Articles about Hold On To Your Effin Hat
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.”
This Texas Drought Post is Making Me Thirsty
2011 was the driest year on record in Texas. According to Reuters:
The historic drought has killed as many as half a billion trees, not including those that died in wildfires that scorched some 4 million acres in 2011, the Texas Forest Service has reported.
Half a billion is a lot, yeah? Now the Morning News is reporting that donkeys are being abandoned across the state (paywalled piece), leaving taxpayers to pay for the care of the animals. The drought is largely to blame:
Most farmers and ranchers are importing their hay from other states with transportation costs totaling more than the cost of hay itself.
The average price for hay before 2011 was about $90 a ton. Mark Meyers, executive director of Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, said he most recently paid $310 per ton.
For similar reasons, we learned last year, farmers had to slaughter half a million more beef cows than normal last year, because they couldn’t afford to feed them. Sure, according to this University of Nebraska drought monitor, most of our little pocket of North Texas appears to be merely “abnormally dry,” rather than in a severe drought. It’s hard not to get scared that all of Texas is headed towards becoming a desert though, looking at that.
Still, all of this unfortunate news I kind of knew already. Know what really got my attention?
Dallas Quakes at Midnight, Writer Blames Dog
So, true story: Last night (or early this morning, depending on your mindset), around midnight, I heard a noise in my kitchen. Loudish. I thought it was my dog, being a douche canoe, and I may have actually told him, “Hey, you, quit being so loud on a school night,” or something to that effect but with a lot more cursing.
This morning, I find that I probably owe my dog an apology, because there was an earthquake pretty much where I live-ish. Geologists say the epicenter of the 2.0 quake was around Northwest Highway and Inwood Road.
But you know what? The dog also gassed up the joint pretty bad last night, so I’m going to call this even. So where were you during the Great Quake of 2012*? I was Febreezing dog farts.
* unless, you know, we have another. Can that happen? Is this a thing now?
Dallas Fed’s Richard Fisher: U.S. Headed For ‘Social Unrest’ Like in Greece
Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher had some scary things to say while addressing the Dallas/Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council today. Fisher ”has been among the most vocal critics of the central bank’s policy, dissenting this year against moves to push down long-term rates and to keep the benchmark U.S. interest rate near zero until at least mid-2013. He voted five times in 2008 in favor of tighter policy,” according to Bloomberg.
Today he spoke of a recent conversation with a European Central Bank official, who pointed out that the U.S. debt burden is even bigger than Europe’s:
“We don’t want to be in a situation like Greece. We are headed that way, if we are not careful,” Fisher said. ”We are headed in the wrong direction, and if we don’t bring it under control, we are going to have social unrest.”
Translation? Despite those slightly-maybe improving unemployment numbers today, hold on to your effin’ hat?
Leading Off (09/26/11)
Art West, Inventor of Doritos, Dies: Art West was a marketing executive at Frito-Lay when he invented Doritos, the first national tortilla chip brand. He died this weekend at 97. A statement from West’s family says that they plan on “tossing Doritos chips in before they put the dirt over the urn.”
Is AMR Going Bankrupt? American Airlines’ parent company has only posted two profitable years in the last decade, its stock is at a one-year low, and Moody’s has just downgraded AMR’s stock outlook to “negative,” according to this report in the Star-Telegram. Some industry watchers believe the company is running out of cash, and when the “b-word” was raised during an investor conference, AMR’s treasurer “didn’t completely dismiss the possibility.”
Finally It’s Official: A&M Joins S.E.C: Yesterday, Texas A&M University announced that it will join NCAA’s Southeastern Conference beginning on July 1, 2012. Teams like Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas and others will begin massacring the Aggies on the football field beginning in the 2012-2013 season.
North Texas Needs 12 to 15 Inches of Rain Now
So we’re told that the last 11 months in Texas have been the driest since at least 1895. It’s so bad that ranchers are going to slaughter about 500,000 more beef cows this year than they normally would because they can’t afford to keep feeding them. That’s going to drive up beef prices to a record next year.
The Climate Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put together this map showing just how much rain we need to alleviate the drought conditions. Much of Texas needs more than 15 inches.
And the next 6-8 months don’t look promising.
I need a drink.
Rosewood is Selling the Management Group of The Mansion to New World Hospitality
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has signed a purchase and sales agreement to sell the management of The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek and the rest of the properties to Hong Kong-based New World Hospitality. The deal closes on July 29.
The release follows the jump.
DISD Purges 450 From Central Staff
That news just arrived in my inbox. If you read the full release, which comes after the jump, you’ll see that the 450 positions mentioned in the headline bring the grand total of central administrators laid off since 2007 to 779. That prompts two questions from this DISD product: 1. How many central administrators does it take to run a massive school district? 2. How many people are left in that building on Ross Avenue?
Steve Kemble Crowned Maddest Hatter at the Dallas Arboretum
Steve Kemble
Once again Steve “Mr. Sassiest Lifestyle Guru” Kemble stole the show at the Dallas Arboretum’s Mad Hatter’s Tea Party today. Last year he scored points sporting a Super Bowl XLV stadium complex on his head.
This year with the upcoming royal nuptials of Kate and William, he opted for a more regal look with a “Kate in Wonderland” chapeau.
Evidently Steve’s fashion dictionary does not have the word “subtle” in it.
Retail price for the hat is $3,000.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra COO Paul Stewart Resigns
Paul Stewart
Bill Lively has not officially joined the Dallas Symphony Orchestra full time as the main man and already change is in the air. Friday a last-minute meeting was canceled leading many to speculate that it had to do with DSO COO Paul Stewart.
This morning Paul turned in his resignation.
DSO Director of Communications Christy Crytzer Pierce just emailed that, “At this time, we will not be seeking someone to fill the COO position.”
Highland Park ISD Waves Goodbye to High Salaries
High-salaried employees are dropping like flies in the Highland Park Independent School District. Three retirements have been announced in as many weeks.
KERA President Uses Federal Funds to Argue for… More Federal Funds
Mary Ann Alhadeff, president of KERA, is a swell person. KERA is a swell organization. I am a devotee of 90.1 (and, yes, a donor). After perusing the IRS filings of KERA, I can see why Mary Ann is upset. The government has provided about 12% of her $15 million revenue for the last several years. Now that House Republicans have eliminated the $400 million budget of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, she’s got a major problem. I understand.
Still, her recent on-air appeals for listeners to write their representatives to repeal the cuts are unseemly, if not illegal. She is using taxpayer money to argue for more taxpayer money. She is also promoting specific legislation, a violation of the law governing non-profits, IRS Code 501(c)3.
Ice Falls at Cowboys Stadium, Injuring 7, One Critically
The Dallas-Fort Worth Super Bowl fiasco just went from worse to even worse. The Dallas Morning News is reporting that about an hour ago falling ice at Cowboys Stadiaum injured seven people, and five of them have been rushed to local hospitals.
DISD Schools Closed Friday
Just insane. Wow. DISD has already announced that schools will again be closed tomorrow. They’ve never given in to the weather like this before. That sound you hear is a mashup of teachers, who are wailing because they realize the school year will be extended by four days, and Linus Wright, who is roaring like one of the zombies from I Am Legend as he emerges from his grave to seek out Michael Hinojosa and remind him how the district used to do it back in the day.
Rioting in Highland Park To Commence in 3, 2 …
Forget the turmoil in Egypt. Chaos is coming to a leafy enclave near you. The rolling blackouts are now affecting Highland Park. Via Whole Foods’ Facebook page:
Store closing update: due to hourly blackouts in the Highland Park area, our store there is closed as of 1:30pm. We anticipate opening at 10am tomorrow as scheduled.
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