It's Friday: Let's Get Out Of Here

What the work week was like . . .

I wonder if she will be lonely on Valentines? . . .

Good week. Let's go . . . 

Here We Go Again

Two 15-year-old girls confirmed dead in Arizona high school shooting: https://t.co/wrutzx5HqJ pic.twitter.com/fbPjg8YlGI

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 12, 2016

We Have A New Leader In The Clubhouse: Get Me This Dog!

And there are a ton more. Funny. And I do mean funny!

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I only get one complaint about our local Justices of the Peace: Some of them take all day to show up at the Wise County Jail to set bonds for people who were arrested the night/day before. Hey, get out there at 9:00. It is not that hard. You guys work for us. And has anyone thought about doing that process online via video? 
• A 102 year old Bridgeport woman was honored at a Mav's game the other night.
• MADD claims they receive no money from ignition interlock companies despite the fact they lobby to have those devices installed at every level. If I was in Vegas, I'd place $100 on "That has to be a bold faced lie." There has to be some connection. Follow the money.
• Incredible: Our under indictment Texas Attorney General sided with Baylor PD to shield records about sex assault reports because they are "not of legitimate concern to the public". Police departments and DA's offices who won't turn over records to the press drive me nuts. Speaking of, the Montague County DA still won't turn over the documents requested by the Messenger related to the shooting of a man and the shooting of the Wise County Sheriff's Office drug dog. There is no reason not to unless they are hiding something. (And I've heard rumors.)
• Gravitational waves were discovered in space because two black holes collided? The chance of me understanding that is less than 1%.
• Waco hit 83 degrees yesterday setting a record. Also, yesterday was the six year anniversary of the biggest snowstorm in metroplex history and the anniversary of me (1) separating my shoulder while sledding and (2) coming to the realization I'm not as young as I think I am. 
• Political nerds: A site which is absolutely credible has set up an interactive map tracking the number of "likes" on Facebook for presidential candidates based upon geography. You can even see Wise County, and I'll say I'm surprised. 
• Funny thing someone said to me yesterday: "I like your arrogance ... no [panic voice] ... I didn't mean to use the word arrogance!" 
• Ted Cruz had to pull down an ad because it was discovered one of the actresses was a former "soft" porn star. I would have loved to have been in the room when one of his aids had to walk up to him and say, "Uh, Mr. Cruz . . . . " (And I got a giggle looking for the story by Googling "Cruz Soft Porn".)
• As a guy who monitors crime in Wise County all the time, let me tell you something: If your kid is on a "dating site", you need to tell them to be careful. There are scams going on. 
• Ranger Manager Jeff Banister was on The Ticket yesterday and he was fantastic. He talked about how he was hospitalized as a young man and then teared up talking about how sad he was that he caused his parents so much worry. How refreshing. Compare: Robot Jason Garrett.
• And Jerry Jones teared up this week talking about his parents in an interview. 
• A police chase in the metroplex led to a head on collision killing two with one of the most horrific traffic photos you'll see. 

Above The Fold

The Oregon Standoff Is Closed

@NotJackKemp The chick on the phone trying to help is the blonde. lol pic.twitter.com/tJ34cRkHnr

— Don (@lawlwutttt) February 11, 2016

Man, according to The Ticket, there was a live broadcast of the feds trying to arrest them in the final standoff. And it was some kind of broadcast where people could hack in (?) as the protesters talked. Periscope? There was one lady who claimed she was driving five hours to go help the protesters out.

She's the lady above.

This requires further investigation!

Hot Air Balloon vs. House: Who Ya Got?

I'll tell you, that was almost one spectacular front door entry.

Get Me This . . . Uh . . . Goat!!

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• You want to tell me a 10 second segment on NBC News about Burger King now selling hot dogs wasn't a buried ad? 
• What happened to Dennis Miller? He used to be so funny now he comes off as scripted and angry. (And he pronounces "picture" as "pitcher" which drives me insane. And let's just say that's been a problem around the Family House for years.)
• Did Donald Trump get a spray on tan?
• The Dallas City Council voted 8-7 to ban eXXXotica from the convention center. They will get sued, they will lose, and will have given the group more publicity then they could ever buy. Nice move. 
• Why does Fox News have Karl Rove on from time to time? He's wrong about everything. And didn't he scam a bunch of people on a SuperPAC that he ran a few years back? 
• And one more Fox News gripe: Does every guest have to promote a book? Is this a requirement? And Bill O'Reilly pimping his "Killing [insert name]" books is beyond belief. Especially since there is no chance he wrote even one sentenece.
• I may be the only guy in America who is not offended by Cam Newton right now.
• What happened to Sean's BBQ in Decatur? (And I don't want rumors, I want facts.)
• Hey, did I say the Waggoner Mansion was sold in yesterday's Random Thoughts? 
• Mark Cuban's yacht was seen in Miami. Years ago I posted a video of an alleged yacht he owned and it turned out to be a hoax but this one seems to be legit. (By the way, it's named Fountainhead after one of the dumbest (and longest) books ever written.)
• I mentioned Sirhan Sirhan the other day and now he's in the news for being denied parole. The Liberally Lean Curse continues. He is 71 years old. 
• Looks like we might have yet another pregnancy up at the courthouse. The lady is in denial but a few of us listened to the facts yesterday and came to that conclusion much to her chagrin. She claims it is not possible, which gave rise to a funny comment by one of us of, "What if the doctor used a slip knot and it didn't hold?"
• The Update lists four deaths of people who are 51 or younger.
• Someone up at the courthouse said to me the other day, "Everyone has their price." I was a little taken aback but have thought about that way too much since then. You know, I think it depends on the price for what. I don't steal but if someone offered me $100,000 to walk into Walmart and steal a candy bar, I'd at least think about it. You ask me to throw a jury trial for $1 million I'd say no because I would never be able to sleep again. Stay out all night and face Mrs. LL's wrath the next morning for $1,000? That's a tough one. It's a game of hypotheticals which will drive you insane. But it's pretty fun. 

Two More Drop Out Today: Is Trump Going To Win This Thing?

Who remains among all the 2016 GOP candidates. #SpecialReport pic.twitter.com/KBImG5AkQL

— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 10, 2016

Stripper Comedy

French Soccer Chicks Fight

And the fact that the announcer speaks French makes this almost hot (but don't quote me on that.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Trump! Sanders! Win! Idiocracy!
• Beyonce mentioned Red Lobster in a song at the Super Bowl and its sales are up. You know what? I have no idea where a Red Lobster is in Fort Worth or Denton. 
• Big discussion up at the courthouse as of late: Should the police, on a routine traffic stop, have the right to ask you "where are you are headed?" Does that delay the "detention" for a reason unrelated to the traffic stop.
• And I'll admit they intentionally "drew me offsides" yesterday on the Third Floor of the courthouse to no end. It's fun, interesting, and intelligent arguments, but if I had a blood pressure monitor on me, EMS would have been called. (And I should have charged an admission price to a particular probation officer who was entertained more than anything else he saw yesterday.)
• I dropped the 7th Grader in The House off at school at 5:50 this morning for practice. 5:50!!!!
• "Speaking to the Ector County Commissioners’ Court on Monday morning, District Judge Sara Kate Billingsley said a threat has been made against her life, and in response, commissioners approved the creation of a bailiff position for her courtroom." She didn't have a bailiff?
• "The disciplinary board of the Texas State Bar on Monday affirmed the agency’s decision to disbar Charles Sebesta, the former prosecutor who oversaw the wrongful death sentence of Anthony Graves." Wow. The State Bar actually does something other than print the most boring magazine in the history of ever!
• Mrs. LL had jury duty yesterday. The prosecutor asked her if my occupation would impact her in any way. She said no. Then the second chair prosecutor suddenly said, "May we approach, your honor?"  (She couldn't hear what was said.) She never made it on the jury. My ego wants me to believe the prosecutor suddenly realized, "Oh, my! She's married to that crazy blog guy!"
• Dallas is debating whether they should let the eXXXitca Convention should be allowed back. If there is nothing illegal going on and they want to ban it based upon its "content", they would have a heck of a Freedom of Speech lawsuit on their hands. (But the odd part is that billionaire Ray Hunt is leading the "ban this!" crowd. Why does he care?)
• Decatur is home to the Waggoner Mansion. Yesterday it was announced that "Stan Kroenke, the billionaire owner of the NFL’s Rams, has agreed to purchase the historic W.T. Waggoner Estate Ranch in Texas . . . . Terms for the purchase of the more than 520,000-acre estate" were not announced. It was listed for $725 million. 

Well, Here's Another Post About Rochester Basketball

Get Me This Baby Goat!

 Animated gif Link.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Two trains collided head on in Germany this morning killing at least 10. How does that happen?
• On vacation as a kid in San Francisco (cue orchestra music), we went to the Winchester Mansion. Maybe the most fascinating place ever. The widow of the gun guy believed that so long as she continued to add on to her home she would never die. 
• I don't have any trouble with Cam Newton's short answers in the post loss press conference at the Super Bowl. I'll take honest feelings over canned answers any day.
• I've not yet seen any one "open carry" a handgun yet.
• It always takes me about five minutes to realize how mad I am about something that happened. It happened yesterday.
• Johnny Manziel may be a nut, but I bet his girlfriend is a nut as well.
• His girlfriend obtained a "Protective Order".  Look, I bet I've seen a hundred women ask for one in the Wise County Attorney's Office over the years. Unlike  most court documents, those are truly just a "piece of paper." It means nothing. If a guy is crazy enough to assault you, an 8 1/2" X 11" white sheet will not stop them. 
• Baylor students protested outside the home of Kenneth Starr about allegations of sexual assault by the football team. I don't know if the allegations are true, but I love the irony that the target is Kenneth Starr. How many millions did he cost you back in the day? 
• When I was watching Beyonce at the Super Bowl do one of "moves" I fired off a "good lord!" Mrs. LL fired back, "You do far worse with those Random Thought Girls!" Good point.
• The dumbest politician in Texas is Konni Burton. Cluesless. Pure clueless. (And to beat Jonathon Stickland in this category takes a lot.)
• Rubio might be a robot. 
• If we don't have a hard freeze to kill off all the pollen, Mrs. LL and I might die of sneezing.
• Every year around this time there will be a ton of radio ads for berries and pajamas. But this morning the pajama ad ran and said there was a "hidden secret" in the back. 
• 7th grader in the house to me this morning: "I've got to be at school at 6:00 tomorrow because I made the softball team." 

Get Me These Bears!

#BeiBei climbed up a tree this morning! And mamma bear Mei Xiang helped him climb back down #WeSaveSpecies pic.twitter.com/5rj03N923A

— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) February 8, 2016

"Making Of A Murderer" and "The Simpsons"

Trust me, if you haven't watched either one, you won't understand. If you are a fan of both, you will smile.

My Favorite Super Bowl Commercial That Also Made Me Insane

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I watched a great episode of Vice about ISIS and how it is all goes back to our invasion of Iraq and how we unstabilized the Middle East. By the way, Iraq is basically three states now: Shiite, Sunni, Kurd. 
• Mrs. LL and I watched the Blair Witch Project again this weekend. The first time she saw it she thought it was real and was traumatized to no end. 
• I've given up on pointing out advertisements buried as news stories because they are so obvious now. 
• Fox 4 News might have hired a consultant who told them "more banter between you guys." 
• I drop off the 7th Grader in the House to school every day and she is as disciplined as me. We leave at 6:47 and arrive at 7:04. Her constant contest is to see if her best friend beats us by one minute or not. I asked her this morning if we won and she told me, "No. They have to meet their lawyer today." Me: "What?" Her: "They were hit by a car last year." Me: "Keep me updated on this."
• TV commercials have upgraded their game.
• There are three guys on the third floor of the courthouse who always try to get me riled up. My response, when I'm smart, is to tell them "I'm in a three point stance, and I will not jump off sides."
• Mrs. LL wore the craziest pants this weekend since Cam Newton left for the Super Bowl.
• I watched the last half of one of the Hunger Games movies this weekend. Pretty, pretty good. 
• Super Bowl: (1) Lady Gaga was good on the national anthem, (2) I didn't have any problem with the halftime show - I loved it, (3) Cam Newton would have been better if he had a second to throw the ball, (4) Bridgeport's Collin Jones has received some criticism about the punt return but that whole play was weird -- why not call a fair catch and Jones didn't want to run into him. (5) I want to go to San Francisco. (6) Peyton Manning referenced Budweiser in his post game interview. The Ticket told me that is against NFL policy but since he will retire, why does he care? He got paid.
• I found a book named "History of Wise County" this weekend which was originally published in 1907. I'm giddy.
• What kind of bird is that at Lake Bridgeport which will fly down and sit in the water? It's the equivalent of a fresh water seagull.