Kudos to WFAA and KDFW

As we speak, there are areas that are under Tornado Warnings. Johnson County currently has a severe thunderstorm that is attacking the county and has a history of spawning tornadoes. It spun off a tornado in Hill and Bosque Counties.

What do citizens need in this dire time? Late breaking news about the storm. This is important because some places do not have storm sirens and they need to know if something is coming their way. Since 3pm today, Pete Delkus has been on-air giving viewers the latest information that they need. I have been flipping around the different local affiliates to evaluate the coverage and I have been happy with some and disappointed with others.

WFAA Ch-8 and KDFW Ch-4 has stepped up and have been providing great coverage. KXAS Ch-5 has been doing a great job as well. They finally broke into regular programming after a while. Even KTXA Ch-21, the station that is as Independent as Texas has even broken into their regular programming to provide weather coverage.

However, KTVT, CBS Ch-11, has provided very little coverage. They feel that the football game is more important than the severe weather. They have done the split screen business, but they have not taken on the full fledged coverage as they should.

I know that some these storms have been in areas that have not been in the immediate DFW viewing area but they have moved into our area and some of those people can pick up our signal and pickup the major market tv stations on satellite tv. I feel that KTVT has failed their viewers, on the other hand, the viewers of the immediate area that have not been affected and their shows being pre-empted feel that the stations have failed them. But to each their own. This will allow viewers to see how the stations really feel about viewer safety to choose the "Coverage that they can count on.."

I am just glad that I got back to the Metroplex before all hell broke loose.. I would have been upset having to watch this from my car or from Houston....

Christmas Panto

On Virgin Radio yesterday, they did a Christmas Panto. For those who are unfamiliar, a Christmas Panto is performance that is specific to the UK. It is a very interactive show between the audience and the actors and also the show has a lot of current topics/people in it. For example, they take Cinderella and put a Virgin Radio spin on it by talking about things from the radio show and using DJ's in the Panto. Also included in this version is Thandi Newton and David Tennant. Thandi was in Crash and David Tennant is on BBC1's Dr. Who TV show.

As I said before, the Virgin Radio Panto is Cinderella. It is very funny. A little obscene, but hilarious nonetheless. It is definitely worth a listen.

There is a podcast version here : http://podcast.smgradio.com/oconnellweekly/061221_Christmas_panto_special.mp3

or, even better is the video version : http://www.virginradio.co.uk/djs_shows/shows/breakfast/features/christmas_panto.html

Even though you may not know who the DJ's or actors are, it is still worth watching/listening to. It is a good chance to experience another country's traditions at this time of the year.

Panto's are big business in the UK at this time of the year. Patrick Duffy from TV's Dallas is even performing on the West End (London's version of Broadway) in a Christmas Panto, ironically, the same as the Virgin Radio's Panto, Cinderella.

Just check it out. It is awesome!

Merry Christmas to all of you out there in the World Wide Web!

Does the Metroplex need another passenger airport?

It has been in the talks and now they are doing a study on it. WFAA's Dan Ronan reported that the officials at the McKinney Regional Airport are considering opening the airport to regional passenger traffic. If they did this, that would mean that in addition to flying out of D/FW International and Love Field, you would also be able to fly from McKinney to certain places that would be determined by the airline and FAA officials.

This would be great for those citizens living in McKinney or Collin County who do not want to make the commute to DFW or Love, but I don't feel that it is really necessary. It is an expensive job to begin with, you have to build a terminal, hire security, make it Homeland Security approved and such and that takes a lot of time and effort. In addition, it would add to the neighborhoods who already complain about the noise near their homes; IE: Love Field (my case for this is, DONT LIVE NEXT TO A MAJOR AIRPORT!) Ahem, sorry.

So what do you think? Is it worth all of the effort? Who would come in? Southwest is already stationed at Love Field and will not move its operations. Would this be something that American Eagle can handle or another small regional carrier? It will be interesting to see how all of this pans out..

The Dutch are Digital!

The Houston Chronicle had an article about the big switch in the Netherlands. They switched from an analog TV signal (bunny ear type signal) to a digital signal (like our HDTV signal where you need a special box and tv antenna to receive the signal). The US will be making this switch in 2009, meaning that all of us will have to get new tv's that are able to handle this, subscribe to cable or satellite tv, or we will have to get equipment to 'retrofit' our tvs to be able to read this new signal.

Many of our local tv stations already have the capability to broadcast in the digital signal, you can notice those station when they say to check them out on their channel on x.1 or x.2, for example, here in the 'Plex, we can watch NBC on 5.1 and we can watch their Weather Plus on 5.2. Same with Channel 8, regular tv on 8.1 and on 8.2, you get their Doppler radar and the NOAA weather channel audio.

What do you think about this change that will be occurring in 2 years?

There are many pros... Clearer pictures and audio, no need to adjust the bunny ears for a clearer signal and picture, ability to watch additional channels (8.1,8.2) (some smaller markets use this to bring other stations to the market, ie: Sherman/Denison, KXII, a CBS station uses their digital signal to bring those viewers the MYTV network along with a FOX Network)..

The only cons that I can think of would be the cost of retrofitting the tv to make it able to receive the new signal. Stations would have to foot up the money to convert, but many of them already have, so it is not that big of a deal. My concern is about the people in smaller markets who cannot necessarily afford to convert their tv's or to purchase a new tv. Will their screens go blank?

Let me know your thoughts....

And off they go!

It is that time again, time for #2 pencils, scantrons and blue books. Blue books will be my enemy this semester because that is all that history professors use. They have abandoned the scantron a long time ago. For some reason, all of the upper level professors want you to write essays.. I am not quite sure why...

For some of us, this will be our last time to combat our enemies mentioned above, and for some of us, we still have some opportunities to combat these foes.

To all of those out there with final enemies, good luck to you in your battles! Make it Legendary!

Fruit Pizza!

This weekend, I had a most interesting and delightful mixture of dough, cream cheese and fruit... Can you guess what it was? Fruit Pizza!

The crust was crusty and sugar cookie like and there was a nice layer of cream cheesy goodness that acted as glue to "glue" the fruit to the pizza. Among our fruity friends were grapes, blueberries, bananas, kiwi, and strawberries.

It was very good. I have heard about this for a while now and it was the first time for me to have it, so needless to say, I was very pleased!

Mad props to Laura who made this yummy yummy goodness...

Pictured above is an example of what it looked like...

So I Have a New Show Favorite

It is called How I Met Your Mother. It is on Monday nights on CBS, for those of us in the 'Plex and H-Town it is on Ch. 11 at 7pm. The basic premise is that it is a story about this father who is telling his kids how he met his mother, and he started from the very beginning, even before he met his wife. The voice over is done by Bob Saget, aka Danny Tanner for those of us Gen Yers, who is the voice of Ted, played by a great actor named Josh Radnor. It is a hilarious show. Also included in the cast is NPH or Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan who we all know and love as Michelle from the American Pie Trilogy.

The one thing that I love about this show is that there is a lot of opportunities to relate with the characters. Everybody that I know who watches the show can easily identify with one of the characters. If you can emotionally invest in a character, it makes the show that much better. It is probably not too much of a good thing, because you should be living life and not watching tv, but that is just how the ball rolls sometimes.

It is also really funny. It seems to have a lot of smart comedy and the writing is just great. I watched the first season on DVD and I was left wanting to watch the beginning of the first season again so everything could make sense.

I wish that I started watching it from the beginning because I started watching it at the beginning of the 2nd season and I really didn't have any idea of what was going on. After watching the DVD of the 1st season, it all made sense.

If you have free time on Monday nights, I suggest that you check it out. It is definitely worth the time.

You can check out for weekly updates at my favorite TV website, www.givememyremote.com and you can also check them out directly at CBS's website at : http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/ .. you can also watch the latest episodes for free on the Intertube feature, just find it and click!

Thanks to Nathan for introducing me to this new AWESOME show....

BTW... its Legen...dary... (Watch the show and you will get it...)

The Preliminary Plans are here...

United Equity has released preliminary plans for their new property here in Denton. Amoung the new things that they want to do is bring in a drugstore (they are talking with CVS, as if we dont have any in town), a 3 story parking garage, and 2 restaurant along with some leased space and a new road to go through the property to connect Hickory and Oak. They are wanting to make it like a village with plenty of trees and walking space and benches. It sounds nice in theory, but it will not be the same and those of us who know and love the REAL Fry Street will not be so quick to warm up to these new businesses and areas.

Click here for the story from the Denton Record Chronicle and the PDF of the plans

As always, you can go to www.savefrystreet.com for the most up to date information

Get Ready CAS & SLIS Graduates!!

From what I hear, graduation is going to be a doozy. My friend who works in the College of Arts and Sciences said that our graduation is supposed to be 4 hours long. Not only is it for the College of Arts and Sciences, but we will also be graduating the School of Library Sciences. Now, we do have 2,000 someodd students to get graduated, but from what we are hearing, Dr. Bataille, UNT's new President, has changed up the way that graduation is done, but we are not sure about the details. All we know is that we have to be there bright and early at 8:00 AM. for lineup. Whoop!

The speaker this semester will be none other than.....drum roll please.... Dr. Kamman from the History Department and my departmental advisor!

I can't wait! I will have to make sure I get the Gameboy all charged up so I can have something to do while I am waiting... j/k

You can watch the ceremony online at www.unt.edu and there will be a link on the homepage if you are inclined to watch from home, which YOU BETTER NOT!

Tornado in London

Now this may not seem too out of the ordinary for our part of the world being in "Tornado Alley," but they do not get many these in the United Kingdom.

It affected about 150 homes in the Kensal Rise neighborhood of London. Displaced people are staying in a local church tonight until they can find more permanent accommodations. A Sky News weatherforcester (which from the weather features that I saw on Sky this summer, I did not know existed..) estimated that the winds were about 100 MPH which would put it as an F1 on the Fujita Scale which says that the tornado will rip off tiles off of roofs and will move automobiles, which happened in Kensal Rise.

This year, the UK is experiencing above average rainfall amounts, which I guess makes sense due to El Nino..

It was just really interesting to hear about the Tornado in London on Virgin Radio because I just assumed that it was a really rare occurrence, but comes to find out, they have about 30 tornadoes a year.. weird...

What is it with viewers?

Sorry again for the big gap.. work has been crazy and I have not been able to get a word in...

I have been wondering for quite a while why NBC 5 has been doing so well in their ratings. If you go to Uncle Barky and read any day's descriptions along with the ratings, NBC 5 is always on top. This is coming from the station who always leads with shootings as their lead story. Who really wants to watch these kinds of stories? Their other story are about the same. There is no real intellect, I feel, in their newscast. When I first arrived in the Metroplex, I used to watch NBC 5 all of the time, but then I found another station. They have a real professional looking newscast and they do not follow the old adage that says, "If it bleeds, it leads."

I guess the reason that NBC is in the lead in ratings is that they have good lead-ins to their newscast: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and many other shows that bring in high ratings all on their own. Maybe people just leave the tv on to take a shower after they watch these shows. I do not know, but it does not make sense.

The only other conclusion that I can make is that those viewers enjoy watching those types of stories. If that is the case, that is just sad..

Get ready!

Our first wintry-hard freeze day is coming on Thursday. Unfortunately, there will not be any sticking of the cold stuff because:

1. It will be 42 degrees outside, not cold enough for freezing
2. The day before the high temps will be in the high 70's, low 80's and the ground will be too warm to allow the ice to stick (which really sucks, because it would be awesome if school and work can be cancelled!)

But is still exciting nonetheless. In the northern counties, there is a chance for sleet/freezing rain to fall, so that is still awesome. I just need to obtain a nice, thick winter coat :)

Happy Monday!

RIP Chopsticks

Today bulldozers are demolishing a beloved Denton icon on Fry Street: Mr Chopsticks. Also set for demolition today is the old building that housed Uncommon Grounds that is on Oak St. Yesterday, they gutted the insides to prepare it for the bulldozer today. A candlelight vigil was held last night in memory of one of Denton's favorite eateries.

Click here for Debbie Denmon's report (WFAA-TV)

Click here for Raw Video from KNTU and the Denton Record Chronicle

And, as always, you can get information about the Fry Street debacle at www.savefrystreet.com

To Chopsticks : We will miss you in your original state... we, the students of the University of North Texas will be back in full force when you make your return to Fry Street.

To the Houston Investor : You are an idiot.

Fox pulls the plug on the Juice

Unfortunate for OJ, the publishers and FOX has pulled out all of the plans for the book written by Simpson which was to detail how he would have committed the murders if he had did it. It was stupid for him to write it in the first place and even stupider for a publishing company to back him on this venture. Now from what I have heard in the media for the last few days, it was the publisher who made him to do it to "realize" his guilt, but even still, this is OJ's way to say "haha, you never convicted me!"

It is unfortunate that despite all of the evidence that a California jury did not find him guilty. I know that if this would have happened in Texas, he would have already faced the fate of infamous needle in Huntsville.

The people of California failed the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Shame on you Mr Murdoch and Mr Simpson for trying to make money on this sad event in American History.

Resurgence of the Draft

A Democrat from NY, Charles Rangel thinks that it would be a good idea to stop the temptation of starting wars by reinstating the draft for men and women from the age of 18 to 42. What the heck is he thinking???

Yes, I understand that there is a need in the military because numbers are dwindling, a lot of that has to do with the fact that many are loosing their lives for an unjust and unwinnable cause, however, a draft is not the answer. Even the Department of Defense says that it does not want a draft. Why would an organization want a bunch of people in their organization if the people do not want to be there in the first place.

A draft could be very counterproductive. There may be people who would do stupid things just to get out of having to go to a warzone. Unfortunately, I do not think that a draft is a part of the answer.

It is a very honorable privilege to serve one's country, but I think that you should want to do it and not be forced to do it. Not everybody is cut out for military service.

Also, when all of this happened with the Vietnam war, there was a backlash, and there will be another one again if it is passed by the House.

Additionally, (I just keep thinking of things..) this Representative thinks that being that the House is of a Democratic majority, he thinks that he will be able to pass his bill a lot easier, but I have to break it to him now, I do not think that the Dem's are going to back him on it. There is a lot of argument about the war to begin with and I think that it would not be productive to any representative's career to agree to a draft bill. If they do that, they should kiss their job goodbye...

Been in Office 2 days and already causing waves...

Shelly Sekula Gibbs, now Congresswoman in the 22nd TX Congressional District (Tom Delay's former district) is thrusting herself into the limelight in our Nation's Capitol. On the first day, her staffers walked out and left her high and dry. Supposedly she was mistreating her staffers..

"Never has any member of Congress treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed during those five days," said the former Chief of Staff

Before they left, they deleted some of the files on the office computers and now she is starting an investigation into why they were deleted.

All I have to say is, it is probably best that she was not voted in for the full term. The people of the 22nd district needs somebody who is willing to work hard for them and fight for their needs, not to be picking little fights here and there for arbitrary causes. There has been enough controversy with that district and the people of the 22nd district needs some peace and quiet.

Shelly just needs to take a chill pill. Being that she is a MD, she can just prescribe some to herself. It will be interesting to see what other sparks that she can cause in the next 6 weeks that she will be in office...

P.S. The Washington Post has called her a "Lame Duck." That is just hilarious.

P.S.S. I was reading about all of this yesterday, and I can't remember where I read it, but I read that she was upset that President Bush and VP Cheney did not come wish her well at her introduction party. In attendance was Kay Bailey Hutchinson and fellow Rep and Houstonian Ted Poe. My first thoughts were : "what makes you think that you are that special? You are only going to be there for a short time, so what does it matter?"

Clear Channel Merging and diffusing...

Today Clear Channel has been acquired by 2 investor groups. They are doing this to become a private company (not traded publicly on the NYSE). They have raised the price of the stock to "buyout" their shareholders.

We all know Clear channel from the outdoor billboards that we see on the roadways everywhere (I even saw some in the UK), radio stations, and Television stations (there is only one in Texas, San Antonio's NBC station).

As a result of this merger, they will be selling off some of their radio stations and all of their TV stations. Not to worry though, they are only selling off the stations that are outside of the Arbitron rated top 100 (which included all of the major TX radio markets).

I am really interested who will pick up the TV group. There isn't a TV company really looking to buy right now, but I am sure that somebody will pick them up.

The only thing that is a little sad is that WOAI in San Antonio is the anchor station of the Clear Channel stations, and I will wonder what will happen to it once it leaves the arms of Clear Channel...

Tesco in the US!

Sorry it has been so long since I have last written... school and life has been crazy with something always going on.. to my avid readers, I thank you for your patience... :)

So now on to business...

Tesco is coming to the US! Tesco is the major grocery chain in the United Kingdom. They are like the Kroger of the UK. While I was there, I got the privilege to shop there, and I had a great experience there. They had a great selection of foods from all over the world, really high quality produce and their private label (store brand) products were superb. They also had a great wine and alcohol section too. For the most part, they were mainly grocery stores, but some of them had general merchandise in them too, such as movies, TVs, clothes, stuff like that.

Right now, they are looking to start out on the West Coast of the US and are going to start things out by bringing over their Express style store, which is projected to compete with 7-11's. It has not been said if they will sell gas (or petrol in the UK) but I would not think that they would. A lot Tesco's sell petrol in the UK, but they have not really said anything about that.

I hope that they will be successful. I would fly out to California or the Left Coast to visit one of these stores. However, the grocery market is really competitive in the United States due to Walmart and there is no telling as to what will happen until it happens.

Tesco is the 5th largest grocery chain worldwide and they already have stores in Eastern Europe and Asia, so with that kind of experience and a base, they have a really good running chance.

New form of Voting in Denton County

Attention Denton County Voters!!

The County has updated the method of voting. They are now using the electronic voting machines. They are basically just big computer screens with a wheel and a couple of buttons on it. When you first walk into the voting site, you will be able to test it out, and if you have not used one of these machines before, then I definitely suggest that you go play with the demo first before you walk into the booth. Once you go in a sign in, you will be issued a pin number that will get you into the voting machine. From there, you will then be able to vote for your candidates using the wheel and the accept button. If you click here, you can go to the manufacturer webpage and test out a sample online version of the machine.

It is basically a very simple process and it intended to be, but you just have to be aware...

Happy Voting!

Chopsticks in its final hours

Buster Friedman, the new developer of the "New Fry Street" has just applied for a demolition permit to commence demolition on the buildings of the former Mr Chopsticks and Uncommon Grounds. It will be a sad day in Denton when this starts.

Many UNT students can remember their first visit to Chopsticks. Mine was my first semester with my roommate and our Maple friends. We walked over there and I feasted on Beef Fried Rice. We sat in the "outer section" that looked like it used to be a garage or something like that.. Good times..

The Save Fry Street organization (where I am getting this information from) wants to know when demolition actually starts. Contact them at 214-437-2948 and contact Dawn Cobb at the Denton Record Chronicle at 940-566-6879 or by email at dcobb@dentonrc.com

Be sure to stop by Fry Street to get your last glimpses before the whole district is changed forever.

Leave your comments about your favorite Chopsticks/Uncommon Grounds memories...

SMU and Playboy?

Playboy is currently going around to all of the conference USA schools a clicking photos to create a "Girls of Conference USA" montage in the magazine. Yesterday, they stopped at SMU in Dallas. For those of you who don't know, SMU stands for Southern Methodist University. It is a private university tucked into the heart of University Park neighborhood of Dallas.

Playboy put an ad in the student newspaper calling for ladies to meet up at a hotel across the street from the campus to pose for shots to possibly be placed in the magazine. The University itself is not associated with this at all.

With that said, I think that it is a conflict of interest. They are a religious school and they are required to be held to a higher regard and posing for a magazine like Playboy definitely conflicts with morals. With our culture surrounded with sex as it is, I do not think that students of a religious institution should participate in an activity that promotes sex. The Bible says that we should not have sex before marriage and I think that we should uphold that, especially those who represent a religion, ie: members of the church and students who attend religious institutions such as SMU.

Baylor agrees with this argument and has promised to expel students who participate in these photo sessions. Baylor, a private University in Waco, is affiliated with the Baptist denomination. Their student handbook says, "expression that is inappropriate in the setting of Baylor University and in opposition to the Christian ideals which it strives to uphold." Playboy was going to be at Baylor in 2002 when Playboy was going to do a montage of the "Women of the Big 12."

Let me know what you think...

Loving the cold weather? Thank the Child!

In the past few weeks, the citizens of North Texas (and the South Central Plains) has been experiencing cooler than usual weather conditions. I think that this is the earliest that I have had to crack out the sweaters from my closet in quite a while. Also, we have received more rain in the past month than we have in a looong time.

This is all thanks to a weather phenonmenon El Nino (translated into english as "The Child" and refers to when Christ was born). El Nino is a major warming of the equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean. El Nino events usually occur every 3 to 7 years, and are characterized by shifts in "normal" weather patterns. The last time that we had an "El Nino year" was 1997-1998.

Researchers are still learning about El Nino. NOAA has put bouys in the waters in the Pacific to gather more data and watch the temperatures to be able to predict this major weather event.

When it comes to linking both La Nina and El Nino (La Nina is the exact opposite of El Nino where the waters are cold in the Pacific and brings a wamer than normal winter to Texans) the jury is still out. Researchers have not totally "figured out" global warming, but it may be possible to link these in the future.

All of this probably doesn't mean a lot to many of you and are totally bored by now, but it is something interesting to know and you can impress all of your friends by explaining why it is colder sooner than usual.. FUN!

Go Vote!

It is now time to take action. Early voting in the State of Texas has started. It is important to take this time to go vote to let your voice be heard. The key position being fought for this season is the coveted Governor for the Great State of Texas. You have read about them, heard about them, watched the debate that they participated in, and now it is time to take action and let your voice be heard. Below are links for the blogs that I wrote about each candidate, read over them and check out their website to refresh your memory and then go vote:

Perry : http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/09/part-4-of-4-gov-rick-perry.html
Kinky: http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/09/part-3-of-4-kinky-friedman.html
Strayhorn: http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/09/gubernatorial-election-part-2-of-4.html
Bell: http://dlm0078.blogspot.com/2006/09/blog-special-gubernatorial-candidates.html

For voting locations, google your specific county and then look for their Elections page. If you are in Denton County, their website is : http://elections.dentoncounty.com/go.asp?Dept=82&Link=894

This page gives dates, times, and locations of polling places. This week, you can go to the Carroll Building (right off of the Square) between 8 and 5pm to vote Monday - Friday, and you can also go 7am-7pm on this Saturday and 1-6pm on Sunday. It is located at the corner of Carroll and Mulberry.

This is an important time in Texas politics. There are some changes that could stand to be made and the only way that WE can do anything about it is to take this time to vote.

When you go to vote, you can take your Voter Registration Card or just your Drivers License. It is that simple.

Remember, we have people out there fighting for this right to vote and we should respect them by practicing this right.

Diane Sawyer is CRAZY!!

I don't know why they chose to do it, but ABC decided to send Diane Sawyer, from Good Morning America, to North Korea. She did her first broadcast from there this morning and will do reports for GMA and World News Tonight at 530pm. She is one of 300 foreigners in a country of 23 million. When she got off of the plane, she had to give up her cellphone, BlackBerry and any other device that can be used to communicate with the outside world. They were issued North Korean cellphones, but I am sure that they are bugged. This is one of the few times that a Western journalist has been allowed into the country.

This all comes at a bad time because over the weekend, the UN has issued sanctions on North Korea and today, Kim Jong Il has considered these sanctions placed by the UN are an act of war. I would not want to be there during all of this.

You can watch her reports on ABC from 7-9am (on Ch 8 here in the Metroplex) and at 530pm on World News Tonight. She is also keeping a blog and will be posting reports online.. check out the GMA website here. Good luck to you Mrs. Sawyer... you will need it..

Picture credits: GMA website.. behind Sawyer is a statue to Kim Jong Il's father...

SWA is now free to move about the country from Dallas LUV

This is an exciting event for my friends over at Southwest Airlines. President Bush has signed off on the repeal of the Wright Ammendment and also they received the nod from the FAA, which now allows them to start selling thru-tickets for flights from Dallas Love Field to destinations outside of the 9 Wright states. Starting this Thursday, October 19th, they will add 25 destinations from Love Field (with an introductory fare of $99 with a 14-day advance purchase) that will be a single stop, thru flight. Some of these cities will include:

Phoenix, Baltimore/Washington DC, Las Vegas, Chicago Midway, Los Angeles International (LAX), Orlando..

They will also be using their codeshare with ATA Airlines to have flights from Love Field to NY LaGuardia, Maui and Honolulu, HI.

100 new destinations will be added over all. Schedules have to be adjusted and modified to allow for all of this expansion at Love Field.

Also, Rapid Rewards members (their Flyer Miles Program) will receive double credit for any travel that either begins or ends at LUV.

The SWA PR representative also said that they will be working with the City of Dallas to refurbish the Airport and add new amenities.

He also said that SWA has enought planes to take on the load right now, but they will be looking to add 8% more planes (35 total) to their fleet to accomodate this new addition pending customer demand.

They are stressing that they are the leaders in low prices in the airline industry and that when a customer is considering flying anywhere, they should choose the Leaders in low fares opposed to those who follow the industry in low fares (this was in direct reference to American Airlines).

They will have more information on their website and will start sales to these new destinations on Thursday, so you will be able to see what schedules are available then. Their web address is: www.southwest.com Check them out!

Congrats SWA!!

SWA News confence live...

SWA is announcing their new schedules from Love Field.. you can watch live on www.wfaa.com and get more info.. I will bring more after the news confrence...

Beware Fellow Native Houstonians....

Dallas has a new DJ on 106.1 KISS-FM. Drum roll please...... It is Atom Smasher! YAY! (sarcasm). I was scrolling through the stations one day last week, and I heard a familiar voice on KISS. He was hitting on a girl on air, looking at her info on Myspace and then trying to get her to be his "friend" on Myspace. He has made the move north to the Metroplex after being canned from the Morning Show at 104.1 KRBE. Check out McGuff for the details... Basically, Cumulus, the company that owns KRBE was done with Atom and Maria and wanted to participate in the DJ switcheroo by replacing them with former KHMX DJ's Roula and Ryan who were replaced by former KRBE DJ Sam Malone. I know, it doesn't make much since does it? Rather confusing yes, but I guess that the radio market is really fluid... It happens.. I just thought that I would share this if there were any Atom fans out there...

Cold War Part II?

If you haven't heard what has been going on in North Korea, then you apparently have been hiding under a rock (which still won't do you any good if there is nuclear war). On Monday (Sunday night our time), Kim Jong Il tested his nuclear warheads underground in North Korea. They were not that powerful, only causing an earthquake that registered a 3.6 on the Richter scale and it was only estimated to have the power of 550 tons of TNT.

Upon hearing of it, almost every country has criticized North Korea and Il for performing these tests. President Bush is trying to work with the UN Security Council to create sanctions on North Korea because of these tests. Ironically, fellow Communist state China is condemning these acts. However, they are just worried about the fallout of people who will immigrate to China for safety if North Korea does end up going to war.

After hearing of all of this, I am reminded of the Cold War when the United States was in an arms race with the Soviet Union. Images of children practicing air raid drills in schools popped into my head. Is this something that the people of my generation will have to deal with? It may. Will World War III break out because of all of this, amidst the Battle on Terror? It may.

The more that I think about it, the scarier it gets because there is nothing that we can do to protect ourselves from a nuclear attack. There really isn't. We can dig a hole in the ground and surround ourselves with concrete, until the area clears, but is it even reasonable to put people in the ground like that and have them survive like that? I know that I would go stir crazy after a day or two. I go stir crazy sitting in an office building for 8 hours a day.

If World War III occurs, will there be mass callups like there was with the preceding global wars? Will the nation actually stand behind the President if we were actually to go to war with North Korea?

These are all questions that we will possibly facing if anything else major develops with this situation. It may not be soon, but it also may not be that far away. It will just depend on how Kim Jong Il pushes the issue of nuclear testing and he resists the controls that will be placed on him for his actions.

In this instance, can we look upon history for help? I am not sure. We can see what happens when 2 countries compromise (with the help of a change in government), but with this situation, I don't think so.

We put the D in D-DFW!

Yesterday, WFAA CH-8 was in town doing live reports from the Square. It is a part of their "covering our community" attempt to ensure that they do not leave out all of the important communities that make up their audience. I wish that I could have gone down there to watch them go live, it would have been cool, but I had other things going on..

While they were here, they interviewed the new Mayor of Denton, Perry McNeil. He was recently elected in May. He told WFAA that the City of Denton has experienced a great period of growth in the last 20 years; 70K people in 1980 to 108K now in 2006.

The City of Denton is also growing in other ways too with a new hospital (Presby Denton), a new retail shopping center on Loop 288 and a new development at US 380 and IH-35. In addition, there have been a lot of new neighborhoods sprouting up across the area which will keep people in our area.

One thing that we are having a problem with is traffic and mobility. This past may, the DCTA (Denton County Transit Authority) of which the City of Denton is a member, has started a bus line that departs from various points in the city (primarily UNT and a stop at Cinemark) that makes stops in Lewisville, Carrollton and has 8 stops in Downtown Dallas. The city is also working on a new train line that will be apart of the DCTA system and will give us with a light rail system that will also connect us with the DART system in Dallas County and with the TRE, which connects Dallas with Fort Worth. The City also has its own bus line, which hopefully will become more popular as we try to reduce the amount of gas being used. It should be noted that the DCTA buses the new biofuel that is made in the City of Denton with the trash produced by the citizens along with the grease from our local favorite restaurants.

One thing that I thought was cool was that McNeil wants to add an additional "D" to "DFW." He said that if we continue on our current rate of growth, we will be the 3rd largest city in the Metroplex. We are no longer a bedroom community, as there are more companies that are opening for business in Denton and more people are living here and also working here too.

I think that it is a great time to be in the City of Denton because we are getting to watch this "small town" grow into a great city. The City Council should be applauded for their great planning with this transition. They are making great strides to make sure that we have the infastructure to be able to handle the influx of new people and new services that are being provided to the community.

For more info on the City of Denton, you can go to their website at www.cityofdenton.com and for the WFAA bustour, go to www.wfaa.com/bustour. Today they are in Lewisville and will be in Southlake tomorrow..

Record Breaking 7 OT's!!

This weekend, the Mean Green played Florida International at Fouts Field. It was our Homecoming and it was a great day. The weather was beautiful! The game started out great, we got a safety in first few minutes and a touchdown not soon after. We got another and FIU finally caught up. At the end of the game, it was 21-21. In the final minutes of the fame, FIU got to the endzone and initially, the ref's called a touchdown for FIU, but the guy went out at the 1 yard line. They reviewed the play, and the ref corrected his mistake. So we went into over time and I thought that it was kinda cool because I have never been to a game where we had to go into over time. I did not really know how it all played out, so it was interesting to see. After the 4th OT period, I was annoyed. They both kept kicking field goals and missing them. It was crazy. In the last OT period, FIU almost got it in, but thank the big guy upstairs, our kicker finally made it in winning the game and ending the never ending game (it lasted 4 and 1/2 hours!). Afterwards, I marched with the Talons over to the Clock Tower where we counted down the bathing of the clock tower in green light. We sang the Fight Song and the Alma Mater. It was a good time. I am glad that we won.. It would have been really sad if we would have lost our Homecoming Game.. You just don't do it..

Friday's Debate

Last Friday, Belo hosted a debate with all of the Gubernatorial candidates. It was moderated and led by anchors from Belo stations from Houston, DFW, San Antonio and Austin, and a reporter from the Dallas Morning News. It was a good debate. If you weren't really sure about which candidate, I feel that it pretty much solidified how you felt about your candidates. At least, that is what happened with me. I was wavering on either Bell or Strayhorn. I think that I am going to settle with Mr. Bell. I was really pleased with his performance.

If you watched it, you saw how Kinky pretty much avoided a lot of questions and seemed unprepared. One of the things that I remember from his rants was that he wanted to declare Martial Law in the counties that surround the border. That is just crazy, and although may help with the immigration problem, what will happen with the citizens of that area? I know that if I were living in that area and Martial Law was instituted, I would freak out. Those riles should only apply in a time of war with another country, and although this is kinda true, I think that it is a little too radical of a move.

I really enjoyed the period where they asked the candidates Jeopardy style questions like : When was the battle at the Alamo, How much is a semester of tuition at UT, How long do unemployment benefits last, etc. It was great to see the response. I did not like however how certain candidates took this 15 seconds to throw more rhetoric at us. That was not the purpose of that time and they wre just looking for the answer, nothing else.

I also enjoyed the direct questioning of Gov. Perry about TTC (Trans-Texas Corridor). I don't think that he has ever been asked directly about it and forced to answer. Sarah Lucero from San Antonio asked him why voters did not get to vote on it, and he said that we did. I don't buy that answer and it was probably hidden in some other parts of legislation. Strayhorn said that voters only voted on the discussion (or something like that) and that it was not for the corridor itself (I didn't understand what Strayhorn was talking about).

But like I said, it was good to see where the candidates stood and see how the reacted to questions from reporters and from voters. It is jsut too bad that there will not be any more debates so we can try to get a better feel for our candidates. I guess we will just have to rely on the print media to take care of that.

For more details on the candidates, please click on the month of September and read the blogs about each candidated and their stances on hot topics.. To watch the debate, click here

UNT Traditions Part 2: Bonfire

Bonfire is deeply rooted in our traditions as it has been around since 1927 when a bonfire was first built for the ETSU/NTSC game. It was initially on Avenue A on the pavement. The Eagles won the game that night. During the War, bonfire was not held due to the lack of men on campus. In 1950, the bonfire was moved to Fouts to commemorate the opening of the stadium. NTSC President at the time, WJ McConnell (for which McConnell Hall is named) lit the bonfire.

In the 1960's, the University gave Bonfire duties to the Talons, the Organization that preserves the spirit of NT. It is then that they start having Talons stand guard at the bonfire site because in 1960, pranksters lit the stack on fire early. The Talons rebuilt a new stack the next day in time for the festivities that night. In the late 80's, they had additional early firing attempts and also "tagging" by a Greek organization because they put their letter on the stack along with a chair.

In the 70's, Bonfire was moved from Fouts to the Eagle Point site where it is still held today. It is a major part of the Homecoming festivities and is lit on the Friday before the Football game right after the Yell Like Hell competitions and a speech from the team.

It is quite a sight and can create great memories when you add a good group of friends into the mix.

And that is your UNT Traditions lesson for today... Discover the Power of Green!

Source: Talon's Website

As Independent as Texas

Well, there is a new station in town. Early in September, with the oncoming of the CW, which replaced the WB, UPN was wiped from the networks and our local UPN affiliate, KTXA CH 21 in Dallas, is now an independent, or as they like to say, As Independent As Texas. This means that they do not have a network affiliation. As true as it is, it is still kinda not, because they are CBS O&O (Owned and Operated) and while I was watching the Prime Time News last night, I saw the CBS Eye logo in the background, which I thought was weird, being that they are supposed to be "independent." It was a good newscast from what I saw of it. It was a very laidback newscast though. It was professional, but with a laidback feel to it. They have the anchor desk and all of that, but for the intros to the segments, it was pretty casual.

This is the first Independent Network that I have watched before. Not to say that I am an avid Ch. 21 watcher, but usually all of the networks that I flip through have some affiliation to a major TV network. It is kinda cool, but all they show besides locally produced news is syndicated TV shows, so there is nothing special about it.

It will be interesting to see what will happen with KTXA in the future. CBS owns 3 other independent stations (which I am sure came about after the fallout of UPN and the whole CW business). However, it is interesting to note that prior to becoming a CBS affiliate, KTVT-CH 11 was an independent itself, so I am sure that some staffers from there can help out KTXA if needed (if people from that time period are still around being that happened in 1995). We shall see what happens..

Dallas the Movie and the REAL Bobby Ewing

Patrick Duffy was on the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio this morning promoting his theater performance in London. It was an interesting interview. You can go to the website to listen to it... Click on the Christian O'Connell link above and go to Daily Bits and it is about 45 minutes into the show. The highlights from the interview include:

Calling himself a slut.. in terms of acting, taking a job, getting paid and then being kicked out the door

Confirming that Shirley MacLaine would be Ms. Ellie Ewing in the upcoming Dallas Movie

Luke Wilson will be taking the role of Bobby Ewing

When asked if he would make an appearance on it, he said no and that it shouldn't be that way..

John Travolta received the approval from the Original JR, Larry Hagman

He is playing Baron Hardup in Cinderella at the New Victoria Theatre in the South East of England (basically London). It was interesting to hear him on a British Radio Station..

In other Dallas related news, IMDB has it rumored that Marica Cross is to play the role of Pamela Ewing. I don't know if she is the right person to play Pam. Pam requires somebody soft and gentle, and going from her Desperate Housewives role, I think that it would just be weird to she her play something so extremely opposite of what she normally plays.

That's all I got for now..

KLTV GM says Buzz off to Rosie...

KLTV, the ABC affiliate in Tyler-Longview (DMA 111) is protesting against The View and Rosie O'Donnell because of a statement that she has made about Christians:

"radical Christians are as dangerous as radical Muslims"

The General Manager has gone on air with an editorial asking viewers to write into the Station and into ABC to proclaim that she is being a bully and request that they take either her or The View off of the air. (Interestingly, there was a similar issue last night on NBC's Studio 60).

This is a little crazy. Last time that I checked, this is still America, she is an American, and she has the right granted by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution to say what she did. I am not saying that she was right in her statement, nor do I agree with it directly, but they should not pull a show off of the air because of such a statement. She has the right to say it.. That is her opinion. These people in Tyler/Longview should take this "View" and accept it as such and move on. It is OK to hear what other people have to say. You do not necessarily have to agree with it, but as Christians, we should listen to what other people have to say and then talk through the thoughts and find out why they think that way and then try to come to some understanding with each other. It is just that simple. Just because she made a controversial comment does not mean that huge changes need to be made. If you are offended that much, I have one solution for you: change the channel. Stop trying to "protect" everybody from other people's opinions that they have the right to listen to.

Thanks to Nathan and Diana for the tip!

Update!! Bush to sign Wright repeal bill on Fri!

Bush has said that he will sign the Wright Repeal bill that was passed by both the House of Reperesentatives and by the Senate. This means that as soon as he signs the bill and it gets a nod of approval from the FAA, then SWA can begin selling tickets for destinations outside of the Wright States. Behind the scences now, SWA is beginning to establish new routes and flight numbers that will begin this new process of flying longer distances from Dallas's Love Field. The rule says a flight must make a pitstop first in a "Wright" state before they can continue onto a "non-Wright" state. The main cities that SWA is looking to expand to right now are Las Vegas and Florida (Mainly Orlando for Disney World). They will be doing this through other hubs, Houston Hobby, Austin Bergstrom and San Antonio International will be the big dogs in Texas. For the Southeast, Armstrong International in New Orleans will be a major gateway, Alberquerque will be the gateway for the West and Southwest, KC and St Louis will be the gateway for the Midwest and for the Northwest, DAL travelers will have to go through either Houston Hobby or KC/St Louis to Chicago Midway and make another connecting fight to the Northeast. It is all exciting and I cannot wait for my first flight on SWA on destinations outside of the oppessed and outdated "Wright" states.

The Office Season 3 Notes (so far)

Let me just say that this season of The Office has been great so far. I will have to admit that I am really sad that Jim and Pam and separated from each other and have not been in contact with each other. That relationship was one that really drew me (and many others) to the show. I kinda can connect with Jim on some levels. And I will miss the pranks that he pulls on Dwight. In the first episode, there was a long distance prank (only Jim and Pam knew) because Jim sent Dwight a "Gaydar" which was actually a metal detector and he tested Oscar to see if it would work and it did. He then checked himself, and it went off and he then got worried... It was funny, but also sad because Pam watched the whole thing and then they show her quietly chuckle to herself and it was just sad that she couldn't really share that experience with Jim.

I know that the show's writers did all of this on purpose. If Pam and Jim got together, then it would have been too easy and they wouldn't have a lot to go with the other story lines. This allows their story line to go farther instead of getting together and then allowing for them to fade into the sunset of love. I will definitely keep watching to see what happens to our favorite Dunder-Miflinites. It will be interesting how they work with the 2 different offices and try to cover them both. I wonder if there will be an impending merger of the 2 offices in the future? That would be interesting to see how they work with that.

I am not sure if anybody else noticed, but there are some rather large differences with the Scranton and the Stamford offices. The Stamford Office was NICE. It was a real office and was very classy. The Scranton office, you can definitely tell is in a warehouse. It is not all that. You would think that the Stamford office is in New York because of the classiness of the office. It is like Dunder-Miflin cares more about that office to keep it nicer than they do the Scranton branch... Oh well, but that was something that caught my eye. You would just think that they would be somewhat similar, not as different as they were.

P.S... It was awesome when Jim walked into Dwight's room and only saw Angela's legs and thought that he had a hooker in his room.. It was hilarious to see his expression as he was running away from the room. And yet sad again because he had no one to share that with..

Traditions Lesson: Mean Green

We are the Mean Green. The Official mascot of the University of North Texas is an Eagle, so officially, we are the Eagles. However, we have a secondary moniker; The Mean Green. This stems from one of our famous alumnus: Mean Joe Greene. Many people may know Joe Green from his great playing with the Pittsburg Steelers. Those who know him, should also know that he attended what was then North Texas State University. He was a defensive tackle and that is how he earned the name of "Mean Joe." In the late 60's, we (the University) asked Joe if we could use the combination of his name, "Mean Green" because of his great skills and the service that he provided to the defense of the football team and he obliged. So now in addition to being the UNT Eagles, we are also the UNT Mean Green and have been proud to sport the additional moniker since the late 60's. And this is why we are the MEAN GREEN!

Pictured above is Mean Joe being presented his UNT Football Jersey in 1969 by UNT Officials, one likely being President Kamerick..

Game time!

Well it is that time of year.. Football season! This weekend, the Mean Green is playing Middle Tennessee State (MTSU). This game will also start our Sunbelt Conference Play. In the past, we have won 5-0, so hopefully we will repeat history. There is a pep rally tonight starting at 7pm in Clark Park. It was pretty fun for the SMU game, so it should be just as fun tonight. Be sure to get out your claws and Green shirts and get ready to cheer on our Mean Green team to VICTORY!
The game is Saturday at Fouts and starts at 6pm. You will notice that there will be an influx of people in the stands and this will be attributed to all of the families in town this weekend becasue it is Family Weekend. Stay away from 288 because it will be bad this weekend with all of the extra people in town!

Senate passes Wright Bill!!!

This is freaking awesome. Maybe thing will finally change at Love Field after 30 years of oppression by the Wright Amendment. It still has to pass the House of Representatives, but if it does, then immediately Southwest Airlines is allowed to sell tickets for continuing flights for outside of the "Wright" states. I assume that this will not be too long after it is passed through the House. It still sucks because about 15 gates will have to be destroyed at Love Field (they are unused as of now) because that was a part of the agreement. I will keep you blogsted... (get it.. posted + blog).. ha...

This is why being a teacher is difficult

An elementary Art teacher in Frisco is being reprimanded for what a child saw on a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art. A 5th grader told their parents that while on the trip, he saw a nude body. When the parent heard of this, they complained to the school district. I should say that the parents were required to sign a permission slip before their child was allowed to go on the field trip. Personally, I don't understand what the big deal is. It is just Art... And it is not like the teacher can control what is put on display. As long as it was not falic, I don't see the big deal. At this point in life, 5th graders are learning about their changing bodies and they show videos about these changes and they are graphic too. It is time that our society stops being so sensitive to things of that nature, especially when it is art. If it was something else, like a movie with sex or something of that nature, that is one thing, but this was ART... GET OVER IT.. The teacher is now on paid leave and Frisco ISD has made the decision not to renew her contract at the end of the school year when it expires. It has not been said if she will be taken off of paid leave or not. It is just ridiculous and this is one thing that makes teachers quit and not teach, because they always have to walk on eggshells to not to offend anyone in order to avoid loosing their jobs. And we wonder why we have issues with teacher shortages....

Source : Dallas Morning News

Part 4 of 4: Gov. Rick Perry

In the final part of the gubernatorial election series is the current Governor Rick Perry. Prior to becoming Governor, he was Lieutenant Governor for former Governor George W. Bush. After Bush left to run for President, Perry took over for him and has won re-election in the subsequent elections. Here is his information below.. as always, visit his website for more details... http://www.rickperry.com/

Experience: Lieutenant Governor, Commissioner of Agriculture 1985-1991, Texas House of Representatives

Issues: (Instead of listing what he will do for the people of Texas, he has listed what he has done for the people of Texas...)

Education: His highest priority... Required schools to spend 65% of every dollar on classroom instruction, signed $2,000 teacher pay raise, require all Texas HS students to take a college-preparatory curriculum..

Health Care: Established Children's Health Insurance Program, instituted medical liability reform, required parental consent for minor abortions, improved Texas mental health system..

Transportation: increased road funding without raising taxes, improved highway safety, created the TransTexas Corridor plan, relocated urban freight rail lines...

Once again, I was a little disappointed with the website. All it had what what he has done for the people of Texas. Being a resident of Texas, I ALREADY KNOW WHAT HE HAS DONE! (sorry) I really wanted to know what he WILL do for the people of Texas. To see for yourself, please check out the website at http://www.rickperry.com/. Also, feel free to use the comments section as a place to list more information that you may know about a candidate or any debates you may have.

I hope that this has been helpful for you as you make a decision about the candidate that you will choose for our elections on November 7. Please remember to register to vote by October 7th because according to state election code, you must be registered 30 days prior to an election to vote.

Desperate times call for desperate measures...

After years of declining sales in the American market, auto makers GM and Ford are possibly discussing a merger of the two companies. Lately, they have had to issue pink slips to many employees because they are not making any money domestically. Their main flaw is that they are still trying to push gas-guzzling vehicles onto the consumer and consumers do not desire these types of vehicles due to the current issues with gas prices. Also, dependability and consumer confidence in the product does not help the situation. Everybody knows the old addage that Ford is an acronym that stands for Found On Road Dead. Unfortunately, Asian auto makers know how to make a good, dependent vehicle that are fuel efficient. The American automakers need to take this idea and run with it. They have made some improvements in the last few years, but they are not good enough. They also need to start developing alternative fuel vehicles because there will be a day where oil will be non-existant.

Story source: Houston Chronicle, Sept. 18, 2006

Part 3 of 4: Kinky Friedman

Next up is Kinky Friedman. Over the past year, he has stirred up a lot of attention for his run for Governor. He had a reality show, has done many interviews, has an action figure, and has been making his way around the state making speeches (making a pitstop here at UNT for a speech). It seems to me that his main audience is college students and those "non-traditional" voters. If you want more specific details, visit his website at www.kinkyfriedman.com. Here are his stats:

Experience: Writer and Musician

Issues:

Education: Raise teachers pay, legalize casino gambling to fund education, stop the practice of "Teaching to the test".

Healthcare: Does not agree with the cancellation of the CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program)

Energy: Wants to encourage development of new methods of energy generation, really pushing for the use of biodiesel.

Visiting his site, I was a little dissapointed with the amount of information provided for his stance on issues. They are really scant and sketchy at that, where you have to interpret his stance instead of reading it directly and knowing exactly. As I said before, please consult his website for more details... www.kinkyfriedman.com

Gubernatorial Election Part 2 of 4: Carole Keeton Strayhorn

No matter how you know her, Carole Strayhorn, Carole Keeton Rylander, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, one thing that she wants you to remember is that she is 'One Tough Grandma'. Strayhorn, our State Comptroller, is running for the governors office. She is going about things a little differently, as State Comptroller, she was elected as a Republican. For Governor, she is running as an Independent candidate. Being that Rick Perry is running for re-election, she cannot run as a Republican, because things just don't work that way. One of her biggest soapbox issues deal with education, which as Comptroller, she has seen many of the in and outs of education funding. Here is how she stands on key issues per her site www.carolestrayhorn.com :

Experience: First woman elected as State Comptroller (1998-current), Austin ISD Board of Trustees, Mayor of Austin (1977-1983), State Board of Insurance, Texas Railroad Commission

Public Education: Improve public schools and ensure students knowledge retention, Recruit/Retain quality teachers, Provide long-term reliable funds for schools, Make Higher Ed more affordable and accessible.

Transportation: Stop TTC(TransTexas Corridor), Increase capacity on IH 35, improve state rail system, against new toll roads.

Health Care: Fully restore CHIP (Childrens Health Insurance Plan), creation of "Affordable Health Care for Texans" plan.

Miscellaneous Issues: No Income Tax and repeal of New Business Income Tax, end of wasteful spending, fully fund and expand the State Parks System, property tax relief, stop fast tracked 'dirty' coal plants

There is the information about Carole Strayhorn. For more details about specifics please check her website : Carole Strayhorn.. Also feel free to use the comments section to post any thoughts about Carole.

Wright Fight Continued.....

Today a US House panel reviewing the proposition that a consortium of the Cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, American and Southwest Airlines, and, D/FW and Love Fields wrote to propose an end to the Wright Amendment. They have approved all parts of it, but they have taken out the language regarding the anti-competition laws. From my understanding of all of this, this would allow Southwest Airlines (SWA) to be the sole airline at Love Field. Personally, I do not care if there are other airlines at Love. I just think that the Wright Amendment should be revoked. The Wright Amendment, written in 1979 by House Speaker Jim Wright, was put in place to protect D/FW International Airport in its time of growth. Basically the Wright Amendment places a restriction on where SWA can fly from Love Field (the 8 states that surround the State of Texas). With its repeal, SWA would be able to fly anywhere within the contiguous 48 states. Wright is wrong because D/FW is one of the largest airports in the nation and they do not need the protection anymore. SWA is being penalized because they run their business efficiently and can afford to charge consumers less than the traditional airline. This proposal needs to be passed soon because the agreement that was signed by the consortium expires at the end of this year. Hopefully this removal of language will not put a snag in the effort to repeal Wright.. More to come... Source: WFAA-TV

Blog Special : The Gubernatorial Candidates Part 1 of 4, Chris Bell

Well, it is getting to be that time again.. We are in an election season and the fights are fixing to become heated. In Texas, we have a coveted spot up for grabs (so to speak), Texas Governor. There are a lot of candidates this time around, 2 Independents, a Democrat, and the incumbent. Politics is usually not my thing and I keep at least a good arms length away from it because sometimes politics can be really retarded. However, I feel that this election is important because I feel that we need a change in leadership in the Governor's Office. We as a state have many issues and they are not being addressed by the current administration. In my quest to research candidates for myself, I will share a condensed version of the candidates stances on important issues. FYI... The information is coming directly from the horses mouths, via their respective websites and I will include links to their websites so you can investigate them for yourselves. This year, Election Day is November 7, 2006. In order to vote in this election, you must be registered to vote in the county that you reside in 30 days prior to the general election, which would be October 7, 2006, so please register to vote before then. You can get information about registering to vote here : VoteTexas.

Chris Bell (D)- Houston -- website : ChrisBell.com

Past Service: Houston City Council Member 1997-2002, Congressman 2002-2003 (ousted due to redistricting)

Solutions to problems:

Education: Create a Bi-partisan commission to work on education problems instead of working separately, create some type of tax to assist with School Finance

Higher Education: End tuition deregulation, tax-free textbooks, increase funding to public universities, defend the Texas Grant program to make college more accessible for disadvantaged students

Environment: Strengthen environmental regulations, protect air quality, develop new energy solutions (alternative energy sources), protect water quality, push for smarter land management and conservation

Toll Roads: Stop TranTexas Corridor in its tracks

Immigration: Secure the border with National Guard, crack down on illegal hiring practices

For more information, please visit his website : www.chrisbell.com. You can get more details on plans listed above and how you can get involved in his campaign if you choose to do so.. Please feel free to use the comment section to participate in debates..

ABC is stupid

Ok.. So I just got done watching the ABC dramatization of the events that lead up to the events of 9/11. I was not able to watch the first part last night, but I do have it taped. After watching the conclusion of the "drama," I do not think that I need to watch anymore. The whole thing just reaks of nastyness and I think that ABC made a bad move in putting this crap on the airways. When they returned from the Presidental address, and before it initially started, they had a loooong notice stating that this was a dramtization of events listed in the 9/11 Commission's report and that it was not a documentary. Going on my own knowledge of the movie and television industry, documentaries are to be informative and dramas are to be entertaining. I was NOT entertained. Also, with all of the hype about it and their own proclaimation that it was a dramitization, I could not it seriously. If it is not factual, then why put it on the air? Especially on a day such as today when we are supposed to be reflecting on and remembering these people who were the first responders to the attack on our freedom. That was without taste and I personally am dissapointed with ABC. They should not have used an event such as this as an opportunity to cash in on ratings. I have lost respect for this organization. I really do not want to watch ABC anymore, which sucks because I enjoy Grey's Anatomy and I really respect the local affiliate's news and weather departments, but as for a network, I am disheartened by their actions. It was just another opportunity to politicize another eveny that has touched our hearts and another chance for a company to take advantage of their fellow man while they are down..

We Won!

This weekend, the Mean Green played the ponies of SMU. It was a great game. Johnny Quinn kept us afloat by receiveing some great passes from our new QB. Jamario tried to get some plays, but everytime that the ball was passed to him, he was tackled immediately. It is like everybody knows to take him down after a pass. The same thing happened with Patrick Cobbs.. The score, by the way, was 24-6. Great 4th quarter. I am still horse from Saturday night.

I was very suprised and excited about the amount of people in the stands. The student section was filled with a sea of green, which is unusual because it is hard for our campus to come together due to our status as a commuter school. I just hope that this new attendance will stick and more people will come to the game to root on our team.

---Update--- The attendance was 25,231, the 3rd largest crowd to ever watch a UNT football game... Keep it up!

Facebook Changes

This week, Facebook has made changes to their website. Now when you login, you are bombarded with EVERY single change that any of your friends have made on their site, or who they have friended, or messages that they have sent. Reading the Dallas Morning News this morning, there was a story about it... this is just wild that a change like this can make the newspaper. I am in agreement though, the changes suck! Why can't they just leave things alone? It was just fine the way that it was.. I mean, I love Facebook...more than Myspace and I don't want to have to have to switch to Myspace because it is just not as good as Facebook... I just thought that it was interesting to find a news article about a change on Facebook.. it just shows how much technology really envelops our lives...

Update: No Action from FB City Council

This is in response to my original post about Farmer Branch City Council taking action against illegal immigrants within their city limits.. (click link for original post)

The City Council met last night and they decided that they are not going to take any action against illegal immigrants at this time. They did, however, promise to take action this fall if the US Senate does not begin the process of dealing with illegal immigrants within the U.S. They suggested that they would write letters to Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn in addition to each city and school district within the State of Texas. Source : Dallas Morning News

I agree that something needs to be done with illegal immigration, but I do not think that it should be up to a city to make that sort of determination. Yes, employers should be fined for hiring illegals, but I don't think that a city should restrict these people from living within their city limits, unless they are causing problems and crime, and at that point, the police should do a proper investigation and alert the INS or ICE (whatever you want to call it these days..) I just think that it is not the place for Farmers Branch or others cities for that matter to meddle in Federal issues..

Update: Farmers Branch Debacle

The City of Farmers Branch is meeting tonight to discuss the controversies that one City Council Member has brought up about making it harder for Illegal Immigrants to do business in the city of Farmers Branch. Tim O'Hare, the council man who proposed the new ordinances disallowing illegal immigrants to live in or own businesses in Farmers Branch is supposed to be meeting with the LULAC President to discuss the proposed rules after the council meeting tonight. Some residents in FB have cheered on O'Hare and some are calling for his removal from office. The Mayor of FB is saying that everything is being blown out of proportion and that the city council is supposed to just discuss the legalities of such ordinances... More to come on this issue.. See the Dallas Morning News article for more info...