12.31.2018

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



                                           
  • The most entertaining part of the Clemson/Notre Dame game was the eagle landing on at least two people during pre-game. 
  • Jerry's sleeve length is as bad as Trump's tie lengths. (Trump could fix his problem without a tailor, though.)
  • The Alabama/OU game wasn't much to watch because Alabama, all of them, came willing to play through the pain.  (Oh, and with the win, Nick Saban's earnings so far this year have reached $9,025,000.  The players still get nothing.)
  • There's a case on appeal which involves Wise County which is moving as fast as I've ever seen. A Notice of Appeal was filed on November 20th and both sides had their briefs filed by December 30th. And it's complicated. (I know of at least one criminal case on appeal in Wise County where the defendant hasn't even filed his brief yet and it's been almost a year.)
  • It's plain weird that the University of Houston fired Major Applewhite after just two seasons --two seasons that weren't that bad.  (Baylor was the last Texas DI school to pull the trigger so quickly when it canned Dave Roberts in 1998.) Some think that West Virginia's coach will take the job. Noteworthy: His buy out goes from $2.5 million to $1 million tomorrow.
  • That "Masked Singer" show looks dumb. Just dumb. 
  • Trump is still crying about the dumb Wall, and the government shut down continues. Democrats have an easy retort if they were smart enough to do it: "You promised Mexico would pay for it." Just say that again and again.
  • Coulter is harder on Trump than I am -- just from the opposite direction:
  • So do I . . .
  • The man's got two pretty strong points here:
  • How in the world did State Farm decide it was worth millions to pay an ad agency to come up with that goofy Aaron Rodgers and his two agents campaign? 
  • Delkus has already gone into cartoon mode for Wednesday: 
  • Seriously, look at this "forecast" that he is making. With the "and/or" stuck in there he is predicting rain -OR- sleet -OR- freezing rain -OR- rain and sleet -OR- rain and freezing rain     -OR- sleet and freezing rain -OR- all three. Then he qualifies all of that with "not much snow." 
  • I don't know anything about the federal district judge in Tarrant County who struck down Obamacare (other than he was behind me when we were both at the Tarrant County DA's office), but he put his decision on hold yesterday. Oddly, he used this language: "[B]ecause everyday Americans would otherwise face great uncertainty . . . . " What exactly is the difference between an "American" and an "everyday American"? 
  • Take a couple of minutes and read this thread. It's well worth the chuckle.
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.


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12.28.2018

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




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Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • The Wise County Sheriff said last night that 85% of "our inmates are jailed due to meth related charges", and had a message to Congress: "Fund the danged ole wall." There's a lot to process there. (I was interested in looking at the jail's pdf of current inmates and their charges, but it hasn't been updated since 11/13/18.)
  • A power plant near New York City last night caused lots of people to freak out as to why the sky was blue. I've seen those alien movies. I'd freak out, too.
  • Shout out to a reader who found this news pic from Arizona. Check out the truck in the background going by the wreckage yesterday. The whole pic is a Cheeze-Its Bowl metaphor.
  • The Secret Service has already spent  $54,020 for tents to be used at Mar-A-Lago's New Years Eve Bash where guests will pay $1,000 to attend. What was that swamp phrase?
  • I don't know what to think about this report from McClatchy that Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was in Prague during the campaign based upon cell phone records. If true, its a bombshell because it lends more credence to the Steele Dossier, but (1) I don't recall "McClatchy" breaking any huge news before, and (2) Cohen, who has been cooperating with Mueller and has every reason to do so, denies it. 
  • The Dallas DA is throwing down some big news and he isn't even on the job yet: (1) He will fire 12 people, including heads of divisions, which most believe is because he "was explicit on the campaign trail that he will not tolerate overly aggressive prosecution and prosecutorial misconduct", (2) He will authorize the dismissal all first-time charges for possession of small amounts of marijuana, and (3) Announced he believes the length of probation for misdemeanor offenses, with the exception of family violence or DWI, should not exceed 180 days in most cases. I like this guy. 
  • There's a surprise new Black Mirror episode released today, and it's interactive meaning you can alter how it plays out.  I'm a fan of the series but not a fan of that bit. 
  • As for bowl investor winners, so far Cheeze-It (for sponsoring a laughable game) and ServPro (for sponsoring a cancelled bowl) have gotten there money's worth from a publicity standpoint. 
  • The local news has been referring back to the tornadoes three years ago on December 26th. I may be losing it, because I barely have a memory of that.
  • Can sports broadcasters come up with a new phrase for pushing and shoving between two teams other than "It's getting chippy out there"?
  • The price Wise County paid to run the multi-page ad of registered sex offenders around Halloween when there was no obligation to do so: $4,362.90. (Here at p. 3.) Those monthly county-wide expense reports have lots of interesting tidbits in them. 
  • Trump threatened to "close" the border this morning if he doesn't get His Wall.  If he can "close it", why is he so crazed about the The Wall?

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12.27.2018

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • Dallas' ServPro First Responder Bowl was cancelled due to lightning yesterday. Not postponed. Cancelled. They didn't have a back up plan? Heck, it's sunny today, play it. Or for that matter, they could have announced the moving of the location to The Star a couple of days ago. With as few people which were in attendance, they'd fit. 
  • Then again, ESPN couldn't even spell ServPro right so the bowl isn't high on the priority list.
  • In the ugliest game in college football bowl history, we had TCU/California last night
    • The teams combined for nine interceptions. 
    • It took overtime for TCU to win with only 10 points.
    • Decatur's own Grayson Muehlstein had the horrific line of 7 of 20 for 27 yards and 4 interceptions. 
    • This play -- short video -- might be the worst trick play ever, and sums up that game.
    • Although TCU receivers caught only 7 passes, TCU's defense caught five passes from Cal QBs.
    • Ironically, TCU never lost a game that Muehlstein played in. 
  • Elmer Gantry really put me in the Christmas spirit:
  • Trump finally got shamed into visiting the troops (for three hours), but managed to screw it up by lying to them about having given them a 10% raise.
    They always dress that way for dinner?
  • Have you ever heard of a "nonessential" employee in the private sector?
  • I had to issue this line to Mrs. LL yesterday: "This house is not Grand Central Station."
  • I don't get these videos of private moments where someone does something good. Case in point: A rookie pitcher "wrote a letter to his parents, thanking them for everything ... and then revealing that he'd paid off all of their debt as a Christmas present." That's great. But when your mom is filmed reading your letter and you publicize it for everyone to see, it cheapens it beyond belief. (Side note: How do you know all of your parents' debt without tipping them off?)
  • This is insane. At 0.05 you are normal despite what the government says. (Ask an honest prosecutor.)
  • I hadn't seen this one: Trump and a pregnant Melania in 2006 as photoed by Annie Leibovitz.
  • You begin to understand Sarah Sanders the more her dad speaks.
  • Messenger: Above The Fold
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12.26.2018

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • It's "Did you have a nice Christmas?" day. 
  • The following people were pardoned by Greg Abbott late Friday on Christmas weekend (when the press doesn't have time to snoop around.) Why these people for minor crimes who have paid their punishment years ago? Give me an hour and I can come up with a list of hundreds of former clients who are worthy are complete forgiveness from the government. 
    • Javier Rojas Jr., 39, for unlawful possession of marijuana in 1997 (El Paso County). Rojas was sentenced to six years' probation and a $1,000 fine.
    • Raymond Eldon Lindholm, 46, for unlawful possession of marijuana in 1997 (Morris County). Lindholm was sentenced to five years' probation and a $2,000 fine.
    • Pamela Hawon Wren, 46, for theft between $200 and $750 in 1999 (Denton County). Wren was sentenced to 180 days' probation and a $100 fine.
    • Reginald Charles DeCuire, 53, for theft in 1983 (Jefferson County). DeCuire was sentenced to five days in jail.
    • Joseph Clinton Blackwell, 39, for burglary of a vehicle in 1996 (Tarrant County). Blackwell was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
    • Ruth Anne Griffith, 22, for assault causing bodily injury in 2014 (Harrison County). Griffith was sentenced to 100 days in jail.
  • When you think about it, it's still our money: 
  • The days leading up to Christmas need to be cold.
  • The number of alarm clocks/phones that go off on holiday weekdays has to be astronomical. (That theory is based upon the sample size of those in my home.)
  • One of the weirdest stories of the holidays was the Secretary calling the heads of the major banks in the U.S. from a vacation in Mexico and then issuing a statement on Sunday that the banks had “ample liquidity”. Something going on we need to know about? If not, why issue that statement causing another stock market plunge? 
  • An odd TV programming event on Sunday. Local Fox, after the early NFL game, ran a bunch of spare "science fun tricks" shows and then began an abbreviated version of "Fox 4 News at 5:00" at 5:45. I wonder if this was a Christmas snafu?
  • Odd gift I threw in for Ms. LL. She was reading it last night:
  • In case you missed it: Wise County spent $10,000 on a couple of drones. (Let's make a mental note as to how often they are used and/or useful.)
  • My favorite purchase of the year was a timer for the Christmas lights.
  • Random people posting pics of a current trip via train from Moscow to Beijing. 


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12.25.2018

Random Christmas Morning Thoughts





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12.24.2018

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • What's worse that Christmas parking at the Presidio and/or Alliance shopping areas at I-35/287 is trying to get the heck out there. It's like the exits are part of a secret maze.
  • My head is spinning: (1) Where does this come from? No one has ever seen it before and it's not part of any designs we've seen. (2) The blow up of those Game of Thrones spikes does not match the top of slats in the larger picture. (3) If he is so worried about drugs (he's not), couldn't you just pass them through it? (4) Clip art still exists? (5) He's a man-child for even posting it.
  • Let's check in on the GoFundMe for its alleged help in paying for beginning of The Wall. Uh. Let's work on our math skills instead. 
  • Our County Judge got to go to Farm Bill signing in D.C., but I haven't seen any pictures of him with Trump during the actual signing. I'm not sure that even happened. (Not that his political career would be helped by being seen with the man.) 
  • Texas DPS, which can afford gun boats on the Rio Grande, will close their driver's license offices today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. 
  • Random Trivia: A business park in a Chicago suburb was the title sponsor for the Bahamas Bowl (thus, it was the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl.) It only cost $300,000. 
  • The Texas high school playoffs were high entertainment: (1) Here's a great angle of the winning Hail Mary by North Shore over Duncanville, along with the radio call for North Shore (2) A female reporter asked a 26 second question to Highland Park's coach's wife who responded with a one minutes and twenty-seven second answer (including a lunch-with-friends reference) while the game was going on and Highland Park was throwing into the end zone. (3) I had the great joy of having Mrs. LL scream out "Spin Move!" during a Highland Park touchdown. 
  • Thirty rattlesnakes under a shed in Gorman, Texas. (Video.)
  • If you shell out $20 this "accomplishment", you are one weird guy:
  • Trump told Secretary of Defense Mattis yesterday he was out as of December 31st (he was willing to stay to the end of February) once Trump finally figured out that Mattis torched him in his resignation letter. 
  • This graphic got lots of attention over the weekend:
                                     
  • There was an Indonesia tsunami yesterday. Watch it crash through an outdoor concert. 
  • This picture was floating around with captions from everything that they were the neighbors in Christmas Vacation to they must have spotted a black dog that shouldn't be in the neighborhood, but it took me forever to notice the third dog. 
  • While considering Trump's decision to pull our troops out of Syria, I had forgotten that he had said during a debate that you never tell ISIS your military plans ahead of time. 
  • Messenger: Above The Fold


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12.21.2018

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
















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Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • What a day. Just when you think we couldn't have any more chaos from the Trump Administration, we had three major stories that had to be crammed into one afternoon graphic.
                                         
  • Make no mistake about it, Defense Secretary James Mattis quitting one day after Trump announced he is cut and running in Syria (with Russia's express backing) is a big deal. And that resignation letter, saying Trump shouldn't be sucking up to Russia while alienating our allies, without one kind word for Trump, tells you all you need to know. There are no more adults in the room, and you need to be afraid.
  • Pretty soon its just going to be Trump, Melania, and Ivanka, in the White House, and it'll feel just like The Shining.
  • There will be a government shutdown today because Trump can't get Congress to use taxpayer money for a wall that he promised time and time again that Mexico would pay for. Wrap your head around that.
  • If I'm the owners of Alamo Drafthouse, I'd be asking, "Just how many movie tickets and food do we have to sell to just cover construction costs?"
                                            
  • The GoFundMe page for the wall is another step toward Idiocracy.  I'm waiting to see a homeless person holding a sign which says, "Lost It All Ballin' For The Wall!"
  • Did you know in Texas and you are involved in a civil lawsuit and a judge shows up who has "visiting" status, you have an absolute right to object to him, but if you are a criminal defendant you don't? 

  • Stubie Doak, a spare WBAP personality and radio commercial voice over guy, has never, ever been funny.
  • Did you catch the lady of Fox 4 who suffered minor wounds after being bitten by a coyote in Frisco?  She was quite dramatic in describing the look in the coyote's eyes. But my favorite part was that "Now her parents are with her to help her recover."
  • Well, I'll be: 
  • Life comes at you fast . . . 
  • It's the "shortest" day of the year. Or the "darkest."



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