So, I’ve realized that a lot of the effort I used to put in commenting on interesting stuff was going into my Google Reader shared comments. I’m now pulling those out and putting them on my blog in hopes of making this sort of relevant again.
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SHARED: Report: Vitter opponent sleeping with stepson's wife
Shared by Tim
Seriously. I dare you to try to follow what’s going on with Traylor’s amorous relationships.
Louisiana Republicans are facing a choice between a family values incumbent who solicited prostitutes and a family values challenger who is currently sleeping with his stepson’s estranged wife.
SHARED: Mid Century Modern Danish Daybeds (San Antonio)
Shared by Tim
Holy cow, that’s beautiful.
I have 2 Danish Modern Daybeds for sale. Asking $ 350 for each or $ 600 for both. Must be picked up and cash payment only.
Email for more info and pictures.
I will remove the ad, when both are sold.
SHARED: Judge Says Constitution Protects Right to Lie About Purple Heart
Shared by Tim
Wow. Win for the rational.
A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a little-known law making it a crime to falsely claim to have been awarded a military medal.
SHARED: plants: Rock Rose…KAPOW!
The rock rose, Pavonia laiopetala, is blooming with wild abandon now. Hot pink blooms are open and beaming everywhere across our front garden.
Rock rose is a really great woody perennial, small shrub landscape plant in Central Texas. It requires very little water and little maintenance (unless you feel like pruning it back from time to time).
It reseeds itself very easily in my garden, and so far, I’m just letting it spread around. Many of the plants blooming across the front yard now are seedlings from last year. After the big front garden hardscape project, I just decided to let them fill in some space for a while until I can get more serious about planting design up there.
They are gorgeous and do great in the heat of summer. The species is originally from the Edward’s Plateau and westward, but do just fine in my black gumbo soil.
And, there’s a great blog you should check out named after this fabulous plant: Rock Rose.
SHARED: INSIGHT: If it’s been done "except for this one thing
SHARED: SoCo parking woes persists, despite new ordinance
Shared by Tim
You mean restricting parking hasn’t made parking better? Shocking.
The ‘residents only’ parking ordinance, in the neighborhoods that surround South Congress Avenue, was intended to give homeowners better access to their property, but some say they don’t see much of an improvement.
SHARED: Acres of Free Parking Actually Cost Something
Over at my own blog, I’ve complained about the focus in the livable streets movement on environmental benefits to urbanism. It’s not that those issues aren’t important – it’s that for most people, and certainly for most local governments, it’s the pocketbook issues that get all the attention. So I was happy to see this piece today that discusses the opportunity costs of having your city build a Walmart surrounded by a sea of parking rather than a compact mixed-use district:
[Sarasota County Director of Smart Growth Peter] Katz showed the results from retail properties. Here comes surprise No. 1.: Big box stores such as WalMart and Sam’s Club, when analyzed for county property tax revenue per acre, produce barely more than a single family house; maybe $150 to $200 more a year, Katz said. (Think of all those acres of parking lots.) “That hardly seems worth all the heat that elected officials take when they approve such development,” he noted in a related, written presentation.[…]But here’s the shocker: On a horizontal bar chart Katz showed, you see that zooming to the far right side, outpacing all the retail offerings, even the regional shopping mall, is the revenue from a high-rise mixed-use project in downtown Sarasota. It sits on less than an acre and contributes a hefty $800,000 in tax per acre. (Add in city property taxes and it’s $1.2 million.) “It takes a lot of WalMarts to equal the contribution of that one mixed-use building,” Katz noted.
It’s worth clicking through to read the whole thing (and printing it out for your next local planning commission meeting about that TOD project you really like).
Wire Feed
SHARED: Coppell murder-suicide unraveled web of deception surrounding mayor, daughter
SHARED: 36 arrested in Medicare scams totaling $251M
Shared by Tim
Holy cow!
Federal authorities said Friday they are conducting the largest Medicare fraud bust ever in five different states and arrested dozens of suspects accused in scams totaling $251 million.