Basketball Tourneys Taking You Into The Weekend

Edit: On to the conference championship game. Honey Badger don't care.

I Think Chris Christie Would Have Had A Shorter Shelf Life Than Rick Perry

But some still wish he had entered the GOP race. He makes Mitt Romney look pretty good.

Liberally Lean Tourney Prize Update

"Enter the tournament or bad things will happen"

The current list:

• All Wise Garden Center has pledged a $100 and $50 gift certificate for in-house purchases.
• Bloomoon Pet Resort in Chico has pledged a $50 Visa Gift Card
• Wise Liquors in Bridgeport has pledged a liter of Crown Royal for the last place finisher. (I'm guessing they are serious.) 
• A signed Lebron James jersey with a certificate of authenticity donated by attorney Paul Belew
• A $100 Visa Gift Card pledged by Chris Miller's Farmer's Insurance Agency in Bridgeport

I'll probably let the first place finisher have the first choice of one prize, the second place finisher the second choice of one prize, etc.  For any "last place" prizes, the entire bracket must be filled out. No submitting an empty bracket just to try to win the last place prize -- I know how you guy's think.

Enter here. You'll have to complete your brackets once the teams are announced on Sunday evening.

Edit: For those having difficulty with that link, try this one and use Group ID# 26162. There is no password. 

Flight Attendant: "I am not responsible for crashing this plane."

Sounds like a wild scene at DFW this morning as a flight attendant was ushered off a plane. I think she meant "I will not be responsible for the crashing of this plane."

Edit: CNN has a video where you can hear her scream in the background. Sounds like The Exorcist.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The Bacon Rating System guy might hate me this morning. 
• Breaking economic news: Unemployment stays at 8.3% but the U.S. added 227,000 jobs in February.  It keeps turning around.
• That Kony 2012 campaign took off even more yesterday, but it did give rise to some criticism of the masses who suddenly care. Those critics fired off: "Watch a 30 minute youtube video. Suddenly become a social activist" and "Before you can protest Kony, you have to be able to find Uganda on a map."
• The big health news yesterday came from the Surgeon General who reported that one in five high school students smoke cigarettes. I don't believe that (and I can back that up with absolutely no proof whatsoever.)
• A Fort Worth cop was fired yesterday for looking at porn at work. There may be worst ways for the world to find out that you are fired, but that's got to be right up there.
• Watched a little bit of the local morning news on Channel 8 this morning. Still painful but that blond weather gal is kind of hot. Edit: Might have been the traffic gal. 
• "I love my family. Potato, potato, potato." - Final words of Robert Towery who was executed last night by the State of Arizona. (I have no idea what that means, but it's kind of funny.)
• There was a story this week that gun sales had increased because people "feared" the President's re-election and what he might do to gun control laws. Everyone was acting like this was big news when the same knuckleheads did the same thing four years ago.
• I actually don't mind the rotten weather this weekend. It'll make next weekend even better because it always feels like Spring with the first weekend of March Madness (plus we'll have the extra hour of daylight.)
• Reminder for the Liberally Lean Pick 'Em Tourney with the Top Prize being a $100 Visa card provided by Chris Miller's Farmer's Insurance Agency in Bridgeport . (No other merchant stepped up yesterday which clearly proves there is a malfunction in their Bang For Buck/Advertising Dollar Analysis.)
• Edit: A Decatur attorney who wishes to remain nameless (but who is named "Paul Belew") just called and said he will donate a LeBron James signed Miami Heat jersey complete with a Certificate of Authenticity.) "I won it at a silent auction and now I hate the guy."  Double edit: It's now sitting on my desk. 
• A cameraman on one of those tall cranes almost got hit by a golf ball yesterday at this week's PGA event. (Video.)
• Ticket Fans: Bob Sturm revealed on the T.C. and Jake Podcast that program director Bruce Gilbert wanted to hire Arnie Spanier instead of Dan McDowell back in the 1990s but a contract issue prevented it from happening.  Gilbert has since moved on to 105.3 The Fan where Spanier now works. 
• Pat Robertson said yesterday he favored the legalization of marijuana. A faithful reader sent me a photo of billboard for the Olive Garden Carino's suggesting that Robertson might have simply been confused. It read, "Legalize Marinara."

Calling Joe Duty!

Did I Do It Again Or Did I Do It Again?

Last month:

Today:

More.

Once again, the most trusted name in news analysis in the Southwest Proper.

Andy Dufresne Has Made A Break For It

Probably on a beach in Zihuatanejo

Obviously the result of some diabolic plan. Story.

(The goofball was only being held on a misdemeanor.)

Those Baylor uniforms in real life

Here's What Is Coming

He inherited two wars and a Depression.  If you want to see what a political machine the GOP nominee (whomever that will be) will face this Summer and Fall, just take a look at that trailer. Sure it'll just make most Texans pull their collective hair out, but for those across the nation who are undecided . . . .

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I get asked daily in the house if I have "Temple Run" on my phone. I'm guessing it's the next "Angry Birds" (which I've also never played.) 
• Conservative Freak Out #1: "Bill Maher donated $1 million to Obama's Super Pac. Since he's said bad words about conservative women, why doesn't Obama send that money back?" Answer: Because it's a Super Pac which means the President has no control of it. (And I thought Republican's loved the big money Super Pacs?)
• Conservative Freak Out #2: "A million dollar lottery winner still gets food stamps!!" Answer: It's legal (at least that's what Fox News told me last night). And when we learned Mitt Romney only paid about 14% in income taxes, the Republican mantra was "How can you fault him for simply following the tax laws to his advantage?"
• Dennis Miller was funny one time, right?
• A potential LSU football player is a "Hey, Now."
• I promise you, the Tarrant County prosecutor who signed the dismissal better have had a great reason to do so or he/she is gone. And I wonder if the new PR girl in the office will do a press release about that story?
• We're going big time!: Chris Miller's Farmer's Insurance Agency in  Bridgeport has pledged to donate a $100 Visa Gift Card for the winner of the Third Annual Liberally Lean NCAA Tourney.  Now we're talking. Hey, any of you other merchants who want a month of advertising on the most trusted blog in the Southwest Proper, throw some money in the pot as well. I'll mention you when ever I mention the Tourney. Maybe we can have multiple prizes. 
• Jessica Simpson neekid and pregnant on the cover of a magazine.
• Sean Hannity was hyping an "Obama College Tape" all day yesterday. It turned out to be a big bag of nothing.  If anything, it showed the President as a law student taking a leadership position. 
• Motorcycle death! Well, not quite. But a trooper did decide to shoot a motorcyclist yesterday in Cooke County. I hope that was necessary. 
• Mrs. LL was at some event at Byron Nelson High School last week ("It's huge!!!"). So I did a double take when I read a 15 year old on that school's softball field was Careflighted out of there yesterday after being struck in the head by a bat. (Facebook link.)
• DPS issued a warning for those on Spring Break not to travel to Mexico. I almost understand if DPS issued a warning about the border, but what business do they have in issuing a warning about an entire country. They ain't the State Department. 
• Kony. (You'll learn the name. All I know is that a 30 minute video exploded on the Internet yesterday which may or may not be accurate.)
• I watched a documentary once about the Golden Gate Bridge and how it is "popular" for suicides. Last year, the bridge set a record with 37 such deaths.
• The only way I'd sign Peyton Manning is if he'd play for the league minimum salary. I don't trust that neck at all. (But isn't this amazing: The release of Manning by the Colts is not on the front page of the Indianapolis paper today.)
• Fox 4's "Deal or Dud" guy did a segment on Secondipity last night. That was a100% paid commercial disguised as as news. No question about it. (His giving a "promo code" at the end of segment was the clincher.)  Keep your eyes open for these tricks. It's happening more and more. 
• Daryl "Moose" Johnston will (for some crazy reason) endorse Craig James for the U.S. Senate. Upon hearing the news, James said, "When people see the two of us walking around, they’re going to see two people who’ve been successful in life." (I predict C.J. Wilson will be next to endorse.) 

Mrs. LL Just Sent This In

Car driving down the road. I wonder if he has a blind spot anywhere?

Is It Racist To Chant "USA! USA!" . . .

. . . at a high school basketball opponent when the other school just happens to be 96% Hispanic?

(I'm glad for this small typeface because I wouldn't want anyone to know that I thought this was kind of a funny bit.)

Big Regional Spelling Bee Today At TCU

And for a second I thought we had the greatest typo ever about the event from the education reporter from the Star-Telegram.  But, of course, everyone knows about the degradation of land in any drylands caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities. I was just talking about desertification this morning along with the Colts releasing Peyton Manning.

(Good thing for the Google. I was about ready to make sure she underwent a process whereby she would no longer be certified -- whatever the word for that is.)

Get Me These Goats In Sweaters!

Family Cat, your days are numbered!

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I thought about going to the TCU/Baylor baseball game last night but I'm glad I passed. There was an NCAA record 13 hit batsmen (10 by TCU) as well as 11 walks. The game took just under four hours to play.
• That was a horrible car/pedestrian accident yesterday near Boyd, and it appears to be just that: an accident. But this line from the Messenger story makes absolutely no sense:  "Investigators said there were no indicators, such as skid marks on the roadway, to lead them to believe speeding played a role."
• There was a car chase by about ten DPS troopers through Rowlett yesterday that was televised by the local stations. The best part as when all the troopers jumped out of their cars on a bridge, their cowboy hats all went flying in the high winds.  I've said it before: There will be a Car Chase Station some day, and I'll watch it all the time. 
• John Wiley Price has been under investigation for months, and I have no idea if he's guilty of anything. But I wish my "more small government" friends would at least protest a little when the Feds seized $50,000 of his money this week.
• Now that Missouri and Nebraska are gone from the Big 12, will the Conference Tournament (which begins today) get moved back to Texas in the future? They are contractually bound to Kansas City through 2014.
• The guy who wrote "It's A Small World After All" and other Disney classics has died. He also wrote Ringo Starr's "You're Sixteen" which caused The Ticket's Gordon Keith to ponder this morning how "he got a pass" on the lyrics, "You're sixteen, you're beautiful, and you're mine." 
• I think the oldest girl from Modern Family looks like Mila Kunis (Black Swan.)
• Loving my Manhunt book about the Lincoln assassination. I knew John Wilkes Booth was an actor, but I didn't know he was a famous actor.  He was recognizable even in other parts of the country. 
• And Booth enlisted three others to help in the killing (and other simultaneous planned killings -- including the vice president and secretary of state). Much to their surprise, he dropped off a sealed envelope to the local paper containing an announcement taking responsibility for Lincoln's killing and signed all of their names to it. That is, he dropped it off even before the assassination took place. 
• I don't think I've ever seen the GOP leader limp to the finish line like Romney is doing -- despite spending a fortune to get there.
• And I heard this on the radio this morning: There simply aren't enough conservatives in this country to get a conservative nominated or elected for the presidency. You know, I think that's right. And if it is true right now, it'll never change. 
• Good grief: Joe The Plumber won the Republican nomination for a Congressional seat in Ohio.
• Don't forget to enter the Third Annual Liberally Lean Pick Em Tourney. (And UNT won't be in it after last night's heartbreaking loss.) 

Messenger Above The Fold

True?