You’d think a guy with the job title “Texas land commissioner” would know a thing or two about Texas land. Little items, you know, like what the state boundaries are, what a landowner is and how to tell a Texan apart from, say, a Canadian. See also: – Keystone Pipeline…
Poor Mitt Romney finally says exactly what he’s thinking and the guy gets hammered for it. You wanted specificity and numbers from the man? Well, as you no doubt heard, Mother Jones reported this week that he’s plenty specific when talking to gatherings of his big-money contributors: “All right, there…
Texas will elect it’s next senator today. Odds are, you won’t vote for him. In fact, a good number of you, even if you’re registered to vote, can’t vote in the truly decisive race going down Tuesday, because you were dumb enough to vote in the Democratic primary in May…
On June 28, the Texas Public Utility Commission, the state agency that regulates energy, will likely vote on whether to sharply increase the top amount that electricity generators can charge retail providers such as Reliant and TXU for power when supplies run short. In other words, when we’re all whimpering…
What a bunch of wusses those kids at Horace B. Smedley School are. When their kindhearted teacher Miss Nelson can no longer take her students’ unruly behavior and disappears, the kiddies are instantly cowed by her stern, ruler-waving replacement, Miss Viola Swamp. Hah. In my day (ca. 1847-50), any class…
Here’s a question for all you MBAs in Unfair Park Land: Why would an independent retailer operating in a free, deregulated market want the state to take steps to suddenly raise the retailer’s costs? For example, say you own a mom-and-pop store that sells tomatoes. The government suddenly wants to…
OK, follow along: Viola, a woman, dresses as a man — there’s a reason for this involving a shipwreck, but that’s not important right now — and enters the service of a duke. The duke sends his servant to woo a woman, who instead falls in love with the servant…
Every so often, we employ here at the Dallas Observer reporters who are not what you might call “of a Texas persuasion.” East and West Coast natives. Yankees. Also, every so often, one of these bright, young people — from parts of the world where the Second Amendment is not…
Let’s see. By now, school will have been out for about a week. Yep, that’s just about enough time for loving parents everywhere to start asking themselves the annual summertime question: “How can I get these annoying, screaming little savages out of the goddamn house before I go crazy!?” Can’t…
Hard to believe that only three years have passed since Fort Worth police and agents with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents conducted their infamous raid on that city’s Rainbow Lounge. Today, it hardly seems conceivable that the cops would bust in and bust heads in a dubious crackdown on…
Man, you just can’t trust a blue-blood. One minute they’re, like, friendly, you know, hanging out in Seville and all, “Hey, Figgy ol’ pal, could you help me win this girl, buddy o’ mine?” Before you know it, the fat lady sings, the curtain rings down on the Barber of…
“It gets better,” the national YouTube video campaign assures gay and lesbian teenagers who confront homophobia. Sometimes, though, before things get better, life can get a lot harder. Out in the Silence, a documentary by filmmaker Joe Wilson tracks the struggles of a small-town gay teen tormented by classmates and…
Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Things that fly low and fast. Things that fly slow and glow. Things that fly and dance and twist. We’re talking air show, people AIR SHOW! OK, gotta calm down now, but really, who cannot love an air show? Besides, that is, a certain spouse who…
As we told you recently, the Texas Public Utility Commission is looking at raising the maximum amount that electricity generators can charge for power during times of high demand, when prices typically spike. Right now, the cap — the state’s gesture to keep us from getting gouged every July –…
Hah, did you know? When black women get angry, they get their heads bobbing up and down. White women, meanwhile, are like superheroes, whose uptight, controlled rage keeps the world moving. Yes, indeedy, the differences between white and black folk, as revealed circa 1995, are miiiighty hilarious, as comedian Tommy…
An Iraq War veteran is brought home from combat to take part in a morale-boosting tour, with a stop at the bizarre, full-fledged extravaganza/political theater at a Cowboys half-time show. A brilliant high school teacher succumbs to temptation and existential confusion in 2002 Paris. Duty, violence and morality twist and…
Ah, the Trinity River corridor, that swath of green that anchors urban Dallas to Mother Nature. How we cherish it. Unless, that is, someone — Mayor Mike Rawlings, for example — wants to build a toll road through its heart … Or maybe dump a few hundred gallons of pig…
Ah, food. It used to be so simple. Time was, if you had an adequate amount, it tasted OK and it didn’t make you sick, you could count yourself one of Earth’s fortunate children. It was like sex that way. Now, eating is like, well, sex. You can be damn…
Let’s check out this here event. Hmm, it’s at La Grange — alcohol-drenched shaved ice, the pinnacle of modern technology. Check. It’s put together by Dr. Sketchy, and we practically have a Ph.D. in sketchy ourselves. Check. It’s a figure-drawing session, so we can be all artsy. Check. It features…
So much happening on the education front these days. Earlier this week, Mayor Mike Rawlings broke with tradition and endorsed candidates for Dallas Independent School District’s board. Not in his capacity as mayor, of course. That would be against the city’s ethics rules. No, this was just good ol’ Mike…
When Texas Public Utility tentatively voted to increase the ceiling on the wholesale price of electricity by 50 percent by August 1, public reaction was swift. It sounded like this: chirp … cheep … when you wish … chirp … cheep … upon a star. Which was surprising. Stereotypically, you’d…
Look, we’re sorry. We wanted badly to just ignore the earth-shattering news. Unfortunately, though, Schutze is off in Arkansas ingesting giardia all week, and not everyone reads The Dallas Morning News (cheap bastards), so it’s up to those left behind to let everyone in on it. Ready? Here it is:…
