We Want A Hip Downtown Too - Part II

So a couple of Arlington developers are whining in the Star-Telegram today about all the delays they've encountered in trying to redevelop the historic Vandergriff Building in, "downtown" Arlington. It seems those twits at the Texas Historical Commission continue to slow the project down with a bureaucrat's weapon of choice: red tape. The always sympathetic O. K. Carter writes:

As for the Texas Historical Commission's lengthy requirements for the Vandergriff Building renovation, even the city's Landmark Preservation Commission has voiced concern.

"While we all share the goals to preserve and restore our historic structures, it appears that the commission requires a level of perfection in restoration that is very difficult, if even attainable," Arlington preservation commission Chairwoman Suzanne Sweak wrote in a September letter to the state commission. "This building will not be a museum; it will have a new use. It would seem appropriate ... to seek ways to allow this to happen.

"Enthusiasm for taking on and completing preservation projects is surely dampened by the bureaucratic hoops one must jump through to receive much needed public funding and tax credits to assist in a project."

But this is the same city that is pushing new, "design standards," for the area that run 250 pages long. If such a tome isn't an example of, "bureaucratic hoops," what is? So if the state insists redevelopment abide by certain rules, they are obstructing progress. But if the city adopts an entirely new rulebook, they are promoting redevelopment? Glad I've got that straight. The fact is, the City of Arlington doesn't really want to, "restore" downtown Arlington, they just want one of those hip, faux downtowns like $outhlake has.

Cowboys Run Over Cardinals

Marion Barber carried the Dallas Cowboys to a convincing win over the Arizona Cardinals 34-13 at Texas Stadium today. Barber, a rookie from Minnesota became the first Cowboys runningback to gain over 100 yards this season is supposed to be filling in for the injured Julius Jones. But you have to wonder how much playing time Jones will see once he is 100% after the display put on by Barber who has to be one of the nicest surprises the 'Boys have had this season.

Another pleasant surprise continues to be Drew Bledsoe who had another good game, with the exception of yet another fumbled snap. As a fan that still remembers the original "Doomsday Defense" it feels great to see the 'Boys field a defense that can shut the other team down. True, it was just the Cardinals, but DeMarcus Ware threatening to pound the quarterback and Anthony Henry blanketing receivers, Dallas' defense looks like the real deal.

Toshiba: High Priced, High Tech Doorstop

So I'm stuck blogging on my old 'puter. Why? My Toshiba laptop died today. I suppose that I should have known, the end was near. After all, the 1 year warranty expired 3 months ago. I guess I've been blogging on borrowed time since then. I'm sorry, but would it be too much to expect a $2,000.00 computer to last more than 15 months? I certainly realize the computer industry is extremely price competitive. But selling crap is not a way to long-term success. I'll certainly never buy another Toshiba product again, since their business model seems to be to manufacture computers that barely outlast the warranty. In the mean time, does anybody need a doorstop?

The Things We Do For Love III

Back in May, Terrence Lee Mackey, robbed a bank and then led police on a high-speed car chase. During the chase, Mr. Mackey leaned out of the car window and shot at the cops with two handguns. The police caught up with him and his accomplice after they crashed the Corvette they were driving into a river levee. Why did he do it? Well, Mr. Mackey told U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young he did it 'cause he missed his Momma. The Associated Press says the 63 year-old man told the judge that he was not to blame. He blamed the crime on the federal prison system, because officials refused to lock him up near his Momma in Florida after he violated parole in 1982. "I wouldn't be standing here today if I'd been sent to Florida like I asked," Mr. Mackey told the court. Unfortunately, Judge Young must be an orphan. He sentenced the errant man to 29 years in prison.

Don't Burst Their Bubble

Kids, what will they do next? Highland Park High School, the ultra-rich suburban school in the ultra-richest part of North Dallas has a tradition of dressing up during homecoming week. According to the Dallas Morning News, this year they had a, "Thug Day." Students wore Afro wigs, fake gold teeth and baggy jeans. To honor Hispanic heritage, the school sponsored a, "Fiesta Day." One student brought a leaf blower to school. Sounds pretty bad huh? Nah, it was all in fun the kids say. While some admitted that the leafblower may have crossed a line, the kids told the News that reaction to the theme days was overblown and that the activities were not offensive to minorities. How kids in Highland Park would know if minorities were offended or not I don't know, perhaps they asked their maid? Highland Park senior class president, Elizabeth Carlock insists that there's nothing racist about Thug Day, supporting her claim with the fact that the school had a, "Country Club Day" last year. I woulda thought that would be every day in Highland Park. The young Ms. Carlock goes on to tell the News, "We weren't being racist. It's Highland Park tradition."

Of course we are assured that none of this insensitivity is the fault of the childlin'. 'Cause if there is one thing I've learned watchin' Oprah, it's never the fault of the childlin'. The News quotes Dr. Charles Gallagher, a sociology professor at Georgia State University as saying, "The reality is that they're ignorant of the lives of nonwhites. it's like a parallel universe." Well, I've always said people in the Park Cities live in a different world than you and me, now I've got somebody smart to back me up. Dr. Gallagher goes on to say, "You have a community of adolescents who live in a complete white bubble." Many Park Cities residents refer to their community as "The Bubble." I'm just wondering what will happen to these kids if they are ever forced to get out of their bubble. I guess Daddy will just have to make sure that never happens.

No Swearing

From AFP:

Latvian lawmakers endorsed a new code of ethics designed to burnish the legislature's reputation that would prohibit deputies swearing and smoking in public.

The code, supported by over three-quarters of lawmakers, also obliges them to be polite in public and advises them to shun events where their presence could undermine the prestige of parliament.

The code was developed to raise the tone of parliamentary debates from "bawling and squawking in a marketplace," according to its author, Janis Strazdins, a member of centrist Greens and Farmers Union...

I wonder if the Dallas City Council might consider a similar measure? Nah, that'd take all the fun out of the meetings.

Not In Our Backyard!

Well the NIMBY's in Park Vista are up in arms. Why? An evil real estate developer (after all, is there any other kind?) wants to build a shopping center in their backyards.

Mohammod Mosaddaque, whines that the houses across the street are identical to his but won't have a business behind them. "It's going to be a hard time to sell the house," he whines to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Uh, well, Mr. Mosaddaque, that is because the property behind the houses across the street from you not zoned commercial. The property behind your house is zoned for commercial use. See that Zoning Map? That big "E" is the City of Fort Worth's way of telling you that some type of commerical use is planned there. Or perhaps you thought that big field at one of the busiest intersections in northern Cowtown was going to sit vacant forever? Puhlease. Gary Anderson frets that the parking lot would be so close to his bedroom that the noise would bother him. "We just need space," he cries. Uh, well, if space was that important to you, perhaps you should have bought a bigger lot? People like this just kill me. They move out to a growing area, then they are shocked and dismayed that someone would actually build something on the vacant lot behind them? Did they really expect it to remain vacant forever?

No Fear

The First Assembly of God Church of Florence Alabama has agreed to stopped swallowing live goldfish as part of its Fear Factor ministry. From Associated Press:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked for a ban on the practice.

Spokeswoman Amy Rhodes said the organization was flooded with calls earlier this month after a story about the program was published in the TimesDaily.

PETA contacted the church seeking confirmation of a ban on the activity.

Pastor Greg Woodall replied to PETA's request in a letter.

"I do appreciate your concern and just wanted to let you know that this will never happen again," Woodall wrote. "My views are a reflection of yours. We love God's creatures and would never want to show them harm."

As part of the Fear Factor ministry at the church, teenage participants were asked to swallow live goldfish. No one reportedly became ill during the goldfish phase of the program that concludes this week.

Youth minister Anthony Martin said earlier the goal of the exercise was to teach teens about fear.

PETA thanked the church for the ban by sending a gift basket of vegan Swedish fish, a gummy candy, as an alternative to live fish.

Rubbed The Wrong Way

Hurst police officers busted Jiaoyan Cheng on Monday, charging her with three counts of performing an unlicensed massage for compensation, and one count of prostitution, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Ms. Cheng worked at Secret Gardens Spa on Harwood Road, in Hurst. Actually, I didn't know you had to have a license to give people a massage in Texas. Sometimes, when we're sitting at home watching, "The Apprentice" the lovely Mrs. Smith will ask me to rub her back. Maybe next time I'll tell her I have to check the proper statutes before I do. Of course, I'm guessing Ms. Cheng's arrest has more to do with her alledged offer to perform a sex act on one of Hurst's officers than giving people back rubs without the proper paperwork.

Pardon my cynicism, but I have to wonder why it took the police three visits to make the bust. If she offered sex for money on one of the first two visits, you'd think that would be the end of her career as an unlicensed massuesse. If it took three trips for police to have grounds for a sex-for-money arrest, then I wonder if some entrapment wasn't involved. Or maybe the officers just had some kinks they needed worked out.

Much A Do About Nothing?

So the Democrats are all excited over the prospect of some members of GWB's administration being indicted over the Valerie Plame affair. I found this of interest from the Washingon Times:

A former CIA covert agent who supervised Mrs. Plame early in her career yesterday took issue with her identification as an "undercover agent," saying that she worked for more than five years at the agency's headquarters in Langley and that most of her neighbors and friends knew that she was a CIA employee.

"She made no bones about the fact that she was an agency employee and her husband was a diplomat," Fred Rustmann, a covert agent from 1966 to 1990, told The Washington Times. "Her neighbors knew this, her friends knew this, his friends knew this. A lot of blame could be put on to central cover staff and the agency because they weren't minding the store here. ... The agency never changed her cover status."

"She was home for such a long time, she went to work every day at Langley, she was in an analytical type job, she was married to a high-profile diplomat with two kids," Mr. Rustmann said. "Most people who knew Valerie and her husband, I think, would have thought that she was an overt CIA employee.

Now, I've never been a secret agent. But, I'm pretty sure that if you want to remain a secret agent, that you probably should not openly drive to CIA headquarters to work everyday. So, this whole mess, is supposedly over the, "outing" of an undercover CIA agent. Now, we found out that she's "undercover" in name only. Her friends and neighbors all know she's with the CIA, in fact, the only reason she's considered undercover is that the bureaucrats at the CIA never updated her paper work?

Wal-Mart Running Tom Thumb Out Of Town

In announcing last week that it was closing 26 stores in Texas, including 9 of its Tom Thumb stores in the metroplex, parent company Safeway tried to put the best possible spin on the situation. The Dallas Morning News says Safeway's top guy, Steve Burd, told analysts that, "pruning" the sagging stores will ultimately make Texas more competitive. "The Texas [market] is going to be much better and more focused by closing these 26 stores," the News quoted Mr. Burd as saying.

But a closer look at the facts suggest something more ominous. The simple fact is that Tom Thumb cannot compete with Wal-Mart. Below are the 9 stores in the DFW area that Safeway is closing, listed below is the location of the nearest Wal-Mart Supercenter and the distance between them.

Tom Thumb: 4123 Cedar Springs, Dallas
Wal-Mart: 1959 W Northwest Hwy., Dallas
Distance: 4.85 Miles

Tom Thumb: 3322 N. Buckner, Dallas
Wal-Mart: 7401 Samuell Blvd., Dallas
Distance: 1.15 Miles

Tom Thumb: 11255 Garland Road, Dallas
Wal-Mart: 3159 Garland Avenue, Dallas
Distance: 2.31 miles

7440 McCart Avenue, Fort Worth
7451 Mccart Avenue, Fort Worth
Distance: 0.28 Miles

4209 Basswood Blvd., Fort Worth
8520 North Beach Street, Fort Worth
Distance: 1.07 miles

2334 Buckingham Blvd., Garland
3159 Garland Avenue, Garland
Distance: 2.29 Miles

2810 E. Trinity Mills, Carrollton
1213 E. Trinity Mills, Carrollton
Distance: 3.59 Miles

2430 E. Pioneer Pkwy, Arlington
2225 W Interstate 20, Grand Prairie
Distance: 4.54 Miles

7120 Rufe Snow Drive, North Richland Hills
6401 Ne Loop 820, North Richland Hills
Distance: 2.96 Miles

Average Distance: 2.56 Miles

Each of the Tom Thumbs that are being closed are located very close to a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Grocery stores consider the area within 5 miles of a store to be their prime market area. So obviously, the Tom Thumbs being closed were in direct competition with a nearby Wal-Mart for customers. Just as obviously, Tom Thumb is conceding defeat, declaring Wal-Mart the winner. No amount of spin can change the geography. So what makes Safeway think the other Tom Thumbs will fare in better in competition with Wal-Mart?

Musings Along I-35

Back from my little trip to Austin. Some questions I pondered along the way:

• Why do people in Austin take UT football so seriously? It's not like they're a pro team or anything. Wait, I just realizee how dumb that sounded.
• Why are there so many more people begging at busy intersections in Austin than there are in Fort Worth? Are there more poor pople in Austin than Cowtown, or are do Austinites just put up with them more?
• Dallas and Houston excepted, are than any people more polite and courteous than Texans?
• Is there any group of people with grander dreams and aspirations that civic booster of small Texas towns?
• Who buys all this wrought iron and wood, "Texana" crap that they sell along I-35?
  

'Boys Toss Away A Win

Drew Bledsoe threw an interception with less than 10 seconds left in the game to allow the Seattle Seahawks to sneak away with a win over the Dallas Cowboys. Seattle kicker Josh Brown kicked a 50-yard field goal with no time left to give the Seahawks a 13-10 win. Bledsoe came into the game as the NFL's best rated quarterback and has been a very pleasant surprise for the 'Boys this year. As a veteran quarterback, for Bledsoe to allow Seattle a last second interception is in excusable.

The bright spot for the 'Boys were Marion Barber, who filled in for the injured Julius Jones with 95 yards rushing and the defense which held the top rated offense of the Seahawks to just 13 points.

Complete story from the Dallas Morning News.

Casting Diversity In Stone

The U.S. Supreme Court may have tried to derail efforts by The University of Texas at Austin to make their law school more ethnically diverse. However, the Diversity Police at UT is moving ahead to make the statues on their campus more diverse. Yep, according to the Austin American-Statesman, the university has launched as effort to diversify their outdoor statuary.

This effort is very important as the Statesman explains:

The university, which is trying to expand the number of minority students, subsequently convened a task force on racial respect, and that led to the appointment earlier this year of Gregory Vincent as the school's first vice provost for inclusion and cross-cultural effectiveness.

I'm not sure how much the job of, "first vice provost for inclusion and cross-cultural effectiveness" pays. But I'm pretty sure UT could pay me half what their paying Mr. Vincent, and it would still be a bump in income for me.

Of course, the biggest problem with the current statues on campus are that some of them were leaders in the confederacy. So in response UT is doing two things. First, the are putting up signs apologizing for having the offending statues of confererate leaders on campus. Second, they have come up with a plan to add statues of Barbara Jordan and Cesar Chavez to the mix of statues, to be more, "diverse." Okay, if the lesbians on campus need a statue to feel more included, I'd say Barbara Jordan was a good choice. Not only did Ms. Jordan serve the state in numerous public offices, she was a professor at UT as well.

But Cesar Chavez? Come on. Could we not find a Hispanic that, oh, let's say actually did something of note in Texas? Does walking by the image of a California union organizer (and not a very successful one at that) really inspire Hispanic students on campus?

Trimming The Tree

Folks in north Arlington are whining again. This they are upset because TXU Electric Delivery is trimming trees in their yards. See, tree limbs and power lines don't get along too well. And when a storm throws tree limbs up against electric wires, your power goes out. So, on the theory that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, the folks at the electric monopoly periodically trim the limbs back away from their lines. That's what's got the folks in Arlington so mad.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram tells about Lynn Wiseman, who stood in her back yard Friday morning, her voice rising angrily over the buzz of power saws and chipper shredders. Have you ever stood close to those chippers shredders? If reporter Shirley Jenkins could hear Ms. Wiseman over one of those, she musta been really, really, mad. The S-T reporter describes a touching scene where another resident watched as, "two of her trees were cut back, but she watched as a squirrel's nest was felled along with a large branch." I must say that brought a tear to my eye. Puhlease. You know good and well that if TXU didn't keep those trees trimmed and a spring storm came along and those people's power out they would be on the phone in a minute, demanding power be restored immediately. I bet that phone call would be louder than 10 chippper shredders.

Looney Birds

Those wackos at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are making plans to raise a fuss at the annual meeting of Brinker International Inc., according to the Dallas Business Journal. See PETA doesn't like the way the chicken served at Chili's, Macaroni Grill, and On the Border, makes its way from being a live bird to the entree on your plate. Apparently the chickens were unavailible for comment. The animal-rights nuts plan to ask Brinker to require its suppliers to use controlled-atmosphere killing, which PETA cliams is a more humane way to kill chickens. If the term, "a more humane way to kill" sounds like an oxymoron, well, that's par for the course for the leading animal-rights group. The Journal quotes Bruce Friedrich with PETA as saying, "Brinker needs to realize that Americans are compassionate and don't want to eat chickens who have suffered broken wings and been burned to death." Well, since I've yet to see anyone at Chili's order chicken fajitas raw, I'd say they do.

Of course, what the article fails to say is that PETA, which recently had two of their representatives in North Carolina arrested for killing dogs that were brought to their animal shelters, is opposed to using our, "fellow animals" for food period. PETA also oppposes taking your kids to the circus and would prefer drug companies test their experimental drugs on you instead of animals.

The Capitol Of What?

Blogging for the next few days will come to you from the Berkeley of Texas, better known as Austin. Apparently not satisfied with being just the capitol of the largest state in the U.S.A., the city likes to bill itself as the, "live music capitol of the world."

Austin, one of the few places to give John Kerry a majority of their vote, is something of an aberration. Driving through the rolling plains of Texas, the city seems geographically out of place, straddling I-35 among the quaint, small towns of the Texas hill country. It seems philosophically out of place as well. As a college town, and a liberal college town at that, Austinites pride themselves more than anything on being, "open-minded." Okay, I consider myself a pretty open-minded guy as well. But Austinites have adopted that smug, "I'm more open minded than you" attitude common among psuedo-intellectuals. It may look like Texas, but it feels like Boston.

Feeding Time Again In Arlington

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a Dallas developer has snookered the City of Arlington and Tarrant County into helping finance his $45,000,000.00 warehouse project in east Arlington. County commissioners appear set to approve a proposed tax increment financing reinvestment zone for the warehouse. Money from the tax zone would be used to widen Abram Street to six lanes and subsidize the warehouse's lease. What makes this deal especially stupid is that the warehouse is to be used for a General Motors parts supplier.

Uh, anybody know what is right down the street from the proposed warehouse site? Ding-ding-ding, that's right General Motors' Arlington plant. So am I the only one that suspects this business would locate near its only customer regardless of whether they got the tax breaks or not? Sure they would. I can only imagine how hard the developer must laugh at our idiotic government officials as they help finance his deal.

Bullying Big D

Nobody likes a bully. Perhaps someone should tell that to the president of Southwest Airlines, Coleen Barrett. The Dallas Morning News reports that Ms. Barrett is threatening to move the airline's corporate headquarters from Dallas if the Wright Amendment is not repealed. Southwest employs 5,000 people in Big D and pays roughly $15,000,000.00 million in taxes a year. If the efforts to remove the Wright Amendment restrictions fail, "there could be a time, if we continue to have a modicum of success, that it would be a bit odd for us to have our headquarters at one of the smallest posts in our system," Ms. Barrett said.

For almost a year, Southwest has been campaigning to try and get congress to repeal the Wright Amendment, which restricts most commercial service at Love Field to Texas and nearby states. Far enough, petitioning our government is a cherished right we hold. But no one has a right to extortion, and that is exactly what this is. There was a time when Southwest was a tiny little David, in a land populated by airline Goliaths. Who could resist rooting for the little upstart airline with the cocky attitude as they stuck it to their huge competitors? Now days, Southwest is one of the country's biggest airlines and the most profitable. Today Southwest is sticking it to Dallas.

Sore Losers

Apparently believing that there is no such thing a being gracious in defeat, the NIMBYs of the Ridglea Hills Neighborhood Association have enlisted the assistance of the Fort Worth Independent School District in their fight against Wal-Mart. Members of the homeowner's association have been fighting the world's largest retailer, over a store that is going up in southwest Fort Worth. Now the school district has joined with the neighborhood group to oppose an application by Wal-Mart for a permit to allow beer and wine to be sold. The homeowner's group has opposed the store since it was first proposed, saying that it would bring excessive lighting and noise and draw unsavory people to the area.

Members of the neighborhood association claim that allowing wine and beer sales so close to Ridglea Hills Elementary School will endanger the childlin'. "We don't want it for the same reasons we didn't want that store to begin with," Bob Bashein, organization president to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "It's behind a school and next to a park." What Mr. Bashein fails to mention is that the store fronts a freeway. The City of Fort Worth gave Wal-Mart a variance to sell beer and wine after Wal-Mart agreed to build a wall separating the store from the school. It is obvious that the homeowners association is simply being vindictive. What is not so obvious is why the FWISD would want to join them. Come on folks, get a life. Do you honestly thing an elementary child is going to climb over the wall, sneak into Wal-Mart take a beer up to the cashier and be mistaken for an adult and sold the beer? Sheesh.

No Such Thing As An Ugly Win

They say that there is no such thing as an, "ugly win." The Dallas Cowboys certainly tested that theory with today's victory over the New York Giants in Texas Stadium. The 'Boys, which were obviously the better team, tried every way they could to fumble the win away in a game that saw eight total turnovers. Today's game ball would have to go to Keyshawn Johnson. Despite fumbling once, Johnson, who played his best game of the year so far, made eight catches, including a couple of critical third down catches. Those key receptions kept drives alive, and the worn-out Giants defense on the field.

Good teams win the games they are supposed to win. The Cowboys certainly should have beaten the Giants and it certainly should not have taken an overtime field goal to do it. But we'll take it.

Article from the Dallas Morning News.

Paying The Piper

City officials in Farmers Branch are hungry. They are hungry for some new restaurants to eat at as well as the tax money new restaurants would bring to their city. So according to the Dallas Morning News, city are doing a survey of their citizens to find out what type of restaurants they'd like built in their town. The city's list includes 11 chain restaurant, or you can write in your own favorite easting place. The restaurants that made the list either don't have a restaurant in Farmers Branch or were suggested by City Council members. Once the city has the results of the survey, they plan to pitch the idea of building a restaurant in Farmers Branch to the top choices.

So why the dearth of good eating places in Farmers Branch? Well, part of it is the city's close proximity to Addison, the "restaurant capital of Texas," a problem Carollton has as well. But according to the News, there's another reason:

But years ago, restaurant developers chose to locate in surrounding cities, largely because of Carrollton ordinances that weren't considered to be developer friendly and the city's alcohol restrictions.

Farmers Branch officials have said similar reasons caused restaurant developers to choose sites in other cities.

What? I thought cities were free to impose any kind of restrictions and regulations on developers they wanted? That such costs would simply be passed on to the customers. You mean that if local governments impose overly burdensome regulations on business that business will simply go elsewhere? That's exactly what this means. Local government officials need to realize that their decisions are not made in a vacuum. For every rule, every regulation, there is a price to be paid.

Offensive Names Abound

The recent post about White settlement changing their name because the, "White" part might be offensive got me to pondering. So I took a look at the names of cities in the metroplex. What I found was shocking. Offensive names seem to abound.

The following names are blatantly sexist and will have to be changed. I've helpfully offered more acceptable names:

Addison -- Addichild
Everman -- Everperson
Mansfield -- Personsfield

There are other sexist names that are not as easy to fix. These cities bear a proper name. That leaves people of a different gender feeling left out. In the name of inclusiveness, the citizens of these cities will have to come up with gender neutral names:

Allen; Aubrey; Barry; Celeste; Celina; Glenn Heights; Glen Rose; Heath; Josephine; Joshua; Justin; Melissa; Stephenville.

If those cities don't want to come up with new gender neutral names, they could alternate between masculine and feminine names each year so that no gender feels left out. For example, the City of Josephine could be called the City of Joseph every other year.

The following cities will have to adopt new, more ethnically sensitive and culturally aware names:

Caddo Mills. It is offensive to members of the Caddo tribe to have their name trivialized by plastering it on police cars and water towers. I suggest the more acceptable, "Native American Mills" as a compromise.


Chico. This is Spanish for, "boy" and is sometimes used in a derogatory way towards hispanics. The residents of this town are free to use the more deferential "Caballero", which means "gentleman", or they can come up with their own. Provided of course, that they clear any new name with the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Fort Worth - The word "Fort" is overly militaristic and is too divisive in a time when we should be trying to bring people together not divide them. I suggest the more soothing, "Non-Agression Bluff".

Godley -- Obviously offensive to atheists and agnostics, I can't imagine why the ACLU hasn't sued them yet.

Saint Paul -- Quite possibly the most offensive name in the entire metroplex. Not only is the town named after a man, it's named after a Christian Man. 'Nuff said.

I did want to acknowledge one city that is really ahead of the pack in adopting a more politically correct name. The City of Greenville. Now tell me, what card carrying member of the Sierra Club wouldn't want to live there?

If I've overlooked any other racially insensitive, offensive, divisive, or culturally biased names, please let me know.

Feeding Time In Big D

It's time for Madam Mayor and the folks on the Dallas City Council to slop them hogs. The hogs I'm referring to are the real estate developers that are licking their chops at the thought of Big D taxpayers subsidizing their latest projects. The city council headed down this slippery slope a few months ago, when they arranged a sweetheart deal full of tax incentives to get 7-Eleven to build its new headquarters in the Arts District. But according to an article by Steve Brown in today's Dallas Morning News, other developers are saying that they'd like similar deals from the city to build in downtown Big D. Hunt Consolidated is asking the city for more than $6,000,000.00 in handouts to build an office tower downtown. Developer Craig Hall thinks he'd like to build a 47-story skyscaper with offices and condos in the Arts District. He also thinks he'd like Big D taxpayers to help him foot the bill. "Our deal is likely to falter, absent incentives," Mr. Hall told the News. "I strongly feel that the city should be doing tax abatements in a transparent way and have a program." Well, gee, who wouldn't like the city to tear up their tax bill? In addition to Mr. Hall, Hillwood Capital, the developers of Victory are saying that they think they'd like taxpayers to help them foot the bill for future projects in their development as well. "...we are looking at new Victory Park projects that would absolutely require some public assistance." Jonas Woods, Hillwood Capital president told the News.

4 thoughts on the subject:

1. Economics. If a project is not economically feasible without the taxpayers helping foot the bill, then it's just not feasible, Period. These developers come to the city and say, "I'd love to build this in your town, but the numbers just don't work without incentives." So the city gets involved in a deal that doesn't make economic sense?
2. Fairness. Let's say I own an office building downtown. I keep it up, I pay my taxes, I'm a good landlord. And how does the city reward me? By subsidizing my competitor with tax dollars. Some of which I paid.
   
3. Propriety. What business is it of the Big D city council, or any city to get into the real estates development business? Can anyone logically argue that this is a proper function of government?
4. Stupidity. If the members of the Dallas City Council were smart enough to be successful real estate developer they would be too busy to serve on the city council. Honestly, take at look at the people on the city council of any city. These are not the brightest bulbs on the tree. Do we really want these people making multi-million dollar real estate investments?
   

Tarrant Town To Become PCville?

Voters in the Tarrant County city of White Settlement will decide Nov. 8 on a proposal to change the city's name to West Settlement. The "White'' part is just not right for today's PC business world, Mayor James Ouzts told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "When people see the name, the question of race comes to mind. They ask `What is that all about? Why is that name there?' '' Ouzts said. Ironically, according to the Handbook of Texas, the community originally got its name because anglos were in the minority in an area largely populated by indians. While city leaders claim the move will attract new business, the S-T says Marla Fontenot isn't buying it. She said changing the name ``makes no sense whatsoever. The town's name has nothing to do with racism in the modern-day context. This is just an excuse because the town is in trouble financially,'' she said. Well, if that is the case, I'd suggest another plan. If corporations will pay millions to have sports arenas named after them, what might they pay for the naming rights to an entire town?

No Way To Run A Railroad

Imagine an organization that has seen its number of customers grow anywhere from 11 to 18%. Sounds like business is thriving, right? Wrong. What if I told you that that same organization was actually losing money? Such an unlikely scenario is only possible only in the quasi-governmental world of mass transit. According to the Dallas Morning News, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is facing a 2006 budget shortfall of $3,000,000.00, despite the fact that higher gas prices have greatly increased the number of people riding their buses and trains. See, at its core, DART is nothing more than that a tax-guzzling machine. Running buses and trains is a sideline to them. Fares paid by riders only cover about 11% of the cost of running its system. DART gets the vast majority of the $887,000.00 it costs to run its buses and rail lines each day from sales tax.

DART uses this tax money to subsidize transit service, the price you pay to ride a bus or train doesn't even begin to cover the costs. DART's goal is to keep this subsidy at $4.50 per trip. But things don't always work out that way. Consider Route 234, which runs from Plano to Irving. It averages only 59 riders a day. DART calculates that each passenger cost it $24.00 more than they pay in busfare. DART could actually give each passenger a pretty nice used car, discontinue the bus service and still come out ahead. All this talk of cutting service is upsetting to Kenneth Day, who just happens to be president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1338, which represents many bus and rail operators. "Taking service away is not always the right thing to do," Mr. Day told the News. "I don't know how they can cut services when buses are so full." They can do it because they are not in the bus business, they are in the tax collection business.

The Balkanization Of Big D

Dallas I.S.D. trustee Lew Blackburn wants the school district to require all principals to become proficient in Afro-centric studies. "They can help those African-American students, some of whom may not be doing too well because they may be losing some of their identity," Dr. Blackburn told the Dallas Morning News. So the reason for low test scores is identitiy loss? Cheryl Ajirotutu, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, likes what Dr. Blackburn is proposing. As an example of the success of such prorams, Ms. Ajirotutu points to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Milwaukee. She said test scores at the school have improved since it began infusing African and African-American culture into its curriculum. The program includes childlin' reciting a pledge of allegiance to Africa after saying the U.S. pledge.

Those in favor of such programs argue that including an African-American perspective catches the interest of black students, helps them understand their roots and teaches about the contributions that African-Americans have made to this country. Experts say teachers work the history and culture of Africans and African-Americans into daily lessons. For example, a discussion on inventions could include gas masks and Super Soaker water guns, which were invented by African-Americans.

The proposal comes at a time when the Big D school board is divided along racial lines among it's minority members. Dallas Hispanic leader Jesse Diaz says Hispanic trustees might not get all fired up over the idea. He says Hispanic trustees still resent black trustees' opposition to the recent school board requirement that forced many principals to learn Spanish. "Other Hispanics are kind of upset that we didn't have the African-American support," Mr. Diaz told the News.

It's pretty obvious that this whole thing is nothing more that petty payback for the Spanish language requirment. But here's a thought, instead of telling black kids to be proud that a water gun was, "invented" by an African-American, why not make them take advanced math, physics, and chemistry and encourage them to pursue a career in science? That way instead of learning about inventions, they could actually invent stuff.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

In addition to bringing in a new year, January 1, will also bring a new name to South Grapevine Highway. On that date, the City of North Richland Hills will change the name to Boulevard 26. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the renamed street will also get a new logo and diamond-shaped signs. The change is part of an effort to give Boulevard 26 a brand name similar to Sundance Square in Fort Worth or the West End in Dallas. This is supposed to make the area hip and cool and attract young professionals as well as new shops, condominiums and town houses. The idea that a bunch of middle-aged politicians on the city council know what young people consider cool is pretty laughable. But are young people really that shallow? I can just imagine a couple of 20-somethings talking, "hey forget the West End or Sundance Square, let's go hang out in North Richland Hills on that street with the neat street signs."

Run Becky, Run

If you like Judge Judy, you'll love Judge Becky. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram says that Fort Worth City Council-Lady Becky Haskin is going to quit the Cowtown City Council next year to run for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1. The current JP, Barbara Ferrell is not going to run for a new term.

It's not surprising that Cowtown's Chief Busybody would jump at the chance to land a job that would pay her more than the meager wages of a city councilperson to meddle in people's business. What is surprising is that the S-T says she will run for the seat as a Republican. A Republican? Haskin, who never met a government regulation she didn't embrace, and spearheaded the effort to spend tax money on a park for dogs is running as a Republican? This is definitely not Ronald Reagan's Republican Party.

Dead Smurfs As Fundraisers?

From the Washingon Times:

BRUSSELS -- UNICEF's first adult-only episode of "The Smurfs," in which the blue-skinned cartoon characters' village is annihilated by warplanes, has terrified young children. The short but chilling film is to be broadcast on national television this week as a campaign advertisement for a fundraising drive by the U.N. children's agency... The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand in hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom-shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky. The Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs. The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children."...

Philippe Henon, a spokesman for UNICEF Belgium, said his agency had set out to shock, after concluding that traditional images of suffering in Third World war zones had lost their power to move television viewers. "We have never done something like this before, but we've learned over the years that the reaction to the more normal type of campaign is very limited," he said... Julie Lamoureux, account director at Publicis for the campaign, said the agency's original plans were toned down. "We wanted something that was real war -- Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head, but they said no."

Don't you just love how it is our fault they are "forced" to use such graphic ads? We've all just become to desensitized to the constant stream of ads they fill our day with. Sheesh.

Robbing Peter To Pay Paul

Officials with the Texas Lottery have a problem. When they are honest about the size of the check the winner of their jackpot will get, nobody wants to play. According the Austin American-Statesman, the jackpot for the drawings has been stuck at $4,000,000.00. This despite the fact that no one won. Usually, the jackpots are increased when there are no winners. So why are the jackpots not increasing? Officials say the lagging sales and their own cautious estimates have caused lottery officials to set the Lotto Texas jackpot at the minimum amount allowed.

Earlier this year, it was discovered that Texas Lottery officials had lied about the size of payouts 4 times since October 2004. The executive director quit. After being caught cheating, lottery commissioners decided to guarantee all jackpots, meaning that the state will pay for any shortfall if sales don't support the payout. That means that if ticket sales only support a $2,000,000.00 jackpot, lottery officials go ahead and advertise a $4,000,000.00 payout, with the state making up the difference. But I thought the lottery was going to be a windfall for the state's education funding. Weren't we sold the lottery as something for the childlin'?

Cowboys Ground Eagles 33-10

Drew Bledsoe passed for 289 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Dallas Cowboys in a thrashing of the Philadelphia Eagles 33-10. The eagles, who had beaten the Cowboys 9 out of the last 10 games, didn't even make an offensive touchdown in the game. While I've been a Cowboys fan since the glory days of Roger Staubach, I always take special pleasure when the 'boys beat the thugs from philly. I still remember the wonderful folks in the city of brotherly love cheering as Michael Irvin lay on the turf of Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium with an injury to his spinal cord. Personally, I'd cheer for the devil himself over the eagles.

Story from the Dallas Morning News.

Hungry Like A Wolf For Tax Breaks

Well I'm glad to see someone is starting to question all these tax breaks that city officials give away so freely. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is reporting today that members of a local watchdog group, Grapevine Citizen's Watch is raising questions about the city council's recent sweetheart deal to bring a Great Wolf Lodge to the city. The deal signals the Grapevine City Council's, "relentless pursuit of commercial development, especially aimed at tourism, and its unwritten policy of secrecy that deprives residents from knowing where we are headed," the S-T quoted Buck Buchanan, president of the local watchdog group as saying. The group is especially annoyed that the council mulled over the Great Wolf project for 18 months without breathing a word to citizens. I suppose on the theory, that an uninformed electorate is a happy electorate.

The city landed Great Wolf with an offer of $5,300,000.00 in taxpayer money. While the citizen's group complains that the project was presented to the public as a fait accompli, Council-Lady Darlene Freed tells the S-T, that it is far from being a done deal and that residents may still offer input. Yeah, right. Does anyone seriously think city employees are going to get nit-picky with the hotel developer after hearing that their bosses have granted them a multi-million dollar tax break? Not surprisingly, P.W. McCallum, the executive director of the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau thinks this is a great deal. He told the S-T, "Great Wolf now elevates Grapevine to a first-choice option for the leisure market. The critical mass is beginning to really come together." Of course, if the, "critical mass" really is coming together in Grapevine, why does the hotel need multi-million dollar tax breaks?

The Things We Do For Love II

Things seemed to be going pretty good for Raymond David Newsome. Mr. Newsome, had recently been promoted to lieutenant with Valor Security Services at Grapevine Mills Mall, where he had received commendations for perfect attendance and even been named "Officer of the Month." So what on earth could have caused the 33 year old to beat up and rob 72 year old David Munselle, and run off with $270,000.00 in cash and checks? An unfaithful girlfriend.

According to the Dallas Morning News, that's what Mr. Newsome told the jury during his trial on 3 counts of aggravated robbery. "I was having a lot of problems in my personal life," he explained to the jurors. See, his Cuban-born girlfriend, who he had met online, had been threatened with deportation if she did not come up with $10,000.00. "I felt like if she went back, I'd never see her again," Mr. Newsome testified. "I'd never loved anybody like that." Mr. Newsome said that after the robbery, he lived in various motels. While running from the law, he found time to buy 3 vehicles and a wireless phone. He also found time to avail himself of the services of an escort named Champagne. Whether Miss Champagne was able to heal his broken heart, he didn't say. Unfortunately for Mr. Newsome, the jury seems to have been filled with people that don't know what it's like to lose at love. After 2 1/2 hours of deliberation, the jury sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

Huh?

Additions to four schools in the Crowley I.S.D. that were supposed to be done in time for the start of school will not be finished until Christmas, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Officials with the school district, which fancy themselves as the best and brightest in the metroplex stopped paying the contractor, Coronado Builders, back in August when they found out that they were not paying their subcontractors. One might think that such financial shenanigans would raise some concerns with school officials, but the district kept Coronado on the job, knowing that they weren't dealing on the up and up with their subs.

Assistant Superintendent Kyle Gathright says he found out about 2 weeks before classes were set to start that the schools wouldn't be ready in time. The S-T quotes him as saying, "...we started school without kitchens and cafeterias. So we chose what we called the limp-along method." Well a question arises? Where was Mr. Gathright all summer? I'm certainly no expert in building, but I think I could tell the difference between a school that would be ready in 2 weeks from one that wouldn't be ready for 5 months. Where was the oversight? But apparently I'm the only one that sees something wrong with a contractor not paying his bills and missing deadlines by 1/2 a year. The S-T says that Gathright praised Coronado quoting him as saying, "The easiest thing for those guys would have been to walk in, hand us the keys and walk out. The hardest thing was for them to stay on the job."despite its cash-flow problems." Huh?

New Casualties In Becky's War

Already victims of Hurricane Katrina, some refugees now find themselves victims of a different kind of storm. A political storm. I posted previously on Fort Worth City Council-Lady Becky Haskin's campaign for a whiter Woodhaven. Now, Fort Worth Weekly is reporting that a new front on that war has opened. According to the Weekly, City of Fort Worth officials have tuned an offer of free rent for Katrina refugees.

That all seems reasonable — until what some see as racial politics is added to the regular bureaucratic mix. A few days after the storm, three apartment complexes on Boca Raton Boulevard in Woodhaven offered the city 100 units rent-free for three months for evacuees. Local residents and charities were rounding up furniture, and utilities would also be free during those months. The owners of the three complexes — Oak Hollow, Cherry Hill, and Villa Del Rio — didn’t even want FEMA money for the three months. The offer was a free gift of apartments that could house about 500 people.

There was a major problem, however. These are the same apartments that the city filed nuisance abatements against last year, claiming they should be torn down, allegedly because of high crime rates there. The apartment owners have fought the city, and some have charged that the city — specifically Fort Worth City Council member Becky Haskin — is singling out these apartments because homeowners in Woodhaven want the largely black, mostly poor renters out.

“A few days after the shelters started filling up, we wrote them saying we were setting up a program to serve this need,” said Dallas attorney Kenneth Chaiken, who represents the apartment owners. “We had the resources of available apartments and had area churches willing to raise money for furniture and food, etc. The owners of those three apartments reached out with absolutely three months of free rent. We didn’t hear from the city, so we contacted them again. At that point [Assistant City Attorney] Tom Patterson called me and said the city is not interested in helping out there.”

Chaiken said the city is using the Katrina victims as a way to try to put the apartments out of business. “There is a reason why they are not routing Katrina victims into the perfectly fine units,” Chaiken said. “They don’t want these apartments filling up. They have engaged in a campaign to make the apartments suffer economically through the loss of tenants.”

The apartment owners filed suit in state court two weeks ago against Haskin, the city, and Woodhaven Community Development, claiming the defendants have “affirmatively steered prospective residents of the apartments away from the apartments, including evacuees of the recent hurricane tragedy, who the plaintiffs invited to reside in their properties on very attractive terms that would assist them in rebuilding their lives.”

Chaiken said the city and the apartment owners had struck a deal earlier this year by which owners agreed that all new residents of the three complexes would be subjected to rigorous background checks. The apartment owners had asked the city to relax some of those background checks for the Katrina victims, noting that comprehensive background checks take time. City officials refused.

Neither Haskin nor Patterson returned calls seeking comment for this story. Watson said the city’s decision was the right one. “Those three apartment complexes in question were not operating in a manner that we want to have in our community,” the assistant city manager said. “We are not going to place folks in an apartment complex that we don’t feel meets a minimal standard.”

Norm Bermes and Pete Fletcher are Woodhaven community activists who’ve been fighting the city’s nuisance designation for the apartments. They had worked to get furnishings for apartments for the Katrina evacuees and set up a job counseling service in the neighborhood. The rejection of their efforts left them angry.

“My understanding is that the powers that be want lower-income folks out of Woodhaven” Fletcher said. “In order to do that [Haskin] needs to take down apartments. If the apartments were to have a positive effect here, then it would be tougher to get rid of them. The positive press does not serve that master very well.”

So city officials would rather refugees continue to live in shelters than apartments? The free apartments are not good enough? Many of these people had their homes literally washed away. The apartments are not in the best part of town? Some of these people were plucked from the roofs of their homes. It seems that Becy Haskin's war against apartments have chalked up some new casualties.