TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalUpdate: Yum Brands will change Dallas Banh Shop’s red star logo after complaints
Yum Brands will immediately change the logo of Dallas’ Banh Shop, according to an email from Yum Brands senior vice president Jonathan Blum. In the email, sent to petitioner Thanh Cung, Blum offers an apology to the Vietnamese community for the logo, which Cung and others found too reminiscent to the star symbolizing communism.
“Effective immediately, we are changing the logo and removing the red star from all materials and signage at the restaurant,” Blum wrote. “That will happen by end of day today.”
Read more: http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2014/09/yum-officials-to-address-concerns-about-banh-shop-logo.html/
Related thread:
Taco Bell Corporate Owner's New Banh Shop Near SMU Has Commie Logo. You Expected Tasteful?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107820832
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Staples to resign
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said Thursday he will quit his statewide-elected office early to become president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, one of the state's most powerful trade groups.
Staples has been the state's chief agriculture officer since 2007, but earlier this year lost a bid for lieutenant governor in the Republican primary. He also previously served in the state House and Senate.
Staples said in a statement that he'll step down sometime within the next two months, but didn't give an exact date. Until a new agriculture commissioner is selected in the November general election and sworn into office in January, Deputy Commissioner Drew DeBarry will be in charge of running the agency.
"I will continue to fight for Texas to be the leader in our national and world economy," Staples said in a statement. "As I embark on this new challenge, I do so equipped with the knowledge and leadership lessons learned through my current and previous public service and private sector roles.
Read more: http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/texas/texas-agriculture-commissioner-staples-to-resign/nhPzF/
Taco Bell Corporate Owner's New Banh Shop Near SMU Has Commie Logo. You Expected Tasteful?
Dallas -- Banh Shop's theme is apparently as red as the tomato slabs on their overpriced sandwiches. The fast food joint, owned by the Taco Bell parent company Yum! Brands, opened three days ago as a pilot restaurant near SMU. But visitors may have noticed more than awkward guacamole and sour cream on their sandwiches. Looking around, the place is rife with underhanded Vietnam War references.
First, visitors are greeted by the shop's red, five-pointed star logo, the symbol for communism. Their motto is "Saigon Street Food" -- which sounds catchier than Ho Chi Minh City Street Food, but gives the creeping impression that the red star, looming overbearingly above the motto, might soon encroach on former Saigon. And there's the overpoweringly red and black website, which lists sandwich choices such as "Grilled Steak," "Grilled Tofu," "Grilled Chicken Breast," "Grilled Pork Meatball," and then, oddly, "The American."
And visitors so far are not happy. The shop's Facebook page has exploded with furious commenters, many of them Vietnamese-American. On the plus side, the Dallas store is just the pilot run. Although the second Banh Shop is slated to open at DFW later this month, the company still has time to turn around the negative image.
Read more: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/09/taco_bell_bahn.php
Will Wendy Davis appear at gay Pride?
Despite her strong support for the LGBT community, Democrat Wendy Davis has yet to attend a gay Pride celebration this year.
Davis will get two more chances this coming weekend, when both Austin and Dallas celebrate LGBT Pride.
As of Monday morning, Davis’ campaign wasn’t saying whether she’ll attend one or both of the events. The president of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, Jay Narey, reportedly has invited Davis to march with his group in Sunday’s parade. Four years ago, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White marched with Stonewall Democrats in the Dallas Pride parade.
Stonewall Democrats of Dallas has announced that Leticia Van de Putte, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, plans to march with the group this year. Van de Putte has also attended Pride celebrations in Houston and San Antonio in 2014.
Read more: http://www.lonestarq.com/will-wendy-davis-attend-gay-pride/ (link is SFW)
Black, trans leaders criticize lack of diversity among Dallas Pride grand marshals
Of the 75 grand marshals in the 31-year history of the Dallas Pride parade, none has been African-American, Asian or transgender.
This tally includes all of the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade’s honorary and special grand marshals. Only five grand marshals have been Hispanic, and it’s unclear whether any have been bisexual.
The lack of African-American grand marshals seems especially exclusionary considering that blacks make up 25 percent of Dallas’s population, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Michael Doughman, executive director of the Dallas Tavern Guild — the group of LGBT bars and nightclubs that produces Dallas Pride — said the lack of racial diversity among grand marshals stems in part from the fact that until three years ago, members chose grand marshals without public input. Guild members typically chose people who they thought had best served their community, he said.
Read more: http://www.lonestarq.com/black-trans-leaders-criticize-lack-diversity-among-dallas-pride-grand-marshals/
Contempt case renewed against Perry prosecutor
SAN ANTONIO — Nearly seven months after the 4th Court of Appeals ruled prosecutors had missed the deadline to file a contempt claim against local defense attorney Michael McCrum, the decision was reversed Wednesday by Texas' highest court for criminal matters.
The Court of Criminal Appeals opinion again opens the possibility that McCrum — currently serving as special prosecutor in the case against Gov. Rick Perry, who is also accused of professional misconduct — could spend up to six months in jail if found in contempt of court.
McCrum has denied any wrongdoing.
The Bexar County district attorney's office filed the contempt motion against McCrum in January, several months after a trial in which his client, Taylor Rae Rosenbusch, was convicted of intoxication manslaughter. Prosecutors alleged McCrum had instructed Melanie Little, a punishment-phase witness who had served as Rosenbusch's addiction counselor, to “get lost for awhile,” turn off her cellphone and take a long lunch to avoid coming back to testify.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/local/article/Contempt-case-renewed-against-Perry-prosecutor-5762030.php#photo-6779826
Gov. Perry defends sending Nat'l Guard to border to President of Mexico
AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry took issue with the characterization from Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that sending up to 1,000 Texas National Guard troops south to help with law enforcement is not only "unpleasant" but "reprehensible."
The pro-business president derided Perry's National Guard dispatch in an interview with the daily El Universal newspaper last week, praising instead Mexico's relationship with the state of California. So Wednesday Perry shot back in a letter to the president that said Mexico held part of the blame for its "failure" to secure its border, and he invited Peña Nieto to come to Texas to see the National Guard and law enforcement's "professionalism."
"I believe strongly that our continued prosperity depends on a partnership that works collaboratively to address our shared border security challenges, rather than marginalizing the legitimate views of one side," Perry wrote. " Our partnership cannot advance if we fail to acknowledge the serious issues associated with lax border enforcement along both of our southern borders."
The National Guard move came amid tens of thousands of unaccompanied children coming up from a violent Central America, and Perry said that while U.S. Border Patrol was overwhelmed, he wanted the National Guard to help the Texas Department of Public Safety with law enforcement, such as by being a presence and lookout.
Read more: http://www.caller.com/columnists/matthew-waller/gov-perry-defends-sending-natl-guard-to-border_61864055
State indebtedness doubles under Perry's watching eyes
AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry told the transportation officials at an Austin conference to enjoy the festivities of Texas’ capital city when they come around, like the concert and movie festival South by Southwest.
But there is a chance they’ll run into traffic, he said.
“You’ve come to what I would suggest is the mecca of innovation on transportation infrastructure,” Perry told those from out of state. “This place has become — Austin in particular, well you can say it about a number of the cities, whether it’s Houston, or Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth area, San Antonio — really cultural meccas of the country and of the world. But with all of that brings transportation challenges. If you’re here for (SXSW), you’ll get a big dose of it. … There is always challenges when you have that type of growth.”
Perry was at the annual meeting and exhibition of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association to tout his transportation success, all in a state that is still searching for ideas to fund roads under the pressure of a booming economy. Now lawmakers may be moving away from the debt accrual that had been part of the outgoing governor’s strategy.
State Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, said after a committee meeting Tuesday that over the past decade[font color=red] Texas’ debt has doubled from about $20 billion to about $40 billion[/font], and half of that is from transportation at about $23 billion, not including toll roads.
Read more: http://www.caller.com/columnists/matthew-waller/gov-perry-talks-texas-roads-funding_71115141
[font color=green]Something to remember if Perry avoids conviction and continues to run for president. It is easy to make the state look prosperous when running up the credit card.[/font]
Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott light up TV spots with vitriolic charges about ethics and money
Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott are accusing each other of ethics problems in campaign ads that underscore the increasingly vitriolic tone of the governor’s race. With just weeks before the November election, Davis has prepared a web ad denouncing Abbott for taking $250,000 from the chairman of a hospital that employed a problem doctor, then siding with the hospital against victims. The Abbott camp is airing a spot that accused Davis of voting as a member of the Fort Worth City Council to give tax breaks to businesses in property deals involving her title company.
The Davis hospital ad is about a neurosurgeon at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano whose patients died or were maimed. It says after he got contributions from hospital board chairman Drayton McLane, Abbott intervened in three federal cases on the hospital’s side. Abbott’s campaign says he’s defending state law as a matter of principle. The ad repeats a Davis’ campaign theme that Abbott used his authority as attorney general to protect powerful insiders at the expense of ordinary Texans. Abbott says in the hospital case, he was just defending state law. McLane says he didn’t know about the case before contributing to Abbott’s governor’s race and has no financial interest in the hospital.
The campaign ad by Abbott allies accuses Davis of using her position as a member of the city council in Fort Worth to personally benefit. The spot features the sound of a siren and kinetic images of newspaper headlines in raising questions about Davis’ business dealings.
Davis appears to have followed Fort Worth’s ethics policy in voting on business incentives for companys doing business with the title company established by her ex-husband. However, the city attorney at the time did caution her to consider avoiding measures where there was any question “to guard against even the appearance of impropriety.”
Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/09/wendy-davis-and-greg-abbott-light-up-tv-spots-with-vitriolic-charges-about-ethics-and-money.html/
[font color=green]If you want to see Abbott's ad then go to the link. I'm not giving it any air time on DU.[/font]
Bryan man sentenced to 14 years in insurance fraud scheme
A U.S. district judge sentenced a Bryan man Monday to 14 years in prison for his role in scheming more than $3 million out of automobile insurance companies.
Earlie Dickerson, 41, was found guilty by a jury in October of engaging in conspiracy to defraud and 30 counts of mail fraud between February 2007 and December 2009.
During the eight-day trial, prosecutors Al Balboni and Adrienne Frazior presented evidence that, during his time as manager at Sanjoh & Associates, Dickerson worked with several others, including a former local chiropractor, Chase Lindsey, to recruit "clients" involved in car accidents to be represented by the Houston-based law firm and receive services for alleged injuries.
Clients would be sent to see Lindsey at one of four Bryan chiropractic clinics used by Dickerson and his co-defendants -- Lindsey, Brittany Jessie, Edward Graham and Marion Young also have been convicted of conspiracy -- as a part of their scheme. All of the clinics were owned by one or more of the co-defendants. As one would shut down, another would open, according to prosecutors.
Read more: http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/bryan-man-sentenced-to-years-in-insurance-fraud-scheme/article_68b3a578-9b4f-5bb4-8e53-63137814e661.html
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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