Taking You Into The Middle Of The Week

That odd pic is actually animated. And there's an explanation. Here.

Boring But Hot Legal Opinion: Our Patent System Is Broken

In 2007, a shocking 24% of all patent infringement suits were filed by "patent trolls." That is, entities that don't make anything with the patent -- they just acquire patents in order to sue those companies who may infringe upon it. Sound like a bad system? Well, in a study just released, in 2012 that number jumped to over 50% of all patent lawsuits.

How bad is it? Of the top ten patent infringement filers, nine of them were patent trolls.

I've mentioned this before, but one of the Top 50 valued houses in Dallas is owned by a guy who does nothing but buy patents and sues. (I'm too lazy to find the link.)  And I saw one of my old Insurance Defense Firm co-workers a few years back at the Decatur courthouse and he told me he was going into "patent law". I was confused about that then. I'm not now.

Firing Up The LL Radar

I hope Pete Delkus is in hiding today because those "severe thunderstorms" and "hail as big as your head" simply did not materialize. Get me all ramped up for a thunderstorm and not delivering is no longer acceptable.

Oh, I loved how they said the high would be in the mid-50s today. That's all well and good if you would have told me that would occur at midnight!  It's in the 30s out there right now. I'm surprised they don't have the sand trucks fired up.

(And remember kids. Rangers' first pitch is at 1:05 p.m.)

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I'm not sure I understand the pro-gun folks mockingly say "Ban knives!" in light of yesterday's stabbings at the community college near Houston. Don't they realize there's a little difference of no one dying in that attack?
• There was a bill presented to the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee yesterday afternoon which would legalize switchblades. That's some very bad timing. 
• Accidental Racist by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J may be the worst song in the history of ever. Its race relations lyrics are beyond childish and simple, and the combination of Paisley's "country" and LL Cool J's rap is a train wreck.  However, I can see how Paisley thought it was a good idea, but what in the heck was LL Cool J thinking? If he was still relevant in the rap community, he might get banned. 
• I've got a friend who had a Double Fake DEA agent call her yesterday and demand $1,800 in cash as a "fine" to be paid immediately via wire transfer. I heard the initial message and the boldness was shocking. 
• Funny tweet from Steve Martin yesterday about North Korea: "When I was 12, I wanted to fire a missile, too."
• The Dallas Morning News Local Broadcaster Bracket is genius in its simplicity. All those guys will talk about it driving web traffic. 
• The Navy's Blue Angels have been shut down in light of the Sequester. But at a cost of $25 million a year, is that a bad thing?
• Latest stat: "About 22 percent of births for Texas girls ages 15-19 were repeat births. The U.S. rate is 18.3 percent." Mind-boggling. 
• The Fourth Grader In The House has a new bit. For some reason she tends to hear the last half of a brief comment or conversation between others in the house and then is obsessed in knowing the whole story. "What did ya'll say? What? What was that?"
• Mrs. LL says she has the Baby Pup sold. After counting the vet bills and breeding fees, I pray we break even. 
• I don't know who Jacqueline and Maxwell Anderson are, but their split is apparently big news in Dallas. And D Magazine went so far as to link to a couple of "Hey, Now" pics of her. Edit: Link fixed.
• When I have to pick my year of birth from a drop down list on the web when signing up for something, it seems like I'm having to scroll pretty far down these days. 
•  I was going to write "What ever happened to Congressman Gary Condit?" Then I went on his wikipedia page and got sidetracked by learning that a guy was sentenced to 60 years in prison in 2011 for Chandra Levy's murder. No one got knocked off the front pages by 9/11 than Condit.

Above The Fold

Cowboys Cheerleaders In Mexico For Photo Shoot

Not to be confused with Nazi salute.

Got Any Relatives At Lone Star College?

Edit:

Edit: I thought that college sounded familiar. This from last year:

Edit: Even Instagramming arrest photos:

The Guy Be Ballin'

Spike Albrecht, a freshman backup for Michigan, was little known to most of America until last night. But then . . .

Then Spike learns that Kate Upton was at the game.

Spike knows opportunity.

@kateupton hey saw you at the game last night, thanks for coming out! Hope to see you again 😉
— spike albrecht (@SpikeAlbrecht) April 9, 2013

We Have A Winner

Here is his bracket. Man, it is all about picking the winner. The Top 49 chose Louisville.

You guys help me with last year's winner. Here is the Virtual Wall of Fame:

2013- Tad Billmire (Wins $50)
2012 - I can't find his name
2011 - Wise County Attorney James Stainton*
2010 - Nine year old Blake Cooper (son of former Decatur stationed DPS Trooper Scott Cooper)

____________
*I continue to contest this and have asked the FBI to launch an investigation on multiple occasions. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• There's a bill in the Texas legislature making it a capital crime to kill a prosecutor. Doesnt' that discussion entail an uncomfortable valuing of lives?
• I heard on PBS yesterday evening that Annette Funicello had not made a "TV appearance" since 1986. That doesn't sound right at all.
• I don't know if the cop needed to shoot and kill the lady in Richardson yesterday who was fleeing from a traffic stop. According to at least one witness, the officer placed himself in front of her car and drew his weapon. When she fled, he fired through her driver's window killing her. The phrase "he feared for his life" should mean something and not just used as a cliche after every police shooting.  
• And I'd like to know her back story. She worked part time for a law firm, went to high school at the Catholic girl's school of Ursuline Academy of Dallas (tuition $17,500 a year),  and had a soccer scholarship to Florida State. 
• There's a special meeting of the Chico school board tonight with the sole purpose being the reading of a complaint by a Principal against the Superintendent? That's odd. Very odd. 
• Mrs. LL and I are going to see Natalie Merchant (formerly of the 10,000 Maniacs) with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at the Bass Hall on Friday.  I've always loved her performance on MTV's Unplugged when she sang "Because The Night" with the small orchestra . 
• First drones, and now lasers.  NBC News last night had video  of the Navy using a new laser gun to knock a drone out of the sky. This isn't science fiction, this is real. And they expect it the technology to go into widespread use next year. (One interesting fact: Instead of the cost of a missile, each laser blast will cost less than a dollar. So once you sink the cost into one of those things, it doesn't cost a lot to blast away.) 
• Edit: I just went over to BagOfNothing and noted he had an identical bullet point as the one above. I didn't steal it. Promise. 
• The Rangers won on a final called strike last night that everyone believes was a ball. Video. And in this age of information, this website has broken it down in shocking detail. 
• I kept half of an eye on the National Championship game last night, and it looked entertaining. (But with all the accolades of Louisville coach Rich Pitino, I haven't heard much this week of the extortion attempt he experienced after having an "affair" in a restaurant.)
• But watch him duck at the end of a game after a celebratory cannon went off. We're nearing Celebration Idiocracy. 

That's A Serious Trifecta

That's A Serious Trifecta

What A Picture

A topless protester confronted Vladimir Putin today.

Not My Typical Post

But Mrs. LL wanted me to post the pic of the new puppy and wanted name suggestions. (Does she know this crowd at all?)

I wanted Snoop Puppy Pup but got shot down.

I think it's a boy.

Edit: Please tell me that's what a baby Yorkie looks like.

• While you were sleeping: Margaret Thatcher has passed away. (I actually blew by The Iron Lady with Meryl Streep on cable this weekend but didn't have much of an inclination to stay on the channel.)
• The only description for the above photo is "Texas Heat Wave 1995." In a different picture she looked like she was signing autographs at an auto show. Anyone?
• Oddest story in the Update: A guy's plane begins to stall so he begins to make an emergency landing in Wise County only to change his mind when the "plane began operating normally again." He ended up in a ditch anyway. 
• That great theologian Rick Perry spoke at the First Baptist Church at Dallas. I should have expected that. 
• And as I continue to rail on FBC Dallas for that construction project, this is all you need to know: "The church's planning and development committee surprised Pastor Robert Jeffress with news the outdoor focal point, a massive fountain plaza, is now named after him." So we've already gone from honoring God to honoring a pastor?
• Josh Hamilton on Friday after he was booed at The Ballpark In Arlington. "Where was Jesus got-after the most? His hometown.”  Putting aside the Jesus comparison for a moment (and the phrase "got-after"), is that even Biblically correct?
• Another reason professional sports is off-putting: After Josh Hamilton got a double last night, Elvis Andrus covered his mouth with his glove and said something to Hamilton which made them both crack up. I understand a solemn "good hit" coming from Andrus, but that came across as two big money guys laughing all the way to the bank. 
• Did the crowd actually do the wave last night? 
• We had Sheriff's deputies actually walk around the courthouse for beefed up security in Decatur last week. 
• The New Family Puppy is alive and well. So far he (I think its a he) is about as active as a sock. 
• By the way, the Texas Supreme Court ruled last week that if someone negligently kills your dog, you are entitled only to the fair market value of the animal --- not compensation for the sentimental value. Hey, to have ruled otherwise would have been wrought with fraud. 
• Luke Bryan won Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Awards last night. Uh, who? 
• A UT receiver was arrested this weekend for DWI.
• Love this photo: A guy is grabbed by security in Toronto as he tries to scale a fence to get off the field. 
• The Mormons can pack a convention center . . . 

Screenshot Mrs. LL Just Spotted

An Update

Above The Fold