OPINION

Perhaps Democratic gubernatorial candidate Farouk Shami just wanted to steal the spotlight back from Debra Medina. If so, the hair care magnate who wants to be governor chose one heck of a way to get attention, outdoing Medina on the 9/11 front and throwing in some offensive comments about race for good measure.

Earlier today, Shami taped an interview that will air Sunday on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics. The first-time candidate talked about why he hires mostly Hispanics and blacks to work in his factories.

"I find 80 percent of my employees at the factory are Hispanics," Shami said. "I don't find, you know, many white people really willing to work, you know, unfortunately."

He added that white workers want to be supervisors and expect to be paid more. Then, when a second interviewer asked Shami about Medina's comments regarding 9/11 conspiracy theories, he, too, declined to disavow suggestions that the U.S. government might have been involved in the attacks.

"Would we ever find the truth about 9/11? That's a very dangerous subject to get into," Shami said. "You know so it's hard to make judgment. I'm not saying yes or no, because I don't know the truth."

Shami's campaign has subsequently sent a statement of clarification, emphasizing that he does not know whether 9/11 was an inside job. Glad we cleared that up.

While Shami's comments were perhaps more outrageous than Medina's, they might generate fewer headlines. Medina was gaining momentum in the GOP race, while Shami has not been viewed as much more than an afterthought on the Democratic side. He's proved that spending millions of dollars won't buy you credibility.

Re: "Charlie Wilson -- Congressman was a colorful, consequential leader," Friday Editorials.

Thank you for your comments on Rep. Charlie Wilson. He loved America, Texas and people in general. Unlike the "PC generation" of today, he was special. We need more Charlie Wilsons.

Re: "The pain of a 'false positive' -- When considering tests, don't discount listening to your body, says Jennifer Nagorka," Monday Viewpoints.

If my wife or any of the other women in my family has a suspicious spot in her breast, I want her to know about it. I want her to get it checked. And if it is cancer, I want her to get it treated.

Re: "We recommend -- Muns in GOP primary for Collin County judge," Thursday Editorials.

Collin County Judge Keith Self has basically made the county's checkbook available for citizens to see the county budget, providing accountability and transparency.

The Dallas Morning News, however, did not recommend Self because it feels that Self does not shy away from publicly taking unpopular positions. This is exactly what voters expected: a principled leader who would work to ensure that no tax dollars are wasted.

During these times of reduced tax receipts, it is crucial that our elected officials do not shy away from working to ensure that tax dollars are only spent on essential projects. I want a representative who will be frugal and not shrink from difficult choices.

I do not mind that Self "butts heads" with people who disagree with him when he is working in the best interest of Collin County citizens. The News' recommendation for Muns states that "he would hold the line on taxes and spending." The question is: Would he hold the line when it is unpopular with representatives in Austin or with his own constituents?

Judge Self has proved himself to be willing to speak the truth in difficult circumstances, and Collin County needs his principled and realistic fiscal leadership.

Re: "We need 'don't ask, don't tell'," by Richard E. Carey, Thursday Letters.

I have a question for retired Marine Carey: What do you do about heterosexual men who are sexually aggressive? This is a problem the military has yet to confront.

I experienced problems years ago as a teenage dependent living in Japan. Later there was the "tailhook" scandal. Currently, rape and harassment of females by their male compatriots is a major problem, so that many women don't even bother reporting incidents, knowing there will be no justice for them.

Surely, heterosexual men cause far more problems then homosexual men. Let's not discriminate.

Everyone is looking to make some big money when the Super Bowl rolls into the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Meanwhile, expect the FFA and 4-H kids for the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

All school districts that take FFA 4-H exhibitors who will be showing are going to dig a lot deeper into their pockets to pay for hotel rooms that have doubled in price since the 2010 stock show.

The Super Bowl is a one-time thing; the stock show familes are regulars every year. Every school district that has livestock exhibitors from 75 miles to 350 miles away will need hotel rooms.

I just wish some hotel chain or chains would step up and say, We am not raising our prices -- the stock show familes are regulars. They don't tear up rooms, they leave early from the rooms and come back late, and they take care of their business.

But I forgot. Who would help out FFA or 4-H kids, so they do not have to dig so deep into their pockets.

Re: "A case for space-based solar power -- Pamela James wants more attention on this novel approach to energy crisis," last Saturday Viewpoints.

James may be a science teacher, but I don't think it is helpful (or accurate) to use phrases such as "littering our landscape with nuclear runoff," or "barrels of radioactive waste stored in their back yard" (that would be a ridiculous waste of a valuable resource, among other considerations).

Nuclear power plants store used fuel rods in cooling ponds at the plant until such time as they can be reprocessed to near full power. This is a technique used around the world. Lumping emission-free nuclear power with oil and gas is also misleading.

I assume she is implying the use of powerful solar-powered geo-synchronous microwave generators focused on Earth. Implicit there is a means of keeping airliners from flying into the beams. Perhaps controlling the frequencies used would remove the danger of damage, but that could be tricky considering the power levels involved.

Quibbles aside, I agree that finding a way to use solar power from space would be a valuable contribution to our society.

Re: "Hidden costs of ticket surcharges," by Hugh Lucas, Wednesday Letters.

Lucas doesn't mention what traffic offenses he is referring to in his letter, but most likely, many are driving without insurance or even with DWIs.

Maybe this is a little old-fashioned, but here's a novel idea: How about keeping auto insurance in force and not drinking and driving? Problem solved.

As we look at the world today, Greece is bankrupt, Europe is in financial trouble and America is heading for deep financial trouble

The Medicare and Social Security "entitlement" programs make up a substantial portion of the annual budget. The interest on the national debt, $383 billion in fiscal 2009, will grow when interest rates go back to normal.

At this time, America needs a government that can do "tough things." Congress must not try to buy its reelection with another "entitlement" program. It needs to reduce spending and step up to solving the insolvency of Social Security and Medicare.

Sunday, yet another long-form essay on the Texas State Board of Education will hit the newsstands, this one in The New York Times Magazine.

"How Christian Were the Founders?" discusses the philosophy of "members of what is the most influential state board of education in the country, and one of the most politically conservative," focusing the debate on whether the authors of the Constitution intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation.

The one thing that underlies the entire program of the nation's Christian conservative activists is, naturally, religion. But it isn't merely the case that their Christian orientation shapes their opinions on gay marriage, abortion and government spending. More elementally, they hold that the United States was founded by devout Christians and according to biblical precepts. This belief provides what they consider not only a theological but also, ultimately, a judicial grounding to their positions on social questions. When they proclaim that the United States is a "Christian nation," they are not referring to the percentage of the population that ticks a certain box in a survey or census but to the country's roots and the intent of the founders.

It's an interesting read, and despite all I've read on this topic, there were new details to glean here. So I'd recommend it. But ...

Several of y'all have gotten in touch with me to follow up on my column from Sunday about the elections in Ukraine - glad to see so many folks are interested in what's happening here in Europe. In today's Kyiv Post, I wrote a column looking forward from the elections, examining what message they sent to the West:

At the Munich Security Conference recently, Ukrainian foreign minister Petro Poroshenko had a clear message: Ukraine is a part of Europe. He stressed that Ukraine is "a big European country" and insisted that plans to move forward on NATO membership "will be successfully implemented."

By my count, in his opening remarks during a panel discussion about the future of European security, Poroshenko mentioned Europe/European thirteen times, the EU ten times, NATO nine times and Euro-Atlantic four times. I counted only five mentions of Russia.

Ukrainians clearly see their future in Europe. As Newsweek noted, "more than 60 percent of Ukrainians hope one day to join Europe and no longer look to Russia for support and protection."

You can find the full column here.

Boy It's not so bad on the roads. Trip to a doctor's appt across Collin and Denton Counties was faster than usual. No stop-and-go traffic. No slipping and sliding. Just wet streets.

I'm still trying to figure out why traffic seems so much easier than usual. Yes, fluffy snow is easier to navigate than ice, but was there better preparation/response to the weather? If so let's bottle the plan.

Australian comedian Caroline Reid has an act in which her alter ego Pam Ann spoofs flight attendants from around the world. She plays with the national stereotypes represented by the various international airlines in her One World Alliance.

There's Helga, the no-nonsense and über-Germanic Lufthansa flight attendant who is obsessed with making sure the plane is spotless and the flight leaves on time. Maria from Alitalia shows up late, speaks no English and rides her Vespa down the aisle. Then representing American Airlines is Valerie from Dallas, who wears an out-dated red cardigan, is 105 years old and talks about when her plane crashed and broke into 4 pieces.

Valerie from American Airlines: "I'm 105 years old and still flyin'!"

As I follow the continuous stream of bad news about America's Airlines, I can't help but see parallels between the state of the airlines and the state of the nation.

Here is some of what we are writing for the next few days. Feel free to offer your point of view in comments below:

1. Sunday we'll tell readers who we like best in the GOP and Democratic primaries for governor. Colleen and Bill writing on behalf of the board.

2. Tomorrow, we'll write off the NBA All-Star festivities, encouraging stakeholders to watch carefully for how this "dress rehearsal" for next year's Super Bowl goes and whether anything can be improved. Jim writing on behalf of the board.

3. Monday we explain why it's important for Municipal Management District board members to be required to adhere to some sort of ethics guidelines. We get that they're all volunteers and so to expect them to conform to stricter City Hall standards is unrealistic. But the answer is NOT to exempt them altogether from ethics requirements. Colleen writing on behalf of the board.

4. Also coming Monday -- more recommendations for the March 2 primaries.