It’s the Friday 5, that time of the week when we give thanks for the many votes across DFW on Thursday evening, so we have something to write about today.
1. The Boy Scouts of America votes to lift its ban on gay members.
The vote at the Gaylord Resort and Convention Center pretty much mirrored public opinion, which shows two-thirds of Americans are in favor of this move. BSA still doesn’t accept gay adults as Scout leaders, but that will change too.
The U.S. is becoming more, not less, tolerant as generations of confused, angry, fearful people like Rick Perry die off, and it will continue to do so. I asked my daughter, 18, what she thought of the change. She acted as though this was the most unsurprising outcome ever, like I used to react when I was a kid and I found out some organization finally accepted black members.
“I only know one Eagle Scout, and he’s gay, so I’m happy for him,” she said.
2. Change-seeking DISD board votes to actually make changes.
As I told you Wednesday, most of the changes to campus leadership in DISD had already been negotiated, meaning only two high school principals were outright fired by the board. This comes as the Dallas Morning News tells us that 734 educators left DISD between last summer and February, versus only 430 from the same time frame the previous year.
Although some very good teachers are unfortunately leaving the district right now, this number is not surprising. Folks stay on to see how they like the new superintendent, they test out his policies, they find they don’t like them, they move on. That’s how change works.
3. When is a fight not a fight? When it’s at a DISD school and it happens in front of a DISD board member.
Much to enjoy in this great Jim Schutze look behind the scenes at the current DISD battles. That opening scene fight/non-fight scene isn’t the most important takeaway, but it’s the most entertaining.
4. Lawmakers fight over whether they can be trusted at all times with deadly firearms.
I don’t see how allowing lawmakers the right to carry concealed weapons at all times in all places could be a bad idea. For example, lawmakers should be packing in Austin, at 2 am, after a long day of work at the state capitol and then a long night of doing tequila shots and drunkenly chasing young female lobbyists around town and getting turned down for casual sex and ending up alone and angry and full of self-hatred because, you know, how did it ever come to this?
5. Corn chips are supporting their ailing brother, soda pop, because, people love salty snacks.
I think this is awesome.
Retweets
The only people I want carrying guns more than lawmakers: teenagers!
Texas 18-Year-Olds Still Can't Carry Guns, Despite the NRA's Best Efforts bit.ly/16eeiTB
— Dallas_Observer (@Dallas_Observer) May 24, 2013Rick Perry is unhappy that a private organization voted to change its laws to better reflect the world in which it operates. You know, because he's for private businesses being able to operate independently.
