Above The Fold

Gov. Perry Spoke At The NRA Convention In Houston Today

This was his intro video: Shooting an AR-15 while Ted Nugent's Stranglehold played.

I'm insane now.

Edit: Twenty targets you can buy at the convention. The NRA hates zombies.

Water Polo Bad Boy Taking You Into The Weekend

The 'ol hand on hip, forearm to the chest move. That guy is smooth as butter.

We're Gonna Blow!

Dallas Morning News story.

And Another: Houston

And 2013 gets back in the race with a huge hay-maker!

(Thanks emailer.)

No One Has A Video Of This?

It's in Texas. (Story.)

Bud Kennedy says it's all about the celebration rules of the UIL and has nothing to do with the religious aspect of what the kid did.

Let's turn to our Attorney General who has time to review this shocking development:

Disgraceful: Winning track team disqualified for praising God khou.com/sports/Act-of-… #txlege #tcot #txgop #TGD #faith
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 2, 2013

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The new Puppy In The House is fawned over so much I expect her to stand up and announce, "I am Kim Jong-un!"
• Ted Cruz for President rumors over the last couple of days? If he does, it will be the biggest wake up call ever for the Far Right. He'd get crushed on the national stage. 
• Do guys wear cologne? That just seems like a very 1980s concept. 
• Dennis Prager rant of the day: Yesterday he spent 30 minutes telling his audience, very authoritatively by the way, that referring to your son as "buddy" undermines the parent's authority because the term signifies equality.  (I know my Prager rants are a very inside issue with me, but I love the passion of his defenders on here.)
• If a horse could ever be a "Hey, Now."
• Lost in the news of the FDA allowing the Morning After Pill to be sold over the counter to those 15 and above: The FDA did so because a court ruling made them do so, and the Justice Department announced it would appeal the ruling. 
• Breaking this morning: The unemployment rate fell to 7.5%. Obama will always have his critics, but the economy will always have a check mark in his favor. 
• Notice that I didn't say one negative thing about George W while his library was being opened?
• Amanda Bynes is crazy. 
• I've always been jazzed by Natalie Portman. The other morning as I was getting ready for work, Ms. LL was almost giggly as she had stumbled upon a very racy scene of her's from Closer on the TV.  Once I realized it was on, I got to fire off the line, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"
• [Sidenote: Is "her's"  proper in that sentence? It is possessive, right? And is it clear that "her's" refers to Portman and not Mrs. LL?]
• A tweet by Fox 4's Good Day this morning: "Go home winter weather . . . . you're drunk (again)."
• I'm a huge fan of gMail and have been for a decade. The filtering and labeling functions are fantastic and it might be the greatest spam blocker ever. I just checked my Spam folder and had 22 emails in it gathered from the last 30 minutes. 
• If you travel to Fort Worth on 287 and look to your right once you get past Rhome, you can see a HUGE power line being erected for about 10 miles. What an eyesore. 
• I had a lawyer ask me why I didn't sell ads on here. I told him I'd thought about it, but didn't want to go through the hassle. "It might be more profitable than being a lawyer," he said. 
• A flipped over to the Rangers game last night to see fans freezing in the stands with their puppy dogs on Dog Night. How miserable. 
• Greg "The Hammer" Williams is launching "Greggo's Gigantic Blog and Cafe" at noon today and, based upon his twitter feed, this could be very Wheels Off. 

Saddest Photo In The History Of Ever

This puzzled koala was discovered sitting on a pile of shredded bark and sawdust - a place it once inhabited - after forestry workers felled trees in NSW's Vittoria State Forest . . . . 

"Koalas would have been moved out of their homes in preparation for planned logging activities," WIRES NSW general manager Leanne Taylor said.

"It is common for koalas to roam back to their home range afterwards and become confused to find nothing there. A worker noticed a koala had been sitting stationary in broad daylight on top of wood piles for over an hour."

Ms Taylor said the male koala was taken to a local vet and later released near an established koala colony.

Source.

One Of Those Killed In West, Texas Has A Bridgeport Connection

From Paula Tolle's Facebook page: "1st Thursday Jam (in collaboration with the Bridgeport Volunteer Fire Department) will be accepting any donations for the Harris Family at the Jam - May 2nd. Lucky's dad Kenneth Harris was the Bridgeport High School Band Director in the 60's. While at BHS he wrote the school song and the school fight song between '62 and '65 and later updated the arrangement in the 90's. Let's show the Harris Family Bridgeport appreciates them!!!!! Peace be with you Captain Harris."

FWPD Having A Buford T. Justice Kind Of Day

That Rusty Hardin Guy Has His Fingers In A Lot Of Pies

He represented Roger Clemens in a perjury case, and just finished up as the prosecutor in the Court Of Inquiry case against the crooked DA.  (I'm not sure how much he had to do with this settlement though.)

Here's the press release by the firm.  Note how under the terms of the settlement, the name of the other driver and his employer weren't disclosed. (News story easily located here.)

And you Personal Injury boys, isn't $10 million pretty high for a wrongful death case these days? A 51 year old welder. Two children. But sounds like lots of suffering and mental anguish before death.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• It's interesting that the 14 year old from North Richland Hills who ran off with the twenty something guy didn't qualify as an "Amber Alert". Yeah, she left on her own will but still . . . . 
• Mrs. LL the other day told me she thought the Amber Alert was only for abductions by a parent. I thought that was silly at first, but she had every right to think that. Over the last ten years, I bet 90% or more of the Amber Alerts involve a parent. 
• Heard a rumor that long time "law and order" district judge Sharen Wilson will run for DA in Tarrant County.  There's a lot of lawyers in Fort Worth will suffer Slumped Shoulders when they read that. 
• Someone said yesterday that Dennis Prager will kill me in a debate? Uh, duh. He absolutely would. But just because Bill Maher would slaughter the average conservative in a debate, doesn't make Maher any less of a snake oil salesman. 
• "A Philadelphia jury ended a second day of deliberations on Wednesday without reaching verdicts in the murder trial of a doctor accused of killing babies and a patient during late-term abortions at a clinic serving low-income women." Man, the talk shows would explode if this turns out to be an acquittal.
• The death toll in that Bangladesh building collapse has risen to 430.
• I don't understand the popularity of Duck Dynasty.
• A lawsuit has been filed to remove the Austin DA from office after her conviction for DWI. Oddly, the law says certain public officials "may" (not "shall") be removed from office after a trial for "intoxication on or off duty caused by drinking an alcoholic beverage." So if a jury wants to throw her out they can, but they are not bound to do so.
• From the Update: "DEVON LOSS – Devon Energy Corp. reported a net loss of $1.4 billion for the first quarter of 2013. Devon blamed the loss on a $1.9 billion non-cash asset adjustment related to lower oil and natural gas liquids pricing." Someone translate that second sentence. In English. 
• The Fourth Grader In The House said, "I can't wait until next Tuesday" and then just stared at me. I then went into an explanation of what a "Leading Statement Guy" is. 
• If you want to read comments that will make your head explode, read those under the article about the Dallas man beaten outside of a club that was hosting a porn star's birthday party. (And the comments in the Reddit link as well.)
• A "prayer" headline and a "pastor arrest" headline:

Hide Yo Wife, Hide Yo Plants, Because It's Gonna Be Freezin' All Up In Herre

Pete Delkus says the National Weather Service has issued a "Freeze Watch."

Crazy Law Student Of The Day

Crazy But Hot

The story can be summarized as (1) she doesn't like a dean who is Jewish, and (2) she likes to post pictures of mutilated Barbie Dolls and throw in a caption regarding her professors of I " hate you so much I would like to see you butchered."

Yeah, kind of crazy. But that got her arrested?  That's less psychotic that a typical Ann Coulter TV appearance.

Another Day. Another Lock Down.

And the three new arrests out of Boston is interesting, but there's absolutely no news about it other than the headline. At least at this second.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I haven't seen many bluebonnets, but there's a mile stretch of yellow wildflowers in the median of Highway 287 between FM 407 and Rhome that's almost worth a drive just to see them.
• A Boeing 747 cargo plane crashed in Afghanistan and it was caught on dashcam video. Amazingly horrifying. 
• The prosecutor who filled in under the interim DA title after the slaying of the Kaufman County DA has resigned. No explanation was given. I bet it's more over politics than fear. 
• I know the battle of the worthiness of talk show host Dennis Prager is between me and one guy (probably), but I finally found this page which identified exactly what he is: A psuedo-intellectual. That defines him perfectly. 
• There's a restaurant in the new Bush Library called "Cafe 43."  That's just a little too hip.
• I've never seen Citizen Kane. And I don't think I know anyone who proclaims it to be the greatest movie ever.
• Weather talk is boring, but tomorrow will be a bizarre April day. Edit: I would like to report that I have heard from multiple reliable sources that tomorrow with fall in a month called "May."
• FDA with a shocker yesterday: The "morning after pill" will (1) be allowed for sale over the counter, and (2) the age limit to purchase will be lowered to 15.  I hear complaints about the age, but I haven't heard any arguments equating the pill with abortion. Did I miss that science lesson?
• Facebook is becoming more and more of a beating. 
• There was a time when a restaurant couldn't survive on the Decatur Square (except for Mattie's.) Now the place is exploding with them. 
• Talk show host Mark Davis called Ted Cruz the Senate's "Rock Star" this morning.  And he worries sometimes that he lives in an echo chamber. 
• Mrs. LL drove over Lake Bridgeport yesterday and reported that rumors of the lake level being shockingly low are true. 

Bull vs Florida People

Nice job by the guy at the end mentioning he was unemployed.

Original video.

What A "Modified Lockdown" Looks Like At Weatherford High School Right Now

Really (via some kid on Twitter.)

What They Tell Me

One in 10 people in Wise County receive food stamps. (Source)

Income limitations to qualify:

Flashback To The Wise County Reunion

I had a buddy that fell for this trick back when we were in high school. We were stylin' at the Wise County Reunion and came across the old "throw a ball in the bucket" game. How hard could it be?  The Carnie even let my friend take a few practice tosses! He was fantastic. Dropping them in the bucket like Yu Darvish.

Now on to the real game. Pretty quickly, he had lost 10 bucks because the ball was hitting the bottom of the bucket and popping out. It wasn't a matter of missing the basket, it was keeping the dang balls in the basket.  "You want to try some practice throws again?" asked the Carnie. My buddy did and once again couldn't miss.  Back to the real game and he was down $30. It wasn't until he was down $70 that we figured out there were Practice Balls and Game Balls. We weren't very smart. (But I was smarter than him that day because I didn't play.)

My dad suggested going over the next day and, when handed the practice ball, my buddy whip out a sharpie and put an "x" it. "Tell him you'll play with that one."  We were only 17 and not that gutsy. Haunted me ever since.

(And I had to have some excuse to post the video.  The poor sap made me laugh by always having that banana with him.)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• When I didn't recognize the name of the NBA player who announced his gayness yesterday, I thought it was because I never watch the NBA. Turns out he's just an extremely spare player. 
• But the support for him was pretty widespread -- even a call from the President  That wouldn't have happened ten years ago. 
• Meanwhile, in Texas: "Local governments and school districts that offer marriage benefits to same-sex partners are violating the state constitution, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott stated in an opinion Monday."
• After holding them for over a decade without the hope of a trial, there's a huge hunger strike going on at Guantanamo Bay. 
• There's at least one Justice of the Peace court in Wise County that has the phrase "be prepared to stay until 5:00 p.m." on its court notices. That's basically trying to coerce you into throwing up your hands and paying the ticket, right? 
• According to the Update, they are finally going to fix the death trap at 287 and Business 287 south of Decatur. 
• Mrs. LL has been watching The Good Wife when I haven't been looking. (That sounds ironic but I guess it isn't.) She told me the legal side of it might be a little "iffy" and then five minutes later I heard one of the lawyers refer to the "fruit of the poisonous tree" in a civil case. 
• A bill passed yesterday (SB 861) requiring bars and restaurants which sell alcohol to display a sign of the "average costs a person convicted of driving while intoxicated can expect to pay, including attorney's fees,  criminal fines, court costs, bail, driver's license surcharges, and   alcohol education course fees." I'm not through reading those signs telling workers to wash their hands after going to the bathroom. 
• On The Ticket yesterday afternoon they had a segment on which would you rather do if there were no consequences, heroin or meth. Man, I'm not sure how they can get away with that. 
• In the future, there will be cameras that can tell if someone is carrying a firearm or a bomb, right? Kind of like thermal-imaging for metal? 
• And in Denton, a bird eats a fish . . . 

Good Grief

Story.

Gov. Perry Is Not Happy About This

It was in the Sacramento Bee last week. 

Boom! Or will anyone care?

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I though the White House Correspondence Dinner was really funny. Sarah Palin did not: “That #WHCA was pathetic. The rest of America is out there working our asses off while these DC assclowns throw themselves a #nerdprom," And you guys think I've been grumpy lately. 
• Tim Tebow was released this morning. Please, Jerry, please!
• For Texas criminal lawyers: The legislature is getting close to make DWI-Third a 3g offense. (That means a person convicted of that offense wouldn't be eligible for parole until he has served 1/2 of his prison term.)
• I think the phrase "suffered several dislocated bones" is an odd one. (See Update.)
• Mrs. LL was watching The Fifth Element starring Bruce Willis this weekend when I proclaimed the movie to be "horrible." Her reaction would lead one to believe she wrote and directed it.
• We walked down to a creek yesterday and fed bread to turtles. I like turtles. 
• Flew under the radar last week: A building collapsed in Bangladesh and killed 382 people. 
• The Family Puppy can now scoot across the room which now has me paranoid every time I take a step. 
• A tweet from Dez Bryant in the middle of the NFL Draft: "I just bought a toy helicopter and now it's stuck in the tree..I'm mad as hell."
• History fact Oliver Stone taught me this weekend: The U.S. lost about a half of a million people in World War II. The Soviet Union's death toll was around 25 million. 
• Weird stat: Cowboys finished 8-8, Mavs  finished 41-41, and the Stars finished 22-22-4.
• That car fire yesterday on Jacksboro Highway sounded horrible. 
• Breaking: Shooting at a Haltom County high school this morning. Edit: I screwed that up royally. Wrong county. And it's in Ohio.