Retired Army Officer tells DallasBlog readers what Christmas means to him.

Click to read more ...

Larry Page and Sergey BrinThe Financial Times today named the two 32 year old founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, its Man of the Year for 2005.

The two Stanford postgrad technologists founded the search engine business known as Google in the 1990s. Today, Google dominates the search engine world on the internet. According to the Financial Times, it is ahead of Yahoo in the U.S., and "more than three out of four searches carried out elsewhere are conducted on Google." As Sergey Brin notes, "The most esteemed researcher at Stanford 10 years ago didn’t have the kind of access to information that somebody who is close to an internet café in Bangladesh has today."

Google’s online advertising business threatens the profitability of the mainstream media as more and more advertisers shift a substantial portion of their ad budgets from newspapers and print publications to internet sites. Google’s ad revenues doubled this past year. Its current stock value nearly matches IBM’s. In the technology industry, it ranks third behind Microsoft and Intel.

Not bad for two 32 year old engineers.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the runaway box office winner of this Christmas season. It has taken in nearly $128 million at the movie theaters while King Kong is in second place with approximately $82 million in revenues. Brokeback Mountain, the movie highly touted by the Dallas Morning News, had an estimated $4.5 million in revenues during the same time period.

Of the pre-Christmas movies still showing, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire has taken in $255 million. Walk the Line has sold $84 million in movie tickets while Syriana is in teh $25 million range. Good Night and Good Luck has generated $22.5 million in revenues. DallasBlog movie reviewer Larry Hart has reviewed Walk the Line; Syriana; and Good Night and Good Luck for our readers. His reviews are posted in the section titled Larry Hart’s Movie Reviews

If the horse dies, dismount. Don't continue to pour money and effort into a lost cause. Recognize pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Get over it ... get up, dust yourself off and move on! Life is a continuing, exciting journey. Enjoy it!

Lt. Gov. David DewhurstLt. Gov. David Dewhurst appointed his Select Committee on Public School Finance and Education reform today. It consists entirely of senators. Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) will chair the committee. The other members of the committee are Sens. Kip Averitt (R-McGregor), Kim Brimer (R-Fort Worth), Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock), Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen), Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville), Steve Ogden (R-Bryan), Royce West (D-Dallas), and Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands). While many Senate Education Committee members serve on the select committee, the two committees do not have the same membership.

"I encourage the committee to continue work on a public school finance plan that puts additional resources into public school classrooms, tied to greater accountability and performance, cuts property taxes and closes business tax loopholes,” Dewhurst said.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) filed civil lawsuits today against five former employees indicted by the Texas Attorney General last January on various felony charges. ERCOT said the measure was taken to recoup funds lost as a result of criminal activity.

“This is a step to ensure that all options are preserved and all efforts are being made to assure repayment for the fraud,” said Carolyn Shellman, ERCOT’s vice president and general counsel. “The Attorney General and the Department of Public Safety are continuing to pursue restitution for ERCOT through the criminal courts, and we are also working with our insurance companies to ensure we recover as much of the balance as possible.” Shellman noted that filing the lawsuits is a procedural step, and that any actual litigation is likely to be delayed until the criminal cases against the five defendants have been settled. The suits are being filed in Travis County District Court.

Federal Judge Sid Fitzwater has just awarded over $650,000 in attorney fees and costs against a former school Superintendent and the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB).

The case, one of the first of its kind in the country, originated when Mrs. Barrow was denied a promotion within the District unless she removed her children from a private Christian School.

A federal jury in the civil rights trial, Karen Jo Barrow v. Greenville ISD, found a constitution violation and ordered the former superintendent D. Herman Smith to pay back wages and punitive damages in March of this year.

The jury of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas found the defendant, former Superintendent Smith, guilty of violating Mrs. Barrow’s parental rights and awarded her more than $15,000 in lost wages. In addition, the jury also awarded $20,000 in punitive damages.

Mrs. Barrow stated that she will use the awarded money to fund college scholarships for Greenville ISD and Greenville Christian School graduates who pursue education degrees.

The case originated when Mrs. Barrow was denied the opportunity to interview for a vice principal position within the Greenville ISD because she refused to remove her children from a private, Christian school.

Dr. Smith, the former Superintendent of Greenville ISD, now works for the state of Texas. More than 700 school districts in Texas are insured under a self-insurance plan run by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB).

Kelly ShackelfordCharles Bundren was the lead attorney for Mrs. Barrow in the lawsuit while Tom Brandt and Dennis Eichelbaum represented TASB and the former Greenville Superintendent. The Liberty Legal Institute, which represented Mrs. Barrow, is headed up by Kelly Shackelford. Shackelford and TASB’s lawyers are squared off against one another in another contentious lawsuit involving religious liberty issues in a case styled Morgan v. Plano ISD.

"This should send a strong message to every school district in the State and nationwide" said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for Liberty Legal Institute, who represented Mrs. Barrow. "American children are not children of the state. This type of discrimination against teachers and administrators will not be tolerated and it will cost them dearly."