Syria

Mayor Rawlings Says Real Men Don't Hit Women. They Don't Beat on Gays Either.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has scored points in disparate places with his man's man campaign against woman-beating, from New York Magazine to the metro page of today's Dallas Morning News -- all of it much deserved, if you ask me. A guy like Rawlings, Class of '76 at Boston College where he playe ... More >>

Syrian National Coalition's First Prime Minister Used to Be Chairman of Garland Academy

Ghassan Hitto, the man elected early Tuesday morning to become the opposition Syrian National Coalition's first prime minister, also happens to be a North Texan. The Damascus-born activist was educated in the United States, worked as director of operations at a Collin County telecom and, according t ... More >>

When Venezuelans Need Guns, It Seems, They Turn to a Parking Lot in Mesquite

You can't buy a gun in Venezuela. It's illegal, and has been since the government of Hugo Chavez banned the private sale of firearms earlier this year as part of an effort to tackle the country's sky-high murder rate: 19,336 last year, more than in Mexico, which is in the midst of a drug war and has ... More >>

Until Yesterday, the Web Site for Syria's State News Agency Was Hosted in Dallas

This morning, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the conflict in Syria had reached "new and appalling heights of brutality and violence," as the clashes between government troops and opposition forces drag on. An estimated 40,000 people have died in the conflict, which began in March 2011. The ... More >>

Undermain's Iliad: A One-Man Iliad

(Almost) all alone, actor Bruce DuBose triumphs.

Apocalypse Now(ish): Irvin Baxter's End Times Empire

Death, destruction and the end of humanity: Dallas pastor Irvin Baxter is building a media juggernaut by predicting the very worst.

Rambo Romney Should Call for Restarting the Draft

Make us believe you mean it, Mitt. Bring back the draft. For the better part of a week, I have been reading all these thinly veiled suggestions by Mitt Romney that President Obama isn't enough of an ass-kicker in the Middle East. His aides have been telling reporters that a President Romney right n ... More >>

Mexicans Pay in Blood for America's War on Drugs

Roots Juices Delivers to Dallas

Turns out we're all really late to the juicing trend. After Brent Rodgers spent a year traveling around the world, he found that juicing is old business everywhere else. He was at the Syria-Israel border when he had the idea to start a juicing business in Dallas after he stood in what he thought was ... More >>

Dear Commenter: I Dredge Through The New York Times for More Than Pageviews

Yesterday a commenter accused me of dredging through The New York Times every morning to find a pretext for some kind of inflammatory ditty here on Lawn whose only purpose is to stir up a hornet's nest of clicks. Yeah, I can see how somebody could get that impression. But, what do you want me to do? ... More >>

Baboush Chef Yaser Khalaf on How to Make it in America (It All Starts in Lexington)

Yaser Khalaf, owner of Medina and Baboush in the West Village, traveled throughout the Middle East and Europe as a child. Then in college, he traversed America, Route 66-style, in a van in which he literally blew the engine. His life-long passion for food, culture and people helped mold him into a s ... More >>

There's a Wolf at Rick Perry's Door

​Wolf Blitzer of CNN takes on the Republican candidates tonight for the second foreign policy debate. This is the do-or-die moment for our homeboy: Either Rick Perry repairs his fortunes and escapes the back-bench or he's toast. Perry's people know that, so our governor is going to be all-in tonig ... More >>

Area Gun Dealer Pretty Sure That New Two-Per-Customer Law Won't Solve Border Violence

Via.So long as we can still get one of these​An edict from the Justice Department to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives paved the way Monday for tighter regulation of repeat purchases of semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines in border states. The feds' f ... More >>

Voters -- Who Needs Them?

​What is it that people here have against voting? I'm thinking about the item I saw here yesterday about the Dallas City Council clamping down on campaign signs. Right, we need to do everything we can to contain this voting thing. Fewer signs. Voter photo ID laws. Anything we can do to cut d ... More >>

Q&A: The Black Lips' Jared Swilley On Rowdy Shows, Punk's Influence and Playing Antarctica

Atlanta's The Black Lips formed as teenagers, right before the turn of the millennium. Just a year or two later, while still in high school, the punk-influenced, retro-obsessed four-piece started touring. And they've never really looked back. Seemingly more comfortable on the road than at home, the ... More >>

A "Hedonist" (Cough) Stays, Plays in Dallas

​Marilyn McDonald writes for something called Hg2 -- "a luxury city guide series coveted by travellers who value both style and substance when it comes to soaking up a city." I don't see Dallas included in its series of Hedonists Guide-books between Courchevel and Damascus. But who knows: McDonald ... More >>

Q&A: Monotonix's Yonatan Gat Defends His Native Israel Against Bands That Boycott It, Describes Letting Himself Go During His Band's Notorious, Off-The-Wall Performances

Daniel RodrigueMonotonix's Ami Shalev​For astute music fans in the North Texas region, the name Monotonix has become quite familiar. In the last couple of years, the Israeli garage-punk trio has made a few stops here, including a 2009 NX35 slot that got the ball rolling pretty hard on their Metrop ... More >>

Manufacturing Dissent: Bush Institute's Cyber Dissidents Panel Gathers Friends of the Freedom Agenda

Patrick MichelsPresident Bush opens his institute's Conference on Cyber Dissidents: "The Bush Institute is going to be involved in the freedom movement."​The George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University won't be breaking ground till November, but its policy arm, the Bush Ins ... More >>

"Cyber Dissidents" at Dubya Institute, Wrong-Way Tickets and a $100,000 Dare

Terry Dorsey ... for now​A few news and notes with which to end your red-flag Tuesday:The Bush Institute on the SMU campus today announced its very first "human freedom" event, scheduled for April 19 at the James M. Collins Executive Education Center: The Conference on Cyber Dissidents: Global Suc ... More >>

Blood ties between Arabs and Mexicans? Oh, man, that’ll drive Lou Dobbs really nuts.

Guantanamo's Final Days

America prepares to shutter the infamous prison camp, and jihad looms

Body of Lies follows the fight against terror into cyberspace

Ridley Scott's latest is the post-9/11, tech-savvy thriller we deserve

Holy Land Co-Founder's Daughter on the Feds' "Most Un-American Effort"

American Girls

Crossing between American and Egyptian cultures, he Said girls made one deadly misstep: They fell in love

Bushwhacked

Let's just say Bush gets charged with war crimes. Will Dallas be guilty by association with his library?

Nothing Left Behind in Southland Tales

What Happens in Iraq Doesn't Stay in Iraq For Some Local Immigrants

"We Fight the Good Jihad"

Man Without a Country

Gun dealer's alleged accountant comes up short

Richard Chichakli Just Wants to Get Back to Richardson

Patriot Acts

Far from his Kurdish home, Adnan Kirkuki seeks out soldiers to defend his new one in the United States

Secret Justice

Authorities allege Richard Chichakli was accountant to an illegal arms deal. Prove it, he says.

The Cult of Ole

Ole Anthony anointed himself the watchdog of America's televangelists. But who was watching Ole Anthony?

On a Wing and a Prayer

Minister to despots across the globe, evangelist K.A. Paul just needs a few tons of jet fuel--and a safer plane--to keep up God’s work

The Devil and Doyle Davidson

Did a preacher's obsessions push Dena Schlosser over the edge?

Game On

And clothes off

Call Him Al

An epic story turns human--and fallible-- in Oliver Stone's Alexander

Dolma Days

Mediterranean Festival has more than hummus and grape leaves

Wick's End

Plus: Anger Displacement

Just Kidding

Plus: Checkup; Ch-ch-changes

Crusaders

In another holy war, the battle plan is to turn Muslims into Bible believers

Best Lesson on the Middle East

Ali Baba Café

Terrorist's Cookbook

A manual tells terrorist recruits how--and why--they should wage unholy war

Beasts of Burden

Drunken Horses, and the children who must lead them over rocks and mines

Joe Bob in Bloom

John Bloom has taken his alter ego, Joe Bob Briggs, and gone Hollywood. But watching America's favorite drive-in movie critic on television these days, a new character is emerging: John Bloom himself

Jibing with the Tribe

Tony Gatlif bares his Gypsy heart in Gadjo Dilo

Belly good

Sinbad's Palace offers superb Middle Eastern cuisine and fabulously hokey ambience