Jack County Chaos: Former Police Officer Running For City Council. Then Indicted.

Story.

Decatur Tattoo

A faithful reader sends in this pic taken at the Decatur Airport last weekend at a fundraiser. He/She seemed to think it was a Crown Royal reference. I'm not so sure.

(Thanks, T.J.)

Libertarian vs. North Texas Cop

I'm still trying to figure out what agency this is. It looks kind of like a DPS Trooper from the uniform (you can see it after the 10:00 mark) and the computer terminal, but that beat up cowboy hat isn't standard trooper wear. The guy in the car is "Pastor Steve Anderson."

Stopped for running 72 in a 70. And then it turns into an inquiry about WMDs. And then it turns into a political discussion instead of a traffic stop.

From May 4. 2010.

Chico High School Locked Down?

Just got an email from someone I trust who says it's true.

Anyone?

Edit: County Canine Unit is there (vehicle in background.)

Edit from the email bag: "Ok just got report from mom on her lunch break. Locked the classrooms down and went room to room patting down kids and making them empty pockets. All administration is there and they are still doing it. Rumor is some kid said another one was selling dope up there so they are trying to catch him with the goods . . . . "

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Some Southlake residents believe they are too good for Twin Peaks restaurant. I'm not.
• I bet if you were watching one of the financial channels when the Dow dropped 1,000 points in 15 minutes yesterday, you would have thought the sky was falling.
• And I'll hand it to Jim Cramer, the nutty analyst, who saw that Procter & Gamble was down 30% and yelled, "That can't be right! Buy it!" It quickly corrected itself and shot back up.
• Fox 4 has a new traffic monitoring screen that has shows the flow of traffic around the metroplex (green, yellow, and red moving dashes.) It looks really accurately -- like the iPhone traffic app that uses GPS readings of cars and comparing it to the norm.
• Looked ahead on my jogging trail yesterday to see a four foot snake. That will stop a man in his tracks. And even though I know better, I took a 20 foot loop around him thinking he'd charge me at any second.
• The annual Arizona State Undie Run for charity was last Tuesday. I wonder where a link for that would be? Oh, here.
• There was some CPS case going on up at the courthouse yesterday where, I was told, CPS was seeking to take a kid away from a mom for the fourth or fifth time. And I mean four or five different kids.
• And there were a lot of unhappy deputies out in the hallway who had been subpoenaed to testify.
• This seems to have flown under the radar: Mark Cuban is going to partner with Girls Gone Wild.
• I saw the story on Fox 4 this morning about 10 times concerning a motorcycle crash on Central Expressway last night. But I was so hypnotized by the fact that the bike went a quarter of a mile on its own after the rider fell off that I don't know if he died. (He was racing. Ninja style.)
• Got a court appointed client's case wrapped up in a really good deal yesterday. She left without saying thank you. Happens all the time.
• The Cowboys are set to trade LB Bobby Carpenter. Good riddance. There was nothing more revealing than watching teammates a couple of years ago call him "Barbie" during the filming of Hard Knocks.

Double Fake Wreck

Enlarged: This was staged over in Bridgeport this morning. Some kind of "Every 15 Minutes" program. I bet that turned a lot of heads for those not knowing what was going on. You just don't see the Angel of Death every day.

(Thanks, Lisa.)

Stock Market Drops 1,000 Points

And then turns right back around.

Current.

That was, by the way, the biggest intraday points plunge ever.

Edit: Wow. Reports are coming in that it was all caused by a trading error when someone meant to sell x "million" of Procter & Gamble and accidentally placed an order to sell x "billion."

National Day Of Prayer Update

• The guy running the show is from "Jack Daniels Ministries".
• When speaking to the crowd, for some reason, he made reference to the federal budget deficit.
• And our "turning our backs" on Israel.
• He correctly pointed out how private citizens are free to hold a Bible and pray on government property.
• I kind of stopped down when he said, "I gone to jail for crack. I'll go to jail for Christ."
• The most prevalent T-shirt was one that read "Jesus God 'Er Done."
• Joe Duty was snapping photos like crazy.
• The cops made them move the bus.

Two Thoughts

Above blurb is from the Update today.

(1). Finally, the government taxing entities are reflecting the loss in property values. Up until now, they believed we were the most recession proof county in the country.

(2). We are about to have a county budget crisis. You lose 10% of your revenues, you've got problems.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Saw a travel ad on Fox 4 promoting Tulsa, Oklahoma this morning. Tulsa? Really?
• You don't hear the term "Chicano" anymore. How come?
• It almost feels like the Far Right wants another terrorist attack so they can blame Obama. (And the Far Right used to say that about the Left during the Bush administration.)
• Just dawned on me that Terrell Owens hasn't signed with an NFL team.
• Silly Cinco de Mayo giggle.
• Newsweek went up for sale yesterday. I'm one of the few people that still subscribe to it, and I can't tell you how much it is deteriorated over the last couple of years.
• The Fort Worth City Council had a vote this week on the banning of new pawn shops. That's insane.
• If you want to see the mugshot of a girl held in contempt for wearing a very offensive T-shirt to court, go over to the Smoking Gun.
• It may be as pretty in Texas as I've ever seen it. The previous rains have made everything dark green and every river and lake is full.
• A marriage proposal that is just a little uncomfortable.
• Bob Woodward is planning a book on President Obama. That should make you boys happy.
• Had a fairly lengthy meeting with our DA yesterday. Even after 10 years, it's still weird sitting on the the opposite side of a desk that I use to occupy.
• "A small group of students walked out of classes at Haltom High School on Wednesday morning, marching for nearly three hours to protest the Arizona immigration law." I question their motives.
• Remember the great obituary I posted last weekend? Bud Kennedy's column in the Star-Telegram revealed yesterday that it cost the family $1,180 to run it. Sheesh.

At 7:30 This Morning . . .

. . . something is going on at the courthouse with respect to, I presume, the National Day of Prayer. But if you are praying for a close parking place, you better pray someone moves that bus.

Maybe News

Lots of cops and emergency equipment on 51 near hospital in Decatur at construction site. Smell of natural gas all around.

Barry (from iPhone)

15 Years?

Any of you folks remember that storm? I think Wise County was spared from the hail but I remember seeing cars around Decatur the next couple of days with holes in their windows the size of softballs. That'll teach 'em to run to the big city.

The Three Stooges

Jim Carrey, Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn

These three were rumored last year to be starring in a new movie about the comedy trio, and this picture started flying around the Interweb today. I have no idea if it is real or photoshopped, but that's the strangest grouping of actors ever.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Would you pay $106 million for this? The older I get, the more I'm convinced that the "art" world is nothing but a scam.
• I stared at a lawyer at a license hearing this week because I was trying to figure out if he had on a toupee. Looked absolutely normal from the front and wheels off from the back. I'm still not sure.
• The more I read about the mortgage crisis (and that's a lot), the more I'm completely convinced that the Community Reinvestment Act had nothing to do with it. It was greed, and greed alone, that caused mortgage lending at ridiculous standards. People weren't forced to lend billions -- that was a voluntary act.
• Saw a prosecutor turned new defense lawyer at the courthouse yesterday who told me he was just "seeing how this works from a new angle." "It's easy," I said. "You go in that office and get beaten down, and then you change floors and go to a different office and get beaten down. That's all there is to it."
• Honda has never had 0% interest or a rebate deal. (I could have sworn I heard that last night.)
• That flooding in Tennessee, which is being overshadowed due to the oil spill, is awful.
• I've said this recently, but I never have pleasant dreams. Three or four times a week I get to wake up and be thankful that it was "only a dream." (And their just weird: Had one this week where my dress shoes were sliced up.)
• Cops raid a home and shoot the family dog with kids present all over a little bit of marijuana. Drives me insane. (Video.)
• I write most of this between 5 and 6 in the morning.
• Techy fun: Every now and then you'll see someone on Twitter try to send a direct message but accidentally send it to the world. Saw one last night that said, "I still love you, baby." Man, I want to know the story behind that.
• Corey Haim died of "natural causes" the corner ruled yesterday. I'm always confused by that -- especially if you are young. You have to die of something? Right?
• The Phoenix Suns will wear jerseys tonight that say "Los Suns" in protest of the new Arizona immigration law. Viva la basketball protest.

Caption This

Star Telegram story.

I Wanted To Hate This

But it's kind of hard to do that.

I think that Glee TV show is infecting the young people of 'merica.

17 Year Old Runs On Baseball Field -- Gets Business End of Taser

This, my friends, is one great photo.

Local news footage above. The unedited raw footage on youtube here.

Hot Chick From DFW Radio

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/sportatorium/2010/05/one_of_the_hottest_women_in_na.php

Barry (from iPhone)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• While you were sleeping: A man suspected of being behind the Times Square bomb was arrested trying to board a plane to Dubai last night.
• And the guy had a home in Bridgeport ..............Connecticut.
• The goofballs on Fox News this morning said, "I hope he wasn't read his Miranda rights."[Edit: That Brian guy in an off the cuff remark]. Sheesh. The guy is a naturalized U.S. citizen, accused of a crime on U.S. soil, and was arrested in the U.S. I thought "obeying the law" (i.e. immigration) was a big deal lately.
• While you were sleeping #2: A security guard fired at two guys in downtown Dallas who had a safe from the Sixth Floor museum loaded on to the back of their truck via a wench. [Edit: Too funny to correct.] They fled. I wonder what's in the safe?
• A picture of Tony Romo and that guy from The Hangover. (This was before the Whitehouse Correspondence dinner last weekend.)
• I liked it yesterday when that small band of thunderstorms moved through. Then you had sun and clear skies in the West and a dark-as-night blanket of clouds in the East.
• You'll see rookies hold out of NFL training camps until a contract is signed, but they never hold out of the summer mini-camps. What happens if Dez Bryant had torn his Achilles last weekend? (Former UT star Limas Sweed fell victim to that very injury on Sunday.)
• Redneck Mother's Day gift out of Springtown (via Craigslist.)
• I had to break into a closed inside locked door (mine) this weekend. I did it with a hack saw blade -- without the saw.
• We know the Super Bowl is coming to Arlington in 2011 but they are now seeking to bring it back in 2016. I'll bet they get it.
• ESPN's 30 for 30 (its mini-documentaries) featured former Longhorn Ricky Williams last week. It was awful.
• I've lost about 11 pounds on Nutrisystem (and a heck of a lot of running.) That's about a pound a week.
• Jessica Biel in some "Hey, now" boots.
• Speaking of Texas, they've got a Big 12 conference win streak in baseball going on -- I think it's at 20. They beat Baylor twice over the weekend. Both times in extra innings. Ugh.
• There were only 8,874 at the Rangers game in Oakland last night.

Caught On Nanny Cam: Cat Attacks Babysitter

Cats are crazy. Since when have they care about anything?

That Oil Rig Thing

Some amazing pics, as always, at the Boston Globe.

Oh, and the crazy conspiracy theory: a North Korean submarine attacked it. (Thanks, Ken.)

But Rick Perry thinks if may be "an act of God."

From Messenger at 4:41

Your Day Is Not This Bad (With a Huge Edit)

I wonder if the "negotiator" ever thinks to himself, "Sheesh, this guy really does have a horrible life." Uh oh. He's naked. http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/03/2159505/fort-worth-police-negotiating.html Edit: A Fort Worth working loyal reader sends along these pics! Oh, my!

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• The Six Flags ad campaign has added a second weird dancing guy -- kind of a Minnie Me character. It's just weird.
• A bomb in Times Square, one along a marathon route in Pittsburgh, and one in Colleyville on the same weekend. Coincidence? Yeah.
• Underrated movie that I saw on cable this weekend: One Hour Photo.
• A mini-series that should have been great but is a flop: The Pacific.
• Tiger Woods' golf wheels flew off last week and he didn't make the cut for, I think, the sixth time in his career. I wonder if there's a chance he's completely, completely lost it?
• Twenty-five shot dead in Mexico over the weekend. Heck, I'd want to get out of there, too.
• Motorcycle death in Sanger over the weekend.
• The Rangers started the weekend in last place and ended it in first place. (And pitchers C.J. Wilson, from the bullpen, and Colby Lewis, from Japan, are fantastic.)
• Our DA's office has already hired two prosecutors to replace the two that left last week.
• I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a DPS trooper who was convicted of shaking down motorists for cash. Now, after a about a week in jail, the 42 year old is dead.
• Denny Crane threatens frequent Messenger letter to the editor writer Ken Hughes?
• That oil slick in the gulf is bad and getting worse. But I can't believe the Fox News crowd has started a "where was Obama's response?" campaign.

Best Obituary Of The Year

From Fort Worth. The rest of it.

(Source: Bud Kennedy)

A Very Newsy Front Page Today

From The President's Commencement Speech At Michigan Yesterday

Still, if you’re somebody who only reads the editorial page of The New York Times, try glancing at the page of The Wall Street Journal once in a while. If you’re a fan of Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, try reading a few columns on the Huffington Post website. It may make your blood boil; your mind may not be changed. But the practice of listening to opposing views is essential for effective citizenship. (Applause.) It is essential for our democracy. (Applause.) And so, too, is the practice of engaging in different experiences with different kinds of people. I look out at this class and I realize for four years at Michigan you have been exposed to diverse thinkers and scholars, professors and students. Don’t narrow that broad intellectual exposure just because you’re leaving here. Instead, seek to expand it. If you grew up in a big city, spend some time with somebody who grew up in a rural town. If you find yourself only hanging around with people of your own race or ethnicity or religion, include people in your circle who have different backgrounds and life experiences. You’ll learn what it’s like to walk in somebody else’s shoes, and in the process, you will help to make this democracy work. (Applause.)

Preach on, sir. Preach on.

(Full text)