It's Hard Out Here For A . . . . Defense Lawyer

For and Against the Defendant

The Supreme Court heard 22 criminal cases during the just-ending term, ruling eight times for and 14 times against the defendant. Individually Justice Stevens voted 16 times for the defendant, more than any other Justice, followed by Justice Souter (15), Justice Ginsburg (14), Justice Breyer (12), Justice Kennedy (7), Justice Scalia (6), Justice Roberts (4), Justice Thomas (4) and Justice Alito (3).

Source.

"For and Against the Defendant" could be read as "For and Against Civil Rights." Those Bush appointees didn't disappoint.

Side note: I actually got to peek into the the court's chamber depicted in the picture a few years back. The courtroom was empty but it was really and incredible experience.

Tort Reform Works?

Story. And is it just me, but are we seeing more and more advertisements by doctors in the local paper? There seems to be a ton of them these days.

The Pussycat Dolls Say,

"When we're in Bridgeport, we get our groove on in the parking lot of IGA! Except we get some dirty looks from some people that don't understand our art form."

John Edwards . . .

. . . is in love. With his hair. And you know, after all that trouble, it still looks bad.

Stripling & Cox Is Closing

Which really isn't that big of a deal except for the most sentimental amongst us. But was the first Stripling's store in Alvord? The first Stripling's Department Store in Fort Worth was opened in 1893 by W.C. Stripling. He first settled in Alvord, then relocated to Bowie before opening a branch in downtown Fort Worth. Stripling's later opened stores at Seminary South Shopping Center, now La Gran Plaza, and North Hills Mall. Dunlap's moved its headquarters from Lubbock after acquiring Stripling's. If "settled" means opens a store. I guess the answer is yes. (Story)

Just Got My Attention

Seen in Decatur. The bench ad (if you can see the fine print) is by the Wise County Domestic Violence Task Force. Do female victims often buy beer and wine? What if she is beating up on him? I feel discriminated against.

They Grow Up So Fast

Basic story: Baby gets into some meth so mom and grandmom are going to get arrested for not, uh, keeping the meth in a child-proof container.

This is posted only to note that:
(1) The grandmother is 48. Make that a hard 48.
(2) Mom is only 21. But police are holding off arresting her because she about to give birth to her third child. Make that a hard 21.

Fox 4 News Screenshots On Wes Hardy Tragedy

Edit: I'm told that the funeral procession that will go by the Wise County Sheriff's Office will be composed of approximately "200 motorcycles and about 300 to 500 patrol units."

Good Stuff

I'm a little into the second hour of the five hour documentary from National Geographic called Inside 9/11: Commemorative Edition. It's a two DVD set.

This thing is great. It never gets slow and provides (so far) the background of how 9/11 came to be. From Osama gaining his fame by being a soldier in the Soviet-Afghanistan war (did you know Al Qaeda basically whipped the Soviets with American provided ground-to-air missles?), to Saudi Arabia turning down Al-Qaeda's request to fight back Iraq after Iraq had invaded Kuwait (they turned to the U.S. instead which angered Osama to no end), to President Clinton turning down a chance to capture Osama (because Osama, at the time, was on a hunting trip with the prince of the United Arab Emirates.) Great stuff.

A Criminal Mastermind of Biblical Proportions

Saw this on the news this morning. Some guy robs a bank by "hiding" his identity with a disguise of tree limbs and duct tape. Yep, he dressed up as a tree. I think I saw this in Ocean's 11 when George Clooney turned to Brad Pitt and said, "We'll tape a hackberry limb to your forehead and then you'll just sneak past the guards down into the vault at the Bellagio. It's genius."

Nutrisystem Update

Ok, I've been on this freakin' Nutrisystem diet for three weeks (week four starts today.) Observations:

1. I've lost six pounds which some people don't think is very much. But I think I'm an oddity because I was probably only 10 pounds overweight to start with. I can seriously feel the loss: I'm a millimeter from taking my belt up a notch and all my clothes feel better. I talked to a buddy last week who said he lost 20 pounds in his first month (then gave the program up.)
2. Is it hard to stay on the system? At first, I was starving. But now my belly pretty much has adjusted to what little food I put in it. And the convenience of having all the food in pantry makes it really helpful to stay the course (except I'm always running to the grocery store for lettuce and tomatoes.)
3. Are the portions small? You bet. The lunches are ridiculous.
4. Desserts? Yep. You get one a day and that stuff is great.
5. Overall, does it taste good? No problem with the taste whatsoever.
6. Any exercise that goes with it? I always jog for 39 minutes on the treadmill every other day.
7. Am I going to do it a second month? Yeah, but I'm trying to take a vacation later this month so that doesn't really fit into my plans.

"Hey, baby . . .

. . . don't pull momma's wig and hand me another cig. We've got to run down to Allsups to get some corn dogs."

Jack Nicholson, 70, aboard a speedboat off the South of France

He's a playa's playa.

Wes Hardy . . .

. . . page at this web site is here.

(Thanks for the email from a reader.)

License To Wed

looks gawd-awful. (And everyone else thinks so to - box office rankings here.) I have a love hate relationship with Robin Williams (and most people, for that matter.) He's great in serious rolls (see Good Will Hunting or One Hour Photo) but is horrible as a comedian or comedic actor. Check out RV on HBO this month and see if you aren't reaching for the nearest pistol.

And I saw a preview this morning that he will be appearing on Martha Stewart's show today. Watching that guy run around the kitchen, picking up utensils, and using that goofy voice makes a Wise County docket call a joy in comparison.

Miss New Jersey . . .

. . . is being blackmailed. Someone is threatening to release photos taken off of her private Facebook account. This is so weird. She said on The Today Show that the photos don't contain nudity or any illegal activity, and "the [photos] I do recall were meant to be private and could only be viewed by my close friend and family." Huh? Family?

I Just Keep Watching It

I hope you saw the video of the couple that went over the spillway at Lake Lewisville. They both survived (but were hurt), and the video is incredible. (Here.) But you don't get a good idea that they landed on concrete covered by very shallow water until the end of the video.

Edit: And I still find it very odd that someone just happened to be filming it.

Horrible Local News

The officer is a former Wise County Sheriff's Office deputy. His dad is currently an investigator with the Wise County Attorney's Office. (The news stories should appear here.)

Edit: Dallas Morning News story here. ("He was a good ol' country boy," said Officer David Tilley, a Plano police spokesman. "He had that country accent. You could tell he was from Wise County. Former Wise County patrolman Billy Hamilton, a friend of the younger Hardy, said the news of his death had hit the Decatur-area law enforcement community hard.")
Fox 4 News story here.