Wise County Judge Bill McElhaney Collapses During Commissioners Court

That was probably the most upsetting moment in the history of the Wise County Courthouse.

He has passed away. Horrible. Just horrible. 

More Baseball Comedy

Ok, they story is that this guy rips away a home run ball from this chick and throws it back.  Fine.

But look at her face in slow motion.  It's like her first child is being tossed into right field.

Funny Play Of The Day

Baseball is still being played. Comedy ensues.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Wow: The wife of Lee Harvey Oswald once listed a post office box in "Boyd, Texas" as her address per the Warren Commission Report. (h/t Bud Kennedy.) 
• I would have bet a ton of money on OU straight up. Thanks goodness I don't know a bookie.
• When I left this morning Mrs. LL was laying horizontally in bed with the Family Pup at her side. Made me giggle.
• Watched the first half of Frontline about the concussions in the NFL. I had forgotten that Monday Night Football began with two animated helmets crashing into each other and exploding. 
• Mrs. LL found all the Frontlines on Netflix via Roku. She was absolutely giddy. Sometimes she surprises me. 
• The Dallas Morning News has a "Miss Texas Pole Competition" slideshow on its home page. That's the equivalent of a Random Thought Girl, no?
• The BagOfNothing guy was dogging Baylor this morning after scoring just 35 on Kansas State.  Hey, I'm not ready to proclaim them Big 12 Champions, but every good team has to go through that on the road. It wasn't pretty, but I'll take it. 
• I think arson investigators and coroners believe they are smarter than they actually are. 
• The more I think about it, the Chris Arnold plagiarism piece is a fireable offense. I've never seen anything so blatant. (And we should have all been tipped off -- he's not smart enough to string together that many coherent thoughts.)
• From my email bag: "Thought you might like this.  I am self employed and purchase private insurance for my wife and I.  My premiums are currently $370/mo since we were both on excellent when we enrolled many years ago.  Under Obamacare, my premiums go to $925/mo and I can not get subsidy since I make more than 4x the poverty level.  I can not afford this $11k premium and the resulting $12k annual deductible."  He wanted me to share it. The stunning part is that he was paying $370 a month part. 
• From the Update: "1 SHOT, 1 STABBED IN CHICO". How is it possible the names aren't available?
• Bridgeport falls to 0-7. They need one win to get in the playoffs. That ain't happening. 
• The Sophomore In The House is in band. The number of hours she is required to commit to it would cause me to brake break my instrument over my knee in the first week. But she loves it. Even if it means leaving the house at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday. 
• I'm back to jogging and have abandoned the X-box training game.  I had forgotten how much I loved it. I got up yesterday morning at dawn to do it, -and I always think to myself, "There will come a time when you can no longer do this. But that day is not today."

An Example Of Why Facebook Drives Me Crazy

If you posted this, you are as dumb as a  box of rocks. (And that's an insult to rocks who happen to be in boxes.)

"Beware of false prophets"

I'm a pretty easy going guy. I don't get worked up very often.

But on the rare occasion I run across Joel Osteen on a Sunday morning, I become borderline enraged.

The screen on his "sermons" is constantly imploring you to go to one of his seminars or buy his new book (very Jesus like), but I was very confused as to why his P.O. Box address was predominately shown on the screen. Then I thought that perhaps, maybe, it's targeted at the elderly? Those who have savings yet are naive and technologically challenged? Those who would sit down and write a letter? And write a check?

Snake Oil for sell. Gather round, gather round.

Above The Fold

Taking You Into The Weekend

Obie!!! A Story in Pictures

 More.

Look how fat Obie was! And if that is Mrs. Obie in the background, she looks like she is about to visit a doggy divorce lawyer. Ain't no way she's putting up with that.

Good grief. Fat Obie basically wore a moo moo on the beach. No way he's picking up chicks looking like that. 

He didn't even have enough energy to play with his hot Doggy Momma. Poor fat Obie. 

 Post thumb stomach Obie! Attaboy!  Probably just eyeing some seagull that he's going to track down before it knows what hit it. Just owning the beach. 

  Sexy Obie.

Swag Obie. A true Renaissance dog. Probably just slaying it with the ladies.  

Wow. Critical condition.

Edit: Or not?

Edit: And then there's stuff like this . . .

Horrible story from @tmz with Adrian Peterson's son. Hope he'll be OK. Fantasy advice for owners of the #Vikings RB - http://t.co/pEP5HtgbAm
— Walter Cherepinsky (@walterfootball) October 11, 2013

Woman Freaks Out On Plane To Tampa

Well, it is Tampa.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I've been so confused by the Republicans refusing to admit they are responsible for shutting down the government.  Let me quote the great philosopher Jon Stewart: "Do you think Obamacare is a big enough threat to shut down the government? Fine. But own it!"
• That freedom loving new government in Iraq has executed 42 people. Who do they think they are? Texas? 
• "FORT WORTH, Texas - One of the officers involved in deadly shooting of a Fort Worth homeowner has been fired for falsifying a police report unrelated to that case." That now dead homeowner was in his driveway and the now fired officer had said he fired because the homeowner pointed his gun at them. No reason to now disbelieve that, right?
• One of the gang of Manhattan bikers accused in the beating of a motorist is represented by Gloria Allred. She would be on my short list of the most shameless attorney in United States history. Her representation appears to have only one criteria: Is a TV camera involved?
• Rhome is pretty wheels off, right? According to the Update last night a council member left in the middle of a meeting. Leaving only two members left -- not enough for a quorum. 
• The Fort Worth Star Telegram finally provides coverage of Bridgeport's Big Ed Beckley today. 
• Tomorrow I'll watch the Texas/OU game and look forward to seeing Bob Stoops and Mack Brown meet on the field before the game. They've done that 14 times. The 15th will probably be the last one. 
• Couple of legal eagles took me to task for praising the criminal justice system of the Bahamas yesterday (see below) because they pointed out the range of punishment for Ecstasy possession there was four years. Yeah, but the actor got a "fine only" sentence for over a dozen X pills. When's the last time you saw that in Texas? In fact, that's an illegal sentence in Texas (look it up.) 
• The Fifth Grader in the House had me help her with her science homework last night. Ugh. But I got to learn what the difference is between an element, a mixture, and a compound. 
• The Israeli defense minister was in Fort Worth yesterday to visit the Lockheed plant. Israel intends to buy 19 F-35s.  Iran might want to step up it's plans to produce a nuclear weapon. 
• No front page today. That site is down again. 
• You know who Chris Arnold is? If you do, you've got read this article just published which calls him out for plagiarism.  CBS/The Fan is going to have to address this.   

In Midland. Posted On Youtube Today.

At least the driver shut the door first.

Everyone Is Riled Up About Something

Uh... so someone dropped a ton of money on the floor in the Senate Hart building pic.twitter.com/gS1XtR6h7M
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) October 10, 2013

The group which is protesting today is concerned about "genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in America's food supply."

Darryl From "The Office" Got Busted For Weed and X

TMZ – “Office” star Craig Robinson was arrested for drug possession in the Bahamas yesterday … after trying to board a plane with half a gram of marijuana and 18 ecstasy pills. Robinson — who was in the Bahamas for a comedy show at the Atlantis hotel — appeared before a magistrate (wearing a T-shirt and shorts) … and plead guilty to two counts of drug possession. Robinson was facing up to 4 YEARS in prison … but got a huge break with the magistrate, who let Craig off the hook with a simple $1,000 fine. He was also ordered to leave the country ASAP. During the hearing, Robinson told the court he brought the drugs from the U.S. and simply didn’t know they were outlawed in the Bahamas.

I always hear that the  "American criminal justice system isn't perfect, but it's the best in the world."  Seems to me that the Bahamas criminal justice system might be a little more advanced.  

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• The local game warden told me yesterday that he wants you to know that the LBJ Grasslands is not shut down. (Sounds like he was getting lots of calls.)
• "House Republicans eye short-term debt ceiling fix" after visiting with the President today. Translated: As predicted, they are beginning to cave. 
• The difference between the President's approval rating slumping and the Republicans approval rating slumping (to a historic all time low) is that the President doesn't have to run for re-election. 
• So Bridgeport plays in a five team district and four of the teams will make the playoffs? The Bulls could conceivably make the playoffs with a 1-9 record? That publicity would be worse than going 0-10.
• Fox 4 paid a visit to the Bridgeport bullfighter who had his face stomped on a month or so ago. He looks about 99% better than what I expected. 
• The guy who got hit by a car on 287 in Decatur yesterday and who was on his way to rehab is from Albuquerque -- as in the home of the meth cooking Walter White of Breaking Bad.
• I would like to have been part of the negotiations which lead to an 18 year sentence for Tampering With Evidence for Michelle Williams (now pregnant) who killed her husband a year ago in a very high tone house in Keller.
• The best thing about a new dishwasher: How quiet it is. 
• The best thing about a new fence: The smell. 
• The best thing about a new microwave: I don't know. We had a 24" wide microwave that went out. Try and find a replacement for that. It seems that 90% of those on the market are huge.
• Mark Davis this morning began referring to The White House as The Spite House.  Someone needs to pull him aside an warn him that the last thing he needs to do is become a cartoon for a decreasing audience of angry old white men. 
• Why we hate lawyers: The attorney "and his team" in charge of distributing what remains from Texan Mark Stanford's Ponzi Scheme have earned "$234.9 million from the bankrupt Stanford Financial Group and spent more than half the total — about $124 million — on personnel and other expenses." If you were investor of $110,000 to Stanford, on the other hand, he wrote you a check for $2.81 because there's not enough money left. (A quick search revealed that the Ponzi victim's have been upset with the lawyer for years and posted one of his shocking bills on a blog in 2011.)
• But writing a check for $2.81 made me think of Steve Martin in The Jerk writing out class action lawsuit payments for $1.09.
• Breaking: Four people found shot to death in home in Paris, Texas this morning. 
• The Playboy posing teacher in Dallas hasn't generated the outrage that I expected. Most people, like me, think the situation is a tough one. 

Latest Gallup Poll Just Released: This Government Shut Down Plan Isn't Working Out Quite Like The GOP Had Planned

Link.

A Personalized Public Service Announcement

We fortunately don't have a "motorcycle death" here, but I do have some advice for this gal: Unless you plan on jumping Snake River Canyon with Big Ed Beckley on the back of that bike, you might want to let off the throttle a little bit.