Cops Chase Guy Drinking Beer And Driving Forklift (?) In Fort Worth Yesterday

I'm not saying its the most exciting video in the world, but you'll probably see it on the local news today and it does qualify as unusual.  The youtube video is in two parts, here and here. (Warning, the guys filming it cuss like sailors. I'm not exactly sure when that became a requirement of any youtube video.)

(Thanks, Lari.)

Wise County Might Want To Consider Killing Cellphones Like San Francisco . . .

. . . once the locals find out that this sign on the courthouse door proves that we don't honor a "If you come to America, learn how to speak English" policy.  There will be rioting in the streets!! Rioting, I tell ya!!!

President Obama's Approval Rating Drops Below 40%

He's in good company.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Well, now I'm no so bummed about the 100 degree record falling on Thursday when that fluke thunderstorm came through. Saturday would have killed it any way. 
• I don't know if much will be made of it, but the government in San Francisco shutting down some cellphone towers to prevent the organization of protests should bother you greatly. Cue the "What is this? Communist Russia?" theme. 
• ESPN had a lot of little league games on this weekend. I think the kids are getting cockier with each passing year. 
• Michelle Bachman wins the Iowa Straw Poll, Sarah Palin shows up in Iowa just to sign autographs and say "Aw, shucks", and Rick Perry joins the race. I bet the President Obama haters couldn't turn off CSPAN this weekend.  
• An age that surprised me: Michelle Bachman is 55. That's a hot 55.
• An age that surprised me #2: Al Sharpton is 56. I would have thought he was in his 70s.
• Did you know that a Third Grader is capable of telling a very long story and then, without missing a beat, tell the same very long story over again when her momma enters the room? 
• Idiocracy: There's a kids' game named "Doggie Doo". (Thanks, Thomas.)
• Still no results in the search for the owner of the Stray Dog. We've put up posters as well as a listing on Craig's List without luck.  Did I mention that he'd been neutered? 
• And I gave him a bath this weekend. I think Mrs. LL is distancing from the doggie. 
• Hey, I'm no PR expert, but if I'm a Dallas cop who gets arrested outside of a strip club, I don't think I'd have a strip club picture as my facebook profile pic. 
• You always see a pretty big turnout whenever a firefighter is killed regardless of the cause of death. (i.e. the guy that fell out of the stands at the Rangers game.) It'll be interesting to see the response to the funeral of the Dallas firefighter this weekend who actually died while fighting a fire. 
• The Dallas Cowboys defense from last Thursday night: A pic showing 14 men on the field.
• Not much in the Update today but I still get to be bothered by the death of a 32 year old from Chico and a 43 year old from Bridgeport.
• Edit: Motorcycle death.

Stage Collapse In Indiana Leaves Five Dead

Sugarland was set to perform.

Grainy, but pretty dramatic.

Story.

Edit:

Weekend Messenger Above The Fold

Taking You Into The Weekend

Don't Leave Aggie!!!!

Story.

Edit on Saturday: Wow. ESPN says it is a done deal with the Aggies beginning play in the SEC next year. Just wow. And there's also a chance Missouri could be asked to go with them. Goodbye Big 12. We hardly knew ye.

I bet there's a real possibility that Texas goes independent.

Edit on Sunday: Wow. The SEC say "no thanks" today and ESPN (who has a major conflict of interest) says the deal is dead. Now there's report of "Not so fast, my friend.'

What I Read When I See This

She was having her probation revoked on three cases -- they are all State Jail Felonies carrying with them a range of punishment of 180 days to 2 years. But on State Jails, you serve "day for day" with no parole. So she'll serve a real 9 months.

The new case, the bomb threat, is just generic TDC time. So a 5 year sentence, in my estimation, is probably about 8 to 11 months of real time (but with complete discretion to the Parole Board.)  In that case, she becomes "eligible" for parole when her "real time" plus her "good conduct time", as calculated by the current going rate by TDC, equals 1/4th of her sentence. She'll definitely be eligible for parole before her State Jail time is up, but it's just up to the Parole Board as to how long they'll keep her.

The resolution seems not overly harsh nor overly lenient. That means it's probably fair.

LeeAnn Rimes Is Still Killing It

More.

Random Alarm Bell

The Messenger just concluded a series of stories on people (my description, not theirs), and one of them was about this guy who sees a mystery around every corner. I just glanced at the article and one sentence really jumped out at me. They "all tell" the same story? Really? Over 100 people saw one event and they "all" describe it the same way?

Not. A. Chance.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Want to know what the view of the official radio booth of  the Dallas Cowboys is like? It's a pretty lousy one. I'm not sure how Brad Sham does it. 
• I watched a little bit of the Republican Presidential Debates last night and was struck by how much more entertaining they are than, say, 20 years ago. Or maybe it's just more sound bites and crowd pandering. I think we are about to be ruled by The Cult Of Personality -- regardless of who wins -- Republican or Democrat.
• According to 105.3 The Fan's Richie Whitt last night, the monthly electric bill for Cowboys' Stadium is $500,000. I believe it. (But I also think I experience more shock when I look at my home electric bill than Jerry Jones does when looking at that bill.) 
• I always write it as "Cowboys' Stadium" instead of "Cowboys Stadium" which is the official name. My spelling, for once, makes more sense.
• The morning boys on The Ticket talked about their visit to the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg.  It sounds fantastic. I had no idea it was there. 
• Want to know how the author of "Bush's Brain" thinks Rick Perry will win the Presidency? A short opinion piece is here and it's fantastic. Basically, he'll court the Religious Right to get the Republican nomination and then abandon that strategy and switch to focusing on the economy when going head to head with President Obama. The author is no fan of Perry which makes the article more credible. I can honestly see it happening. 
• But why did Perry decide to confirm, with no pomp and circumstance, his Presidential Run through a spokesman yesterday? You have all that build up towards his speech in South Carolina on Saturday and you make the announcement via the equivalent of a tiny "poof"? 
• There was another wrong way driver in Dallas last night (no link yet.) I think that was the third one this week.
• Is Decatur the professional rodeo center of the U.S.?  We always here of Trevor Brazille (about to set another annual prize money record, by the way) but there's also some Brazilian named Valdiron de Oliveira who gets a lot of press.
• Watched a little bit of WFAA/Channel 8's morning newscast. Verdict: A painfully awkward lack of chemistry. 
• I'm really bummed that the 100 Streak is over. Then again, I'd sit down with Guinness Book of World Records for hours as a kid.
• The Family Cat chased a bee yesterday and jumped on an accordion style window blind in the kitchen. Result: It tore in half. After I thought about drowning the cat, I wondered how a bee got in the house. If Killer Bees could engage in a cat-murder-for-hire scheme, I'm in. 
• Tiger Woods, over the last year, has fired his swing coach and his caddie. I bet he's got a therapist who has told him to rid himself of anything connected to his past. After yesterday's performance at the PGA Championship (he's 14 strokes back after one round), he might want to rethink that. 
• But I like that goatee he's sporting. 
• Golf is weird. Once you lose it, you lose it. See Corey Pavin or Ian Baker-Finch. Edit: My bad. I meant David Duval instead of Corey Pavin (although I think Pavin might has "lost it" to a lesser degree.) Also, I think you can throw in Johnny Miller. 
• Preseason football is excruciating to watch (the Cowboys were on last night.) But when did Tim Tebow fall from grace? 

Quick Hits

• He got weed! Cops stop a truck with over 800 pounds of marijuana in Mansfield
• And another
• Tiger Woods is playing in a Major and has just gone double bogey, bogey, par, double bogey, bogey, and bogey. (He started on the back nine.)
• Jack County swimming hole is On The Sick. 
• Man backed his car into Grapevine lake this morning and drowned.

The Man Can't Catch A Break

President Obama shows up at Dover to meet the caskets of the servicemen killed in the helicopter incident in Afghanistan,  and he bans the press from covering the event.   The White House then releases one photo and people go crazy.  You know, there is an official White House photographer who is responsible for documenting history.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• A couple of other forecasts call for temperatures right at 100 on Friday and Saturday. Wouldn't it be a beating to go all this way towards the streak and then end up with a 99 degree day? This would become the cruelest of summers.
• New Census data just released: Hispanics, who showed the greatest numerical increases in the 2010 census, made up 38 percent of the state’s population, yet made up 51.3 percent of the population under 20.  What do you think that number will be in 10 years once that under 20 crowd reproduces? 
• And Texas becomes a Blue State at which point? 20 years? 10 years? Sooner?
• Want to see what a guy looks like who arrived at the new In-n-Out Burger in Fort Worth at 9:00 p.m. last night and slept on the pavement so he could be the first in line? 
• Those rumblings about the Aggies moving to the SEC are getting loud. And when Gov. Perry said yesterday that "conversations have been had" about the move, he's either got inside information or is frighteningly reckless. (The latter is not the best presidential trait a man can have.)
• Wrong way driver in Arlington on I-20 last night sends two people to the hospital. No deaths. 
• TBS is cancelling Lopez Tonight. I say this will full knowledge of how horrible Letterman and Leno have become: George Lopez is the worst talk show host in the history of talk show hosts.
• There is a Justice of the Peace in Wise County who I believe would be in huge trouble if anyone would simply run against her.  
• I was thinking that the Cowboys working out indoors would hurt them in a hot weather game. But considering that they now play home games indoors,  they only have to worry about road games, outdoors, played during the day. There are two in the early season: At San Francisco in September and at New England in October. So much for the heat. 
• Funny line I heard about GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: That albatross around his neck of wanting to provide health care to poor people while governor is really going to weigh him down. 
• Ticket Fans: I've listened to the It's Just Banter podcast by T.C. and Jake for about six months and it's fantastic. The latest episode had them going off on Jean Jacques Taylor (he did push-ups in studio and was fond of over-sized jorts with a woven belt.)
• No dog news. Skyler is still around, and he really wants to get at the Family Cat so I'm liking him even more. 
• The bagofnothing guy is in New York City. I wish I was in New York City. 
• Idiocracy in my own home: I looked in the freezer the other day and saw "Pancakes and Sausage on a Stick." 
• The DOW just opened up by 120 points. Betting that it stays in positive territory is as risky as investing in the stock market. 

Captured Before I Even Had A Chance To Get Interested In It

"The Dougherty Gang"

"I won't be taken without a tan!"

Three sibling fugitives from Florida, who were wanted for bank robbery and for allegedly shooting at a police officer, have been captured in southern Colorado. Details.  


She worked at, get this, the "Cheater's Gentleman's Club" in Cocoa Beach. Her Flickr page.

UFC: Channel 8's Brett Shipp v. John Wiley Price

Story.

Here's D Magazine's re-creation:

I Don't Know

It just showed up when I was searching for "Galleria" and "Twitpic" yesterday.

Edit. Wow. It is real. Now people have begun photoshopping it.