Economic Crisis

Mark Cuban: Of Course We're Better Off Than Four Years Ago, So Stop Asking

The Democrats are gathered in Charlotte for the quadrennial circle jerk in which they deliver bombastic speeches and anoint their presidential nominee. Last week, the Republicans did the same in Tampa. These respective echo chambers inevitably lead to an increase in the type of one-sided political b ... More >>

The Art of Prohibition

Sometimes 1 Percent is Enough. If, That Is, You're Willing to Stand Up.

​Hey, one last shout out here for the Occupy Dallas people who camped at City Hall. I know you took a lot of grief from people who didn't understand why you were doing what you were doing, including me a little bit at one point. I hope you took note of the president's speech yesterday in Kansa ... More >>

Indian Jewelry, Prince Rama, Darktown Strutters, New Fumes

Friday, November 18, at Rubber Gloves

Speaking of Ex-Dallas Mayors, Steve Bartlett's Out to Kill D.C.'s Post-Financial Collapse Regs

​And Schutze and I were just talking about Steve Bartlett. Then a Friend of Unfair Park goes and sends this piece posted a little while ago to The New York Times's website about how the former mayor of Dallas (twixt Strauss and Kirk, for those new to town or who just plain forgot, and how could yo ... More >>

Paul Krugman Is Very Worried About Texas

​Speaking of the great state o' Texas's $25-billion budget shortfall ...Clearly, there are many Get Him to the Greek fans amongst the Friends of Unfair Park who've spent the better part of the morning filling the in-box with a copy of actor and Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman's piece in today's Ne ... More >>

The Daily Fail: Bono

Bono is sad. And no, it's not because he hasn't found a new cause to get behind. He's sad because people aren't giving money to one of his favorite causes.

Dallas Is On the "Road to Full Recovery"

Brookings Institution​At least, that's what the Brookings Institution says in its 52-page report Global Metro Monitor: The Path to Economic Recovery, which took a long, hard look at "data on economic output and employment in 150 of the world's largest metropolitan economies, located in 53 countrie ... More >>

Inside Job: This Meltdown Memoir Will Make You Seethe.

Taste Just Like Chicken: Why So Much Poultry In the Art World?

​There may not be a chicken in every pot in these recessionary times, but there seems to be a chicken in every picture frame. At the Emergency Artists' Support League's annual Art Heist fundraiser this weekend, there were etchings of roosters and sculptures of chickens. While poultry painting ... More >>

Pete Sessions on Why He Voted Against Stimulus Bill, Then Asked for Stimulus Funds

​A Friend of Unfair Park forwarded along this Center for Public Integrity round-up of Republicans and conservative Democrats who railed against the the $787-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ... then asked for stimulus dough anyhow. For our purposes, the piece begins with none other t ... More >>

DIY In The Fort

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

​White tablecloths weren't the only ritzy restaurant accessory to fall victim to the recession: Local florists say eateries are using fewer floral centerpieces. Decades ago, a fine-dining table wasn't complete without at least a few blossoms in a vase. Even middlebrow restaurants were in the ... More >>

This Week in Dallas Music History: This Recession's Killing the Music Scene.

​Perhaps this is a bit presumptuous of me, but we could be on the rebound from the recession that started on 2008. If nothing else, though, we're a great deal away from the 1992 recession, which, turns out, kinda dogged the DFW live music scene pretty hard.The April 2, 1992 edition of the Observer ... More >>

Q&A: Dave Wakeling of The English Beat On Punks, Mixing Races and the Circular Nature of Music.

Dave Wakeling​Even three decades after the fact, the music of The English Beat still retains the fresh edge that distinguished it back in 1978. Beginning with the "Mirror in the Bathroom" and "Save it For Later" singles, The Beat (as it was then called and is still referred to in its native Englan ... More >>

Naughty Aughties

Champagne Wishes, Cupcake Dreams

Hutchison on Meet the Press: If Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's Gotta Go, Then Congress "Shouldn't Keep Our Jobs Either"

NBCHutchison and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) during the introductions. Could Kay look any more uncomfortable if she tried?​Kay Bailey Hutchison's appearance Sunday on Meet the Press could have been an opportunity to show potential voters why she kept her gig in Washington instead of resign ... More >>

No Justice: We've Bailed Out the Banks. When Do We Go After the Crooks Behind Our Financial Collapse?

Attn: Wall Street. Michael Moore is a Marxist (but he's still selling the same old shtick in his Capitalism: A Love Story).

Locals Didn't Pony Up the Dough at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie This Season

​It would appear Norm Hitzges alone cannot keep Lone Star Park's numbers from suffering a dramatic decline in the midst of a recession. The 65-day spring meet wrapped in Grand Prairie yesterday, and track officials noted with great disappointment the drop in both attendance and wagering, on-site a ... More >>

The New York Times Goes to Jerryworld

Patrick MichelsJerry Jones, showing off his new big-screen TV at Cowboys Stadium back in MayA condensed version of Richard Sandomir's visit to Cowboys Stadium, which appears in this morning's edition:Jerry Jones, tour guide, was showing off. Lost in the excitement of the show and tell, Jones trample ... More >>

Today In Music News: Vibe Shutters Its Doors, Jackson's Body Goes Public and Kanye Debuts A Stage

Your daily dose of national music news for Wednesday, July 1, 2009... Vibe is the latest victim of the recession. Michael Jackson's body will be on public display at Neverland Ranch. Kanye debuted the only thing bigger than his ego: His new stage for his tour--now with gold plating! 

Vino Cookout

Mayor Tom Leppert Goes to D.C. This Morning to Talk About Bonds. Municipal Bonds.

I see Schutze is finally cleaning out his closet ... Mayor Tom Leppert's in D.C. this morning at the invite of Barney Frank, whose House Financial Services Committee is set to discuss why it's become so danged difficult and cost-prohibitive for cities to issue bonds -- and how Washington can fix it, ... More >>

Dallas Hearts Etsy

Theater With Storage!

Chewing the Fat: Breaking The Chains?

Driving around DFW, you have to take notice of the seemingly endless strips of six-lane traffic and the stores and restaurants on either side. Yeah, local dining hasn't suffered as much as in other parts of the U.S. But with Bloomberg reporting today that restaurants have a greater chance of failing ... More >>

Food For Thought 4.6.09

"We're in a recession, hard times. We shouldn't be hurting business. I'm not saying, 'Let's take away this issue.' We're just saying, 'Let's give these businesses some time.'" (Tennell Atkins, member of the Dallas City Council, on an effort to delay the city's smoking ordinance, which bans lighting ... More >>

At The News Today, "D Day"

This morning, A.H. Belo Corporation announced that layoffs at The Dallas Morning News will begin promptly, with "the majority of the actions [taking place] today and tomorrow." By the time the company's done with its so-called "cost-cutting measures," it will have eliminated 14 percent of its total ... More >>

Which End Is Up?

Think about this when you dine at Dallas' better restaurants.A couple good things have come out of the recession, when you stop and think about it. Some of the high end restaurants trimmed their prices, for one thing. Prix Fixe menus have become the rage. Places like Blue Collar Bar and Kent Rathb ... More >>

Chewing the Fat: Carbonated Beverage Sales Going Flat

Carbonated beverages sales are fizzing out, with reports showing 2008 as the fourth consecutive year of decline. Amidst a recession, fears of childhood obesity and the recent findings of BPA in soda cans, a 2009 comeback doesn't look like a very safe bet, either. With sodas long thought to be rec ... More >>

The T. Boone Pickens Alternative Energy Show Rolls Across America

Slip Ups On The Upswing?

Yesterday I waited 90 minutes for some Chinese restaurant to delivery a single order of General Tsao's chicken. When the driver finally showed up, cold food in hand, he offered one of those difficult to refute not-my-fault excuses: "we're really busy," he said. "And we only have two drivers."Think I ... More >>

Food For Thought: 3.18.09

"Our average check is lower, but transactions are up 10 to 15 percent." (John Hurley, owner of Garibaldi's Restaurant in Oakland, CA, on the value of a prix-fixe menu. According to Nation's Restaurant News, fine dining restaurants are increasingly turning to multi-course, set price dinners to comba ... More >>

Burning Question: Are People Tipping Less?

Some wag in some diner some years ago posted a clever reminder for guests: "Tipping is not a city in China"--which may have seemed funny, oh, about once.Nowadays China owns a good chunk of American debt, as well as the power to let us topple into the economic dunking pool...if we weren't doing such ... More >>

All Ale Cheese!

Pair up brews and bites

A Tough Year for Local Restaurants Sputters to an End

Dallas Ad Firm Uses Bailout to Sell Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast

You Betcha: Week 6

Can You Imagine If Bear Stearns Sponsored the Dallas Cowboys?

Young Jeezy

Tuesday, August 12, at House of Blues

Ross for Boss! And He's Got Charts!

Calm Down, Dallas' Real Estate Market is Just Fine. Only, Till It's Not.

Dallas to Lose $4 Billion in 2008? Man, That Sounds Bad.

What's the Deal?

FDR clowns around at Stone Street

Portrait of a Lady

Best Lunch Deal

Frito pie at Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse

Best Weekend Getaway

Austin

Best Sign That We're a Big City Now

The Opening of DART's CityPlace Light Rail Stop