This Der Spiegel article notes the signs.
This NY Times book review tells us about The Godfather Returns, the latest book in the Godfather series that the late Mario Puzo began in the 1960’s.
Before Mr. Puzo died in 1999, he signed off on the hiring of someone to continue the Godfather saga. So, in 2002, Random House ran a contest to pick the successor to Mr. Puzo, and the winner was Mark Winegardner, who is chairman of the creative writing program at Florida State University.
The review basically says that the book is decent, but lacks the originality of the original book and the first two Godfather films. Stated another way, the book is not as good a story as the first Godfather novel, or the Godfather and Godfather II films, but is better than Francis Ford Coppolla’s abomination, Godfather III. Thank goodness for that.
The Supreme Court declined on Monday to consider whether retailer Kmart Corp. should have been allowed to pay more than $300 million to about 2,500 “key vendors” immediately after filing its chapter 11 case in January, 2002.
The Kmart case stemmed from Kmart’s decision immediately after the filing of its chapter 11 case to request that the Bankruptcy Court approve emergency payments to its key vendors (including over 1,000 newspapers) on the grounds that such payments were essential to preserving Kmart’s going concern value for the ultimate benefit of all of its creditors.
Absent such payments, key vendors of bankrupt companies often refuse to do business and provide trade credit with a debtor even though their post-bankruptcy claims receive a higher priority of payment than pre-petition unsecured claims. Bankruptcy Courts often authorize such payments to key vendors, and the Bankruptcy Court in Kmart’s case elected to do so.
However, the District Court and the the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the Bankruptcy Court’s key vendor ruling and held that Kmart had failed to establish that business from its designated key vendors was any more necessary to the survival of Kmart than business from certain companies that were excluded from key vendor status.
The effect of the Supreme Court’s refusal to review the 7th Circuit’s decision is that the lower courts remain split on the issue of key vendor payments. Some courts deny such payments on the grounds that the Bankruptcy Code contemplates that any such payments to the debtor’s creditors should only be made under a confirmed plan of reorganization. However, the better view is that, under appropriate circumstances, a debtor should be allowed to pay key vendors at the outset of a case to hedge the risk that the debtor would otherwise meltdown into liquidation to the detriment of creditors before a reorganization plan can even be proposed.
Kmart’s “key vendor” motion was unusally aggressive and neither the 7th Circuit’s decision nor the Supreme Court’s refusal to review that decision prevents a Bankruptcy Court from approving key vendor payments under appropriate circumstances. But it is clear that from these rulings that debtors will be required to tailor such key vendor programs more carefully than Kmart did.
This earlier post referenced Kansas Coach Mark Mangino’s comments after Saturday’s controversial ending to the Texas-Kansas game in which Coach Mangino alleged that the officials were favoring UT to preserve the Horns’ stature for a lucrative Bowl Championship Series Bowl game.
Well, it turns out that Lawrence, Kansas was not the only place where passions were bubbling out of control in Big 12 country this past Saturday. This article from Husker.com indicates that Darren DeLeone, a 6’4″, 315 lbs. offensive tackle hauled off and whacked a member of of the Oklahoma spirit before Saturday’s Nebraska-OU game in Norman:
During pregame warmups, an incident allegedly occurred involving Nebraska offensive lineman Darren DeLone and a member of the Ruf/Neks, an Oklahoma sideline spirit group.
According to Sunday’s editions of The Oklahoman, Adam Merritt, a Ruf/Nek, was transported from Owen Field on a medical cart and taken to Norman (Okla.) Regional Hospital after having several teeth knocked out and suffering facial lacerations in what witnesses described as an assault by the 6-foot-4, 315-pound DeLone.
Merritt was treated and released before the game ended.
DeLone was not arrested and was allowed to leave the stadium with the team, according to The Oklahoman.
The Nebraska athletic department Sunday released a prepared statement saying it was “aware of a collision that occurred on the field of play during the official pregame warmup period.”
The one-paragraph statement ? which doesn’t identify DeLone or any other Husker player ? said several members of the Nebraska football team, including two coaches, “witnessed the collision and immediately summoned a member of Nebraska’s medical staff to assist. Players and coaches spoke with officials immediately following the game.”
The Nebraska athletic department and football team “are sorry the accident happened and wish the young man a quick and full recovery,” the statement said.
However, there might just be more to the story than the Nebraska officials are letting on:
According to The Oklahoman, witnesses in the Sooner student section at Owen Field and on the sideline said DeLone head-butted Merritt in the face with his helmet and shoved him into the 3-foot brick wall.
Well, I guess that could be construed as a “collision.”
But that was only the “before game” incident. After the game, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan came unhinged as he was leaving the field and began yelling obscenities at several boistrous OU fans. The AP wire story on the incident relates the following:
While acknowledging he used a poor choice of words in a profane outburst directed at Oklahoma fans Saturday, Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said he was upset because a group of hecklers were allowed so close to his players during warmups and oranges were thrown onto the field late in the game.
As he walked toward the Nebraska locker room after a 30-3 loss, Callahan looked into the stands and called OU fans “[expletive] hillbillies.”
“I’m an emotional guy, and I’m a competitive coach, and on the field I stick up for my players,” Callahan said Monday on the Big 12 coaches teleconference. “I don’t think any team should be subjected to the type of treatment we were subjected to in that particular contest.”
Callahan also said he could not comment on what Nebraska called a
“collision” between a player and an Oklahoma student fan incident because the coach did not see it.
Welcome to the Big 12, Coach Callahan.
One of the stories from the just completed Presidential campaign that historians will debate for many years is the effect that the Swift Boat Veterans had on the just completed Presidential campaign. Here are earlier posts on the Swift Boat Veterans.
This John Fund article on OpinonJournal.com is a useful review of the story of these Vietnam veterans groups that raised doubts during the campaign about John Kerry’s fitness to serve as commander in chief. The setting for the story is the Restoration Weekend, an annual gathering of political activists that David Horowitz organizes. Mr. Horowitz is a former left-wing radical who opposed the Vietnam War effort as an editor of Ramparts magazine, but who is now conservative writer and political activist.
The article does a good job of summarizing the Swift Boat Veterans’ activities during the campaign, and includes the following insightful observation:
As the evening proceeded and one Vietnam veteran after another shared the story of how veterans felt compelled to attack Mr. Kerry for his 1971 testimony branding fellow veterans as war criminals, former CBS News correspondent Bernard Goldberg leaned back in his chair in amazement.
“I think some of them are too intense,” he told me. “But screwing with these guys by accusing them of atrocities was one of the biggest mistakes John Kerry ever made. Thirty years later he woke a sleeping giant.”
After years of remaining neutral on the Wright Amendment — that law that restricts flights from Dallas’s Love Field Airport — Southwest Airlines is now calling the rule “anticompetitive” and “outdated”.
It’s about time.
The Wright Amendment was enacted in 1979 to facilitate the success of the then new Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which was built in a rural area in the northern part of the Metroplex between Dallas and Ft. Worth. Dallas’ other airport — Love Field — enjoys a near-downtown location. In order to funnel air traffic to DFW, the Wright Amendment banned interstate service from Love Field on jets with more than 56 seats to all but seven states near Texas.
When DFW was built, Southwest did not want to move to DFW and has never had any service at the bigger airport. DFW is the dominant hub of AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, which has enjoyed the respite from competitive pressures that the Wright Amendment provides. That anti-competitive effect has been part of the reason why American has been slow to adapt to the rapidly changing airline industry, in which discount carriers such as Southwest have brought an era of lower fares and additional seats. The “legacy airlines” such as American, Delta, and United are reeling as a result.
The Wright Amendment — which was questionable policy at best at the time it was enacted — is clearly obsolescent. The area around DFW is no longer rural and the airport is now literally in the center of the northern part of the Metroplex. Moreover, Southwest is now a national airline, and it is inhibited from servicing that national network of flights from its hub at Love Field.
At DFW, Delta Air Lines recently announced that it is abandoning its unprofitable hub, which is cutting 250-plus daily flights to about 45. Although that move will increase American’s dominance at DFW in the short run, industry observers expect some of the discount carriers to make a play for some or all of Delta’s old gates at DFW.
Nevertheless, Southwest contends that it is going to remain at Love Field despite the galling Wright Amendment restriction on long haul flights from that airport. But Southwest is using Delta’s exit as proof that DFW does not need the Wright Amendment’s protection anymore. Southwest notes that many cities — including New York, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles — enjoy the benefits of two airports without any need of the “protections” afforded to DFW by the Wright Amendment.
As you would expect, American Airlines disagrees. In a statement issued Friday, American stated that the Wright Amendment is just as relevant today as it was when it first passed and helps preserve DFW’s position as the principle aviation gateway for North Texas.
Folks, that type of thinking is a big part of the reason why American Airlines is in the poor financial shape that it currently finds itself, particulary in comparison to that of Southwest. It will be interesting to watch the politicians line up in regard to this particular issue. The issue will be a good barometer for determining whether a particular politician is attempting to protect the public’s best interests or simply interested in keeping the money flowing into a campaign chest from legacy airlines such as American. Stay tuned.
Colts 49 Texans 14. In a game that was not as close as the score indicates ;^), the Texans reinforced the fact that last week’s debacle at Denver was no aberration. Peyton Manning toyed with the Texans secondary as he threw five TD passes in the first three quarters. He would have had a couple more had the Colts not called off the dogs. On the other hand, David Carr continued his up and down season with a horrid performance (22-41/215 yd./3 picks) behind an offensive line that looked like a sieve against one of the weakest defenses in the NFL. Carr spiced his poor performance by giving up a fumble and an interception that were returned for TD’s. Meanwhile, the Texans’ defense would have had a hard time stopping a hard charging marching band as Manning sliced and diced them for 320 yards on just 18 completions. Things do not get any easier for the 4-5 Texans as the red-hot Packers come to town next week for the ESPN Sunday night game at Reliant Stadium. That could be very ugly.
Eagles 49 Cowboys 21. In another game not as close as the final score indicates, the Eagles overwhelmed the hapless Cowboys at Texas Stadium, again increasing the chances that the Big Tuna will explode at any time. The Eagles’ 35 first-half points were more than they had scored in any game this season as Eagles’ QB Donovan McNabb was 15-of-28 for 345 yards with four TD passes and no interceptions. It was the Cowboys’ fifth loss in six games, and they have lost the last three by 21, 23 and 28 points. The Pokes now get the pleasure of going to Baltimore next Sunday to have Ray Lewis and the Ravens defense hand their hat to them.
Texas Longhorns 27 Kansas 23. For the second straight week, the Horns flirted with a disastrous upset loss, but pulled it out with a last minute TD drive spiced by QB Vince Young‘s incredible 22 yard run for a first down on 4th and 18. The game was spiced with controversy as the Horns benefitted from an offensive pass interference call that forced the final Kansas punt and allowed the Horns one more chance at pulling it out. Based on the following post-game comments, Kansas Coach Mangino did not think much of the offensive pass interference call:
“You know what this is all about, don’t you? The BCS. That’s right. That’s what made the difference today in the game. That’s what made the difference on the call in front of their bench ? dollar signs.”
After conferring with the Kansas Athletic Director and his investment banker over the probable amount of the fine from the Big 12 Conference stemming from those comments, Coach Mangino issued the following “public statement” later on Saturday afternoon:
“After an emotional loss, in our seniors’ last home game, I made remarks that I regret. Any implications that BCS standings played a role in Saturday afternoon’s game was inappropriate. I have always supported the BCS system and will continue to do so.”
At any rate, the 9-1 Horns are now off until their annual rivalry game with the Aggies on the day after Thanksgiving. I do not expect the Horns to play as soft against the Ags as they did in parts of their last two games. If they do, then the Aggies have enough firepower this year to beat the Horns.
Texas Aggies 32 Texas Tech 25 OT. In a hugely entertaining game, the Aggies played their third overtime game in their last four in finally beating the Red Raiders, who have tormented the Ags in recent seasons. Everybody was betting the over before this game (it was 66), but these two high-powered offenses combined for 13 points in the first half, and only 19 through three quarters, so the under bet looked golden. Then, almost as if each team turned on a switch, both offenses started scoring almost at will in the fourth quarter and, as the overtime commenced, the over bet looked within reach. Alas, Tech’s offense sputtered in overtime, handing the Ags the win before a delirious crowd of over 82,000 in College Station. The 7-3 Aggies (5-2 in the Big 12) are now off until their annual showdown with the Horns in Austin on the day after Thanksgiving. The Aggies have lost four straight games to the Longhorns and seven of the last nine, but this one is shaping up to be a serious battle. I give the Horns the edge because of their superior defense and running game, but the Ags will likely make a game of it.
UAB 20 Houston 7. You can stick a fork in the Coogs. Even though they must endure one more beating at the hands of high-powered Louisville at Robertson Stadium next Saturday, the Coogs have packed it in. The probable 3-8 mark in Coach Art Briles‘ second season is highly disappointing, and will be the subject of much soul searching over at UH.
UTEP 35 Rice 28 OT. The Owls almost pulled off the upset of their season against the Mike Price-rejuvenated Miners, but a fumble near the goal line in the second OT doomed the Owls’ hopes. The game was played in a cold drizzle and the finish was a madhouse. After UTEP grabbed a 35-28 lead on the first play of the second overtime, the Owls appeared to have tied the game again when the Owls’ Ed Bailey was tackled at the goal line by his facemask. However, the official closet to the play ruled Bailey was down inches from the end zone even though Bailey clearly hit the pylon following the infraction on the UTEP defender. On first and goal, the Owls handed the ball to Bailey again and he appeared to cross the goal line, but he fumbled on the play and UTEP recovered. The refs ruled it a fumble and that was the game. The 3-7 Owls now have a week off before finishing their season on the Saturday after Thanksgiving at Rice Stadium against Louisiana Tech.
And Kevin Whited has his weekly Big 12 wrap-up over at PubliusTx.net
If you are looking for a fun evening in the next week or so, I highly recommend checking out the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Hairspray, the latest event in Houston’s Broadway Series at the Hobby Center. Even the Chronicle’s notoriously tough theatre critic Everett Evans gave the performance a hearty thumbs up.
My wife, daughters and I attended Friday night’s show, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Although the entire cast and production is magnificent, Keala Settle‘s peformance in the lead role is absolutely incredible — she sings and dances with a dynamic combination of clarity, agility, and spunk that is truly infectious. Don’t miss it.
When I moved to Houston over 33 years ago as a young college student, 101.1 KLOL-FM was the rock station to listen to “heavy” rock music as opposed to the “bubblegum” rock music that my little sisters enjoyed. KLOL was the rebel station — it played Jimi Hendrix while other rock stations were playing the Bee Gees. Cameron Crowe captured this rebel nature of rock and roll wonderfully in his 2000 film, Almost Famous.
My first exposure to an obscure rocker from New Jersey named Bruce Springsteen came from KLOL. Back in the early 1970’s, KLOL played some bootleg tapes of Springsteen performing his song “The Fever” at the old downtown bar, Liberty Hall, which was located on Chevenert near where Minute Maid Park stands now.
Over the years, as Baby Boom rockers aged, KLOL became more mainstream, but still retained its heavy metal and “reasonable rebel” format. Thus, as my sons reached their rebellious teenage years, they would switch the car radio to KLOL whenever they wanted to make the point that they were now listening to heavy rock music rather than say, Huey Lewis and the News. It’s fair to say that longtime Houston residents who listen to rock music considered KLOL a local institution.
Well, that all changed yesterday, as this Chronicle article reports:
In a clear signal of the growing media clout of Houston-area Hispanics, radio behemoth Clear Channel Communications has yanked legendary rock station KLOL-FM (101.1) off the air and replaced it with a format that radio insiders call “Spanglish Top 40.”
The switch took place Friday morning when the new station ? now called Mega 101 FM (with the tag line “Latino and Proud”) ? began playing 10,101 songs in a row.
The new format is a mixture of Spanish hip-hop, reggaeton and pop/dance music aimed at listeners between 18 and 34 years old. Music in Spanish by artists ranging from the rapper Pitbull to pop star Shakira will be accompanied by DJs using a combination of English and Spanish.
Shakira rather than Johnny Winter? Longtime KLOL listeners are not taking the change well:
The move caught longtime KLOL listeners by surprise.
“There was no warning at all,” said Chris Beck, a 32-year-old cook.
“I’m 35 and it’s been on the air as long as I can remember,” said a real estate salesman who did not want to be identified. “It’s quite a shocker.”
He called Clear Channel headquarters in San Antonio to complain and is encouraging his friends to do the same.
When I informed my 16 year old son of the change this morning, his response probably reflects that of thousands of other KLOL listeners from around the Houston area:
“Spanglish? — I don’t think that means we’ll be hearing Led Zeppelin in Spanish on KLOL.”
Houston’s younger bloggers are already all over this format change. Charles Kuffner reacts here, and Kevin Whited’s response is here.
As one of KLOL’s most played singers would say — “These times are a’changin.”
This prior post reviewed one of the books by the CIA counterterrorism agent who authored two books under the alias “Anonymous” that were highly critical of the Bush Administration’s approach to battling the radical Islamic fascists.
Now, Michael Scheuer, who turns out to be Anonymous, has decided to resign from the CIA and violate the trench-coat oath by going public with his criticism of the government?s war against the radical Islamic fascists. His views are interesting, but made less credible by his decision to cash in on them at the expense of the trench-coat oath.