Posted on September 27, 2008 at 1:38 p.m.

$700 billion to bail out failed financial institutions could be used to pay for a Western European democracy style free health care plan for every citizen in this country for ... toting up the numbers ... five tears, taking into account inflation and escalating costs, new treatments, etc.

Would that guarantee faster treatment time in the E.R.? No, not really, nothing is guaranteed. But people put off health care until it is too late because of costs. Insurance companies are slow to pay or not at all when it comes to claims. That affects greatly how doctors and health care facilities treat you, when your insurance company starts playing games. Seriously, instead bailing out Wall Street, the government should nationalize health care. We can ride out a four or five year Great Recession, but the pending crisis in health care costs is turning into a perilous game of chicken. We will crash and when it happens, flesh-colored Band-Aids and Bactine is not going to solve the problem, fix it or make it go away.

On Mike Herrera, of Dallas restaurant chain Herrera's, dies at Parkland Hospital

Posted on September 27, 2008 at 1:20 p.m.

Hasn't Belo no shame? How many more trees must die before it realizes the folly of its ambitions?

(I never saw any recycled paper claims on that dead tree daily, have you?)

On Dallas Morning News freebie tabloid daily Quick to become non-alternative weekly

Posted on September 19, 2008 at 12:51 a.m.

Ani DiFranco set the bar for DIY folkie-funk-rock-singer-songwriter chicks that none has surpassed to this day. A generous giving and intimate performer, no compromises, no promises, only love, tears and sweat, the experience one of her performances is a journey of life, affirmation, celebration, exhilaration - rings truer than Springsteen, Dylan, or Mitchell.

On Ani DiFranco

Posted on September 19, 2008 at 12:25 a.m.

Why I left the Libertarian Party after the 1988 election - disorganized, no aggressive fund raising tactics of any kind and the image. If the Libs could ever get their collective act together, they could seriously supplant or at very least hinder current evil that passes itself off as the Republican Party in the Northeast and the West. What happened was in 1964, old time Dixiecrats bolted to the Republicans when Johnson introduced the New Society and joined forces with Goldwater Republicans and eventually infected and took over the GOP. Libertarians need to Madison Avenue up their image, organize themselves and their fundraising tactics, and aggressively get the media and public to take them seriously. Otherwise, pack up the tents and call it a day.

On UPDATED: Texas Supreme Court rejects Bob Barr's attempt to keep Obama, McCain off Texas ballot

Posted on September 19, 2008 at 12:07 a.m.

jtmbls wrote: The higher class places? Are there really high class swingers clubs?

Yes, there are a few in Dallas, but, and this is a big but, no hanky panky takes place at these places. These are establishments where people who follow the lifestyle can meet, chat, hangout, party have a few laughs and then adjourn either to a nearby hotel or residence for whatever they want to privately indulge. Historically,the swing culture featured heterosexual couples swapping among themselves, sometimes introducing unescorted females into the mix. Single males were just plain out of luck. But a new sub-culture in the swing community is bubbling up of couples shunning the unescorted female and introducing the bisexual male into the mix. Their numbers are very few compared to the trad swing culture, but it is significant that this contingent is bravely rearing its head in the community.

On Owners of Cherry Pit in Duncanville arrested

Posted on September 18, 2008 at 11:46 p.m.

Remember when clubs were fly by night, open for only months at a time? Bar Of Soap was different, 'twas a neighborhood fixture, 'twasn't just the music, 'twasn't just the suds, 'twasn't just the art, 'twas the people, the patrons, everyone who made it what it was.

On Bar of Soap, venerable rock bar-laundromat in Dallas' Exposition Park district, closes

Posted on September 10, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.

Substitute the peanuts for walnuts, and you've sold me. Otherwise, feh ...!

On New product Wednesday, at Dallas-area stores: Reese's Select Clusters

Posted on September 9, 2008 at 6:52 a.m.

Schoolmates with Bowie, once managed by a pre-Stones Bill Wyman, teeny-bopper pop idol in the Herd in late 60's, lead singer and guitarist with Humble Pie, and yes, even a prominent guest appearance on The Simpsons, this man's done it all, thrice over. Give 'im a hand!

On Peter Frampton

Posted on September 5, 2008 at 6:08 p.m.

Dennis Wilson once said the music is the star of show, not the Beach Boys themselves, but I gotta' tell you, this current outfit is only The Beach Boys in name only, a soulless uncreative jukebox. Kind of a waste of The Meyerson's and the DSO's time. Wake me up when the Meyerson and the DSO host Brian Wilson or Jeff Lynne.

On The Beach Boys with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Posted on September 4, 2008 at 4:51 a.m.

Another link to NPR's 01 APR 2007 broadcast featuring it's unusual funding sponsor.

On UTD's Centraltrak artists residence hosts dystopian film screenings