Anybody need a lawyer?

This is ONE civil case pre-trial hearing in Decatur this morning. Something about some medical device but it is not a malpractice case. I count 18 attorneys.

Edit:  Oops. It is a personal injury case (that actually floated around in federal court for a while.)  Background here.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I went to bed with the Cowboys leading and woke up to hear everyone dogging  Tony Romo. (The big stat this morning is that it was the first time in 242 games that the Cowboys lost after leading by 14 or more in the 4th quarter. So that was the worst collapse ever? That's hard to believe. )
• One of these days I'll try to explain why I'm interested in the Cowboys (like you would be interested in a book or a TV series), but why I don't care about the Cowboys. 
• I almost got rear-ended on Friday: Hear the squealing of locked up tires, in the rear view mirror I see a car coming at me at rapid speed, in a split second I goose it and brake thereby moving  up the two feet I had to spare, guy gives up on braking -- he's surely going to hit me -- and turns hard to the right and goes by with no room to spare. 
• I was walking up the stairs yesterday morning when, from the TV, I heard the request for a moment of silence as the bell chimed at the memorial site in New York. I actually stopped. 
• The 25 most un-American reactions to 9/11
• At what age should kids see the footage of 9/11 as a learning experience? When they aren't kids anymore? 
• Three date rapes (or at least acquaintance rapes -- if there is such a thing) at TCU in nine days?
• Mrs. LL spent Saturday evening at some wheels off uniform print screening shop actually getting involved in the print screening process. (Those team uniforms were going to get done.)
• If an explosion at a nuclear power plant is something that would make you nervous, get nervous this morning about one in France. 
• A fire in Wise County was caused by a lady violating the burn ban so she was issued a couple of tickets. Today the Update identified her which I bet is a much bigger deterrent than the tickets. 
• Last sports notes: (1) I said Cam Newton would be an NFL bust and he goes out and throws for 422 yards in his first game, (2) on Friday I said the Baylor/TCU game might end up being the best college game of the year and then came along Michigan/Notre Dame on Saturday night, (3) it looks like Garrett Gilbert will not be "the next great quarterback" for the Evil Empire. 
• I dreamed a guy pulled up to me in Jacksboro with a dead body in the passenger seat and asked me what he should do. A few hours later I decided it would probably be a pretty good idea to tell the cops. 
• On WBAP this morning, one of the guys was outraged that the TCU team doctor (who is originally from Pakistan) was detained for over 20 minutes at security in Colorado Springs as the team prepared to fly back from the Air Force game. So now those radio guys are upset with racial profiling?

Wise County Crime Reports: 9/11

(Thanks, Mark.)

Kids, Be Careful

Lavering

Most Likely The Car They Were In (Lavering's)

Edit: He loved his car, but this probably isn't it after all based on the comments.

Ramos

Goodman

No one knows really what happened other than three teens are gone. I did just a quick Facebook search on one of the names and quickly saw that they were all in their "friends" list.  (Story.)

What's Going On At Runaway Bay?

Best pic I've got. (Thanks, Scott.)

Those Memories Come Rushing Back, Don't They?

8:03 a.m.: The second plane hitting the building.

The only time of my life when I believed anything  . . . a plane, a bomb, a missile . . . could land or explode anywhere in the U.S. at any moment.

(A collection of front pages.)

Messenger Above The Fold

Friday Night Lights When It Felt Like Fall

Decatur (3-0) 52
WF Hirschi (1-2) 16
Instant Analysis: No coach. No problem.

Springtown (0-3) 28
Bridgeport (3-0) 49
Instant Analysis: Springtown isn't very good. (Video from last night - which has 24 views as I post this)

First Baptist (1-2) 31
Chico (2-1) 14
Instant Analysis: That's the private school which is part of the First Baptist Church of Dallas where the annual tuition is over $12,000 a year. (Gulp!) I'm stunned they won after suffering culture shock from seeing an Allsups for the first time.

Electra (2-1) 28
Alvord (2-1) 49
Instant Analysis: Alvord trailed 21-28 going into the 4th quarter. Somebody pulled out a Rally Monkey.

Boyd (2-1) 41
Henrietta (1-2) 6
Instant Analysis: A Beatdown.

Rio Vista (1-2) 28
Paradise (2-1) 55
Instant Analysis: Did you know Rio Vista is the home of a landmark Supreme Court case on whether it is constitutional to arrest someone for a traffic violation? As for the game, I'll go with almost "cruel and unusual."  Edit: Sheesh. It's Lago Vista and not Rio Vista that went to the Supreme Court.  I got my bodies of water mixed up.

So Coach, What Did You Tell Your Players To Get Them Fired Up?

Man, this coaching stuff is complicated.

Jenny McCarthy Still Killin' It And Taking Us Into The Weekend

One Final Pic Of The Bastrop Fires

(Thanks, Kevin.)

Perry On Death Penalty During The Debate

• That cheering from the crowd is bizarre. Just bizarre.
• Texas has a "thoughtful" process before the death penalty is imposed? Thoughtful? Well, I'll shut up then. 
• And you "will" face the ultimate penalty in Texas if you commit capital murder? Well, that is if the DA decides to seek the death penalty -- his discretion and no one else's. And there are no legislative standards to aid or guide him in his decision. 
• Sixteen states have now banned the death penalty. 
• And a quick bit of research shows that Texas juries aren't adding (or DA's aren't seeking) people to death row like they used to: 

9/11 News Coverage Documented

Pretty amazing site.

Edit: Kind of helps to have this 9/11 Timeline handy.  (And I watched some of NBC's coverage of the first tower collapsing and it was stunningly inept. The camera was on the tower and you could clearly see it fall in on itself (4:38 mark). Tom Brokaw and Matt Lauer mention that part of the building had collapsed but seconds later Brokaw says that both of the buildings would probably have to brought down because of the damage. They then cut to the Pentagon and yap for almost the next 8 minutes.  It wasn't until the 12:20 mark when finally Matt Lauer tells viewers of the total collapse and they pull the video to show.)

Cop To The Rescue

Video analysis:

0:00 to 0:12: What a great cop. Killing a snake probably isn't in his job description, but he's going to town on that thing like it's nobody's business. A true public servant!  Thanks for helping out your average American beach-goer! You are a credit to the uniform and  . . .

0:12 to 0:19: Wait a second. What do we have here?

0:19 to the end:  Conduct explained. Girls in bikinis: Causing extra effort every day of the week.

Now That's Funny

Aggie supporters are putting up a few billboards in response to Baylor's lawsuit threat blocking the Ags move to the Southeastern Conference.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Career explosion of the week: "Arkansas TV weatherman Brett Cummins has been questioned by police after waking up in an empty hot tub next to a dead man wearing a dog collar." There's just not many ways you can put a positive spin on that.  (And you know your life has gone horribly wrong when . . . . )
• Something noticeably absent in Wise County right now: Crickets.
• About 50 people gathered in Slidell last night to lobby to keep the local post office open. I think you have a rally of 50,000 people, and it wouldn't have an impact. And if the news is true this week, there might not be any post offices open in the very near future. 
• Saw that the Decatur head coach missed the football game last night because his son was in the hospital due to "emergency surgery" on his leg that he injured last week. Sounds kind of bad.
• Mrs. LL saw "The Help" and said it was a multiple Kleenex movie.
• It may be easy to say since my team won, but TCU v. Baylor last Friday might end up being the most exciting game of the year. 
• Idiocracy continued: (1) The Fox NFL robot, Cleatus, has a twitter account, and (2) the NFL is making all stadiums display fantasy football stats on stadium scoreboards.
• Criminal appellate opinion: A an illegal immigrant in Wise County fights to overturn his misdemeanor marijuana non-conviction probation  after it lead to deportation proceedings. (You would be stunned by the number of crimes that do not lead to deportation issues, but at least 30 grams of marijuana is not one of them.)
• You are asking: "An illegal immigrant can be prosecuted and receive probation or jail time in Texas and not automatically be deported?" I'd say 9 out of 10 times. 
• A treasure trove of audio of 9/11 released by the FAA. 
• For you Ticket Fans: Paradise v. Rio Vista was the "Big Black Computer's Craig Way Memorial Game of The Week" this morning. (That sounds insane and even I understand it.)
• And The Ticket also replayed their audio of 9/11 this morning. I'll always remember being on FM 1810 when I heard the morning boys describe the second plane hitting the building, and how flat out frightened I was when I heard George Dunham say, "This is now a military operation." 
• Sheriff Joe yesterday: "At 2:00 today I will have a press conference at Basic Training in Scottsdale concerning citizens requesting a crime suppression operation." Is that the same thing as saying, today I'll answer questions from citizens requesting that I actually work?
• The power of the compliment: Of everything that's happened with girl's softball, I still appreciate a dad coming up to me for the first practice and saying, "I just want to say thanks. I know this takes a lot of time and just want to tell you my wife and I appreciate your efforts."  

Political Junkies Only

I'm never sure exactly is going to set the Liberally Lean Nation off (callback joke, see below), but I figured this might -- at least for the politics loving folks. We have crazy Fox Anchor Gretchen Carlson (who has an incredible academic background but tries to act like a simpleton) jumping on the relatively new White House Press Secretary who is, admittedly, awful at his job.  Throw in a New Jobs speech, and you've got some Fair and Balanced reporting. (Good stuff starts around 3:15).

Wise County Just Upgraded Its Court Software . . .

including an online calendar. Now comes news that all Parker County court dates have been wiped from their system by a "support person."  I guess that means someone in the Support Section of a company that provides some software the county uses.  The County's system administrator referred to that person as not very "competent" --- probably in response to a million questions of ,"Just how did this happen?"  

Court administrators are asking lawyers to tell them of any court dates they have scheduled.  Hmmm. If you do criminal defense work, that would technically mean volunteering information to assist in the prosecution of your client. That's a little tricky.