Above The Fold

Texas Tech Taking You Into The Weekend

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• These are wheels off thoughts around a campfire which may make me insane if it won't stay lite. 
• The hill country is shockingly beautiful. I can't believe this is Texas. I can't believe I've never been here before. 
• I went through Early, Brownwood, Brady, London, and Junction. My head was on a swivel just trying to take in life in other parts of Texas. 
• A huge 3M plant in Brownwood and another one I can't think the name of at the moment. 
• The Post Office is often the nicest building in any small town. 
• I kayaked down the Frio river. Fantastic. 
• But it was definitely country.  It was definitely Texas. 
• I think the most bizarre moment was the guy tubing with a cooler that had built in speakers and twin flags: The American and the Confederate.  
• As he passed one guy on the shore with the music blaring out of the speakers, he told the guy that he hope he was bothering him. The reply? " Oh no! I like it! And I like them flags, too"
• Power. Down. 
• I'm writing this the night before because I'm not sure my battery will hold up. I'm in the camp ground of Garner State Park. It's dark  Birds chirping. Sounds of the Frio river in the background. Along with the distant sound of Game Seven of the NBA as someone has  apparently  brought along a portable satellite dish. 
• I wanted to hike to the top of Old Baldy tomorrow morning but I can't find it. So frustrating. I can't find a single map to tell me where it is. 
• I'm sleeping in a tent tonight. A tent. I'm used to my biggest problem being the location if the ice machine. 
• We bought firewood at a convenience store. 
• Our dinner at the camp tonight? Take out Mexican food from some place down the road. 
• Hey, this is fake camping so we can trick it up.
• Mrs. LL just burned her leg with a latern she got from her brother. Is there a Hilton close by?

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Sports: (1) If San Antonio would have scored on its last regular season possession the other night, we might have had an officiating nightmare. (2) I locked onto former Ranger Chris Davis from the beginning of this season but it expected him to flame out. Nope. Yesterday he hit two home runs to bring his total to an MLB leading 26. (3) Man, the New England TE Aaron Hernandez might be in a world of murder investigation trouble. This sounds bad. 
• There was prostitution/spa raid in Plano which led to eleven federal (sheesh) indictments and the seizure of property worth tens of thousands of dollars.  How much did all that cost us? Oh, and it also led to a big press conference where law enforcement patted themselves on the back and announced that, of course, there was a catchy name associated with the operation: "Operation Flaming Dragon." Not the most sensitive name since most of those arrested were Asian. 
• Sheriff Joe posted a picture yesterday of an employee of his who he said is now 100 years old. There's no way that guy is 100, is there?
• Of course, Courtney Stodden needed an augmentation. Girl is crazy.
• Watched a little bit of Hannity last night for the first time in a long time. He is worse than I remembered. And he had she-has-to-be-doing-a-bit Michelle Malkin on there who just casually threw out that she didn't think there were 12 million undocumented aliens in the country but that the number was "probably closer to 25 to 30 million."
• I don't know why I stared at this picture of a menu for so long. (It was tweeted by Gordon Keith's former TV show producer who is on the beach somewhere.) It looked like a casual beach restaurant with high prices. 
• The guy who runs the official twitter account of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association has been tweeting live from committee hearing rooms throughout the session of the Texas legislature. Talk about doing a bit. He tries to do a comedy routine.  Well, yesterday, he got called out by a committee during a meeting as he was tweeting from the back of the room. 
• Lots of outpouring of emotions over the death of James Gandolfini last night. I bet I've never watched more than two hours of The Sopranos, but Gandolfini had a very brief but great and violent part in one of my favorite movies: A True Romance. 
• I haven't seen it yet, but there has to be a headline about Gandolfini's death that simply reads, "Cut To Black". 
• I heard a guy this morning say that "film acting is about acting with your eyes." That's true, isn't it?
• I'm not a conspiracy nut, but the new yet-to-be-released documentary coming out about TWA 800 being shot out of the sky by a missile sure is getting lots of publicity from normal thinking folks. 
• RAGE demise Part IV.
• There's a "Texas Lawyers Of Color Hot List"?
• I'll be out of pocket most of the day. Mrs. LL has talked me into going to Garner State Park. I normally hate the impromptu day off but it dawned on me that I've never really seen the hill country. That's ridiculous. And if not now, then when? 
• Mrs. LL reported kayaking down the river was beyond fantastic. And I heard she took along the Family Pup who wore a life jacket. Really. 
• As I drive through Junction, I'll wonder what Bear Bryant would think of the Barbie Aggie Yell Leaders. 

The Aggies Approved This?

Story.

At Least He's Honest About It

We fought to pass SB5 thru the Senate last night, & this is why! #StandWithTXChildren #txlege pic.twitter.com/fJbQSJur7i
— David Dewhurst (@DavidHDewhurst) June 19, 2013

The Texas Senate last night passed legislation which puts so many restrictions on abortion clinics, that many will go out of business. During debates on such measures, most of the legislators will talk about "women's health" and other fake reasons why the legislation should pass. But now that it's done, our Lieutenant Governor explains exactly why he wanted the legislation passed -- by posting a graphic created by a pro-choice group who was worried about the bill.

Above The Fold

Someone Almost Got Killed Last Night At The Ballpark

Kinsler was the first batter of the night, and I actually had the TV on when this happened. Look at the sharpness at that broken bat.  For the life of me, I don't understand the giggling parents. I think my facial expression would be more along the lines of "that was almost really, really bad."

And color commentator Tom Grieve felt the same way.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• For some reason I watched the San Antonio/Miami game last night even though I constantly rant about how I hate the NBA. Verdict: That was fantastic. That was epic. 
• It was funny to go back and see all the tweets and Facebook posts by Spurs fans celebrating the certainly-sure-to-happen-championship when San Antonio was up 5 with 28 seconds left.
• Mrs. LL is on her way to Garner State Park to visit with some of her family.  It looks pretty cool.
• That DirectTV ad of the lawyer's house exploding because of an angry ex-client seems to cross the line. (I just saw it for the first time last night but apparently it has been around since 2012.)
• Another ad thought: Any one catch the Beats Pill speaker ad from Radio Shack mimicking the Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines" video? I'm so proud that I understood everything from the music video (shocking on youtube for a while) to the subtlety of the speaker size. 
• Richie Whitt's RAGE autopsy Part III. This one is long and I'll read every word. (He'll be on Mike Doocy's sports show on Sunday night to talk about the series.)
• The U.S. said it would have peace talks with the Taliban within days and now news comes they just killed four U.S. soldiers with a rocket strike. 
• Do kids still have to pass a driver's test with a trooper/grader in the car with them before they get their license? Where is this done in Decatur? When I took mine, they had the parallel parking cones up by the old Decatur College building. 
• I remember to this day that after I attempted my parallel parking part of the test the trooper turned to me and said, "Why don't you try that again." He still gave me a passing grade. 
• I had heard about the protests in Brazil, but when I saw this picture my jaw dropped. That's a lot of people. That a pretty unstable environment for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.
• An 11th grader in Dallas was sentenced to 30 years in prison for statutory rape (underage sex regardless of consent.)  When the case was reversed for a new sentencing hearing, the  Dallas DA's office decided to simply free him because they thought the prior sentence was too harsh. That office is famous for helping to free wrongfully convicted individuals. But this is the first time I've seen them free a guilty man simply because they disagreed with a prior sentence. 
• UTA was shut down shortly after 8:00 a.m. this morning after reports of a man heading to campus with a gun.
• Bridgeport passed an ordinance last night prohibiting "dumpster diving." That was a problem?

I Wouldn't Even Want This Guy In A Well Regulated Militia

Just firing off the lake. What could possibly go wrong?

Sheriff Joe Takes Your Threats Literally

I want to extend my thanks to my deputies and security staff for keeping me safe in the face of threats to my life...http://t.co/JiYWuAq6Pq
— Joe Arpaio (@RealSheriffJoe) June 18, 2013

I'm not sure those threats were legitimate or just hyperbole.

Sucked Me In Once I Started Watching

Youtube description (from an apparently uppity British guy): This was amazing to watch. I think I was the only one noticing what was happening outside the window of the plane, and this time I captured it. On a previous occasion I saw a load of Japanese sewing machines with 'this way up' and 'fragile, handle with care' stickers over the boxes also being thrown on to the conveyor. Lesson: Pack it well, because it wont be treated well.

Top youtube comment: 34 throws, 88 boxes thrown, 48 landed successfully. 55% success rate.

Headline Of The Day

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Got the a/c fixed on the Gangsta Mobile. I'm getting beaten down with home/car repairs this year. Add that to a transmission, a refrigerator, and the home a/c repair. And it's only June. 
• I had a dream last night that I was going to demand that Mrs. LL watch Game of Thrones with me despite the fact I've never seen it. 
• I thought the PRISM scandal would be a, um, scandal. But I completely underestimated how the Far Right Wing would completely confused as to whether they care more about national security or privacy. They seem to be split.
• The Freshman in the House is at bad band camp and emailed us last night in a panic because her roommate had told her she (the roommate) was a Satan Worshiper. Ummmkay. After a bit of investigation, we learned that she had said she was an atheist. (Odd: The band camp is at Baylor.)
• "Feds Digging For Jimmy Hoffa in Detroit."  After all these years, is it really worth spending law enforcement resources to find the body?
• If you ever get a chance to watch Vice on cable, do it. This week's episode featured Dennis Rodman and Three Harlem Globetrotters trip to North Korea as the film crew traveled with them. Insane. 
• Shark attack of a teen on the Texas coast yesterday.
• Mark Cuban was on The Ticket yesterday to explain his "two year plan" for the Mavericks. How anyone buys anything he sells is absolutely amazing. His plan is to hope and pray.
• The dumbest Supreme Court ruling yesterday: If police are investigating you prior to arrest, can the prosecutor use at trial the fact that you remained silent when asked a question?  Does that violate the Fifth Amendment's right against self-incrimination? The answer: Your silence can be used against you at trial. Why? Because unless you specifically tell the cops you are invoking your Fifth Amendment right, you don't even get to argue the issue. Just being silent isn't enough. 
• Instead of asking the Update to print a notice that a jury trial has been cancelled and your service isn't needed, why not print a phone number or website on the jury notice so potential jurors can check on their own if they still have to show up.
• The second part of Richie Whitt's RAGE demise story is up. This is good stuff.
• Of the four criminal trials going on in Tarrant County this week, each has two prosecutors against one defense attorney.
• Does anyone own a "pocket garden hose"? You know, the hose which weighs absolutely nothing and retracts on it's own.  Fox 4 did a "Deal or Dud" bit on it about six months ago and they labeled it, amazingly, a "deal". The last garden hose I bought was so industrial strength a fire department could use it. And I love it. 

Random Dancing GIFs Taking You Into Monday Evening

 Leonardo DiCaprio in the upcoming movie Wolf Of Wall Street.

From Baylor vs. Oklahoma State last year.

I find stuff like this funny.

And Those Are Texas Government Pensions

No one provides better benefits than "big government".  Story.

The President Had A Gun On Father's Day!!

The conservative Townhall.com refers to it as a "scary looking assault water gun", and I don't think they were joking about the "scary" part.

I Bet Sheriff Joe Just Had A Heart Attack

From news reports:

Several states said that such a law reduces voter fraud, but civil rights groups said it was an effort to discourage voting by legal immigrants. The case was argued and decided at a time when the country is considering how to change its immigration laws.

Citizenship is a requirement to vote in any federal election, and the federal registration form requires people to state, under penalty of perjury, that they are American citizens. States can use their own forms, but they must be equivalent to the federal form.

The Arizona law concerned federal elections, and it was struck down not because it was a "bad idea", it was struck down because there is a federal law already on the books about the subject matter. And the constitution says federal laws are "the supreme law of the land" -- the states can't trump one by passing a conflicting one.

The Continuing Saga of Johnny Football

Aggieland was sent into a panic on Saturday when QB Johnny Manziel tweeted that he "can't wait to leave college station" after some incident which he didn't describe.

But it has been discovered that "Last Thursday, [he] was pool partying at the legendary Campus Village apartments. Girls were throwing themselves at Heisman to get photos."

He may be the first bi-polar Heisman Trophy winner.

College World Series Needs A Spellchecker Worse Than I Do

(Not photoshopped.)

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• That storm was brief but violent. 
• Mrs. LL ran over some metal object on the highway with the Gangsta Mobile and a few minutes later the air conditioner stopped working. Help me Click and Clack!
• Ted Cruz has called the Joshua valedictorian who broke the rules by deviating from the script of his speech a "true American patriot."
• The Miss USA pageant was last night and Miss Alabama, when asked about PRISM, said she didn't have a problem with someone "track[ing] all my telephone messages" so she can feel safe wherever she goes. She's not as hot to me after that. 
• And Miss Utah came close to giving a "because they don't have maps" answer.
• Sports talk radio fans: Richie Whitt has begun a five part series on what happened to the now cancelled RAGE radio show on The Fan, and the first segment is a dandy.
• The Family Cat, if she hears the water in the sink on, will jump up and start drinking it. I just let her go and watched her this morning only to ultimately discover she sticks her whole head under the water like she's taking a shower. Weirdest thing ever. 
• With the Rangers losing six in a row, it seems like old times. 
• I got extremely hot and light headed after mowing the lawn on Saturday so I ended laying down on the bathroom floor. I kept one arm in the air in case Mrs. LL walked in on me and thought I was dead. I'm sensitive like that. 
• I love HBO's Hard Knocks but it was beginning to look like it wouldn't be on this Fall. But now news comes that the Cincinnati Bengals have come to the rescue. 
• We could have a decision from the Supreme Court as early as thirty minutes from now on challenges to California’s ban on same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of Marriage Act.