Above The Fold

UNLV Cheerleaders Taking You Into The Weekend

Texas Politics Has Come To This?

Just launched http://t.co/96ywFPYzmT for the latest #omg #fail #lols from Lt Governor David Dewhurst. RT! #txlege
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) August 16, 2013

Dan Patrick, who is challenging David Dewhurst for Lt. Governor, directs his followers to a website which isn't exactly statesman-like. Note: It's primarily re-living the night of the Wendy Davis filibuster fiasco with the story "told by cats". As in animated gifs of cats.

Robin Thicke Sued Marvin Gaye's Family -- Claim They Didn't Steal A Dang Thing

In order to shield "Blurred Lines," the hottest hit of the summer, Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and Clifford Harris, Jr. are going to court.

A lawsuit was filed Thursday in California federal court by the trio against Marvin Gaye's family and Bridgeport Music . . . .. At issue are complaints about similarities between "Blurred Lines" and at least two songs.

"[T]here are no similarities between plaintiffs' composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements," states the lawsuit. "Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else's composition." More.

I don't know about that.

Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines:




Marvin Gaye's Got To Give It Up:

Random Twitter Photo From This Morning

@DFWscanner Clouds over HWY 380 and FM 51 in Decatur. pic.twitter.com/8GeV5mubvj
— Anthony Crowley (@CPLS_Anthony) August 16, 2013

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• All Texas high school championship games will be at Cowboys Stadium this year including, for the first time, the six man championship. I might go watch that one. I've never seen a six man game.
• The Muslim Brotherhood has called for "A Day of Rage" in Egypt.
• The 44th Anniversary of Woodstock was yesterday. On the 10th Anniversary (which I heard about on the radio and thought "wow, that is ancient history") I was at the "front pool" at Runaway Bay getting a massive sunburn, and I bet it was a Friday since that was my day off. (How I remember that, I have no idea.) 
• Courtney Stodden went to the beach.
• "Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio plans to have his deputies put up white wooden crosses near the sites where authorities find bodies of immigrants who are dying in the desert."  I'm guessing he sees no problem with government erecting crosses. 
• I think Bill O'Reilly is tolerable. 
• Corby Davidson on The Ticket yesterday told of a girl who came to his door and said her dad was in prison and mom had run off causing her to live with relatives. She then told a further convincing story that they didn't have any money but needed school supplies. Corby's wife gave the girl $20. A day or so later there was a thank you note left at their house but asking for her to purchase some additional items including back packs for her and her little brother.  I smell scam. 
• When cops illegally detain someone, many courts will give them by out by saying "Oh, no. It was just a consensual encounter" -- you know, just the cops walking up and and talking to someone. At least one new study says there's nothing consensual when cops approach you. 
• For some reason Mrs. LL is re-watching a lot of the episodes of Lost. This despite her responding, "Yes!!!!" to my question of, "You think the writers made all that stuff up on the fly?"
• Mark Cuban had a crazy quote about expectations yesterday in the Mavs pre-season press conference. I was very Jerry Jones like, but I can't find it to save the life of me. 
• Red Sox fan Ben Affleck's birthday was yesterday. The Red Sox are now 0-14 on Ben Affleck's birthday since the release of Good Will Hunting in 1998.

We Can All Sleep Safer Tonight

Cops investigate large online gambling ring (made up of people who want to take their own money and do with it what they want), and then the cops gamble pays off as they get to seize millions of dollars. Of 18 defendants, only one has gone to jail -- and that's for a year -- so at least there's one rational part of the story.

Law enforcement doesn't have enough to do.

And there had to be a cute name for this operation, but I can't fine done. Operation Snake Eyes, perhaps?

Story.

Edit: More . . .

Stacks of $100 bills - just part of the $10 million seized by federal agents in bust of online gambling ring @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/QdigvRJNao
— Catherine Ross (@CatherineNBC5) August 15, 2013

Hey, It's More People From That Dallas Sisu Place Again

More.

The Obama Clown

I've been hearing about the rodeo clown who lost his job for wearing a President Obama mask, and finally saw the clip.  What's worth watching (and it isn't much) starts around halfway through.

I think a bigger punishment would be to have to be a part of that rodeo every Saturday night. But, seriously, why get punished at all?

But leave it to a Texas Congressman to have a level and intellectual debate about it:

In a press release he wrote: “Liberals want to bronco bust dissent. But Texans value speech, even if its speech they don’t agree with.”

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Fort Worth police will soon begin wearing body cameras. I'm all for it. Some on the news last night argued about "privacy concerns" but that makes no sense. That would only apply if the cops are somewhere they weren't supposed to be and, if that is happening, I want it videotaped.
• I've never heard of the Spillway Club located near Eagle Mountain Lake but an argument started there last night which ended with one dead and three wounded.
• Up at the courthouse yesterday, I ran across a couple of lawyers upset that their Texas Wesleyan Law School degree now bears the name of a school that doesn't exist. When Texas A&M bought it several months back, that wasn't supposed to happen. 
• Former Bachelorette hangs herself in suicide. And you would have thought all those women would be emotionally stable.
• Oh, no! "Houston Texans unveil world's largest HD video board" --- even larger than those at The Death Star. 
• Someone wanted me to post the video of the African-American kid praying about the President but even I feared the racist comments directed at a little boy. Others did it and the reaction was exactly what I thought it would be. Incredible.
• Local talk radio thoughts: (1) Jeff Bolton is filling in for Mark Davis and he is beyond awful, (2) I don't listen to Dennis Prager anymore because I just couldn't take it, (3) I've never understood how Ben and Skin have their own show, (4) Corby Davidson is much better when Rhyner takes the day off (though it rarely happens), but his "I'm going wireless" bit is a big bag of nothing, and (5) I still think the It's Just Banter podcast with Ticket boys T.C. and Jake is really, really good. 
• Testosterone update: (1) I'm feeling better but I'm getting real sleepy earlier in the evening -- related? (2) There must be a ton of guys using the stuff because I've had lots of people talk to me about it. 
• A former Texas Ranger (baseball)  is on trial for doing-you-know-what with a teen, but I haven't heard any local coverage about it at all. (In fact, if someone hadn't emailed me, I wouldn't know about it at all.)
• I forgot to mention that Brent Musburger was in the Mary Decker documentary interviewing her decades ago. Man, he's been around forever, and I think he's great. A college football game that starts off with his voice saying, "We are liiiiiiivvvvee from . . . . " makes me smile. 
• The Hard Right is having a tough time processing their position on all of this Egyptian violence since the military government (loaded with U.S. arms) is killing members of the Muslim Brotherhood left and right. I think they've gone to the default position of: Blame Obama.

Two Things She Might Want To Keep Off Her Resume

Stripper and alleged dog killer.

Link.

Edit: In 2015, she eventually received five years probation.

Bethenny Frankel Afternoon Pick Me Up

I don't know who she is, but I do know she is 42.

Fox News

So a former criminal defense lawyer is forever barred from heading a law enforcement agency?

Link.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Troopers in Wise County seem to be out in full force lately. 
• As far away Frisco is from Cowboys Stadium, the town is also connected by the George Bush Tollway to I-30. You can't get across the metroplex faster than that route.  
• Heather Hays on Fox last night got this close to repeating the George W. Bush misquote of "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me . . . you can't get fooled again." But she caught herself. 
• Greg Abbott will normally hold a press conference to announce when he's going to the bathroom. So why was he absolutely silent about teaming up with Eric Holder to stop the AA/US Airways merger? Although there was a quote-less press release on his state website, there was none of his typical rhetoric of "fighting for Texas families and Texas values." 
• Former RAGE producer at The Fan, Armen Williams, is leaving the station to take a management position at a station in Albany, New York. I mention it only because he recently bought a new house, his wife recently had a baby, and neither one of them have ever lived out of the State of Texas. That's a heck of a change.
• According to the Update, a kid was playing with a lighter and aerosol can at 1:30 this morning in Newark when, surprise, things went horribly wrong. 
• I watched the short ESPN documentary on Mary Decker and Zola Budd last night. Man, it was great. I had a memory of considering Decker to be a bad sport, but apparently most of the nation thought the same thing. I understand her a bit better now. 
• I hope Manziel stays around long enough for the Alabama game next month. 
• Last year's Aggie/Alabama game was being replayed last night on one of the ESPN channels. I had forgotten that 'Bama had the ball first and goal with two minutes to go. Everyone in Alabama's stadium looked like they thought they'd score and everyone on the Aggie sideline looked like they agreed with them. 
• Kellie Rasberry tweet last night: "One more beg for you to watch us on #DishNation tonight. Ain't too proud to beg, y'all. I ain't gotta twerk but I still gotta work. #word".  There's something odd about her in this post Kidd Kraddick era. (And who signs off with "word"?)
• I had NBC Nightly News on the other day and the Fifth Grader in The House asked me, "Where's that guy who is normally on there?" (Lester Holt was substituting for Brian Williams.) Attagirl. 
• Mark Cuban's lawyers file a pleading in an SEC case which for some reason includes an attachment of Dirk's "brother" making an allegation that Cuban came on to him. What? Huh? Whose side are they on? Even if not true (it's not), that attachment was completely unnecessary. And now it gets a headline on the Dallas Observer blog with the title "Mark Cuban Wants to Make Sure No Jurors Heard About His Alleged Come-On to Dirk's Brother."
• Not sure about all the corruption cases in the Valley but it's a big deal when the feds are hit with a "not guilty." But his lawyer had an odd and funny quote: "I was worried." 

Above The Fold

Let's Leave Those Firearms At Home

This Ain't Punch And Cookies In The Fellowship Hall

From Fox 4:

A video of a bar mitzvah at the Dallas Omni hotel has gone viral with internet commenters going back and forth on the appropriateness of such a flashy production.

The video is a highly choreographed dance number, complete with a stage big enough for flashing lights and dancers introducing the guest of honor, Sam Horowitz.

The bar mitzvah happened last November, but was only recently discovered online by a Jewish parenting website.

Some of the commenters said the production was over the top, while others defended the boy and his family.

I'm Not Sure How Much The Aggies Can Put Up With All This

Deadspin now making the Manziels look like a crime family (and, man, it is one insane history.):

The San Antonio Express has done a similar article:

Texas Monthly today released its cover, but not the article, for next month:

And sports blogs immediately go to work:

Strange Bedfellows: Eric Holder and Greg Abbott

	The Associated Press (@AP)
8/13/13, 9:49 AM MORE: Justice Dept. & state attorneys general challenge proposed merger of US Airways & American Airlines: apne.ws/1brUQl4

Tweet from TX Parks & Wildlife (@TPWDparks)

	TX Parks & Wildlife (@TPWDparks)
8/13/13, 8:31 AM Tragic news from Palo Duro Canyon: RT @amarilloglobe: 5 people killed in accident involving 'Texas' cast members: bit.ly/17L4WcW

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• The proposed Cowboys practice facility in Frisco (which will include a 12,000 seat domed stadium to also be used by local Frisco high schools) sounds cool. And it wouldn't surprise me that in 50 years that will be the site of a new stadium once the Death Star outlives its usefulness. But that assumes the NFL will exist in 50 years.
• Regarding the deal, Fox 4's Calvert Collins immediately tweeted: "Over 30 years, analyst says the project brings $23.4 billion in NEW money, 4,500 NEW jobs by 2026 and $1.2 billion in NEW tax revenue."  You'd think someone might tap the brakes on those figures. 
• The last two nights I've dreamed about two specific criminal cases which had me meeting with clients, prosecutors, and researching. The odd thing: Those cases didn't exist. So I'm needlessly working during sleep.
• The Ticket's Junior Miller proclaims today at 2:00 p.m. as being the worst moment of the year. It's the worst month (the hot dog days), it's a Tuesday (and still lots of the work week left), and at 2:00 p.m. you still have a while to go before quitting time. 
• Before the season, I predicted Yu Darvish would be the runner in Cy Young voting. Heck, he might with the thing.
• Mark Levin was on Hannity last night (which was probably a paid book promotion) and the words "Exclusive Interview" were shown on the screen. Really? Would any network even want to have him on? (But he doesn't do his goofy yelling when he's on TV like when he's on the radio.)
• A man fell to his death at an Atlanta Braves game last night. 
• ESPN's Outside the Lines is reporting there are two more mass autograph sessions of Johnny Manziel. 
• I was so wrong about what I expected to be the public outcry over PRISM and government spying that it has temporarily sucked the political life force out of me. I'm not sure anyone cares about anything important. 
• You never hear positive financial news about Radio Shack or J.C. Penney.
• It took a judge a whopping 195 pages to explain why the New York Police Department's "stop and frisk" policy is unconstitutional? (Couldn't she just cite to Terry v. Ohio?)

GIF Of The Day

From Friday.

The guys in the background have apparently been planning this fake punch for quite some time.

Knew the cameras would be on them.

Random Monday Afternoon Photos

That Olympian girl with the smirk face:

People that float in the Trinity River:

I'm not sure I understand "Juggalos":

Boop?

Quick Thought About The Book "Empire Of The Summer Moon"

Man, this book is fantastic. It's a history lesson of the 1800s in Texas told alongside the story of Cynthia Ann Parker who was kidnapped by the Comanches and then "rescued" many, many years later after having become an Indian bride and mother. The book is great for those who grew up or reside in North Texas. She is a "Parker" which begat Parker County, and her Indian husband was Peta Nocona which I can only assume is the namesake of the town north of Decatur.

What I've learned, well, relearned, from this book is how we are all a product of our environment. She was taken by the Comanches as a child and, by all accounts, assimilated into their life wholeheartedly. She became an Indian. She forgot English and spoke Comanche. She didn't want to leave.  After being returned to the white man, she quickly died a sad and heartbroken woman. But beforehand she became somewhat of a freak show as people would gather around to gawk at her whenever she was in town.

Look at those eyes.

And the photo? This is directly from the book as it described her life after being taken from the Indians:

"It was around this time that a photograph was taken of Cynthia Ann and Prairie Flower [her daughter] that would become famous on the frontier and beyond  They [her caretakers] had gone 'visiting' in Fort Worth . . . and landed in the photography studio of a man named A. F Corning. The result was an exceptional and luminous portrait of mother and daughter  In it, Cynthia Ann wears a plain cotton blouse with a kerchief tied loosely at the neck. He broad-straight , medium  brown hair is cropped short . . . . Her eyes are light and transparent. Her gaze disarmingly direct. Again we see the large, muscular hands and thick wrists  What is most extraordinary about the portrait, however, is Cynthia Ann's exposed right breast  at which the black-haired swaddled, and obviously quite pretty Prairie Flower is nursing. There is probably no precedent for this sort of photography on the Texas frontier in 1862. White women were not photographed with their breasts exposed. And even if a photographer had taken such a photo, no newspaper would have published it. This one was different. It became the picture of Cynthia Ann that generations of schoolchildren knew. It is still in wide circulation. The only explanation is that because Cynthia Ann was seen, and treated, as a savage, even though she was as white as any Scots-Irish settler in the South." 

(And thank you to Mark Fitzgerald who gave me the book and left a note buried within it.)

And He Wasn't Even Pointing The Camera In The Right Direction

Stumbled On The Mike Huckabee Show This Weekend

It's the antithesis of the old Sesame Street song of "One of these things is not like the other."

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• The "speaks volumes" commenter on here has to be in elementary school, right?
• How the NFL gets away with charging for preseason games is one of life's great mysteries. How the TV ratings for those things are high is another one. 
• Snake Eyes, a fairly old movie with Nicholas Cage, is equally great and horrible. (I stumbled upon it on cable this weekend and couldn't get away from it.)
• "The Justice Department plans to change how it prosecutes some non-violent drug offenders, so they would no longer face mandatory minimum prison sentences." Say what you will about AG Eric Holder, he is progressive.
• Mrs. LL put up hooks in the garage for three bicycles and it ended up looking like some crazy project for a modern art museam. Then I came home and found she had completely redone it. 
• After four episodes into The Bridge, I'm about to abandon it. Concept good. Writing bad.
• The beginning of the "Say Me Name" episode of Breaking Bad makes every guy want to be Walter White. 
• It wouldn't surprise me if Breaking Bad ends with something shocking, then a pause, and then the playing of the Ozymandias poem.
• I didn't watch a second of it, but I did see an interview of Kyle Busch who won the NASCAR race this weekend. I wish I had the clip because it was soooooo Ricky Bobby. He thanked six sponsors in fifteen seconds. 
• The Ticket's George DiGianni has a commercial for a "30 day fat loss accelerator". That makes me think he's a fraud. (He also drops the names of Mark Cuban, Michael Dell and Dennis Rodman in the ad, and I bet he didn't pay for the permission to do so.)
• I'm hearing more about Brian Cuban's book that I mentioned on Friday. That drives me insane. You can make money by writing  a book about being undisciplined simply because your last name is Cuban?
•  A 21 year old Bridgeport man was killed in a single vehicle accident over the weekend. A quick search of the Sheriff's office records reveals he had two DUI arrests and one DWI arrest. 

You Would Think It Is Photoshopped. Nope.

A perfect photo? Usain Bolt winning 100m at World Championships while a bolt of lightning strikes.

Source: ESPN