Above The Fold

Never Forget Tiger's Christmas Message

Xmas tradition that my kids love. Mac Daddy Santa is back! -TW pic.twitter.com/pCWZNNKPRG

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) December 22, 2016

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

Sometimes you want to do this during the holidays.

 Ok, that's a bit but a funny bit.

 Get me this cat and dog!

 Probably staged, but I want to believe it is real. 

 Get me this, uh, I don't know what that is. 

There's a lot to process on this one. 

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Odd: Papa John's came to Jerry Jones' defense during his recent battle with the Commissioner and this morning we have learned the head of Papa John's has stepped down. No reason given.
• Rockdale won a state championship yesterday and I think their head coach used to coach at Jacksboro. (Side note: I can never hear "Rockdale" without thinking of that old R.E.M. song.)
• TxDOT has been "treating roads" for possible winter weather next week. Anyone else think this is the biggest waste of money there is? And does anyone think that "treatment" a week in advance would work?
• Dick Enberg, a legendary sportscaster, has died. And he is who I stole my often repeated phrase of  "Oh, my!" from. I grew up watching him as a kid, and it is buried in my brain. 
• U.N. members passed a resolution 128-9 rebuking Trump's decision to  recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. I've said before I really don't understand all of this. However, doesn't it make you think something is very amiss when the world is against you? Allies including Britain, France, Germany and Japan are part of that 128. 
• Highland Park will play for a State Championship (Jerry Jones' grandson is the QB and very, very good). But let's take a look at the diversity from years gone by. (Honestly, I don't know the date of this photo. I'll update.) Edit: Good lord, I didn't see it in the corner. That is this year's team.
  
• The Seattle Seahawks have been fined $100,000 for not following "concussion protocol" for QB Russell Wilson during a game in November. I'm sure Wilson's CTE brain appreciates that. 
• The New York Times did a story on how Trump is often compared to P.T. Barnum, the ultimate huckster and propaganda man from circus fame, and found this quote from January 2016: 
  
• I watched some of the "live" version of a A Christmas Story on NBC that aired on Sunday. It was horrible. It was so slickly produced that I turned to Mrs. LL and said, "This doesn't even look 'live'." I'm not alone as professional TV critics agreed: "No one watching would’ve known this was a live production if not for the periodic cheers from an invisible audience and the occasional blown line."
• Football fans: If you want to go down a rabbit trail, Google the "touch the pylon with the ball and you score" rule, and then look at where they put the pylons. In bounds? Out of bounds? And then think about the number of ways a guy could hit the pylon with the ball. 
  
• A fire alarm went off at Love Field this morning. Merry Christmas travelers!
  
  
  
  
• I don't understand Bitcoin but I've expressed my concerns about it. Last weekend, its value went to $20,000 per coin. It is now at $13,000. That seems like a very stable investment. 
• Ted Cruz turns 47 today. Only 47? You kidding me? At least he will "serve" long enough to eventually get kicked out of office once the voting demographics change. 

Let Me Do A Public Service

I got this comment yesterday.

Let me remind you of this post which I still talk about all the time.

Thought This Was Fake But It's From A Reputable Houston Station

What was supposed to be temporary tattoo and a fun memory with family, has turned into a permanent mistake for one woman.

Ashley Burke went on vacation to Mexico with her family where she and two others got Henna tattoos. 

More.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I saw a U.S. mail delivery vehicle going through a neighborhood before 7:00 a.m. the other day. That's a first for me. 
• Well, the Republicans rammed through the tax bill which will only benefit those who make a ton of money. You boys happy? You have no idea what just hit you or what will hit you in five years once every benefit you see in the next three years is gone. #TheBigCon
• I'll be up monitoring it for you, but based upon the Liberally Lean Weather Center projections we've got a big cold front coming in at 2:11 a.m. tomorrow. 
• Whomever wrote the disparaging comment about my Administrative Assistant yesterday, you are a disgusting individual. And you, unlike me, won't sign your name to your Internet comments. That makes you the ultimate coward. Read that word again, buddy, it was "coward."  (And you don't think I don't know your IP address? You think you're being clever?)
• Oh, by the way, the coward decided to attack on Christmas week and before 9:00 a.m.! Peace and Joy!
  
• Christmas Vacation still holds up. And the older I get, the more I relate to Clark. (Especially having a wife who just patiently shakes her head whenever he goes off.)
• The new puppy is driving us crazy. And crazy with fun.
• Twitter has been deleting white supremacist accounts. That is the company's absolute right -- it is not the government, it is a private company. I followed a couple of "Proud Boys" and they are now gone. 
• It really is a great story: A female kicker for a six man Texas football team successfully did her job in the state championship game yesterday. But NBC 5 told me this morning that she was "hanging up her cleats and won't kick in college." Really? No way!
• It's weird how the pseudo-intellectuals like Dennis Prager think that college kids are radicalized by their professors at universities but not realizing their anger might be because of their six-figure college loan debt. 
• I will always be entertained by the wording of this tweet as the modern day Robert Tilton tries to make more money. Read it. "[J]ust as the Apostle Paul did!"
  
• Watching Wise County DWI videos can be a beating and a joy. The joy comes when you find gold. I watched one yesterday where a guy who just happens to be from Thailand was asked by the officer about "karate" and "nunchucks." (If the officer saw nunchucks during the search of the vehicle after the arrest that would make sense, but I can't find it referenced in the report or see it on the DVD.) If that was just a random question I know two people in the courthouse who will explode. And that came after the initial contact when the officer asked him, "How many cervezas" he had had. Which he pronounced both as SIR-vasa and KER-vasa back to back. Most of the time my job is a beating, but there are times when I love it. 

Above The Fold

Come Hell Or High Water

I've watched this movie maybe at least three times. I think I'm going to put it into my top five of all time. It's West Texas. It's Texas Rangers. It's clever.

But this scene locks me in. I was talking to an old friend up at the courthouse yesterday and mentioned this is very similar what happened to us in the 1990s up, at what I believe, was the old Yesterday's restaurant up on the highway in Decatur. One of us asked the waitress for an extra roll. It did not go well. And we looked at each other like these Rangers do.

Language warning.

Edit: Some commentors have suggested it was a BBQ place. Upon reflection, I think they might be right.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• As I predicted, since I'm a legal genius, the Farmers Branch cop was convicted.
• But the Fox 4 legal consultant last night reminded me of a statute I've never seen invoked in Wise County and who most don't know about. You can use deadly force to protect property and prevent some seemingly minor crimes so long as it is in the "nighttime." It really is an insane law.
• The homes are very nice, but the traffic on Bonds Ranch Road off 287 during rush hour is insane. There is no way I'd live there. 
• I can't talk about the details because I'm sworn to secrecy, but I witnessed the greatest act of personal kindness yesterday. It made me cry. It made someone else cry. It would make any of you cry. 
• We've got some hard hitting journalism in the metroplex: 
  
• The very weird 2017 even impacts the Texas Rangers in winter. 
  
• Having a new puppy in the house at Christmas might be the greatest thing any family can do. It's insanity. (All three Females In The House For Christmas took a vote to name her, were unanimous, and then looked at me if I would agree. Daddy didn't raise no fool. I agreed.)
• If you haven't read the New York Times story on the UFO incident and viewed the video you might want to to. Ms. LL went to Roswell and saw the museum last summer, and I fear how much she will be locked into this. I don't know what to think.
• There has never been a press secretary who has lied so much. That statement is ridiculous.
  
• Fox News with some hard hitting news this morning about someone who is a private citizen:
  
• I made Mrs. LL watch Smokey and the Bandit last weekend. Let me tell you something: It still holds up. She even laughed from time to time again.
• Ever since he got fired from Fox News for shocking incidents of sexual harassment, he's been acting weird. And this is weird. Buddy, you are probably just getting fat. 
  
• I saw some of the heaviest rain ever as I was driving down US 287 yesterday -- both morning and evening. And people were driving like fools and causing wrecks. Slow down. And if you have bald tires, spend your last dime to replace them. 
• As I was researching something for a future trip last night, Mrs. LL walked by and said, "I love that you are such a nerd." I think that was a compliment. But it did cause me to do the cock your head to the side and look confused move. 
• I wore jeans to the office this morning (not wearing my normal lawyer suit and tie), someone drove by and saw me walking to the office, and then called my Administrative Assistant within 30 minutes to ask what was going on. Small Town Texas. 

Raise Your Hand Wise County If You Fit Into That Demographic

Under #TaxCutsandJobsAct a married couple earning $100,000 per year ($60,000 from wages, $25,000 from their non-corporate business, and $15,000 in business income) will receive a tax cut of $2,603.50, a reduction of nearly 24 percent.

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) December 19, 2017

What a tone deaf goofball.

And you guys understand that even personal tax cuts will slowly be cut back each year (called "sunsetting") while corporate tax cuts are permanent? #TheBigCon

Firing It Up!

21 Pounds Of Cat Power

Finally a picture that shows how massive our cat is. #Obesity pic.twitter.com/g4OVSKPRPN

— Mrs. LL (@kbug) December 19, 2017

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• This vehicle has been seen around Decatur. Real or just a funny bit? 
  
• I received the most heartfelt handwritten thank you note yesterday. I greatly appreciated it. 
• In a (kind of) weird move, attorney Pete Schulte, who you'll see on the news all the time, has decided not to run for Dallas County Sheriff after saying that he would. But sometimes the best decisions are made upon reflection. 
• That Trump federal judge nominee who couldn't answer basic questions at his hearing decided to say, "No thanks. I'll go away."

  

  The Executioner (Who Is Also A Republican)

• For those not familiar with litigation, civil or criminal, asking "What is a Motion in Liminie?" is the equivalent of asking, "What letter comes after C?"
• A Fort Worth police officer has been terminated for unnecessarily roughing up and ordering the tasing of a black woman.
• That derailed Amtrak train was doing "80 in a 30" mile per hour zone? 
• I'm no foreign affairs experts, but reports early this morning that Yemen rebels fired a ballistic missile into the capitol of Saudi Arabia, who claims to have shot it down, is not good. Not good at all. World War I started because of far less. 
• There's now a Trump talking robot in the "Hall of Presidents" at Disney World. (Which, by the way, prevented me from seeing the entire show a few weeks back because he was being installed.)

  

  Some have noticed a similarity 

• And Another:
  
  
  
  
• Jerry Jones' defense of the Carolina Panthers owner who has to sell his team because of sexual misconduct is not a good look. And Jerry probably needs to "tread lightly."

Chris Farley Died 20 Years Ago Today? We Are All Old.

And from the Carol Burnett Show to SNL, I love it when one actor makes the other one start laughing.

Uh?

Y’all. My cousin’s kid climbed up the claw machine at our family Christmas and we had to call 911 😂 pic.twitter.com/LnWsaiZVmp

— Macy Hollingsed (@macyhollingsed) December 17, 2017

Who amongst us hasn't had a kid climb into one of those machines?

My "fake" factor has gone through the roof.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• High Crimes:
  
  
• This guy is losing it. I don't even know what that means. Edit: Man, I had no idea how many of you "New Covenant" guys like to pick and choose from the Old Testament. (My favorite verse is that eating shellfish is an "abomination".)  And I kind of remember something about Jesus saying, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." But what do I know? And that First Amendment thing actually means something. 
• 
• Speaking of losing their minds, Junior is truly losing it. And Cruz isn't far behind. 
  
• And Ted Cruz thought it would be a good idea to attack Mark Hamill on this of all weekends. Hamill responded by pointing out that Cruz misspelled his name and reminded him that his Twitter account has tweeted out porn before. Specifically, "Maybe you're just distracted from watching porn at the office again."
• I have, amazingly, never seen What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I caught the last 20 minutes of it over the weekend and it looked great.
• Boise State receivers doing a dance move before a play was bizarre. And, even though they scored, it really didn't have any impact on the defense. (And the one guy needs to learn how to tackle.)
• It doesn't look good for John McCain.
• The Ecstasy Ewok is one weird guy: 
  
• Sarah Palin's son was arrested for domestic violence. 
• We now have a federal appellate judge resign after "inappropriate sexual conduct or comments." 
• Of all the weird moments in the Cowboys game last night, the fake punt might have been the weirdest. That might be most non-Jason Garrett call I've ever seen. 
• Sometimes you just have to think things through. 
  
• The Carolina Panthers are up for sale after allegations of "sexual misconduct" surfaced. I wonder if any other NFL owners are nervous. (Side note: And it will be great to learn the fair market value of an NFL franchise.)
• One of the most interesting things about the Precinct 3 Constable election in Wise County is that someone is running named "Terry Terry." The campaign should simply be, "Terry Terry! Dilly Dilly!"