The Most Clicked On Viewpoints Column at the Dallas Morning News Award Goes To…
…your humble blogger. That’s what’s posted at the Dallas Morning News site.
Readers of daily commentary selected by the Editorial Department in 2008 most often clicked on columns about the two presidential candidates, with notable essays ranging from why a local Republican planned to vote for Barack Obama to a conservative columnist recommending that Sarah Palin remove her name from the ticket. Love him or hate him, Mark Davis was the only Viewpoints columnist to land multiple spots – three – on the Top 10 list. And the top vote-getter was local writer Trey Garrison who made a case for why he prefers neighbors who share his values and socioeconomic background.
You can read that column here.
Merry Christmas
No scheduled blogging this week. Still too much to get done before Christmas, and then after it.
So go have fun, and let’s get back together next week.
Happy holidays.
Friday Roundup: Criminal Justice Crimes, Gun Control in its Full Glory, Another Isolated Incident & More
- One of the two best legal blogs out there, Grits for Breakfast, talks today about creeping overcriminalization, the decline of mens rea, and the unbalanced push for more security at the cost of liberty. My own contribution to this discussion comes in the February issue of D Magazine, which will hit the stands in late January, and it looks at the growth of the nanny state in Dallas.
- Ron Kirk’s appointment is a good sign Dear Leader is not a total moonbat on international trade, but there’s a lot of territory between here and the final judgment. The real test will be whether his boss tries to force other countries to abide by ridiculous American labor and environmental laws.
- Another question via Grits: “The single best solution would be to mandate an “open file” policy in every Texas jurisdiction (right now it’s done at the discretion of the local DAs and county attorneys) so that defense counsel could have access to the same police reports, witness statements, and other documents the prosecutors get to see. That system works wonderfully in Tarrant County, where these files are kept online and defense counsel can access files on their cases via a password that lets them see everything in there.” The question is, why isn’t that SOP?
- Here’s why gun control won’t work – “His weapon was recovered at the scene and later determined to be stolen during a separate offense in Terrell, according to police…” — and why it’s never smart to go out socially naked. (Nice shooting, btw.)
- A 12-year-old in Galveston is the latest “isolated incident” of police misconduct, getting roughed up for her troubles by plainclothes officers and arrested at her school despite police errors every step of the way. (Via Radley.)
- Driver with a baseball bat attacks someone who cut her off on I-30. Is she a woman? Why, yes she is.
Thursday Roundup: Killing Red-Light Cameras, Douche Drivers, Poor Reporting & More
- Oh happy day. A state district judge refused to budge on his ruling that red-light cameras in Dallas violate the law.
- Meanwhile, some of you clock-punching commuters — thank the highfather for teh Internets and telecommuting — are acting like douchebags. Especially during the morning rush.
- Do I even need to say what would put an end to these kinds of home invasions?
- A good tell that a news agency has little understanding of the basics of business and economics is in how they cast business stories in single-perspective black-and-white, focusing on a single negative. For instance, “Low Oil Prices Spell Trouble for Economy.” Which, yes, it hurts some energy companies and economic activity in the Barnett Shale, but it also benefits as many others — everyone from American Airlines to ordinary people heating their homes and gassing their cars.
Wednesday Roundup: What Interest Rates Mean to You; What’s Not to Tax?; COP DWIs & More
- I’m working closely right now with an acclaimed mortgage broker on a project, and without boring you with the details — early 2009 will be the prime time to re-fi your mortgage. Mortgage brokers and lenders are gearing up behind the scenes to get ready for the influx of businesses. An early sign, you ask? Well, glad you did.
- “I’ll tax the street; I’ll tax your seat; (if you get too cold, cold) – I’ll tax the heat; (if you take a walk, walk) – I’ll tax your feet.” More here.
- This is not reassuring given the usual outcome of this much evidence in a DWI case. Not the least reason being a drunken on-the-road fight with a girlfriend so bad he was swerving.
- Dallas is all-guns to make a doomed convention center hotel work at the cost of $550 million to taxpayers who may not even want it, yet they’re doing all the can to sabotage what will be one of the biggest economic drivers South Dallas has ever seen in its future. Keep this in mind.
- A Fort Worth woman did what too many in the DFW need to do — lost 110 pounds — and won a prize to boot. Bonus insider knowledge: did you know The Biggest Loser is one on DPD Chief David Kunkle’s guilty pleasures?
Tuesday Roundup: Bogus Trend, Creepy Children’s Books, The Convention Center Hotel & More
- The Dallas Morning News trots out a bogus trend story — “Home Swapping Growing Trend in Dallas-Fort Worth.” Just a casual skim gives us about a dozen violations of Jack Shafer’s tells: heavy on the anecdotes, lots of “some” “many” and “seem”, absolutely no hard numbers to support the trend, and not much else.
- Shots fired at the Dallas Kwanzaa Fest.
- Best DMN letter to the editor in a while: short, concise, and cutting.
- Okay, this Dear Leader stuff has getting really creepy, and it’s gone too far when it’s trickled down to children’s books.
It’s Not a Tumor
Just playing catchup today after a busy marathon weekend, some pending deadlines, and some meetings today.
So stay tuned, sign up for my RSS feed, and I’ll try to be back this afternoon.
Or talk amongst yourselves. I’ve turned comments on.
Bettie Page, RIP
Probably reveals more than you wanted to know about my twisted psyche, but I always loved Bettie Page. She died yesterday. The world (at least for men) was better for her being here, and lessened by her passing.
Here are some galleries (NSFW) celebrating her career.
In Print Today: My Second Marathon Column
OK, a little more earnest than the first one I wrote about the experience of marathon day, and more about the motives behind it, and the guy who inspired me just by his example. Humor here, slightly more serious in today’s Dallas Morning News.
(I’ve about milked that first run for all I can. Now I have to run next year at age 40 to gin up new material.)
Happy Birthday, Cindy
My bride turns 41 today. Aside from our daughter, she’s been the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. And come on — does she even look a day over 30? Hot stuff.
