Rich People Suing Their Kid's Rich Private School

If I'm following what is going on here, the wife is a "renowned artist" and donated a piece of art (which sounds like something she threw together) to their kid's private school for the school's fundraising auction. Since they couldn't attend the auction, they decided that they wanted to be the winning bidder so they had the school (I think) bid on their behalf. They figured that the high tone folks at the auction might cause the price to get around $3,000 tops. (Tuition for the school runs $39,000 a year.)

But these New Yorkers now say that the school rigged the auction in their absence to cause the price to be driven up -- ultimately causing their winning bid to become $50,000.  The school told them that a deal was a deal so pay up. The couple found Jackie Chiles and sued the school.

The story is here. But you have to get past some crazy lines like the one that said the couple claims their damages include one of their kid's "$60,000-a-year chauffeur, whose job they want to save."

Is it OK just to hate everyone involved in the story?

Doggie Almost Causes Pile Up At Tour De France

Photobomb Silliness

What is that? Beaker Face?

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• While you were sleeping: Nineteen firefighters dead in Arizona. Horrible. 
• Another massive water main break in the metroplex this morning. Photo. I suppose it's the heat causing all the breaks, but it really hasn't been hot. 
• Watched a little bit of Joel Osteen this weekend. In his sermon he said that God's blessings on a family can be built up from generation to generation and will only be released when you are worthy. "The first generation that breaks the negative cycle is the generation that gets paid back for everything that should have been yours . . . . Some of you have a whole lot in your account. It's been building up for generations and I believe it's about to be released into your account."  Somebody want to point out a basis for that statement. 
• And then I flipped over and ran across some preacher named Keith Craft out of Frisco who read a poem that he had written in preparation for his sermon. But, he proclaimed, "If you've never had anyone write you a poem just know this one is from God." He said that in a couple of different ways and made it very clear that the the poem had equal weight to scripture. 
• And at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Sen. Ted Cruz got a standing ovation when he said that the IRS should be abolished.
• What's going on with churches these days? 
• The Empire State Building turned gay this weekend. 
• My Chris Davis watch: He hit three home runs this weekend bringing his total to league leading 31.  (Josh Hamilton has 10.)
• I'm a huge fan of the The Ticket's Gordon Keith but he's a great writer. His last column in the Dallas Morning News on fear is fantastic. (Compare that to the junk that Steve Blow and Jacquielynn Floyd have been churning out for years.) 
• Mrs. LL finally bought into Arrested Development this weekend. 
• I think this is shocking. Some company named Fidelity Investments now employs 4,500 people in the small town of Westlake. 
• David Dewhurst thinks the media might be responsible for the "mob" that followed the Wendy Davis filibuster. “We have reports, and I have my staff taking a look at the video,” Dewhurst explained, “and if I find, as I’ve been told, examples of the media waving and trying to inflame the crowd, incite them in the direction of a riot, I’m going to take action against them.” What the heck is he going to do?

Oh. My

PIC - Up-close picture of the wrecked Ferrari from the Fort Worth accident. Yowch! #dfwnews #ferrari pic.twitter.com/rYYVgU3QjP
— DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner) June 30, 2013

James Woods and His 20 Year Old Girlfriend Taking You Into The Weekend

@RealJamesWoods no one is cuter than you
— Kristen Reaves (@KrisTurken) June 19, 2013

Young Man And The Sea

Worth watching until the end.

Not To Beat You To Death With Twitter Posts . . .

@dallas_da Watkins leads collaboration with local law enforcement to combat DWI offenses for the July 4th holiday. pic.twitter.com/5zJMXKmwbd
— Dallas DA (@dallas_da) June 28, 2013

. . . but this one got my attention. How much of your tax dollars are going to waste in this press conference? There are ten guys in the picture and there's no telling how many didn't get in the shot.

Edit:

Rural Police News

BREAKING: Two peace officers shot and suspect dead in shootout on border of Granbury & Hood County says Sheriff Roger Deeds.
— LARI BARAGER (@laribaragerfox4) June 28, 2013

Edit:

Shootout on Town Square in Granbury ends with a police officer and sheriff's deputy wounded and the suspect dead http://t.co/ovSCEbEIWx
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) June 28, 2013

Two police officers injured in Granbury shooting this morning; suspect reportedly dead http://t.co/pftKVrFVyH pic.twitter.com/qOHt4lcVrL
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) June 28, 2013

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I thought that Parliamentarian Karina Davis seemed pretty cozy with Dewhurst during the Wendy Davis debate. Turns out her husband was Dewhurst's senior policy advisor on redistricting in 2011.
• "Zebra Mussels Larvae Confirmed In Lake Bridgeport."
• Current Twitter followers for Wendy Davis: 111,289.  For wannabe governor Greg Abbott: 16,892.
• NBA draft thoughts -- read #4 if nothing else: (1) The greatest afro from last night -- that's a cap on top of it, (2) The ESPN crew had no idea of trades being made until 15 minutes later, (3) Take it to the bank: There is no way that Dallas signs Dwight Howard, and (4) Great Wise County trivia: The first player taken in the first ever NBA draft was Clifton McNeeley who graduated from Slidell, Texas and Decatur Baptist Junior College. He opted not to play professional  basketball and would later be principal of Bridgeport High School.
• Another Fort Worth police officer arrested for DWI. This happens about once every four months. 
• Obscure tweet this morning about the Doobie Brothers appearing on Fox and Friends: "Someone needs to check and see if Rerun has a tape recorder." I feel like I might be the only other person in America that understands that. 
• Amarillo paper: Elaine Hays, who "grew up in Bridgeport", is considering a run for Congress. She's 55. Anyone know her maiden name?
• Zimmerman trial: (1) The defense lawyer got off to a rocky start with that dumb joke, but he's done well since then, (2) This seems like a crappy case for the State so far, (3) I figured Nancy Grace would take Zimmerman's side but I was wrong -- I forgot she's always against whomever is accused regardless of the facts. 
• The Chico school board deadlocked 3-3 last night on naming a new elementary school principal. They will vote again when board member Pancho Redwine can attend. So it comes down to him. In trying to make a point that "every vote counts", I tried to find how many votes he won by last year. But I can't find it. Anyone? 

Witness In Zimmerman Trial Taking You Into Thursday Evening

Obviously credible.

"Ambulance Chasing Comes To Twitter"

Story and more examples.

Talk About Being Dressed Down

Military Times – Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, lost her legs and the use of her right arm as a helicopter pilot in Iraq in 2004. She was awarded a Purple Heart for her combat injuries. Braulio Castillo broke his foot in a prep school injury nearly three decades ago at the U.S. Military Preparatory School, which he attended for nine months before playing football in college. He owns a technology business certified as a service-disabled, veteran-owned company eligible for government set aside contracts. The two met at a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing Wednesday in an exchange neither will forget anytime soon. For background, what brought them together was a months-long House probe into whether Castillo’s company won IRS contracts thanks, in part, to help from a top contracting official and friend inside the IRS named Greg Roseman, who pleaded the Fifth Amendment when called to testify.While much of the hearing delved into questions about Roseman and Castillo’s friendship, lawmakers from both parties wondered aloud how a prep school injury suffered so long ago could result in Castillo’s company getting special set aside contract status from the government at a time when so many injured veterans are looking for work. But among hours of testimony, Duckworth’s questioning of Castillo stood out.

And this is her first year as a Congressman. 

Texas Country Reporter In Decatur

This came out a few months ago. Never saw it.

Flashback: Man Not Happy With McDonald's In Decatur Walmart

I posted this years ago but still makes me laugh.

Final Minutes Of Fillibuster

It's edited a bit, but does give you a great feel of what went down. It starts when Dewhurst calls the third strike.

And a great moment is the parliamentarian, looking up at the loud gallery, mouths, "Wow!"

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• First Baptist Church of Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress was all over the news last night bad mouthing the Supreme Court decision on DOMA.  How the deacons of that church let him do that is one of God's greatest mysteries. He is doing incalculable damage to that church.
• And he acts like a wannabe lawyer as he constantly fires off hot opinions about past cases. But he did say this, "The Supreme Court doesn't set trends. It follows trends."  Yeah, right. They were so far behind the curve on segregation. 
• Mrs. LL and I ate at the convenience-store-restaurant called Chef Pointe Cafe in Watauga last night. I had heard about it for years but had never been there. Observations: (1) It was probably a convenience store at one point but now they are just doing a bit. There's a wall of refrigerated soft drinks and gas pumps but, other than that, it is 99% a restaurant. (2) The food? Beyond fantastic. 
• Was this on the news? A water main broke in Fort Worth and fired water directly onto a house and ripped off the shingles. Pic. 
• The girlfriend of Travon Martin testified yesterday. (She's pictured in a post below.) When the defense lawyer told the judge yesterday that he had two more hours left of cross-examination she yelled out, "Say what!!!!"
• New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested for murder yesterday. Then TMZ released a "selfie" photo of him holding a glock. That may not raise an eyebrow in Texas, but the gun fearing Northeast will freak out about that. 
• I'm almost through the new Netflix season of Arrested Development. I don't know of any show which causes me of having so many moments of smiling broadly and thinking, "I got that joke! I got that joke!"
• And, as a commentor mentioned, I did see last week's 60 Minutes which had a piece on the falsely convicted Michael Morton. Former prosecutor Ken Anderson needs to be in jail.  There is nothing more dangerous than a prosecutor that pursues cases based upon speculation and conjecture. 
• Nit-picky: I watched a panel discussion of "experts" on Fox News about the George Zimmerman trial and they all referred to "opening arguments." It's not opening "arguments", it's opening "statements". It's "closing arguments" (at the end of the trial) when the term is used.  
• Maybe my best prediction ever was the one from two days ago when I wrote that Wendy Davis will "become a star today." (By the way, she now has more Twitter followers than Ted Cruz.) 
• But with the Voting Rights Act temporarily dismantled, the Republicans will gerrymander her district to get rid of her (if they haven't already.)
• I love this: Photos of interns grabbing newly released Supreme Court opinions and sprinting to their bosses. (Credit: BagOfNothing.com)
• Texas executed it's 500th person last night since the Supreme Court re-instated the death penalty in the 1970s. What's the saying? Oh, yeah. "Every life is precious."
• The Update leads off with weather saying that Wise County might hit 100 degrees today. Do we have an "official" temperature gauge somewhere? Who runs it? 

I Think The Guy From "Breaking Bad" Is Defending George Zimmerman