Warning Texas: The Democrats Are Gaining

From the article (which is heavy on number crunching): At a macro level, there were 7,359,621 votes cast in the 2004 Presidential election in Texas, and 8,007,961 votes cast in 2008, for an increase of 648,340. Note that in all cases all I'm considering is the sum of the Republican and Democratic votes - third parties and write-ins are not counted. Bush/Cheney got 4,526,917 votes, while McCain/Palin got 4,479,328, for a decline of 47,589. Kerry/Edwards received 2,832,704 votes and Obama/Biden received 3,528,633, for an increase of 695,929. I've been preaching this for years. It's all demographics.

Vanished

This is strange and scary. This 13 year old Fort Worth middle school student was at a track meet last night at Farrington Field (across from Casa Manana), but we don't know where he is now. He was upset for not being allowed to participate in the shot put (failed to register) and was last seen in the stadium. But there was a heck of a miscommunication when the school bus left after the meet with officials believing the boy had left with his parents. He hadn't. Story. Edit: Nevermind.

Sports Quick Hits

• Texas Tech has announced they will open with Alabama in 2012? Oh, my. Edit: Alabama says it's not a done deal yet.
• I forgot to mention the Lady Bears beat Duke last night to head to the Final Four. Center Griner is a freak in the middle. (And if you want to see the worst choke job ever -- if you can get past the guy yelling -- check out this Xavier gal missing twice from point blank range in the final minute last night.)
• Saw on Twitter: Dallas WR Roy Williams played 914 snaps, gained just 596 yards, and cost Dallas $14,945.65 for every offensive snap.
• How much would you pay to have dinner with Wade Phillips if you had to bid at a fund raiser for a private high school? Answer.
• I have absolutely no interest in the Dallas Mavericks. The older I get, the less I care about how professionals play a game. (Dirk makes $19,795,714 this year which comes to over $241,000 a game.)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• A Tarleton State football player has died due to a head injury received in practice. I remember writing last year that I thought someone would die from a head injury in the NFL, and someone commented, oddly, how that just wasn't possible.
• Upon review, those bystanders in the "neekid singer" video below sure don't look shocked. Almost makes you think they were in on it.
• I saw a guy get thrown in jail in district court in Decatur yesterday for failing to pay child support. But he had had a more than a couple of chances.
• I'm insane now: Little kids perform a two minute school play of Scarface (with popcorn substituted for the cocaine.) Edit: Not actually a school play.
• I've never been a fan of the old Dumb and Dumber movie, but they phrase "So you're telling me there's a chance" seems to be popping up more and more these days. (It's based on this 33 second clip.)
• I'm still confused as to the location of the motorcycle park where the Decatur student was killed on Sunday. Most media outlets referred to it as Denton County but the ranch's web site refers to itself as being in Decatur and has a map that looks like it's in Northeastern Wise County.
• The Feds seem to be arresting more and more people before something happens (whether it be a teenage Muslim with no capability of carrying out his threats or a bunch of Christian guys playing war in the woods.) It seems kind of like Minority Report without the assurances of the government being right.
• NBC 5's Kim Fischer is a strange girl. She called into 105 The Fan the other day and spoke about how she put a guy in a headlock in a bar after someone grabbed her butt. But it was the grabber's friend, who had made an aggressive move towards her boyfriend, who was the victim of the headlock.
• "I hate it when that happens," is waaaaaay past its retirement time.
• I don't think I have a lot of readers on this blog because it's necessarily good, I think it's more because of the fact that I'm consistently here.
• I like that Liberty Mutual commercial which shows random acts of kindness paid forward.
• Wow: A wrong way driver pleads guilty and receives 14 years in prison less than two months after the fatal wreck happened on I-75. What's the rush?

Breaking! Private school van in wreck in Decatur. School Bus, Too.

Edit: It looks like there are five to six kids being treated for "minor" injuries -- some transported by ambulance. I saw a white daycare (?) van that was a little beat up. Pettit Private School, it looked like. And there appeared to be a yellow school bus with front end damage. Edit: Seems like the final word is that the bus hit the van from behind. You've never seen so many firetrucks, ambulances, and cops. (And this is at the Whistle Stop Cafe at the intersection of Hale and Business 287).

Some Singer Gets Neekid On Spot Of JFK Assassination

Background here. I may try that on my walk up to the courthouse one day.

Will All Books Look Like This Some Day?

Apple has released an official video showing what books will look like on its new iPad (which I'm still not sold on, but interested.) I'm generally bored by videos like this, but this is really cool. Heck, I think it would be even better for magazines and textbooks. And if you are Barnes and Nobles, aren't you just a little bit nervous? Edit: A collection of a variety of official videos for the iPad which have just been released is on this site.

Bald Girl Seeks Your Vote

I don't know much about the Jack FM "March Baldness" contest other than you can vote for the best bald headed guy or girl. I was told this morning that Ellischa, pictured above, grew up in Bridgeport and has battled cancer (or some type of disease) for a while. (That explains the baldness.) She's one of the finalist or semi-finalists in their online contest. Go vote or I'll kidnap your pet. Maybe someone out there can fill me in on her background. Edit: She suffers from Alopecia areata. And she even made an appearance in the comments.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I had forgotten that one of the lawyers killed in the Fort Worth courthouse shooting in 1992 was named John Edwards. (A name now associated when a disgraced politician).
• I was in another courthouse two blocks away when that happened.
• Most of the animals sold at auction at the Wise County Youth Fair were purchased by a group(s) called "Wise County Youth Fair Champions and Blue Ribbons Club." Who are they? And the fact that local banks no longer are big spenders at the auction is a definite sign of the times.
• Yep, Baylor lost to Duke in the Elite 6. Oddly, the Baylor women play Duke tonight in the women's Elite 8.
• I can't believe Tarleton State cratered and canceled the gay Jesus play.
• If you haven't seen it you won't understand, but there is nothing nerdier that Steve Doocey saying the "morning slogan" on Fox and Friends at the top of the 6 o'clock hour.
• Somebody is mad at me for not posting a comment about a rumor the private life of a particular public official but won't sign their name. Riiiight.
• I scalped my lawn this weekend. For some reason I really enjoy doing that every Spring.
• You are one strange bird if you won't return the census form.
• Kelly Rasberry on KISS FM this morning called The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men "boring."
• I stayed up too late on Saturday.
• I watched a great 10 year old documentary this weekend regarding the killing of three kids in Arkansas (the specific one was Paradise Lost 2: Revelations.) I keep seeing that case resurface in the news.

Decatur Middle Schooler Killed In Motorcyle Accident

All I know is that he was 15 years old and died at "Rocky Ridge Recreation Ranch" near Decatur when his bike hit a tree. (And Fox 4 might want to realize where Decatur is.) Edit: The young man's name is Johnny Bell.

Updated Tourney Results

Those with West Virginia or Duke or in the driver's seat. Make that Evil Duke.

"Do You Believe In Miracles"

OK, that was an overstatement. Maybe. Baylor has made the tournament three times in my lifetime. The first was in the late 1980s, and I remember setting my VCR and keeping away from the score so I could watch it in the late afternoon. We got killed by Memphis State and looked like we had no business being there (because we didn't.) I had to wait 20 years to see them reach the NCAA Tournament again and that was two years ago. Twenty years! Once again, Baylor was knocked out in the first round before I even had a chance appreciate the moment. And that brings us to now. It may all end on Sunday when Baylor plays #1 Duke, but it has been, in a word that does not do the experience justice, fun. Most of us support teams that never win -- that's the nature of sports. But once in a blue moon -- or once in 20 blue moons -- you get to sit back and enjoy something that you never thought you'd see. TCU football knows what is was like last year. Tech saw it two years ago. And even though basketball is a distant second in the South, I'll grab onto these moments as they rush by. Because unlike the embarrassment of riches that the Evil Empire experiences, I know it may not pass this way again.

Friday Afternoon Pick Me Up

This tricked up outfit is enough to win her a place on the coveted "Pick Me Up" list. (She's the gal that Reggie Bush chose over Kim Kardashian.) Edit: Woah. Woah. Woah. A commenter says those are Twisted X boots manufactured in (or at least distributed from) Decatur? Kinda looks like 'em.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The new leaderboard for The Liberally Lean pick 'em contest sponsored by Stagecoach Steakhouse in Bridgeport is here. The big upset last night was Butler over Syracuse, and it's no coincidence that the new top two leaders picked Butler to make it to the Elite 8.
• The spokesperson for the new Irving Animal Shelter, as seen on Fox 4 this morning, is hawt.
• The motorcycle death count had slowed down but went through the roof yesterday in Arizona when three bikers were killed while waiting at an intersection. Several more were hurt.
• We had a verdict in the Tarrant County Intoxication Manslaughter case I was interested in: 16 years - only 4 years short of the maximum. The probation eligible defendant appeared to have some gay qualities, but I hope that played no role in the harsh sentence.
• KLIF's host Jeff Bolton had no idea how big a 25 square foot plot was this morning. "How do you calculate that?" he said. (California is considering legalizing growing marijuana so long as your personal garden of marijuana is no bigger than that size.)
• I'd never be friends with anyone who said they "took a power nap."
• I'll be sitting on my couch holding my Baylor pennant this evening as the Bears are a 4.5 point favorite to move on in the NCAA Tourney. And it's only been seven years since one player murdered another and the coach lied about paying for the dead player's housing suggesting, via secret recording, that they paint him as a drug dealer. (Background.)
• The "no denial for a pre-existing condition" in the new health care bill seems problematic. If I'm an insurance company and I know a new applicant has cancer and will need $30,000 in chemo, can I set his premium at $30,000? By definition, insurance is protection from the unknown.
• And I know I'm going to get killed for that observation.
• Funny moment at driver's license hearing yesterday when a female cop indicated that her name had changed since she had been subpoenaed. "My last name has changed," she said. "Congratulations," the judge said. "Well, actually I'm divorced now." The judge: "Well, congratulations anyway."
• Channel 8 actually had a story about a DWI where there was a child in the car. Trust me, that happens all the time.
• To the commenter yesterday who suggested that I bill my clients for time spent "working" on the blog, put down the crack pipe. I haven't billed by the hour since 1989. But I appreciate your concern. Sign your name next time.
• We are about to set a record for the most consecutive days without hitting 80 degrees. (Cue the anti-global warming nutcases.)

Thursday Afternoon Pick Me Up: Pre-Season Ball Girl Edition

I'll never bad mouth baseball again.

Cops Have Too Much Time In Parker County

Story. I honestly don't remember a prostitution criminal case in Wise County in the last 20 years. In unrelated news, the Messenger just tweeted, "Market goats in ring now." Developing . . .

I'm Out Of The Loop . . .

. . . since I don't watch American Idol so will someone explain who this chick is in the audience and why she has Bloody Face?

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• How much is AT&T paying Luke Wilson to be it spokesperson? And why him?
• The Republicans found some procedural flaw in the health care bill last night which means the House has to vote on it again. That would be like Baylor being excited about forcing UT play them again in football because of an officiating error. It wasn't fun the first time, and I wouldn't want to go through it again.
• You don't hear much about LoJack car security systems anymore.
• And I still think those Brinks Home Security commercials are crazy -- you know, those showing someone violently breaking a front door. And who, in their right mind, would answer the phone seconds after the intruder comes through the door?
• The Wise County Youth Fair was never a big deal when I was a youth.
• Almost a quarter of Republicans think Obama "may be the anti-Christ"?
• I'm always interested in the probation eligible Intoxication Manslaughter defendant who has a clean criminal record. One in Fort Worth gets sentenced by a jury today.
• The jury in the Wise County DWI case deliberated a long time yesterday. And no one texted me with the ultimate verdict like they usually do.
• But I did get to watch part of the video where the defendant raised his handcuffed hands up to camera and started slow clapping, in mock appreciation, the trooper for doing his job.
• I tried to finish my jog outside before the storm hit yesterday. I didn't make it.
• Some of the threats that U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak received by voicemail are disturbing.What is wrong with people?
• And I'll give Bill O'Reilly credit. Last night he had some Congressman on his show and he wanted an answer to a simple question: If someone doesn't comply with the requirement to buy health insurance as a form of protest, what agency is in charge of fining that person? The Congressman wouldn't answer and O'Reilly kept after him.