Good Grief

Link.

But I'm not sure if that "recommendation" has much weight.  Basically every state has a .08 threshold right now because in the 1990s the federal government told the states that if it didn't use that standard then federal highway funds would be withheld. (See how that works? They couldn't make a federal law of .08 that could be imposed on the states so they just blackmailed them into doing the functional equivalent.)  Unless Congress does the same thing this time, I don't think you'll see much change. That is, unless MADD starts bullying lawmakers.

Tailgating At Kenny Chesney Concert At Cowboys Stadium: You're Doing It Wrong

Not sure what the back story is. Just found here on the Dallas Observer web site.

And Another: Vegas

Link.

Edit:

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Benghazi? It's still nothing. IRS auditing conservative groups? Jolting, but it's also something we've always suspected. A broad sweep of AP reporters phone records? Hey, even I'm drawing the line on that one.
• It's not been a good week for the President, but rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated.
• Bryce Harper crashing face first into the wall last night was nasty. 
• "A Kaufman County Sheriff's Deputy was hospitalized after being ejected from his squad car during a pursuit."
• I don't know anything about the Facebook Phone other than it is a disaster. ATT originally priced the phone at $99 but a couple of weeks ago lowered it to 99 cents. Really. Now it has announced they won't sell them at all. 
• Talk show host Mark Davis said the other day that it would be "years" before his 10 year old son had access to his own cell phone. If true, that's a little crazy, right?
• One valuable lesson that I took forever to learn: Don't correct someone unless absolutely necessary. 
• Back over Christmas I found a bunch of 8 millimeter homemade films in my parents' house that were made before I was born and when my brother was two years old. (They were labeled.) They were two brittle to play so I took one to see if I could find a company to convert it to DVD. Mrs. LL found a place and mailed it off in January and told me "they said it would take a while." Yesterday we received a box containing the film roll and a DVD. I've not watched it yet. I have no idea what to expect, but I feel like the guy about to open up the Holy Grail in the first Indiana Jones movie. 
• I went to Fort Worth for a driver's license hearing yesterday. On I-30 between Camp Bowie and University, I saw four different police traffic stops.  
• Dick Cheney was pimping a new book everywhere yesterday. Well, that is if "everywhere" means every show on Fox News and Fox News Radio.
• There was an old Seinfeld episode where George was caught gawking at the young daughter of an NBC executive. ("Get a good look, Costanza?")  I've seen that scene ten or more times and never realized the girl was Denise Richards.
• The Fourth Grader in The House announced that she had determined I'm in the process of wearing a suit for twelve straight days. Mrs. LL was afraid of immediate depression on my part.
• Mrs. LL didn't know of Bruce Jenner other than through the Kardashians. Think about that: Jenner competed in the Olympics 37 years ago. 
• I read this morning that Angelina Jolie had undergone a double mastectomy. Pretty big news. Then I read it was a "preventive" procedure, and I thought she was a nut. Then I read that she had undergone genetic testing which revealed there was an 85% chance she was going to contract breast cancer. That's a fascinating story. 

Somebody Beat This Man Over The Head, Say, With a "Smartphone"

This isn't earthshaking, but it is amazing in its own way. This was published on Newt's Youtube channel three days ago.

It's not a phone. It's not a computer. What should we call this thing?

Hate Map

Montague County leads the region in both racist and homophobic comments on Twitter. Wise County 2nd most racist twitter.com/BudKennedy/sta…
— Bud Kennedy (@BudKennedy) May 13, 2013

You have to click on "Racist" at the top of this map to see it. (We don't win any medals in the categories of making derogatory tweets about homosexuals or cripples.) But someone in Montague must be a Twitter Hitler.

Well, this is strange

	WCMessenger.com (@WCMessenger)
5/13/13, 12:51 PM New details in the case of a son accused of murdering his mom on Mother's Day wcmessenger.com/?p=62346

Still Images Of New Orleans Mother's Day Shooter

Ugh

SPRINGTOWN - A boy was killed after he tripped and fell and was run over while attempting to catch a school bus Monday morning in a Parker County town, authorities said in a statement. More.

Get Me These Baby Ducks

And that's some fine parenting right there. You kids better get after it and take that leap of faith. We can't build bridges for you all your life.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Nineteen shot at a Mother's Day Parade in New Orleans. Two things: (1) it's amazing no one died and, (2) what an odd way to honor mom..
• I've said for years and years that Kenny Chesney is positioning himself as the next Jimmy Buffet.  And he's doing it well based upon the huge crowd that turned out to see his shtick at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday night. 
• It struck me as funny to see Pete Delkus was tweeting photos from Chesney's concert. Just the thought of Delkus dancing with a fist pump in the air brings joy to my heart. 
• Update over the weekend: "Teen injured in ATV wreck." I thinks it's odd they used the phrase that she was "passed out" when found. And we use helicopter ambulances for "precautionary reasons" these days?
• Yep, the IRS targeting conservative groups is notagood.
• Bangladesh death toll: 1,127.
• The Little Puppy In The House may be the cutest thing I've ever seen. I've never owned a puppy in my life.
• Man, if you listen to sports talk radio in the metroplex, Boyd's Greg Williams is going scorched earth on his blog.
• Mrs. LL and I are almost caught up with Breaking Bad. Over the weekend we watched the train robbery episode named Dead Freight. Oh, my.
• Funny tweet from someone after Sergio Garcia put two shots in the water on the 17th whole yesterday: "Give me another ball, Romeo." That's a Tin Cup reference. (Side note: If I'm ever arrested for murder, I assure you the victim will be someone who constantly shouted, "Get in the hole!")
• Paraphrasing from a funeral I attended on Saturday: "Accumulating a lot of stuff really doesn't matter much in the end." 
• Some very spare sounding company called InvestingMakesMeSick.com has been advertising for the last year on the radio about how dumb it is to invest in the stock market.  They've finally abandoned that approach because it was not making them look very smart.
• Bryce Harper [Edit: Make that Bryce Reed -- maybe one of my strangest screw-ups ever], the guy arrested for bomb making materials in West, is an odd duck. The Dallas Morning News published an article about him over the weekend which is worth the read. No one is saying he is connected to the blast, but there is a weird history of fireman who also like to be arsonists.

Line At Joe T. Garcias

That's from tonight based upon a pic from twitter that was just posted. Unless I've been fasting for forty days and forty nights, there's no way I'm waiting in that line for food. 

Edit: Another picture from during the day . . . 

Above The Fold

Taking You Into The Weekend

Youtube description:

Zach Sobiech is 17 years old and diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that takes the lives of a large percent of its childhood victims. Given only months to live, Zach turned to music to say goodbye. His song "Clouds" spread, and soon, Zach's message was heard across the country. We wanted to help Zach spread his message, and bring awareness to increase support for finding a cure. So, we asked our friends to help out...they did.

To download "clouds" and support Zach's Osteosarcoma fund: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/clo...

To support the Zach Sobiech osteosarcoma fund and help find a cure for childhood cancer visit: http://www.childrenscancer.org/zach

Director/Producer: Justin Baldoni
Producer: Ahmed Kolacek
Associate Producer: Fouad Elgohari
Editor: Nick Pezzillo

With:
Brian Cranston
Sarah Silverman
Ashley Tisdale
Colbie Caillat
Chris Pratt
Anna Faris
Jason Mraz
Sara Bareilles
Andy Grammer
Jenna Fischer
Angela Kinsey
Jenna Elfman
Jack McBrayer
Lumineers
Jason Derulo
The Mowgli's
Rachel Bilson
Kina Grannis
Passenger
Creed Bratton
Tyler Hilton
Mark Duplass
Josh Gad
Jason Wade
Paul McDonald
Ed Helms
Phillip Phillips
Justin Young
Alyssa Shouse

Wow: Breaking News

This West, Texas EMS volunteer just got arrested on "federal charges of possession of a destructive device." I don't know if that is related to the West explosion. If it is, it's an insane story.

Story on him after the event here.

Infographic: Highest Paid Public Employee For Each State

Source.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Bangladesh update: Death toll over 1,000 but with one lady found alive.  (Photo of her on stretcher.)
• The State Department is removing plans for 3D printable gun from the Internet? (1) If true, that's disturbing, and (2) Wouldn't that kind of be like a celebrity trying to remove an embarrassing photo from the Internet? It just isn't possible.
• The Texas House passed a law dealing with unauthorized drone use last night (it'll die in the Senate.) I didn't realize that was a problem.
• The woman caught in the viral photo the other day flipping off an NBA player has been identified as a four time married socialite who might have killed her hedge fund husband.  A very long article on the death begins:  "The hedge-funder Seth Tobias was found dead in his pool. His hard-partying wife has been accused of his murder by her Internet psychic, who also says the hedge-funder was having an affair with a male stripper named Tiger. And it just gets more sordid from there." Do tell.
• That Duncanville kid who did the rant against his teacher? (1) Mark Davis thinks it might have been pre-planned, and he might not be wrong. That camera was incredibly still while he was being filmed. (2) What's up with that kid's hair? (3) And it was the teacher, and not the kid, who got suspended?
• Charles Ramsey, the viral hero of the Cleveland kidnapped girls, was tainted a little bit when it was revealed by a Cleveland TV station that he had a criminal history. But get this: The TV station later apologized and took the story down saying, "While the story was factually sound, the timing of it and publication of such information was not in good taste . . . ." You've got to be kidding. That's the state of journalism these days? 
• The WBAP crew were trying to name the original MTV Jays this morning and one of them (not Hal Jay), said "Nina Hartley" instead of "Nina Blackwood."
• There's some commentor who calls me an "ambulance chaser." I'm 100% sure he has no idea what that term means. 
• I was in a courthouse side room by myself yesterday when a total stranger just walked in out of the blue  and began weeping uncontrollably -- and I do mean weeping - as he tried to explain to me the trouble he was in. I have no idea why he chose me to talk to. I felt like a dad trying to console a broken-hearted child. 
• Crazy alleged case of "parking lot rage" at the Decatur High School per the Update this morning. The kid  has some defenders on his Facebook page. Edit: I can see the Facebook page and I'm not on his Friends list, but others say it's closed. Probably Facebook security settings (some have it set to allow it open to "friends of friends")

Ted Cruz Goes To Washington. Turns Into Bad Comedian.

About President Obama's visit to Texas today... twitter.com/SenTedCruz/sta…
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 9, 2013