Above The Fold

Any Chance The Troopers Are A Little Beaten Down By Now?

Troopers use bolt cutters to unchain a protester from Senate gallery railing. (Photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez) #txlege pic.twitter.com/TbABjGvRGt
— Austin Statesman (@statesman) July 13, 2013

Oh, My. It's A Real Life Ron Burgundy Moment.

Bay Area news station KTVU just reported that the pilots of Asiana's disastrous flight 214 were the crack team of "Sum Ting Wong," "Wi Tu Lo," "Ho Lee Fuk," and "Bang Ding Ow."

Despite the names obviously being just a bunch of racist jokes, KTVU, which has since apologized for the report . . . . more (with video)

Michelle Keegan Taking You Into The Weekend

At The Texas Legislature Senate Vote Today, Protesters Will Be Kept In Check

Yes, DPS is chucking any potential projectiles into the trash, including tampons. CHL holders can still bring guns in. #txlege #HB2
— Forrest Wilder (@Forrest4Trees) July 12, 2013

But then this observation is made:

In the #TXLege, @Forrest4Trees notes that CHL holders can bring guns into the gallery today but tampons are confiscated. cc: @iamJohnOliver
— Bud Kennedy (@BudKennedy) July 12, 2013

She's Doing A Bit, Right?

This is going viral today as the "crazy reporter" video. She serious?

Shown On Tour de France Coverage

Oh, the places I want to go.

Wiki page.

The Running Of The Bulls

Should be renamed Running Of The Idiots Alongside The Bulls.

Link (a little gruesome.)

Obvious Breaking News Headline

Crazy GIF Of The Day: From The Cubs Game Last Night

Source.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• George Zimmerman's attorneys got off to a horrible start with the "knock knock" joke, but since then they have been fantastic.
• I think it's shocking that Florida only uses six person juries in a felony case. But the Supreme Court said in 1970 that it's OK. 
• Stolen from bagofnothing.com: The Zimmerman judge looks like Chris Farley. Funny and accurate. 
• Even though it seemed like a funny bit, I couldn't force myself to turn into Sharknado last night. (But here's a link to a video clip of it that depicts movie making at its very best.)
• I did watch a little bit of the Tour de France with the Fifth Grader In The House and discovered I had no idea how to explain it because I had no idea what was going on. 
• There's a new Matt Damon sci-fi flick called Elysium being advertised, and it looks awful. More shocking was to see that Jodie Foster is in it. What's she thinking?
• I liked that I had a couple of blog readers whom I've never met send me a link to an article about the 500th episode of This American Life because they thought I would enjoy it.
• The NFL Channel's A Football Life on Tom Landry was really good. But as private and all business that he was, that scene of him cleaning out his desk after his firing by Jerry Jones was beyond staged. I mean, he absolutely authorized a camera in his office to show him sadly packing up his stuff.
• I walked in the house last night and I detected a slight odor.  The Fifth Grader In The House says, "Mom's in bed." Me (experiencing Slumped Shoulders): "Really?" Her: "Yep, she's been sick all day. She's thrown up and everything." Oh, my. 
• Had someone tell me the other day that they couldn't imagine putting up with the attacks I receive in the comment section much less have the gumption to publish them. It's really odd. They tend to make me laugh more than anything else. 
• First sentence from news story: "The Irving Police Explorers participated in the Fort Worth Police Department SWAT camp at Sid Richardson Scout Ranch in Bridgeport, TX from June 27-30." The headline associated with the article: "Police Explorers Go Commando At SWAT Camp". Sheesh. 

An Admitted "And Another" Awarded $338,000 For Defamation In Unrelated Matter

It getting complicated out there. Story.

Fox and Friends Tried To Break A Kid's Nose This Morning

It's The War On Pelts

A bunch of game wardens on the Internet resulted in 154 arrests in Texas. And, of course, we had to have a catchy name: "Operation Wild Web."

And Captain Greg Williford, who leads the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s criminal investigations unit, sounds like a guy right out of Gladiator:“It’s not just the uniformed warden that is going to sneak up on you while you are doing your dirty deed. We’re watching you on the Internet, too.”

And I'll bet dollars to donuts (whatever that means) that he is oblivious to the true meaning of this quote: “We threw a lot of resources at this . . . . " And by "resources" I presume he means "government paychecks".

Story.

Animated GIF Of The Day

It's from a convention of "mostly-male internet nerds obsessed with the new animated series My Little Pony."

I'm insane now.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Twinkies are about  to be back on store shelves in packaging that reads, and I'm not making this up, "The Sweetest Comeback In The History Of Ever."
• I've been preaching it for years: Mark Cuban has no idea what he is doing and that is being proven over the last two years of "We're keeping our powder dry" and "Have you read the CBA?"  
• And when I said that free agents didn't want to come to Dallas because of racism, I was referring to the city - not the team. 
• The lead item in the Update refers to Park Springs. Am I alone in thinking, "Where's that in Wise County?"
• As of June 28, law school applications for the upcoming fall term were down 18 percent nationwide from a year earlier. In Texas, applications are down 12 percent. People are finally coming to their senses.
• Man, there is a huge buzz about the new FX series called The Bridge. So much so that I recorded the pilot last night. 
• The SB Nation blog celebrates the greatest high school football game in the history, yes, of ever.
• You have to agree if you've heard it: The radio commercial about having the proper child safety seat ("Oh, yeah, I knew that) is extremely irritating. 
• I have no idea why I labeled it "Wednesday Random Morning Thoughts" instead of "Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts" yesterday. That's kind of disturbing.
• Do you remember when I told you about the guy who walked up to me in a side room at the courthouse and began crying uncontrollably because of a criminal case he had pending? I talked to him to calm him down even though he said he had a lawyer. The details: He was on probation for Resisting Arrest when he committed a new offense of Assault in Tarrant County to which he pled guilty. The State in Wise County wanted to revoke his probation for that violation and were offering a plea bargain of 90 days in jail even though he was subject to a year if he had a hearing. I told him to consult with his lawyer, but, in my opinion, I would take the 90 days instead of having a hearing and face an uncertain sentence. So what happened after that? He ended up representing himself, turned down the 90 day plea bargain offer, and yesterday was sentenced to one year in jail. 
• Cutting your loses is sometimes very hard to do. 
• If Zimmerman is convicted you will feel the pain of many a defense attorney over the years when receiving a "guilty" verdict when there is clearly a reasonable doubt.
• And that State-oriented judge was completely out of line yesterday asking Zimmerman directly, even out of the presence of the jury, if he was going to testify. There were still a couple of witnesses to go so that decision didn't have to be made yet. I've had judges ask me at that point, "Just for scheduling purposes, do you think your client will  testify?" But to talk directly to Zimmerman over the objection of his lawyers really showed her true colors. 

This Is Not A Good Sign

Billboard #saginawpurple @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/cnKS3MHa5S
— Todd Unger (@ToddWFAA8) July 10, 2013

@ToddWFAA8 @wfaachannel8 We passed at least two on our way to Denton today. I hope they catch the killer soon.
— Lori (@loriio) July 10, 2013

Makes you think the cops have next to nothing as far as leads are concerned.

Get Me This Dog!

The Family Pup doesn't mind 1% as much as this dog. Come to think of it, no person in the house minds that well.