2.04.2017

Above The Fold


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2.03.2017

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


I'll leave this one alone. 
The Family Pup can do this but not while doing curls.
The backup cat knows to go while the getting's good. 
Only your best friends laugh at you in your time of need. 
"You put the life jacket on me. What'd you expect?"

The gymnastics room is over there. That might be a better option for you.
Hey, stop showing off. We got a new girl with a 
head injury and wounded ego coming in. 
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Unposted Comment. I Need A Ruling.

I think this guy is a little upset with me. I'm not sure. I thought the masses could tell me.

How on God's green Earth can you get so worked up on a Friday over Random Thoughts? Heck, how can you get that worked up about anything?

I cut it off for the sake of space but it was submitted by, yep, anonymous.
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Random Friday Morning Thoughts




  • I've recorded by haven't watched the new 30 for 30 on the the XFL, but I'm really interested. I actually thought it had a chance of succeeding back in the day. 
  • The Ticket reviewed the old movie The Usual Suspects the other day. A couple of hosts have the same opinion I do: Extremely overrated. 
  • I just learned that a Justice of the Peace in Wise County also serves as a city judge of a Wise County municipality. 
  • Kentucky "And Another".
  • Pennsylvania "And Another".
  • New Hampshire is close to passing a "jury nullification" instruction in criminal cases. (Actual proposed text below.) Texas will pass a similar one about the same time as Texas legalizes marijuana. 
  • Any Trump supporter who responds to any criticism of the President with, "Oh, yeah? What about Obama?" is intellectually dishonest. If you voted for him, you own him. Either defend him on a particular issue or suck it up and say he is wrong. Even an "I don't know" is a better response. (Hey, Wordkyle, you pointed out to us once the actual name of the "Oh, yeah? What about you?" argument. What's it called?)
  • Side Note: Mrs. LL and I have a standing agreement that whenever we get in an argument neither one of us can counter the other with the "Oh, yeah? What about you?" comeback. (Example: Me: "Looks like that sink has been full of dishes for two days." Her: "Oh yeah, have you seen your bathroom sink lately? Ever think about cleaning that up for a change?") We can defend ourselves, but we just can't use that logic. It actually leads to productive arguments when you don't have that weapon.
  • Speaking of Wordkyle, news this morning is that unemployment has risen to 4.8%
  • If those Briles text message allegations are real (and I bet they are), I take back my bullet point yesterday as to why Briles dismissed his defamation lawsuit. BagOfNothing is probably flying a "Total Vindication / I Told You So" flag this morning. 
  • Fort Worth scrambled yesterday when a Fort Worth PD officer basically broadcast the Fort Worth was a sanctuary city. Here's a dirty little secret: Basically every city and town in Texas is a sanctuary city. There is no meaningful system in place to determine if someone is an "illegal alien" if they are arrested. And even when someone is detected, ICE isn't coming to pick up some random guy up. 
  • What was the first thing on Trump's mind this morning?
  • What was the second? Threatening war. He's going to get us all killed.
  • Jacksboro woman arrested after son was found dead from overdose earlier this year. 
  • A kayak theft ring! That is unacceptable!!

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2.02.2017

"I Just Want To Pray For Arnold If We Can"




Advisor: "Mr. Trump, regarding the National Prayer Breakfast tomorrow, we have a speech prepared that we would like for you to review and we'd like to spend a couple of minutes briefing you on its historical significance. And, you know, provide you with some 'dos and donts' so to speak." 

 Trump: "Don't worry. I got this. I'm thinking about talking about the Apprentice and I can work prayer in. It'll be great."

 And that routine happens every single day. 
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Free Speech Being Tested In Austin At This Moment




There is a long line in Austin right now speaking, and wishing to speak, at the capitol on the issue of Sanctuary Cities.   Here's the free speech problem: You certainly cannot "disrupt" a public meeting to the point where you, uh, disrupt it. But you can't clap? If you do it as a show of support instead of an intent to disrupt the proceedings, that is not a crime. And raising a fist is absolutely protected speech.

I just love the thought of a Trooper, who is 100% an arm of the government, telling someone "Don't raise your fist" in a public building where an issue of public concern and law making is being discussed.


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It's Not Quite "And Another" And I Don't Want To Create A New Category

It involves a substitute teacher, Oklahoma, and a contrast in photos. Story. (Thanks, emailer.)



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Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




  • Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht, who I am no fan of, gave the State of Judiciary Speech yesterday and actually said a couple of things I agree with: (1) The Texas process of setting bond for those jailed is broken. There are no guidelines and the poor are punished. (2) Incarcerating people for not being able to pay a fine and court costs is absolutely a Debtor's Prison. 
  • He also said that Texas needs to get away from judicial elections. Texas House Speaker Joe Strauss went one step further and said we need to do away with straight ticket voting across the board.
  • More proof that Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch is a fan of the Fourth Amendment. In a dissent, he once wrote that if there are "No Trespassing" signs all over your property that means the cops can't even enter the outer perimeter to knock on your door.
  • Leeper Creek BBQ north of Decatur wanted a shout out if I liked my lunch. I liked my lunch. 
  • I learned about "singer" Mini Thin yesterday. Good lord. Is this real life?
  • Investigate? For what? I'm no fan of hate speech but there is no way it is  a crime to draw a swastika in the snow. 
  • Art Briles has dismissed his defamation suit against Baylor. I believe he still thinks he was wronged but has come to the conclusion he will never coach again, that he's getting old, the lawsuit fight would only make him bitter and angry and could kill him, and so it is time to head to the house. You know what I think a great job for him would be?: Stephenville High School. You end where you started. 
  • Trump got into an argument with the Prime Minister of Australia? Who gets in a fight with Australia? 
  • Regarding Trump's remarks yesterday for Black History Month: The total number of words used to praise MLK, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks: 53. Number of words used to praise reality TV star Omarosa Manigault: 51.
  • Take us to DEFCON 2 this morning: 
  • That U.S. Raid in Yemen that cost the life of a Seal Team 6 member sounds like an ill-planned and ill-authorized cluster. 
  • The only positive thing Groundhog Day has given us is the movie:
  • I watched a little bit of the Slender Man documentary produced by HBO last night. Fascinating. The public outrage, if there is any, will not be about whether the girls are guilty but whether we should put mentally ill children in cages as punishment.


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2.01.2017

Emergency Random Thought Girl Post!


Beyonce has announced she is pregnant. And threw in a photo.
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Our Phone Addiction, Me Included, Is A Horrible Problem


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Above The Fold


Someone find that link to the Bridgeport PD Facebook video.
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He's Like Jerry Jones. On Formal Occasions, He Just Wings It





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Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • Greg Abbott during his speech yesterday: “No child should be in the wrong school simply because of zip code.” There is a very glaring problem with that statement regarding public schools. Figure it out? Answer at the end.
  • Abbott also announced a statewide hiring freeze including universities. He went Full Trump. You never go Full Trump. 
  • I think I've mentioned this before, but there is a lady at the courthouse who used to be a whiz at shorthand. 
  • Fox News was quick to incorrectly identify the killer of the peaceful worshiping Muslims in Canada in a tweet (shown below). Fox News claimed in the story, since taken down, that “witnesses said at least one gunman shouted ‘Allahu akbar!’”  Nope. He was very white, very much a Canadian, and very much anti-immigrant. 
  • Local radio talk show host Mark Davis immediately jumped on the fake news proclaiming radical Islamic terrorists were killing other Muslims who weren't radical: 
  • By the way, this morning Davis had for Tarrant County GOP chairman Tim O'Hare fill-in for him but Davis was on the phone to start the show because of the Supreme Court news. O'Hare actually asked Davis who he thought would be the next Supreme Court justice to die. Davis was horrified and wished them all a long life. 
  • And we always need to remember that evil isn't limited to race or religion or country:
  • As I think more about the two horse deaths at the Stock Show, I'm stunned PETA isn't all over them. 
  • #AboutToGoOnAMajorRant
  • There is no worse of a magazine than The Texas Bar Journal. And to prove my point, they had an article this month written by an "expert" on "how to get noticed on social media"  if you are in a small firm or sole practitioner. The excerpt below made me laugh.
  •  "Remain neutral." Good lord. Look, people don't want a lawyer who is politically correct.  They want someone who gets out of bed every morning and cares, who is smart, and who will raise hell if the situation dictates it because they are passionate about what they believe in.  None of my clients give a rat's ass about my politics. I'm sure most completely disagree with me. But they know I despise injustice in any form, and I suspect they would be very concerned if I were "neutral" about those injustices. 
  • And anyone who fights in the trenches, who has had to hug a mother in a courthouse hallway, had to comfort an individual who is scared to death and who depends on you, and has to deal with a system which is stacked against him in so many ways, will not be "neutral."
  • Have I ever lost a potential client because of this blog? Sure. Do I care? No. 
  • #MajorRantOver  
  • Hot sports prediction: Jerry Jones gets elected into the Hall of Fame this weekend. 
  • Funny thing I read last night: Is there any chance that Donald Trump is Andy Kaufman? 
  • #BeginSupremeCourtThoughts
  • I'll tell you one thing about Trump, his moving the  Supreme Court announcement to prime time  for TV  complete with an audience to applaud him as he walks in was PR genius. Every other president has to be thinking, "Why didn't I do that?" And I'll admit: Trump did a fantastic job last night introducing the nominee.
  • But I bet new Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch went to bed last night praying that Trump doesn't get impeached for some screw-up in the future so that he won't have to suffer the notation "Appointed By Donald Trump" by his name in the history books forever.
  • As conservative as Scalia was, he was really a good judge for Fourth Amendment law. He actually understood it and provided some great personal liberty decisions. I took a quick Internet search of Gursuch last night and found he had thrown out a warrantless police  computer search in a child porn case. And he has railed against sending in the police for a kid's conduct in school (fake burping) instead of the school staff doing their job. If that makes him Scalia 2.0, I'm happy from a criminal justice standpoint.
  • And for those of you who don't follow this sort of thing, about a year ago Obama nominated a replacement for Scalia, Merrick Garland. By Senate "rule", it takes 60 votes to confirm and the Republicans would not concede enough votes to even let the nomination get to a vote. Now it is up to the Democrats to decide if they will concede enough votes which are needed to confirm Gorsuch. They may not. So will the Republicans, who have the majority in the Senate, change the 60 vote rule and require only a majority?
  • #EndSupremeCourtThoughts
  • Answer to first bullet point: There should be no "wrong school."


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1.31.2017

President To Announce Supreme Court Nominee Tonight: We Got Us A Reality Show Going On Right Now!




He will announce the nominee in prime time. I pray for all things dear and holy that he has both of them standing beside him at the time of the announcement without either one of them knowing who he will pick. And that's a real possibility.


And let's check in on Texas' tweetin' judge who was found worthy by Trump to be on the short list but apparently sent home last week in the rose ceremony because of his bad dad jokes:

"Note to self: That whole 'aww shucks' tweetin' thing didn't work out.
Might need to focus on that wall thingy and get a mean avatar.
He likes to say 'mad dog' so maybe I could go with that. "
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That's Bridgeport's Own Allen Vaught


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Baby Toss!

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Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • There was a "lock down" at Byron Nelson High yesterday because of a bomb threat? I'm no security expert, but a lock down doesn't sound like the best way to handle a bomb threat.
  • Trump fired the Attorney General last night for not enforcing his Muslim Ban Executive Order that she found to be illegal. Putting aside whether or not she has that discretion (she 100% does - an AG is not the President's private lawyer), did Trump have to go off half-cocked and fire her? Isn't the new AG going to be confirmed today or tomorrow at the latest? 
  • Two horses have died during the saddle bronc events during the Fort Worth Stock Show this year. That's disturbing, isn't it? 
  • With college football signing day upon us, the Washington Post went back ten years and tells us what happened to the top 100 from 2007. Hint: There are as many in prison or dead as there are who made the Pro Bowl. And Texas fans looking at the list will see how the Mack Brown era had entered the beginning of the end. 
  • "And another":
  • Iran has tested a ballistic missile in defiance of U.N. Resolution. Now all of us can be nervous as we await the White House's reaction. 
  • By the way, let's check in on Trump this morning:
  • (Note to Melania: I don't think your anti-cyber bullying campaign is working too well.)
  • Greg Abbott gives us the "State of the State" address this weekend. The latest Texas Monthly cover story says Dan Patrick, not Abbott, is now in charge. It will be interesting to see if Abbott goes Full Trump to try and regain that perception. 



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1.30.2017

Best Moment Of Miss Universe Was Off Camera



The girl should have won Best Talent (do they even still have that?) just for that performance alone.
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You Know Who This Is?


The Ticket just sent this pic out from Radio Row at the Super Bowl in Houston.

That's "Rudy" as in Notre Dame's Rudy.

And you wonder why when we go to class reunions we somehow expect people to look exactly like they did years and years ago.

(Yes, I know that's the actor and not
the real Rudy from back in the day.)



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In The Pro Bowl Yesterday




Zeke comes off the bench.

(He didn't hurt him and handled him gingerly, but I bet the NFL has a serious edict of "Do not touch any nutcase that runs out onto the field.")
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This Guy Is A Master Of Deception


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Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • Oh, I've got my Trump rants coming, but let me first make an admission. For the first time ever I watched The Big Lebowoski. It's already in my Top Ten and will probably move up higher after I watch it a few times more. I had no idea it would be that smart of a comedy.
  • It started on Friday on Holocaust Memorial Day when we remembered the millions of Jews who were exterminated because of their religion. Trump used that day to announce a plan to discriminate against Muslims based upon their religion with a travel ban. And, man, on Saturday did an explosion of protests take place at airports across the country where people where being illegally detained (especially DFW).
  • People with legal green cards and Visas were detained for hours and hours by the U.S. Government solely because they were from a predominately Muslim country. And the courts had to intervene on Saturday night to set those illegally detained people free. Just like in the 1960s, we had to turn to the courts to overturn those in power trying to enforce their ignorant and bigoted policies that discriminate against innocent people. This is history, folks. Choose your side wisely.
  • Number of terrorist acts committed on American soil by refugees from the seven countries named in the ban: Zero.
  • And, man, Trump loves Executive Orders. He's signing them left and right.
    This made my head explode. 
  • Look, I understand trying to keep America safe. What I have a problem with is trying to ban people of a certain religion. Oh, it's not really a "Muslim Ban" you say? 
    • Rudy Giuliani on Fox News yesterday: 
    • Donald Trump's campaign site: 
  • What an absolute week of chaos. And Trump set a record according to Gallop:
  •  
  • In other news . . . 
  • A Young County deputy (formerly of Graham PD) and his son were found dead on Friday from gunshot wounds. The fact that you haven't heard about it gives you a pretty good idea of what is suspected. 
  • That wreck involving the Decatur cop last week and the fact he was relatively uninjured is amazing. And Fox 4 said he has seven kids. Even another reason to be thankful it didn't turn out worse. 
  • I've always been told lawyers were liars. Then a lawyer files a lawsuit on Friday against Baylor with no supporting proof and every media outlet treats it like the allegations in it were the result of a 60 Minutes investigation. 
  • "Six people are dead after a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City."
  • Oh, I forgot, what was Ivanka doing on Saturday night during the American airport chaos where families were being illegally separated from one another? Tweeting out a photo: 
  • That new Doritos bag is weird.You blow into it and it will "detect" any alcohol. It doesn't detect alcohol concentration. That's just dumb. Who doesn't know they've been drinking? And the bags aren't for sale to the public? What a cheesy marketing gimmick (that I just fell victim to.)
  • In Austin on Tuesday, it will be "Texas Muslim Capitol Day." Perfect. 



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