Messenger Above The Fold

Random Check In -- From The Land Of The Hogs

• Who has two thumbs, ran an 8 mile Turkey Trot, did not take a nap, stayed up later than expected on Thanksgiving night to watch the Aggies and Horns ending, and then got up at 4:00 a.m. to drive three sleeping humans to north of Little Rock for lunch? This guy!!!
• I'm delirious.
• So delirious I created a "Do you have a ticket to the carnival" game today with a four year old that required her to bring me every card in a playing card deck so that I could check her ticket to see if it were valid. Even I don't know what that means.
• If I pump The Ticket through my phone into the auxiliary jack in the car on this road trip, do I have a problem?
• Back to the Aggies and The Evil Empire. I have never seen a UT offense that was in so much complete chaos. Then again, I've never seen an Aggie team that gives away games in the second half more than this Aggie group. Absolutely amazing.
• Aggie coach Mike Sherman would have been fired last night if he hadn't been given a huge contract extension last year.
• I don't mind admitting that I get a little emotional during the Turkey Trot run. I put a bunch of songs on the iShuffle from my past and, when they pop up in random mode, I reflect upon where I was when the song became important to me. 
• The new Omni hotel in downtown Dallas is really cool looking. 
• There was the weirdest fog cover about 200 feet above ground level at the beginning of the race. When the course looped us back around to downtown Dallas, we were less than a quarter of a mile away from downtown and couldn't see the top of any building. 
• I got to watch the Arkansas/LSU game in Arkansas amongst Arkansas fans. Kinda cool.
• I'm in the house of Mrs. LL's grandparents who are still pretty feisty despite their age. The grandmother is a huge football fan and actually used the phrase "unabated to the quarterback" when we were talking about an offsides penalty during the game.
• I intentionally didn't look at the comments for the last couple of days. Even I need a break every now and then.
• The Runaway Bay Golf Cart Assault probably had the local PD going insane.  
• The Rifleman just came on (in the Arkansas house) and I said, "Let's watch Lucas McCain kill another person in self defense!"  All I heard were crickets.
• But I just looked up and Lucas is building up a ton of resentment towards this episode's Bad Guy. If I'm the Bad Guy, I wouldn't make a quick movement towards any weapon.
• Oops. Too late. 
• On the morning road trip I started listening to a new audiobook, Chuck Klosterman's "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto".  I wished someone would have told me that I was going to be bombarded with F Bombs during a discussion of love, John Cusack, and Coldplay. (Thank goodness the rest of the car was asleep.) 
• I went to my parents for lunch on Thanksgiving and took along a four year old niece of Mrs. LL's. Words cannot do justice to the nursery rhyme presentation she provided to the Extended Family Unit where she repeated (over and over and over) a word that sounded soooooo inappropriate for a family gathering. I don't think I've ever seen my brother laugh so hard. 
• My Halftime Cowboy Game Observation upon seeing Pitbull take the stage, "I bet that's a real crowd pleaser." Mrs. LL (about three minutes later): "Oh, I get it!!!"
• A triple murder in Desoto?

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (82) rolls into Cheerleader Melissa Kellerman

I've got none. You know why? By the time this is automatically posted I've been on the road to Arkansas for at least a couple of hours. Probably more.

Thanksgiving

As this post appears, I will be in a mass of bodies in downtown Dallas for the annual Turkey Trot. I'm there because it has become a passionate ritual for me. I will stop when I can no longer do it -- a thought which scares me a little bit.

And that brings us to Thanksgiving and my annual call back to this post, a favorite of the Liberally Lean readers,  that I put up six years ago. . You know, I love going back to it. It is still true. And it t needs to be read slowly -- the way it was written.

Thanks to all of you for this crazy little club we have.

Descendants Of First Thanksgiving Taking Us Into Thursday

Congressional Redistricting Tired Head

Since a federal court said the state Republican lawmakers [hereinafter referred to as "The Man"] tried to screw minorities in the constitutionally mandated redistricting after the last census, that court today released a new map which will at least be in place for next year's elections. (I think.) The above graphic depicts how Wise County will be impacted by the new map in the Congressional House elections.

I want to see the candidate for District 26 who appeals to Denton County and the Newark area of Wise County.

We Got A Spunky Witness. I Support Him.

Watching the chick in the back at around :29 is pretty funny the second time through it.

How Not To Put Up A Christmas Tree

Edit: Alternative source.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• That judge on trial for bribery over in Collin County was actually convicted yesterday. She faces prison or probation, and I'd be a little scared if I were her.
• Fox 4 was live from the airport this morning covering what looks like a normal day at the airport. What are the odds of broadcasting live from a mall on Friday?
• Finished my  jog last night and came home to find a huge inflatable Christmas monkey on my lawn.
• If you don't exactly understand what an "Internet meme" is, here's the recent "Pepper Spraying Cop" becoming one.
• Newt Gingrich went to the front of the pack (in my opinion) last night in the GOP debate when he said, “I do not believe that the people of the United States are going to take people who have been here a quarter century, who have children and grandchildren, who are members of the community, who may have done something 25 years ago, separate them from their families and expel them. I’m prepared to take the heat for saying, let’s be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship but by finding a way to create legality so that they are not separated from their families.” Preach on, bruther.
• And if you known someone for 25 years who began his family as an illegal immigrant, you'll feel the same way -- or there's something very wrong with you.
• Is there a girl from Paradise on Twitter who has Barefoot in her name who wants to be a model?
• The Aggies and Longhorns end their rivalry tomorrow. It's like watching old friends get divorced.
• Mrs. LL, I dare say, may be a bit of a procrastinator, and she decided to be in charge of a big family lunch today. 
• The Drudge Report used to break news (i.e. Lewinsky) and was famous for ending the short basic text news bursts with the "Developing . . . " moniker. It really doesn't do that much any longer. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw it.
• Miley Cyrus turns 19 today. Get ready for her to go crazy this year. 
• I'm running the Turkey Trot again tomorrow. I need to count up the years I've done the eight mile race but it has to be around 10. It seems longer. Both the years and the distance.
• The jokester who sent me the older woman pic yesterday sent me this one last night as an alternative Random Thought Girl to make up for it. 

Messenger Above The Fold

Lee Harvey Oswald Burial Bill

Credit.

And the unusual story behind his grave here.

DPS Really Celebrates Thanksgiving

Black Friday Flashback 2010: In The Middle Of The Recession

Some Jokester Sent This To Me As Potential Random Thought Girl

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• I dreamed I spent hours roaming around a huge hospital like Parkland where most of the individuals in it were unwatched inmates.
• That was a heck of a lightening show in the county around 5:00 p.m. yesterday. Multiple lightening strikes with crashing thunder. Delicious. 
• The "lone wolf" terror suspect arrested in New York a couple of days ago is yet another example of an incompetent fool used for law enforcement for publicity. Proof: Even the Feds wouldn't touch the case which is why the State is prosecuting it. The government had him "under surveillance for more than two years and made more than 400 hours of secret recordings" and he still didn't even know how to make a pipe bomb. 
• The Decatur Lady Eagles lost to a bunch of home schooled kids last night. A very religious group of home schoolers at that. 
• How much would I have to financially benefit before I would spend five days in a tent on a sidewalk outside of a store which includes missing Thanksgiving? $10,000. Maybe.
• Do gasoline prices seem to change by 30 cents overnight?
• Buddy Ryan and sons Rex Ryan, and Rob Ryan seem like a group of guys that would still laugh at Jeff Foxworthy.
• Individual frames of the Zapruder film. (It is November 22nd, by the way.)
• The Texas Theater, where Oswald was captured, is replaying the exact movies at the exact times that they rolled 48 years ago. Admission is $1.
• Mark Cuban has written an e-book. Let me guess, "Find what you love to do then go to work in that field." And then there will be a footnote that reads, "An do something simple like stream audio over the Internet and then sell the technology to a company that will never use it for $5.9 billion."
• There's something poetic about the TCU kicker kicking in a door in Denton to try and recover a stolen cellphone. I wonder if he took three steps back and two steps sideways before the kick?
• I was wrong when I said Tony Romo would have received a 15 yard penalty for trying to call a timeout when the team had none. The refs would have just ignored it, the clock would have run out, and it would be a 5 yard delay a of game. 
• One of my old "skattershooting" columns from 2003 where I have a ton of JFK thoughts at the bottom.

I Understand Rain -- But It Is As Dark As Midnight In Decatur at 4:30 PM

Every street light has kicked on.

Tarrant County Verdict

More.

It's  a little tricky, but in Texas passing a counterfeit bill falls under the "Forgery" statute, and it is a Third Degree Felony carrying 2 to 10 years. The only way you can get to 80 years is if he had been "enhanced" with two prison stints in his past (that occurred at different times.)  Throw in some pending thefts, and he's not a very sympathetic character. But 80 years? Sheesh.

Most stories on this say he will be eligible for parole in 15 years. Actually, he'll be eligible once his real time and his good conduct time equals 15 years. Edit: The statute reads 1/4 of his sentence or 15 years, whichever is less.

(But I'm more surprised you can buy two hot dogs, two cokes, and popcorn for $20 in a theater. The prices are normally the crime that is being committed.)

How's That "Arab Spring" Working Out For Them?

I read earlier there were up to 30 dead from this weekend.

Why The NFL Will Never Match College Football

I don't follow Iowa State, but that marginal team beat #2 Oklahoma State on Friday night.

This is their post game celebration. Wait for the water.

Two years ago, when the Dallas Cowboys lost their last game of the year to Philadelphia, Tank Johnson walked into the locker room and yelled, "I'm a free agent, baby!"  My interest had been hanging on by a thread up until that point and if it weren't for Fantasy Football, I'm not sure I'd watch at all.

Hot Girl Appears On "People's Court" With Ex. Goes Missing Same Day

Story.  And the girl liked the camera.

Does This Look Like . . .

. . . a guy from New York who hit a cop car and was arrested for DWI?  Applying that "presumption of evidence" constitutional right to him is off to a rocky start.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Christina at AMA's last night. JLo almost needed more clothes.
• I like Best Buy but they've got a "we've upgraded this computer and selling it for $100 more than advertised"scam that is shameful. More later.
• It may be Thanksgiving week to you but it is JFK Conspiracy Week to Mrs. LL.
• Michelle Obama makes an appearance at NASCAR and is booed. One fan tweeted to clear up any confusion: "It is not racial - Michelle #Obama is scorned by #Nascar fans because her husband is a job-killer socialist."
• The new Twilight movie made $140 million this weekend. Chicks love vampires.
• I'm still upset about my trial from last week. I expected to win that. I should have won that. 
• Insane story: A transgendered fake doctor is arrested for buttock enhancement treatment of a Miami woman using cement and fix-a-flat. And you won't believe her full length book in photo. (Cue Sir Mix-A-Lot.)
• Cowboy game thought: "Icing the kicker" is the dumbest thing ever, but the Redskins calling a timeout kept Tony Romo from being crucified in the media today. (Seconds later, Romo attempted to call a timeout when Dallas didn't have any which would have led to a 15 yard penalty.)
• Mrs. LL received an innocent injury this week which, by its appearance, will have every battered woman's advocate suspiciously cocking an eyebrow at me. Great. 
• Basic criminal law: A person incarcerated on a new felony case who cannot make bail must be indicted within 90 days or he is entitled to be released on his own personal recognizance. The Fort Bend DA is getting roasted for screwing that up in a murder case.
• A University of California policeman is on official leave after casually pepper spraying a row of sitting protestors. (Pic). Which has already led to comedy photo-shop.
• The Bridgeport High School student learned the hard way that you are an adult for purposes of criminal charges when you turn 17.
• Death: A Seattle Mariner stabbed to death, and a University of Arkansas player found dead in his dorm room.
• And a 29 year old female from Boyd is listed in the Update's obituaries this morning. Anyone?
• We've found the dumbest person in the metroplex: Windy Lawrence (and her mother and "young daughter") are camping outside of a Best Buy in Mesquite in anticipation of "Black Friday."

Messenger Above The Fold