When News People Loosen Up, The World Is A Better Place

Always A Fan Of Wikipedia . . .

. . . the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

A comprehensive entry about today's tragedy, which will only become more detailed by the hour, has already been created.

Edit: It is absolutely amazing how much that page has changed over the last 12 hours.

Saw An Overturned Car . . .

. . . in the median of 287 in Rhome a second ago.

The Worst Mass Killing In U.S. History

Remember #2?

Edit: Heard one witness on the radio (who was shot in the arm but survived) who describe the shooter as an "Asian" in his twenties.

I'm Off To Fort Worth . .

. . . but I was just shocked to learn (from ABC Radio) that "at least 20 people" have been gunned down on the campus of Virginia Tech. Follow updates here.

Good To See . . .

. . . in the Opinion section of the Dallas Morning News yesterday that the paper's official stance is now, for the first time, anti-death penalty.

That dang liberal media keeps getting it right.

Awww, Pretty Bluebonnets

Whoa!

(A faithful reader since me this pic - and two just like it - with the caveat of "I don't know if this is real.") Click to enlarge for more of that warm, fuzzy feeling.

Final Imus Thought

Someone on the radio reminded me this morning that Stevie Wonder's hit "I Wish" began with these lyrics:

Looking back on when I was a little nappy headed boy

Yeah, it's not the same thing but interesting nevertheless.

Turkey Talk

A faithful reader, mindful that my past half-marathon pics had generated some not so flattering comments about my legs, emailed this link and inquired if I had been shot.

No, maam, that was not me.

Why Was This A Secret?

It is your money, after all. And isn't there some inherent risk that you might die if your an astronaut? (Story.)

A Triple Good Update Today

Link. Another odd coaching vacancy in Decatur, a high speed chase that made it all the way through Wise County without the driver being shot (which is typically what happens), and a tractor-trailer driver whose wheels were figuratively flying off.

Star Telegram Gets Worse Just When You Thought It Was Impossible

I like the hard copy of the Star Telegram but its web site is horrible. There is about 2 square inches of relevant material but the rest is a mess of advertising and stale material.

Tonight hit an all time low point when a "flash" type advertisement popped up on the screen - a HUGE ad that covered half the screen (see above). The Dallas Morning News has been whipping our arse with flash ads for three years but now the ST has joined in. But the drive-me-insane moment came when I finally found the "close" button on the ad only to have it not "close". So it sat there obstructing half the screen so I had no choice other than to actually read it. As you can tell, it was an advertisement for an event that ended yesterday.

Good job their there, boys. Good job.

Racin'

Today's grand marshal at the Texas Motor Speedway will be Stone Cold Steve Austin. Story behind the photo here.

Bridgeport & Decatur District Track Results

Here. Edit: Link fixed.

But this scanned image from the Dallas Morning News shockingly indicated that the three high schoolers all set world records in the high jump.

And as a side note, Bridgeport's performance was horrific.

"David, can you tell us? We hear a very odd noise."

A moment of KXAS gold by Jane McGarry as she hears something frightening outside the studios during tonight's thunderstorms and turns to David Finfrock for answers.

Some Serious Hail Stones In My Front Yard

That's a quarter up there (and the hail stone had had some time to melt.)

Phone blog

I just pulled off to the side of the road in Rhome. It is bad.

Disturbing

Did you catch the story of the Watauga dentist accused of "Indecency With A Child?" Actually, he is more of an owner of three huge dental offices that employ multiple dentists. In an emergency, I had to visit the Watauga office once. Very high tone.

Now the Star Telegram has released the details today about this alleged crime and it seems to involve the touching of a 13 year old's left breast (presumably over the clothes) while she was getting her teeth cleaned.

It's a he said/she said case for the highly successful 53 year old dentist who faces up to 20 years in prison. And there won't be any DNA to show up later to acquit him in the event of a false conviction.

Juries convict on swearing matches all the time - the prosecutor always argues "Are you going to call the victim a liar just because the Defendant was smart enough to make sure there were no witnesses?" But I could never convict anyone in a situation like this because I would always have a doubt that was reasonable to me. And if I have a reasonable doubt, I'm supposed to find him not guilty.