12.14.2018

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














at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • When Michael Cohen appeared in federal court this week, you would think that they could have found a sketch artist who at least didn't have a second job has a horror artist. (In addition to being bad at his job, check out out the gal in the background.)
  • It's long but great: A behind-the-scenes oral history of how, 25 years ago, a little known network called Fox shockingly paid and obscene amount of money to obtain the rights for the NFL's NFC away from CBS. And the larger scheme as to why they did it. (Who among us watching the Cowboys back then didn't think, "Hey, that little down, distance, and time graphic is annoying --- No! No! Wait! It's fantastic!")
  • This is really cool: When the Aggies played LSU a couple of weeks back, the game appeared lost when an interception was thrown. Listen to the boys controlling the big stadium screen (and see the screen simultaneously) as they madly scramble to get the video up which showed the QB's knee was down before the interception was thrown.  Their quick work led to the play being reviewed and reversed. 
  • Sports news was a buzzin' yesterday about Stephan A. Smith's ill-informed and laughable comments about the upcoming Charger/Chiefs game as he referenced players who would not be playing. Here's a great slowdown of the reaction of his guests. (Smith is paid $3.5 million from Fox Sports and $1 million from his SiriusXM.)
  • Photoshop and Mike Pence:
  • The National Enquirer/Trump relationship news this week caused me to remember something I posted on 5/24/17. I sensed back then that something was going horribly wrong, and I was right. Now we know the Cohen/Trump/Porn Star/Enquirer investigation was ramping up behind the scenes, and the Enquirer was starting to distance from all things Trump.
  • No snow. Check. No ice. Check. High winds. Check. I'm a weather genius. Compare and contrast someone else earlier this week: 
  • Speaking of being right, I was very wrong about something else. The lawsuit against the defunct Beamer's nightclub over the Josh Brent wreck led to a $25 million verdict yesterday. But someone try to make sense of this to me. Brent was found 48% responsible, the club an equal 48%, and the guy who ended up dead by deciding to get into the car with Brent only 4%. I'm still surprised the club was found responsible at all because the Plaintiff faced an impossible burden of having to prove that "it was apparent to the provider that the individual being sold, served, or provided with an alcoholic beverage was obviously intoxicated . . . . "
  • Random (and silly) stuff in the Texas Constitution which is in direct conflict with, and an obvious violation of, the U.S. Constitution:
  • Every life is precious unless it's a child who is poor, has brown skin, and isn't an American. She died in El Paso.
     
  • And it seems a good time to remind you of the Border Patrol's history of  pouring out water left on trails. #MAGA
  • Random order out of a federal court in Houston this week: 
  • Whatever happened to Craig James (SMU star, star college football analyst, failed Senate candidate, Mike Leach thorn, and a guy who did not kill five hookers)? Yahoo Sports tracked him down. 



at 8:38 AM

12.13.2018

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • Decatur plays Waco La Vega tomorrow at Jerry World. Fun Confusing Fact: The school is located in the city of Bellmead and is part of the La Vega I.S.D so I'm not sure how Waco got slapped on its name. Another fun fact: Waco La Vega beat Decatur in the area round in 1987 and there are four players from the La Vega team who have sons playing for the current La Vega team.
  • La Vega, and this guy, runs the ball. A lot. 
  • Trump's personal lawyer. Michael Cohen, is going to federal prison for three years for doing something Trump directed him to do. And you know who first found out about Trump's payments to porn stars funneled through the National Enquirer to keep the affairs from being exposed before the election? The press.
  • And he just declared a War on Christmas!
  •  Flashback to 2015:
  • Flashback to happier times with a Trump mouthpiece:
  • Here's a fun bit: Ask someone who is under 40 the name of the person who killed Abraham Lincoln. (My brief experience yesterday indicated that the 40 year old cut off line has some significance for a reason I don't readily understand.) 
  • New morning tweet: The Wall was in our hearts all along. Sheesh.
  • Man, between that Baylor kid being banned from UTD's graduation and graduate school and other developments, we've got a social media lynch mob going on. 

  • I don't care about it, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their inductees this morning. Here's a Jeopardy Question: What band was inducted whose hit song was performed by Bill Murray's character in the film Lost in Translation, 
  • The First Lady was welcomed with open arms for an interview with Fox News yesterday where she called authors and journalists covering Trump "opportunists." Yep, a gal who came from Slovenia to "model" in hopes of landing a billionaire just called journalists a bunch of opportunists.
  • Very random great fake punt by the Houston Oilers back in the day.
  • Jeopardy answer: Roxy Music whose hit More than This made an appearance in the karaoke scene.




at 8:35 AM

12.12.2018

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




  • The AP's "Quotes of the Year" starts off with some very memorable quick hits:
  • No, she didn't. She just wants money from a defunct club's liability insurance company. She testified yesterday and was a monotone scripted cliche machine.  (Prediction: I'm leaning that the club is going to be found not liable.)
  • Traffic Alert: New traffic lights are going in on W. Hale in Decatur near the new QuickTrip. This means we will have three, count 'em three, sets of traffic lights within 1000 feet of one another. That's a first for Wise County.
  • The meeting between Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer yesterday in the Oval Office was high entertainment. (I don't count Mike Pence because he looked like he might have passed away when we weren't looking.) Watching Mr. Art of the Deal being tricked into taking responsibility for any government shutdown was golden. 
    This is like Jim looking at the camera in The Office
  • Liberally Lean Action One Weather First Expert Forecast: Ice/Snow: No chance whatsoever. Wind: This is going to be the story. Beginning tomorrow around 7:45 p.m. we will have insane winds throughout the night. Your house will shake. Then, beginning late Saturday night, we will have almost no wind whatsoever for the next four days. Book it. I'm never wrong.
  • If a movie is showing in theaters and it is, say, two and a half hours or more, how about we bring back the "Intermission"? Audience gets a break. Concession/Kitchen makes more money. It's win-win. 
  • I'll given you a million guesses who this is. Give up? UT great Vince Young. 
  • Man, that plea deal of the former Baylor fraternity president blew up all over the news yesterday. Prosecutors across the state even defended the deal pointing out, accurately, that if you don't know all the facts and aren't aware of proof problems, you are in no position to pass judgment on the deal.  Yep, that's correct. 
  • And despite all that publicity from one courtroom in the Waco courthouse, this happened right down the hallway: "A man accused of raping a 4-year-old walked free from a McLennan County courtroom Tuesday after prosecutors failed to persuade a judge to postpone the trial." (That's a misleading lede, however. The prosecutor, after being caught in a bind, simply dismissed the case and will refile it. It's still a wheels-off situation.)
  • But one thing does seem clear: Since the Worst DA in the State became a lame duck after losing an election because of the Twin Peak Biker Fiasco, that office has gone from a ship with an incompetent captain to a ship without a captain. 
  • I mentioned Ray Liotta on Monday and now I see this. I have no idea what is going on. 
  • Did some middle school kids in Decatur get locked in their class after school? That's what I'm hearing. Some mommas be trippin'. 
  • This is a little unsettling. (Here's the link to get your data.)
  • Messenger: Above The Fold

at 8:32 AM

12.11.2018

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • This is a great photo. It's from the dedication of DFW Airport 45 years ago, and there is a search on to find the identity of the boy. And, yes, that's a Concorde in the background.
  • Steph Curry has made news. 
  • And Another: Beauty Queen edition. 
  • There's a new oil (or natural gas) derrick right behind Karl Klement's dealership in Decatur. That's the closest one I've ever seen to the city limits (and it might actually be within the city.) And that's the only new one I've seen any where in the county in a few years. 
  • Trump Morning Meltdown Alert:The Russian probe has caused Trump to deflect by going nuts about the Wall this morning in a Twitter rant: (1) If he doesn't get more money for the Wall, the "Military will build the remaining sections." Wow. First Mexico was going to pay for it, then the U.S. taxpayers, and now the military is going into the construction business. Hint: That's a lie. (2) He wants the Wall built in order to keep those out with "large scale crime and disease." That's poorly veiled code for "fear the brown people" from a White Nationalist. (3) There were Caravans (plural!) which have abandoned their attempt to travel to America because of portions of the Wall which have been built. Once again, that's a lie.
  • But, rest assured, America is safe because Trump got his national security briefing this morning from the CIA, NSA, FBI, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Fox and Friends: 
  • The expelled Baylor frat president getting three years probation via plea bargain for alleged sexual assault made the national news yesterday. That's something the school didn't need. (And, yes, the girl is the victim, not Baylor.) It's noteworthy that the prosecutor who made the deal sent someone else in to handle the plea proceedings. 
    When a good deal doesn't feel like a good deal.
  • My annual seasonal rant: (1) Home Alone is a horrible movie, (2) Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and (3) yes, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer has some horrible messages in there. (And that's not a new debate. It's been going on for years.)
  • Mrs. LL bought me "jalapeno and cornbread muffins." If it said "Jalapeno cornbread" I'd know what to expect. But the fact that they are "muffins" throws me off. (I haven't tasted them yet.)
  • “What explains the Court’s refusal to do its job here? I suspect it has something to do with the fact that some respondents in these cases are named ‘Planned Parenthood,’” - Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court refusing to take a case yesterday. (Kavanaugh voted not to hear the case.)
  • Time's Person of the Year are those who battle those who lie to us (multiple covers): 

  • In the eighth tweet of the morning, Trump just said "over ten" people want the Chief of Staff job. Yep, over ten!
  • The Maserati I referenced last week that was parked on the courthouse square is actually owned by a Decatur lawyer. I would hope that the local bar association has an emergency meeting to consider sanctions. Our county's values are under attack. #MakeWiseGreatAgain

at 8:33 AM

12.10.2018

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • Individual-1's paranoia continues this morning as he he tells us not once, but twice, there is no "Smocking Gun." (And it is pure 1984 as how he slowly has begun referring to Mueller's investigation as "the Dems.") And he went on to admit to paying off women for their silence -- something he has lied about in the past -- as just a "private" transaction.
  • Never forget who Mueller, a Republican appointed by a Republican, is per Fox News:
  • Random death notable to fans of the great movie Night Shift:  Tim Rossovich. 
    "Awful good. She meant awful good."
  • Very random find that means nothing: Less than two years before 9/11, a 19 year old student pilot from Saudia Arabia crashed near Boyd. His instructor was from Yemen.
  • This is amazing. A basketball card has turned up with the Menendez Brothers in the background. And sleuths have figured out that the photo was taken after they killed their parents.
  • CourtTV is coming back.
  • Dave Campbell's Texas Football says that Decatur has had the fifth hardest schedule in the state to this point, and only one other team is still alive in the playoffs which has had a harder road.
  • TCU's starting quarterback will transfer. Something is going on in the Gary Patterson empire.
  • Trump told us he would hire the best people. Now he thinks his first hire as Secretary of State (who was the CEO of ExxonMobile when it was making record profits) was "dumb as a rock." We are learning that the best people are smart enough to not want to work for him. 
                                               
  • I think those "win probability" charts overstate the chances of winning or losing at any point during the game, but this one is pretty funny.  (Here's the play as time expired in case you missed it.)
  • I mentioned it on Friday, but I finally finished it: Get Me Roger Stone on Netflix is an absolute must-see for any political junkie. It is fantastic.
  • Questioned posed to me: Was there just one hearse that transported George H.W. Bush's body in both D.C. and Texas?  It sure looks like it. But if true that meant there was a second plane carrying the hearse which somehow had to beat Bush's plane to its destinations after delivering the body to Air Force 1. (I know the Presidential limo used by Trump and other presidents travels in a separate C17 military plane.)
  • How Joe Barton, who was involved in a salacious sex scandal over a year ago, thought it was fine to serve out the remainder of his term at taxpayer's expense instead of resigning is shameful.
  • Ray Liotta in that Chantix commercial sounds like he has a head injury and looks like he has had a Botox malfunction.
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.



at 8:32 AM
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