Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Phone video of the Texas Rangers sliding on the tarp during a rainout in Baltimore last week. Yeah, it's fun but if I'm the owner - and realizing I'm on the hook for a player's salary regardless of how he gets hurt - I think I'd shut that down. 
• Texas Motor Speedway doesn't charge for parking? How much money are they leaving on the table?
• I'm out $29.99 because I couldn't tell the difference between a T-ball baseball bat and a softball bat. 
• Donald Trump is absolutely reckless and a cartoon with his crazy birther comments over the past week. He's doing a bit yet news organizations are giving him a forum.
• Along those same lines, I received an email chain letter yesterday proclaiming "Obama admits he wasn't born in America! See the first 30 seconds of this video!"  The video is full of misinformation about the issue, but the creator of it (as a joke) edited an Obama speech at the beginning of the clip to set the scene for his mini-documentary. Not surprisingly (in America), the video went viral with those believing Obama's 30 seconds were real. 
• Wow: Last week we learned that a 26 year old Arlington native was killed in Afghanistan. Yesterday news broke it was from "friendly fire"  but in the most shocking of ways: One of those unmanned drone aircraft/missles killed him. One step closer to robots taking over?
• For you true news junkies: Jonathan Alter leaving Newsweek is not a good omen for the future of news magazines. 
• I had to do a plea bargain hearing yesterday where my guy went from being on bond to being incarcerated. I've said it before, that's the worst event for a criminal defense lawyer (with the exception of it happening after a trial.)
• Channel 8 News now has a graphic that says "Instant Live" when they throw it to a reporter on the street. Just when "live" isn't good enough, someone comes along to solve that problem.
• Video of jumbo jet clipping and spinning another smaller jet at JFK airport in New York last night. Pretty amazing.(It's still early when I'm typing this and the video will probably be all over the news today.)
• How would you like to be a defendant in Montgomery County, Texas in an assault case this week and you were truly innocent? Would you like your potential jurors to walk into a courthouse under a banner that reads, "National Crime Victims' Rights Week" courtesy of the district attorney's office? Yep, it's happening. 
• Rather quietly, evidence of a serial killer is coming to light in New York . . .