3.25.2016

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Well, a lot of people have the day off and the courthouse is closed but . . . wait for it . . . here I am: The hardest working man in show business!
  • The latest issue of Texas Monthly is about our gun culture with Taya Kyle, the widow of Chris Kyle, on the cover with a rifle strapped over her back.
  • I saw maybe the craziest docket in district court yesterday. A guy gets put in jail. He won't stop mouthing off. His girlfriend in a short skirt with knee high boots won't stop talking to him. He has to be cuffed. Then a guy on the docket walks up to the bench wearing shorts and cowboy boots. And that is just the beginning of what I saw. Kudos to the judge for not blowing a gasket.
  • The Ticket this morning pointed out that the NFL's denial of CTE is just like Big Tobacco back in the day denying that cigarettes can cause cancer. That is dead on. 
  • I'm now at a point if I don't have reading glasses I can't read a thing. 
  • Mrs. LL's little nieces showed up at the house last night. They visit maybe twice a year. My favorite bit is to look at them and say, "Who is this person?" They love it. 
  • Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of a very unfortunate bird flying in front of a Randy Johnson fast ball. Video.
  • I received a question yesterday from bagofnothing if that I had the opportunity to argue before the Supreme Court would I do it or hand it off to someone who had experience in doing so. Great question. But for some reason my brain went back to when I was arguing a case back in the 1990s before the Fort Worth Appellate Court when a judge in a very stern voice (and in a bluff) looked at me and asked, "Did you write this brief?" I had written it but looked at my assistant DA (we only had one back then) who was there just to watch. I very briefly thought about throwing her under the bus and blaming it on her but my assistant DA gave me a "don't you dare!" look. I meekly replied to the judge, "Yes, I did your honor."  The judge's reply, "Thank you. It will be very helpful." I won the appeal. Years later that same judge would, during oral arguments, start a question to me with "Barry, let me ask you . . . ." As opposed to the formal, "Mr. Green, let me ask you . . . ." Moral of the story: Be honest and you earn respect.
  • But would I argue before the Supreme Court? Yep. But it would probably cause me a heart attack in my preparation
  • The Harris County DA tried to do it 2003 in trying to justify Texas' sodomy law and got crushed. Note to self: Track that down and listen to it. 
  • Garry Shandling died yesterday. An admission: I've never seen one second of the The Larry Sanders Show but everyone tells me I would love it. 
  • Oddly, my reference of "Hey, Now" comes from The Larry Sanders Show but I just heard it from The Ticket. 
  • Very random thought: Can a knuckle ball be thrown in women's softball?