Maybe He Likes To Whittle During Take Off

"Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan was delayed from boarding a flight at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Tuesday morning after security guards found a knife in his carry-on luggage, an airport spokeswoman said. "The knife, with a 3 1/4 -inch blade, was spotted shortly before 9 a.m. when the former Houston Astros pitcher passed through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint"

Not That I Really Care

But it is interesting to see that ABC will not show live the induction of Aikman, Smith, and Irvin into the Cowboys Ring of Honor on Monday night during halftime. The network will show a fundraiser for Katrina victims instead.

Wow

"TRAGEDY ON U.S. 380 — Four people were killed this morning when the vehicle in which they were riding left U.S. 380 and flipped several times." See the Update.

I Almost Went Looking For "Three's Company"

I know I shouldn't get tired head during a presidential speech, but I just do.

And Let Me Say . . .

. . . I'm absolutely amazed by the number of responses to the Pledge of Allegiance [edit] topic (below). The comments, although some make me a slight bit uncomfortable, were great. Good debate. And let me add: Some of you are incredibly funny and witty.

Baseball Law

You are at the plate with a runner at first. You, like always, hit a home run. As the man on first rounds second base he tears his Achilles Tendon (I soooooo feel his pain) and crumples to the ground. The injured man isn't going anywhere and can't possibly get to home. The rule says that if the man hitting the home run passes a runner in front of him, he is out. What do you do? They found out last night in Boston. (And the torn Achilles - and this pic of his wife - belongs to one time Ranger Gabe Kapler).

I Always Thought That Contest Would Make You Crazy

Have you heard about the "Hands On A Hard Body" contests over the years - a group of folks compete to win a truck based upon which one of them can stay awake the longest with at least one had on the truck. Maybe it's not a good idea based upon this story that happened today. (And this photo, in light of the story, is a tad bit creepy).

Gun Racks

When I was a kid, every pickup you saw had gun racks on the back window . . . with guns on them. Even at the high school. How time's have changed. You know, it's still legal to have a long barreled rifle or shotgun in your vehicle, but no one does it anymore. Theft is probably the reason.

Yeah I'm Beaten Down From An Ongoing DWI Trial . . .

. . . but things are looking up since a certain girl is now back on the market (after being off the market for a whole four months).

Head's Up

It will come as sad news to hundreds, maybe millions, of faithful readers that "The Blog" will be a little slow over the next day or so. A guy in a robe up at the courthouse is demanding my undivided attention. Although I am considering showing up in court in the outfit that Michael Jackson recently wore to a swim party. (No comments - I don't trust you guys with this topic).

My Two Favorite Moments During . . .

. . . the John Roberts confirmation hearings today: #1 John Biden: "With all due respect, you've not -- look, it's kind of interesting, this Kabuki dance we have in these hearings here, as if the public doesn't have a right to know what you think about fundamental issues facing them." #2 And then, frustrated that Roberts would not give an opinion on anything, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma finally resorted to this: COBURN: Right. I'm not asking you about legal significance. Would you agree that the opposite of being dead is being alive? ROBERTS: (Pause) Yes. (LAUGHTER) I don't mean to be overly cautious in answering it. (LAUGHTER)

The Machinery Of Death

Tonight Texas executed, for the first time, a black woman. It was only the third woman ever killed by the government in our state (at least through the criminal judicial process).

Not A Joke - Missing Child

I have been asked by the authorities to post the following information regarding a missing 5th grader in Decatur: http://www.wisecounty.com/missing.html Edit: Child has been found unharmed.

The Man Can't Even Go To The Little Engineer's Room

Back in the day, the press would cover up JFK's affair with Marilyn Monroe. These days, Bush can't scribble out a simple note without it being published.

Oh, And By The Way . . .

The lead story was that the kid that hacked into Paris Hilton's cell phone was sentenced to 11 months in a federal juvenile facility (After practicing law for 19 years, I had never heard of a federal juvenile facility - but I digress) . Anyway, I thought that sounded a little harsh. But then, after actually reading a whole story for once, I found this nugget buried in the text: "The charges included hacking into Internet and telephone service providers, theft of personal information and posting it on the Web, and making bomb threats to high schools in Florida and Massachusetts, all over a 15-month period."

Hit Me Baby One More Time

Now for some really important news: Britney Spears is a mom.

Uh Oh

"A federal judge declared the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional Wednesday in a case brought by the same atheist whose previous battle against the words 'under God' was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court on procedural grounds. " "U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation 'under God' violates school children's right to be 'free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.'"

I Had Forgotten

Remember Kanye West's "Bush hates black people" comment? I had forgotten that one week before the hurricane hit Kanye was on the cover of Time magazine with the by-line of "Hip Hop's Class Act".