News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News

11/20/2008

Evan Smith: T. Boone Pickens is my pick for Texan of the Year
At age 80, the energy magnate could have chosen to sit on his behind and generally enjoy life. Instead, T. Boone Pickens decided to promote, with great fanfare, his eponymous plan to reduce and hopefully eliminate America's dependence on foreign oil.

Colleen McCain Nelson: Life lessons from Wyshina Harris
When I wandered into the after-school academy at Turner Courts last year, I was enveloped by enthusiasm. "This is not some charity," Wyshina Harris told me. And as I've written about Dallas' north-south disparity, I've carried her words with me.

Balance of Opinion: Obama vs. terrorism
Though the troubled economy looms largest, the specter of terrorism isn't far from the minds of analysts as they anticipate a new presidential administration.

11/19/2008

Georgie Anne Geyer: Cuba, bellwether to Obama foreign policy?
With all the attention being paid to other supposedly "more important" parts of the world, few have noticed that an especially revealing anniversary will be coming down upon us in the same month as the inauguration of the new American president.

Eugene Robinson: We must know the extent of Guantánamo's horrors
"I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantánamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America does not torture, and I'm going to make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world."

Carl Leubsdorf: Texas power runs through Edwards
With most top Texas Republicans set to follow President George W. Bush back home in January, Waco Democrat Chet Edwards could emerge as the most influential Texan in the federal government.

Kathleen Parker: Give Larry Summers a break
Fresh ire aimed at former Harvard University President Larry Summers prompts the question: Shouldn't there be a statute of limitations on dumb things expressed in public? (Please say yes.)

David Perdue: My post-election wish list
In the past few years, things have changed rapidly here in Arlington. A thriving old town-type shopping village, natural gas derricks, hotels, highways, thousands of SUVs built at the GM assembly plant and the new Dallas Cowboys stadium all have reflected the progress. Just recently, campaign yard signs became the newest sign of the times in my neighborhood, though Obama signs were as scarce as dandelions on Wimbledon's Yard of the Month.

Abdul Dosunmub: The case for civic engagement
In 1955, a young minister hitched his wagon to politics.

David McClure: The power of failure
Has anyone seen Tommy E.? We sure could use him now. I miss him in the halls at school as well as on the field during football practice. The lessons of Tommy E. are long lost in the world we live in today.

Emily Schneider: A day in February
We constantly want. Whether it's the new iPod or Playstation, Jimmy Choos or a Jaguar convertible, we somehow always have our eye set on something we do not have. It can be big or small, expensive or cheap, but if we want it, that's what we'll focus on until we get it.

Nellsyn Elizabeth Hill: Lessons from my cat
My bed was calling to me. It had been an exhausting summer weekend full of birthday parties and my first beauty pageant. I kicked off my shoes, let Kitty -- my cat -- in from the back yard, and trudged up the stairs.

11/18/2008

Jonah Goldberg: No to Obama's experimental government
President-elect Barack Obama's "sense of confidence" over merely "getting it right" for his incoming team is a problematic standard. What do you want in a surgeon? There can be a chasm between being right and merely appearing to be right.

Mark Davis: Driving off a bailout cliff
This week's battle over whether to bail out the Big Three U.S. automakers is far more than a policy struggle. It is a touchstone of where we stand as a society.

Leonard Pitts: D.C. public school experiment a test for us all
I expect the Obamas, like many parents of means, will choose private schools. Can we be honest here? D.C. public schools are not good enough for the Obama kids. Not because they are D.C. public schools, but because they are urban public schools.

11/17/2008

Joan Vennochi: Enough with those bailout lines
Where will these government bailouts end? Is there an objective economic formula for deciding who gets one? Or is it rooted more in politics, even though Barack Obama pledged to reject politics as usual?

Jeffrey D. Sachs: A bridge for the auto industry
This is an opportunity for a major industry restructuring to position the U.S. to lead the world in producing cars that get 100 mpg. This is closer than many suppose, with the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt arriving in 2010 and several new hybrid models on the way.

Balance of Opinion: A post for Hillary?
Off their ample diet of Sen. Hillary Clinton for months now, pundits are now atwitter that the former Democratic presidential candidate is back on the table as a possible nominee for secretary of state.

Gerald Britt: Craig Watkins for Texan of the Year
Craig Watkins has taken his charge one step further – an equal commitment to justice. The Dallas County District Attorney's office is as committed to seeing the innocent go free as it is in seeing the guilty prosecuted.

11/15/2008

Race doesn't matter
I'm delighted that Barack Obama has been elected president and that foreigners are delighted, too. But I never viewed eliciting delight from non-Americans as a reason for choosing a president, including one of color.

Ignoring God's children
It is startling to see your life depicted on a television show, especially when that show is a top-rated crime drama. This week's episode of Law & Order , titled "Challenged," showcased the challenges facing millions of American families, including mine.

You owe it to your kids to talk about financial crisis
There are a lot of worried parents these days. Jobs and savings are disappearing, and people are struggling to get by. Worried adults mean a lot of scared and stressed-out children as they pick up on their concerns. This is, unfortunately, a normal consequence of hard times, and even the best of parents transmit their fears to their kids. So how do we give them a measure of security and stability?

11/14/2008

Sharon Astyk: Helping our children through this financial crisis
There are a lot of worried parents these days. Jobs and savings are disappearing, and people are struggling to get by. Worried adults mean a lot of scared and stressed-out children as they pick up on their concerns. This is, unfortunately, a normal consequence of hard times, and even the best of parents transmit their fears to their kids. So how do we give them a measure of security and stability?

Eugene Robinson: Awkward encounters with stereotypes will make us all better
Barack Obama's election victory may have been good for the country, but it's been awful for comedians. Just ask poor Don Rickles.

Froma Harrop: America's a land of ideas, not ethnicities
I'm delighted that Barack Obama has been elected president and that foreigners are delighted, too. But I never viewed eliciting delight from non-Americans a reason for choosing a president, including one of color.

Clay Boatright: For people with developmental disabilities, 2008 is 1964
It is startling to see your life depicted on a television show, especially when that show is a top-rated crime drama. This week's episode of Law & Order , titled "Challenged," showcased the challenges facing millions of American families, including mine.

Nicholas Kristof: Why education must be at the top of Obama to-do list
President-elect Barack Obama and his aides are sending signals that education may be on the back burner at the beginning of the new administration. He ranked it fifth among his priorities, and if it is being downplayed, that's a mistake. We can't meaningfully address poverty or grow the economy as long as urban schools are failing. The United States is the only country in the industrialized world where children are less likely to graduate from high school than their parents were, according to a new study by the Education Trust, an advocacy group based in Washington.

Suzy Smith: DISD teacher of the year suggests what's needed to create school success
As a teacher at Edna Rowe Elementary School in Dallas, I am part of a vibrant learning community that is charged with providing our city's next generation of taxpayers, voters, employees, business leaders and parents with the solid foundation of skills and knowledge they need to succeed in work and life.

Shawn Williams: Why the 2008 election killed liberalism
The 2008 election marked the death of liberalism, or at the very least, hastened its demise.

They're raising their voices
Introducing the 2008-09 Community Voices volunteer columnists. They will be regular contributors of columns on this page and featured contributors to Thursday’s weekly Sounding Off feature.

Lynn Sipiora: Homeless in Collin County
Homelessness is on the rise, and homeless families are the fastest growing number in the homeless population. Single moms, single dads and intact families show up at our door every day after spending weeks on a relative’s couch or living in their cars.

Ellen Raff: JFK: The way he was
In today's culture of celebrity, there are no unsullied heroes. The antics of entertainers are reported alongside those of our political leaders, and they all make the rounds of the same late-night talk shows. It is through this prism that we look back at one of our most glamorous and charismatic presidents, John F. Kennedy.

11/20/2008

Balance of Opinion: Bailout Detroit? Pundits say slow down
Democratic leadership is punching the accelerator on a government bailout of the U.S. auto industry, but several pundits are wondering if a brake tap might be in order.

11/14/2008

Sebastian Mallaby: Supersize the IMF
The tricky challenge for tomorrow's financial summit in Washington is to make the global picture more secure. To understand how that would work, it helps to think about finance as you might think about car insurance.

Willis Johnson: Mitch and Linda Hart are my Texans of the Year
The criteria for The Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year were more of a challenge than I realized. I know many people who are deserving. The best choice after my ruminations is a husband-and-wife team, Mitch and Linda Hart of Hart Group Inc.

09/02/2008

Clint David: The problem with lawyers
The legal profession has long suffered from a significant image problem. When a profession's compensation model is based upon "the more time you spend, the more you make" or "the bigger the prize at the end, the more you make," then you have set yourself up for these problems.

09/01/2008

George Will: The Schwarzenegger model
If John McCain becomes president, he will be confronted by a Congress with significantly larger Democratic majorities than today's – majorities furious about high hopes dashed by an eighth Republican victory in 11 presidential elections. For that reason, it is pertinent to survey Arnold Schwarzenegger's governorship of one-eighth of America's population.