You are here: Home / Archives for May 2009

Thursday Roundup: You’re Soaking In It

May 7, 2009 By Trey Garrison 5 Comments
  • City council candidate John Jay Myers has the quote of the (yester)day regarding the latest foot-stamping, holding my breath ad from the astroturfers at RIP Dallas: “We want! we want! we want!” They sound like spoiled children. Go out and do, and stop trying to force me to buy you a hotel.” As Wick Allison notes today – it’s just a piss-poor deal for a dead-end industry..
  • If you doubt that government, by its very nature, is a bit of a shady enterprise — a protection racket where some are more equal than others — then take a gander at this.

Filed Under City Owned Boondoggle, Media Driven Panics, Politics, The DFW, Zombies

Wick Allison: It’s a Bad Deal. Vote Yes.

May 6, 2009 By Trey Garrison 4 Comments

sweepthelegMy sometime employer, longtime hero, and the guy I’d most love to see riding a Segway in the office, Wick Allison, sweeps the leg of the People’s Hotel, and offers a merciless explanation of why, even though we may need a convention hotel, the way the city wants to structure this deal is bad mojo and bad business.

To be blunt, the city is often not very good with numbers. For this fiscal year, it is projecting a $100 million operating deficit. For the hotel site, it paid $42 million to buy land appraised at $7 million (I’m still trying to figure that one out). Its projections for the hotel are so rose-colored that the pro-hotel campaign has not used them. The reason it hasn’t used them is that they don’t make sense.

But that hasn’t stopped the pro-hotel campaign from coming up with numbers of its own. For example, it trumpets the fact that the hotel will create 800 permanent jobs. At a $500 million investment (excluding the $50 million reserve fund), that’s a cost of $625,000 to create each job. If there is a case for such startling extravagance, this is a strange economic time to make it.

The pro-hotel campaign also tells us the hotel will not be paid for by our tax dollars. That is only true if we believe the city’s sunny-day scenario. But after the economic thunderstorms of the last eight months, is there anyone who would forecast that all future days will be sunny? A $50 million reserve fund may sound reasonable, until one remembers that the American Airlines Center was budgeted at $230 million but ended up at $420 million. So when the $50 million reserve runs dry, either from cost overruns or operating losses, where will the bondholders look for their money? To the taxpayers.

Money shot at the end — the bottom line is the bottom line:

It is the wrong deal at the wrong economic time based on the wrong numbers. Pardon me if, like our neighbors in Fort Worth, I don’t salute. I hope you won’t, either. Thank heaven Harlan Crow did not salute, or the bulldozers would already be digging the hole. Vote “Yes” on Proposition 1 – for good governance, fiscal prudence, and a healthy future for Dallas.

Read the full column here.

Filed Under Capitalist Superheroes, City Owned Boondoggle, D Magazine

My Review of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek

May 6, 2009 By Trey Garrison 7 Comments

(Mirror Universed here.)

Let’s face it: J.J. Abrams faced an almost impossible challenge with Star Trek. He had to breath life into a beloved, well-known and – frankly – worn-out franchise. He had to make a movie that appeals to arguably the most devoted, extreme and nitpicky fan base this side of, well, most of your major religions. You know, those dweeby Trek geeks. (Not cool people like you and me.)

Set crotch on stun.

Set crotch on stun.

At the same time Abrams had to appeal to moviegoers who don’t have a collection of three phasers, a gold velour uniform shirt, and 47 variations of Captain Kirk action figures on my bookshelves and hidden in the back of my office closet. Those — um, we — normal people just want to see a good flick with lots of action, solid character development and a great story.

Add to that one more barb. Abrams was working with a concept that in the last 20 years had all the life wrung from it by some of the most notably mediocre writers and producers in the business, who have been sucking like parasites at the legacy the Original Series with their anemic, gelded spin-offs — Next Generation, Voyager, et al.

The groundbreaking had become grating, and the inspired had become insipid.

So all that stood against Abrams before he even got under way. It was pretty much a no-win scenario.

Abrams took a cue from Kirk; he beat the Kobayashi Maru.

[Read more...]

Filed Under Fort Awesome, Star Trek Movie

Proposed Daytime Curfew — Who Are You Kidding?

May 6, 2009 By Trey Garrison 10 Comments

I’ve mentioned the proposed Dallas daytime curfew for those under 18 during school hours. Even though police already have the power to take truants into custody, this new curfew would criminalize them and — big surprise here — slap a $500 fine on parents. I’m sure it has nothing to do with Dallas’ budget crisis. Anyway, here’s more on the issue from the Citizens Against a Daytime Curfew. Take it away, Laurel Allen.

——————————————————————————–

Is the proposed daytime curfew necessary?

According to the Texas Education Code, police are already fully empowered to take any child seen in public during school hours into custody in order to determine if they are a juvenile in need of supervision, or if there is probable cause that they are in violation of the compulsory school attendance law under Section 25 of the code. In the process of making that determination, they have the ability to intervene in a manner that requires the involvement of the child’s parent or guardian, the courts or juvenile board, and the school district.

JUMP FOR MORE.

[Read more...]

Filed Under Liberty, Media Driven Panics, Politics, The DFW

Wednesday Roundup: Taste the Creamy Filling

May 6, 2009 By Trey Garrison 2 Comments
  • The corporate mandated pot-stirring from Belo for the People’s Hotel is bad enough — read any of Steve Blow’s bought and paid for house advertorials? — but is it so bad that writers aren’t putting their bylines on their assigned hit pieces?
  • DUI checkpoints a-comin’ unless they get derailed. “Your papers, citizen.”
  • Coinciding with the posting of my Star Trek movie review, there’s this bit of awesome — the instruction manual for the USS Enterprise.
  • Yes, but what about the local anchors now that the Great Hamthrax Panic is over? Won’t someone think of them?
  • ph2009050403123Finally, U.S. Rep Pete Sessions, R-Oh God It’s Dallas, has been partying it up at Tao in Las Vegas. Here’s the billboard for one of the GOP venues — “Always a Happy Ending.” (h/t Ed Cognoski.)

Filed Under City Owned Boondoggle, Fort Awesome, Humor, Media Driven Panics, Novelty Cake Toppers, Politics, The DFW

FB Open Comment Thread, and a Happy 41 to Tim Rogers

May 5, 2009 By Trey Garrison 3 Comments

Today’s comment thread is open for business. Post on anything you want, be it FrontBurner related or whatever.

Also, a special happy birthday to Tim Rogers, who turns 41 today.

Tim’s B-Day

Here’s a shot from when we went fishing, back before Tim’s first hip transplant.

n629175838_518857_4210UPDATE: Adriana Bate kindly wished Tim a happy 41st birthday on WRR 101.1. Very kind of her.

Filed Under D Magazine, FrontBurner

Tuesday Roundup: Star Trek is Back

May 5, 2009 By Trey Garrison 6 Comments
  • …And my review will be up tomorrow.
  • New anti-hotel ad is good but there’s overreach where they quote Councilman Jerry Allen who said, “That’s an element of risk that’s out there. … Of course, by that time, I’ll be off council. So I cannot be held accountable.”
  • William McKenzie raises a lot of good points about the state of public schools in Texas, but the bottom line for me seems to be we should just return full control of schools to local school boards and let what happens, happen.

Filed Under City Owned Boondoggle, DISD, Police, The DFW

Monday Roundup: Out, Out Damn Spot!

May 4, 2009 By Trey Garrison 4 Comments
  • I’m glad they got a voice of reason into this look at how the Lege is stomping all over both parental and teenager rights. Because who cares more about a kid — a mere parent, or some semi-pro political tool? (And what a surprise to find State Sen. John Carona’s fat fingerprints all over the worst of the bills.) Of course, the unintentional (or is it?) effect of all this is to raise up young adults who think their every decision as an adult is subject to permission from elected. Which, now that I mention it…
  • I missed something in Tanya Eiserer’s story on Friday that Grits certainly didn’t miss: “Eiserer’s story concludes with an especially fascinating account that suggests Sundquist’s lying wasn’t just malfeasance by a single officer but actually part of a pattern attributed to his entire unit.”
  • This is going to be fun. After all, if the product isn’t intended to cross state lines in manufacture, sale or us, how can the federal government justify regulating it under the interstate commerce clause? (I think you know what product I’m talking about.)
  • Stupid Flu Reactions: This weekend the softball team waved instead of high-fived. Cashiers at Kroger wore rubber gloves or lathered in hand sanitizer. No surgical mask sightings. What did you see?

Filed Under Creepy Guys in the Park, Guns, Media Driven Panics, Police, Politics, Zombies

Full Pwnage*, Mr. Blow

May 1, 2009 By Trey Garrison 6 Comments

(*Yes, I know, it’s old. Like Randall. I’m taking it back. It’s retro-hip as of now.)

Full disclosure please, Mr. Johnson
9:41 AM Fri, May 01, 2009 | | Yahoo! Buzz
Steve Blow/Columnist Bio |  E-mail |  News tips

Consultant Charles Johnson writes a scary guest column in today’s paper in which he dooms the proposed convention hotel in Dallas to financial failure.

I wish Mr. Johnson had also been honest enough to disclose that his opinion was bought and paid for by Harlan Crow, the hotel’s opponent in chief.

Comments

Posted by Trey Garrison @ 11:13 AM Fri, May 01, 2009

Strong and damaging accusation.

What’s your evidence his opinion was paid for?

Posted by Trey Garrison @ 11:19 AM Fri, May 01, 2009

I’d like to add, you’re asking for full disclosure.

The least you could do is disclose the hard evidence you have of your allegation.

Posted by Steve Blow @ 11:30 AM Fri, May 01, 2009

Fair question. Anne Raymond told me.

Posted by Trey Garrison @ 11:34 AM Fri, May 01, 2009

So your saying he had no opinion or a contrary opinion to what he wrote today, and then when a check from Crow Holdings cleared, he either 1) did a 180 or 2) manufactured research to support a position he either did not hold previously, or didn’t hold at all?

Is that what you’re saying?

Posted by Steve Blow @ 11:44 AM Fri, May 01, 2009

Oh, let’s not play cute. You know that full disclosure is simply about revealing personal/financial interests. How much importance to attach is left to readers.

Posted by Bob @ 11:52 AM Fri, May 01, 2009

What are the odds that a paid consultant in a political campaign would publicly proclaim anything other than what his patron wanted him to say? Probably worse than the odds that the convention center hotel would ever make money?

Posted by Trey Garrison @ 11:52 AM Fri, May 01, 2009

Oh, okay.

Then in the interest of full disclosure, will you now provide a comprehensive list of the land holdings around the CHH owned by the company that signs your paycheck, and its parent company? Since it is speculated the value of these parcels will rise, then that, too, is a personal/financial interest.

Then we can let readers decide how much importance to attach to that when evaluating your arguments for the hotel.

“Full” doesn’t mean half, after all.

Posted by Steve Blow @ 12:25 PM Fri, May 01, 2009

Sorry that I can’t find it online. But in the Sunday, April 19 paper, a map ran along with a convention hotel story (page 16A) showing the location of all Belo property near the hotel site.

I’ll see about getting it posted online.

Posted by Trey Garrison @ 12:33 PM Fri, May 01, 2009

So it would be equally fair to say your position on the hotel is likewise “bought and paid for,” yes?

Posted by Steve Blow @ 12:46 PM Fri, May 01, 2009

Hmmm… No, not equally fair.

I work for a company located in the vicinity of the hotel. My personal financial stake in the future of the hotel is near zero.

Posted by Trey Garrison @ 1:02 PM Fri, May 01, 2009

Your back peddle skills are Armstrongesque.

Posted by Bethany @ 1:10 PM Fri, May 01, 2009

Wait – I’m confused. Was Charles Johnson paid to write the column, or was he once paid as a consultant for his real estate expertise?

Because if it’s the latter, well, yeah, there are similarities between Steve Blow and Charles Johnson.

Charles Johnson wrote something that just happens to jibe with an employer’s view, which he holds because he either thinks the hotel is a bad idea, or he thinks it will cut into his profits. Or both.

Steve Blow wrote something that just happens to jibe with an parent company’s views, because they think the hotel is a good idea, or because they stand to benefit substantially through real estate holdings.

Posted by Tom @ 1:14 PM Fri, May 01, 2009

I was pleased to see the map in Sunday’s paper, and the Belo property holdings have been mentioned as part of news converage.
But the Editorial Board urged voters to vote No on Prop 1 without a mention of said holdings. I know this isn’t their blog, but it’s worth noting here.

Posted by jamesn @ 1:49 PM Fri, May 01, 2009

“My personal financial stake in the future of the hotel is near zero.”

This is a family friendly blog, so I won’t repeat my spontaneous utterance when I read this sentence.

1. Your employer owns a huge amount of land in the area of the Hotel.
2. Your employer has a broken business model and little hope of a course correction with out massive restructuring (try less than 1/4th of your current head count, and ceasing the publication of the paper version of The Paper).
3. Your employer has stated, publicly, that they intend to bridge the revenue gap by selling excess real estate. Therefore, your employer has a special interest in the value of the land they own around the convention center.
4. Therefore, so do you. If the hotel doesn’t get built, the cost of the land in the area won’t rise and the land will have to be sold for less money than your bosses would like. Less money from the land sales is less money for payroll, faster head count reductions, possibly bankruptcy, and maybe not existing at all.

How much longer do you think it will be before someone figures out this news paper probably doesn’t need three metro columnists anymore? It’s safe to assume the answer depends on the outcome of the Prop 1 vote.

Posted by Darkwing Duck @ 2:24 PM Fri, May 01, 2009

You absolutely have an interest in seeing the value of your parent company’s land increase.

If it doesn’t, who gets the axe next?

My guess is the “journalists” who write drab, miserable human interest pieces.

pwned3b4627fej9

Filed Under City Owned Boondoggle, Novelty Cake Toppers

RIP Dallas Challenges Me Debate. I Accept. Then, Radio Silence.

May 1, 2009 By Trey Garrison 4 Comments

The head punchline of the joke that is RIP Dallas, “Grim,” challenged me to a debate via Twitter. I accepted, stipulating that they set up the venue, we work out a contract on the details (moderation, rebroadcast rights, editing, etc.) and that they pay me an honorarium for my time. And then…nothing. What gives?

picture-32

Filed Under Capitalist Superheroes, City Owned Boondoggle, Creepy Guys in the Park, Vainglorious Plugging
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »