Ralph Hardy - The Man Behind The Man

I missed that the story appeared on Fox News, but today the D Magazine Blog points out that it has been learned that the whole thing was more than just fake: it was a marketing ploy. And I learned a new phrase: "Link Bait." Thought you could get 2 to 20 for that.

I Present To You: Decatur Speedo Man

Thanks emailer. 100% Gold.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

- American Airlines charging $15 for the first bag and $25 for the second makes me think they are in trouble. Big trouble. I'm not sure we won't see, gasp, the federal government transform air travel into public transportation in the next 50 years.
- I actually bought a whopping 100 shares of American Airlines stock at $2 a share right after 9/11. Yep, a whole $200! It went up into the $30s and now is back around $6. I never know when to sell.
- Don't care about American Idol. Don't care about American Idol. Don't care about American Idol.
- I had the experience of doing a smell test on my milk this morning only to find it had suddenly gone sour. I hate that moment.
- Steve Curtis Chapman tragedy.
- New York Jets cheerleader tryout page made me disable my pop-up blocker. (And some jokes just write themselves.)
- Watched The Thin Blue Line documentary last night - the story of Randall Dale Adams. I thought it would be great in light of the recent exonerations out of the Dallas DA's office, and I was not disappointed - it was fantastic. But there's been a heck of a lot happen in the case since the film was completed. Edit: Page from Dallas Times Herald about 10 years after conviction.
- Three TCU athletes had their lives ruined last year when they were arrested for Aggravated Sexual Assault. Yesterday, the final case was dismissed. Arrests are thrown around like candy.
- Saw, in the back window of a pickup this morning, the words "Git Ur Dun" that had been placed there with the use of individual letters and a great deal of care. My head almost exploded.
- The biblical story of The Rich Man posted yesterday has fascinated me for years. I asked my pastor hard questions about it 29 years ago. Didn't really like the answers back then either.
- When I was kid, everyone in my neighborhood let their dog run lose. No chains. No fenced back yard. Just let 'em run wild. And they never ran off and never really caused a problem.
- Yeah, we're probably getting ripped off by Big Oil but having Congress drag the oil company execs in for hearing of sound bites is silly and a waste of time.
- Glanced at our district court stats yesterday: It looks like one out of every three cases is drug related.
- The Decatur baseball team has a game in Abilene of Friday night and the on Saturday afternoon. I presume they are spending the night.
- Those Tommy Lee Jones ad for "Friends of the Barnett Shale" (or something like that) is weird.
- Odd note: "The San Antonio Spurs spent Monday night aboard their chartered 727 at the airport in New Orleans after winning a semifinal game over the New Orleans Hornets, according to ESPN.com. The plane was grounded by mechanical difficulties, there were no hotel rooms available in the city and the team had to wait for a replacement plane to arrive."
- Edit: I called a prosecutor an "idiot" a couple of days when he/she mad a post on her blog lumping "Nigerian Prosecutors" into one negative lot. Surprise. Surprise. It's now gone.

Sad Update

Full story.

From a mass email today:

They took Treyton [the 2 year old] off life support last night Please pray for his family. A poor innocent 2 year old boy . . . is now at home with God. Please PRAY for his family.

I got this update a few minutes ago. Please pray that God heals this family and properly handles the mother who had narcotics on her when she hit the truck and ultimately resulted in her baby's death. We know God is in control!

Actually, it was drug paraphernalia.

How One Thought Led To Another After Reading The Dallas Morning News At Lunch

(1) T. Boone Pickens had a birthday party last night at the Dallas Country Club. Comedian Dennis Miller was brought in to perform (who quipped "This place makes Caligula look like a minimalist") as well as Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman (their fine work here). Some billionares whose names I didn't recognize attended along with Jerry Jones, Tom Hicks, and Gov. Rick Perry.

(2) Mark 10: "17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments [he then lists most of them].20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. " (Emphasis added.)

Fatality

If a commenter is correct on another post, we have a fatality at 2123 and 114 in Bridgeport. Unconfirmed. Nothing in Update . . . yet.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

- Saw on the news this morning of a mom running over her two year old in the driveway. I cringe about those stories more than any others.
- In every state which is historically redneck, (West Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, etc.), Hillary just kills Obama.
- Saw Sen. Robert Byrd on the Senate floor yesterday lamenting the condition of Sen. Kennedy. Byrd looks to be in worse condition that Kennedy.
- Sean Hannity telling every caller "You're a great American" - when he has no idea who that person is - drives me insane. And I bet he cashes his check laughing about how he just panders to the masses and tells them what they want to hear.
- Dallas County will do forced/search warrant blood draws on DWI arrestees over the Memorial Day Weekend. Every goes nuts over this, but it's been an viable option for as long as I can remember - it was just never utilized.
- But the blood draw does have this backfire effect: In 99% of the breath test refusal cases, there is never a blood draw via a search warrant. In the past, the prosecutor could argue to the jury: "He refused to give you a critical piece of evidence!" Now the defense can argue, "The police failed to get a search warrant for his blood when they've done it hundreds of times in the past."
- I remember when the Colonial Golf Tournament was one of the greatest events of the year.
- Former KVIL DJ Ron Chapman has been filling in for Paul Harvey for weeks. And although Harvey's radio broadcast is basically nothing more than rehash of news we've already heard, I bet Chapman gets that gig permanently.
- Yesterday the Dallas Morning News released the post-arrest affidavit in the Prestonwood Baptist Church "I'm Gonna Drive A Krillion Miles To Have Sex With A 13 Year Old" Pastor Case.
- And speaking of that guy, did "To Catch A Predator" never cross his mind?
- And speaking of the Morning News, says here the daily copy will jump to 75 cents next week with the Sunday edition going to $2.
- Question that came up yesterday in the courthouse: I wonder who holds the record for the most marriages by a Texan?
- Second question that came up: Is the proposed Brookshire's in Bridgeport more like Albertson's or more like IGA?

Bridgeport Company Not Doing-A-Good

Story.

And an emailer, who sent in the link, says, "Unless I'm mistaken this is the second time that outfit has done this. The first time they were doing pre-paid telephones."

Decatur High School Chaos

For some crazy reason, every person driving into Decatur High School is being checked for driver's license and insurance. Which might be an illegal stop. Haven't seen this in years. Edit: A driver's license checkpoint was held to be illegal recently in State v. Luxon, 230 S.W.23d 440 (Tex. App. - Eastland 2007, no pet.). The fact it is school property does give it an interesting twist.

Random Obituary Of The Day

For the next time you think you have it hard. (Click to enlarge.)

Compassionate Conservatism

This is second hand (from Mark Davis filling in for Rush Limbaugh) but some Fox News national correspondent just said on national TV something to the effect of "I don't think it's a tragedy, he's lived a long life."

I'm Insane . . .

. . . now. (Thanks emailer.)

The Wave Of The Future Begins

I don't know how well this thing works, but Netflix has announced instant streaming downloads of an unlimited number of movies. I'm sure it's buggy, but there is no question that DVDs will slowly begin to fade away.

Info about it on Netflix here.

Extensive explanation here.

Thief In The Night Feeling

I walk by this county parking lot every day, and I did so this morning at 8:30 a.m. Today I did the very odd doubletake because the normally 1/2 full lot didn't have a single car in it. It was weird. Gave rise to that odd feeling of: "Am I missing something?"

(Although that silver SUV ruined my completely vacant parking lot shot.)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

- Javelin through the knee. (Thanks emailer)
- Oh, yeah. Anybody remember that Terror Threat Level Chart Thingamachig. As someone pointed out to me, has it every gone above yellow in the last few years?
- Lots of hub-bud about the lady who was shot at Northpark Mall in Dallas because it was "perceived as a safe area." Uh, is that code for something else?
- I'll say it for the hundreth time: Fox 4's Becky Oliver is one harsh woman. And what does she do for most of the year? She normally only shows up on our televisions yelling at someone once every three months or so.
- But man, Becky's report last night had some gold in it. Especially when a female (who just happened to be African American), and wearing a hoodie, carrying a dog, and sporting a couple of lost front teeth yelled: "Get off my property, beeyotch!!!"
- Random family lawyer.
- Funny one minute clip of the highlights of the great Charley Steiner on ESPN. Man, that network could use some more of that.
- I've been alerted for the last two years about "Speedo Man" in Decatur. Apparently some guy not far from the courthouse mows his lawn in a Speedo - a practice that I might adopt.
- Saw a guy at the grocery store yesterday wearing an Oklahoma Sooner cap and an Oklahoma State T-Shirt. That was Logo Chaos and a very bad look.
- And I'm pretty sure I saw two tall teenagers walk out of that grocery store with a bottle of ketchup without paying. That kind of pissed me off - but I wasn't sure. I had a reasonable doubt.
- Some guy from the Boston Red Sox threw a no-hitter last night. And if he is still with this gal, he is the luckiest man in the history of ever.
- The Nintendo Wii Fitness system looks like a great idea.
- I've had two people I trust tell me at the courthouse that they know of an individual with Wise County ties who has paid in excess of $3,000 after being pursued by the RIAA for illegal downloading of mp3s.
- Edit: An idiot prosecutor from Houston takes a shot at "Nigerian Lawyers".
- Edit: Check out these pics from another idiot at the Preakness. Fail.

Wise County Border News

An emailer writes: Alleged Murder in Bowie this AM......Get the scoop and lets hear it? Edit: In looking for it, I learned that an Electra cop killed a guy this weekend. Bet that doesn't happen often up there. Edit #2: Also stumbled upon the craziest instructions on how to build an atomic bomb get a story from the Wichita Falls Time Record News website into an iPod. I feel fairly confident in saying that no story printed in that paper would justify that much effort.

Gettin' Hot Out There

CMA

I had the CMAs on last night and only halfway paid attention. It just seems so . . . white. And corny. Which is pretty much me, but I still don't get it.

But I'll give it to Taylor Swift (who I think sings that song about getting her guitar wet from tears). She came out in this weird jeans and hoodie where you could hardly see her face. Then two guys grab the sleeves and the whole outfit goes flying off only to reveal a black dress. And then she ends up under a make-shift waterfall.

Good times.

Edit: An attractive emailer sends along a link to the video.