I May Have . . .

. . . to rethink my planned series of "Girls of Boyd" blogs.

(Story.)

Interesting

The presidential race is already heating up, and most of the candidates have unique qualities (i.e. Barack Obama is black, Hillary is a woman, etc.). So a recent Gallop poll asked if you would vote for someone who is well qualified if the person was also one of the following:

Black
Jewish
A homosexual
Hispanic
An atheist
Mormon
A woman
72 years of age
Married for third time

You can say "yes" to more than one obviously.

So which characteristic hurts your the most? Results. (Hint: Gays and the elderly have a lot in common.)

Update On Race Relations

Well, the trial in Decatur that I referenced yesterday has ended up with a guilty verdict after less than 30 minutes of deliberations. (The verdict came down around 3:00 p.m.) From what I can tell, the case involved the defendant striking the victim in the head with a baseball bat during a wedding type of event at Runaway Bay. I have no idea what prompted the altercation although I know the jury was instructed on the law of self defense (that didn't work.) I saw the victim in the courthouse today and he had a nasty scar on his head. The "punishment phase" is now underway. The jury could go as low as probation or as high as 20 years in prison. The defendant has no criminal history, spent 10 months in jail awaiting trial, and has been evaluated in Vernon at the request of his mother. Edit: We have a punishment verdict as of 5:20 p.m. The jury granted the defendant probation (he'll be on it for 7 years) and assessed a $5,000 fine. It was a fair and just verdict. A probation violation can (and would) lead to seven years of incarceration. Lead defense counsel was Earl Dobson out of Denton.

That Judge In Florida . . .

. . . who is presiding over the "where to put Anna Nicole's dead body" case, is both Stupid and Crazy. If you get a chance to watch any of it, do so. It is far more entertaining than real courtrooms.

Don't Blame Me, Blame The Google

The best I can tell, there are 25 comments from you fine people that I can't get to. You'd think by clicking on that "25 Comments" that I'd get to see them. Nope. Although there normally is a comment or two waiting on me, there are never as many as it says. So although most Comments get through, a handful go into purgatory. God bless them.

It's Awful To Say . . .

. . . but I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.

Story.

Deers Outmatched

Not satisfied with deer feeders or using spotlights, some Wise County folks allegedly decide to steal some night vision goggles for hunting . . . or so the Star Telegram says.

I use mine like Buffalo Bill did in Silence of the Lambs.

In Case You Missed It . . .

. . . the local news stopped down last night so we could watch the police bomb squad in Irving blow up an empty suitcase. Good times.

Prosecutor Running Amuck

Thomas Aaberg, the assistant prosecutor in the Wise County Attorney's office, told me today that he was going to run home. He meant, literally, "run home" after work. Thomas is a long distance runner and he had been thinking about this feat for quite some time. He lives in Alvord which means that his journey would be 15 miles by using a route that he referred to as the "Old Decatur Road." I checked with the office at the end of the day and they confirmed that he had left on his journey of pain.

If he didn't make it, we'll miss him.

Edit: Well, he's alive and claims that he made it home in 1 hour and 50 minutes. And he's back at work today.

As A Follow Up ToThe Post Below . . .

. . . Nebraska looks like a nice school.

Baylor Doesn't Like The Gay?

The girl on the left is Emily Nkosi who used to be Emily Niemann. The "Nkosi" name comes from the girl on the right who is now her Massachusetts sanctioned spouse. Yep, we're talking full blown lesbians.

But why do I care? I'll tell ya why. Emily used to play basketball for Baylor University. In fact, that girl fired off 19 points (5 of 8 from the three point line) when the Lady Bears opened a can of whoop arse on Michigan State and won the National Title two years ago. It was the happiest moment of my life except for seeing the birth of my first child (which has never actually happened - but I digress).

But then I read a couple of months after that momentous night that she had quit the team. "Why?" I cried into my pillow that night. "Why, Emily, are you leaving the only decent sports team that I've seen at Baylor in the last 15 years? Whatever it is, we can fix it!"

Two years later, I have my answer.

Emily, it seems, was afraid Baylor would be none to pleased if it was revealed she was a lesbian, and USA Today has finally printed her story. (Sheesh, even Bill O'Reilly has covered Baylor's lack of love for The Gay.)

What's the world coming to when a female college basketball player can't have an affinity for the same sex? It's enough to make me want to tear up my Baylor pennant.

Don't Go To Azle

This morning a little boy was killed running for a bus, this afternoon a kid in his 20s was killed in a motorcycle wreck, and last weekend someone threw a tire jack through the windshield of a moving ambulance causing a paramedic to suffer head injuries.

Time Does Not Stop

Dead at age 27 due to the business end of a shotgun, Kurt Cobain would have turned 40 today.

More Courthouse News

Judge Cude just told me he performed a "proxy wedding" today on the courthouse steps - to which I replied, "what in the heck is a proxy wedding?"

Apparently that involves a soon-to-be-spouse who cannot attend the wedding due to reasons beyond his control (i.e. military service), so he signs a "proxy" allowing someone else to stand in his stead and recite his "I do."

Honestly, I had never heard of such a thing.

But here's the kicker: The wedding today involved an absent groom but the bride allowed her sister to stand in as his proxy. So we had two women standing before Judge Cude saying "I do" on the Wise County Courthouse steps. Surely that's never happened before. Good times.

Courthouse Roaming

It looks like there is an Aggravated Assault trial that started today in the district court in Decatur. I peeked in and noticed that the Defendant was African-American and the jury was all white. I'm really not worried about him getting a fair trial (heck, I had a "not guilty" in a misdemeanor case about six years ago under the exact same scenerio), but it just looks odd.

Jailhouse Rock

The crisis-in-the-making that is the Dallas County Jail is lowering its standard for prospective jailers. Now instead of being asked "Have you ever used illegal drugs?" the question is now "Have you used illegal drugs in the last 10 years?" A "yes" gets you disqualified.

Hmmm, problem solved.

Weather Report

More.

Circus

Man, the hearing in Florida this morning over where to bury Anna Nicole's body is a complete circus. Famous big bags of money Texas lawyer John O'Quinn is representing Anna's mom, and Daniel K. Stern has been on the stand for most of the morning. Craziness.

Everyone is firing off comments and the judge is only half-arse taking control. It is funny, however, that the judge refers to O'Quinn as "Tex" or "Texas." A couple of times he's said, "Calm down, Tex" and "I heard you, Texas."

If you're so inclined, you can watch it here beginning at 1:30 (they took a break for lunch.)