Messenger Above The Fold

Britney Taking You Into The Weekend

"Hey, Brit, you know you'll always be the number one Liberally Lean girl"

"But I think Wordkyle may have a crush on you"

"And Rage, too"

Romney Releases 2011 Tax Returns

Serious question: Did he have a job in 2011?

I Found A Clint Eastwood Fan

Story.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The "Oh. Seriously. So Gross." commercial makes me laugh every time.
• Texas high school football is turning into a video game: A kid from Marble Falls passed for 715 yards last night. I remember a time when there wouldn't be 715 yards in passing for a whole season.
• I'm an iPhone fan but I do not understand the fuss about the iPhone 5. (Here's a pic of the guy who was first in line in Fort Worth. He seems well rounded.)
• There's a Brandi's Country Kitchen in Bridgeport?
• Since Casa Torres in Decatur has reopened after the expansion, what's the verdict?
• Rick Perry said this week that the "separation of church and state" is a "myth." I'm speechless.
• Funny Fox 4 screenshot from this morning. (Facebook.)
• Cowboys Stadium will have a new addition of the home opener on Sunday: The five Super Bowl Champion banners. (Pic.) It was originally planned that they would be on display in an adjacent Cowboys Museum, but that didn't pan out. 
• This week an Iranian soccer player found a grenade on the soccer field, tossed it aside, and it exploded. Video. That's not a "grenade" as we commonly know one is it? I would think those guys by the explosion would have been brutalized by flying shrapnel. 
• Broke Vince Young once spent $6,000 at a T.G.I.F. restaurant, and bought about 120 seats on a Southwest Nashville to Houston flight so he could have the plane to himself. That's a good start on blowing $30 million. 
• I had another DWI set for trial yesterday but it settled at the last moment. A buddy later told me he was called to be on the jury panel and he intended to pelt me with Ticket shtick. 
• All the right wingers are going nutty over the Obama campaign's "Obama American Flag".  I think it's kind of cool. 
• Decatur teachers are getting 100 Macbook Airs. I make post like this all the time, and no one really seems to object to the subject.
• Chico is playing the Texas Leadership Charter Academy tonight. That's a three year old charter school out of San Angelo. I'll admit that I don't really understand the concept of a "charter school."
• "Moody's upgrades to Baa2 from Ba1 the rating of the City of Bridgeport's (TX) General Obligation Limited Tax debt." I don't really understand that either. 

Does This Look Like A Group Of Guys At A Pep Rally . . .

. . . dressed up as cheerleaders with one of them holding a fake baby because their rival school had a cheerleader who gave birth and couldn't try out for this year's squad? Why yes it does.

I'd hate to be the principal at that school. Every time I would try to chew them out, I think I'd crack a smile.

"Waiting For Tony Romo"

Some reporter just tweeted this pic as the press waits for Romo to appear at Valley Ranch.

What a beating. All those guys trying to get a sound bite from Romo for TV or radio.  And you know, he'll say nothing. Absolutely nothing. But there is a 100% chance that he'll say, "We just have to work hard and get better." Bank on it.

But the picture does remind me of a story I heard on The Fan last year about the insufferable Terrance Newman. He walked up in a similar situation and said he would only talk to one reporter who they had to select. Once that reporter was chosen, Newman intentionally began quickly pacing back and forth in the locker room thereby forcing the reporter to try and keep up while holding the recording device.  

The life of a sports reporter doesn't seem to glamorous sometimes.

First Photo From Upcoming Scary Movie 5

That's funny. (Source.)

Reefer Madness

Fiona Apple arrested for hash in same Texas town as Snoop, Willie Nelson and Armie Hammer ow.ly/dRG6I
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) September 20, 2012

Better days:

And I'm sure how well her career was going. She's playing in Thackerville, OK in two days.

Hey, I Finally Got A Scam Opportunity

I've heard about these emails forever but had never received one. (And despite gMail being the greatest email provider ever, even I'm surprised it flagged the message with the warning.)

I know one of the boys at The Ticket fell for this, and I kind of remember hearing about someone from Wise County. Oddly, this email was "from" an agent with Century 21 who I had only shared one email with in the past. I guess that's all it took.

Cop v. Dog

Ain't no way I'm watching that.  Link.

Get Me This Pig Who Saved A Drowning Baby Goat!

No nonsense. Responsible. Sees a problem and takes action. That's exactly the kind of pet we need at Liberally Lean Manor.  The Family Cat could learn something.

Texas Cheerleaders Gettin' All Biblical

They might have more religious street cred if they could get the Bible verse correct. (Not sure why the story quoted the banner with the correct verse.)

Story.

Edit: I blame the producer of the Mark Davis Show. She tweeted the "error" but she, like me, didn't take time to actually read the sign. She's corrected the error.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• American Airlines is walking a tightrope with news of over 300 flights having been cancelled this weekend due to pilots calling in sick, and yesterday an American Eagle jet was delayed for five hours because of a fight - - between flight attendants.
• It's behind a paywall, but Dallas DA Craig Watkins hired a lawyer to run the DA's Civil Division. Eyebrows are raised because that new hire paid the DA's wife $88,000 in fees for her role as a political consultant. Watkins borders on sleazy.
• The vibe of the news surrounding ABC's Robin Roberts ongoing medical condition is not good. 
• I lost my DWI trial. I thought it was a tough case going in but became optimistic with the make up of the jury. They deliberated almost three hours, and went over the roadside video with a fine tooth comb. They worked hard and took their job seriously -- can't ask for more than that.
• It was still a kick in the gut, though. Almost everyone else involved in the criminal trial process is pretty relaxed and carefree -- but the criminal defense side of the table is exactly the opposite. The stakes are so much higher. 
• After is was over, the lead State's witness (a trooper) kindly acknowledged me as he headed for the stairwell. That was nice and professional. Some of those guys take a trial personally. 
• I'll admit I was weeks behind the "Gangnam Style" phenomenon. In case you're like me, you can see the video here which has 221 million youtube hits.
• The four story, 188,000 square foot Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital - Alliance has opened at I-35 and Golden Triangle Boulevard.  That's only 33 miles away from Decatur
• The big wigs at Fox are denying it, but allegedly the local Fox 4 affiliate has interviewed a "Hey, now" for an anchor position. If hired, that means a big shake up.
• I doubt if this will get any traction but there's now an old video of Mitt Romney surfacing where he kinda-joking-kinda-not says, "When I was a boy, I used to think that becoming rich and becoming famous would make me happy. Boy was I right."
• This appears to be the kid who was driving the vehicle that went off the road near Alvord yesterday. (Facebook.)
• I haven't done a Lake Bridgeport fishing report in a while, but you might want to know "Black bass are good on Texas rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hogs in California 420 and Darkhorse Custom Jigs in pumpkin/orange." California 420?
• A rich and high profile Dallas guy gets a girl pregnant, tricks her into having an abortion because of a genetic flaw he convinces her the child will have, and then agrees to pay her a quarter of a million dollars. She then sues him. 

Wow

The lady in the photo celebrating the new "Share The Road" sign in 2008 has been killed by a motorist on Monday in Palo Pinto County by a vehicle which struck her bike from behind.

This follows an avid Wise County Courthouse cycling enthusiast who posted to Facebook last weekend:

"PSA......To the driver who almost took me out on my bike at 60 per on FM 730...I'm a father with a wife and three kids.... So not slowing down over a hill is stupid and your breakfast burrito or diet coke or whatever is not as important as that. God loves you! ( I so do not want to say that) Please to everyone else just slow down a little bit it will only take about thirty seconds or less out of your day compared to the severe loss possible."

(Credit: Bud Kennedy for the Palo Pinto County story.)

Anyone?

The link in the graphic is inactive (it didn't provide any other info.)

If Google maps "live traffic" is accurate, here's the spot:

But What's The Gas Mileage?

They tried to solve the mystery in the story's comment section.  (That's in Coppell.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Some lawyer from Colorado (who I don't think I know) sent me this towel. Love it.
• Mitt is taking a beating on that 47% comment. And now I can't help but think about it every time he mentions how he will get the economy "going again" and put "struggling Americans" back to work.
• Romney was in Dallas last night appearing at a dinner at the Hilton Anatole for donors of between $50,000 and $100,000.  That wasn't the best timing. 
• There was a criminal trial in Decatur yesterday in district court where a guy with past felony convictions pled guilty to second degree theft and elected to have the jury assess punishment. The range was 2 to 20 years -- I think they were deliberating as I my DWI trial broke for the night. 
• Two guys were shot on an elementary school playground in Mansfield late last night. Cops don't know what happened, but there's no plan to cancel or delay classes today. 
• The Update says the Bridgeport "stabbing victim" from last weekend has been released from the hospital  I hope this is his Facebook page because that picture is fantastic considering the circumstances.
• Lindsay Lohan was arrested in New York last night for leaving the scene of an accident. Girl's trying to reclaim her title. 
• Former UT great Vince Young is on the verge of bankruptcy. He once received a $25 million guaranteed signing bonus?
• I don't think I've heard so many bogus ads on the radio. Heard one this morning for a "youthful memory" pill. 
• The NFL is using replacement refs and last week we saw more fights and almost fights than ever before. The theory is that the players figured out what they could get away with on Week One and then went after it on Week Two. I bet we see more personal foul flags in the first fifteen minutes of games this week than ever before as the refs try to reclaim control. 
• I ran by Fox News last night to see how those boys were handling the Romney news. Man, Sean Hannity was visibly angry. But I sensed he was angry because he sees this election slipping away. 
• I've known lots of people in my life who "don't pay taxes" because of their income bracket. Those people struggle. 
• There was a crazy murder-for-hire story last month in Carrolton where a guy alleged tried to have his wife killed. And it almost happened: She lost an eye when the bullet struck her. But yesterday in court there was talk of reconciliation.