Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• That's a reader submitted Random Thought Girl.
• It's a foggy Valentine's Day. (I mention it only because of the chance some guy completely forgot who now goes into Panic Mode.)
• And there seems to be more and more backlash over Valentine's being a commercially created holiday. I've read more "couples should boycott it" this year than ever before. 
• I hate key rings. I'll spend ten minutes trying to get a key on and off one of those dang things which takes what seems like 100 pound of force to separate. Why did it take until 2012 for this to be invented?
• I'll admit it. I got mad at the Messenger for the first time in years over the weekend, but I think we've both calmed down.
• I think Piers Morgan is a great interviewer.
• I've seen very, very few DWI cases based upon illegal drugs but many of them based on prescription medication.
• I bet in 20 years there will only be hot women in short skirts running the dogs around at the Westminster Dog Show. Idiocracy has been slow to catch up with that show.
• The death of the soldier who died after being found unresponsive at Fort Hood (and is the grandson of Decatur folks) is still surrounded by a lot of "unanswered questions."  No one has suggested foul play but you can't help but think of A Few Good Men.
• When I was picking out the Valentine card for Mrs. LL, I overheard the gal beside me said, "This would be a lot easier if I wasn't pissed off at him right now."
• Mrs. LL's car ended up with tickets to a musical in it. It made her happy. (We may boycott the holiday in the future, but I'm not bringing the subject up during Year Two of marriage.) 
• I saw some goofball post on Facebook yesterday that began: "Tucked away in Obama's new budget . . . . " How is anything "tucked away"?
• Lots of people have been hating on all the publicity given Whitney Houston's death with many, for some reason, asking why we aren't mourning the death of American soldiers instead. Hey, it is possible to mourn the death of an African American pop star and soldiers.
• Sports: I saw Jeremy Lin's name in headlines for a week before I had any idea who the heck he was. (Over that past week, the Harvard grad who just happens to be Asian has become an NBA sensation with the New York Knicks after being claimed off waivers last December.).  But it was good to see firebombing columnist Jason Whitlock get in trouble for a troubling tweet about him.
• "Fort Worth -- A Tarrant County jury has concluded that an Arlington man acted in 'sudden passion' in the stabbing death last year of his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend and sentenced him to two years in prison." I could be wrong, but I think the new Tarrant County DA's press agent might have ignored that bit of news. (The case was filed as Murder and carried with it a range of punishment of 5 years to life in prison. Once the jury found "sudden passion," the range shrunk to 2 years to 20 years. And then they went with the minimum.)
• "Who do you think you all are? Highfalutin heifers?" - High school cheerleading coach's rant in a high tone Houston area that got her fired. The cheerleader who recorded it received two days suspension.  

Sports Illustrated Cover -- They Keep Pushing It

Outside The Late Show studio today:

It's Not Safe Out There Today

Justice Stephen Breyer unhurt after being robbed by machete-wielding intruder while at West Indies vacation home.
— AP Courtside Seat (@AP_Courtside) February 13, 2012

Machete?

Early reports were that it was a stroke.

And the book in photo of the gal who allegedly abducted her daughter in North Fort Worth and fled to New Mexico.

Women Of The Grammys

I Guess There Are Responses To Things Like This

Just never sure what they would be.

Red Meat For The Masses

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Fox 4 sent a reporter this morning to Decatur to cover "Arctic  (Even-Though-There-Are-Above-Freezing-Temperatures) Blast 2012."
• I was beginning to think the missing Fort Worth girl who was abducted by her mother last week wasn't going to be found. Normally those cases are solved within hours. But wasn't the Amber Alert cancelled in New Mexico where she was located?
• A person was found dead by the Lincoln Memorial over the weekend which made me think of mystery, intrigue and the Pelican Brief. But it sounds like a suicide.
• Grammys: Taylor Swift is beginning to have some Garth Brook's I-can't-believe-you-like-me face.
• Never won a Grammy:  Led Zeppelin, Beach Boys, The Who, Jim Hendrix, The Kinks, Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, Queen, and Chuck Berry. The Starland Vocal Band ("Afternoon Delight") has one. 
• Adele is one hot, plump gal, but I'm stunned she's only 23. And when she talks she sounds like she belongs in a Monty Python skit. (Stolen observations from the radio this morning.)
• Most people believe that Kate Upton will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue today. I'm stunned she's only 19. 
• I made Mrs. LL watch the drug scene with the fire cracker popping Chinese guy from Boogie Nights. I think I saw a question mark form over her head.
• Whitney Houston in a bikini in 1996.
• Now it's picking up: Another Dallas police car was crashed into last night. That's the second one in a week. 
• Sports question on the radio this morning: Was Tony Romo getting to play in a final foursome with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at Pebble Beach yesterday the greatest sports thrill of his life? I bet it was. 
• Oddest name for Paul McCartney's new album: "Kisses On The Bottom."
• Remember that crazy Porsche crash that killed the lawyer and two twenty-somethings near Las Colinas? I didn't know there was a video of them leaving the strip club before the crash. She looked wobbly.

Winter Weater Advisory

"And I ................"

Why Didn't The Messenger Quote My Press Release?

Seriously? Did I read that right? Am I on Earth?

 I linked to the press release on this blog which everyone knows is authored by me. That press release is on the website of smith-green.com which might possibly be my firm's website. And my office refers them to the  press release's URL when they call. And that is not confirming its authenticity? It's Journalism 101. At least the way it was taught since something called the Internet was invented.

I've always said I love the Messenger. Through the years, they have served a valued service to this county. But if they refuse to report news because it's on a blog they somehow view as threatening to its existence, it is turning it's back to it's mission: To distribute information to the public.

For years I've considered hiring one photographer, one reporter, and one salesperson. And I know who I'd choose. Don't tempt me.

Edit: The Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy didn't think much of the Messenger's explanation.

Emergency Taking You Into The Weekend Part 2

If this was released because of sweeps month, someone at Fox 4 News is a marketing genius.

Arianny Celeste Taking You Into The Weekend

I'm A Sport Observation Genius

Big time LA columnist today:

Me a few days ago:

DWI and A Friday Morning Pick Me Up -- All In One

Woman Says Breast Implants Saved Her Life: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I dreamed I was playing golf in a twosome with a famous fashion designer. They guy took 20 minutes to examine a chip shot which caused four groups behind us to gather at the tea tee box. (Before you guys psychoanalyse me, yesterday (1)  I watched a little of the Pebble Beach Pro Am, and (2) I read another account of the Springtown guy stabbed with a golf club a couple of weeks ago. Now the fashion designer part is a little hard to explain.)
• We didn't just bring freedom to Iraq, we turned it into Texas: The government has executed 65 prisoners in 40 days.
• The First Lady was at the Olive Garden off of Heritage Trace in North Fort Worth yesterday. That looks to be just about 10 miles from the Wise County line. Has Wise County ever had a First Lady cross the county line before?
• Mark Levin, who sounds like an idiot for what he says but is a genius for realizing the number of people who will believe it, has the New York Times #1 bestseller. How can it not be? He promotes it constantly on his nationally syndicated radio show and Sean Hannity provides him a radio and TV platform to promote it as well. (Last night he had Levin on and called it an "intellectual book." Sheesh.)
• Big 12 Fans: It sounds like West Virginia has reached an exit agreement with the Big East and will join the Big 12 in time for fall football. Road trip to Morgantown anyone?
• The current County Judge of Guadalupe County (and a former DPS trooper) is arrested for possessing pot in a College Station hotel room.  I bet he gets re-elected and there's no reason he shouldn't be. 
• The weather guy of Fox 4 was saying this morning that the National Weather Service needed to update its forecast. He was predicting sleet for Sunday night and that it might not make it to 40 degrees tomorrow.
• What's the eligibility issue of the Brock girls player that's been in the Update?
• I heard from a third person yesterday that the Messenger won't print any of my press release on the County Commissioner story this week unless I "fax" it to them. That cannot possibly be true. (Edit: The Star-Telegram references it.)
• Edit: And to the genius who keeps telling me to "quit trying to influence" potential jury members, uh, what potential jury? A criminal charge doesn't even exist. The only thing that has transpired is the issuance of a search warrant.
• Facepalm last night: Fox 4 ran a video of a guy firing a pistol into his daughter's laptop after a "disrespectful Facebook post" and then brought a shrink on to discuss if his conduct was appropriate. 
• Crazy criminal case out of Denton decided on appeal yesterday: A jury convicts a guy of manslaughter and sentences him to probation.  The verdict is accepted, and the jury is then discharged. A little bit later the judge learns somehow that there might be confusion with the verdict, and the jury is rounded back up. Four jurors then say probation was not their verdict. The judge tells them to go back and deliberate some more. They do, and later come back with a six year prison sentence without probation. The court of appeals yesterday said it was wrong to re-impanel the jury after their original verdict was accepted. Oddly, instead of imposing the original probated sentence, the court remand the case back for a brand new punishment hearing. All the while, the defendant has been sitting in prison since August 4, 2010.
• People in prison who claimed Wise County as their home at the time of the offense. Represent.

Separation Of Church And State Case Settled. Judge Fires Off A Closing Shot.

Explained for those interested.

And Now From The Completely Irrelevant Department

Helicopter Parent and No-Chance-Senate-Candidate Craig James has endorsed Rick Santorum. Wow, what a game changer!!!!

A Kardashian In Wise County?

Link.