8.19.2016

It's A Rainy Weekend Ahead. Let's Get Out Of Here.







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Firing It Up


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If People Are Fleeing Austin Right Now, This Is Why


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Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • Trump apologized yesterday for being mean? What did he mean more: The hundreds of times he has verbally abused people (i.e. "Little" Rubio, "Crooked" Hillary, "Lyin'" Ted Cruz, "Low Energy" Jeb Bush, Elizabeth "Pocahontas" Warren) or the apology prompted by the last ditch effort to revitalize his campaign?
  • Breaking News Edit: Trump's campaign manager just quit.
  • “Rude, nasty Mexicans! You shouldn’t be allowed to have kids!” -- a White Angry Male to a Boyd man (as described in Bud Kennedy's column today. This Facebook post by the man got Kennedy's attention).
  • Can your government keep a criminal file away from the public once it is closed? Randy Travis tried to keep his DWI video  out of the public eye but an appeals court told him yesterday the Pubic Information Act in Texas requires that government turn it over. That's the same Public Information Act that the Montague County DA's office has used to tell the Messenger they can't have information they seek in a closed criminal investigation.
  • Bad Friday morning for mass transit in New Jersey:
  • Always remember that I sniffed out that Ryan Lochte lie before the mainstream media. Can I get a Pulitzer for that? Do I just send in an application or something?
  • The body of the SMU police officer who reportedly was swept into Turtle Creek has not been found. 
  • The case of the deputy who shot himself in Round Rock has taken an interesting twist. An Austin columnist points out that the deputy was given and a "full honors" funeral when law enforcement likely knew he had killed himself. And, to make it worse, the deputy had made a bogus call before his suicide about intruders. Why? If it were believed that he was killed in the line of duty then his survivors would be entitled to benefits worth over $80,000.
  • The U.S. finishing first and second in the shot put but the winners didn't put their hands over their hearts during the national anthem. Where's the righteous indignation!!!???
  • Anyone else had enough of Usain Bolt's showmanship?
  • Countries pay to reward gold medal winners? (Click to enlarge) The U.S. (not pictured) pays $25,000 per gold medal. 
  • Hot Cowboys prediction:  Running back Ezekiel Elliott will be extremely hampered all year long due to his hamstring injury.
  • The new indoor practice facility of the Cowboys in Frisco looks sweet: 
  • I may have to fire up the Liberally Lean Storm Center Without Mobile Radar or a Thunder Truck this morning. It's coming. 
  • Ok, we gave a country its money back that we had been holding for decades to help save American lives. Sue us. 


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8.18.2016

Kid Watches Rocky Workout Montage



Attaboy.

Now go pretend your brother is Clubber Lang.
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Uganda Feel That Tomorrow

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That CNN Host Had A Big Day Yesterday




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Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • This is a battle I've given up on. I tried for years to do what is depicted on the right but no one cooperated so I always found myself in the middle of a cluster:
  • Wanna see Donald Trump sing the Green Acres theme while wearing overalls? I didn't either but it was enjoyably bizarre. 
  • A recent metroplex high school graduate drowned at Turner Falls in Oklahoma. His family wants you to give them $20,000 for burial expenses. 
  • What's up with all the references to "convocation" regarding these teacher get togethers before school? Speak plain English and call them "get togethers."
  • Bad omen for Baylor's football season: During the Kickoff Luncheon yesterday the ceiling leaked and everyone had to move to the outer seats. 
  • NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former Louisiana prosecutor who was accused of soliciting sex from at least 20 women in exchange for favorable treatment received the maximum sentence of 3 years and a $20,000 fine. Harry Morel, 73, was district attorney for 33 years in St. Charles Parish, about 20 miles west of New Orleans. 
  • Update typo this morning! Update typo this morning! Please issue an apology to a "perennial aquatic vegetable that grows in Japan and China."
  • I've mentioned before that I loved the two part Esquire article named The Untold Story of Silk Road. Part 1. Part 2.  I saw the headline of another article that I need to read: Stealing bitcoins with badges: How Silk Road’s dirty cops got caught. All of that stuff is fascinating. There's a documentary out there called Deep Web about it but there needs to be a feature film.
  • Dallas police and firefighters are pulling out all the stops in trying to parlay the sniper attack into a pay raise. Too soon?
  • And here's a photo this morning of Dallas PD applicants willing to work for the current salary:
  • Decatur ISD hires 30 teachers? Frisco ISD upped them by hiring over 650 "new" teachers.
  • Drudge promoted a "human sacrifice" video this morning because nothing says "Thursday" like a human sacrifice. Video here. Story here which pretty much says it's fake. 
  • I told you a couple of days ago that Lochte's "I was robbed!!" story sounded fishy. Now more and more are saying the same thing (see paper below). And you've got to love a judge who prints his Order of Detention in comic sans.  Edit: We may have breaking news on this story this morning. Developing . . . 


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8.17.2016

Ripped From Today's (Earlier Random Thoughts) Headlines

Remember my reference to Fentanyl from this morning?  And remember that I referred you to an article on El Chapo?

This came down minutes ago:
From that link:


From the article I referenced:
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Meet RG3's New Girlfriend. Wait. What?


I guess that wedded bliss which began on July 6, 2013 with the soon to be ex-Mrs. RG3 didn't take.* And you'd think he might want to wait a while before doing this:

________
* I was going to poke the one Dennis Prager fan out there by saying "Perhaps he didn't listen to the Relationship Hour with the thrice-married Dennis Prager" but that would be shoehorning in a comment for an audience of one. Thus,  I shall resort to footnote sneakiness.

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Divine Intervention As Co-Counsel




Example:


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Above The Fold

Readable full page.
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The Hurdle As A Metaphor For Life


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Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • She could be the official sweetheart of the new Lake Bridgeport Kayak Fishing Gang that I'm thinking about forming (and being the president and general manager of.)
  • Evan McMullin has sued Texas to get on the ballot as an Independent presidential candidate.“There’s just so many restrictions on ballot access in Texas, and Texas is generally a very open and independent and free-thinking kind of place.”
  • "I've never done anything illegal, immoral, unethical." - Art Briles yesterday at the Houston Texans training camp. Raise you hand out there if you can say that. He might want to throttle it back a bit.  
  • "Houston police officer charged with intoxication manslaughter in fatal Fort Bend crash"
  • Donald Trump had a campaign shakeup last night. He hired Stephen Bannon, the co-founder of conservative Breitbart News, as campaign CEO. I pray my life never sinks so low that I have to turn to Breitbart to save me. But the good news is that Trump is about to ramp up the craziness.
  • Think government doesn't contribute to the local economy? There are thirty-one new teacher hires in Decatur ISD alone. Name another company which hired 31 people in Decatur for the fiscal year.
  • The Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes now have a new name for the stadium they will play in: Hard Rock Stadium.
  • What exactly was it that caused Trump's demise? It was really closing there for a while. I'm not sure it wasn't the GOP convention where he paraded his family up there. They all came across as they fraternity/sorority kid who wouldn't give you the time of day. Whatever it was, something happened.
  • El Chapo's son was kidnapped from an upscale restaurant in Puerto Vallarta.  I read a beyond fantastic article the other day about how El Chapo's incarceration has led to Cartel Chaos in Mexico and things were much more stable when he was running the show.  (Which causes some to believe his first "escape" was orchestrated by the Mexican government so he could get the situation under control.)
  • The odds on favorite to become the leading cartel in Mexico is the Jalisco New Generation Cartel -- the group that used to be the "muscle" for El Chapo's cartel. 
  • That same article said that the current scramble for money and territory and control in Mexico's drug landscape is fueled, ironically, in part by the U.S.'s legalization of marijuana in some states. With marijuana no longer a profit center in Mexico, they have changed their focus to manufacturing opioids -- and America is addicted to opioids. Moreover, in Mexico they have focused on: Fentanyl. Look at this 
  • I hope Tim O'Hare (famous for his Draconian and illegal actions against illegal immigrants while mayor at Flower Mound Farmer's Branch) is a better party head for the Tarrant County GOP than he is a fill-in talk show host for Mark Davis. Davis has to fear sometimes whether he will still have a show when he gets back.
  • "Facebook is eat up with people who don't know what they are talking about." - WBAP's Hal Jay this morning. 


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8.16.2016

Decatur High School Has An "Abstinence Only" Program That You Must Opt Out Of?


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Speaking Of Quality Comedy


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Above The Fold


Readable front page.
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I'm Insane Now



Story.
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Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • I think every Wise County school was labeled with the "met standard" grade in the 2016 accountability ratings released yesterday.
  • The Waggoner Ranch was sold and now those living on it are being kicked out. 
  • The great 538.com now gives Hillary an 88.8% chance of winning. Why Trump isn't camping out in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio is beyond me. 
  • I don't understand the allegation of a "skewed poll."  Every polling company wants one -- and only one -- thing: To be right. 
  • There was a caravan of six cars with Florida plates going through Wise County this morning. Anyone see if they just happened to have been stopped by the police? Going westbound? My guess is no. Eastbound? Absolutely. 
  • All I can think of is "Yeah, would you buy furniture at a store called Unpainted Huffhines?"
  • That really is a hard job. The last relative Republican that Dallas County has standing is DA Susan Hawk.
  • Just your average brawl during an NFL preseason game. Get ready for more of this in LA. (Funny youtube comment: "They guy that lost is the one who bought the Jared Goff jersey." That's a quality sports joke.)
  • Donald Trump's vague proposal of "extreme vetting" of immigrants has a weird feel to it. A test of "you must think a certain way" to be an American is almost un-American.
  • It does not move my needle at all that Gabby Douglas didn't put her hand over her heart during the national anthem. Who cares? But those who do always cite the unenforceable "flag code" (which, by the way, also says the "flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free" and "should never be used as wearing apparel.")
  • A dive cost the USA a gold medal last night. I didn't watch it so what's the rule about what part of your body must pass the finish line first? Is it the head or torso?
  • I heard yesterday about how Usain Bolt had time during the 100 meter finals to look to his left and smile while winning the gold medal and how it was captured in an epic photo. Corby Davidson said it on The Ticket and that was what was reported on NBC Nightly News. Nope. That photo was during the semis and not the finals. 
  • My radar is always out for prosecutions of public officials because it is the ultimate abuse (one way or the other) of taxpayer dollars. We may have a new leader in the clubhouse when the Pennsylvania AG was convicted yesterday of leaking grand jury testimony. Prosecution + AG on the job + grand jury = All taxpayer funded. And the grand jury was related to the AG's investigation of Jerry Sandusky so we have more taxpayer involvement -- even Sandusky's job. The AG says the prosecution was politically motivated because she "uncovered a trove of emails in which she says officials were found to have used government email accounts 'to trade pornographic and bigoted images and jokes." Which, of course, would have been on the taxpayer dime. 
  • The University of North Texas Dallas College of Law (unstable name, by the way) is about to begin its third year of operation and it doesn't look like it will be accredited by the American Bar Association. You can't take the bar unless you graduate from an accredited law school. Question: If a person graduates from there but the school doesn't get accredited until, say, three more years, does that person then get to take the bar? I mean, it didn't pass at the time that guy studied there.


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8.15.2016

Theology 101 Final Exam: Discuss


(I haven't figured out who the pastor is yet. Vegas says the odds are on Robert Jeffress.)
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In Case You Missed It



I saw this Saturday, and I'm still stunned by it. That gal and Fido were on the fast track to the watery and pearly gate but for this hero.

You may have seen the short version. The full version above is even better.
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Made Me Laugh Last Night



"See. You take the phone. You turn it around with the screen towards you. Push this button to flip the camera view. Sheesh. Do I have to do everything for you people?"
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Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • The Trump-Not-Releasing-Tax-Return controversy is perfectly timed. And it was prompted by Hillary releasing her returns.
  • Trump is now blaming the press for his woes . . . . 
  • I don't know why Fox 4 News keeps promoting "YouTube sensations Brooklyn and Bailey" but their audience can't be interested. I'm not.
  • Last night I learned a group of people came out to the Trinity River near downtown Fort Worth to honor two guys who drowned. What got my attention was that they were part of the "DFW Kayak Fishing" club where its leader referred to them as a "brotherhood". Looks like I'm going to be joining a gang so you boys need to tread lightly in the comments from now on. 
  • Had the ol' "drop off the kid at college" weekend. The whole experience is weird.
  • Not as weird as having a flat tire on I-20 after dark in deep East Texas on the way there. 
  • I can't drive through Hooks without thinking that Barry Switzer came there to recruit Billy Sims.  I didn't see any signs for Sims, but I did see one for this gal:
  • I have a question: Why can't this plane fly itself? Seriously. The thing costs $148 million.
  • Per the Messenger, there looks like quite the budget battle in Wise County government as the plummeting of mineral values causes a crisis. A few positions have been eliminated -- something that never happens in local government. (One official said every county employee should have their salary cut by $5,000 to solve the budget crisis.)
  • Did you know the county has paid for a full time secretarial position at the DPS office in Decatur for thirty years? Side note: There are 38 troopers assigned to that office. Source. Edit: Link fixed
  • The death of Sgt. Craig Hutchinson of the Travis County Sheriff’s Office was ruled a suicide. Round Rock police who investigated the incident announced their findings at a 3:00 p.m. on Friday press conference -- the time when you want to bury news. 
  • More trouble at the Waco DA's office: A DWI prosecutor and Baylor grad was arrested for DWI. 
  • Paula Jones took a selfie with Trump in the background:
  • Let's find some parking by the Coliseum for the Dallas/LA preseason game on Saturday . . . 
  • Let's check on the men vs. women press coverage:
  • Crazy helmet that Air Force will wear on September 10th: 
  • I caught the first episode of Hard Knocks. I get sucked in every year. 
  • The Dallas Observer went hard to find out if Dallas DA Susan Hawk has been paid during her absences. No one in government will tell them. That's amazing. (Loved this line about our perceptions of Hawk going in: "Surely this sharp, affluent-looking, young (white) professional couldn’t be a junkie or a nutcase.")
  • I don't trust swimmer Ryan Lochte and he was less than convincing in the recounting of his alleged robbery in Rio to NBC News.


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