6.26.2008

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


- I can't tell you the number of times a married guy with kids has told me that "if I were you, I'd" walk away and go run a bar/surf shop/etc. in Mexico.
- The underlying facts of the No Death Penalty For Child Rape Case handed down yesterday were as about as awful as anything I've ever read.
- But I don't think the world will end just because a child rapist is locked up for life instead of executed.
- I you stole an ATM machine, is it hard to open?
- Coldplay was on Jon Stewart last night and, after the performance, Stewart looked short standing next to the lead singer. I checked The Google and found out Stewart is only 5'7".
- The Wire is great.
- I completely forgot to watch any of the final game of the college world series. The tell me that Fresno State, which entered the tournament as about the 50th ranked team, won.
- Note to the Star Telegram: Look up the case of Dr. Lydia Grotti handed down by the Court of Criminal Appeals yesterday - you missed it. (I will now bet my sixth wife that you will now see a story about it in tomorrow's paper. You're welcome.)
- I once held a $3 million insurance check in my hand that was being paid to a wrongful death claimant. Her husband had died of skin cancer after her doctor failed to send off a skin biopsy to the lab - and then lied about it by telling the now dead guy that the lab had said it was benign.
- Random girls on a boat. Rethinking my rant about boats.
- After giving it some thought, I think all the coverage of the Wise County duct tape case was overblown. I'm not saying that's good parenting, but it's not exactly chain-up-a-kid-in-the-basement crazy.
- A group of people at the courthouse thought that I was nuts when I claimed that around 1979, when gas prices soared, that the pumps weren't capable of calculating gas prices over $1.00. So, in response, gas station owners would set the pumps to 1/2 of the actual price with a note on them that the actual price you would pay would be double the final reading.
- Crazy new Mexican midget video on youtube.
- Somebody complained to me yesterday about the male nudity in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. I saw that movie and don't remember any male nudity.
- Tim McGraw kicked a fat cowboy out of his concert (via youtube.)
- If you don't watch anything else today, watch this compilation of reporters getting owned.
- I've never been impressed with Stonehenge. (OK, that's the most random thought of the day.)
- I've thought about for two months: The Fountainhead is the most juvenile and simplistic book every written. And the movie is worse.
- I've thought about buying a cemetery plot. For me.
- I bet the only reason local TV wasn't interupted last night with constant "Breaking Weather News" was that the weathermen weren't around since the storms came completely out of nowhere.
- Some of my readers know defense lawyer Jim Shaw out of Fort Worth (he makes an occasional appearance in Wise County.) If you do, check out the end of this story. If you don't, move along.
- NBC has settled a lawsuit brought by the sister of the assistant DA who off'd himself when To Catch A Predator came after him. But no one will say how much was paid. (And I've pointed it out before, but if you're interested and have some time, this Esquire article has the best story of what really happened. And it has the most eye catching title, "Tonight On Dateline: This Man Will Die.")
- I was serious when I said I didn't think the United States would last for another 200 years. But I think it'll last for 150 years. And, as Pat Buchanan has said, I can see the southwest United States basically turning into an extension of Mexico. (Some people try to equate if to Kosovo or Croatia - I think - but I don't know enough about that to even have an opinion.)
- Most people seem to be on a cell phone all the time. They can't possibly talking about anything that deserves to be talked about.
- My tires on my car are out of balance and my steering wheel now vibrates slightly.
- At 8:42, Mark Davis on WBAP said he's worried about today's upcoming ruling by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the D.C. gun ban. That's just dumb. It'll be struck down. (And I'll double down the bet on wife #6 because I'm so sure. We'll find out in moments.)