Articles about controversy
Leading Off (3/5/12)
Sex Charges Be Damned, Preacher Launches New Church: A month ago Rev. Tyrone Gordon resigned from St. Luke Community United Methodist Church after allegations of “engaging in sexual acts and relationships” with young men at the church. Now, Gordon has started up a new church, which met Sunday in the Radisson Hotel in North Dallas. Good luck with that.
Collin, Kaufman Counties Drowning In Hog Blood: Figuratively, of course. That’s because in the three months since the Texas Department of Agriculture launched their “Hog Out Challenge,” 12,632 wild hogs have been killed (sub. req), and it probably looked like this.
What To Do With The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge? Drive On: I spent a lot of my weekend trying to cool off about the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, that profane monument to the extortion of civic will. Because, if you want to talk Trinity River Project, the people of Dallas voted for a public space and a desperately needed recreational resource, yet nearly every amenity associated with that project that could be of real public use has been stifled or squandered, while the projects that are most civically offensive — the toll road and the “world’s most expensive knockoff bridge” — are the recipients of elected officials’ and private donors’ care and attention (did I really hear some squeaky speaker giggling about “our two Margarets’ bridges” during Friday’s opening remarks? Gag.) But I’ve lived in Dallas long enough to know that when it comes to certain aspects of this city, you have to partake in a little self-lobotomization. That’s why, after trying to think happy thoughts all weekend, I’m officially adopting Steve Blow’s position on the bridge (sub, natch), which is, ho-hum, some aspects nice, some not so nice, what’s for dinner?
David Stern Out as NBA Chief in Two Years: Report. Leave your fake Mark Cuban reaction quotes in the comments!
The Real Women Behind GCB: How Highland Park Became the Hillside Park of Good Christian Bitches
The cast of GCB. Will Dallas recognize these characters?
On Sunday, the ABC television network will broadcast the first episode of a new Dallas-set program called GCB. That title was settled upon after the name of the book on which the show is based, Good Christian Bitches, was deemed unacceptable, and after the replacement title, Good Christian Belles, was deemed stupid.
None of this is news to you, of course. You were among the first to buy Kim Gatlin’s novel when it was published in 2008, and you tried to figure out which characters in the book’s “Hillside Park” were thinly veiled facsimiles of which real people in Highland Park. D Magazine made its best guesses in the December 2008 issue. While some of the characters have been altered and others added for the television adaptation, the protagonist remains a woman named Amanda Vaughn (thought by many to be Gatlin’s representation of herself, and played by actress Leslie Bibb.)
In our January print edition, we brought you the story of the battle that ensued between Gatlin and the book’s original publisher, Brown Books. (It’s now a title for Hyperion.)
Will the TV show be any good? Visit FrontRow on Monday, where Laura Kostelny will have a full recap of the premiere.
Erykah Badu Concert Canceled Over Her Tattoos
Erykah Badu was supposed to play Kuala Lumpur today. Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Folks in Malaysia don’t cotton to tattoos in general (Islam forbids them), and they especially don’t dig tattoos of the word “Allah,” which Badu has in this publicity photo. You can read more about the dust-up here.
My question: what about fake tattoos? Because, while Badu and I don’t hang out naked together as much as we used to, I’m pretty sure those aren’t real tats.
Leading Off (2/27/12)
Trinity River Project Backers Find New Ally in Sen. Cornyn: No matter who wins Sen. Kay Bay Hutchison’s senate seat, backers of the Trinity River Corridor Project will have Sen. John Cornyn stepping up to take her place as the project’s champion in Congress. Cornyn, clearly not speaking with Jim Schutze in mind, told the Dallas Regional Chamber Friday that “there is a lot we can do with the Corps of Engineers and with the regulatory part of this to help remove obstacles and help expedite the Trinity River Corridor Project.” I hope those “obstacles” don’t include the corps’ general opinion that building a toll road in the river bed is a really dumb idea.
Will Dallas ISD Teachers Follow Through With Sickout? This Wednesday is supposed to be the day when Dallas teachers bang-in sick en masse to protest the school board’s decision to extend the teachers’ workday. But will the educators keep their nerve? On the blog Teachers for Change, the anonymous organizer writes, “I am disappointed in how many of you are giving in to the fear.” It is illegal in Texas for employees to strike or organize work stoppages against school districts.
Animated Short Doesn’t Get Into USA Film Festival, Goes On To Win Oscar: Last night’s Oscar winners included Deep Ellum-based Reel FX’s co-founder (and Traveling Man co-designer) Brandon Oldenburg’s animated short, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.” Curious fact: the Oscar winning short was rejected from the USA Film Festival.
IM Just Saying: Christina Rees Talks About Her Somewhat Shocking New Do
I have known Christina Rees since circa 1996. We worked together at the dearly departed Met. We worked together at D. Now she’s the curator of The Art Galleries at TCU. In all the time I have known her (to my recollection), she has always had flowing, wavy-curly hair. I took a survey. This other guy (whom I won’t name but whose name rhymes with “crack”) and I both agreed: Christina’s hair was attractive. And it was black. The survey definitely revealed that it was black. Or dark. Now, however, things have changed. Several people in the past few days have asked me: “Did you see Christina’s new picture on Facebook?” You can see for yourself the look that Christina is rocking. I took another survey. That other guy and I once again both agreed: that is a blond mohawk. I asked Christina about it in a Gchat. Enjoy:
1:10 PM
Christina: never done this
1:11 PM me: Hang on.
1:13 PM Okay, you ready?
Christina: Can’t we just talk on the phone?
me: That’s so 2011.
Christina: ok
me: Plus, then I have to transcribe the interview. And I’m lazy.
Christina: Right.
me: First question. Not to put too fine a point on it. But what the hell happened to your hair?
Komen Vice President Karen Handel Quits Over Planned Parenthood Controversy
The AP reports that Karen Handel, a former Republican candidate for governor in Georgia who became vice president of public policy for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and was blamed by many for being heavily involved in the organization’s recent decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood, has resigned:
A source with direct knowledge of decision-making at Komen’s headquarters in Dallas said the grant-making criteria were adopted with the deliberate intention of targeting Planned Parenthood. The criteria’s impact on Planned Parenthood and its status as the focus of government investigations were highlighted in a memo distributed to Komen affiliates in December.
According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, a driving force behind the move was Handel, who was hired by Komen last year as vice president for public policy after losing a campaign for governor in Georgia in which she stressed her anti-abortion views and frequently denounced Planned Parenthood.
Why D Magazine NEEDS To Adopt TMZ’s Headline Style, Via the Deion-Pilar Divorce
DEION SANDERS I NEVER Offered Cash for Ass
DEION SANDERS Pilar’s Trying to EXTORT Me
PILAR SANDERS SLAMS DEION He’s a No-Good CHEATER … and a MEGA-Narcissist
DEION SANDERS Daughter SLAMS Step-Mom — You’re a ‘Gold-Digging H*e’
And so on. Do people click on those because they’re sensational subject-wise? Of course. Oh my lord. But also, because they generally make sure to CAPITALIZE a word in most headlines. That tells me, as a reader, “There is something important here. Something IMPORTANT. SOMETHING important.” See? You want to click on that sentence don’t you? But you can’t, because all it would do is highlight the sentence, and not take you to a magical, grammatically suspect blog post. Anyway, I’m doing this from now on.
Dallas Mavericks Need To Be Schooled in Punctuation
Since I’m the one who has been designated the “grammar prig” by commenters, I’ll go ahead and open myself to some more fire.
Unless it has been recently corrected, a message frequently flashed on the AAC video boards during Mavs games needs some help. An alert, language-loving FrontBurnervian reports that when it’s time to get the crowd fired up, the video board ribbon that circles the stadium and the video board suspended over the court both flash: “Lets go Mavs.”
Now, I can do without the comma after “go.” It would make me happy to see it. But whatever. It’s a video board. Some rules need to be bent. But the missing apostrophe? I think we can all agree that a championship-caliber squad deserves that apostrophe.
Ball’s in your court, Mavs video board message people.
Leading Off (2/6/12)
DART Light Rail Ridership High, But Bus Numbers Falter: Last year was the busiest year ever for Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail, but ridership on bus lines as well as the oldest light rail lines decreased by a combined 5 million trips (paywall). Why the drop? Officials say it is due to 1) DART bus passengers switching to new light rail service, and 2) the reduction in the frequency of blue and red line trains during rush hour. Both claims I believe, point again to how simple public transit really is. People will take public transit if it is fast and convenient. That’s why DART’s bus system needs an overhaul.
Horse Thieves Hit Camp For Disabled Kids: In the latest installment of crooks who are worse than crooks, two horses have been stolen form Camp El Har, a camp that offers therapy for kids with various disabilities, like autism. Now owners of two other horses on loan to the camp have removed their animals out of fear of further thefts, which has forced the camp to postpone its classes indefinitely.
Will ‘Black Atheist’ Billboard Ruffle Feathers? A group called African Americans for Humanism and the DFW Coalition of Reason will unveil a billboard today which voices support for atheists during African American history month. But while the billboard has already prompted some push-back from South Oak Cliff pastors, pre-event controversy also led to an unexpected act of community service: members of the DFW Coalition of Reason turned out at Pastor Kyev Tatum’s church garden Sunday to help harvest their greens, which will be donated to local food banks. Tatum reconciled the art of charity like this: “the devil might have picked it, but the good lord sent it.”
Fun With Semantics: Can We Call Komen’s Statement a “Reversal?”
If you look, just about everyone is calling the Komen decision this morning a reversal. And maybe it is, sort of.
But if you look closer, with an eye for semantics, you can zero in one specific phrase, as many did after the news broke: ” … continue to fund existing grants.” The key word, of course, is existing. In the Dallas Morning News story, it says the statement goes on to say that Planned Parenthood would be eligible under the revised criteria to apply for future grants.
But holdonacottonpickinminute. Didn’t just today Komen officials say that Planned Parenthood wasn’t disqualified because of a congressional investigation after all, but because it didn’t offer mammograms in house?
Wouldn’t that mean that Planned Parenthood should still be DQ’d? Or at the very least be ineligible for future grants?
According to Kathleen Parker, who called Nancy Brinker today, Komen is holding fast to its new soon-to-be rule that they fund facilities that offer mammograms on site. Says Parker:
“The news on Komen is that they are only tweaking their new rule about not funding organizations under investigation to mean ‘criminal’ investigation. Otherwise their position is the same. Yes, Planned Parenthood can now apply for funding, but this doesn’t mean they will get it. Those grants already in place will play out on schedule. I spoke to Nancy Brinker this afternoon and her goal remains as announced – to adjust her grant-funding system so that monies go directly to facilities that provide mammograms rather than through third parties, such as Planned Parenthood. Essentially nothing is changed, and certainly this does not constitute a reversal as so many media outlets have so hastily reported.”
Josh Hamilton on Alcohol Relapse: ‘I Can Be Very Deceptive, Very Sneaky in a Lot of Ways’
During the press conference he held just now, Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers comes across as a humbled, contrite man who continues to deal with an addiction that can seize hold of him in moments of weakness. He called Monday night a “weak moment.”
“It never gets easy,” he said.
Based on his account of the evening, it was far more than just a drink or two. He said he had 3 or 4 drinks with his dinner (after a difficult personal family matter drove him to be at a restaurant by himself.) Then he called teammate Ian Kinsler for company. Kinsler stayed with him for awhile, and they moved to another place after the first place they visited closed. Later, Kinsler went home, and Hamilton promised him he was not going to go out again on his own.
But he did. He went back to the place they’d just left and had more alcoholic beverages. No one saw him drinking, he said, since he has a way to keep people from seeing him do it.
“Once I do drink, I can be very deceptive, very sneaky in a lot of ways,” he said.
The extra danger for Hamilton is his history with other drugs, and there’s no telling, once he starts drinking, when the “switch will flip” and he might be led to those other vices. He said he didn’t use anything else that night and has been tested twice for drugs since then.
He thanked the Rangers for their support and didn’t field any questions.
Komen Foundation Website Hacked
Late last night for a brief time, as the Atlantic notes, hackers were able to redirect traffic from the Susan G. Komen Foundation website to a dummy site where this ad:
Was replaced by this ad:
Meanwhile Nancy Brinker posted a YouTube defense of the Komen Foundation’s policy change. Though, of course, she doesn’t say a word about Planned Parenthood:
Leading Off (1/30/11)
DISD Teacher Calls for “Sick Out” Last week the Dallas ISD school board voted to close 11 campuses and extend teachers’ work day by 45 minutes without additional compensation. Now an anonymous teacher is trying to organize a “sick out” protest for February 29.
Mom Will Give Son Kidney: When Jace Glenn was four weeks old, he had both his kidneys removed. He has been on dialysis ever since, awaiting an age when he would be old enough to undergo a kidney transplant operation. Now three, all he needs is a donor. He found one in his mom.
Police Officer Saves Women From Car Sinking In Lake: Saturday night, Ngac Do and Nhi Tran took a wrong turn on Dalrock Rd. off I-30 and drove their Honda Civic into Lake Ray Hubbard. A police dash cam caught the rescue.
Leading Off (1/16/11)
Bike Accident Illustrates Need For Safer Biker/Pedestrian Options: If you’ve ever ridden a bike over one of the two viaducts that span the Trinity River and connect Oak Cliff to downtown, you know how incredibly scary it is. It just got scarier: Dallas Torres, 32, was struck by a car while riding his bike on the Jefferson Boulevard viaduct Saturday, breaking his neck. He remains at Baylor University Medical Center. Too bad we can’t fund those bike paths.
‘Dallas’ Looks To Capitalize on Recessionary Escapism: A flurry of news stories about the revival of the television show “Dallas” hit the inter-webs this weekend. This is all you need to know, via Larry Hagman: “Remember when ‘Dallas’ was really big, we were in a major recession,” he said. “People couldn’t afford to hire a babysitter and go out to dinner. So they had to stay in and watch something on TV, and that was us.”
Rick Perry Continues To Self-Destruct Presidential Hopes: Rick Perry believes that calling for the prosecution of legal adults serving in the marines who made a video of themselves urinating on Taliban corpses shows “disdain for the military.” Cue Zac.
So, “Pedobear” Was at The TicketCity Bowl Yesterday
The TicketCity Bowl, if you don’t know (and I actually didn’t, because I don’t care about college football), is the new game at the Cotton Bowl. This year, it pitted Houston versus Penn State. “Pedobear,” if you didn’t know (and I did, because I live on the internet), is a meme that started on the 4chan board. He (well, a guy in a pretty well done costume) was there, obviously, because of the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky scandal, and even ended up making an appearance on the JumboTron. Deadspin has the report.
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