Not sure what to think of Mike Miles, the Dallas school board’s pick for new superintendent? Here’s a shortcut. Decide what you think of the Broad Superintendents Academy (BSA). Miles is a 2011 graduate of a boot camp for school superintendents in Los Angeles founded and funded by a foundation…
Welcome to Local Music ‘Mericans, where we get to know the people behind the scenes in DFW music. Pete Swulius and Dave Howard are old band pals from a now-defunct outfit called The Virgin Trebles. Nowadays, they devote their energy to supporting other local artists, not just as fans, but…
Dear Friends Among Dallas Black Activists: Some of you have contacted me to ask me who this Uncle Tom son of a bitch Greg Howard is working for the Observer. One of you — a guy with a long history of responsible activism — called me from the picket line…
I am terribly embarrassed by the short film I offered here yesterday about driving over the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge for the first time. The comments on my cinematography, direction, editing and narration have been scathing, scathing! Shockingly caustic. I just feel utterly scathed. I get the message, people. It’s…
Big business is finally figuring out what Democrats have been saying since the worst days of George W: that the genius idea of Bush’s brain, Karl Rove, was a Faustian bargain with that powerful and elusive element of American political landscape — the ignorati. Now the ignorati are demanding their…
Old news department. Dallas has a new bridge over the Trinity River near downtown designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. It has been the subject of hoopla. I have been negative. The story of why is too long, too boring. When they had the hoopla party several weeks ago, my…
Dear Mexican: Stop using Spanish in your column. I like reading your column, but when every other word is in Spanish, I don’t know what the hell is going on. It makes you sound like that nerdy kid who uses big words to try and sound impressive. Don’t be lazy,…
The Republican presidential candidates all agree on one thing — the same mantra between all their lines. They all want us to believe that the extreme polarity of rich and poor in this country is an expression of natural law. The super-rich just have to get super-richer. Everybody else, sadly,…
Welcome to Local Music ‘Mericans, where we get to know the people behind the scenes in local music. Lou Medina was born in Denton, grew up in Brooklyn, and moved back to DFW after getting his feet wet behind the turntables. He makes his living as a studio producer and…
I have a column in tomorrow’s paper wailing about the city’s failure ever to generate a true high-concept vision for the park we’re supposed to be building on the Trinity River. We’ve seen bits and pieces of ideas come and go — good, bad and ugly. Audubon Center, good. Horse…
Sunday the Dallas Peace Center chose Dealey Plaza, where JFK was killed almost a half century ago, as the site for a protest demanding justice in the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. It’s hard to feel good about anything associated with the Martin story, but Dealey Plaza was a…
American Airlines wants to ditch all of its labor contracts. I wonder a couple things about that. But first: I do get what bankruptcy is. It’s pushing back the creditors. I get that. Maybe everybody signed deals that were too generous, back in the fat days. Now somebody doesn’t want…
Just want to make sure you know what you’re getting into if you count on The Dallas Morning News to tell you what’s up. It’s not that they won’t. But you do have to deal with the social local filter. The New York Times this morning carries a story by…
Dear Mexican: I was born in los estados unidos, my father is Tamaulipas and my mother is a third-generation Chicana. Being married to a mexicano, we recently vacationed in his hometown of Apatzingan, Michoacán. It was my first time meeting my in-laws and everyone from his colonia. It seems I…
Things have to fall into place a certain way. The right cards must be dealt. But the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination in Dallas on November 22, 2013, could become a hallmark event in a long tradition of popular street actions stretching back to the nation’s beginnings. From Occupy…
All right, I’ve got my lanyard whistle around my neck, and I’m set for a session here. Let’s hustle up out there, Lawners. Time for today’s knee-jerk calisthenics. Remember our interim motto: A knee-jerk reaction is better than not being able to feel your feet. (I’m working on shortening that.)…
Welcome to Local Music ‘Mericans, where we get to know the people behind the scenes in Dallas-Fort Worth music. Veronica Navarro is an Internet radio host on Deep Ellum On Air, and her talk show, “Hungover with V,” streams live Sundays at 11 a.m. It can be a pretty uplifting…
Maybe it’s late in the day for this, but is there any chance the city could rescind its bizarre special ordinance ordering the preservation of the old Crozier Tech high school building at the east end of downtown and just let the poor bastards who bought the place knock it…
Oh, this is going to be painful. I’ve been trying to prepare myself all weekend by eating a diet of prunes and flax seed, riding a stationary bicycle, doing somewhat Yoga-like stretches according to what I’ve seen in the movies and giving myself drill-sergeant pep talks in the mirror, also…
James Galbraith has a new book out, Inequality and Instability, arguing that … well, you know he’s an economist at the LBJ School at UT Austin, so it’s pretty complicated … I’m trying to boil down what I got out of it … I need to put this into Get-Off-My-Lawn…
On June 13, 2010, Dallas police arrested and jailed Robert Groden, author of best-selling books on the Kennedy assassination and a consultant to the Oliver Stone movie, JFK. The police accused Groden of violating a city law against selling books in Dealey Plaza, where the assassination happened almost a half-century…
Dear Mexican: I work for a major news organization and often have heard the figure of 10 million illegal Mexicans. Unofficially, I have been quoted the number 20 to 25 million illegals, most of them not Mexican. Why the focus on the Mexicans? They are far less alien than the…
