Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Despite every media outlet in DFW trying to find out what the FBI investigation into John Wiley Price was about, they came up with absolutely nothing.
• There's a regularly scheduled Dallas County Commissioners meeting today. Hello, circus.
• A Johnson County Commissioner abruptly resigned yesterday after allegations arose he used a county Home Depot credit card for personal charges. 
• Our taxes would be a lot less if people being paid by the taxpayer didn't have to investigate people being paid by the taxpayer for misusing taxpayer money. 
• Two motorcycle deaths yesterday: Hurst and Dallas (couldn't find a link but he was knocked off a bridge onto the Dallas Tollway.) Edit: Found it.
• What a bizarre story: An attractive (for what it's worth) Austin gal who worked for the W Hotel got stuck in an air duct and was not found for over a month. Not a happy ending. 
• Since when does everyone think they are saying something profound when they rattle off, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"? (And if that person then attributes the quote to Albert Einstein, cock an eyebrow because there's no proof of that.)
• Over the past month I've received an unsolicited Beach Boys CD and a packet of Kool-Aid from loyal readers. You think I'm a little nervous when I open up a package that looks like it could be from the Son of Sam?
• I was in a foot race last night. Yep. Against a girl. I'm guessing it was a quarter mile. My heart estimated it as run to El Paso. 
• Everyone was up in arms yesterday about the search by TSA of a 95 year old, wheel chair bound, cancer-stricken woman at the airport who was wearing a diaper. Do we make an exception for 95 years olds? If so, there's your security loophole that everyone knows about.
• Side note: The 95 year old was flying to visit family and friends. Uh, how about the family coming to see her instead?
• The new Dallas mayor was inducted yesterday and he continues to preach about wanting to improve Dallas schools. Man, you've got enough problems without trying to fix something you have no jurisdiction over. 
• After over two years, President Obama has finally nominated someone for the position of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas: Sarah Saldana. Talk about a gal who is low profile --- a Google search basically turns up nothing. (If confirmed, she will then be responsible for the John Wiley Price prosecution. And if President Obama loses the 2012 election, she'll be out of a job. Does she want that gig?)
• Did I see Sonic and Asian take-out on the dinner table last night? Yep.
• The official high was 99 degrees yesterday. Somebody want to check that monitoring equipment? And why is Wichita Falls consistently clocking in at 10 degrees hotter than us?
• On my DVR from last night is the HBO documentary "Hot Coffee" about civil lawsuits. My lawyer friends criticize me to no end for my anti-lawsuit positions and the program is about "misconceptions" that people like me might hold. Will I watch it? You bet. Why wouldn't I want to hear differing views?
• Random Texas front page only because the War on Drugs lead story was called "Operation Pill Crusher." You've always got to have a fancy name. 

Dumb Kid Falls From Top Of Escalator

Teen falls from top of esccalator: MyFoxBOSTON.com

Nope. Not dead.

Another Bad Wreck By Sheriff's Office On 380 and Business 380

This Picture Sent In By A Faithful Reader Will Not Win A Pulitzer Prize

Let me guess that it's either at location 1 or 2 on the map below. I'll go with 1.

This Girl Needs Some Parental Guidance

Bristol Palin, 20, has "written" her first book, and she is out today pimping the thing like nobody's business.  I heard a little bit of her on Sean Hannity's radio show, and her description of the conception of her child sounded a heck of a lot like some of the criminal cases I seen in the courthouse. She's making a serious accusation but isn't smart enough to know that it's a serious accusation  -- she totally rejects any notion that she was date raped despite her description of the event.   And, once again, she's been put under an uncomfortable spotlight because those close to her hold the cover of People magazine, and the ancillary cash that comes with such fame, in high esteem. 

What's the name of her mother again?

Juicy Legal Case To Be Heard By The Supreme Court

Can the police constitutionally install a GPS tracking device on a person's vehicle and, if so, do they need a warrant to do so? We'll probably know next spring since the Court decided to hear the case today.

I predict we'll move another step closer to a Police State. I suspect the issue will boil down to whether a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy as to the location of his car.

Edit: The "well-he-was-convicted-of-[insert alleged crime]-so-I'm-don't-care-if-they-slapped-a-GPS-on-his-car" comments are already rolling in. That never ceases to amaze me. What's the old saying? Oh, yeah: "Then they came for me . . . ." Those who claim to love the Constitution do not love it all if they pick and choose who they wish for it to protect,

The Man Is After John Wiley!

Story with updates.

Edit: I found this picture I posted of him over five years ago:

If You Don't Like Texas Weather . . .

It WON'T change if you wait a second.

"Are You A Flake?"

Fox News eating their young?

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Rick Perry vetoed the "no texting while driving" bill which, although the right thing to do, is yet another  huge sign he'll run for President on a No Big Government Policy.
• Bridgeport Tank Trucks runs a big ad every week in the Fort Worth Weekly looking for CDL drivers. Just seems like an odd place to do that.  
• A triple murder in Arlington over the weekend leaves eight kids without moms.
• In case you missed it, the dead body found in Wise County last week is believed to be the result of a self-inflicted gunshot. The lady was from Southlake. (Photo and odd Facebook page.) 
• A drainage dispute over the Flower Bed Project caused me to concede to Mrs. LL for the sake of peacefulness. Although it did require a lot of digging on my part to put the concession into action. 
• We ate at Sardines over the weekend. It feels like a mob hangout.
• I may have mentioned this, but I tend to beat her down while dining because every time I have to fire off the line, "I'm beginning to think Buddy Holly isn't much of a waiter." (Pulp Fiction)
• The Wichita County Sheriff's Office has a great website for inmate information. We've been waiting on Wise County to relaunch the equivalent for months. 
• I went out to the jail on Friday to visit an inmate and brought a Diet Coke along with me. Based upon the reaction from the other side of the glass, I learned inmates don't get Diet Coke. 
• I feel badly because I think Casey Anthony is guilty when there really isn't much proof to support that conclusion. 
• Baseball notes: (1) I can't imagine why someone would sit in the sun for a Rangers' game on Saturday or Sunday, and (2) Josh Hamilton can't hit a baseball during the day (he's 1 of 33 since coming back from the DL and struck out four times on Saturday. He blamed the problem on his blue eyes. Really.)
• My delayed retorts: (1) Breitbart showing the naked photo of Rep. Weiner certainly constitutes "releasing" the photo, and (2) if you think the Bill of Rights only applies to Congress, google "incorporation doctrine" (a doctrine that is silly but the law nonetheless.)
• But to those who think the Constitution is the greatest document ever drafted, think again. The First Amendment, for example, says Congress shall enact "no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech."  That can't be any clearer. It is completely absolute. As written, Congress should not be able to regulate pornography, expressions of terrorism, copyright,  and the list goes on. It took the courts to completely rewrite it. 
• I woke up Mrs. LL to endorse a check this morning. She was so sleepy, I'm not sure she knows what she signed.  
• Terrell Owens blew out his ACL and will have surgery. He's done.

And Another

Carrollton ISD. 33 years old.

Story.

Center Of "The Thin Blue Line" Has Died

Long before DNA exonerations, there were reckless and/or crooked cops and prosecutors who caused the innocent to go to prison. One such man was Randall Dale Adams out of Dallas County who came within 72 hours of execution and spent over 12 years in prison.

Adams, the subject of the documentary The Thin Blue Line  (which is a must see by the way), has died. He had tried to live in obscurity and did a great job of it: The Dallas Morning News has discovered that he died last October.

New York Approves Gay Marriage Last Night

Friday Morning Pick Me Up: Saved By The Bell Edition

Jessie?

I guess she finally got off the drugs:

The Sunset Inn Gets A Reference In A Court Case Decided Yesterday

When Martin found the family, they were about to be evicted from the Grasslands because they had stayed too long and were not able to pay the Park Service fee. The tent was a tight fit, but the family told Martin that some were sleeping outside or in the car because it was warm. She met with them one more time in the Grasslands; she did not have any more contact with them after the end of July because they had moved again. She finally tracked them to the Sunset Inn in Wise County through a relative. Father agreed to sign a family group contract to start services with CPS, but he called back a few days later and said he did not want to do so anymore because he did not think he could get any family support. Martin still wished to offer services, so she set up an appointment at the Sunset Inn for late July; the family was not there because they had gone to the lake . . . 

And so begins the long factual recitation of a CPS case affirmed today on appeal where the parental rights to five children were terminated. 

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Alvord school trustees vow to start using Facebook according to the Update. To be discussed in the next meeting: "Is there a way we can stop people from putting those nasty comments on there about us?"
• The Longhorns had three players selected in the first round of the NBA draft last night. Now I think I know why there is so much grumbling about coach Rick Barnes.
• Still an amazing site: People in Texas prisons (not the local jail) who committed crimes in Wise County. (Although I think it's not totally up to date.)
• After the Fort Worth motorcycle chase yesterday, one cop comes in and throws two punches. Now he's under investigation. Hey, you might want to realize there's a couple of news helicopters above you.
• I do it all the time in relation to criminal cases, but I always feel weird standing on the side of a Wise County road taking pictures in a shirt and tie.  But it's amazing what you can learn by simply going to a location -- even in a DWI case. 
• Uh, oh. President Obama tells the troops he remembers the first time he gave the Medal Of Honor to a soldier when it wasn't in a posthumous situation. Other than the fact the soldier was dead, and he gave the award to the his parents, that story was spot on. 
• That can probably be forgiven, but I'm not sure what he was thinking when he decided to play golf on Memorial Day. Say what you will, but he's smarter than that. 
• The government is releasing oil from the Strategic Oil Reserves? Now? Really? 
• The Star-Telegram finally gets around to covering the TXI/Hughes civil verdict today. And the Update did the same. 
• The Ten Most Powerful People In Dallas list. Very inadequate list.
• Following through on an earlier hint, an African-American will run to try and represent a portion of Wise County in Congress. Maybe the locals will at least listen to him because he's a Republican. 
• "And Another" but once again it was only for solicitation with no contact. Is that the new trend?
• Some mob boss from Boston who has been on the run forever was captured in California. It's big news in the northeast, but the only thing I know is that Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed was based upon him. (The headline made me wonder if any of his associates ever saw The Jerk and then would say, "Remember, don't trust Whitey.")

What The Heck Did I Just Watch?

We've got the poor 7-11 guy trying to make buck only to to be launched through a plate glass window, and then on the reverse angle video (just like football), we see the driver take off after said launching. To top it off, there's this passenger chick who casually gets out to apparently go find the nearest Whataburger.

This country is getting weirder and weirder.

Story.

Going On Now

Edit: Why do they always just give up?  Stopped northbound on Loop 820 headed towards Northeast Mall area.

Houston Bus "Split In Two"

Happened this morning, but I wonder if it is one of those buses that is extra long and has the middle accordion-type connection. Not that it makes a difference to the victims.