The Wheel

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Repeat Tweets: Vouchers Arise out of White Resistance

Repeat tweets from February, 2017:

Feb 3 2017: "Vouchers arise out of white resistance to school desegregation, and these movements thrive in biracial districts." lakehighlands.advocatemag.com
Feb 8 2017: Fences (2016): Denzel Washington in a Willy Loman role, raising questions about what it means to be a husband, father, man. Oscar-worthy. A+
Feb 8 2017: MT @RichardsonToday: "A portion of the State of the City Address focused on how Richardson is in a strong financial position." Please link to a YouTube clip showing the portion of State of the City address that focused on Richardson's neighborhoods. If you can.
Feb 9 2017: Gleason (2016) Documentary of former NFL player with ALS. Raw and relentless as real life, clichéd as movie. Needs more of wife's story. C+

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

POTD: The Pulpit

From 2016 09 10 Montreal

Today is Ash Wednesday. Appropriate for this religious day, today's photo-of-the-day is of the pulpit in the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Now Kindness is a Dirty Word, Too

The Richardson ISD celebrated "Kindness Day" Friday, February 24. It was the brainchild of the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council. By most accounts, it was a rousing success. Most accounts. According to some, "Kindness Day" is a leftist plot.

My take is that kindness day is clearly a (attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors...strongly tied to SEL) program that indoctrinates kids...that students are to avoid saying anything "intolerant" that might offend the diversity and inclusion snowflake crowd. Kindness day is the subtle way for K-12 to impose the sort of leftist speech codes that we observe on college campuses.

Source: Facebook comment by Bill Ames.

So, add kindness to the list of motherhood and apple pie virtues that I used to think were non-controversial. Virtues like tolerance and compromise and civility all have come under attack from conservatives. What I thought made American democracy great is being surely dismantled, virtuous brick by virtuous brick.

The Great Wall (2016)

IMDB

The Great Wall (2016): Mercenaries fight monsters less scary than a horde of roaches. Western greed vs Chinese trust. Stunning visuals. C+

Friday, February 24, 2017

The Wheel Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures

The Academy Awards will be given out Sunday evening. This will be the first time in history that I've seen all the nominees for Best Picture before the Oscar is awarded. That means my opinion means something. Right? All in all, 2016 had a good crop of movies, better than the choices in 2015. "La La Land" is the heavy favorite for Best Picture, but four or even five of the movies deserve consideration.

My ranking is based on the grades I gave the movies immediately after seeing them. In case of ties, I ordered them by my considered judgment today. Note this is not my prediction of which movie will win, but which I would vote for, had I a vote.