3.20.2015

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • I mentioned the other day that I thought SMU coach Larry Brown looks and sounds like he has health problems. Yesterday there was confirmation that he was ill. And I'm not sure there is not more to it.  
  • If you got out of your car at 8:01 in Decatur this morning, you got rocked by thunder and lightning and rain which seemed to come out of nowhere. 
  • A guy in Fort Worth was held in contempt and jailed yesterday by Judge Wayne Salvant for "taking pictures of the jury."  Man, this is a great First Amendment issue (taking a photo qualifies as "speech".) What if the photos were taken in the hallway? I don't think there is a law against that and how could it be constitutional if there were? It's a public courtroom. I'm allowed to go in and see the jury and even learn their names if I was there for jury selection. But I can never take a juror's picture? What about if I do it next year in a public place? What if I'm a victim's family member and I'm doing it because I'm proud of the jurors? 
  • And another issue about that case is that it sounds like the judge demanded that the guy turn over his phone so it could be searched for the photos. We know the police can't do that without a warrant and a judge is no different. 
  • Mrs. LL and I will dramatically hand over the TV remote to the other after either of us feels like we've monopolized it for too long or we know the other is wanting to watch something. 
  • Had the oddest experience two days ago when I passed a guy while jogging (he was walking) and he was very loudly singing, "Can't you see? Can't you see? What that woman . . . has done to me." Surprisingly, his voice was fantastic. Mrs. LL said that some vocalist practice while walking. I was thinking he just ended a relationship. Perhaps both?
  • Looked up that song which I hadn't heard in a while. It had a 61 second musical intro and lasted 6:05. You don't see that today. 
  • The Update has an item today about a 56 old lady (and first time offender) who was given a two year "deferred" sentence and placed on five years probation for simple drug possession. I'm nitpicking but "deferred" is the wrong word. I think you meant to say it was a two year sentence in the State Jail probated and suspended for five years. (But this bullet point is the equivalent of someone pointing out spelling errors on Random Thoughts, and I'd delete it if I hadn't spent so much effort on it.)
  • I love Junior Miller on The Ticket but he says the dumbest things sometimes. Today he cited a Channel 8 "Text Poll" on whether the public supported the Cowboys signing of Greg Hardy. The results were 93% against and 7% for. He was surprised. I was surprised he thought the poll had any credibility. A poll which requires the respondents to take action in order to respond will always end in a result that favors the most emotionally based response. Who was more likely to take the effort to text in? Those for or those against the signing? It would be those who are angry. 
  • That Hillary email "scandal" lasted about as long as I thought it would. (Completely irrelevant side note: You've got some serious name recognition when someone can be refer to you by your first name only.) 
  • Dale Hansen made national news yesterday for his "Unplugged" segment which is the reason he did it in the first place.  Many agreed with me yesterday with someone on the radio even saying, "How in the world did Dale Hansen become the moral authority for DFW?"
  • A Northwest ISD student was in class this week despite writing a fictional story which was violent and sexual in nature and which included the names of his classmates. Some want him removed.  Isn't this another First Amendment issue?  Can a kid write fiction without any threat of actually acting out on that fiction and be free from punishment by the government? The answer has to be "yes", right?