It's Enough To Make Me Want To Trade In My Liberal Card

We get three white guys that can't dunk even with a trampoline? And then there just happens to be a black kid to go last who was even able to trick up his dunk?

Obviously a plant by the Black Establishment to keep the white man down.

(Although those three goofballs did succeed in making us white guys ashamed to be white.)

I Think The X Games Are Silly

Yet it has its moments.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• With he focus is on Cowboys Stadium this week, and I can't believe that its naming rights haven't been sold. 
• Fox 4 referred to the Star-Telegram as the "Star-T" this morning. I've never heard anyone do that before.
• Wise County school officials will have to make a decision as to whether to close schools tomorrow at a time when the roads are only wet.
• I had a disturbing dream about marriage and pregnancy last night (it's too bizarre to describe) and, to boot, it even had my recurring I'm-In-School-And-Late-For-Class theme as the backdrop.
• Still thinking about the ESPN crew in downtown Fort Worth. Since the wind chill is the big factor, it dawned on me that downtown is like a wind tunnel. If you've ever been down their in high winds, it'll feel like its going to knock you over. 
• How my weekend turned into late nights and daytime naps is beyond me. 
• We know that the NFL stops businesses from using "Super Bowl" in their ads so that's why you always here the words "the Big Game." But in a twist, and I can't remember the name of the company, WBAP's Mark Davis mentioned a business that had bought 10 Super Bowl tickets and were giving them away in a promotion. But the NFL even objected to using words "Super Bowl" when the company was giving away real "Super Bowl tickets."
• If you know who Tim Ted Haggard is (he's the minister in Colorado disgraced by your run of the mill male prostitute and meth scandal), and if you saw the HBO documentary about him, you'll love/hate/be bewildered by this photo of his family from GQ.
• I'm still following the Denton "no body" murder case and the article Friday about the trial provided no help to the prosecutor's case. Still the strangest thing I've ever seen. 
• The last play of the Pro Bowl was so ridiculous yesterday that the ESPN highlights pretended it didn't exist. (Quarterback drops back, offensive line and defensive lines stand straight up and look at each other, QB stands there for 10 seconds, completes a pass, there's a lateral, and then a lateral to the center -- yep, the center -- who runs another 20 yards for a TD with no one trying to tackle him.)
• Heard a commercial on The Ticket this morning from an air conditioning/heating company that was running a sale "because we accidentally doubled our order of units from the manufacturer." Sure, I trust them. 

Chaos In Egypt Explained By Guy In Background

Yep, that country might be going down.

I'm Firing Up The Liberally Lean First Storm Warning Weather Center

And I'm not sure I've ever seen these type of wind chill forecasts for Wise County on Tuesday.

And how would you like to be working on that outdoor ESPN set at Sundance Square?

I'm Board Certified In Criminal Law . . .

. . . and I have no idea what that crime is.

(Source: Twitter guy who gets Denton book-in photo.)

Denton No Body Murder Trial: Day Three

Still nothing. (Story.)

You know, after the State rests its case, the defendant has the right to ask the judge for a directed verdict of acquittal if the State has failed prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.  That is, no rationale jury could convict the man so the judge finds him not guilty and ends the trial.

It doesn't happen very often, but it might here.

Shuttle Disaster: 25 Years Later

Not sure about the caption, but I had never seen this video before.

Twenty-five years ago today, I was sitting at my desk in law school with KRLD on the radio. The broadcast of the Challenger's launch was going to be broadcast but the station was late getting to it. Once they did, the first words I heard were Christopher Glenn (of Saturday Morning "In The News" fame) say, "Something is definitely wrong here."

I've had people dispute my account*, but I ran to the TV to get the news and none of the networks had cut in yet.  It was the weirdest feeling, in that pre-Internet age, to know that any second I would see a "Breaking News" banner across the screen.
____________
* Some people have said that the launch was broadcast live on the networks. I just don't think that's right. Then again, it's been 25 years.

Edit: It might have been on CNN but I didn't have cable. Was it on ABC, CBS or NBC live?

Cops Working Hard At Chasing Nothing Today

Early this morning, someone reported that they saw someone place a suspicious package in a manhole near Cowboys Stadium. Cops responded like gangbusters only to find nothing in the manhole.

At about the same time, a lady reported her car stolen from a parking lot in Dallas with an infant in the back. Cops responded like gangbusters, issued an Amber Alert, only to have the lady admit she was lying.

Then JPS in Fort Worth was shutdown after a gunman was reported being on the premises. Cops responded.....(oh, you know)..... only to find no gunman.

Edit: I'm ragging on the cops, commenter? Really?

Contracted What?

I always forget to check out the Cheers & Jeers in the Star-Telegram (actually, I just look at the Jeers), but look what I came across from last week.

Feline AIDS? Really? They can get that? We had a Family Cat scratching us left and right as we pried her out of the Christmas tree and she could have had The AID?

What can the Family Dog carry? Swine Flu?

___________________
*Yeah, I'm guessing it's not the same AIDs, but why ruin a good rant.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• TMZ says that Dallas needs 10,000 more strippers for Super Bowl week. Riiiiiight. (And is there anything more annoying then those guys in the "newsroom" on the TMZ TV show?)
• A lady was doing a horrible job in the self check out line in the grocery store last night, and I sighed as I waited behind her. I guess I was a little loud because she apologized. I felt bad about that. 
• I'm not sure what's going on in Egypt, but when the government shuts down the Internet to prevent protester news from getting out, it's not good.
• Can we take another week of Super Bowl coverage? I knew it would be bad, but I didn't know it would be this bad. 
• There were two huge plums of smoke high in the sky to the north of Decatur this morning that looked like a missile launch. 
• Tiger Woods shoots a 69 in his first tournament of the year and is five behind the leader?
• Completely missed Fox News' Megyn Kelly posing in GQ last November. Hey, now.
• I bet the Illinois Supreme Court deciding in record time yesterday that Rahm Emanuel could be on the ballot for mayor of Chicago drove the Obama haters on here crazy. 
• No terrorist attacks in the first half of Obama's first term? I guess we can say "Thank you President Obama for keeping us safe over the last two years." 
• ESPN's Erin Andrews was on the sideline of the TCU game and reported that the Nike shoes were causing Frog players to slip. Now she has announced a Reebok endorsement deal that had to have been in the works at the time of that report. Man, that's bad. And finally people are noticing.
• The Update reports this morning that the Decatur ISD Superintendent has received a $10,000 raise to take his salary to $145,000. 
• There's also a blurb about thieves in Wise County shaving the hair off of horses' tails in Wise County. Someone explain that to me. 
• I'm not 100% sure that every DNA exoneree out of Dallas County is innocent (DNA from someone else doesn't always mean he did not commit the crime), but most of these guys are black, convicted by white juries in the 1970s, and have served a ton of time. I would suspect there might be a little bit of an attitude of "we're not absolutely sure you're innocent, but you've been locked up long enough even if we're wrong."
• How Charlie Sheen isn't dead soon from partying is beyond me. (And it's funny to think the first time most of saw him was as a bit character at the Chicago Police Station in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Pic.)

Update On The Denton Murder Case Where No One Even Knows If The Lady Is Dead

More.

For the life of me, I don't understand why this case is being prosecuted. I keep waiting for something, but it hasn't happened yet.

Can't you start every cross examination with, "You can't tell this jury that Kathy Stobaugh is dead, can you?"

This Place Is Changing Names Again

The Superpages.com Center in Fair Park is now being renamed the Gexa Energy Pavilion.

I can't begin to think of all the names that it has had. Coca Cola Starplex comes to mind.

And the last concert I saw there? Holy, cow: New Order.

A Fiona "Hey, Now"

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Joel Osteen was on the Piers Morgan Show on CNN last night, and  I can't tell you how much I love that Morgan guy's interviewing skills. He politely whacked Osteen around on the issue of being a multi-million dollar pastor. 
• Osteen could be a politician because of his ability to handle tough questions (but I think he cringes every time his super hot wife begins to talk.)
• Had a DWI jury trial get cancelled at the last minute yesterday when the cop decided he would finally reveal that he actually did have a DVD of the initial traffic stop.
• I'm not in the loop, but it seems like twenty years ago Decatur was run by a group of power brokers. I don't think that's true any more. 
• I'm in favor of the "State's Rights" argument in general, but then I cringe when I think of how our life would be if the power of the ultra-conservative Texas legislature increased to frightening levels. 
• I think the Republicans fear the Tea Party more than Democrats because of the Tea Party's ability to divide.
• It seems like we went twenty years without seeing former Cowboy Walt Garrison and now it seems like he's on TV promoting something all the time. 
• Almost forgot: A loyal reader wanted to know if there were any swimming pool companies that don't mind coming to Wise County. (And, no, not above-the-ground pools. We're talking the cement pond type.)
• All 5,000 of the $200 outdoor tickets for the Super Bowl have been sold. And that's before they even were offered to the general public. Incredible.
• Mrs. LL got a $100 "charge" for allegedly running a red light monitored by a traffic cam in Fort Worth. Due to a snafu in mail forwarding, the video of her committing this crime is no longer online. She can go to a police department and watch it (after going through miles of red tape), but paying $100 seems more convenient. 
• But she swears she didn't do it. "They accuse me of speeding? Heck, guilty. Running a red light? No way."  Then again, she constantly sighs whenever I hit the brakes when the light changes to yellow.
• The snow in the Northeast is insane. And remember that an outdoor Super Bowl will be played in New York in 2014.
• The lady in charge of the Dallas County Crimestoppers Program was arrested for fraud on the fund. I've been wondering for years about the status of the Wise County Crimestoppers Program. Every person placed on probation in Wise County is required to pay $50 into that fund --  and we are talking about a ton of people over the years. But I bet there's hardly ever a payment from that fund to tipsters. Shouldn't there be a public accounting every year?
• Around 40 dead in a blast in Baghdad this morning. [This is where I normally rag on the Iraqi war.]
• Sarah Palin on the State of the Union Speech: "His theme last night in the State of the Union was the WTF -- winning the future," continued Palin. "I thought, 'OK.' That acronym? Spot on. There were a lot of WTF moments throughout that speech."  Good grief.

We Don't Need No Education

Thanks to a faithful reader who tipped me off to a bill filed by State Rep. Phil King (that's our rep) that would completely abolish school property taxes.

Attaboy!

So what's the alternative we'll use? Uh, well, he didn't file any bills to solve that little problem.

Three Words To Describe The President's Speech Last Night

That's what NPR asked its listeners to do, and this is the word cloud created from the responses. (In case you don't know, a word cloud is a visual representation of the frequency of a word's occurrence.) The link, by the way, also explains the presence of "salmon."

I'm not sure the Wise County Word Cloud would look the same.  And I'm not making any promises, but describe it in three words and I'll try to create one. 

Did That Kid Live?

Yeah, it's sorriness to punch/slap a guy (@ the 23 second mark), but you would have thought the the other kid had been shot. He had a little "I've been hit" move followed by the "I might be dead" move.

And I love the lady in the stands after #34 gets tossed. "What!!!????!!!" Has to be momma.