Lessons in Power

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
— Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass is not wrong, just incomplete. He was referencing slavery. It took a Civil War to get Texans (and other Southerners, but I live in Texas so let's keep this close to home) to concede their power to hold other human beings in bondage. When it comes to much less consequential matters, people sometimes concede power without a second thought. Sometimes they might not even realize that's what they're doing. The Richardson City Council is in process of ceding power to the Mayor, without a demand. It's an implicit power that Richardson Mayors have wielded since forever, soon to be made explicit by a compliant City Council. See "Committee Appointments" in "Council Recap: Rules of Procedure" for details.

POTD: Closing the Book on Australia

"Monochrome fetish.
Bookshelf swap, a little game.
Order soon restored."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 04 01 Darwin

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken on our visit to Darwin, our last stop in Australia. The interior decorator on the Viking Mars cruise ship that we traveled on had a monochrome design fetish, as the bookshelves in various public rooms were ordered by color. Just wanting to mess with their heads, I sometimes swapped a book from one shelf to another, just to see how long it would take before the staff put things back in Viking's preferred order. I was never disappointed.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

POTD: Australia's Jumping Crocodiles

"Jaws in midair snap.
Darwin's wild heartbeat revealed.
River spectacle."

—h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 04 01 Darwin

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken about 45 miles from Darwin, Australia. It was taken from a boat on the Adelaide River, billed as the "Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruise." Was it spectacular? See for yourself.

Bonus photos are after the jump.

Guns: Adding Insult to Injury

Source: Nationhood Lab.

The last few days have seen a confluence of gun tragedy. A shooting death in the church of Joel Osteen ("church" used loosely) in Houston and a shooting death (and 21 wounded) at a Superbowl rally in Kansas City. More and more, mourning for the dead has barely begun before new dead take their place in the headlines.

Council Recap: Rules of Procedure

"7. REVIEW AND DISCUSS COUNCIL RULES OF PROCEDURE"

With that innocuous wording, the Richardson City Council took up a question that has long puzzled me. That is, why don't City Councilmembers drive change in the City of Richardson? I attributed it partly to lack of will, but also partly to confusion over whether they even have the power to set the agendas for the City Council meetings. If it's not on the agenda, they can't deliberate it, they can't make motions for it, and they can't pass the motions that bring change.