8.15.2015

Decatur Sports


Or, alternatively, a gal talking about a Baylor commit on a Saturday?  Hello, future Mrs. Green!
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8.14.2015

It's The Weekend: Let's Relax


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Why John Daly Is Beloved: He Is Us


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Grandma Explaining Xanax



Oh . . .

. . . . That says "addax".
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Get Me This Dog!



(It's a couple of years old, but I'd never seen it.)
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Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • There is now a rumor Al Gore is thinking about running for President. Joe Biden is considering the same thing. I'm all for anything that brings more entertainment.
  • The parents of the guy Tony Stewart ran over and killed in a dirt track race are suing him.  They are alleging negligence but many people still think Stewart intentionally killed him. Hey, let's say Stewart did do it intentionally. Does the analogy used by the cop shooting apologists of "if the dead guy hadn't gotten out of his car and walked out onto the track, all of this wouldn't of happened" work for you?
  • I had a blog reader stop by my office yesterday just to meet me. You think I had any trepidation in walking up front to meet him?  Nice guy by the way.
  • One thing he said that confused me and that I should have explored (but I was probably still scanning him for a weapon) was: "I disagree with most of what you say. I'm a Libertarian and lean a little to the left."
  • "There were more than 650 reports through Sunday by pilots of drones flying near manned aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Thursday. There were 238 unmanned-aircraft sightings in all of 2014." What's the over/under on the number of months or years before one brings down an airliner?
  • In 2012 I asked whether any drone company was publically traded because I wanted to invest in it. It's probably still not too late.
  • At the first of this year, the conventional wisdom was that Texas could withstand a drop in oil prices for about six months before an employment blood bath would begin. Yesterday oil hit $41.35 a barrel -- the lowest price in six years.
  • DFW media notice: The Fort Worth Court of Appeals has just issued a ruling in the bizarre case of former Arlington PD officer Tibor Kovacs.
  • According to the Update, "Rhome Councilwoman Dawn Davis has withdrawn her resignation from the council." Aren't there some weird rules when a public official announces a resignation? Very quick research just told me it has to be in writing and becomes effective when accepted by the city council or if eight day pass without action by the council. 
  • DFW's first all-recliner Cinemark movie theater opened yesterday in Roanoke. I support this trend in opulence. 
  • "11-Year-Old in Paraguay Gives Birth to Girl After Being Denied An Abortion".  Republican candidates Florida senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker both oppose abortion without any exceptions. 



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8.13.2015

PSA or Weird?



I'll go with weird.
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I Have No Idea



Bad haircut?
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Random Post As My Favorite Season Approaches

Edit: Baylor trolled TCU today with its team photo. For the record, I am NOT a fan of poking other teams with a stick


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Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • It's mind-boggling that Deflate-Gate has reached federal court and that a court had an all day hearing on the matter yesterday. But it was good to see the judge ask the NFL's lawyer, “What is the direct evidence that implicates Mr. Brady?” That pretty much tracks my awarding winning legal analysis of the case from a couple of weeks back. 
  • The federal judge hearing the case is named "Berman".  I wonder if he ever interrupted a lawyer with "Back, back, back, back up for a second." [Insert rim shot. Insert Hal Jay laugh. Insert groan.]
  • I've been going back and watching parts of Birdman again. I'm getting mildly obsessed. 
  • I haven't heard much about Decatur's Grayson Muehlstein who is a TCU quarterback (and probably getting yelled at by Gary Patterson at this moment just for fun).  I searched around and it seems like he is actually in the running for the backup spot to Trevone Boykin.  
  • Stolen from the Ticket: A great Sportsman of the Year cover for Sports Illustrated would be Jordan Spieth and Serena Williams riding American Pharoah. 
  • The AP released its Texas preseason high school football polls and Wise County did not represent.
  • Trump 2016 continues to roll. 
  • I couldn't help myself so I had to listen to Tim O'Hare filling in for Mark Davis yesterday. He had a guest named Abby Johnson who "is an American anti-abortion activist" (and whose story about her experience with Planned Parenthood been questioned.) As she was talking about the abortion process, she described it as something that at first you think is unbelieveable like the stories of a person who is "going to a party or something and then they wake up  in a bath full of ice and their kidney has been stolen or something like that. It's just so heinous. We know that does happen in some countries. We know that it has happened in some places. But it is so terrible that we think that it can't really be."   To save her credibility, O'Hare shut her up immediately.
  • Sixty-six year old Billy Joel became a father again last night as his 33 year old fourth wife gave birth.  
  • Cullen Davis makes the front page and I bet very few people know who is . . . 



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8.12.2015

Say What?


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This Doesn't Make Sense


Story

Ok, they basic criticism is that grand juries act in secret and the prosecutor hides behind their decision to not indict someone (when that is what the prosecutor wanted all along).  But if you don't have a grand jury, the prosecutor's decision alone will decide whether an officer is indicted. That will certainly expose the I'm-Never-Going-To-Indict-A-Cop-Prosecutor but on the hand gives enormous power to the I'll-Indict-Them-All-Prosecutor.

And there is no way such a law is legal. What are the problems? The California Constitution has a right to a grand jury which can't be trumped by a simple California law. Also, the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution would never allow a state to treat cops and non-cops differently in the criminal process.  (Some might think that the U.S. Constitution requires a grand jury. So far, it has never been ruled that the right to a grand jury applies to the states.)
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My Head Might Explode



Let's see what we've got:

  • A disabled vet (according to him and I have no reason to doubt him) parks in a handicap space
  • He's going to get "some alcohol"
  • It's Sunday
  • He gets detained by a cop because he doesn't look disabled despite the fact he has a handicapped permit
  • That vet just happens to be one cussing dude (LANGUAGE WARNING)
  • He's named "Isaiah" which is I think is cool
  • The cop and Isaiah just happen to both be black 
  • Both need to go to Anger Management (There's a lull in the middle but fires back up around the 7:30 mark)
  • Another cop, who just happens to be white, shows up and has to be thinking, "Isn't there some other job I can do instead of put up with all of this?" 
  • It's Florida!
  • "Florida police officer investigated after challenging US veteran over use of disabled parking space"
  • Underrated funny/disinterested walking guy by at 2:30 mark. 



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Parenting 101



Be a hot mom. Take kid to playground. Take selfies of yourself for over a  minute.

Who said parenting was hard?
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Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • The Arlington police chief fired the new officer who shot and killed the unarmed teenager at the car dealership. Honestly, I wasn't expecting that. There is no way he gets fired two years ago. 
  • And what would be the instant reaction today about the Fort Worth police shooting in 2013 which killed a 72 year old in his garage when the cops went to the wrong house?
  • The sign at Grace Baptist Church in Decatur reads: "The Devil Is Immediately Fired". 
  • "The whole #MegynKelly thing: forgotten. Like it or not #DonaldTrump back in command with brilliant press conference and speech in Michigan" - Tweet by conservative talk radio host Mark Davis last night. Once again, I'll say (1) the GOP has no idea they are committing suicide, and (2) this is the most bizarre presidential campaign in history.
  • Speaking of Davis, former Farmer's Branch mayor Tim O'Hare (who ran the city into the ground by getting it sued) is filling in for Davis this week. Note to O'Hare: You are a horrible talk show host. You don't listen to what your callers are saying, and you stay on topic just about as much Dug the talking dog does. 
  • There was a couple arrested at Golden Triangle Regional Airport in Columbus, Mississippi after the Feds accused them of attempting to fly to Damascus to join ISIS.  WBAP's Brian Estridge said this morning, "The shocking news is that there is a direct flight from Columbus to Damascus."  I looked it up. There isn't. But that would have been shocking. 
  • This week the University of Texas had a true freshman linebacker and and a redshirt freshman running back leave the program. There were high expectations for both.  If the Empire has a bad season (which most predict), coach Charlie Strong will have one more year to show results or he will be fired. And I'm not certain he would get the extra year.
  • Random state legislator that I think might be crazy and/or clueless: Konni Burton. 
  • If you follow Mark Cuban on Twitter, you will be beaten down by his constant reference to an app which he has invested in. Despite the nauseating promotion, it will not survive. However, I've noticed that when the Dallas Morning News writes about Cuban they will always refer to that app in the story. Uh, payola? 
  • But today's Cuban ad did have him saying this: "If you don’t agree with every platform of the [Republican] party not only are you called a RINO, a 'Republican in Name Only.' You are considered unelectable in primaries and become a source of scorn on Fox News. That's a problem." I'll  be dang. I agree with him. 
  • Norm Hitzges is celebrating his 40th year in radio broadcasting. He's mentioned how he was paid only $15 for one hour's work at his first job on local public radio. A random inflation calculator told me $15 in 1975 is the equivalent of $65.00 today. 



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8.11.2015

How About Another Police Interaction Video



Language warning.

Walk aggressively with an attitude and the cop pulls out a taser. Problem solved.

I'm still not sure why the taser isn't used more often.

Man, he dropped like a rock.

Edit: Uh, a couple of commentors who might be "low information voters" (that's Rush Limbaugh simplistic code for some other term), when did I say I did not approve of the officer's conduct? I'll condone a taser used in this situation every time. It's when a guy like that gets shot in the head is when I have a problem.


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Anything Going On In Jets Camp? Oh, My.




Where was Hard Knocks when you needed them!

Who is that IK guy?


Fun fact: His sister plays basketball for UT.

(Side note: Hey, all you old guys. Raise your hand if you just thought about Clint Longley.)


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Get Me This Dog!



He understands this heat struggle is real.

(Thanks, Leslie!)
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Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

  • The fire in south Fort Worth at the recycle plant yesterday evening was incredible yesterday. With no wind, the smoke just went straight up. It could be seen from Rhome and even further away.
  • Is is just me, are there a lot of ridiculously number of jacked up trucks around these days?
  • Conservative talk radio doesn't know how to handle Trump. If a host suggests he might be a little over the top and might be causing GOP damage, a ton of caller blowback will be received. And all of those callers have just one theme: "They are tired of political correctness." They also sound older and male and don't seem to care about anything else.
  • Trump is supposed to be on Fox and Friends this morning after he went scorched earth on Fox News (which didn't hurt him in the polls one iota -- something I do not understand.) I haven't heard anything crazy from yet from the appearance. 
  • I've ranted about the term "person of interest" because it's code for "suspect" and only used in an attempt to avoid disparaging someone in the event they are innocent. McKinney PD really ramped it up yesterday by releasing photos of 35 people as "persons of interest" in a credit card abuse case at a restaurant.
  • Parasailing death at South Padre Island.
  • The fact that we are catching a "break" in the heat because it will "only" be 100 today is why I hate living in Texas for this stretch. But its a small price to pay for a normally great 9 to 10 months a year.
  • Columbia House has declared bankruptcy. Remember them? You could get 10 or so albums for a nickel or something like that if you promised to buy 5 or so in the next 5 years. Then every month they would send a mailer requiring you to specifically write them back declining their "album of the month". If you didn't, you would receive it, and be billed an inflated price plus shipping.
  • "Frisco ISD Board approves construction for 10th high school. Memorial High to have price tag of $85.7 million."
  • Arlington PD said they had asked the FBI to investigate the circumstances surrounding the police shooting of the unarmed teenager at a car dealership. The FBI says, "Naaaa, we'll pass."
  • The reaction to this shooting is interesting. The kid broke into a dealership and was damaging property. He's was either a nut or high as a kite. But I don't understand how someone use those facts to justify his killing.  (The Ticket's Hardline said yesterday they "100% support the cops in this one".) If the kid charged the officer or acted like he had a weapon, fine. But what if the rookie cop just lost it and decided he was sick and tired of these types of crime and decided to blow the kid away? You wouldn't support that.  (I hope.) I'm just saying we know nothing about why the officer decided to pull the trigger four times so how can you we take a position one way or another? 
  • "Former Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential campaign is no longer paying its staff because fundraising has dried up, campaign and super PAC officials and other Republicans familiar with the operation said late Monday."  I'm no Karl Rove, but I'm pretty sure that's a bad sign.


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Real Michael Irvin Does Fake Michael Irvin School Closing



It's a Ticket bit but this was shown on Fox 4 and WFAA last night. (I'm looking for a longer cut because the next few seconds of the reaction may be the best part. Edit: The WFAA video is pretty good.)

Oh, a Decatur ISD flashback from earlier in the year:

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8.10.2015

Alphabet?




From Google/Alphabet:


Uh. So what's going to happen now when you did this?:
Mind. Blown. They just stole a word!!

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Slip And Slide Kickball



Idiocracy?  I think not.  That is some grade A fun right there.

To all the millions of kids in my neighborhood back in the day on the mean streets of Bridgeport, how did we not think of this?
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Tweeting Texas Supreme Court Justices


Hey, that's fine. I'd do the same thing -- always wanted to walk around that place. But in this day and time, I'd be scared of everything if I'm a politician. Insert future Bubba opponent: "This man visited Cadillac Ranch and had a smile on his face!"  As silly and ridiculous as that sounds, we are falling into Idiocracy as warp speed.


Then again, I might be guilty of Idiocracy myself because I might use bad comedy as a reason to vote against someone:




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Those Vehicles In The Middle Of Bike Races Have Always Made Me Nervous

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Random Monday Morning Thoughts




  • Frank Gifford died over the weekend. He was part of a great post (if I do say so myself) in March on this site entitled "The Death Of A Man This Morning Who Troubled Me Because Of A Photo". 
  • I also randomly posted a picture of Kathy Lee Gifford last week. The blog curse continues. 
  • Along my jogging path (which I'm walking these days due to the heat), I go across a bridge which will always have a bunch of turtles underneath it. On Sunday, at the crack of dawn, I walked across it and looked down as I always do but this time I saw two huge snakes half submerged. They appeared to be cuddling. I stopped and stared. One of them sensed me after about thirty seconds and slithered off into the creek. 
  • A guy is missing after a boating accident on Eagle Mountain Lake. A game warden said the boat broke apart after hitting a wake.  That makes no sense. 
  • I finally went back to movie watching because of the heat and finished Gone Girl. Verdict: I thought it was really, really good. Yeah, it can be a little campy but the concept was absolutely believable. And there were two or three lines in it that made me stop down. Huge thumbs up.
  • I also watched Birdman.  I need to watch it again (and again) but right now I think it is absolutely a work of art. It may very well end up as one of my all time favorite films. 
  • Want to go down a worm hole? Search Google images for "screen stills" and then insert your favorite movie. 
  • The Daily Beast has begun a series of podcasts on unethical prosecutors. "Suppressing evidence, coddling informants, even outright lying are some of the instances of prosecutorial misconduct that sent away nearly half the 1,621 people convicted for crimes they didn’t commit since 1989, according to the University of Michigan Law School’s National Registry of Exonerations. These are only the cases we know about, and they are surely only a fraction of the wrongly convicted. Even so, the figure is stunning—especially when you consider that 115 of them were people condemned to die. The punishment for bad prosecutorial misconduct is virtually nil."
  • Wheels off news reporting involving the Dallas Morning News: A pilot was killed yesterday after his plane crashed in California. It was supposed to carry a banner over Cowboys training camp to taunt them -- and was funded by Philadelphia fans. There was even a photo.  The plane crash was true. Everything else was not. Deadspin reviews this mess.
  • Trump 2016 is still alive. 
  • The Paradise High School "drive by" shooting seems to have a lot of unanswered questions. And "drive by" might be a little bit of a sensational term in this case. 
  • A friend of mine told me she had heard the first part of Buzz Bissinger, the author of Friday Night Lights, on Fresh Air and thought I'd like his reflections on Odessa Permian. I found the podcast.  I don't think she got to the part where he unapologetically talks about his leather fetish and cross-dressing. That guy is intense. He doesn't suffer fools and seems to think everyone is a fool. 
  • Bridgeport's Colin Jones continues to play in the NFL, and the Charlotte Observer profiled him. "A white player in the defensive backfield has become a rarity in the NFL . . . . "
  • An Arlington officer who was about to end his field training shot and killed an unarmed black teenager last week. The FBI has been "asked" to help with the investigation. That's weird. Normally a police agency will call in the Texas Rangers. 


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8.09.2015

I've Thought About This All Weekend


I learned on Friday through public posts on Facebook that attorney Jim Shaw in Fort Worth is having a cancer issue. I have no idea what his situation is but his wife wrote, " We are going for a second opinion and treatment for metastasis melanoma."

As I was scanning through the posts to try an learn more, this photo came up.  I will readily and unabashedly tell you I cried. And cried again.  That photo. Oh, that photo.

Jim seems to be the opposite of me. We have the same job --  a job  which causes me incredible stress and anguish he seems to handle in stride with a smile and humor. Of course, what seems to be true isn't always true.

Jim can best be explained by the following. I watched him during jury selection in a misdemeanor marijuana case in Wise County. He pointed out that marijuana actually has a specific definition that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. He pulled out a law book and read from it "Marijuana means the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not, the seeds of that plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of that plant or its seeds."

And then, without missing a beat, despite the fact a thought just came to him, he said, "I guess they forgot to add parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme."




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