Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

- I went to opening day for the Rangers one time. It was good stuff. I won't be going today.
- I had the NCAA Championship game on last night but wasn't really watching it. Until the end.
- The government's raid on the "polygamist compound" in Texas just seems a bit odd. If those kids weren't being abused (who knows), I'm not sure why Texas officials are ripping them out of there. Yeah, their lifestyle is odd but so is the Amish lifestyle. But the funny part is that kids won't identify themselves, give wrong names, or give the identical names giving rise to another government cluster.
- Pic of Fergie and the big girl from Heart.
- I'm not surprised or offended that the Clintons have made $109 million since leaving office. In this day and time, I'm surprised it is not more.
- After four weeks of use, I'm convinced the iPhone is one of the greatest inventions ever.
- My car was kept overnight by James Wood for repair. I was given a loaner car that was a PT Cruiser. I'm a middle aged pimp daddy.
- Any newscast that features any interview with McCain, Obama, or Clinton is a waste of time. "They never say 'nuthin."
- One of these girls likes cheeseburgers.
- I downloaded that crazy song from the Nike commercial which features Reggie Bush saying, "My better is better than your better."

Gone Baby Gone

Movie Review: I thought this thing was great. I'm a fan of Casey Affleck (who is a krillion times better actor than his brother, Ben), and he does a great job in this flim.

I really had not heard anything about it, but rented it due to a couple of friends giving it the Thumbs Up. The plot completely caught me off guard. And it cemented my view that this world is far more shades of gray than it is black and white.

Sometimes You Just Have To Shake Your Head

Today a court appointed client, with me at her side, entered a guilty plea in exchange for 25 years in TDC. It's the longest plea bargain I've ever consented to. Her crime? Dope. Her minimum possible punishment had she been convicted by a jury? 25 years. Yep, she pled for the minimum of 25 years.

We've got some goofy laws in Texas and one of them is the so called "habitual offender law". It basically says that (1) if you've been convicted of a felony, sent to the pen, and got out, (2) then convicted of another felony, sent to the pen again, and got out, and (3) then commit another felony (third degree or higher), you are then subject to an "enhanced" punishment of no less than 25 years and no more than "life."

I know what you're thinking. Don't cry for me Argen-three-time-tina. (Poor joke, I know.)

Yeah, my client, who wouldn't hurt a fly, has had a couple of trips to the pen. (Once again, for dope.) So a couple of years ago she gets stopped in Bridgeport for a traffic violation, has an outstanding traffic warrant, and then readily admits she has some meth in the car. It was a cut and dry case. Obviously guilty. Obviously had been to the pen twice before. Obviously subject to the "habitual offender" law.

A jury would have no choice but to pick a number between 25 and life. It's an awful position to be in. Bad for me. Worse for her.

The really only loophole would have been to convince the prosecutor, out of a sense of right and wrong, to "waive" one or more of the enhancement paragraphs and, thus, allow her to enter a plea for less than 25. In a sad twist, I actually managed to pull this off a year and half ago when I got the plea bargain down to 20 years. Unfortunately, my client didn't show up for the plea. So the 20 years was off the table. (She was, obviously, arrested later.)

Parole, you ask? Well, she becomes eligible once her real time + good conduct time = 6.25 years. Being eligible for parole doesn't mean she'll be granted parole.

And Another

I'm too beaten down to even deliberate. Cute enough. Six months, probated.

Next case.

Horrible

Crazy story out of Fort Worth this morning about a drive by shooting that killed a 5 year old girl during a birthday party. The location was only described as the "5700 block of Anderson" (satellite view above.) I wanted to see the Google Streetview of the neighborhood but the Google Van didn't go down that road to take pictures. Too dangerous?

Out Of Our Jurisdiction

But a faithful reader on the way to work saw this in Euless this morning and took out his trusty camera. It's truck on truck violence.

With All Precincts Reporting: One Week Of Spam

A Wise County Moth

A faithful reader sent in these pics from over the weekend. Pretty odd. Pretty cool.

Oh, My

I'm not going to sit around and watch a complete NASCAR event, but today I did have my television invention tuned to the Texas Samsung Coors Light Dickies Copenhagen 500. And, then, my ear drums were permanently damaged.

Moses Has Died

There may be a better clip of this, but you've got to love Charlton Heston's defense of gun ownership as he sends a message to presidential hopeful Al Gore. And it is somewhat sad that Heston, a huge gun rights advocate, died last night just months away from the Supreme Court finally explaining the extent of rights under the Second Amendment. A decision which he will undoubtedly be pleased with.

A Faithful Reader . . .

. . . sends along this bumper sticker spotted at the Texas Motor Speedway yesterday.

UCLA Loses

And their goes my chance of the grand prize of a gift certificate to an All You Can Eat Meat Restaurant (that I probably wouldn't have cashed in anyway.)

Crash Yesterday At The Texas Motor Speedway

Of course, he wasn't hurt.

Wise County Jail Visitation

I Officially Distance

Well, even though she worked at an Assembly of God church (the congregation of which, I'm sure, is none to happy), I'm sure those bond conditions of "no contact with the victim" will at least let everyone calm down.

Oh. No.

On second thought, I wonder if she likes Chinese food?

(Thanks emailer.)

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

- Mena Suvari still hasn't put her britches on.
- Is Fox 4's Heather Hayes pregnant? (And, if not, I want to extend my apologies for that thought.)
- I've had car problems. It's been diagnosed, but not fixed. That'll happen on Monday after Fort Knox makes a UPS delivery to me.
- And another (I don't have time this morning to break it down. My justice system is overloaded.)
- It's NASCAR week but I really haven't heard much about it. But, rest assured, people will by buying beer at 8:00 a.m. this morning.
- I spent about five minutes in a room full of 8 inmates yesterday (Some of whom - uncomfortably - knew me by name.) Best moment of conversation among them: "Man, I can handle probation. I'll even stop smoking pot if I have to."
- Michael Irvin has a talk show now on ESPN radio locally. I need subtitles.
- I've begun to watch Gone. Baby, Gone. So far: Outstanding.
- Random Wise County morning pic submitted by reader.
- Mike Modano's wife is still a "Hey, Now." (He's the hockey guy that you used to hear about when the metroplex cared about hockey for 15 minutes in the 1990s.)
- Jamie Lynn Spears and her pregnant belly are 17 today.
- It's a Jacksboro trip this morning. Second this week. Ugh. I'll finish my Steve Martin book which is good but, overall, disappointing. (But it was interesting to learn that after 10 appearances on The Tonight Show, he was still not making any real money.)

Middle Of The Night Entry

It's 3:44 a.m. and WFAA's Pete Delkus just said, "It's not like the softball size hail reported in Wise County a little while ago . . . . " Anyone? Pics? blog2[at]wisecounty.com

My Head . . .

. . . just exploded.