Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

- A list of "new classics" from movies, TV and other stuff. I do love lists. (And if you take a look at it, raise your hand if you've heard of the movie "Crumb".)
- Two people were found shot to death this morning in a car in Dallas. Is it just me, or is violent crime ramping up to a late 1980s to early 1990s like rate?
-Tim was back on Fox 4 News this morning. Good times.
- I think I'm seeing more motorcycles on the road than ever before. I suppose gas prices explain it. Edit: According to The Update, Kevin Burns is was one of those motorcycle riders.
- Don Imus is at it again as he asks about the color of Pacman Adam Jones. But flying under the radar is a shocking rap by Shaq as he throws Kobe Bryant under the bus.
- If you've got a couple of minutes, a huge question mark will form over your head once "Ina" begins talking. For me, it was totally worth it.
- I'm listening to the audio book of "What Really Happened" read by the author, Scott McClellan. He seems like he struggles to read sometime which "ain't good" for an audio book. And, after three chapters, I really haven't learned anything.
- James Dobson is dogging Obama. Dobson used to be much more likable before he tried to turn into Jerry Falwell.
- Official county salaries for FY 2008 as posted on the county's web site. (pdf file).
- The Supreme Court is attention seeking just like the rest of us. Why else would they wait until the very end of its term to release the Second Amendment opinion? That's no coincidence.
- And the court's decision yesterday that the Right To Counsel "attaches" once a person is taken before a magistrate to have his bond set after an arrest is about as insignificant as they come. I'm at a loss to determine its practical implications.
- There's a little dachshund that runs around S. Trinity near College Street in Decatur. It's going to get run over.
- I don't understand the guy that posts the end of the world will occur in 2012 (or whatever that date is --- I can't believe I can't remember when it is.)
- Baseball stat that got my attention: Until last weekend, back up Texas Ranger catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia had allowed 23 consecutive base runners to steal against him.
- For those of you that read People magazine, did you find the pictures of Mario Lopez a bit shocking last week?
- Anybody that posts with the sign off of "Double Fake [insert name]" makes me laugh.
- The two nutcases from the Garland murder (video below) were also interviewed by Rebecca Lopez with Channel 8. Those boys wouldn't shut up.
- And high profile "black on white" crime like the Garland murders sets race relations back ten years in the court of public opinion.
- "Police are investigating why someone shot at the office window of a lawyer running for the Legislature. [Fort Worth] Lawyer Kalandra Wheeler, 29, was not in her office at the Mimi Coffey Law Firm on Thursday night when a shotgun was fired at the window directly behind her desk, according to a police report." I think I've seen Ms. Wheeler at a driver's license hearing.
- Mimi Coffey is a DWI lawyer in Fort Worth. A google search revealed she was honored as "The Most Changed" - presumably from high school.
- I'm serious: I'm not sure the United States will survive another 200 years.
- Amazingly, there was a Big 12 Bass Fishing Tournament last week. (You've gotta be kidding.) Only seven teams participated (Baylor and A&M did not. The Evil Empire did. OU won it.)
- Mother of the Year?

Oh, My

Just when I think I'm pretty jaded, I got shocked again. Fox 4 broadcast the jailhouse interview (note: proof he's an idiot) of a guy who admitted to killing the two men outside of the Christian recording studio in Garland last week. It was full of bleeps and you had to listen carefully to his words to understand him. But when I went to check it out on the Fox 4 web site, I found the video unedited and uncensored in all it's shocking glory. And you will not believe his message to the victim's family near the end. I can't tell you how shocking that whole video is.

News flash: All the rich white folk hang out in Garland.

Fine work of Shaun Rabb. Fox . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . News. But he's going to catch a load of crap for saying he "I understand what your saying."

My World Just Turned Upside Down

Any idea who this is? Some young thing that we shouldn't be oogling over?

No sir. This is [................insert drumroll..................] 45 year old Marla Maples!

I've got to be kidding myself.

Proof.

This, They Believe

The Texas Republican Party has released its platform. (25 page pdf file here.) But some good stuff is above (click to enlarge.)

Eliminate no-fault divorce?

And they deal with sodomy in an interesting manner (although there's a little irony in them caring.) If I can interpret the above paragraph, it means: "The Texas courts found the law criminalizing sodomy to be legal even under the U.S. Constitution. But since it was the federal courts that subsequently interpreted the law to be in violation of that very same constitution, what Congress should do is to prevent the federal courts from hearing sodomy cases. That way, Texas courts would be the exclusive forum and they can interpret the federal constitution the way we want."

Minding My Own Business

So I'm at docket this morning in the district court in Decatur - sitting in the back of the room as I tend to do. (You can learn more from back there.) I noticed that a lady, who looked extremely poor, had applied for a court appointed lawyer. This causes a time of great tension amongst the lawyer types in the courtroom since most of us don't exactly enjoy court appointments. So we all held our collective breaths when, as the life force was sucked out of me, the judge called my name. It's like being drafted to fight in a war that moments earlier you didn't even know was going on.

So as I walked up to meet my new client, the assistant DA whispers in my ear, "The offer is 12." That means 12 years. And although I was totally beaten down at this point, I was able to utter a slight bit of a tension breaker by asking, "Who'd she kill?" (You gotta know who you can joke with and who you can't - and I at least knew this would at least get a smile, It did. But it didn't change anything.)

By the way, the actual charge was dope.

But look what happened to my life in a matter of moments: I was minding my own business and then within 45 seconds I'm representing some girl that the State wants to send to the pen. How in the heck did that happen on a Monday morning?

Probably Nothing

Saw a Wise County ambulance and one of the Decatur fire trucks head off down 287. Probably nothing, though. That fire truck seems to go out whenever someone strikes a curb.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

- The NFL Network had the Top Ten One Hit Wonders (replayed) over the weekend. There were three Cowboys listed: Percy Howard, Clint Longley, and Larry Brown. I really didn't know anything about Howard.
- Cool program I found on the very odd "101 Channel" on DirecTV: Odyssey, Driving Around The World.
- Well, the wind has stopped blowing. Now we're suffocating in the heat.
- I think I saw a "historic" fence mangled on the courthouse lawn this morning - but I didn't get a good look.
- There's a handful of lawyers in Texas that do the Blog Thing for marketing reasons. One lawyer, I learned, has someone write his blog for him. You will not believe the author's bio.
- Saw a story over the weekend about a shortage of DPS Troopers. Starting salary for a DPS recruit.$34,965 Trooper salary after one year. $45,099. That's a heck of a one year raise.
- "A supposed 'pregnancy pact' that drew worldwide attention to eight teenage girls at a Massachusetts high school may be fiction, the city's school board chairman says." I thought that sounded suspicious.
- The Wise County blogger R and R (link over there===>) had an episode of Cops break out in her neighborhood this weekend.
- For years I had never paid attention to Reno 911. Now I can't get enough of it.
- The price of residential real estate in Wise County is ridiculously higher than it is in Tarrant County.
- I went to a legal seminar as a young insurance defense lawyer over a period of weeknight classes held at the Southwestern Medical Center. A doctor, who taught the class on injuries, would actually dissect a human body for us that had been "donated to science." I always wondered if the deceased had that seminar in mind when he decided to donate his body.
- There's nothing more frustrating than jacking around with a weedeater spool.
- I had forgotten how funny Arrested Development was.
- I've got a plea this morning where my client is going from a free-person-out-on bond to a person doing a prison sentence. I hate those pleas.
- Pure stupidity: Operating a motorcycle while drunk and while having a passenger on the back who is not wearing a helmet.
- I havent' been paying too much attention, but apparanlty Hulk Hogan has been saying some controversial things about the treatment of his son who is in jail for the car wreck that seriously injured John Graziano. In response, Graziano''s family released a video of the young man in the hospital. It's so shocking I won't even link to it - but you can find it pretty easily.
- Just the other day I was writing about how George Carlin wasn't funny. His death yesterday has all the radio stations replaying some of his "classic bits." Still not funny.
- Crazy argument of The Ticket this morning - - What's the best thing to go on or in a biscuit: Gravy? Honey? Butter? Jelly? Sausage?
- Still get the occasional complaint of The Blog being slow to load. I really don't get it. It even loads on my cell phone fairly quickly.
- Officials are considering closing the Lubbock courthouse on Friday and going on a four day/10 hour work week.

So Disturbing

Full story.

And Google street view of the intersection:

View Larger Map

Actual Wise County Family: Pure Gold

Maybe one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Credit: Trina (Photo taken last night.)

Always A Celebration Of Human People

Every Friday the TheSmokingGun.com publishes it's "Mugshots Of The Week." Hilarity ensues.

Friday Afternoon Pick Me Up

I saw a little bit of her reality TV show, and I think she's dumb as a box of rocks. But, man, still hawt.

Where's my copy of Wild Things?

Allow Me To Retort

There are just some people in this world that I have a weird negative obsession with. Troy Dungan, believe or not, is one. Nancy Grace, Sean Hannity, and David Dewhurst also come to mind.

But there's another guy as well: Williamson County DA John Bradley. I've never met the guy, but he speaks at seminars and is always posting on the TDCAA message board. He's smart - I'll give him that, but he's arrogant, condescending, and a right wing nutcase. My guess is that he lives in his own distorted reality due to the fact he prosecutes in a county that is basically affluent and white. That demographic makes it easy picking from a prosecutor's standpoint. Heck, a monkey could win cases there.

Edit: I completely screwed everything else up. A commenter is correct. My following rant concerned a sentence not written by Bradley. He'd probably have said it, but I can't dog him for this. But I'll leave my error up sentence I deserve the grief. I feel like an idiot.

But as I was browsing through the Texas Prosecutor magazine, I noticed that he had contributed to a column about how important it is for prosecutors to assist each other. I read it as part of my obsession - certain he'd say something that would drive me insane. After suffering through the boring part (did you know he has a degree in English and managed an ice cream store after college?), he mentioned an occasion when he had been assisted by an out of state prosecutor:

My first real dose of prosecutorial hospitality came at the hands of an assistant district attorney from Milwaukee—it was so long ago I can’t even recall his name. A man accused of capital murder [a death penalty case] in Brazos County had an extensive criminal background in Wisconsin. The Milwaukee prosecutor assisted us in a number of legal battles in Wisconsin. After working tirelessly on the case and after completing his work, he felt obligated to ask me to spare the defendant’s life if I could. Even though he was morally opposed to the death penalty, he did not hesitate to help a Texas prosecutor do his job. His attitude left a lasting impression.

I was struck by the "ask me" phrase. The man asked "me" not to cause the execution of the defendant. Yeah, that's a man whose full of himself but, technically, he's right. An elected DA does make the decision whether or not to seek the death penalty. It's a crazy system and completely arbitrary.

But then it dawned on me: Bradley has never been the elected DA in Brazos County. If he was involved at all in a death penalty case there, it would have been as an assistant or in some other manner where he worked only in a supporting role. But, apparently, he had the power over life and death. Even back then.

Ok, obsession satisfied. For the moment.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

- I got stuck outside my office this morning because I forgot my keys. So I sat outside for about 45 minutes. It might have been my best 45 minutes of the week.
- Except the part when a big old wet dog came up and tried to lick me.
- 14 songs you should never play in a bar.
- I wonder if any family actually sits down together at the breakfast table?
- I once got in trouble at the breakfast table for "swallowing too loudly."
- Get Smart was a horrible TV show and the new movie by the same name is getting horrible reviews. Is Steve Carell really that funny?
- Went back to Hulu yesterday. Amazing.
- I've been thinking about the fictional Spider Monkey Park all week, too.
- Once I heard that two guys had been killed outside of a Garland music studio, I figured it was some Tupac wannabees. Turned out to be Christian artists. (And three guys have been stopped in the car of one of the dead guy's in East Texas.)
- On most evenings, I never say a word out loud.
- Souped up golf cart face plant. Good times.
- Parent fight at Pop Warner football game. Not good times. Edit: Link fixed.
- I have this weird fear that some day the world will stop rotating.
- I think I could put in a sprinkler system with a little practice. Except that part of hooking it up to the water supply - which would be kind of important.
- Last week John McCain said he was "very angry" over the "obscene profits" the oil companies were making. Whose team is he on?
- The Hollywood Walk of Fame has a ton of people on it. And it just got 25 more. I was going to object to some of them, but I really couldn't. Except for Tinkerbell.

DFW Lightening Strike . . .

. . . from yesterday. Amazing.

Thong Song

Everybody has been emailing me a story about some lady suing Victoria's Secret after she was wounded by a thong. Although the word "thong" immediately got my attention, I just couldn't get too excited about it. I've always been a T-Back fan. But now we get to take a look at the gal since she has appeared on The Today Show. I figured I'd be guilty of the sin of picturing her in a thong but that didn't happen. And that, my friends, is a good day ruined. Instead, the lawyer stole the show because he said the lawsuit is "not about money." I think my head exploded when he said that.

God Spited Big Oil In Wise County This Morning

TxSharon has a couple of pics from the gas well tank that caught fire this morning after being struck by lightening.

Not A Good Day For Texas Dogs And Kids

Two separate headlines from this morning's news. Here and here.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

- I don't know about the legal significance of it, but convicted killer Darlie Routier is going to have some evidence tested for DNA. I've always had a reasonable doubt about her guilt. And she's kind of hot - which pretty much is reasonable doubt in my eyes.
- Politics #1: Somebody needs to tell John Cornyn that the cowboys in Brokeback Mountain looked more manly than he did in this silly video played for the state republican convention. I can't stand that guy. (Thanks emailer.)
- Politics #2: Kudos to Fox 4 for calling out Joe Barton, Pete Sessions, Kay Granger, and Michael Burgess for showing up at a closed Tom Thumb in Arlington for a photo-op of "we feel your economic" pain. Segment worth watching here. It was a clear message: That media outlet will not be your lap dog.
- WBAP just made a reference to "Boonesville" when talking about the weather. You think those folks in the metroplex giggle a little over that name?
- KLIF in the early morning hours is insane. Caller this morning: "Everything started going downhill as soon as they took prayer out of our schools" and "What we need to do is get rid of that Democratic congress." It's a regular Think Tank over there.
- Nothing powers me down more than Wheel Of Fortune or Deal or No Deal.
- Watch a little of Jon Stewart last night. I'd forgotten how funny his monologue can be.
- I like the Blue Mesa restaurant in Fort Worth but I haven't been in a long time. (There's also one in Southlake.)
- If you flip through the premium movie channels, odds are you'll see Nicolas Cage.
- Almost all super hero movies bore me (with the exception of the last Batman move.)
- How can your average mall CD store stay in business?
- Whenever you see an ad for a prescription drug in a magazine, you'll find another page describing it's side effects (I assume that's some FDA requirement.) But over the last six months I've noted that the typeface of the warnings has become significantly larger.
- I just downloaded Scott McClellan's What Really Happened. It's a little over 11 hours long.
- While I wasn't paying attention, the State of Iowa became submerged.
- Yesterday The Ticket played the youtube clip I created about Ron Jackson needing an engineer. It's great when I can change the course of history like that.
- Barbara Haddox resigned yesterday as "Case Supervisor" for the Wise and Jack County CASA unit. Not sure what that means, but I think it's a little chaotic over there.
- There's still one machine in Decatur where you can get a Dallas Morning News for 50 cents even though the face value is 75 cents.
- Someone's hatin' on me. (And I'll get around to explaining that "Abuse of Discretion" thing.) Edit: Ok, you guy's be nice to Kevin. You think I'm going to print that stuff when I've got to work with the guy?
- TXU has introduced a thermostat you can control via the Internet. I'm sure it's easy to set up.
- I've never understood why we are offered a chance to "leave a page" on a cell phone.
- I've used the Firefox browser for a couple of years. Love it. And the third version was "officially" released yesterday.
- It's official: America will not survive.