11.29.2019

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






(That last one was a Cowboys' Thanksgiving halftime joke.)
at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • It's Friday between a major holiday and a Saturday but who's here? This guy.
  • And call me old school guy, but back in the day this would never, ever happen. Nor would you ever catch Staubach (or even Aikman) smiling after a loss. That's part of the problem. 
  • That's Cole Beasley, of course. Beasley scored yesterday. That score prompted CBS to put up a graphic naming him as one of only three former Cowboys to score a touchdown on Thanksgiving against his old team. One of those three was also Duane Thomas. On Wednesay, I mentioned, as a very obscure fact, that Duane Thomas scored against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving forty-five years ago. Coincidence? 
  • Fans of the Bills actually showed up at the airport last night when they arrived?
  • I hear "he would have scored if . . . . " a lot. I normally disagree. He would have scored:
  • A faithful reader, who understands the fraud perpetuated upon us with the "Busiest Travel Day of the Year" narrative, sent this from Houston's Bush airport.
  • I found a case where everyone involved needs to be disbarred. And I mean everyone: the prosecutor, the defense lawyer and the judge. A guy spent two years in prison for breaking a law that had been declared unconstitutional, but none of three knew it had been declared unconstitional! (Heck, I did a blog post on the law being struck down on the day it happened.) They story is behind a paywall here. Various briefs about the case can be heard here where the Texas Supreme Court will soon decide whether the defendant should be compensated by the State. That's where I got this:
  • I saw these this picture over the weekend. Tablets given to a schoolroom full of kids which would supposedly reveal red splotches to indicate if, and how well, you brushed your teeth that morning. I was in one of those classes.
  • The Evil Empire plays Texas Tech today at 11:00 a.m. as the pressure is mounting on Tom Herman. The unofficial over/under on the crowd in rainy weather is 60,000. Side note: I saw this photo from last Saturday which is great but not as great as the throw that Ehlinger got off as he was being hit. And he completed it. You can't see the ball, but the receiver can barely be seen on the far left.  And this was after Ehlinger almost had his head torn off. Quick loading video of it is here.
  • So is this bullet point:
  • Throughout this whole Ukraine controversy, I've heard the voice of the guy in a Seinfeld episode saying, "You not say Ukraine weak!"
  • The dog deserves a settlement, too.
  • Fox 4 seems to be struggling this morning. This poor purse got robbed and the headline even has a typo.
  • Trump went to Afghanistan yesterday. All gave some. Some gave all. 
  • Ole Miss lost to Mississippi State last night in the most Mississippi way ever.  This guy scored with four seconds left. All they needed to tie it after that was an extra point - an extra point which, because of this fool, then became a 35 yard extra point. It was missed. 
  • It's Black Friday. Is it me, or are we getting less and less videos of crowds trampling each other like Barbarians? Blame online shopping and stores opening on Thursday for depriving us of this basic right of entertainment. 


at 8:34 AM

11.28.2019

Random Thanksgiving Thoughts


at 8:31 AM

11.27.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • Stephen F. Austin beat Duke last night at Cameron Indoor Arena. Watch the ending here (and here's video shot from the crowd.) It's great. Duke hadn't lost at home to a non-conference opponent in 19 years.
  • There was a big plant explosion in Port Neches overnight which is making national news. Someone posted this of the explosion taken from their doorbell cam. (Turn the sound up.) Edit: Here's a another one showing a door being blown off.
  • When do I get an award as an Online Influencer? 
    • From May 8th of this year:
    • Then this happened yesterday with little fanfare:
  • Baylor is # 9 and Oklahoma is #7 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.  If Oklahoma beats Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game, I bet they'll end up in the final four.  If Baylor upsets OU, Baylor won't make it to the playoffs even with a 12-1 record.
  • Robert Jeffress had now gone full Robert Tilton (and you never go full Tilton.) He posted this yesterday asking for money to line his pockets. Note that a gift to "Pathway to Victory" is a gift to his side project -- it's not a tithe to the First Baptist Church of Dallas. I clicked on the link to try to learn about how your money would "effectively" be doubled but there is no explanation whatsoever. But I did learn that if you wish to give him money by credit card that you'll be asked if you will have the option to give a "3% generous gift extra to cover credit card fees! 
  • I think it would be fun to be an appellate state court judge. And there's a judge in Houston who is after my own heart because he'll fire off some hot opinions. For example, in a case yesterday, the court reviewed the trial court's error in giving the jury an actual transcript of a witness's testimony to take back to the jury room after they indicated they couldn't agree on what was said. That's crazy. The law specifically says the judge is to "have read to them from the court reporter’s notes that part of such witness testimony or the particular point in dispute . . . ." (Emphasis added.)  But, despite this blatant violation and the defense lawyer objecting before it happened, the court said "no harm - no foul." In his dissent, he says he doesn't know why the law says read-it-back instead of take-it-back, but he rightfully doesn't care. That's what the law is. It's not hard. And his dissent starts of with a bang . . . 
  • I had to look the judge up. He's Charles Spain. He just got elected for the first time last year, graduated from Baylor Law School two years after me, and his only previous judicial experience was being a municipal judge. 
  • I was staring at the front the house on Sunday contemplating a different layout for the Christmas lights when Mrs. LL, in complete deadpan/skeptical mode, walked over to me and asked, "What's the plan, Phil?"
  • Liberty County District Attorney Logan Pickett, 38, was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting his wife. "His wife said she found out after a Friday night dinner that Pickett had been having an affair for the past 15 months, according to police, causing an argument to begin." They were in Houston at the time. 


  • I am certain that that North Texas State tried, but failed, to have its name changed to "Texas State" in the early 1980s, but I can't find anything to back me up. I think there was even a bill in the legislature but it was shot down. Somehow Southwest Texas State got the name a few years later. 
  • He wants those people to testify! Really! He's just fighting it for future presidents! He's the most selfless man alive. 
  • The anti-Christ is running wild in Parker County!
  • There are two high schools in Texas still in the playoffs who entered it with a 3-7 record. 
  • Amazingly, Bill O'Reilly pushed Trump in an interview yesterday which caused him to say that Rudy was not working in the Ukraine on his behalf. How many times did Rudy's name come up in the "transcript" of the call with the Ukrainian president?
  • When your husband calls part of that city a "disgusting, rat and rodent invested mess."
  • Here's your helpful Liberally Lean Thanksgiving Tip: Don't try to fry your turkey with a nuclear bomb.
  • I wonder if there are any media outlets doing the obligatory, but false, story of this being the busiest traffic day of the year at DFW Airport.  Oh . . . 



at 8:34 AM

11.26.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




  • This will get your attention at 8:01 a.m. (Still no update. I'm guessing it's nothing.)
  • But that reminded me of this from just four years ago.
  • The Fort Worth teacher who was fired because of multiple tweets complaining about the "illegals" at her school has been reinstated. I can't disagree with that. If you work for the government you have free speech rights -- especially if you aren't on the clock when you're firing off your hot opinions. If she had worked for a private organization, she could legally be kicked to the curb. (The reinstatement ruling was also based on a procedural matter but that's not as fun to talk about.)
  • I haven't mentioned it in a while (after I was first all over it in the beginning), but the Houston cops who lied about having a confidential informant to get a search warrant and then busted in the house and murdered the innocent couple inside, have been indicted by a federal grand jury.
    Actual courtroom sketch included in a story about the case. The story also says
    they entered the courtroom "wearing scowls and shackles." Everyone is doing bits.
  • And reporters down there have been taking a deep dive into all of the data on the background of those cops since the cluster went down. Here's a fascinating one: The lead cop in that fiasco, who just happens to be black, had made 258 arrests for Possession of a Controlled Substance < 1 gram (the lowest level felony there is.) Of those arrests, 248 were African-Americans.  Houston is 23% African-American.
  • Decatur has had to travel all over God's green Earth for the playoffs, so what about Springtown which is of comparable size and location? They have gone to Snyder (219 miles), Andrews (320 miles), and this week to Brownwood (135 miles).
  • When it's too early to fight the War on Christmas:
  • Pylon Talk: We all know that if the ball "touches the pylon" then it's a touchdown, right? Well, I'm here to tell you it's much more complicated than that. Look at the pylon below. It is positioned, as it always is, out of bounds. That is, it's not inside the playing field. This OU player scored (don't worry about his body -- he never touches the ground because he's on top of the other player) by having the ball touch the pylon. But what if he just touched the outside of the pylon -- that portion is technically out of bounds. Or is it? What if, from his vantage point, the ball had gone just past the very right of the pylon but missed it simply because it wasn't wide enough?  I once heard John Madden say that the "goal line extends all the way around the world." It confused me then, I don't know if it's true, and confuses me now. I don't know the answers to all of this.
  • As a kid, the hour long NFL review show, hosted Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier, was must-see TV.  It was the only way to see extended highlights, and it introduced us all to the now classic NFL background music.  Here is the less than five minute review they had of the Cowboys' Thanksgiving win over the Redskins in the unlikely Clint Longley game of 1974. It's broken down in short parts: One, Two, and Three. As always, they are quick loading.  Here is something I had no memory of and which you old-timers will appreciate: Duane Thomas scored two touchdowns  . . .  for the Redskins.
  • Yesterday Trump showed off the dog involved in the raid that killed the leader of ISIS. But look who was off to the side at the White House: It was "judge" Jeanine of State TV. What's she up to?
  • And moment's later, Conan mauled to death the turkey on the courthouse lawn who was set to be pardoned in a ceremony.
    Just kidding. He's a good boy. Or girl.
  • With an announcement yesterday, three of TCU's top four quarterbacks have left the team this season. But the one still there, Max Duggan, is going to be great. 
    Clearly out. Clearly. 
  • A fuel truck hit two planes at DFW Airport yesterday. 

  • You hear stuff like this from the government and you nod your head in agreement. That is, until someone retorts: "Why stop there? Let's do away with safes, vaults, and sturdy locked doors, too." Then someone fires back: "All those things can be entered with a lawful search warrant."  Then you hear, "Well, why can't I have some safe place from the government? You can't get a warrant for things I've memorized and don't want to tell you, can you?"
  • I constantly pull my very ample hair out because of the guy who runs the Twitter account for the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association. And he caused me to do it again this morning. Hey, I'm 100% on board with treating courthouse staff nicely (which is really pretty easy to do unless you are a miserable human being), but in giving that advice you don't need to insult every courthouse worker in Texas:
  • Yesterday, a federal district court called the Trump Administration's (through his de facto personal lawyers, the Department of Justice) attempt to prevent Don McGahn from testifying before Congress because of a "claim to absolute testimonial immunity", which they believe gives "unassailable Executive branch authority" over the other branches of government, "baseless." So let's hear from him! Nope: They appealed moments ago. 
  • "Why do I care what’s going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? And I’m serious, why do I care? And why shouldn’t I root for Russia, which I am." - Tucker Carlson on Fox News last night.
    Comrade Carlson
  • Messenger: Above The Fold (a day early)

at 8:37 AM
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