The Results

There were five search warrants for blood over the three day No Refusal Weekend in Wise County

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I like fireworks, but there seems to have been no improvements in them in the last 30 years. You think we could have tricked them up a little bit by now.
• "Two Mexican Midget Wrestlers Killed by Fake Prostitutes." Heck, my weekend was better than that.
• The Wimbledon Finals aren't the same since NBC booted announcer Bud Collins two years ago.
• Serena Williams, who won the women's title on Saturday, was photographed two years ago at the beach. Big girl.
• The Wimbledon final yesterday was great. But, as I've said for years, if they were forced to use wooden rackets, thereby increasing the number of volleys, the game would be better. (Or is it "racquet"?)
• And don't cry for runner-up Andy Roddick. He is married to her.
• Where's the best place to buy home grown tomatoes? I just don't see the roadside stands like I used to.
• Craziest Michael Jackson photo ever?
• And if you are sick of Michael Jackson coverage, get ready for tomorrow.
• The guy the suffered head injuries at the Rainbow Lounge, a gay bar in Fort Worth, was on Fox 4 last night to defend himself. Except he uttered the phrase, "I probably was drunk" which doesn't help his cause. (And then there was the weird whisper from his side that said, "But not to the point of alcohol poisoning.")
• ESPN did a show the other day about the "10 Greatest Dallas Cowboys" and the Star Telegram yesterday had an oddly themed column called "The Greatest Living Cowboys." Emmitt Smith never gets close to #1.
• Hadn't thought about this in a while: Of all those offices in the outfield at Ranger Stadium, how many are occupied? (I remember the Troy Aikman Foundation -- or something like that -- officed out there when the place first opened.)
• Sarah Palin can't stand the heat? How about another woman that has endured far more fire who never quit: Hillary.
• And I don't understand her constant whining about the press always picking on her.She loves attention but then complains when she gets it.
• After all the self inflicted wounds, Wordkyle may be the only Republican left for the 2012 election.
• Kinda hot black girl gets booked in Denton yesterday. Then again, I don't see people in colors.
• Simple graph of the unemployment rate over the years here. That should scare you to death. The economy and your job depends on people having money to spend.
• If you click on the "+" sign besides Texas in the above graph, you can see the unemployment rate for Wise County.
• OK Magazine reportedly paid $500,000 for the last photo of Michael Jackson? I promise I saw this photo on Fox News hours after his death.
• And Entertainment Tonight had the same photo shortly after the death.

Lake Bridgeport: 4th Of July

And I'm pretty sure that's the Messenger's Joe Duty in the bottom pic on the Sheriff's version of the Bat Boat.

Another Notable Death

Shot to death. It reminded of me when I was in an airport in September of 1994 and saw this cover of Sports Illustrated in a book store. I remember thinking "Who?" especially since the college football season had just begun. If memory serves me correctly, he didn't win the Heisman. Not that it matters now.

Why Do I Always Get Hooked On "16 and Pregnant"?

Recruiter asks her, "Have you ever used, possessed, sold, or transported any illegal drugs, including marijuana, even if upon an experimental basis?" Note to military: You can't be that picky.

Gone!

Not like in dead. Like in resigned. What a nut case. Her (what looks like) hastily called press conference, was a little bizarre. She seemed out of breath and went on a right-wing-agenda rant. But if she wants to run for president, she makes this announcement on a Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend? The absolute worst time to get your message out. Edit: The national media wasn't even there to broadcast the resignation speech. They had to rebroadcast the footage from a local Alaskan station. So odd.

Legal News You Can Use

A couple of folks under the post below asked whether, and I paraphrase, "The Man can jack with you by stopping your boat on Lake Bridgeport even if you are not doing anything wrong?" Shockingly and amazingly, our "free" country allows law enforcement to stop a boat without probable cause or reasonable suspicion that any crime has occurred. Translated: They can jack with you at their discretion. Game wardens with unfettered power. That's all we need.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I get a kick out of John Wiley Price needling Dallas County DA Craig Watkins who whines about having to cut his budget like everyone else. "OK. Whatever. If they haven't learned in all this time how to manage it, then maybe they are not the right people for the job."
• Bucket List Wish: Watching a couple of tennis matches at Wimbledon.
• Speaking of, I'm watching Roger Federer in the semi-finals right now. He's probably the greatest player ever and most people wouldn't recognize him on the streets.
• My Costa Rica trip, now planned for January, is coming closer to fruition.
• I never use the word "fruition."
• There's over 100 hours of Michael Jackson rehearsing for the upcoming tour? Hello, documentary. And the little footage released so far is great.
• And if the production company owns the rights to that footage, it'll make more off of it (once slickly produced) than the concert would have ever brought in.
• And the Jackson/Production Company contract had to be broad enough to cover the splitting of profits from "any and all reproductions, rebroadcasts, or use of video footage" of the concert or rehearsal. Right? Maybe.
• Good weather for Lake Bridgeport this weekend: Hot with little wind. (High winds can ruin a day on the lake quicker than anything else.)
• I finally found the Jacksons movie on VH1 -- it's five hours long!!
• Eleven horses die in Parker County because of no water.
• It's a holiday for me. I was jogging outside at 7:00 a.m. (It was a combination of I can't sleep late, and I wanted to get it over with. The heat, even at that time, is brutal.)
• After my home Internet nightmare from a couple of weeks ago, everything is fine now.
• Being good at Guitar Hero = Kinda Cool. Being World Champion of Guitar Hero = Spare.
• Ted Nugent is on the cover of Texas Monthly in connection with the magazine's lead article. Either he's got a Red Neck act going on or he's just a Red Neck. Either way, I'm not a big fan.
• The ol' U.S. turns 233 tomorrow. Anybody else remember celebrating the Bicentennial which seemed like yesterday?

Watch Out For Those In Car Cameras

The Chief of Police had to resign over this? You gotta be kidding. Did you see how hot the female cop was? I would let the local troopers stick a thousand needles in me on No Refusal Weekend if it meant I got to make out with that chick. What's this world coming to? Come on, people. Back the Blue.

Obama's Tweet At 1:10 P.M.

Well, this should solve that 9.5% unemployment rate. (Yep, even I think stuff like this is silly.)

Thursday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Jessica Simpson before singing the National Anthem yesterday at some pro-am golf tournament where her celebrity boyfriend, and part-time Cowboy QB, Tony Romo was playing with Tiger Woods.

Keeping Up With Our County Neighbor

In an exclusive interview with a Jacksboro ISD Board Member*, I learned that the new Tiger Stadium (which is behind the new school under construction in the above pic) will have artificial turf. _________________ * Meaning I saw my buddy David Spiller at the courthouse.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Fireworks = Celebration Of Liberty or Fireworks = Chance To Blow Up Stuff?
• As U.S. troops engage in a 4,000 person "major offensive" in Afghanistan, the Taliban has captured a U.S. soldier. This could get messy.
• The oldest Jonas brother is engaged? Let me be the first to say, "Kid, are you out of your freakin' mind?"
• And why do they call it a "proposal"? That sounds like the opening offer before extended negotiations. Then again, maybe that's the way it should really work.
• News released this morning: The U.S. unemployment rate is now at 9.5% -- the highest in 25 years. I still think we could be in for another economic implosion.
• Rhome PD appears to be picking on rock trucks lately.
• Speaking of Rhome, whatever happen to the wacky news that the mayor, city council, and police used to give us on a weekly basis? I hate stability.
• South Carolina still has an adultery criminal statute. (Or so said my radio.)
• "Two Fort Worth lawmakers seek independent inquiry into Rainbow Lounge incident." That's just grandstanding. They are lawmakers, not enforcers.
• (Note to Ticket fans: There's news about The Hammer)
• New book I downloaded: Assassination Vacation.
• They still haven't caught that "pervert" in Grapevine.

Want A Do Over?

What's More Bizarre?

The Cleavage Squirrel or the Wacky Anchors?

Get Ready For This In Your Inbox

The world saw the disappearance of an Air France aircraft [this month] during a trans Atlantic flight between Rio to Paris. Two shots taken inside the plane before it crashed. The two photos attached were apparently taken by one of the passengers in the aircraft, just after the break-up and before the aircraft crashed. The photos were retrieved from the camera's memory stick. You will never get to see photos like this. In the first photo, there is a gaping hole in the fuselage through which you can see the tailplane and vertical fin of the aircraft. In the second photo, one of the passengers is being sucked out of the gaping hole. But I thought they looked familiar. First correct guess gets a free Liberally Lean t-shirt (as soon as I create a Liberally Lean t-shirt.) Edit: That was quick. First response was the winner. Edit: And it appears a Bolivian TV station was fooled by the photos.

Don't Jack With Steve Ryan

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• South Carolina governor Mark Sanford failed to, uh, shut up yesterday calling the Girl From Argentina his "soul mate." (I told you after his first press conference that he loved her.)
• A bomb killed 27 in Iraq yesterday - the first day that U.S. troops pulled out of . Yep, this war has gone swimmingly.
• I'm almost finished with my book about the downfall of Bear, Stearns and, although a lot of it is over my head, it was fascinating. (You probably don't recall that the Wall Street firm went belly up last year after at one point having it's stock sell at around $170 a share.)
• But there was an incredibly rich guy named Joe Lewis from Orlando that bet the firm would pull out of it when the stock hovered around $100 a share (before the plummet.) He was worth about $2.5 billion and gambled just shy of $1 billion when he purchased about 9.5% of the firm's shares during the crisis. Bad call. Very bad call.
• I may be on vacation in a couple of weeks but I'm trying to get this blog to do some automatic uploading of "best of" posts. I care about you that much.
• I've never voted in the Major League Baseball All-Star contest but I read that you can vote a maximum of 25 times online. Sheesh. And that's only from one computer.
• I wrote about Outliers a few weeks back. If you get a chance to read this book, do it.
• New Minnesota Senator Al Franken (yep, he was declared the winner yesterday by some "liberal winnie" court) is a heck of a lot smarter than you boys think he is. I saw him on Celebrity Jeopardy about 15 years ago where he absolutely smoked the competition (and me.) And his three books are simply great.
• A constable should never be involved in a police chase.
• The Messenger is doing its "Best Of" contest this year, and I noticed for the first time they have a Best Blog category. I would like for the Liberally Lean Army to gather up your pliers and blow torches* if I don't win. Decatur will make Tehran look like a family picnic. [*Pulp Fiction reference]
• I don't get beaten down by all the Michael Jackson coverage as everyone else, but why in the world does the Rev. Al Sharpton keep showing up on my television invention?
• If you get to see the most famous documentary of the singer, called "Living With Michael Jackson", do it. It's great. Especially now.
• And there is going to be a 130 mile motorcade from LA to Neverland (photos) on Thursday where Jackson's body will be available for public viewing? Oh, my. What a scene.
• And Neverland could make far more money than Graceland . . . I think.
• So you're a third year law student at UT and think the world is your oyster? What about when the recruiting coordinator tells you that visits by law firms for interviews is down 45%?
• My continued belief that you can get arrested for anything: Even for having a miscarriage in Tarrant County.
• Fox 4's Heather Hays said last night, "A pervert has been slinking around the Tinseltown theater in Grapevine . . . . " Kind of shocking. But the guy "just" touches young girls on the leg. That carries with it a maximum punishment of $500.