Articles for February 25th, 2013
Last January, J.C. Penney’s Plano Employees Watched Five Million YouTube Videos
The most interesting nugget in this morning’s pillaging of J.C. Penney in the Wall Street Journal was this tidbit:
During January 2012, the 4,800 employees in Plano had watched five million YouTube videos during work hours, said Michael Kramer, a former Apple executive brought in by Mr. Johnson as chief operating officer.
Gawker broke down the numbers:
5,000,000 videos total ÷ 4,800 employees ≈ 1042 videos per employee (per month)
This means that, on average, every single J. C. Penney employee was watching over one thousand videos per month. It is also possible that one J.C. Penney employee was watching five million videos per month.
1,042 videos per month ÷ 21 workdays ≈ 49 videos per day.
49 videos per day ÷ 8 hours in the average work day ≈ 6 videos (per hour)
This means that, on average, every 10 minutes an employee of J.C. Penney would drop what he or she was doing to watch a video on YouTube. This employee would, say, write an email, then stop writing the email, then watch a YouTube video. After that, the employee would finish writing the email, go to the bathroom, then come back and watch a YouTube video. The employee would download a PDF of sales figures, refresh his or her email, read the first two pages of the PDF, and then watch a YouTube video.
(Looks over shoulder at Tim and Zac, does quick calculation, goes home and destroys college diploma, clicks on video titled “Gallon Smashing: the thing that beats the HARLEM SHAKE.”)
The Wildest Hockey Fight of the Year Broke Out Saturday in Fort Worth
It includes:
- at least four separate fights
- the rare, yet always entertaining goalie fight
- fans throwing items at the players
- one fan screaming at another fan to, hmm how to put this, put his head in his lap?
The Fort Worth Brahmas beat the Allen Americans 6-1, but who cares.
(h/t to a formerly co-working FrontBurnervian)
Dallas Aims to Become Zero-Waste City
This would surely help. Photo: Ajay Tallam
Rudy Bush at the Morning News has an update on the city’s plan to become a zero-waste over the next 50 years, a plan that was derided when first raised a few years back. Seems now they’ve actually talked about it instead of just created a committee to talk about it, and then not meeting.
The plan sets clearer timelines for accomplishing key goals. A major one is getting apartments and businesses recycling regularly. This remains controversial. Apartments and businesses have their trash collected by private groups – not by the city. Many offer no recycling at all. Doing so would be expensive and difficult, many apartment owners say.
Under the plan, the city would slowly move toward a “universal recycling ordinance” requiring recycling be available for single-family homes, businesses and apartments or condominiums. At this point, the city is recommending businesses and apartments voluntarily recycle until 2019. Only then, if voluntary recycling isn’t at an acceptable level, would the city pass an ordinance requiring recycling.
What’s going to happen with all the trash? Options:
- Jerry Jones will sign it to a five-year deal to try and plug the holes in the Cowboys’ secondary.
- Melt it all down into a year-round ice-skating composite material, build an ice rink in every city park
- trash-magnetize Museum Tower, thus allowing a Super 8-like alien to build a spaceship with the trash and return to its home planet
- return the $91 million in federal funds earmarked for the Margaret McDermott Bridge and build the Calatrava elements with garbage
- dump it all in Fort Worth
Texas Independence Day May Soon Also Be Called ‘Tax-Free Gun Purchase Day’
I just filed HB 1533, The Texas Gun Ownership Reinforcement Act, making firearms & hunting gear tax-free on Texas Independence Day! #TxLege
— Jeff Leach (@leachfortexas) February 25, 2013
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an exemption from the sales tax for firearms and hunting
supplies for a limited period.BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended
by adding Section 151.358 to read as follows:Sec. 151.358. FIREARMS AND HUNTING SUPPLIES FOR LIMITED
PERIOD. (a) In this section, “hunting supplies” means ammunition,
archery equipment, hunting blinds and stands, hunting decoys,
firearm cleaning supplies, gun cases and gun safes, and hunting
optics.(b) The sale of a firearm or hunting supplies is exempted
from the taxes imposed by this chapter if the sale takes place
during a period beginning at 12:01 a.m. on March 2 and ending at 12
midnight on the same day.SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act does not
affect tax liability accruing before the effective date of this
Act. That liability continues in effect as if this Act had not been
enacted, and the former law is continued in effect for the
collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal enforcement of
the liability for those taxes.SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
Leach is the state rep for District 67, which covers parts of Plano, Richardson, and Dallas. In a statement, he said: “It is time for Texas to take the lead in the fight against Washington’s attempts to infringe on our 2nd Amendment freedoms – and this unique legislation does just that.” He added that the bill has the support of the NRA, which, duh.
Wildenthal ‘Gratified’ By Ad About Spending Flap
The story of the Dallas Morning News’ “incredible shrinking” investigative report into allegations about the spending habits of Dr. Kern Wildenthal just got an exclamation mark. A paid ad signed by a who’s who of leading Dallas citizens—hundreds of names like Altshuler, Clements, Dunning, Hoffman, Horchow, Lacerte, Prothro, Winspear, Wolens—appeared in yesterday’s News, ripping the paper’s “senseless attacks” on Wildenthal and praising the former president of UT Southwestern as an “outstanding and honorable leader.”
As the “Open Letter” points out, what began with the paper’s screaming charge that Wildenthal had “$720,000″ in sketchy UT-Southwestern spending morphed over time into last month’s DMN report that, oh, looks like he only spent an unsubstantiated $24,000—and was asked to repay just $6,100. At the same time, the ad notes, auditors demonstrated that Wildenthal had personally paid an additional $17,139 over the years that he wasn’t required to pay—which means the institution technically owes him nearly $11,000.
Reached by phone, Wildenthal, who said he was not involved with the ad’s preparation, said he was “very gratified” nonetheless that it had “gleaned the essence” of the situation. Hopefully, he added, its appearance in the DMN “will help me focus on continuing to help UT-Southwestern,” whose foundation he still serves as a senior consultant.
UPDATE: The paper has gone to great lengths now to respond.
Bedford Rep’s Chief of Staff Raked For Racist, Homophobic Writing
Tony McDonald. Source: Facebook
Over on Burnt Orange Report today, there’s a quick piece on Tony McDonald, the chief of staff for State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, of Bedford. In it, McDonald is taken to task for a history of racist, homophobic writing. Let’s tackle the racism first. From a 2008 blog post: “Where are literacy tests when we need them? Seriously – I don’t think it is a virtue to take the serially uninformed to the polls just so they’ll cast a vote for your demagogue candidate.”
That post, from McDonald’s personal blog, has since been removed. BOR then makes the move to homophobia:
“Homosexuals” love to compalin about how they are an opressed group, who just wants peace and tolerance, and love, and ranbows [sic] … The reality is that they have a sickness, and that it corrupts their moral beings. This manifests its self not only in their horribly self-destructive tendencies, but certainly carries out into their view of others as well. The worst thing we can do for them, if we care at all about their well-being or the well being of our society is to encourage their destructive, depraved, and deadly behavior. By doing so we only encourage them to destroy themselves, and to continue on trying to destroy the society around them.
That post — entitled “Sodomites Expose Themselves” — has also been removed from McDonald’s blog. The BOR piece said McDonald “displays a disgusting history of promoting bigoted viewpoints that speak to the lowest common denominator of humanity.” McDonald commented on the post, too:
Might as well have titled it “Conservative state rep’s conservative chief of staff does and says hilariously awesome conservative things.”
So.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Feb. 25
Tim Byres knows Smoke.
Tony Kushner was robbed. And that’s all I’m going to say about last night’s sexist yawn-fest. Now it’s time for a different sort of ballot. Best of Big D voting started this morning, which is your chance to pick your favorite shops. That’s toy stores, record stores, women’s clothing, everything. May there be at least one Christoph Waltz-level surprise.
Dreary, dreary Monday. Over in Fort Worth, Stage West presents the winners of this year’s new play contest with a series of staged readings. Tonight’s play is by first runner up Paullette MacDougal, an Austinite. It’s called Sisters Under the Skin, and the story revolves around three women who play a role in the Underground Railroad and the final days of the Civil War: a slave in Jefferson Davis’ Richmond household, Mary Bowser, the slave’s owner, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Davis’ wife. It’s based on the true story of Van Lew, who spied for the Union Army, and the rumor that she really did install Bowser (also a real person) as a informant in Jefferson Davis’ home. The nice thing about Stage West is that the theater has a pretty good café right inside the building, offering desserts, drinks, and snacks.
Over at Deep Ellum Brewing Company, there will be meat. And heavily tattooed chefs. Foodways Texas, an organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the “diverse food cultures” of our state, has put together a Suds and Smoke dinner featuring local beer (six Deep Ellum brews on tap) and familiar faces around town. The menu includes lamb barbacoa tacos (from Tim Byres, of Smoke and Chicken Scratch), pork belly (from Justin Fourton of Pecan Lodge), mussels (from David Uygur, of Lucia), and more. The ticket price benefits Foodways’ oral history project, and you can still snag seats online, which is more than I can say for the booked-up Jester King sour beer dinner at Meddlesome Moth.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Bill Brewer — Lawyer, Noted Peacock, Youth Basketball Coach
This weekend, the basketball team I co-coach, the SVAA U-9 Falcons, participated in a season-ending tournament. The highlight was the championship game, wherein our boys — down (I believe) 12-1 at halftime and looking worse — gutted out a 24-21 comeback win, capping off an undefeated season. I am not being facetious when I say the feelings I was feeling post-game rivaled, but did not surpass, when the Mavs won their title in 2011. The second highlight came in the semifinal game when we squared off against a team being coached by Bickel & Brewer’s Bill Brewer. He seemed like a nice guy and a decent coach, though his squad was no match for our patented 36 Minutes of Heck attack. Most notable, however (and previously noticed but not remarked upon here), was his attire. I have helpfully placed a pic of said attire after the jump. (Since it was a make-or-break day, I was wearing Kobe “Pythons” and a Dirk shirt.)
Mary Suhm Did Nothing Wrong, Mary Suhm Says
Never thought embedding a 20 year-old clip from a Nickelodeon show would be in my job description, but here we are. Late Friday, Observer editor Joe Tone unearthed a letter Mary Suhm wrote to the City Council in advance of Wednesday’s Trinity East drilling hearing. Unearthed might be the wrong word here since it’s in the City Council’s briefing packet, but since Tone posted it at 10 p.m. on a Friday, that’s an unearthing in my book.
Anyway, in the letter Suhm writes:
The City Attorney’s office has also affirmed that the City Manager had the authority to sign a non-binding letter with Trinity East — making no guarantees — to assist in moving the process forward through several different approvals and Council actions. Requests for assurance of assistance are often sought by outside parties in development deals and an example is provided in the appendix of the briefing.
In short: we’re cool. Nothing to see here. Why’s everyone so pissed?
Okay, so maybe the City Attorney said this is fine. Problem is, that sets up a domino effect of legal interests. If the City Council doesn’t approve the drilling application, Trinity East will likely sue the city, claiming its agreement with Suhm was above-board and should be honored. If the City Council does approve the application, the legal battle will begin from the other side, directed at the city again. Dallas’ anti-gas folks would cobble together some money, and the Sierra Club or Gus Van Sant and Matt Damon or the anti-fracking Illuminati will throw their money behind them to prove you can’t buy City Hall.
Either way, the city ends up in a multi-million dollar lawsuit fighting gas drillers or its own citizens. The entire letter and briefing are below, courtesy of Tone:
Best of Big D Readers’ Choice: Shopping Poll Has Begun. Vote Daily For Your Favorites.
You can vote for all your favorite shops, in 38 separate categories, up to once a day in our Best of Big D Readers’ Choice poll. This round will continue though March 10.
The winners will appear in the August issue of D Magazine.
License Plate Readers Coming to Dallas
Photo: ACLU
Back in January, the City Council approved the purchase of 28 license plate readers, designed, in theory, to catch stolen cars and bad guys. There has been some blowback on the practice nationwide — ACLU: “If the government knows WHERE YOU ARE, the government knows WHO YOU ARE.” — with a few states regulating the practice to the brink of uselessness.
Last month, the Council approved the $604,000 purchase of the readers and the $146,000 service contract, but didn’t really know what they were getting. Today’s Public Safety Committee briefing has some insight:
- 14 readers will be in fixed, targeted locations, while the other 14 are on police vehicles
- The readers will be implemented mostly in the highest crime beats in the city
- Photos of license plates are taken of vehicles on public streets, and will not be used on private property
- License plate data records are compared to input data of known criminals and matches are sent to officers
- Installation will be completed by the end of the spring
- Data will be retained for 3 months and automatically purged
This last bullet was a major sticking point at the council’s January briefing. Dallas Police Chief David Brown recommended three to six months of retention; City Councilwoman Angela Hunt recommended zero days. Read the whole briefing, which also includes some info on bait cars and additional mounted cameras in high-crime areas, after the jump:
Smoke Engulfs Dallas Gun Range
Peter mentioned this in today’s Leading Off, but the video of this gun range fire is spectacular. If I had driven by and didn’t know better, I’d have thought a refinery was on fire.
Today on D Television (2/25/13)
D: The Broadcast, 9 a.m.
Hosted by Lisa Pineiro, Pat Smith, Suzie Humphreys and Courtney Kerr
- Oscar fashion: Winners and losers
- Keeping the love alive: The importance of reconnecting
- Uno Immanivong: Star of ABC’s The Taste
D Living , 10 a.m.
Hosted by Hilary Kennedy and Kimberly Whitman
- Documentary Lipstick and Liquor: Secrets and stigmas of women and alcoholism
- Sassy lifestyle guru Steve Kemble: Oscar reviews
- Chef Tiffany Derry
- W.T. Greer: Romantic music
D-TV is available on all local cable providers.
AT&T 47 | DirecTV 47 | Dish 47 | Charter 22 / 746 (HD) | Time Warner 24 / 429 (HD) | Verizon 18 / 518 (HD)
Leading Off (2/25/13)
Sequester Cuts Would Burn in Texas: If automatic cuts to federal spending kick in Friday, Texas stands to lose millions in funding to military bases, ports, pre-school services, tuition assistance, teachers, environmental programs, law enforcement, and more according to state-by-state cut details released by the White House Sunday.
Mayor’s Education Fix a Bore: The Dallas Morning News’ Tod Robberson has been tracking the progress of the education component of Mayor Rawlings’ GrowSouth initiative, and, as it turns out, students get bored and don’t pay attention during large assemblies hosted by local celebs high school kids have never heard of. Who would have thought?
Visitors Stranded on Zoo Monorail: Okay, forget those images of children dangling helplessly while a tiger paces below licking his chops. Sure, firefighters had to rescue about 100 people who were stuck on the Dallas Zoo’s monorail Saturday, but the monorail did not stall over any animal exhibits.
Four-Alarm Fire Takes Down Shooting Range: As it turns out, the reason why it is illegal to fire tracer rounds in a shooting range is a pretty good one.
Home |
Masthead |
News from D |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Subscribe |
Advertise |
Privacy Policy |
Customer Service |
Awards | Archives | Reprints | d custom | Jobs | Advertiser's Index
Awards | Archives | Reprints | d custom | Jobs | Advertiser's Index