6.08.2016

This Is A New One For Me


If placed on probation, there is often some type of "class" to take. It might be alcohol education, a drug class, batterer's intervention, or even a theft class. Now one county (not Wise) is sometimes mandating a "Moral Reconation Therapy" class.

I had to look up "Reconation". That didn't help. I don't think it's a word. But the therapy, according to the Internet, "is a cognitive-behavioral counseling program that combines education, group and individual counseling, and structured exercises designed to foster moral development in treatment-resistant clients."  I'm still not sure what that means.

Side note: I wonder how much the class costs.
at 9:59 AM

Above The Fold


Full readable pdf.
at 8:46 AM

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • Well, we officially have a female on the presidential ballot this Fall.
  • Go back in time less than 100 years: Many states didn't even allow women to vote. It was only in 1920 that the U.S. Constitution was finally amended and ratified to force all states to get with the program. 1920 wasn't that long ago.
  • If you drive over the "old dam" at Lake Bridgeport, you'll see about 15 small whirlpool-like movements in the water. What are they?
  • The Messenger lists 60 new indictments. My quick count revealed 39 of them being for drugs.
  • Ever think softball is boring? In the college world series last night, Auburn came back from a 7-0 deficit to tie it, robbed OU of a game winning home run in one of the most fantastic catches you'll ever see (photos below), and then won it with a grand slam walk off home run in extra innings. A winner take all game is tonight.
  • "Video captured a mother wrestling her daughter from the arms of a would-be kidnapper." Ok, that's weird. It was in the middle of a store. 
  • This seems to be the most volatile time for Trump. Up until now, he's been able to say things that would destroy any conventional candidate. But now he's finally catching some very strong blow back with his "Mexican judge" comments. First crack in the armor or is this a rallying point? (Side note: Angering Hispanics is no way to win an election.)
  • I'm not sure I have ever talked to a single person who watches Game of Thrones.
  • The NBA first game of the season was on October 27, 2015. The season is still going on. For comparison, the Cowboys were only six games into their season on October 27th - a season that ended over five months ago.
  • Conversation in the courthouse yesterday: Doesn't being a long haul trucker sound like a pretty interesting job? You don't have to jack with people, could listen to audiobooks or anything in the world you find interesting, and you get to see the country. 
  • “When Sting died, Sting, according to them, had no will and was worth 300 million dollars or 280 million dollars or something, and had over 1,000 songs that he had not released that he had written. He had all this music to be released!” - New York talk show host Mike Francesa yesterday.


at 8:38 AM

6.07.2016

Update on Random Thought Bulletpoint of Alleged Maui Murder Via Car/Cliff Launch

We have photos . . . .





at 5:05 PM

What Happens When NFL Twitter Account Gets Hacked


at 12:32 PM

But He Wants You To Vote For Him?

Flashback to February:

at 9:41 AM

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • I always cock an eyebrow when I hear about a "GoFundMe" page.
  • A while back I mentioned Breitling Energy and its jack-of-all-trades leader Chris Faulkner so I googled the company last night. I found this recent tidbit: "Breitling Energy Corp (OTCMKTS:BECC) has declined 90.00% since October 28, 2015 and is downtrending." (You can get a share of stock for 1.4 cents. And this lede from The New York Post from late last year: "A Texas fracking magnate stuck his personal concierge with $240,000 in unreimbursed expenses for luxury items such as his wife’s Louboutins, all while getting high and drunk at high-end clubs and restaurants, according to a new lawsuit."
  • I told you there wouldn't be any charges filed against the parents in the Gorilla Shooting Case.
  • I told you OU would win the NCAA softball championship. (They are one game away.)
  • Electronic filing of court paperwork in Texas has slowly moved to electronic transmissions instead of paper.  IBut if you were one of the handful of lucky companies to get the government contract to handle the process, you are making a fortune on fees that you get to pocket with every transaction. It actually costs more to file electronically than it did by formerly filing paper.
  • I'm convinced that the way to get rich in this country these days is to be a private company with a government contract.
  • "HONOLULU — A woman who was driving a vehicle when it plunged off a Maui cliff has been charged with murder in the death of her twin, who was in the passenger's seat."  Dear Prosecutor: Good luck with all of that.
  • Kimbo Slice was one of the first viral video sensations I ever saw and he turned it into a MMA career. He died yesterday.
  • Legendary local wrestler Fritz Von Erich started his career portraying a Nazi? (Ticket reference this morning.)
  • Funny: This Houston Astros fan at the Ranger game last night was none to pleased when Knoxie got the crowd fired up around him.
  • Strange bedfellows: When Trump makes a fundraising tour in Texas next week, he will be a guest of big time Plaintiff's lawyer Tony Buzbee (who once hired Miley Cyrus to perform at one of his parties.)   When is the last time you saw a Plaintiff's lawyer saddle up next to a conservative Republican?
  • MADD has a lot of Donald Trump in it. The organization currently has a petition online to encourage a judge to revoke a guy's probation for "alleged" failed drug tests. Who cares if he really failed the tests, right? Sheesh. 
  • Prosecution in Williamson County has been a mess. The guy who was DA and wrongfully pursued Michael Morton was sent (briefly) to jail. DA John Bradley lost an election for fighting the team who were trying to show Michael Morton was innocent (he was per DNA). And now the gal who beat Bradley lost her re-election bid and was just placed on 18 months probation by the State Bar for prosecutorial misconduct.
  • I have said this a million times: If you care one iota about criminal justice in Texas and how an unethical prosecutor can destroy lives, read the Texas Monthly award winning article on Morton.  
  • What exactly does Devon's sale of $1 billion in oil and gas resources really mean?
  • Remember the pool party in McKinney which ended up causing an overzealous responding cop to get fired? "The Texas Rangers have completed their investigation into . . .  [his] controversial handling of a raucous pool party last summer and forwarded the findings to Collin County prosecutors."  Good grief. No one was hurt. The officer got hammered by being fired. We don't need the Rangers wasting a year (and how on God's green Earth did it take a year?). We don't need prosecutors wasting their time, a grand jury's time, or a trial jury's time with it. 




at 8:35 AM

6.06.2016

Japan's "Throwing Out The First Pitch" Isn't Like Ours



Uh?????????:


at 12:58 PM

Playlist Compiled By The Ultimate Statistics Gurus




Seriously. Those boys do a ton of number crunching.
at 12:10 PM

Texas Congressman Not Happy With Trump



at 11:02 AM

Random Ad In Texas Monthly That Makes No Sense

I don't know how much it costs to advertise in Texas Monthly, but it is not uncommon to see ads in the back for ranches or huge acreage which will always be for millions of dollars. Here's an example:


So someone explain to me how you can pay for even a 1/4 page ad for a place that lists for $70,000? It probably cost $3,000 - $4,000 which is a chunk of change for one real estate ad.



at 8:55 AM

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • Ken Starr continues to make news: (1) He had an incredibly awkward interview where his PR person (who is being paid way too much even if she is working for free) interrupted and told him how to answer. It was followed by Starr acting like he had never been in front of a camera before as he turned to her after answering the question again and asking if that was "better", (2) Some goofballs took out a full page ad out in the Austin American Statesman thanking him for his time at Baylor.
  • I'm very interested in this 30 for 30 mini series on O.J.  that is debuting this Saturday.
  • My probable award winning photo of the Lake Bridgeport spillway from yesterday is here.
  • Donald Trump sent the GOP into a panic this weekend as he continued to make racist comments against the judge in his seedy Trump University lawsuit, and he referred to a guy in one of his crowds as "my African-America".
  • I saw a headline that Miss California USA "flubbed" a question during last night's pageant but it wasn't even close to the famously funny "because they don't have maps".  I was more interested to learn that the "20-year-old model is the daughter of 1990s one-hit-wonder singer Gerardo, known for 'Rico Suave.'"
  • Texas Monthly has another story of over-zealous prosecutors and the prosecution of an innocent man. This time it is about Kerry Max Cook who has been fighting the good-old-boy system in Tyler for decades. (The magazine single-handedly caused the change in Texas law where we defense lawyers can now actually get a copy of the prosecutors file because of their story on Michael Morton a few years back.)
  • There an NFL player who was shot in the leg at a strip club in Dallas over the weekend. I liked one of the reviews of the place on Yelp: $40 parking, $40 cover, 30 minute wait when there was no line, and drinks only by the bottle for around $150. 
  • I'm not sure I've seen any case which impacts what police officers can do during traffic stops more than the Supreme Court's decision of Rodriguez vs. United States from last year. I read it again this weekend and even listened to the oral arguments (with the worst defense lawyer ever). Nevertheless, he won the case. Police are now on shaky ground if they prolong a traffic stop because they are snooping around and asking unrelated questions simply because of a hunch. 
  • The story behind the photo below (including who the guy is who can be seen between Ali's legs and how he ended up there.)
  • But I don't know anything about an almost identical photo taken from a slightly different angle:



at 8:37 AM

6.05.2016

Two Acres? "Thousands" Flee?


at 8:28 AM

6.04.2016

Ali Has Died



And I won't mention that less than two weeks ago I posted a picture of him being knocked down by Joe Frazier. The Liberally Lean curse continues.

It is hard to explain what a big deal Ali was back in the day.  Boxing was a golden sport and Ali was a showman who took it to an unbelievable level. I stopped down many years later when he lit the Olympic Torch in Los Angeles*. He was a  trembling, shuffling shell of himself -- a man slowly giving way to Parkinson's.

But you have to wonder how a flamboyant and trash talking Muslim who refused to be drafted would have fared in American society these days.
________
* A faithful reader points out it was in Atlanta.


at 10:33 AM

6.03.2016

Above The Fold


Readable full page in pdf.
at 4:59 PM

It's The Weekend, Let's Get Out Of Here

View post on imgur.com





at 3:00 PM

Trump Supporters Out-manned By Unruly Crowds In California








at 12:21 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




  • Art Briles statement yesterday had one subtle bombshell. In the middle of a carefully crafted (and kind of boring) statement, he threw in that the outside investigation was not "independent."  (The Ticket completely missed that this morning during a segment while WBAP amazingly locked onto it.)
  • It's only early June but Hillary and Trump are already throwing verbal nuclear missiles at each other 
  • Crazy story out of Rowlett that doesn't have a lot of details made public yet. But the lead is gripping: "Days before his planned wedding, the groom-to-be paid two convicted sex offenders to kill the 37-year-old Rowlett mother he was set to marry, officials say."
  • When did local news become dominated by viral Internet videos?
  • Mississippi State showed two errors of judgment yesterday: (1) They suspended an incoming star recruit for one whole game for beating up a woman, and (2) the AD decided to defend the decision by showing up in shorts and pulling up a chair in front of the press. He got roasted.
  • I did my first window screen replacement the other day. That may be the easiest project in the history of ever and was dirt cheap. (My only error was to not get all the slack out.)
  • One of the great all time courtroom lunges by a victim's family member at a defendant occurred in Ohio yesterday. Watch. Screenshot below:
  • Weather prediction has been dicey as of late, but the National Weather Service is predicting not a cloud in the sky for Sunday through Thursday.
  • Every drug case by DPS (and even for most agencies that use the DPS drug lab) are analysed in Austin. This year, the lab said "they will not test for misdemeanor drugs even when it is DPS filing a case with a local Criminal District Attorney's Office......unless the prosecutor personally sends a letter to the Lab requesting analysis." Heck, DPS doesn't even care about the War on Drugs when it is a misdemeanor.
  • A guy was arrested south of here for driving around a barricade and ending up on dry ground but surrounded by flood waters. The offense for disregarding a lawfully placed barricade is punishable by a fine only yet they arrested him which took about five officers as five emergency workers looked on. Note: Fox 4 says "Drivers can be jailed for up to six months and face up to a $2,000 fine for going around low water crossing barriers."  That's not was Texas Transportation Code 472.022 says. (Screenshot of arrest below with red dots over the government workers)



  • It's the College Softball World Series this weekend and the Females In The House will be locked in. (It's really amazing.) Sports Genius Prediction: Take Oklahoma. (Bracket.) Of the eight teams, seven are from warm weather schools, six are from the South, and only Michigan is a cold weather school. And that's your fun fact for the day which you can use to impress your friends

at 8:35 AM
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)