Articles about controversy
Cullum to Arty Types: ‘Let’s Buy Museum Tower!’
Lee Cullum, the TV commentator and syndicated columnist, offered a proposal to the big crowd that was gathered at the Hilton Anatole for today’s 35th Annual TACA Silver Cup Award Luncheon.
“You’ve all heard the biblical admonition to sell all that you own and give it to the poor,” Cullum told the arts supporters.
“Well, I believe we should sell all that we have and buy Museum Tower. Then we could solve the glare problem. … We could turn [the building] over to TACA, and they could sell the units. It could be a big success. TACA could make money. … I think it’s a great idea.”
Not sure how the two people at our table who own a Museum Tower unit felt about Cullum’s brainstorm. But the audience in general reacted with laughter and applause.
Robert Jeffress ‘Had a Very Pleasant Conversation’ With Tim Tebow Last Night
That video is just 50 seconds of a 15 minute clip of Robert Jeffress speaking with the American Family Association this morning. (Watch the whole video here.) In it, Jeffress explains that Tebow said he “needed to lay low” for a while and let this blow over. Other highlights:
- this was all based on lies and misrepresentations by the secular media
- members of the secular media have never read the Bible, never mind studied it extensively
- the real harm here is Tebow pulling out of the appearance
If you want to fill your ears with 15 minutes of people claiming that they are tolerant, then smashing people for their beliefs, go for it.
Fuel City Made Wrong Choice
Too bad the Fuel City owner knuckled under to outside pressure and gave up the white buffalo (sub. req.) Haven’t we seen this rodeo before—like last year, for instance? First, we all thought the rare animal up in Greenville was heralding the world’s end; then we were instructed that no, it was a symbol of “rebirth” and that, in any event, it required special treatment. And you know the sordid way that story ended up.
Doesn’t Fuel City, a private business, have the right to conduct its own affairs? Plus: if the protestors considered the store’s display to be “insensitive” and irreligious because of the excessively commercial locale, isn’t that just a tad bit narrow-minded? If Jesus came back today, for example, who’s to say he wouldn’t be walking around in the guise of an insurance broker or—wild guess—a union carpenter? Or a guy selling chips and beer nuts at a gas station?
Civil Rights Complaint Filed on Behalf Of Student Who Had Pencil Shavings Poured Into His Mouth
You’ve likely heard this story already, about the Arlington eighth-grader whose teacher poured pencil shavings into his mouth as a disciplinary action. The teacher was suspended, then allowed to return to work. All this: terrible.
The boy’s mother has now filed a civil rights complaint against the district. From CBS 11:
Local civil rights activist Kyev Tatum is representing the family in the case and says the complaint charges the district didn’t handle the teacher’s actions appropriately, that the boy involved was discriminated against because of his race and disability, and that the school was trying to cover up the whole thing.
“Instead of coming out clean and saying we don’t tolerate this, they decided to cover it up and let her go back to class,” said Tatum. “There’s no difference between what they did and the administration at Penn State [University] did.”
Well, that’s where we differ, I think. In one situation, a teacher poured pencil shavings into a boy’s throat. In another, an institution allowed a pedophile to molest multiple boys, for years. What happened at Boles Junior High School was terrible, yes, but don’t try to equate it to Penn State.
FC Dallas CEO Doug Quinn Steps Down
Photo: FCDallas.com
From a statement released by the club:
Doug Quinn has stepped down as president and CEO of FC Dallas, the club announced today.
Quinn has been on administrative leave from the club since November. He said the decision to resign will allow him to spend more time with his family.
“After much consideration, I have decided to resign from FC Dallas to spend more time with my two beautiful daughters,” Quinn said. “I will be forever grateful to Clark and the Hunt family for giving me an opportunity to lead this great franchise, and I sincerely appreciate the hard work and dedication shown every day by the FC Dallas family.”
Since joining FC Dallas in 2010, Quinn helped grow the Club’s supporters’ base. In 2012, FC Dallas set a single-season record with more than 1.7 million patrons at FC Dallas Stadium and Complex.
“Doug has significantly improved the operations of FC Dallas, and the club is well-positioned for future success,” said Clark Hunt, chairman of Hunt Sports Group. “We greatly appreciate his many contributions to the club and support his decision to step down to focus on his family and pursue other opportunities.”
Quinn took a leave of absence in November after being arrested for allegedly hitting and attempting to choke his wife in New York City. The statement goes on to say that the search for a new president and CEO will begin immediately, headed by Hunt Sports Group VP Dan Hunt.
John Mackey Still Doesn’t Like Obamacare
John Mackey, CEO and co-founder of Austin-based Whole Foods Market, is something of an enigma. Mackey runs a “hippie” grocery store and is a strong believer in something called conscious capitalism, arguing that companies need servant leaders, empowered employees and a higher purpose than just making money. At the same time he’s a fierce proponent of unfettered free enterprise and a staunch critic of crony capitalism (see: the bank bailouts) and Obamacare. In fact he found himself in hot water last month for referring to the president’s health-care reform as “fascism,” a word he later apologized for.
It’s “one of those ‘F’ words you’re not allowed to utter in our society,” Mackey told a luncheon meeting of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth today, without addressing the flap further. Earlier, he was asked whether equating Obamacare with fascism was causing any fallout for Whole Foods. “Yeah, journalists keep asking me about it,” he replied. “I wasn’t trying to start a controversy. I was just answering a question and tried to be accurate. I was thinking philosophically, but that term has a lot of baggage. So now I just call it government-controlled health care. I’m a capitalist, but we do not have capitalism in health care—and haven’t for 50 years. And now we have a lot less.”
Mackey will make another local appearance at the Preston/Forest Whole Foods tonight around 6, when he’ll be interviewed by Container Store CEO Kip Tindell, a pal since their days together at UT-Austin.
Dwaine Caraway’s Fingerprints Are All Over the City’s Black History Month Talent Show
City officials just sent over a release about its Black History Month talent showcase, taking place March 1 at Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center. Disregard for a second that the talent show is actually not during Black History Month, and look at one one of the guidelines:
Performers must keep their content and lyrics clean, with no profanity, and dressed in family-friendly attire (baggy style acceptable but no sagging)
Hmm. Okay. Will there be someone at the showcase with a ruler, deeming the difference between baggy and sagging? Or is it a belt issue? Either way, I’m sure Councilman Dwaine Caraway had a say in all this.
Megan Lucas, the Hofmann Hots Hottie, Was Busted for Weed
Megan Lucas, you’ll recall, is the lady who has gotten herself caught up in the lawsuit filed by Phil Romano and about 20 other plaintiffs against Frank Zaccanelli. The plaintiffs claim that Lucas was Zaccanelli’s mistress, which is why he was using Hofmann Hots money to pay her rent, something she denies. If you need to catch up, we can help. Anyway, when I asked Lucas about her arrest early this year, she told me it was no big deal. She had thrown a cigarette butt out her car window and had been pulled over for littering. Then the cop found an outstanding warrant for a previous moving violation she had not taken care of. This much is true. But it’s not the full story. Lucas’ traffic stop for littering went far more pear shaped than she let on. From a Syracuse, New York, TV station (the suit was filed in Syracuse, where Hofmann’s operations are based): “Upon pulling her over, police discovered that she had outstanding traffic warrants in Dallas County, Dallas City, and Arlington, Texas. After she was arrested, police discovered the marijuana.”
Hey, marijuana isn’t crack. So I don’t want to case aspersions. I just want to watch the video above, starring Megan Lucas (probably NSFW).
Leading Off (2/18/13)
Is the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System Overinvested in Real Estate? There are so many questions raised by this lengthy report on how the pension fund that owns Museum Tower ended up managing the luxury proprieties it propped-up with large cash infusions after the real estate bubble burst. For example: What are the properties really worth now? Should the pension fund be managing Hawaiian estates and Napa Valley resorts? Is fund administrator Richard Tettamant having too much fun hobnobbing on the taxpayer’s dime? If speculative land plays don’t pan out, is it really accurate to report them as investments in “natural resources?” Is Tettamant cutting sweetheart deals for developer buddies? Are his efforts to beat market returns putting the future of the our city’s finest – not to mention the pocketbooks of Dallas taxpayers – at considerable risk? Lots of questions. But here’s the one I want to ask: did the fund really need to pay to move a piano from Hawaii to the lobby of Museum Tower? I mean, they sell pianos in Dallas, right? Really nice ones, I bet.
As American Swallows U.S. Airways, Airline Field Thins: There was a time when airports were packed with brands like Pan Am, TWA, Eastern, Braniff — all of which have gone the way of the Concorde. Now the “extraordinarily complex” merger between American and U.S. Air leaves just four major carriers: American, United, Delta and Southwest.
Tim Tebow to Speak at First Baptist: The announcement that the incredibly meh quarterback will speak at Robert Jeffress’ First Baptist Church raises all the expected questions about whether or not Tebow endorses statements Jeffress has made in the past about homosexuality, Mormonism, Islam, and on and on. And I suppose those are pertinent questions to ask, even if I wish the only question surrounding anything regarding Tim Tebow was “who cares?”
FreedomWorks Planned to Show a Video of a Fake Panda Having Sex With a Fake Hillary Clinton at a 2012 Event in Dallas, But Someone Thought That Was a Bad Idea
In one of the most bizarre stories you’ll read, ever, FreedomWorks — the conservative group formerly chaired by Dick Armey — apparently created a video of a fake panda fellating a fake Hillary Clinton, and planned to show it at the July 26, 2012 FreePAC event, held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Mother Jones has the whole insane story:
The short film hailing FreedomWorks was intended to play on the large video screens inside the arena.
In one segment of the film, according to a former official who saw it, [former FreedomWorks EVP Adam] Brandon is seen waking from a nap at his desk. In what appears to be a dream or a nightmare, he wanders down a hallway and spots a giant panda on its knees with its head in the lap of a seated Hillary Clinton and apparently fellating the then-secretary of state. Two female interns at FreedomWorks were recruited to play the panda and Clinton. One intern wore a Hillary Clinton mask. The other wore a giant panda suit that FreedomWorks had used at protests to denounce progressives as panderers. Placing the panda in the video, a former FreedomWorks staffer says, was “an inside joke.”
Another FreedomWorks staffer who worked there at the time confirms that ”Yes, this video was created.”
Days before the FreePAC event, the video was screened for staff. “My mouth was wide open,” a former official recalls. “‘What the hell is this?’” Several FreedomWorks staffers were outraged and stunned that Brandon, the group’s second-in-command after [president Matt] Kibbe, had overseen the video’s production, appeared in it, and intended to show this film at the conference, which would be attended by many social-conservative activists. They raised objections to the film.
I think those objections were probably relevant. This story came to the surface due to an internal investigation of the conservative advocacy group, after questions were raised about the group’s use of funds. Bet they didn’t think they’d find this.
Zeus Comics Will Not Carry New Superman Comic, Due to Author’s Anti-Gay Beliefs
Photo: INTV Gene, via Flickr
DC Comics announced today that the new digital-first Superman series will be written by Orson Scott Card, who, in a 2004 essay argued that if same-sex marriage was legalized “our civilization will collapse or fade away.”
The decision has drawn strong criticism, and led to at least one petition arguing against DC’s choice of Card. Richard Neal, owner of Dallas’ Zeus Comics, announced his shop would not be selling the Card-authored installments:
Zeus Comics will not be carrying the print edition of writer Orson Scott Card’s Superman.
Card sits on the board of the National Organization of Marriage which fights against marriage equality. His essays advocate the destruction of my relationship, that I am born of rape or abuse and that I am equated with pedophilia. These themes appear in his fiction as well. It is shocking DC Comics would hire him to write Superman, a character whose ideals represent all of us.
If you replaced the word “homosexuals” in his essays with the words “women” or “jews,” he would not be hired. But I’m not sure why its still okay to “have an opinion” about gays? This is about equality.
Anti-Drilling Residents Want Mary Suhm to Go
That’s probably not going to happen, but the Dallas Area Residents For Responsible Drilling at least know how to make a pretty decent WANTED poster.
Man Who Lost Finger Plans to Sue Perot Museum
The intro to the WFAA story last night:
Only on News 8 tonight, there’s something missing from this picture: a ring finger.
The man, an engineer from Mexico, has been unable to return home since the Dec. 30 incident, and has racked up $40,000 in medical bills. He’s criticized the Perot Museum’s response, much like we have.
Mineola-area Rep. Bryan Hughes Tweets Link to Email That Compares Universal Healthcare and Gun Control to Nazi Germany
myemail.constantcontact.com/FEB–4—Hitle…
– Bryan Hughes (@RepHughes) February 5, 2013
Oh, that link seems innocuous enough, let’s click through:
The head of the National Socialist Workers’ Party, Adolph Hitler, became Chancellor of Germany, January 30, 1933, and began implementing a plan of universal healthcare, with no regard for conscience.
Whoa, mama. That’s the opening sentence of Bill Federer’s “American Minute” email to supporters. Federer is a “a nationally known speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America’s noble heritage.” Hughes represents parts of Titus, Morris, Camp, Rains, Wood and Smith counties; the district begins about 30 miles east of Dallas.
Top Dallas Catholic on Contraception Compromise: ‘Covering Up … the Same Plan as Before’
Bishop Kevin Farrell of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas
Catholic Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas seems unconvinced that President Obama is truly compromising with religious groups over Obamacare’s contraception mandate. And, he’s “not so sure” the Boy Scouts’ possible move to admit gay scoutmasters and members is “the correct course of action to take.”
During a charity event at Dallas’ Hilton Anatole Saturday, the Irish-born prelate agreed to answer questions about these two controversial topics. The first dealt with last week’s “accommodation” with religious groups on the free birth-control-part of the Affordable Care Act. Does he like what the administration proposed?
FARRELL: First off, I will preface what I’m going to say, with the fact that I have not read the regulations, and I haven’t had time to study the question at the moment. But it would appear to me that it is –I’m not so sure that it’s so much of a change. I think there’s a lot of, I guess it’s just covering up, or a change of language, the same plan as before, just changing words. I’m not so sure the substance has really truly changed. That’s my first reading of it. I’ve only looked at this I’d say for 30 minutes. I have not studied it.
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