7.25.2014

Above The Fold

That American Ninja Warrior Chick Taking You Into The Weekend








Get Me This Dog Who Passes Out When He Finally Sees His Owner!

Take That, Bud!!!!


He later clarified that it came from Boyd.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Israeli rockets hit a U.N. school in Gaza killing fifteen. Can they not hit the broad side of a barn?
  • They are building an In-N-Out Burger by the new Costco right off 287 and 35 in north Fort Worth. 
  • Man, the Charlie Strong era at Texas is off to a horrible start with the suspension of two players yesterday for what looks like a horrible sexual assault. (On a lighter note, the typos in the 2014 Media Guide doesn't ooze "discipline".) Edit: Wow. I completely missed these two that were dismissed yesterday. Edit: Three more gone today. Chaos!
  • I love the sign that says, "Obey All Traffic Signs - State Law". Oh, okay. I wasn't going to until you posted that sign. 
  • Fox and Friends hosted Twisted Sister this morning. Demographics, my friends. Demographics.
  • There have been some silly prostitution busts in Denton and Cooke counties and some believe that there might have been some embarrassing arrests of high profile residents. Oddly, the Cooke County Sheriff said the prostitution arrests carry no jail time and are "fine only" offenses. That ain't right. 
  • Wow: Two night's ago the Lifetime Channel had scheduled to air a program called Good Grief - "Take a step deep into the heart of Texas with the Johnson Family Mortuary!" That's the mortuary under investigation for abuse of corpse.  The show didn't air. 
  • Heard this morning that Tony Romo has only missed one game in the last three years. That surprised the heck out of me. But his collar bone injury was back in 2010.
  • More reasons to hate the NFL: They suspended Ray Rice for only two games for knocking his girlfriend unconscious And, at 27, WR Sydney Rice has to retire because of concussions.
  • "Tarrant County Clerk Mary Louise Garcia was cited last month for assault following a domestic disturbance with her husband." Looking further, it was a Class C Assault by Contact which means "offensive touching" without causing pain. Here's a tip: If you ever hear about someone being charged with Class C Assault, be very suspicious about the accusation. 
  • Man, that GIF that BagOfNothing posted is funny.
  • I finally watched the HBO new documentary Newburgh Four about the FBI's ridiculous tricks to find and entrap "terrorists".  It is exactly what I've been preaching for five years. At times, I felt like I had been the director and editor for this must see documentary. 


7.24.2014

From Dallas Morning News Facebook Page


A photo on the Metro cover in Saturday's paper has a lot of people talking. One letter writer, Richard Elsea of Sachse, shared a common reaction: "As I continued reading Saturday’s paper I kept returning to the photo of the protester and her fellow activists. Why did that hate-filled visage resonate so deeply? Seeing angry protesters screaming at someone or about something isn’t uncommon. Then I realized how much it reminded me of a 1957 photo from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. If you squint and let the image blur to a monochrome, you can almost see Elizabeth Eckford walking just to the right of the photo."




If The Guy Had Only Thrown in a "When The Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor" Line



Youtube - Patrick Benson identifies the man being detained as his co-worker Alex. Benson claims the incident began when stadium staff assumed there was underage drinking within their group but says he and his friends are all at least 21 years old.

The video shows the officer allowing Alex to tell his side of the story but when he does not sit down on command, the officer is seen aggressively shoving Alex multiple times. A defiant Alex then demands to be shoved by the officer again and is then handcuffed. “All he had to do is shut up and he would have left,” the officer is heard saying. During his detainment, Alex continues to give what was probably meant to be a patriotic speech but seemed more half-thought drunken ramblings.


Benson says he believes Alex was simply escorted out of the stadium without further incident. In the end f the video, another officer can be heard saying Alex was being physically ejected for trespassing because he refused to leave.


I think I'm more annoyed by that drunken "United States of America!" rant than the overly aggressive cop. 

And what's that guy writing down in the background? Talk about focus!

Edit with an excerpt from Deadspin which posted this later:

Abuse me again! As a citizen of the United States of America, abuse me again!"

Alex is shoved and placed in cuffs. Alex is now yelling.


"This is an illegal recremendation [reprimandation? recommendation?? reckaimininldjsation???] of an American citizen," Alex cries. "Thank you!"

I Should Be A Detective



(NBC-LA) Authorities are asking for the public’s help to help find a man that is suspected of killing a peacock in Rolling Hill Estates, officials said. A witness saw the man stop his silver four-door Mercedes-Benz in the 27000 block of Eastvale Road around 8:20 p.m. on July 9, according to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles said in a statement. The man fired from a pellet gun, hitting a peacock in a driveway.

Mike Ditka has always had a temper, probably drives a Mercedes, and would kill a peacock just for looking at him wrong. Boom!:


Random Face On Fire

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • The location I saw the car backing up on the 820 freeway over the weekend is about the exact same place where a car took out a huge overhead sign this morning. Photo. If you've ever come up east 820 from I-30, you've seen that sign. 
  • It's been a year since Kidd Kraddick's death and the ratings for his show are, amazingly, up.
  • I've noticed what  I believe to be Decatur's girls' cross country team running the streets of the town around 7:00 a.m. 
  • There was another botched execution last night. This time in Arizona. 
  • Highs will only be in the 80s mid to late next week.
  • I wonder if this is the Twitter feed for the young girl injured in the wreck southeast of Decatur yesterday. 
  • Jerry Jones said they didn't have formal conditioning tests on the first day of training camp but was encouraged that most of the players did it anyway. Jason Garrett later said that the conditioning test was cancelled because it could give rise to injury in conjunction with practices the next day. He then was asked if he was concerned then that the players did it anyway. He had a deer-in-headlights explanation as he realized he had just painted himself into a corner.
  • As soon as I heard Garrett speak yesterday, I thought, "We've got to go through another season of listening to him say nothing?" Oh, well, it's a process.
  • Heard a weird rumor of a local lady dying which may or may not be associated with an infection she obtained after going to the dentist. 
  • Whenever I see one of those "Cash With Car Title" stores I think there's someone inside getting ripped off. And I'm pretty sure I'm right. 
  • I think one of the goofiest retorts is a comment that says something along the lines of, "You wouldn't feel that way if that happened to one of your family members!" 
  • An Algerian airliner with 110 or more on board has crashed this morning in Northern Africa. Been a heck of a season for commercial jets in the Eastern Hemisphere. 
  • WFAA's Joe Trahan tweeted late last night: "Sources tell me former defensive lineman Josh Brent will be released next Thursday." I thought he meant that the Cowboys would cut him, but he was actually talking about being released from rehab after his Intoxication Manslaughter conviction. Makes sense since I guess he's not on the roster to release. 
  • I did my normal jog yesterday but have finally become smart enough to walk a short distance every now and then if the heat and humidity gets too much. Cloud cover helps but not much. I'd rather run when it is in the 30s.
  • The horrificness of the Fort Worth mortuary which hadn't properly disposed of a few bodies got ratcheted up yesterday when it was revealed that one of the bodies discovered was an infant who had died two years ago


7.23.2014

Guilty . . .




. . . of being cheap and hanging out at the Glass Cactus.

War Crimes By Whom?


Edit: Maybe committed by both Hamas and Israel.

AP Twitter Feed And The Need For A Comma Or Two


And Another - Oregon




Story.

And who could have possibly seen that coming? Oh . . .


Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • Hey, Messenger: Was the "Bob Buckel - Foster Parent" on Fox 4 News yesterday your Bob Buckel?
  • If you're a middle aged current or former Cowboys fan, the news of the death of Robert Newhouse caused all sorts of flashbacks.
  • And for some reason it caused me to recall former Cowboy Scott Laidlaw (kind of a spare) who spoke at our high school athletic banquet in Bridgeport and dropped an S Bomb. 
  • I caught a portion of Real Sports last night (like bagofnothing did) and saw the segment on how some golf course, faced with dwindling revenue, are tricking up the sport by installing 15 inch holes. I had heard about that on the radio and thought it was idiotic. Then I watched people play and realized they were having so much fun. And it sped up play by one hour. The concept is that the younger generation isn't willing to spend four hours of frustration on old school golf. Amazingly, Jack Nicklaus wasn't against the crazy innovation. 
  • And they also took a visit to Top Golf. I had no idea that place was so insane. 
  • A former "employee" of Bleacher Report posted a loooooong article on Deadspin entitled "The Top 200 Ways Bleacher Report Screwed Me".  I want to read it but there's no way I'm going to. Instead, I scrolled through the comments to try and get a feel for the article. I laughed when one of them read, "Can't you sum this up in a slide show or something?"
  • Fox 4 had a story last night of some idiots throwing rocks and railroad ties off a bridge onto oncoming traffic. I had someone drop a golf ball size rock onto my windshield over 20 years ago in I-35 in Fort Worth. Scared me to death. It hit the upper left corner and almost went completely through. I'm still not sure if shards of glass didn't screw up my eyesight in my left eye. 
  • "Shards" is an underutilized word.
  • Is the "immigration crisis" story already fading away? It's like civil war torn Syria that we were about to drop bombs on and then the news suddenly vanishes. 
  • The Sixteen Year Old In The House was denied the right to take a driving test yesterday. It was very confusing because all I could get out of it was "social security card" and "Homeland Security." 
  • I'm kind of worried about Crazy Texas Mommy. She rarely posts on her blog anymore (over there ---->) and her last few seemed a little angry. 
  • I haven't been to the Wise County Reunion in years but it has to be a beating in this heat and humidity, right? 
  • And there were 243 teams in the "washer" tournament last night? When did that end? Dawn?
  • I only do criminal law and not civil and certainly not federal civil law. With that, the news is reporting that the jury deliberating the Jessie Ventura vs. American Sniper libel lawsuit must be unanimous. Is that right? (I know a Texas civil case can be won on a 10-2 verdict.) But I saw where it is a federal jury of 10 people. 




7.22.2014

Solar Car Race Going Through Wise County Right Now


This is the University of Texas entry getting cooled off in Alvord. They are going from Austin to to Minnesota.

(Thanks emailer.)

Trouble In Frog Land

Last week:


Earlier today:




Later today:


EPA Tweets Promotion For Kardashian Game - Later Apologizes




Things keep getting weirder and weirder.

Source.

Headline Of The Day

Story.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • For years I've been ranting about the FBI/CIA "creating" terrorists by entrapment. Well, it looks like I'm not the only one. HBO debuted a documentary last night called the Newburgh Four about the issue, and Yahoo! News featured this yesterday: "Washington (AFP) - The FBI encouraged and sometimes even paid Muslims to commit terrorist acts during numerous sting operations after the 9/11 attacks, a human rights group said in a report published Monday."
  • I think we had a pretty bad motorcycle wreck in Rhome this morning.
  • I jogged yesterday, and I'm not sure I've ever sweated more. So hot. So humid.
  • I've always wanted to see the Big Bend area of Texas but it is so difficult to get to. I mean, going to Chicago or Denver or New Orleans is a hundred times easier.
  • I've never seen a Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings movie.
  • I think I'm the only person who remembers a comedy show called Herman's Head which ran in Fox's early days. I liked it. I may be the only one.
  • UNT's new law school expected about 350 applications for the inaugural class this Fall — and got more than 600. Sheesh. 
  • The "house explosion" always gets my attention and they had one near Houston last night. It's gone. 
  • I've got Argo recorded, I know I'll like it, but I'm just never in the mood to watch it. 
  • From the Update: "MEMORIAL service for Christopher John Corniel, 23, of Denton is 11 a.m. Saturday at Jones Family Funeral Home." Anyone know the story behind this? I think his mom died a couple of years ago. 
  • I've mentioned this before: That single left turn lane on FM 51 730 under 287 near James Wood's is going to get someone killed. You can have two cars traveling in opposite directions at 40 mph who can legally and simultaneously go into that lane. (Google street view should be here.)



7.21.2014

Random DPS Chart

Rick Perry was firing off a lot of numbers today as he announced that he was sending 1,000 National Guard troops to "secure the border." In doing so, he relied upon data by DPS of the crimes committed by illegal aliens.

Check out this chart from the official DPS website which shows crimes by "foreign nationals, regardless of immigration status." Anyone see a problem with this graphic? Green is for "alien" arrests who have prior arrests. Red indicates first time "alien" offenders. Blue is for the "non-alien" arrests.  But that's not the problem. See it? Pravda was more honest.

Click to enlarge.

Wrestling Bit Invites Controversy By Mentioning Malaysia Flight



NY Post – A pro wrestling schtick invoked the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in a lead-balloon bit that even stunned WWE fans, who are used to these outrageous acts. World Wrestling Entertainment grappler Alexander Rusev and his manager Lana, who play comically anti-American Russians, were predictably booed as they stepped into the ring Sunday night in Tampa. Then moments before WWE’s “Battleground” bout between Rusev and Jack Swagger, Lana — played by Florida-based actress Catherine Joe Perry — took the mic and told fans in her faux, over-the-top Russian accent: “You blame Russia for these recent current events?”  “Tonight we dedicate this match to the most powerful man in the world. Tonight we dedicate this match to the man that makes fools out of all of you Americans,” Lana said. “He is my role model. He is my idol, the president of Russia.” 

I really don't care about the controversy. I'm just jazzed by the accent. We've got us a modern day Brigitte Nielsen.

Random Dennis Prager Rant

I mention this guy from time to time, and I know none of you (except one) has any idea who I am talking about. He's  a conservative talk radio host who is the walking definition of psuedo-intellectualism but presents himself in such away that you would think he is one stop away from being the Pope. (If Jewish people had a Pope.)

One of his crazy bullet points concerns how higher education will "indoctrinate" people to liberalism. Just like magic. It's as if he has no faith that someone older than 18 cannot sort through different views and ideas and make a personal decision. Amazingly, he encourages people not to go to college but instead to watch his  videos from "Prager University" (which sounds great:"There are no fees, no tuition, books, homework assignments, or grueling midterms here")  that he sells online. (To quote The Jerk, "Awwww, it's a profit thing!") Edit * He'll throw up a free one every now and then, and he did so recently on how our welfare system is broken. He calls it the "War on Work."

I watched a couple of minutes of one before I couldn't take the simplicity of it anymore.

He uses this guy as a spokesman (once again, on the issue of poverty.) Angry old white guy in a suit?


And he actually used this as a graphic: A welfare recipient who just happens to be portrayed with an opaque dark figure in front of a flat screen TV next to a bag of money. Idiocracy, indeed.

_____
*Edit: OK, I'm wrong about him charging for the videos. Those silly things are free. I was confused because he actually charges for podcasts of his radio show which isn't the industry norm. I'm stunned he's not trying to make a buck off the videos. (Although he will take a $5,000 donation.) But, again, I was wrong.

Random LeAnn Rimes Post


I used to post about Rimes quite a bit. Not sure where she had been, but she hung out in Miami last weekend. At least she is eating again. Somewhat.



From 2011:


Selfie Weekend

Girl smiling at Auschwitz:

Former Alabama QB's wife on honeymoon:

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

ss


  • Late Saturday night, I saw a car in my lane backing up on Loop 820 to get to an exit ramp. Mrs. LL saw it before me and almost had a heart attack. We had enough time to react but just by a few seconds. I thought of the The Butterfly Effect.
  • Ran across Night Shift last night. Still one of the funniest movies ever. "Love brokers!!!!"
  • "MIAMI –  A Florida jury has slammed the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. with $23.6 billion in punitive damages in a lawsuit filed by the widow of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer in 1996." Not only is the lawsuit crazy, so are both of the numbers in that sentence. 
  • At least 70 children have died from Israeli missiles. Hey, I appreciate Israel as an ally, but this blind "they can do no wrong" makes no sense. 
  • Mrs. LL is stunned by the cost of some fabric (she's doing some curtain project.) She had a very confused look on her face when she thought she had ordered two "rolls" and then two "yards" showed up in the mail .
  • I remember the family rushing home from church to watch the moon walk on Sunday evening (or was it Saturday and Vacation Bible School?) 45 years ago, but I don't remember watching the actual event. I may have fell asleep.
  • A story which you would think would have received more press:  "GRAND SALINE – A 79-year-old Methodist minister who died after setting himself on fire on a busy street in this town of about 3,100 residents left behind a suicide letter asking the community to repent for its racism."
  • The Sixth Grader In The House is at camp this week. There will be 1,000 less questions asked in the house this week.
  • Speaking of, try to explain the Royal Family and their role in England to the Sixth Grader.
  • Mrs. LL cleaned out the garage before I could get to it. 
  • Not sure what I think about wisecountywashers.com
  • I could have sworn I saw Ronald Reagan on a tarmac after the USSR shot down the Korean jet using the term "Evil Empire".  I guess I'm wrong about that. 
  • Dang air conditioner tripped the breaker again. Time to call the expert. 
  • I'm completely confused about Colby Lewis' rant about a bunt on Saturday night.
  • It's hard not to look like you are full of hatred if you are holding up a sign that says, "Illegal kids go home!!!"
  • The Family Pig had been very tentative on his feet. Now he'll run five feet and buck like a bull out of happiness while he does it. Maybe one of the funniest things I've ever seen. 
  • I've got a buddy who loves the USC Song Girls. And he's not ashamed to admit it. 
  • One of the Sophomore In The House's friends had posted a "postcard" on Facebook asking, somewhat disturbingly, "If there were ten handguns in front of you and only one had a bullet, would you pick one of the ten guns up, point it at yourself, and pull the trigger if you would receive $1 million if the gun did not have the bullet?" Ok, she's a good kid. But when she was over at the house last night we told her that was weird. (Although I will admit we created a game out of ten pieces of paper which degenerated into Deal or No Deal.)
  • You have to be deranged like me, but if you want to hear two guys from The Ticket spend over an hour telling about their trip to find the Alabama Leprechaun Tree and play audio from the experience. here it is.  
  • I'll watch the Tour de France only to hope to see helicopter views of the landscape. 
  • I bought a ton of home grown tomatoes at a road side stand on Friday. One of life's greatest pleasures.