6.04.2016

Ali Has Died



And I won't mention that less than two weeks ago I posted a picture of him being knocked down by Joe Frazier. The Liberally Lean curse continues.

It is hard to explain what a big deal Ali was back in the day.  Boxing was a golden sport and Ali was a showman who took it to an unbelievable level. I stopped down many years later when he lit the Olympic Torch in Los Angeles*. He was a  trembling, shuffling shell of himself -- a man slowly giving way to Parkinson's.

But you have to wonder how a flamboyant and trash talking Muslim who refused to be drafted would have fared in American society these days.
________
* A faithful reader points out it was in Atlanta.


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6.03.2016

Above The Fold


Readable full page in pdf.
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It's The Weekend, Let's Get Out Of Here

View post on imgur.com





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Trump Supporters Out-manned By Unruly Crowds In California








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Random Friday Morning Thoughts




  • Art Briles statement yesterday had one subtle bombshell. In the middle of a carefully crafted (and kind of boring) statement, he threw in that the outside investigation was not "independent."  (The Ticket completely missed that this morning during a segment while WBAP amazingly locked onto it.)
  • It's only early June but Hillary and Trump are already throwing verbal nuclear missiles at each other 
  • Crazy story out of Rowlett that doesn't have a lot of details made public yet. But the lead is gripping: "Days before his planned wedding, the groom-to-be paid two convicted sex offenders to kill the 37-year-old Rowlett mother he was set to marry, officials say."
  • When did local news become dominated by viral Internet videos?
  • Mississippi State showed two errors of judgment yesterday: (1) They suspended an incoming star recruit for one whole game for beating up a woman, and (2) the AD decided to defend the decision by showing up in shorts and pulling up a chair in front of the press. He got roasted.
  • I did my first window screen replacement the other day. That may be the easiest project in the history of ever and was dirt cheap. (My only error was to not get all the slack out.)
  • One of the great all time courtroom lunges by a victim's family member at a defendant occurred in Ohio yesterday. Watch. Screenshot below:
  • Weather prediction has been dicey as of late, but the National Weather Service is predicting not a cloud in the sky for Sunday through Thursday.
  • Every drug case by DPS (and even for most agencies that use the DPS drug lab) are analysed in Austin. This year, the lab said "they will not test for misdemeanor drugs even when it is DPS filing a case with a local Criminal District Attorney's Office......unless the prosecutor personally sends a letter to the Lab requesting analysis." Heck, DPS doesn't even care about the War on Drugs when it is a misdemeanor.
  • A guy was arrested south of here for driving around a barricade and ending up on dry ground but surrounded by flood waters. The offense for disregarding a lawfully placed barricade is punishable by a fine only yet they arrested him which took about five officers as five emergency workers looked on. Note: Fox 4 says "Drivers can be jailed for up to six months and face up to a $2,000 fine for going around low water crossing barriers."  That's not was Texas Transportation Code 472.022 says. (Screenshot of arrest below with red dots over the government workers)



  • It's the College Softball World Series this weekend and the Females In The House will be locked in. (It's really amazing.) Sports Genius Prediction: Take Oklahoma. (Bracket.) Of the eight teams, seven are from warm weather schools, six are from the South, and only Michigan is a cold weather school. And that's your fun fact for the day which you can use to impress your friends

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6.02.2016

There For The Air Force Academy Graduation

The Thunderbird pilot survived . . .

The death was in connection with a Blue Angel jet practicing in Tennessee:


Edit: There was also more tragedy related to Fort Hood . . .

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Trump University + Trump + Greg Abbott = Political Seediness


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Another Random Poll

Who will you vote for?
Hillary Clinton (D)
Donald Trump (R)
Gary Johnson (L)
David French (I)
I'd pass and vote for none of the above
make a quiz
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Random Poll

What is your health insurance status?
Covered through employer
I buy my own policy
I'm uninsured
Do Quizzes
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Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • I watched 80% of A Streetcar Named Desire. Its ending was revealed in 1947, but I don't know what it is. But I finally understand the screaming of "Stella!!!!"
  • Texas vs. OU will be moved to Fox Sports 1.  It can't even make an 11:00 a.m. kickoff on Fox's main network any longer?
  • Pete Delkus proves he's only doing a bit with his prediction for additional rainfall through Saturday: He says Sherman is expected to get 3.28 inches while McKinney is expecting 1.75.  Tell me how ridiculous that is. First, to give a prediction within a hundredth of an inch is insane, and the disparity between the two cities -- only 32 miles apart -- is dumbfounding. And I didn't even mention his prediction of 0.36 for Gainesville.
  • And the weatherman for Fox 4 this morning was more than defensive as he told the audience what a 30% chance of rain really means and then followed it up with: "I can't predict if it is going to rain at your house." 
  • "WASHINGTON — The largest health insurer in Texas [Blue Cross] wants to raise its rates on individual policies by an average of nearly 60 percent . . . ." Wow. Question: What do you guys pay out there for an individual policy not provided by an employer and what is the deductible? 
  • Why was a Sheriff's deputy running radar on 287 in the rain a few days back? We've got a slew of troopers to do that. 
  • Uber announced yesterday it had raised $3.8 billion from Saudi Arabia. What are they up to? Sidenote: You would think Uber wouldn't cost all that much to manage. They don't have to buy a fleet of cars and the company runs on technology. 
  • Buried under the Kenneth Starr resignation news at Baylor was the other news that running back Devin Chafin was kicked off the team for an alleged domestic assault in 2014 and that seven Baylor recruits who had signed letters of intent in February had asked to be released. I'm coming out the Stage One Denial: This is a disaster. 
  • And if that wasn't bad enough, I heard from a guy I trust yesterday who said there is a video in existence relating to a sexual assault that will rock this thing to the next level (if that's even possible.) I hope it isn't true. 
  • Ken Starr's interview yesterday was embarrassing. He seemed clueless, naive, and lazy. In that regard, did you know he never even spoke personally with Monica Lewinsky? The lead special counsel in one of the most noteworthy investigations in U.S. history never took the time to talk to the most important witness. As a prosecutor, you will be stunned by what you can learn from a witness if you meet with them, make it a casual and non-threatening environment, and listen instead of telling them what you need from them. 
  • Art Briles has issued a written statement this morning. He took the high road.
  • US 281 at the Jack County/Archer County line is under water this morning. Is that around Lake Bridgeport's watershed?
  • "Putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing." - Donald Trump to ABC in 1994.

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6.01.2016

Above The Fold


Full page readable PDF here.
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Going, Going . . . Gone


If there was a vision, there wasn't much strategy behind it.

Edit: Good grief . . .


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Decatur High School For Sale On Craiglist


Link.
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Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • Lake Bridgeport is above conservation level again with more rain forest like weather coming.
  • Two different kind of tweets from Argyle which are weather related: (1) One guy thinks it is a big deal that running water along a curb moved trash containers a few inches, (2) And by contrast, if this is real, we have kayakers navigating a roaring and quickly developing river.  (That's an amazing short video link). 
  • Isn't this a crisis? The Update reports that due to plunging oil and gas prices that Wise County's "preliminary total taxable values are at $6.1 billion, down 19.04 percent."  So the County Commissioners have only 80% of the money they had to work with last year? Seems like a big deal.
  • Houston has given us maybe the most hot "And Another" entry ever. And the facts may set a new bar for the Shocking Index For Teacher-Student Relations. Her:
  • We have another murder in Southlake, and the victim's estranged husband is the suspect. She was a realtor.
  • Unrelated note on realtors:  The National Association of Realtors paid money to the producers of Modern Family to have character Phil Dunphy explain that a "realtor" is different than a real estate "agent" in one episode. 
  • I saw a tow truck from Rick's Towing hauling a broken down dump truck yesterday morning. That tow truck is massive. What's sticker price on one of those things. 
  • Crazy Glenn Beck "was suspended for a week by Sirius XM for not reining in his guest, fiction author Brad Thor, who hinted that maybe President Donald Trump should be 'removed from office' by a 'patriot' because the 'feckless Congress' won't do it."  (The Ticket played one of Beck's all time radio meltdowns this morning. You can listen to it here beginning at the 3:00 minute mark.)
  • There are a series of documentaries called "The Golden Age of Texas Courthouses" which were produced in the 2000s. Wise County's courthouse has to be featured in that right? Reviews indicate that it "featured thirty courthouses." (h/t BagOfNothing.)
  • Wise County's courthouse is its fifth. Three of them have been on the courthouse square with the first two having burned down in the 1800s. The current one was completed in 1896.
  • Over the weekend there was a gunman who opened fire in Houston killing one and injuring six. He was a 25 year old Afghanistan veteran. 
  • Fish out of Water: Baylor has named an interim president (I don't even know his name) and he will spend his second week attending meetings with other Big 12 presidents where they will discuss expansion and a Big 12 title game. 
  • A staff attorney for the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth won the Texas Bar Journal's annual "short story" writing competition.  Stories here. That's a competition I've always wanted to enter but have never got around to doing. (But my entry would probably turn into something from Quentin Tarantino and would be too dark to publish.)
  • Dan Patrick's obsession with the toilet continues. Yesterday he announced that he would send an opinion request to Attorney General Ken Paxton as to whether Fort Worth ISD's superintendent can declare its schools' bathrooms transgendered. Paxton (yes, that guy) is already suing the federal government over the issue so how do you think he will rule?





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5.31.2016

Firing It Up!


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Arlington PD Has Probably Been Fudging Numbers: 15 Officers Targeted




Here's a question: Why lie about a traffic stop which did not occur? A quota? There can't possibly be a quota for issuing warnings (right?) so did they represent that they gave an actual ticket to a person who did not exist? Is their pay impacted because of the number of warnings/citations issued?

Note: They were suspended with pay.

Note #2: It's a State Jail Felony to make a false statement in "anything" which will be "received" or "kept" by the government if you intend to harm or defraud them. (See Penal Code sec. 37.10 and 37.01(2)(a).
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A Question Actually Asked To Trump This Morning




Spoiler alert: He would.
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That's Not Road Rage. That's An Assault.



From St. Petersburg.
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Notable Religion Death


Jan Crouch of the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Her husband, Paul, died in 2013.
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Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • Still no word yet regarding Bill Kristol's "there's a viable Independent presidential candidate coming" announcement.
  • The folks at the Cincinnati jail "having to defend" the shooting of the gorilla who was on the verge of mauling the little boy is silly. Edit: OK, I meant "zoo" and not "jail" but it probably felt like a jail to him.  (And some of the protesters want the mother charged with a crime. Uh, what exactly was the crime?)
  • Baylor hires an ex-Wake Forest coach to lead the Bears in the interim. Consider me underwhelmed unless he promises just to be a caretaker and lets the remaining coaches continue to run what they have been running.
  • I've got a weird commentor on here who constantly dogs me for saying, at the time, that former Baylor player Josh Gordon was the best receiver in the NFL. For some reason, he doesn't think Gordon could be "the best at the time" because since then he has been suspended. That makes no sense to me. Buddy, have you ever heard of Marcus Dupree?
  • From the Update: "Bridgeport Police Department will begin a Prescription Drug Take Back program as part of an initiative aimed at reducing the amount of illegal prescription drugs in the Bridgeport community." I'm sure there is answer for this, but why not just throw them away or flush 'em?
  • I saw a trooper the other day on 287 hiding in his patrol car behind a tree as he clocked passing traffic. He was parked in a well site entrance. Nothing wrong with it, but 99% of the time you simply see them on the side of the road. 
  • The Thunder/Warriors game seven last night pulled in an 11.2 rating. Last year, the Tony Romo-less Cowboys routinely pulled in around a 25.0 rating during a dismissal dismal season. 
  • I have a name of the guy who found my iPad at Home Depot and turned it in: Phillip Gist.
  • Electronic traffic signs in Dallas got hacked over the weekend. Here are three funny ones.
  • Waco is a strange place: The Branch Davidians, two Baylor scandals which have made national news, a Twins Peaks shoot out, and the home of the show "Fixer Upper" (which I have never seen.)
  • My Memorial Day consisted of hedge trimming, flower planting, water hose splicing, hornet zapping, fishing (which caused a run to Walmart at 6:00 a.m. -- the only way to shop at Walmart by the way), stone walkway stabilization, light bulb replacing, a/c troubleshooting, failed screen replacement, and more.
  • Fifteen foot gator seen strolling on a Florida golf course. Video.
  • Creepy story of the year: A guy from Plano is charged with the murder of his girlfriend after he "posted a photo of himself covered in blood and a picture of his girlfriend’s body on her Facebook page with the caption, 'Please pray for us.'" 
  • Whatever happened to Amanda Bynes? She used to make news once a week for her crazy behavior.
  • Edit: And from the Butte County Post: "Erma Albert had a doctor’s appointment in the hills on Tuesday. She is preparing for a trip to see her granddaughter graduate at Bridgeport, Texas. The high school is so big that the graduation will be held in the stadium. She will hope for good weather for graduation and also for the flight down and back. Dick has been busy tilling the garden and mowing grass."


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5.30.2016

Moving Memorial Day Photos


More.
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In Case You Missed It: Moments Before Gorilla Shot


Wow. Four year old boy. Gorilla shot and killed.
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Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • It's Memorial Day, the Update is not being published, and once again I prove that I'm the hardest working man in show business.
  • Pete Delkus predicted no rain on Saturday night just hours before the bottom fell out of the sky with a lightning storm. (Not to cut him a break, but this weather has all the local weather guys confused.)
  • I left my iPad (with credit card and driver's license) in a shopping cart in the parking lot of Home Depot on Saturday. Result: Someone found it, Home Depot saw one of my business cards in it, and called the office.  (And shout out to not only them but to technology -- the message was automatically forwarded to my assistant's cell phone who then called my wife who then called me with a "Ya missing something?")
  • I'm not saying that I saw the Owner, Editor, and Publisher of the Wise County Messenger was at a shockingly early 8:00 a.m. high school graduation ceremony for Keller Central on the campus of UTA, but it was no coincidence that one of the top ten graduates had the last name of "Eaton".
  • One of the honors graduates tried to throw out a mini- comedy routine during her speech. The audience of her peers didn't laugh very often which gave rise to some awkward pauses. I could just picture that days before her dad was writing out the speech for her and saying, "Honey, you are going to have them in stitches with these zingers!"
  • Two thoughts about high school graduation: (1) Back in the day, I thought it was the sparest of accomplishments -- who can't graduate from high school? Now I'm struck more by how it is a celebration of a huge transition period. Unless you have support, you are truly on the verge of being "on your own". (2) Those kids seem way too young and naive to be "on your own". 
  • Baylor has a little bit of a tricky question: What if there is not enough evidence to terminate Art Briles "with cause"? If not, they would actually owe him millions and millions left on the eight years left on his contract.  Throw in the fact that he is just currently "suspended with intent to terminate" might be an indication that Baylor understands they might have a problem.  (And if there was not enough evidence, why fire Briles in the first place? The more I think about this the more I think the Board of Regents screwed this whole thing up by not simply firing Ken Starr and just suspending Briles).
  • The three officers on Waco PD who fired fatal shots during the Twin Peaks fiasco are still on desk jobs that they were assigned to immediately after the shootings. It has been over a year. 
  • For political junkies only: Here is an interview with the two guys who produced the LBJ "Daisy" political ad on what they would do to Trump. They are dead on. One thing they suggested is a quick montage of all of the Republican potential candidates taking brutal jabs at Trump's qualifications during the primaries. 
  • "Just a heads up over this holiday weekend: There will be an independent candidate--an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance." Tweet by conservative political commentator Bill Kristol (who normally doesn't throw out hot shock opinions just for the sake of being shocking.)
  • A person who drowned in his car in South Texas during the horrible flooding posted a picture as the car was being submerged. 
  • Random fast food thought: How does McDonald's keep the orders straight with those two drive through lanes? They can't assume the cars get to the pay window in the same position that they ordered, right?
  • Johnny Football is in trouble again for alleged wrecking a rented Mercedes and taking off. The owner of the rental company now wants $90,000. (Odd side note: After the wreck, Manziel was picked up by Josh Gordon - a former Baylor player kicked off the team by Art Briles for smoking weed.) 
  • Sorry to hear about the suicide of a former DPS Trooper who was once assigned to Wise County. I may be wrong, but I think she might have been the first (and only?) female trooper to work out of Decatur. 
  • It has come to this?: Southlake police tazed a 21 year old while in the hospital after a DWI arrest in order to take her blood. (She says she would have submitted to a breath test but didn't want her blood taken.)





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