred fifty years. The kidnapping of a blue-eyed, nine-year-old Cynthia Ann in 1836 marked the start of the white man's forty-year war with the Comanches, in which Quanah would play a leading role. In one sense, the Parkers are the beginning and end of the Comanches in U.S. history."

After the jump, my review.

The "Wow Factor" of Richardson's Goals

After complaining for months about the Richardson City Council's non-transparent process for deciding its near-term action items, I guess I ought to say something now that the goals have been revealed. But first, go ahead, read 'em yourself.

After the jump, my own reaction.

42 (2013)

IMDB

42 (2013): America needed Jackie Robinson. A hero for his time, for all time. Hagiography at its finest because it's true. Take the kids. B+

A Round of Applause for Paralysis in Sports

You know the ritual when a kid playing high school football goes down with an injury. When he eventually gets up and hobbles off the field, he gets a round of applause from the fans in the stands. Apparently, in the Richardson ISD, that might be all he ever gets, even if he can't get up at all and might never walk again.

Catastrophic care insurance offers a safety net for students who suffer life-altering accidents or illness while participating in an extra-curricular school activity, with policies providing as much as $7.5 million of coverage in cases such as spinal cord injuries, brain injury, infection or stroke. But coverage is not mandatory in Texas, nor is it officially recommended by the state's public school extracurricular governing body, the University Interscholastic League. A Dallas Morning News survey of 65 of the largest school districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area found five that don't provide any catastrophic care coverage: Birdville, Burleson, Cedar Hill, Mansfield and Richardson ISDs.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

Richardson ISD?!? No coverage? Seriously?

After the jump, WTF?

Make Believe (2010)

IMDB

Make Believe (2010): Teens from world over compete in magic contest in Vegas. Great kids but not much magic in this documentary. C-