It's Hard Out Here For A . . .

Random observations today: - Saw an inmate in the district courtroom get real mouthy with transport jailers - something I don't see very often. I'm proud to announce they did not drag him down the stairs to the police car. - Saw a twenty something year old actually spread out and go to sleep on a bench outside the courtroom (I got very close to taking a pic of him to post on here but, since he was on the criminal docket, that wouldn't be a good idea.) - Had to run to Fort Worth for a driver's license hearing for a DWI case (you have never seen so many cops in one room. ) Anyway, stopped at 7-11 for a coke on the way back only to get stuck in the longest checkout line in the history of ever. The checkout girl was yelling at the manager, "I wish everyone would quit telling me what to do!!!" Somebody needed to tell her to focus on the cash register.

Not Sure Why I'm Posting This

There are 68 items that are forbidden on airlines. Of all items seized, 80% are of one type: cigarette lighters. The number of lighters conviscated confiscated per day: 30,000. (Source: my new Time magazine)

Self Imposed No Tolerance Policy

Montague DA Tim Cole, who was the assistant DA in Wise and Jack Counties up until 1993, has announced he will resign after being arrested in Oklahoma for DWI. Extremely popular, he is also the current president of the Texas District and County Attorney's Association. The Times Record News story is here. Cole's statement in a press release provided by the DA's office said: "The last year has been one of great personal hardship for me, but there is no excuse for this behavior. It is a violation of the public trust in my office and, as soon as I am able to establish a law practice, I intend to offer my resignation." Tim is a good guy, and this is sad news for all that know him.

From A Mega Church in Memphis

Article.

Streaker performance during Sharapova vs. Dementieva

This happened yesterday. I love the Sharapova "hop dance" after the streaker and the announcers are pretty funny. You can bolt after about 45 seconds.

"Yes, Helen. Your question."

I landed on C-SPAN for a few moments this evening and caught one of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow's daily press conferences. That guy is good. He controls the room, and his level of comfort is unlike anything we've seen from that position. And when the press conference was over, he hangs around and BS's with the press. What a great hire by Bush.

I Can Smell Fall in the Air

Betting lines for the opening college football season are out: TCU is a 13 1/2 point favorite over Baylor UT is expected to beat North Texas by 40 Source: Go to Betmill's main site and click on College Game on the left-hand side to see all the games.

Big Brain

More Ken Lay talk. Question: Since Lay had been found guilty by a jury but had not yet been sentenced and certainly had not exhausted all of his appeals, what is his legal status? Someone smarter than me says this had Lay died during his appeal: "In a recent Fifth Circuit decision, United States v. Estate of Parsons, 367 F.3d 409 (5th Cir. 2004), the court explained that 'the appeal does not just disappear, and the case is not merely dismissed. Instead, everything associated with the case is extinguished, leaving the defendant as if he had never been indicted or convicted.' In Parsons, the court vacated a forfeiture order, which means that the government's forfeiture claim against Lay for $43.5 million (see earlier post here) will be dismissed. " (Source)

That Didn't Take Long

With Ken Lay's body still warm, the rumors have begun: (1) He didn't die of a heart attack, he killed himself (2) He isn't dead at all - he's faking his death and is going into hiding. #1 doesn't seem that outrageous to me.

Fast Food Chaos

After driving by Taco Bell and seeing ten (count 'em, ten!) cars in a drive through line, I came across a fender bender in front of Dairy Queen (which had the odd dynamic of having an elderly lady standing in the back of a pick-up until the police arrived.) It was chaos. Not really, but it livened up my drive around Decatur.

Sometimes This Thing Writes Itself

From the Star Telegram's web site this morning: FORT WORTH -- A woman believed to be in her 70s was struck and killed Tuesday after she left a west-side bar, police said. Investigators have identified a suspect, whose arrest was imminent, Sgt. Rodney Bangs, supervisor of the traffic investigation unit, said Wednesday. The woman was using a wheelchair when she was hit, Bangs said. her name was not released because her family had not yet been notified. The accident occurred about 2 a.m. Tuesday in the 8900 block of W. Camp Bowie Blvd., Bangs said. ``We believe she had just left the Electric Cowboy bar and was traveling the sidewalk, but the sidewalk dead-ended, so she had to get out on the road to continue westbound,'' Bangs said.

How Big Is Our World?

Click to enlarge. Other pics are here.

News

A DMN letter to the editor writer once wrote that Enron president Ken Lay, even though found guilty of a variety of federal charges, would never spend a day in prison. I made fun of her for that belief. Well, he or she was riight: ABC News just reported that Lay has died of a heart attack.

No Way

"Thousands of country music fans braved the elements at the annual picnic outside Billy Bob's Texas. Many of them arrived long before the music started, about 11:30 a.m., to stake out their territory for Willie's scheduled performance at 10 p.m. " You know, that sounds like a beating.

Lindsay Lohan Has A Brother (Come On, It's Important)

Pic From The Pepsi 400 This Weekend

Handfull of others here.

Immature Time Waste

That I played with for a little bit.

Lots Of Stuff In The Air Today

The U.S. launched the Space Shuttle today (the 115th launch) while North Korea test launched a few missles. Good thing they didn't all collide. (Sidenote: I watched the shuttle launch on ABC and the network put up a NASCAR like graphic showing how high, how fast, and how far "down range" the shuttle was. It was incredible: That thing was traveling about 750 miles per hour after one minute and was cracking 5,000 miles per hour in about five minutes. Very cool.)