So How Does That Happen?

Story. (And more detailed account here.)

With sexual abuse cases, each "act" is a separate offense. You can technically have multiple crimes occurring between one defendant and one victim within a matter of minutes. (In this case, it looks like three victims on multiple occasions, but you get the idea.)

The judge even stacked the sentences. (Texas is a bit weird: If all the cases are heard by one jury, the jury only assesses a punishment for each crime. But it is the judge, not the jury, who decides whether the sentences will be served consecutively or concurrently. ) But based upon the law in place at the time* of the offenses, he wouldn't have been eligible for parole until the passage of 30 years even if the sentences hadn't been stacked.

But this closing argument of the defense didn't work too well: “I respectfully submit to you that is BS. If it was as 'traumatic' as they indicate, they would be able to give you [specific dates and times of the acts]. Simply because it’s shocking doesn’t make it true.”
 ____________________
* Texas even made the punishment stricter for offenses occurring after 9/1/07.

Edit: It looks like the headlines in all the papers will be "Man Receives  4,060 Years In Prison." I don't understand that. He received 40 "Life Sentences" and, actually, an additional three 20 year sentences. No where in the books does it say that "Life" equals 100 years but that's what everyone is running with.

My Head Just Exploded

For the life of me, I don't understand this guiy's popularity. I love talk radio. I love talk shows. And some can be somewhat entertaining (Bill O'Reilly or Nancy Grace) even if I completely disagree with them. But Limbaugh's show is one thing: Boring.

He refuses to take calls from people who disagree with him, so you never hear a rationale debate. It's just ditto heads calling him up so they can talk about how much they agree with each other.

And if you folks who love his show think for a moment he believes everything he's selling, you're a sucker. He knows there's a right wing huge audience out there that are nothing more than sheep. And those folks just eat up stuff like "Let me tell you a secret folks. Those Liberals want to take all of your money so they give it to people who won't take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that this country offers. The Liberals hate this country. They even want the terrorists to win in Iraq for their political advantage." Sheesh. It's mindless generalities. Every. Single. Day.

But he knows that's what the masses want to hear. And he'll say it forever. All the way to the bank.

(Thanks to the commenter on another post who brought this to my attention because he knew it would put me over the edge.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• 
• Russian Cheerleaders. Makes me want to grab my hammer and sickle. (Thanks emailer whom I shall not name.)
• Dallas County government is a mess. The Discovery Channel wants to shoot a documentary inside the Dallas County Jail - a jail that has almost been shut down by the State for being so bad.- and the Sheriff (who is borderline inept) says "sure" because "they told me I had the final say on what footage they could use." Right. Then the County Commissioners say the Sheriff needs their permission before the jail can be opened up to outsiders and asks DA Craig Watkins to tell her so. The DA, who hates the Commissioners, says "Nope. She can do that." So now the Commissioners get a different attorney to go to a judge to try and stop the documentary. (Which gives rise to an interesting Free Speech issue.) Like I said, a mess.
• And I bet the Sheriff wins that battle. I think there's an obscure statute out there that basically says the Sheriff controls the courthouse and jail
• Speaking of courthouse politics, I had a battle with a judge in Wise County 15 years ago over the use of a vacant room. I fired off a snotty letter that I later regretted. He still has it and shows it to me occasionally..
• I've got an RSS Feed Reader set up to grab stuff off the Internets that I'm interested in. There aren't enough hours in the day to read it all. (And for those that aren't familiar with RSS feeds, Google will set you up for free.)
• The guy who allegedly shot at five cars on the roadways of Dallas suburbs was arrested last night. As horrible as those series of shootings were, I think its odd that he never hit anyone. I wonder if he was really trying.
• There are times when I think the public is dumb as a box of rocks. Then there are other times when I think I'm as dumb as a box of rocks. Seriously. Maybe it's because VH1 and CSPAN are so close to each other on my channel guide.
• Offensive New York Yankee crowd. (Warning: Language). That clip, by the way, makes me think the public is as dumb as as the aforementioned box. I can't imagine taking a kid to that stadium.
• Someone emailed me that if I was surprised there was a female Methodist minister in Bridgeport, then I should check out this week's Bridgeport Index: There are three women who now make up the executive board of the Bridgeport Lions Club.
• Horrifying fact: This is my 8,067th blog post. Power. Down.
• There once was an on-the-brink-of-stardom running back for Decatur HS named Devin Godboldt who left the district a few years ago and transferred to a private school in Denton. Whatever happened to him? I found this youtube clip of him but nothing else. I can only suspect he didn't go to college, but I could be wrong.
• A random event that drives me insane: A predominately white crowd clapping to the beat when someone is singing on stage.
• You can't imagine some of the posts I refuse to allow to be posted. "In bad taste" doesn't come close to describing some of them.
• Lindsay Lohan turns 22 today. But that's a hard 22. Although she has kept a fairly low profile lately.
• I got chastised yesterday for the random scantily clad woman pics that accompany "Random Thoughts." Someone must hate freedom.
• I was halfway watching the Ranger game last night when I saw a Texas player called out at 3rd even though A-Rod didn't get within a mile of him with the tag. (If you saw it, you'll be saying, "Absolutely right!!! I couldn't believe it!". If you didn't, you'll be saying, "So what?")
• I cant' decide if "Ian" is a good name for a guy.
• The first high school steroid drug testing results are in: 2 students out of 10,000 tested positive. Since that testing cost us $3 million, can we now abandon it? There doesn't appear to be a problem.. (But, admittedly, the testing occurred outside of football season.)  Edit: I heard the $3 million figure on WBAP this morning. Edit #2: Also in this story.
• One of my favorite days: Walking around the campus of the University of Alabama before taking in a football game. And then, foolishly, I decided to catch a night game at the University of Tennessee. (You can see some of those random posts in the middle of this page here.) 
• The local Walmart is out of Baked Nacho Cheese Doritos. A few years back the Baked Cool Ranch Doritos were discontinued (the greatest chips in the history of ever). If they kill the Baked Nacho Cheese, we will have a crisis on our hands.
• Edit: I'm as sick of the Alvord ISD posts as you are, but the Update is reporting the School Board refused to disclose the financial terms of the "separation agreement" of the superintendent. The Messenger has made an Open Records request.  Just when you think the school board couldn't make any more political blunders, they may have made the biggest one of all. Incredible 
• Edit: This story is the topic on the Mark Davis show this morning. How many of us have an urge to search for the offending photo?

What About My Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino® With Chocolate Whipped Cream?

Any word on the Decatur Starbucks? The chain said it would close some of its underperforming stores but I have no idea how the local store stacks up. I just never have gotten into the high tone coffee - the menu looks to intimidating and I fear the hidden fat grams. (Nutrition info here.)

But I see lots of people drinking that stuff.

When Did Susan B. Anthony Come Back To Life?

How did this slip by me? The First United Methodist Church in Bridgeport has a new pastor and he is a woman? Huh? Is that possible? Doesn't the Bible call this an "abomination" or something like that? (Edit: My bad. It's homosexuality that's an abomination. That and the eating of fish. Liberally Lean regrets this error.)

This progressiveness has to stop. The next thing you know they'll want to vote or something.

Note: Unlike the Baptists (where God lets the congregation choose its pastors and routinely only leads preachers to higher paying jobs), the Methodists "assigns" its ministers. Kind of like being a manager of Arby's, but different.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• If I were at the beach.
• The Cotton Bowl is adding complete upper decks to the end zones. That's quite a few more seats (and a pretty good pic of it is here.) But based on stubhub.com, that doesn't make Texas/OU tickets any cheaper.
• Wal*Mart is getting rid of the "*". As smart as they company has been, that was a goofy idea to put it there in the first place.
• Funny line from Vegas Vacation (I saw parts of it again last weekend) when Clark asks Eddie if he is worried about living near a radioactive site: "All I know is that my garden is spittin' out 10 pound tomaters and my teeth have never been whiter."
• I receive Newsweek every week and never get around to reading any of the articles like I promise myself.
• The find-a-parking-space-dance at Casa Torres on a given weekday in Decatur will suck the life force out of you. And there always seems to be a pack of guys in Haliburton outfits in there.
• There was a huge wreck on I-35E at the Lewisville Lake bridge this morning. There's simply no way to get around that and the traffic folks were suggesting people exit at Teasley Lane in Denton. Oh, my.
• The story all over the AP yesterday was that "9 out of 10 Families Affected By Gas Prices." Isn't that the same thing as saying that 9 out of 10 families aren't rich.
• My cruise control has gone out on my vehicle. Beating.
• I saw the movie Fragile in a theater and its been on HBO pretty frequently over the last couple of months. Verdict: It's ridiculous. 
• The new First Financial Bank building in Decatur at 51/287 looks pretty good. But it appears there is yet another hotel going in right by it. 
• Fox 4's medical reporter John Hammarley has been suspended. Don't know why.
• There was a report yesterday that many people will have to walk one mile from their parking space to the new Cowboys Stadium. But if you ever parked at the outer lot at Texas Stadium, that's about the same distance. 
• I saw a book review in the paper last weekend about Doris Day. I didn't know that she was still alive, in her 80s, and a recluse for the last 40 years. I like that "recluse" idea.
• It is coming up on the 4th of July and that means fireworks. Overrated? And haven't they been exactly the same for the last 30 years?
• And isn't it amazing that 30 years ago there was a firework sold that had an unofficial racist name. Uh, it ended in "chaser"?  I remember every kid on my block calling it that and we didn't think twice about it.
• Former Fox 4 traffic reporter Todd Caruth went to the ER for kidney stones. That cost him $4,227.85.(before a voluntary discount.)
•  Back in November I posted the 911 call where the man pretty much told the operator that he was going next door to shoot two guys robbing a house. He did. It was chilling. Yesterday a grand jury no-billed him.
• I do a good job of keeping house plants alive.
• That Granbury killing of two women is also chilling. But it was odd that they met in a Women's Shelter.
• By the way, Embarq promptly showed up on Monday morning and replaced the defective modem in our office. Good job. 
  

I'm In Tomato Heaven

So I come back to my office and find these two bottles on my desk. I'm still trying to figure out where they came from but they have a "Decatur, TX" label on them.

Edit: I made a Dan Quail spelling error but quickly corrected it before anyone saw. I thought. 

Your Liberally Lean Financial Minute

NEW YORK -

Shares of Devon Energy Corp., the largest U.S.-based independent oil and gas producer, rose Monday as an analyst boosted his price target and estimates on the company, and oil prices touched a high.The stock gained $4.35, or 3.8 percent, to $119.23 in morning trading.

So far this year, shares of Devon have jumped 29 percent.Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. analyst Rehan Rashid raised his price target to $140 from $125, implying he expects the stock to rise about 22 percent from Friday's $114.88 close. He kept an "Outperform" rating.

Since I took economics at Weatherford College, let me explain what this means: Devon will continue to make big bags of money.

Now let me check into my portfolio and figure out how this effects me. Uh . . . not so much. I'm still banking on a Worldcom and Enron comeback. (And be careful using google images for a "Devon" search. Apparently there's a gal who works in what you boys out there call the "adult industry" - and she ain't camera shy, if you know what I mean.)

Text Of Wise County Historical Markers

Link.

Most Tragic Death Of The Week

Hot model suicide.

vs.

Dumb kid.

Random Monday Night Thoughts

• And to think that the most comments ever received (in the Comment Moderation Era) would be a post that began "I'm having Internet issues at the office."
• I could eat Mexican food every day. 
• I saw an ad for a contemporary Christian music compilation on TV and it really looked pretty good. Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and some groups that seemed familiar. Then the TV ad told me that they would slash the price from $19.95 to $9.95 if I "called within 10 minutes." Of course, if I call anytime I can get it for $9.95, and it felt odd to be lied to in connection with Christian music.
• I would never go to Branson, Missouri.
• I don't think I ever remember two movies cracking the $50 million barrier on the same weekend. But it happened this week. And that Indiana Jones movie is an eyelash shy of the amazing $300 million mark - and I've nothing but bad things about it. 
• Has the economy ever seemed more fragile? The stock market has plunged, gas prices at an all time high, the mortgage crisis, air travel is becoming unaffordable, and food prices are becoming alarming. Then again, the public is still going to the movies.
• Whatever happened to that kid from The Sixth Sense?
• During the last "energy crisis", Congress lowered the speed limit to 55 mph to save on gas. I haven't heard that proposed at all this time.
• And that was an example of Congress imposing its will on the states by utilizing a legislative trick. Congress can't control state speed limits so it simply said it would withhold federal highway funds from any state that didn't comply. Somehow that's legal. (That's also why every state lowered it's DWI alcohol concentration level to .08,)
• I wouldn't be a coach, teacher, or school administrator. Seems like a constant beating of politics, parents, and crazy kids. Except the summers off would be cool. 
• Giggle.
• I like "bullet points."  
• Legends become stronger with the passage of time. Case in point: The Spaceman in the Aurora Cemetary.
• They are hard to find, but an incredibly crazy book about the story of Boyd's Ricky Lee Green is called Blood Rush.  I lent mine to someone in the county about three years ago but I can't remember who it was.
• Most TV weathermen appear to talk without a teleprompter and with the graphics constantly changing in the background. And they are generally stutter or misspeak free. I think that would be hard to do. 
• I heard that we crowned a new Miss Texas USA over the weekend. That pageant, along with almost all pageants, have seemed to fallen off of our radar.
• Not sure what I think about this: If you have a family member who was killed on a state highway due to an drug or alcohol related incident (whatever that definition may be), you can pay the State of Texas $300 a year to put up a marker at that location.
•  I've been fairly satisfied with Embarq internet services at the office, but being down for three days (and still down as of this morning) is not a good experience.

From My Back Parking Lot This Morning At The Office

Now That's What I Call A Tease

My sources (which infiltrate every precinct in the county and some selected homes) tell me that this weekend The History Channel is at the Aurora Cemetery using radar and good old fashion digging to look for the legendary spaceman's body.

Developing . . .

Edit: Confirmed.

Other famous Aurora Cemetery residents:

Herd Burger

The Star-Telegram profiles the retirement of the owners of Herd's Hamburgers over in Jacksboro. No fear - the son will run it now.

I've been to Jacksboro a thousand times. I've never eaten there.

More photos of the joint at the bottom of this page.

Mugshots Of The Week

Link. I love this stuff. JUNE 27--This summer's first installment of our end-of-the-week mug shot collection needs a few footnotes: 1) The twin brothers on page #5 were nabbed last week while celebrating their 22nd birthdays; 2) The 18-year-old Florida woman on page #9 has been nabbed three times in the last two months, including twice in the past two weeks; and 3) The perp on page #18 appears lost...and very, very sweaty. (18 pages)

Random Thoughts While Temporarily Connected to The Internets

• I'm not saying I'm dying because Embarq went out on me, but I'm dying.
• I told the Star Telegram about the Dr. Grotti case yesterday, and they printed it today. (I bet my 6th ex-wife on that so I guess I get to keep her. Wait.)
• If you get Confused Head reading Supreme Court opinions, don't worry about it. 95% of the lawyers out there don't understand them (me included most of the time.)
• That "well regulated militia" language sure did cause a lot of controversy.
• Saw where they were going to charge the guy that blew through the red light and killed a family of five last Saturday in Plano with manslaughter. (Reckless killing.) It was an accident. A horrible one, but an accident. (And didn't the Tarrant County grand jury this week no bill the kid that killed the Chico family for running a red light?)
• Video of the day: If you want to see a kid learn to ride a motorcycle and see the most prophetic words ever spoken ("Don't get cocky"), you've got to see this. (Thanks emailer James.)
• Shout out to Jamie Stone over at Adult Probation who delivered to me a ton of home grown tomatoes. And they are great. (He also dropped off some jalapeños but I’m not sure how to cook them.)
• As big of a star as Madonna is, she could have been even bigger if she had been a tad bit “fan friendly.”
• I’ve been hearing some nightmare stories about electric bills. I haven’t got my first big one yet.
• Even though the President has no direct impact on gas prices, the public wants something to be done. And that may be the biggest factor in the November election.
• I got an AARP letter in the mail the other day with my name on a proposed membership card. I was in a fetal position after that for hours. And that junk mail, by the way, was a mistake. I promise.
• I get at least five credit card applications in the mail each week. And I feel compelled to tear them up into many pieces before I throw them in the trash.
• I did some negotiating on a plea bargain via text messaging the other day. That was a first for me.
• “Baby Mama” is a funny name.
• Toddlers always seem to like me. Babies don’t.
• Being a traffic reporter assigned to a helicopter would be a good gig.
• I can remember my fifth birthday but none before that. We had a treasure hunt in my backyard and my next door neighbor grabbed a shovel and said, “Let’s start digging!” even though there was a box right in front of him with a big “X” on it.
• I’m five chapters into that Scott McClellan book. I’m extremely disappointed.
• Replaced a tire, had tires balanced and rotated and my front end aligned yesterday. I hate spending money on stuff that simply places me back in the position I used to be.
• Does anybody know what that building is that is going up behind The Home Depot at Basswood and I-35 in Fort Worth? It looks like a church. (And Home Depot needs to drop the formal “The” in front of its name.)
• It looks like every cell phone will have GPS tracking within five years. Teenagers will have to get creative if they want to go somewhere there not supposed to. And the would-be wayward spouse will find his life much more complicated.
• Understanding that 99% you haven’t watched it, but I saw a scene in the fourth episode of The Wire last night which might have been the greatest television moment ever. And I’m serious.
• And while waiting on my car, I saw a young mother slap her child’s leg (maybe two or three year’s old) as a discipline measure. It dawned on me I don’t see that as much as I used to and I was kind of bothered by it.
• I still think about the young black guy that went on the hate filled profanity laced rant after he was arrested for killing the guys in Garland. I Did you know he was 19? If he were 12 we would blame his childhood. Maybe even at 14 or 15. But somehow when a person gets into his late teens he is completely to blame for his actions in our eyes.
• Ok, away from the Internet. I'm dying here.

Edit: I think I have posted that girl before. Freaky. Edit #2: Getting a couple of posts about John Trice submitting a resignation letter. As with all comments posted on this crazy thing, you should never assume anything is true until confirmed. Edit #3: Uh, edit #2 has been confirmed. You heard it hear first.

And Another

This is a Teacher Scandal so shocking I won't even post the picture.

Let's just say I'm finally voting for prison. Some things just ain't right.

Judge for yourself.

(Thanks emailer.)

Still Hot