I'm Changing My Name

God'sgift Achiuwa? You can be named that? Let me tell you, God'sgift Green rolls off your tongue a heck of a lot easier than this guy's name. (Technically, I think he spells it God's Gift Achiuwa. I'd probably just go with Godsgift and drop the apostrophe. I've thought a lot about it.)

And yesterday I thought God's Academy was a pretty bold name.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• There's a crazy trial going on in Waco where a lady is alleged to have shot her husband in the head, gone to work, and then came home and called the police. Oh, and she's also accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill him (before he was dead, of course.) Local connection? Bridgeport's Mike Simpson has a daughter who is part of the defense team.
• I dreamed I lived right by a busy freeway and saw, at least twice, a bachelorette party on foot walking behind a cement mixer covered in banners.
• There's a cold front coming in with 40 degree temperatures which will hit almost exactly the same time as the White Rock Marathon starts.  This will be my 10th half marathon and there's no way I'm going to miss it. 
• Obama's re-election chances are all based on the economy? That right wing explosion you just heard was the news released this morning that the unemployment rate had plunged to 8.6%! That's the lowest rate in 2 1/2 years. 
• I'd like to announce that there's a shortage of plastic lawn stakes for Christmas lights. I've got a project half done and I can't find those things anywhere. (I had some Clark Griswald going on last night, by the way.)
• Liberally Lean favorite Britney turns 30 today.  Sad to say, but I may have to upgrade in that position. 
• Tons of folks have sent me the story over the past couple of days regarding "Sheriff Incarcerated In Jail That Bears His Name".  I'm not sure why I haven't posted it. 
• We put the tree up but before we could put a single decoration on it, the Family Cat buried herself inside it. She was apparently bored with trying to claw a hole in the strong cardboard box it was packaged in. 
• There's a commercial for Academy Sports that features Emmitt Smith and Danica Patrick. With her being a diva and him having trouble delivering any line, I bet that thirty second spot took a month to film.  
• An appellate case decided this year involved a guy who won over $10 million in the lottery in the 1990s and got divorced in Wise County shortly thereafter. (You'll have to interested in assignments and child support offsets to read the whole thing. But I'll bet you click on it to see if you know the guy.)
• Long suffering Baylor fans will love this article that appeared yesterday in ESPN's Grantland.
• "Students [at Fort Worth ISD] will not be allowed to exchange gifts from student to student or distribute personal holiday messages during class this year, the district said . . . . [O]fficials announced Thursday that 'no longer can the district endorse or sponsor any religious activity or doctrine.'"  Those who will comment that "there ain't no separation of church and state in the constitution" in three, two, . . . 

Mrs. LL Found This In The Trash Can At A Car Wash

Now there has to be a huge story behind that.

Going, Going, Gone.

And Another

We've got us a strong -- to quite strong -- contender right here. Story.

Last Night

Girl's name is Taylor Young and she's fine despite landing on her neck.

We've Got A County Photography Crisis!!!!

But it would be nice to know where that shoot occurred.

 Pocketwizard Above (I think)

Viral Video Of The Day

Everyone says to look at the lady in the middle. Is she a bad dancer or is she just handicapped? Why is she in the video? What's going on here?

You know, I don't care. I can't take my eyes off the gal in the black tank top on the front row giving it the what for.  I guess that's what is mean by "everyone sees something different in a work of art."

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Local Fox affiliate exposes teacher's porn past. Gets him fired. World now safe.
• I was outlining the lawn with lights last night which required placing stakes in the hard ground.  I could have sworn I heard Pharaoh over me telling me to build bricks without straw once I was done.
• A guy jumped off the the Hulen bridge onto I-30 yesterday in Fort Worth, but somehow landed on the median instead of the freeway. If he wants to get attention, that's one hard way to do it. 
• Reflecting on past experiences with American Airlines, I always got the feeling that every employee tried hard at their job but couldn't wait for a break so they could talk about how much they hated management.
• American put some routes on sale yesterday.
• Anyone remember when Bridgeport's zip code was 76026? Why was it changed?
• Mrs. LL dang near ripped the front end of off the Family Gangsta Sedan by running over some sprinkler head in a parking lot. That was her explanation. 
• The Oregon governor stops the use of the death penalty for the remainder of his term.  I always go back to Justice Harry Blackmun's dissent in a case in 1994: " From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death."
• You wanted to see what our Christmas Lawn Monkey looks like? Here ya go. 
• New York Knicks TV reporter in a bikini  "Hey, Now."
• Goofball Dez Bryant has settled the unpaid $600,000 civil suit against him for unpaid debts. The settlement papers said,"The parties have determined that this controversy was the result of a mutual misunderstanding" -- a clause that was put in there solely for the media.
• Ticket Failed Bit: The radio station was playing a Fake Mavs vs. Fake Heat basketball game in Frisco this morning. This is the crowd 15 minutes before tip off. 
• I-35 around Alvarado will be shut down for three hours today so police can conduct an investigation of a "recent accident." What the heck is that about? 
• I don't want to cause a panic, but I saw in the Update that on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Santa will be at a breakfast at Young Elementary in Decatur and at the Bridgeport Parks and Recreation Department.

Murder Charge In DWI -- This Is A New One

It turns out that the wrong way driver in Fort Worth with the baby in her car had an alcohol level of .24.  It's a weird case because as cars left the roadway to get out of her way, one of those cars struck a man who died (he had stopped and had gotten out of his vehicle.)   The obvious charge was Intoxication Manslaughter (2 to 20 years) assuming the state could prove she "caused" that death (which they probably had a fair chance of doing despite the odd facts.)

But today the DA's office announced they would charge her with Murder (5 to 99 years). How? Murder normally means the intentional taking of another life. However, there's a fairly obscure provision of the penal code called "Felony Murder" that allows a person to be charged with Murder if (1) during the course of committing any felony, and (2) that person commits an act"clearly dangerous to human life and causes the death of another person."  There is no requirement of proving intent to kill.

The law has always been that the "felony" in Felony Murder could not be Intoxication Manslaughter. It had to be another felony. So what felony did she commit? Oh, that baby in the car! That baby becomes important! It is a State Jail Felony (the lowest felony on the books) to commit DWI with a child passenger younger than 15 years of age. So she is alleged to have committed a State Jail Felony and committed an act "clearly dangerous to human life" that caused the death of another person. The Felony Murder statute now kicks in.

Prosecutors first used the Felony Murder statute in a DWI case about seven years ago when someone had caused a death while committing their third DWI -- which is itself a felony.  This is the first time I've heard of the DWI With Child being used as the "underlying felony" in a Felony Murder Case

The Pirate Has A Job: Washington State

Uh oh. She has a history of crazy.

This Ain't Debra Winger in "Urban Cowboy"

Wednesday Afternoon Pick Me Up

Does This Look Like An Azle Man . . .

. . . who would shave a gal's eyebrows and head during an assault?  And I'm guessing it wasn't in retaliation for the cost of eyebrow waxing these days.

Girl Begs For Return Of Dog In Bikini -- Gets Stalked

I'm right there with ya, sister. If my little Yorkie went missing, I'd be out on the corner in a speedo faster than a Chippendale dancer.  It's sacrifice that makes us human.

P.S. Nice heels.

Story.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• A street racing incident in Dallas last night caused a four car wreck that look like a bomb went off and one death. Police have identified one of the cars racing as a BMW which is coincidental because someone commented yesterday (about the Corvette video) that BMW drivers no longer know what they are doing. 
• NBC Nightly News was funny last night because a fire alarm was going off in studio during the live show. It went on what seemed like forever but host Brian Williams handled it like a pro -- he could hardly contain his laughter at times.
• The judge who sentenced Conrad Murray was really playing to the cameras yesterday by giving a huge speech before imposing the maximum sentence. The best judges simply pronounce sentence and move on to the next case. They know there is no need for dramatics.
• There's a Parker County judge who kept doing the same thing in bond hearings for some crazy guy accused of murder but I haven't heard much about that case lately.
• Had to get up in the middle of the night and slap the Family Cat in the head since she decided to chew and scratch her way through a thick cardboard box holding the Christmas tree.
• I haven't mentioned it to Mrs. LL yet, but there's something very uncomfortable about the design of the lips on our inflatable Monkey Santa on the front lawn. 
• Mrs. LL picked up a different kind of deodorant for me. It had "Swagger" on the label. Idiocracy?
• American Airlines pays an average of $6.5 million per year for the naming rights to the American Airlines Center. 
• The guy who used to manage the Methodist Camp out at Lake Bridgeport is now the director of  the "YMCA of the Rockies' Snow Mountain Ranch."  I want a job at that ranch based solely on the name. 
• Fox 4 spent the first 13 minutes of its 9:00 p.m. broadcast on the American Airlines bankruptcy. I suppose that's OK since it employs a krillion people in the DFW area.
• Heard part of a comedian's stand up routine that actually made me laugh -- and I never laugh at stand up routines. And I had never heard of Aziz Ansari.
• Northwest ISD girls basketball team lost last night to "God's Academy."  That's a pretty bold name. 
• I don't care about Bobby Valentine being the new manager of the Red Sox, but I do acknowledge it was a funny bit when he was thrown out of a game one time only to return to the dugout in a "disguise."
• Good grief: A 13 year old Millsap boy tried to start a bonfire over the holidays with diesel and ended up with burns so bad that he'll spend "six month to a year" at Parkland. I can't imagine his pain or the heartache of his family. Facebook support page here.
• Jessica Simpson loves being pregnant and, apparently, eating cheeseburgers. Pic.
• Texas has a law that requires some office holders to resign if they announce their plan to seek office more than one year and 30 days before the date of filing. One such DA may have screwed up . . . 

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