11.10.2007
November Football When It's 80 Degrees
As I wait for Oklahoma to hang half a hundred on Baylor tonight, I'll check in on The Pirates vs. The Evil Empire.
The Dark Angel Returns
Just saw that Decatur will face Abilene Wylie in the first round of the State Playoffs. Recent history:
2006: Lost 36-35 (Playoffs)
2005: Lost 43-33 (Regular Season)
2004: Lost 14-13 (Playoffs)
11.09.2007
Welcome To Beverly Hills Southwest
Channel 8 News ran a story about the Barnett Shale's impact on Bridgeport - describing it as a "modern day boomtown" with virtually "no unemployment." Also, there are now "many million dollar houses."
Video here. (Although I difficulty getting it to play smoothly.)
Edit: I forgot to thank the emailer for pointing this out to me. I had missed it.
Yep, That's Big
May I Dance With Your Date
I really haven't cared much about the Dog The Bounty Hunter story where he was recorded using the "n word" in a conversation with his son. (A recording made by his son and later sold which makes the son a sorry individual.)
Dog was on Larry King Live the other night asking for forgiveness. Here he is leaving the studio.
I. Can't. Stop. Staring.
More Coverage . . .
11.08.2007
Scalpers
Fox 4 had a story tonight on the high cost of Hannah Montana tickets (which I wrote about weeks ago.) With advice on how to find tickets from a scalper, an "expert" was interviewed who said, "If you will wait until the last minute, scalping prices will drop."
I hear that crap all the time. And I can't tell you how untrue it is.
Back in the "old days", a buddy and I/me (?) went out to Texas Stadium on a Monday Night to buy tickets from a scalper for a Cowboys/Giants game. We saw a few sellers but only one guy was willing to stick around with an asking price of $80 a ticket (a fortune back then - circa 1988. We weren't gonna pay it.) So we had this theory: Wait until the game starts and he will unload them. So...the first quarter starts. He won't budge. The first quarter ends. He won't budge. The second quarter starts. He tries one more time to sell them for $80 and there are no takers. He then walks off to his car, eating the tickets.
I saw the same thing happen at Reunion Arena for an old Southwest Conference Basketball tournament.
I don't understand it, but the prices don't drop.
Christmas Violation
Hydrocodone In Crisis
This truck has had traffic shut down on 635 all morning long, and they were taking forever to upright the thing. I finally learned why via the radio: The truck is full of pharmaceuticals (i.e. legal dope) and everyone being extra careful.
As a sidenote, I can't imagine commuting within the metroplex. Every morning it seems 35, 30 or 635 is blocked for miles.
11.07.2007
Pakistan
Let's turn down the lights for a moment.
About three weeks ago, my subscribed issue of Newsweek arrived with the cover story being about Pakistan. That country doesn't cross my mind on a regular basis. But the weekly magazine proclaimed Pakistan the most dangerous country in the world over Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan with the following freaky foreshadowing:
Over the weekend, all hell broke out in Pakistan. Hold your breath. They have The Bomb.Today no other country on earth is arguably more dangerous than Pakistan. It has everything Osama bin Laden could ask for: political instability, a trusted network of radical Islamists, an abundance of angry young anti-Western recruits, secluded training areas, access to state-of-the-art electronic technology, regular air service to the West and security services that don't always do what they're supposed to do. (Unlike in Iraq or Afghanistan, there also aren't thousands of American troops hunting down would-be terrorists.) Then there's the country's large and growing nuclear program. "If you were to look around the world for where Al Qaeda is going to find its bomb, it's right in their backyard," says Bruce Riedel, the former senior director for South Asia on the National Security Council.
The conventional story about Pakistan has been that it is an unstable nuclear power, with distant tribal areas in terrorist hands. What is new, and more frightening, is the extent to which Taliban and Qaeda elements have now turned much of the country, including some cities, into a base that gives jihadists more room to maneuver, both in Pakistan and beyond.
"Get In My Belly!"
Stunt Plane
I'm Torn
A Senator bears down on Kenneth Copeland ministries wanting the organization to pretty much open the books to him.
Sheesh. I hate Robert Tiltons of the world, but I also think government should butt out of any religious organizations inner workings.
(Image of Copeland's place in southern Wise County.)
11.06.2007
My Faithful Reader Photographer . . .
Video Fun Time
One Year From The Presidential Elections
One year before the 2000 Election, it was dead on (but, sheesh, how in love was everyone with W):
But one year before the 2004 election, it wasn't so clear (obviously, their was no dispute about the Republican nomination - although their should have been.)
Advertising and News
People in the metroplex media have pointed out this web page all day. The mixture of advertising and news is sooooo coincidental.
Wise County Clouds Predicting Weather
Deposition Humor
A faithful reading Wise County attorney just tipped me off to this. Sometimes I think the practice of civil law is crazier than criminal law.
Meet Josh McNeil: Man Among Boys
Story. Now I can't be condoning such behavior, but it's definitely blogworthy. Heck, it's almost worth creating a Liberaly Lean Hall Of Fame. But how does this guy answer the question, "Did you have a good weekend?", "Did you have fun this weekend?", or "Did you have a crazy weekend?"
No Justice. No Justice Of The Peace
Dateline: Abilene. Let's see, if a guy is riding in the back seat of a vehicle and accidentally fires a hunting rifle through the front seat killing the driver and causing a head on collision that injures five people, do you think an autopsy might be in order?
Not according to an Abilene Justice of the Peace who said there "wasn't enough evidence" to warrant one.
Huh?
It's Election Day
I Call It "Dawg Under Wise County Trees"
Not the most exciting reader submitted pic, but not bad for a Tuesday. I was jogging outside when the cold front hit last night and it was great. Love this time of year. (Except it'll get back up to 80 this weekend.)
I remember as a kid going to high school football games late in the year and it was always freezing.
11.05.2007
It (Was) Your Money
Channel 5 had a story tonight on the Texas State Troopers Association which solicits funds from the public - normally by telephone.
Of the $3.7 million donated annually, less than $100,000 goes to the troopers. Shockingly, $3 million of that goes to "fundraising." That is, the telemarketers themselves.
Oddly, some guy name Tom Vinger of DPS said, "DPS does not endorse these associations. They operate separately . . . ."
What a scam.