I Got Nothing

Edit: Well, I got a picture of where the injury referred to in the comments happened.

The Law. The News. Tired Head.

As soon as I do a post like this, I normally have to revise it when someone points out something I missed. And since I've already screwed up "shoots and killed" and "stabbed" in today's Random Thoughts, I'm already on dangerous ground. But here goes.

The Star-Telegram ran an article about a new law which is expected to be signed by Gov. Perry that  will revamp Texas sexual registration laws. Specifically, it will exempt a teenager from registering  in consensual sex cases when the "victim" is 15 years of age or older and the defendant is within four years of age of the victim. (Bill text.) The story said, "The bill by Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, and Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, is designed to spare teenagers and young adults who engaged in consensual sex from being branded as sex offenders. The measure was dubbed the 'Romeo and Juliet' bill when it was introduced in the 2009 Legislature."

The first crazy thing is that the law actually amended the law which already allowed teenagers to be exempt from registration if the defendant was under 19 and the victim was at least 13. (See text again. Underlined means new text while stricken language indicates deletion.) So this amendment offers less protection, right? Am I missing something?

Now you want to really have a headache? The Romeo and Juliet law only refers to whether someone has to register if they have been convicted or placed on probation for a sexually related crime. So get this: It currently is not a crime at all if the consensual sex was between a victim of 14 years of age or older and the defendant is within three years of age of the victim. (See Penal Code 22.11(b) and 22.011(e).)  This has not changed. So the number of people who will be impacted by the new Romeo and Juliet registration law are few and far between. Think about it: You'd have to have a victim who is 15 or 16 (the law doesn't apply for someone under 15 and 17 is the age of consent in Texas), and the defendant would have to be between three and four years older than the victim. (If the defendant were within three years it wouldn't be a crime to start with).

Now look at the first paragraph of this Channel 11 story which completely confuses the difference between not being required to register and not being a crime at all:

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• A Keller teenager allegedly shoots and kills another teenager over a bad marijuana deal on Friday. I'll bet there's more to the story than that. Edit: Everyone know my reference of "shoots and kills" is code for "stabbed".
• But don't worry: The Feds confiscated 16 tons of marijuana in three separate incidents near the border last week. Problem solved. (And to say there's a "ton of marijuana" smuggled into this country is a massive understatement, isn't it?)
• Holy cow breaking news: Five U.S. marines killed this morning in Iraq. (And that comes on the heels of 21 people dying because of bombs on Friday.)
• Had a bullet point on the new Texas "Romeo and Juliet" law but I'm going to save it for its own post. Talk about confusing. I started looking into it when I  heard the wheels off discussion about the law on WBAP this morning. (Hal Jay was throwing out opinions on teenage girls that had everyone distancing from him.)
• Yeah, I didn't miss Sarah Palin saying that Paul Revere "warned the British that they weren't going to be taking our arms."  She would come back later and say it was a "gotcha" question.
• I finally decided that it can be too hot to go to the pool.
• After years of using a weedeater without wearing protective glasses, I can't think of doing it these days without them. 
• Plopped down on Saturday to watch the DVR'd showing of the HBO documentary "Too Big To Fail" only to realize I had recorded a thirty minutes special of "The Making Of Too Big To Fail". (But it's not like they won't show it a million times in the future.)
• TCU baseball, which started the season ranked first in the nation, did not receive any Christian love this weekend getting booted in the first round after loses to Dallas Baptist and Oral Roberts.
• Think it's a bad sign that twice in the last month Mrs. LL has lost her breath after hearing something hit the floor because she thought I had collapsed?
• Stay with me here: The Baylor softball team won an extra inning game on Saturday night where the opposing pitcher threw 191 pitches. Get this: That was the second game she had pitched that day.
•  Personal note: Sad to see the passing of Decatur's Jimmy Armes.

Random Front Page Observations

I'm a big fan of newseum.com which allows you to see the front page of today's newspapers from America and around the world.  This cover was from yesterday which immediately got my attention because it dealt with the courts, the War of Drugs, and some hot girl. Turns out, she's the former court administrator (a court dedicate to drug cases) who is alleged to have stolen funds.

I love the photo. The fact that she is smiling while leaving court absolutely sells it due to the irony. It wouldn't surprise me that what actually happened was that she knew the local photographer who asked her for a picture as she was leaving but she  laughed him off. It may have been the only time she smiled all day, but the moment in time captured in a photo can tell a completely different story.

The other great thing about the photo is the completely unrelated lady who was captured and not cropped out. Some would call it distracting but to me it gives a sense of realism to the moment. It convinces you that it's a real courthouse hallway.

(Sorry to go all Joe Duty on you.)

British Petroleum At It Again?

Traffic Nightmare On One Of Our Favorite Roads Takes You Into The Weekend

At 4:30 p.m. on a Friday, Highway 114 including service roads is shut down right as it goes through Grapevine.  No way it'll be 15 minutes. What a nightmare. (FM 1709 is Southlake Blvd.) If you went through it, let me hear from you.

Heck Of A Picture Of A Heck Of A Wreck In Dallas This Morning

I-30 in far east Dallas. (Stolen from Fox 4's Newsdesk Facebook page.)

Brownsville ISD Prank Arrest Is Crazier Than The One Yesterday

The offense: 

The students threw toilet paper onto the trees behind the school and wrote phrases like “Porter rocks,” “Seniors” and “Class of 2011” with shoe polish on school windows . . . . 

And they may miss graduation. (Story). I keep telling you, it's not hard to get arrested these days.

My Nemesis Ann Curry Analyses This Morning's Unemployment News

And in other news, former presidential candidate John Edwards just got indicted because if you have an affair on your cancer stricken wife in front of the whole country, the feds are gonna get you for something.

Edit: The campaign money he used to allegedly cover up the affair (with the gal pictured below) came primarily from the now dead Dallas Plaintiff's lawyer Fred Baron who made a fortune suing asbestos companies.   I've ranted so much over the years about how sleazy those lawsuits were that I can hardly do it anymore.  (His high profile wife drives me nuts, too.)

Threw It All Away For This

Idiocracy In Our Own Back Yard?

Anyone know anything about an official being attacked after a Decatur/Bridgeport little league baseball game last night?

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I heard that the Mavs were down big late in the fourth quarter so I flipped over to see what was going on. I'm glad I saw it because otherwise it is hard to believe.
• The headline in the Miami paper reads, "Collapse." It was.
• And WBAP's sports guy Steve Lamb kept saying this morning that "Dirk made the final two baskets with his injured left hand."  That's true if you count the three pointer he made with his right hand as a score with his left hand.
• Speaking of Dirk, how about a German "hey, now" model on the beach? Edit: Link fixed.
• Someone made a comment yesterday that it is impossible to be completely or absolutely apathetic about anything. I thought about that all day and tend to agree. You always have some emotional response, no matter how small, to everything.
• The Update reports that the popular owner of Decatur Tire Store was in an auto accident in Durant, Oklahoma yesterday and was careflighted to Plano. No details were available so does anyone have any? (I was going to mention that seemed like a long way to transport him, but it's only 77 miles.)
• It's not an interesting read, but a Houston appellate court reversed a conviction yesterday for Criminally Negligent Homicide of a young girl whose passenger died when she got in a wreck while texting. It was kind of a smack down of a growing trend by prosecutors to make simple accidents a criminal offense. 
• A name synonymous with assisted suicide has died this morning: Jack Kevorkian. 
• Over 3,000 federal workers in Texas make more than $150,000 a year. And I bet their benefits, health coverage, and retirement plan is fantastic.
• Tell me this heat is not a preview of the summer. 
• We've got a kid in the house this weekend (Mrs. LL's relative) while the normal kid occupants are gone. I'm not sure how that happened. 
• A metroplex car dealership gave a kid a $35,000 BMW for perfect attendance in school. Reminds me of the line, "Why do we bribe kids to do what they should do anyway?" (And what's his income tax bill going to be?)
• Unemployment numbers released moments ago: It has edged up to 9.1%.  President Obama probably needs it to get to the high 8% range to be a shoe-in for re-election. That would be enough to show it's headed in the right direction. (It was 9.6% last May.)
• A black man is thinking about running for the new Congressional seat that will include southern Wise County and Decatur? 

Did The Mavs Just Play?

More pics.

That Crazy Sarah Palin Bus Tour

Today in New Hampshire she met up with an impersonator. Guess the real Palin.

I'm Torn On This One

Confusing story:

Then the video of the incident in general (can't tell when a teacher got hurt):



I've got my "Hey, Dumb Kids. Cut it Out and Go Back to Class!" side vs. my "Did The Cops Really Have To Resort to Force To Stop This Beach Ball Throwing Mob?" side.

Thursday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Former WFAA sports reporter  Erin Hawksworth (who was here very briefly about four years ago).

Facebook Revelations

There's was a murder/suicide in Waxahachie last week and police finally identified the shooter.  I'm not sure this is the same guy's Facebook page (name matches, town matches, and he went to Red Oak High School which is near Waxahachie) but  if it is, the above quote is on his front page.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Court: No school sponsored prayer at Texas high school graduation this Saturday.  Texas Attorney General: Yahooty! A hot button issue I can get involved in and get in front of the cameras!
• Speaking of graduation, both Bridgeport and Chico will did not have guest speakers at commencement. If only the rest of us had been so lucky.
• Anyone know who left their Mercedes in a Frisco Walmart parking lot last night with a dead body inside? (Obviously, he forgot to call The Wolf.)
• Did Antoine Dodson get arrested in Denton?
• Not sure why the Messenger fired off a "Breaking News" alert yesterday afternoon about the funding for the 380 highway project.  It was the lead story on the front page of the paper edition of the  Denton Record Chronicle earlier that day and had been on their web site for over 12 hours.
• The new water park in Roanoke opens next week. (Talk about a town that has changed over the years.)
• I'm not sure how a story about helmet safety features a 27 year old Decatur cowboy on a Canadian web site.
• I'm about to get in the house rental business against my better judgment. 
• I've never been to the Bridgeport Off Highway Vehicle Park but it just received  $87,079 of your tax dollars "to renovate existing trails and add fencing to the [park] and to purchase hand tools and a rescue vehicle."
• I finally ran into the "you can't buy gas on a credit card, leave the pump, and then go try to use the same credit card inside the convenince store" problem. 
• I don't hate the Mavs. I'm completely apathetic. 
• Ticket fans only: You have to see morning guy George Dunham on the streets of Miami last night. 
• Over Memorial Day I learned that two men from Bridgeport and three from Decatur died during the Vietnam War. What are the odds of someone knowing one or more of their names and posting them in the comments?
• Ohio State's quarterback (who is not majoring in rocket science) drove up in a new Nissan on Monday to a players only meeting after the highly publicized resignation of their coach.  Now reports say he's driven six to eight new cars in his brief tenure at the school and the NCAA is investigating. I understand secret payments, secret drug deals, and secret gambling, but driving new cars isn't exactly something that no one notices.
• Want to see a cameraman get kicked in the head by a horse?

Alvord Mom Of Child Killed On 380 Was On Channel 11 Last Night