Dear Mexican: What’s with calling yourselves “La Raza”? Being Mexicans, Chicanos or whatever isn’t enough—now you’re THE race? Sounds pretty racist to me. —The Race Is On Dear Gabacho: Few things annoy the Mexican more than the Know Nothing Nation’s deliberate ignorance with this most nebulous of Mexican idioms. Despite…
Maybe it’s Obama. Something is going on, something bubbling up. I feel it all around me. Don’t you? Not just nationally but locally. Some kind of touchiness. Not touchy-feely. Touch-pokey. Things are complicated all of a sudden. When Russell Fish and I had lunch last week, the first thing we…
Dear Readers: Gracias, merci, obrigado for the many submissions in our contest asking readers to argue in 25 words why corn tortillas are superior to flour, or vice versa. Below are the winners for some of the cities that carry the Mexican; see the full list at dallasobserver.com. Don’t see…
I actually don’t want to talk about the elephant in the room. I want to talk about Steve Blow, who is biting back at me over on The Dallas Morning News’ Metro blog for criticisms I made of him Monday here on Unfair Park. And sorry if this is just…
Now where I’d put my barrel? Yeah, I know, feels like I just got back from vacation. But you know what they say in the corporate media world, “use ‘em or lose ‘em”. They do say that, right? While I’m gone you might wanna check out our Dallas Observer Music…
Sometimes people look at the wrong thing when they look at Dallas. They want to find what makes Dallas unique, so they look for something unique. But the thing that makes this region unique is its perfect, flawless, seamless lack of uniqueness. OK, I know, it needs a little explaining…
Dear Mexican: Why are there Mexicans in the Border Patrol? What a hypocritical thing to do to our people. —Carne Asada Carlos Dear Wab: Not only are Mexicans in the Border Patrol, but la migra’s own figures show that Latinos make up about 52 percent of its force, comfortably outnumbering…
Florence Shapiro’s much more attractive than her younger lefty brother. Over on FrontBurner, D publisher Wick Allison wrote about State Senator Florence Shapiro announcing plans to run for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s U.S. Senate seat. “Question is,” Allison asks, “does she have $10 million in ready cash? For a Jewish woman…
Last December at the annual meeting of the Dallas Citizens Council — a private, sometimes secretive body long powerful in local affairs — outgoing president John Scovell said, “We’re changing back to the good old days.” He was talking about Tom Leppert getting elected mayor, among other things. But the…
You can’t call us losers anymore. At least to our faces. A wise man – no, come to think of it, it was this a-hole – once said that “those who can’t play, write.” At your friendly lil’ Dallas Observer, thank you very much, we can do both. After years…
Dear Mexican: What’s the fascination Mexicans have with Elvis? —Good Roceando Tonight Dear Gabacho: Your question is spot-on, but it’s taken a while for Elvis to achieve icon status amongst Mexicans. As recounted in Eric Zolov’s 1999 book, Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture, the King largely sparked…
Dear Mexican: Whenever I have an immigration debate with my Chicano hermanos who support open borders and get angry at any type of immigration control, they don’t seem to understand the basic laws of economics, such as the fact that migrant workers who pick fruit, work in construction and do…
Dart boards rejoice. Been meaning to get around to this and, with Wimbledon in a rain delay, seems like a good time. (Sports prologue: The Rangers stole another win in New York and the Mavs will sign Gerald Green. There.) Couple of you have emailed asking for some personal background…
Sorry, but every once in a while I feel a need to clear the air on blog comments. I recently wrote about a major Dallas Area Rapid Transit screw-up in which alert citizens caught one of the agency’s major contractors tearing up $600,000 worth of new improperly installed train track…
Dear Mexican: What do you think would happen if U.S. citizens could as easily buy land and set up businesses in Mexico as Mexicans can do in the United States? Might that be a big boost to the Mexican economy? I know there are provisions in the Mexican Constitution that…
For one brief shining moment last week my man Roscoe Betz was in tall cotton. Dallas County Justice of the Peace Albert B. Cercone handed him a victory on every score. I wrote about Betz two weeks ago (“Hardballs,” June 12, 2008). He’s an 89-year-old retiree and World War II…
Texas Heavenly Homes’ proposal for new Tenth Street Bottoms neighborhoods, from the city’s Bottom Revitalization Project briefing Tomorrow, the city council will approve a $500,000 zero-interest loan of city bond money to an outfit called Texas Heavenly Homes for the redevelopment of the Tenth Street Bottoms area at I-35 and…
For those who missed Schutze’s appearance this a.m. on KLIF-AM (570), during which he discussed his Unfair Park item concerning Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s $600,000 problem with the Green Line, morning-show host Jeff Bolton’s producer Clint Granberry was kind enough to send us , which doesn’t need your every last…
CBS How come we’ve never seen this page till now? Very fancy there, Jim. Says here that KLIF-AM (570) morning-show host Jeff Bolton is a “dynamic, nationally recognized talk radio show host” who offers a “combination of independent thought, scathing humor and a tireless commitment to broadcasting ‘on the scene’…
Says DART: “Silas Fisher, safety manager for Archer Western Contractors, will make sure construction moves safely down the southeast portion of the Green Line.” You remember the $600,000 Dallas Area Rapid Transit track boo-boo I talked about in my June 12 column? Maybe not. Anyway, DART had to order its…
If I don’t make it back, hey, it’s been fun. We need to talk. Actually, no, we need a break. How about one, then the other? Been at this sports blogging thing going on eight weeks. So far, so swimmingly. I write, you read. I write some more, you correct…
The big buzz word now at City Hall is “walkable.” They want to develop new neighborhoods that are “walkable.” Meaning you walk. But I have a question: walk to what? Walk to crap? Do I want to leave my crappy apartment complex and walk around the corner so I can…
