3.08.2019

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







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Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • Bad Wisconsin prosecutor. (And there's more -- including the disciplinary result and a photo of the 65 year old.)
  • Yesterday it was announced there had been a $50 million donation to the Antonin Scalia Law School which comes on the heels of a $43 million to the Heritage Foundation. All from the estate of a California state judge. After you get past the "where'd all that money come from?," aren't there about a million more causes which are actually in need?
  • The UT quarterback thinks college athletes should be paid. I agree. But there's something weird about a current college star saying it because it can have an odd feel of, "Hey, it would be unfair if I hadn't been paid." 
  • Author Dan Jenkins has died. I'll admit that I never "got" him, but I've got a buddy who swears by his books. 
  • David Irving went out in a blaze of glory last night.  (It went on for 20 minutes and here's a part of it.) He had a pretty good point, though: How many NBA players, how many MLB players, how many UFC fighters, how many coaches, and how many actors do you see getting in trouble for weed?
  • Speaking of weed.
  • The current unstable marijuana laws from state to state are insane. And if the proposed Texas law that mentioned I yesterday were in effect, the superintendent would not have committed a crime at all and couldn't have been arrested. 
  • And I heard a rumor that some law enforcement officer warned a Wise County business not to sell CBD oil and confiscated it off the shelf. You kidding me? Cue Reno 911. CBD oil contains an infinitesimal  amount of THC which makes it both technically illegal but also impossible to get high off of. No law enforcement agency or prosecutor's office in their right mind wants to waste their time on that stuff. (Seriously, it would be the equivalent of arresting a convenience store clerk for selling hand sanitizer without a liquor license.)
  • This happened in Bridgeport yesterday. I tried to figure out who it was but there was only one person booked into the Wise County Jail yesterday from Bridgeport for an "ounce" of a Penalty Group 1 drug, and it was for a female off a warrant issued by the district court with a pre-set bond. That normally means it was an arrest based on a past alleged crime in a sealed indictment. 
    And what's this fluid the cops were moving?
  • There was another warrant executed by the feds yesterday for someone out of Chico (part of an odd string of multiple arrests for federal charges which I know have occurred in Wise County over the last three weeks. There's not been a single public announcement about this rare federal intervention in the county.)
  • The radio reminded me of a breakfast cereal this morning that I had not heard about in decades: King Vitaman. I could have sworn this "multi-vitamin" cereal tasted like pure sugar as a kid.
  • This is the second time this week he's tweeted the exact same paranoid thing:
  • That came moments after spending "Executive Time" watching you know who. (Have I mentioned they are State TV?)
  • Maybe he's bent out of shape about more bad news this morning: 
  • We had a Bridgeport kid take part in a Spelling Bee at TCU yesterday. You can find him below in the publication which had a spelling error.
  • There was a time-waste of a House resolution yesterday condemning hatred of any type. But one of those, to their credit, was "Islamaphobia."  WBAP's Hal Jay, and I am not making this up, said this morning, "Shouldn't that be Radical Islamaphobia and not Islamaphobia?" I'm serious. It should be Radical Islamaphobia." Obviously incredibly confused on multiple levels, he meant: We shouldn't be condemning Islam but Radical Islam. No one in the room corrected him.
  • Slidell won yesterday after a last minute desperation shot was off the mark. Decatur is on deck today after selling 628 tickets.



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3.07.2019

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • We've got another not guilty verdict in a Capital Murder case in Tarrant County. That's two in two months! (Star-Telegram story here.)
  • We had a child drowning death in Decatur. It sounds like a horrible accident. There is a GoFundMe page with more info (and a photo). The GoFundMe page has a "goal" of $30,000.
  • One of my rants over the last few years is how people are increasingly being prosecuted for accidents. This month's Texas Monthly has an article on it (which I admittedly haven't read yet.) 

  • The newest Far Side cartoon painting by Jon McNaughton has been unveiled. "Figures from left to right: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Iihan Omar, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, President Trump [looking longingly at an abandoned doll with hands in prayerful position.]"
  • There is a massive movement in Austin right now to move possession of marijuana under an ounce to a "civil offense" punishable by a fine up to $200. Practically speaking, it moves simple weed possession from the county courts (where you'd normally get a fine and a reporting probation -- a probation which couldn't be expunged) to municipal and JP courts. Not only would it just be a small fine, it wouldn't count as a "criminal" prosecution. The measure might just pass. I found attorney David Sloane's testimony before the Criminal Justice Committee this week -- he's the guy with the weed billboards every where. (It should be here around the 1:42 mark.) He got applause from the audience, and admitted his support of the measure would impact his pocketbook but "it's the right thing to do."
  • The current pulse in Texas from the Texas Tribune: 
  • Trump called Apple CEO Tim Cook “Tim Apple” as he sat right beside him yesterday. 
    "As Ivanka Nepotism looks on . . ."
  • Lawyers only: I can't say that I completely understand it, but a lawsuit has just been filed which appears to have some merit challenging the State Bar of Texas forcing us to pay bar dues. It is based on a compelled membership case out of the Supreme Court last year.
  • We are killing ourselves at a rate unlike any other in our history in order to escape the realities of life.
  • There's a rule that you can't wear jeans on the floor of the Texas Senate or House. It was ignored yesterday by Matthew McConaughey. (And, no, he wasn't there to support smoking weed in your underwear while playing the bongos.)
  • Speaking of pants, ever wonder what Dale Hansen wears under the sports desk?
  • Random thought while on my Texas history kick: Texas and Tennessee should have a college football rivalry. (The volunteers arguably either almost screwed up the Texas revolution or it couldn't have been won without them. Probably the latter. Either way, the states share an incredible history as well as state teams wearing shades of orange playing in massive stadiums. And I used to sometimes initially mistake the "T" for a longhorn on TV when I was a kid.)
  • Wow. Look who is on the cover of the Dallas Morning News! (Here's a pdf for a better look.)



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3.06.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • A theory floated yesterday supporting the Atlantic map showing that Montague County was politically tolerant and Tarrant County was intolerant: If you hang out with 99% of the people who think just like you politically, why wouldn't you be tolerant? If you're challenged, maybe you would dig into one side or the other.
  • He cited as authority the "Failing New York Times" and "Enemy of the People?"
  • I don't think I'd ever be comfortable jogging on the Trinity River Trail again since my head would be on a constant swivel looking for dogs.  Story. (She looks worse than the guy that killed the Mountain Lion Kitty with his bear hands.)
  •  “...if more good people had concealed carry permits, we could end those Muslims..." -- Jerry Falwell, Jr. speaking to a a fawning and packed arena at Liberty University (and he sounds a little drunk here at the end of this quick loading video.)
  • There's a "Humor" column in the Texas State Bar Journal by some guy named John G. Browning. I'll let you predict if it's funny based upon this information: This month's five paragraph piece has one paragraph that ends with "Just saying" and another one ends with "Enough said."
  • One other thing from a different (and serious) Bar Journal article on divorce: "I usually estimate an affair will tilt division of the marital estate by 2 percent." (p. 204 for those reading at home.) I have no idea if that's true since I refuse to get involved in family law, and Mrs. LL hasn't made me find out the hard way.* 
  • *You see, that's quality lawyer humor that should get me a writing gig instead of John G. Browning, Esquire.
  • This is up in Celina. There will be subdivisions all the way from downtown Dallas to the Oklahoma border at some point. ("Houses in the project range in price from $300,000 to $2 million.") 
  • This wasn't the best move by New Hampshire Republicans during a hearing on a proposal about controlling gun possession by those with mental issues. They decided to mock a women's group who was there to support the measure as "pearl clutchers" by wearing pearl necklaces. Where did they get them? The women's group who had no intention of setting them up for a bad photo op.
  • The Sophomore in the House to me when I got home yesterday and comfortably got situated in my chair: "We're babysitting a two week old tonight." Me: [Sits in stunned silence for five minutes.]
  • When your lawyer tells you to shut up, just shut up. “Stop it. You all quit playing! Quit playing! I didn't do this stuff! This is not me! I'm fighting for my ****ing life! Y'all killing me with this sh**!" "I gave you 30 years of my ****ing career!"- R. Kelly told CBS Gayle King. (Then again, if you are going to talk you better deny it, and you better deny it with intensity. That he did.)
    "Why are you yelling? You're a foot from me."
  • Proof I (we?) live in a bubble: I've never seen a person with ash on their forehead on Ash Wednesday in Wise County. 
  • The worst job in the world is one where a school board determines if you have one. 
  • "Facebook is about score-boarding your neighbors." - Craig Miller on The Ticket this morning.
  • Messenger: Above The Fold
They're families.

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3.05.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • The Atlantic released a map of the most and least politically prejudicial counties in America. It's not about how one sided the county is (i.e. 89% Republican) but how "more or less politically forgiving" (or tolerant) the people are. I seriously question the findings. It has Wise County right in the middle in the 47th percentile, while Tarrant County is in the 96th (extremely intolerant), and Montague County in the 5th percent (very tolerant). 
  • I may be the only guy in the metroplex underwhelmed by WFAA's John McCaa's retirement. He was an anchorman. He read news. There are guys and gals who have busted their butts for years and years as reporters at the Morning News, Star-Telegram, and the local TV stations who won't get the time of day when they retire. They have tracked down the news in the trenches and not just read it off the teleprompter. (Hey, McCaa seems like a nice guy but, let's be honest, this isn't Woodward or Bernstein retiring.)
  • Our governor continues to defend the acting Secretary of State for the fake voter fraud fiasco and continues to attack the head of DPS for being the source of the "list". This is really weird. You never see Abbott attack law enforcement like this. Uh, "despicable?"
  • "COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina lottery says a single winner has stepped forward to claim the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot from a drawing last October . . . . The winner has chosen the cash option, a one-time payment of nearly $878,000,000." 
  • The Texas legislature resolutions are at full throttle. Messenger publisher Roy Eaton received one as well as the Decatur volleyball team. 
  • Our governor forgot that when you tweet a link to a news story that the photo that accompanies  the link comes with it. A local TV station might do a funny or questionable bit with a photo, but the governor should not. (He quickly deleted it.)
  • And concerning my continuous rant of a news/radio/TVsegments which are ads disguised as content, the Washington Post had a story yesterday dedicated to such concerns.  It's against FCC regulations so long as they disclose it. (Narrator: They never disclose it.)
    (This is not a Galaxy S10 ad disguised as content.)
                             
  • Along those lines, The Ticket dumped 45 seconds yesterday afternoon when the hosts began mentioning Southwest Airlines and fares to Hawaii in a segment. Why? Their boss directed the dump based upon the policy of Corporate Overlord Cumulus against mentioning any company which doesn't pay for an ad. 
  • I don't know if it was a "paid ad disguised as a story" yesterday, but the Star-Telegram also ran a piece on Southwest's airline fares to Hawaii. But what also got my attention was the bottom of the of web page which had computer generated content using an algorithm to search for past "related stories." It embedded a report of a Southwest plane's engine blowing up. If the fare story was a paid ad, that went horribly wrong.
  • In 2016, Fox News killed the Stormy Daniels story, and CEO Roger Ailes tipped off Trump to debate questions.  They are State TV.
  • Thanks for this bit of trivia from a lawyer up at the courthouse yesterday: You certainly remember the case of the Affluenza teen, right? Well, in 1995 a high school football star from North Richland Hills killed his father. After the defense raised the mitigating defense of you're-gonna-be-a-football-star abuse by the father, the jury hung up on punishment. From there, a plea bargain was eventually struck for three years. The connection? The same lawyer was involved in both cases: Reagan Wynn. He helped Jeff Kearney in the NRH trial and took the lead in the Affluenza trial (if my info is correct.) A Texas Monthly story on the North Richland Hill's case by the great Skip Hollandworth is here. A probable copyright violation of the story that appeared in the Dallas Morning News at the time by Barry Horn is here. 
  • From the Update yesterday: "The First United Methodist Church and The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Decatur will both have Ash Wednesday services Wednesday. They will have a drive through imposition of ashes in the parking lot of the Methodist Church . . . . "


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3.04.2019

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




  • Remember when I asked if I was the only man in America who was skeptical about the story of the jogger killing a mountain lion with his bare hands? Well, once again, my super instincts panned out when the news came out late last week that it was actually an orphaned kitten. (Heck, I'm not even sure that part of the story is true.)
  • I recorded part one of the Michael Jackson documentary on HBO last night. (I also recorded a commercial free showing of Free Solo which I can't believe was on the National Geographic channel.) I'm very interested in both. 
    Not Michael Jackson.
  • I'm not sure what is going on with this verdict out of Denton. The lawyer had already sued the school district in federal court and lost, so this trial might have been just for show. Maybe there's some small amount of money available from a parent's homeowner's insurance. 
  • I've always been skeptical about the claim of Gil Brandt of Dallas Cowboys fame "bringing computers" into the NFL Draft. I've heard that all my life. So I tracked down the following excerpt from a book which lead to this revelation: This super computer, for each potential draftable player, multiplied 16 times a number of 1 through 9, added those numbers, and then ranked them. That's it. Color me unimpressed. (Throw in that the the number of 1 through 9 was completely subjective, and we have a computer which was just a glorified adding machine of questionable data.)
  • Very random old movie thought: Was there a reason that Sandra Bullock's character drove the bus in Speed instead of the cop played by Keanu Reeves? Why didn't he just take over (at least from time to time)? Maybe they explained it in the plot, but I don't remember. 
  • I've now stumbled upon The History Channel's Texas Rising to go along with the Texas history book I'm reading. The irony has dawned on me that the Texas revolution was fought primarily by men who were illegal immigrants into Mexico from the United States who got here by crossing shallow rivers. 
  • There is not enough time to review Trump's two hour rambling speech at CPAC on Saturday. It went from "TIVO" to Andrew Jackson to Mark Meadows' wife to the "sleaze on top" of the FBI to the Russian probe being "bull----" to having a friend in New York who "is a stoned cold killer" to "I wasn't serious when I said I wanted Russia to find Hillary's emails." It was insane. (My favorite part was when he mocked his former Attorney General Jeff Sessions' Alabama accent.)
                                    
  • Is every government twitter account ran by a 13 year old boy?
  • Speaking of, the Williamson County Sheriff didn't like Seth Myers' joke: "A Texas sheriff has placed cardboard cutouts of officers holding radar guns on the side of several roads to deter speeding . . . .And even one of those managed to shoot a black guy."
  • This is a bad look for the Baylor administration, but they've got the right, as a private institution, to censor the student newspaper.
  • The Dallas DA's office dismissed the Endangering a Child charge against the Richardson mom whose child was found strangled in drainage ditch. The simple reason was that they couldn't prove it. However, I'm not sure why it took them a year to figure that out while she was locked up. Side note: The Richardson PD was not pleased.
  • Skechers ran this ad in major newspapers all over the nation this weekend as they tried to take advantage of the Duke's Zion Williamson blowing out his Nike. 
  • The Decatur boys team is headed to the state tournament this weekend. They will play Liberty Hill in the semis -- a team they beat 57-37 earlier this year.  It looks like you can see all the semi and state final games (1A through 6A) here for $9.00 (And how did I miss Decatur beating Bridgeport 70-14 a few weeks back?)   
  • I don't understand the appeal of Bernie Sanders, but this is quite the scene in Chicago last night:
  • Messenger: Above The Fold. 

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