In this story from Bloomberg, some of the wealthiest men in America defend themselves (presumably from the comfort of their immaculately decorated offices and private jets) against the unfair, heinous attacks of the Occupy movement and those pesky protesters who seem displeased by the widening disparity between the richest few and the folks worried about feeding their families. The CIA says there’s more economic inequality in America today than Iran or India. Not too far in, there’s this bit from Bernard Marcus, the 82-year-old co-founder of Home Depot:
“If successful businesspeople don’t go public to share their stories and talk about their troubles, ‘they deserve what they’re going to get,’ said Marcus, 82, a founding member of Job Creators Alliance, a Dallas-based nonprofit that develops talking points and op-ed pieces aimed at ‘shaping the national agenda,’ according to the group’s website. He said he isn’t worried that speaking out might make him a target of protesters. ‘Who gives a crap about some imbecile?’ Marcus said. ‘Are you kidding me?’”
What, exactly, he thinks rich people who don’t defend themselves “deserve” isn’t clear. (Do the just deserts include tax increases? Bloody revolution? Being forced to fly coach?) What is clear is that Marcus, a man “shaping the national agenda,” believes anyone bothered by the current economic disparity in this country is an “imbecile” he doesn’t “give a crap about.”
If the Nippon Ham Fighters’ pitcher signs with the Texas Rangers (or even if he doesn’t), media folk need to be ready. Good or bad. I already am. Let’s hit it.
The movies for the Texas Theatre’s Tuesday Night Trash series just keeping getting worse.
In the spirit of the holiday that shall not be named because I am so unprepared, the Oak Cliff theater will screen Elves, a very, very distant cousin of the Will Ferrell vehicle. A woman and her friends are trapped in a department store with a bunch of genetically-mutated elves (part of a Nazi plot, naturally) and it’s Santa to the rescue. The movie is free, and there will be drink specials at the bar. And since it’s apparently National Sangria Day (I feel like it’s been too long since we had one of these “days”), La Calle Doce is serving their take on the boozy punch this evening.
If you feel up to a trip to Fort Worth, there are still tickets left for Lyle Lovett’s concert at the Bass Hall. The country artist will be there alongside members of his latest venture, an acoustic group made of up members from his usual tour mates, his large band. Definitely drop by The Usual for a cocktail after the show. It’s worth the little extra drive.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Who needs the most interesting man in the world when you can have Yu Darvish? As mentioned in this morning’s Leading Off, news reports say that your Texas Rangers offered $51.7 million for the right to be the only team in Major League Baseball that can sign the best pitcher in Japanese baseball. It’s expected to take something like a five-year deal worth another  $75 million or so to get Darvish to summer in Arlington. (The amount is similar to what they apparently weren’t willing to offer the now-departed C.J. Wilson.)
This for a guy who has never pitched a day in the big leagues. The Japanese leagues are considered to have a high quality of play, but more on par with the high minor leagues in the states than with MLB. Pitchers there don’t have to pitch as often, or for as many innings in a season as they do here. And their ball is smaller.
So what’s being said about the Rangers’ risky move? A sampling:
Talk about living close to work. Khloe Kardashian and her husband — new Dallas Mavericks forward Lamar Odom — are leasing a condo at the W Dallas Victory Residences, a stone’s throw from American Airlines Center, where the Mavs play.
They’ll be moving into Mack Hicks’ (he’s the son of Tom Hicks) three-bedroom unit at the W highrise. Realtor-to-the-bold-face set Allie Beth Allman, no stranger to high-profile-athlete clients, did the deal. In fact, they liked Allie Beth so much, they mic’ed her up for Khloe & Lamar, the couple’s reality TV show.
Earlier news reports had the couple checking out the nearby Azure condos, where they were supposedly looking for a three-bedroom place renting for $8,000 to $15,000 a month.
Jacquielynn Floyd Follows Up on Dale Hansen Sex Victimization Revelation. The News columnist talked to the sportscaster (sub. req.) after he revealed Sunday night that he’d been victimized as a kid. The night of his broadcast, he got 1,500 emails, some of them from people who said they suffered the same thing as a kid and were moved by him to talk about it for the first time. Good on Hansen.
AT&T Abandons T-Mobile Bid. AT&T offered $39 billion to buy T-Mobile, a deal it has given up on in the face of regulatory push-back. Good news is that now AT&T has a lot of spending money for Christmas, right? Eh, now they have to pay $4 billion in fees because the deal didn’t go through. That stings. (As you might imagine, this rather big news is being reported by more than a few outlets on the internet. Yet the Morning News still put its story behind the paywall. I really should dump that AHC stock.)
Rangers Win Posting Auction for Yu Darvish. Speaking of deals I don’t understand, the Rangers have paid $51.7 million for a pitcher. Not to have him pitch for the team. Just to have the right to offer him money to pitch for the team.
Khloe Kardashian Something Something. Blah, blah, Khloe Kardashian. Basketball. Lamar Odom. Blurgh.