Random Error

Above The Fold

Friday Evening Insanity

	Bud Kennedy (@BudKennedy)
6/27/14, 7:54 PM In Oklahoma, a defeated R claims his opponent is an impostor timothyraymurray.com/#2675

My Analysis Of World Cup Sweet 16 Taking You Into The Weekend

This Is Weird

J.D. Granger is the well paid Executive Director of the Trinity River Vision Authority and a former Tarrant County prosecutor (and more). He is also the son of U.S. Rep. Kay Granger.

Examined and enlarged.

Important Information For Joggers/Runners

If you signed up for the Sexy School Girl 5K in Raleigh, North Carolina, it has been cancelled due to criticism. Another example of why we can't have nice things in this country.

It's OK. They Apologized.

Really.

Pete Delkus Is Losing His Mind

Be careful @lakebrahlands I'll zap you with my superpowers!! pic.twitter.com/kZeZhqHn3o
— Pete Delkus (@wfaaweather) June 27, 2014

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The car vs. motorcycles crash near Slidell last month which left two dead has lead to the arrest this week of Sherri Rose of Weatherford for Manslaughter. (The two charges have bonds of $100,000 a piece -- which is insane.) Note the charge was Manslaughter (reckless killing) and not Intoxication Manslaughter. 
• So I went to Victory Park yesterday to watch the US/Germany soccer match. It was really cool, but not near as crazy as I thought it would be.
• The American Airlines Center was open for bathroom facilities and they had concession stands running. Smart move. 
• I walked over to Klyde Warren Park since I was in the area. Dare I say it: Meh. It's really cool and worth the expense to build, but it just doesn't feel like a "park" at all. But it is great just to sit and stare at the Dallas skyline. (I finally figured out the controversy regarding that building reflecting the sun onto the Nasher Sculpture Center.)
• To trick up the experience, I decided to take the TRE train between Fort Worth and Dallas since it dumps you off right at American Airlines Center. That thing is fantastic.
• Fantastic unless you get confused and get off at the wrong stop on the way back. A second train to take me back five miles didn't arrive until and hour and fifteen minutes later. I definitely wasn't in Manhattan.
• As I was driving home, I heard The Ticket's Mike Rhyner ask, "Did all four teams from the U.S. bracket move on [to the final sixteen]." Sheesh.
• Baylor's Isaiah Austin being honored by the NBA last night was a tear jerker. 
• The Update has a reference to Stacey Bernal who died of breast cancer. Here is her obituary in the Mason County News. She was 34.
• The Star-Telegram's Etta Hulme, a long time political cartoonist, has died. The power of the political cartoonist can best be summed up by Boss Tweed: "Stop them damned pictures. I don't care so much what the papers say about me. My constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures!"
• BagOfNothing had a great tip on how to disable auto-playing videos for any browser. 
• I hung a flyswatter inside the pantry. Ten years ago. It was accidentally so concealed that we just now found it. 
• "Dateable girls know how to shut up." -- Faith based dating expert Justin Lookadoo last year while addressing Richardson High School.  He's in the news again after being found under the influence of alcohol in his parked and vomit stained car.
• Mrs. LL is spending two days with The Kids In The House and friends at the Great Wolf Lodge.  She said their room faces east so they get to see the jets landing at DFW Airport. I think that would be cool. 
• If you Mavs fans think Carmelo Anthony is coming to Dallas, you're crazy. 
• I was able to watch The Today Show yesterday, and stopped down when Matt Lauer asked the head of GM if she could do that job and still be a good mother. I thought, "Man, that's sexist." Would he have asked a male if he could be GM and a good dad? It's good to see I wasn't the only one thinking that. 

I Might Be Here Right Now

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Baylor's new stadium, which looks like a gem if you go down I-35, will cost $260 million. OU announced improvements to their stadium yesterday at a cost of $370 million.
• We had a Sweet 16 party last night with about 20 girls and two beaten down guys. It had a masquerade theme, and I was stunned that all the girls showed up in semi-formal dresses and pretty much kept off of their phones all night long. 
• The post-party turned into to a sleep over which, by my count, meant there were a total of eight females in the house overnight. But I might have missed a body or two.
• We've got a ton of left over BBQ and "fixings" in the fridge -- more than we can possibly eat. I told Mrs. LL to put it all on Craig's List. She looked at me like I was crazy. I wonder if people would actually show up and get it. 
• I don't want to brag, but I'm gonna brag: Yesterday the Court of Criminal Appeals, after I had convinced them to hear my case, ruled in favor of my client by reversing a lower court's decision. That's the second time in two years that has happened. I bet 95% (a conservative estimate) of the criminal defense lawyers have never had one win in Texas' highest criminal court. Not bad for, as a commentor often calls me, "a small town hack lawyer."

Some people think I'm crazy having this blog while being a sole practitioner in a small town. "Don't you think you come across as so crazy you'll scare away potential clients?" Maybe. But I've found the opposite to be true. I'm losing track of the number of times a new client has sat across from me and said, "I read your blog all the time." Most people are smart enough to understand what happens every morning in "Random Thoughts". 

The cell phone decision yesterday by the Supreme Court was shockingly straight forward. 

"House Speaker John Boehner will file a lawsuit against the Obama administration for its use of executive actions to change laws, he formally announced Wednesday." Thoughts: (1) Boehner is a good guy but a weak guy. He's scared to death of the Tea Party, (2) The lawsuit will go nowhere because (2A) I doubt he has legal standing to challenge anything, (2B) There's a doctrine called "a political question" which gives the courts an excuse to keep out of things like this, and (2C) The litigation will take so long that the President will be out of office and all parties will lose interest by then. 

That Malaysian passenger jet is still missing. Pretty amazing. 

The goofy Texas Supreme Court judge who tweets all the time fired off a tweet last night based upon demographics and unwed mothers. I'm not sure what that was about or why he is treading on dangerous political ground, but I tried to troll him but got nothing. 

Tyson Chandler coming back to the Mavericks? That oft injured guy is just enough to keep the Mavs mediocre which, as I've said time and time again, is exactly what you don't want to be in the NBA. A team, once there, can stay there for a decade. Cuban gonna be Cuban. 

The "Tango Frogs" have moved to the top of a Taco Cabana in Dallas. I'm old enough to have actually gone to the Tango dance club in the early 1980s when those frogs were on top of it. I wandered around that place wild eyed.

I'd like to see places like Joe Pool Lake, but the beating to get there always seems to outweigh the payoff. 

I heard the defeated Mississippi Tea Party guy, Chris McDaniel, on Hannity's radio show yesterday. What a whiny sore loser. (And in his non-concession speech, he mentioned Ronald Reagan five times. Please.)

I'm trying to follow the battle between the Texas Ethics Commission and Tea Party activist Michael Quinn Sullivan. I've yet to figure it out. But I have determined that Sullivan is the last guy you want to invite to a party. 

Calm, Cool and Collected

(NBC) A rollover crash in Bel-Air, California, last week didn’t seem to faze the elderly couple involved. After the blue Honda tipped over, the uninjured couple posed for pictures with the car — even though the wife was still trapped inside.The couple seemed to be in good spirits, according to Los Angeles police. The woman even asked her husband for her purse so she could take a picture of herself, police said.  Los Angeles County firefighters helped free her. Authorities did not say what caused the rollover in the first place

And Another Update

I missed this yesterday. But you gotta love this sentence: “This was unusual case in that one victim married the defendant and was not cooperative,” said the prosecutor.

Edit: I'll be, that's from last year.  This morning I was looking at my Twitter feed and someone with the Star-Telegram tweeted this story. Since I was at the courthouse, I went to find the tweet once I got back to the office. I couldn't find it for the life of me -- probably because it had been deleted. I only found the story by searching the Star-Telegram's web site. (This ends my explanation for this horrendous blogging screw-up.)

Supreme Court Just Remembered We Have A Fourth Amendment

BaaUUM!

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Luis Suárez, the soccer player that keeps biting other players, has to have a screw loose.
• "Young Marlins Fan Gets On Camera, Completely Loses His Mind." Well, that was uncomfortable. (Expand the comments where people compare him to the "bat boy".)
• Mrs. LL had her eyebrows "done" yesterday and she was still complaining of perceived third degree burns as she was going to bed last night. She said she knew there was a problem when that wax was first applied. 
• I've jumped back into House of Cards.
• Want to see a dance video involving one of the largest law firms in the state? Trust me, that's the only fun that office will see all year. And from the dance moves, it's obvious most of those people have never had any fun at all.
• As the horrible news of the 17 year old who died in a Colleyville house fire appeared on the news last night, I said out loud, "That's why we have fire detectors." The Sixth Grader To Be In The House then asked why we didn't have them in the kitchen. I'll be dang. We don't have smoke detectors in the kitchen. 
• Ticket Fans : (1) This morning, Gordon Keith told the story about the Texas cop saving the woman from the oncoming train but Junior interrupted and said, "Was there any way Snidely Whiplash had tied her to the tracks?" Either he stole that from me or we both have horrible senses of humor. (2) The Fake Tiger Woods said he was born in a barn in Wise County yesterday. 
• I fixed the garbage disposal last night, then accidentally ripped the electrical source out, and then quickly fixed that blunder. I told Mrs. LL that I'm getting dumber and smarter as I get older. I'm experiencing extremes of both. 
• I got my emergency burner phone yesterday. It cost $19.95 and is a flip phone. The first instruction was to insert the SIM card. I couldn't figure it out. 
• It's the 30 year anniversary of the release of Purple Rain. I really don't care about the album but that's a heck of a long time. 
• The Tea Party got slapped down in Mississippi and Oklahoma last night.  As for Mississippi, talk show host Mark Davis blamed Jacksonville Democrats for voting in the Republican primary. Specifically, black Jackson Democrats. 

Above The Fold

Our Problems Are Over

Two Republicans, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, had a little Kumbaya moment with some dirty Democrats today at the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony. Now if the Tea Party doesn't kill those two before sundown, we are all a little closer to peace and harmony.

You can see the CSPAN video of the awkwardness here (at the 20:40 mark.) Edit: Heck, CSPAN has now even edited the clip down.

Check Out This Terrified Dog Livin' On The Mean Streets Of Compton

Man, if you aren't moved by the transformation immediately after the dog is caught, I'm worried about you. And, trust me, I'm worried about a lot of you already.

There's no way that dog hasn't been adopted yet, right? I mean, there's a million percent chance someone already has him in their home. That being said, I was a little hesitant to put my standard "Get Me This Dog!" headline on this one. One of you guys would have him overnighted to me by sundown tomorrow. But considering that I grew up on the mean streets of Bridgeport, the pup and I would probably get along.

World Cup Geography Lesson Of The Day

Man, I had no idea Brazil was that large.

Not Shooting To Kill, Shooting To Harrass

BREAKING: Shots Fired from Mexico to Harass Texas-US Law Enforcement http://t.co/RBfsaduy8A pic.twitter.com/EO9anL6Q5e
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 24, 2014

There were less people on the boat going up the Nung River to find Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.

Bull vs. Man Part XX

Jose Tomas, one of Spain's most famous matadors, was gored after turning his back on what he thought was a vanquished animal during a bullfight. This is the shocking moment that shows why you should never turn your back on a bull.

The Spanish matador was gored and thrown in the air three times after thinking he had defeated his beefy opponent in Granada.

Jose Tomas, 38, then played dead while his assistants raced into the ring to drag him to safety.

Amazingly, the veteran bull-fighter returned to finish the job and kill the 1,100lb animal -- before being rushed to hospital with a broken rib.
Other matadors weren't so lucky - last year Spaniard El Cordobes was gored when a huge black bull turned on him without warning.

You know I hate bull fighting, and I love it when a matador gets it from the business end of a bull. But I wasn't going to post this video until I confirmed that the matador wasn't killed so I checked the youtube description. He came back to kill the bull? You gotta be kidding me. Now I almost don't want to post it because the matador survived.

(Side note: That's a great public service announcement buried in the description. The video is proof "why you should never turn your back on a bull."  Thanks, chief. I need to be reminded of that from time to time.)

Are We Sure Snidely Whiplash* Wasn't Involved?

Dramatic video shows a Richmond, Texas police officer risking his life to save a woman who was sitting on railroad tracks.

The images show the warning lights flashing and the gates lowering early Sunday morning just as Officer Ramon Morales pulls up to the scene.

His dash-mounted camera shows him running to the woman and dragging her out of the speeding locomotive's path to safety... just 12 seconds before the train would have hit her.

The woman was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

___________________
* An incredibly dated reference.

It Really Is

Link. (And we have an early appearance from the kid in The Sixth Sense.)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Johnny Football was hitting the clubs again this weekend. Hey, Now. (One of those gals was with Justin Beiber when he got busted for drag racing.)
• This American Life had a great episode this week on Asa Carter -- the writer who penned George Wallace's "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" speech. He would later change his name and write The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales and The Education of Little Tree. (Ticket fans: Based upon the way the guy sounds in audio recordings, the fact that his early career in radio,  and the fact that he was a racist from the South, I wonder if he's the basis of Gordon Keith's Ed Carter character.)
• I can post a picture of a puppy and someone will take a shot at the President within five comments. That's just weird.
• Whoa: There has not been an indoor mall built in America since 2006.
• "The American Bar Association says it's ethical for lawyers to scour online for publicly available musings of citizens called for jury service . . . . " So anyone can look up public information about another person online? Duh.
• I was too beaten down to even mention my yesterday morning: Couldn't find an umbrella. Couldn't find my keys. And when I did I went outside to find that I had left my window cracked during the rainstorm and was facing a soak interior. It was such a bad start to a Monday that I could only laugh. 
• Cowboy fans might be familiar with Mrs. Price, a very loud lady who still attends every Dallas Cowboys training camp.  Last night, a picture went out which showed her in the stands of the 1981 Dallas at San Francisco NFC Championship game. 
• Did you know we will no longer have vehicle inspection stickers? Instead, we will have to have the vehicle pass inspection 90 days before your registration is up.  And you can't renew registration unless the State has received notice of a passed inspection. (Explained here in a horribly written article.)
• I showed Mrs. LL this picture of a dog last night and said, "Look. That dog is feeling melancholy!" I'm not quite sure I've ever seen her shake her head at me like that.
• SMU will start selling beer at football games (after selling it at basketball games last season turned out to be a success.) The Evil Empire is even considering it. I never thought I'd see that. 
• Official Liberally Lean MLB Player Man Chris Davis hit a walk off home run last night and then used his helmet as a bowling ball as he reached home plate. 
• A few weeks back the body of a Fort Worth "executive" was found dead in East Texas. Based upon a story today in the Star-Telegram, he had answered an escort service ad, went to her apartment in the Hulen area, and was met by the hooker and, much to his surprise, her shotgun toting friend. 

The President Ate At Chipotle Today

And that's a power move right there. Just bypassing the sneeze guard and pointing out what he wants. Just taking control over the rice, beans and salsa.

I Think I've Found The Most Beaten Down Guy In The History Of Beaten Down Guys

Drunk Guy Tries To Move Alligator -- Almost Loses A Hand

Even when he's sober, I bet he's not the best decision maker.

From Downtown Fort Worth

A buddy sent this to me today. I thought it might be some type of bit, but it looks legit.

Political Junkies Will Find This Old Tweet Funny

	Sonasoft.com (@Sonasoft)
10/9/09, 11:40 AM If the IRS uses Sonasoft products to backup their servers why wouldn't you choose them to protect your severs? http://www.sonasoft.com

The Most Mysterious Thing About A Ouija Board Is The Way That It Is Pronounced

Daily Mail- Three American friends have been taken to hospital after reportedly becoming ‘possessed’ by evil spirits while playing with a Ouija board.  Alexandra Huerta, 22, was playing the game with her brother Sergio, 23, and 18-year-old cousin Fernando Cuevas at a house in the village of San Juan Tlacotenco in south-west Mexico. But minutes into it, she apparently started ‘growling’ and thrashing around in a ‘trance-like’ state. They restrained Alexandra to prevent her from hurting herself, before treating the three with painkillers, anti-stress medication and eye drops, which seemingly worked. ‘They had involuntary movements and it was difficult to transfer them to the nearest hospital because they were so erratic. ‘It appeared as if they were in a trance-like state, apparently after playing with the Ouija board. ‘They spoke of feeling numbness, double vision, blindness, deafness, hallucinations, muscle spasm and difficulty swallowing.’

Graphic footage that some viewers may find disturbing? Uh, yeah, if you think bad acting is disturbing. Someone needed to throw a glass of water in that Regan MacNeil wannabe and tell her to cut the crap. Honey, unless you can spin your head around in a sweet 360, I'm not buying it.

Kid Discovers His Eyebrows

Just wait until he throws down that routine in Pre-K.  He'll be just slaying it with the ladies.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I watched the documentary How To Make Money Selling Drugs over the weekend, and it was basically an anti Drug War film with nothing new to offer. But it did have this gem: We've cut cigarette use by regulation, taxation, limitations on advertising, and a bombardment of public service announcements and warnings. Now what would happen if we just simply outlawed them? Use would explode and a massive black market would be created.
• I was able to watch the soon to be Sophomore In The House play a softball game online on Saturday night. They even had a play by play guy who, surprisingly, was really good. (But at the end of the game I was disturbed to see Mrs. LL and that kid do The Wobble).
• "For the 12th time in 13 years, the Wise County Messenger has been judged the best large semiweekly newspaper in the state of Texas." Hey, I like the Messenger but I ask this every year: How many semiweekly newspapers in Texas are there?
• Walking a dog who is always pulling on the leash is a beating. Lighten up and relax you moron dog!
• That USA/Portugal game yesterday was some high entertainment. 
• As a soccer novice, the fact that they can kick a ball and have it curve/bend it is amazing. (And I haven't just figured out they can do that. That was when I saw the title Bend It Like Beckham)
• After the last World Cup game ends every day (around 7:00) they cut to the outdoor studio where it is dark. I was confused at first because Brazil is basically in our same time zone. Then it dawned on me: It's that tilted Earth thing!!!
• Hope Solo got arrested for domestic violence over the weekend. I've wondered about her since she showed up to a Newsweek interview one morning drinking mimosas. (And I also learned this weekend that her current husband were arrested the day before their wedding for allegedly assaulting her. They got married any way.)
• When I was watching the weather on Fox 4 last night they showed a graphic of local "weather watchers" reporting rainfall. One guy in Granbury reported over seven inches of rain. I called him a liar right to his TV face. Upon further review, I think I owe him an apology. 
• I've heard the construction of the big house north of Bridgeport (Cuban's sister?) is coming along. 
• An off duty Arlington officer killed a man in a Pappadeaux parking lot? Pappadeaux's???
• Augie Garrido, the University of Texas baseball coach, looks like he drinks a lot. And even if that's true, it hasn't impacted his ability to coach. 
• Isaiah Austin played for Baylor basketball last year and got everyone's attention when it was revealed he only had one eye. He got slapped again by life this weekend when it was revealed that his potential NBA career was over in that he has been diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome. He almost immediately granted an interview to ESPN and it was heart-breaking. 
• I think I convinced Mrs. LL that The Wire is pretty great. 
• So the USA and Germany play each other on Thursday and both teams can advance with a tie? Is there anything illegal about cutting a deal for 0-0 tie?

My Analysis Of America's World Cup Win Tie Today

What I was posting during the last minute of play ...

America be like https://t.co/8QZrzRTwbR
— Stars and Stripes FC (@StarsStripesFC) June 22, 2014

What ended up happening . . .

A $24 Million Yacht Burned This Weekend.

Of course, someone launched a drone to record it. Wait, what?