Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Former FAN host Richie Whitt is getting married in Bora Bora. Have you ever looked to see where Bora Bora is? Good grief.
• Sports: (1) The third Texas Tech quarterback in the last month has announced he will leave the team. What's going on there? (2) Los Angeles Dodger pitcher and Highland Park product, Clayton Kershaw, received an extension which will pay him $30 million a year -- that's basically $1 million a start. And that's insane. (3) There are a record 90 underclassman entering the NFL draft but only three from the Big 12. (4) Johnny Manziel was revealed to be #1 on ESPN's Mel Kiper's draft board yesterday. Is he doing a bit? That would be a gamble of all gambles. (5) Mark Cuban's accidental plan to run the Mavericks into the ground seems to be working perfectly. They led by 17 with 4:49 to play last night and still lost. (6) Cable TV available on the Baylor campus has the Longhorn Network but not ESPNU. (Which was good thing last night as Texas Tech thrashed the Bears on ESPNU last night.)
• My two year old laptop computer has Blue Ray technology but I've never owned a Blue Ray disc. That is, until Christmas: I got the first season of House of Cards.
• An "expert" testified yesterday that Josh Brent would have had to have 17 "drinks" to get to a blood alcohol concentration of .18.  The courts accept such testimony but its very close to voodoo science.
• My hot legal opinion: If Josh Brent gets out of this thing with less than 10 years, he should consider it a win.
• A little kid came to the door yesterday selling cookies. I think it was $2 for 4. Once he was gone we discovered they were nothing more than store bought cookies placed in a baggie. (But he was funny as he freely admitted he wasn't raising money for any organization but was instead selling them as a "businessman".) 
• My stock market confusion: Best Buy announced that same store sales were down 1% over the Christmas season compared to last year and that news caused its stock to fall more than 30% in pre-market training trading.
• I heard a commercial this morning for Lt. Governor candidate Todd Staples which focused almost exclusively on "comprehensive immigration reform" with emphasis on "securing our borders" and not offering "amnesty." Uh, I presume he knows that's a federal issue so why exactly is he making that part of his platform for a state office? 
• The teenage daughter of the producer of the Mark Davis show tweeted last night (according to her mother who asked people to support her): "My hardcore liberal English teacher put down my values while reading my paper to the class."  My reaction? Roll with it and grow.
• Here's the U.S. Select Committee on Intelligence report on Benghazi that was released yesterday. Few will read it, instead relying on silly Facebook "postcards" to get their information.
• Most newspaper headlines about the report referred to the tragedy as "preventable". Isn't every act of terrorism preventable? 
• Dennis Prager is throwing a cruise vacation for an average of $6,500 per person. I bet that's a party!!!
• The Ticket's Corby Davidson, in talking about the Derek Holland injury yesterday, said "everyone" would lie about how they were injured if it meant the difference in receiving $3 million in salary. I'm shocked by that statement. 
• Oscar nominations just released. 

Things I Learn

I read this book about Quanah Parker . . .

Then learned that a familiar name was running this year for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals as a Libertarian . . .

Googled the guy and learned the Internet has a long memory . . .

The trial ended up in a mistrial and was subsequently dismissed (and, by the way, one of the lawyers in the case is a big Liberally Lean fan.)

A blog writer?

Five Year Anniversary of Miracle On The Hudson

I remember it because the "twitpic" came across Twitter moments after it happened. I figured it was photoshopped, but nope.

The story of the guy who took the pic with his iPhone and posted it is here.  Interestingly, he had only 170 followers but with "retweet" after "retweet" it swept across the nation like wildfire.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Significant lower court decisions yesterday: (1) Oklahoma's gay marriage ban was struck down, (2) Net Neutrality by the FCC was struck down -- which has something to do with charging for bandwith usage but that's about all I know, and (3) A district judge says that the multi-million dollar concussion settlement between the players and the NFL might not be enough.
• Parker County four year old calls relatives once mommy passes out behind the wheel after smoking K2. (There's some brands of that stuff out there now which will absolutely knock a person out. Let that be a lesson to all you mommies out there.)
• Wendy Davis claimed to have raised more funds than Greg Abbott over the last six months, $12.2 million to $11.5 million. And although Abbott has more "big donors", my eyebrows did raise when I saw Davis received $600,000 from "wealthy Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn and his law firm."
• There is an eleven full page public notice by Oncor in the Messenger today regarding some new power line. How much did that cost? (And this reminded me of a two year old editorial in the Messenger entitled "Public notices belong in print, not websites."
• A lady is suing a Dallas detective for falsely arresting and accusing her of killing her boyfriend, and she's kind of hot. 
• "(CNN) -- Bombings killed at least 29 people and wounded scores of others in the latest wave of attacks in and around the Iraqi capital." The "Mission Accomplished" banner was displayed on May 1, 2003. 
• Yeah, it's just regular season college basketball, but the end of Arkansas/Kentucky overtime from last night is worth a look.
• I don't think I've ever had a flu shot. It's not that I'm philosophically opposed, it's just that I have a history avoiding the flu without it. 
• When did Grace Fellowship church open an "Alliance" campus?
• Texas coach Charlie Strong has imposed some very strict rules so as to impose a "culture change."  I suppose lots of coaches have a "my way or the highway" attitude, but you never see the gauntlet thrown down like that in the press. 
• Bridgeport has a "Community Relations Manager"? (First item in the Update.)
• Robert Gates is out pimping his new tell-all book, but his neck brace is a bit distracting. (He allegedly fell in his home. Maybe like Derek Holland?)
• Someone suggested that the Fitbit segment on The Ticket yesterday was actually a commercial disguised as a segment. If true, it's the most dishonest thing The Ticket has ever done. 
• The case of the brain dead but pregnant Marlize Munoz is so complicated there aren't a lot of hot opinions about it one way or another. 
• The show Friday Night Tykes, a reality show about Texas pee-wee football looks good, but first you have to find the Esquire Channel to see it. 

Above The Fold

Incoming In Three, Two . . . .

This calculator will help estimate how much health insurance will cost you on the new marketplace: http://t.co/D6M8mh38G4
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 14, 2014

Edit: Kind of related, Lifehacker.com has a primer on the different types of health plans available in the private sector.

Christian Laettner Didn't Even Have This Kind Of Magic

So much going on here: (1) The first shot goes OVER the backboard, (2) We've got pink shirt, khaki pants guy in charge of getting the ball back to him, (3) Cheerleaders who react as if they haven't had much to cheer about in the past, and (4) Excitement that only a college kid could have when he wins Jimmy John's for a year. Not $10,000 or $50,000 or a scholarship. Jimmy John's.

We've Got Us A Genuine American Hero

ABC – A Punta Gorda man was arrested Saturday after ramming a shopping cart into another man. According to a report, deputies responded to a disturbance call at the Walmart on Taylor Road around 6:30 p.m. A Walmart manager told deputies they escorted 77-year-old William Golladay out of the store after yelling and hitting another customer with a shopping cart. The 65-year-old victim was in a motorized shopping cart purchasing items in the express lane when he noticed Golladay counting his items as he placed them on the counter. When the number of items exceeded 20, Golladay began yelling at the victim saying he couldn’t use that register.(More.)

I pride myself on being able to breeze through the express line (whether self check-out or otherwise.)  And I always use the express line because I go to the grocery store a million times a week and always pick up items that number less than ten.   And it drives me insane when there is some yahoo who just blatantly breaks that most sacred of all American rules: "Twenty items or less."  There is no question I'll be arrested some day when I go absolutely nuts on some guy who breaks that twenty item benchmark. A man can only be pushed so far. 

I'll be Mr. Golladay. And when that day comes, I'll remember his inspiration. The greatest generation indeed. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

Edit: Repeat?

• A Wise County "conservative Republican" and the Wise County Democratic Party Chairman were in Azle last night seeking answers regarding the earthquakes.
• Sports: (1) Texas Tech won't let former walk-on quarterback Baker Mayfield play immediately at his new school of choice, OU, instead forcing him to sit out a year. And that's a kid who wasn't under scholarship, (2) I watched the Baylor/UConn women's game last night -- entertaining stuff, (3) Former Cowboy exec Gil Brandt compares Johnny Manziel to Doug Flutie -- a comparison which I take as a criticism if I were Johnny Football, (4) This comes from WBAP's Hal Jay so who knows if it is correct, but he said that once UT pays Louisville the $4 million+ contractual buy-out for Charlie Strong, that the money is considered as income for Strong who'll have to pay income taxes on it. (5) From the Star-Telegram: "TCU's Role Model Should Be Baylor."
• Interesting strategy in the Josh Brent trial where they are contesting guilt when the blood alcohol content was .18.  Since the victim's family doesn't want him to go to prison, I'd of thought he would have simply pled guilty before the jury, accepted responsibility, and then focus all of his efforts on obtaining probation.
• The more I hear about the Southwest jet landing at the wrong airport, the weirder it seems. Heck, the GPS on your phone could have prevented that. And did you know that the intended destination of the Branson airport doesn't have radar? 
• I generally don't have allergies, but I'm certain that Mountain Ceder causes me to sneeze like crazy. We had the highest pollen count of the season this weekend (279) but the count was into the thousands in Austin and San Antonio. 
• Mrs. LL has started a yoga class and apparently is very surprised by the fitness of the ladies which are many years her senior. 
• The Sonic commercial guys used to be funny, right?
• The Musers did a segment on Fitbit this morning. Never heard of it until recently. But a gal up at the courthouse got one for Christmas.  Edit: Someone commented that the segment sounded like a paid ad disguised as a regular segment. That is an interesting take. 
• I'm surprised that the guy who paid $350,000 to shoot an endangered rhino (still makes absolutely no sense) decided to come forward and identify himself. When he posted on his Facebook page that he'd like to thank all of those for their "comments", the post itself received 1,347 comments (at least that was the number a second ago)
• I've got the Alex Rodriquez 60 Minutes story on my DVR, but I'm only mildly interested. (But I do like the fact that he sued MLB and the player's union yesterday only because he has the chance to go scorched earth.) 
• Are cops not releasing auto wreck information as freely as they used to? It seems like every Wise County wreck that occurs the evening before that the name of those involved is not available in the Update even on the following morning. 
• The Decatur ISD Superintendent got a $6,500 raise last night. He made $145,000 in 2011-2012 per the Texas Tribune.

C

Mavs Fan Tries To Get T-Shirt

How Much Sinning Can You Do In Montana Anyway?

The very abbreviated worship service created by Pastor Tim Christensen of Gold Hill Lutheran Church (Butte, Montana) for the 11 AM service taking place at the exact same time as kickoff for the 49ers - Panthers NFL playoff game.

Hunting

Gordon Keith's latest column in the Dallas Morning News has generated over 350 comments. It's about hunting and the defense of it.

I've never understood it.

I'm not a vegetarian. I understand the meat on the table was brought to me because the death of an animal. I understand the concept of population control.  But I don't "get" the joy of pulling the trigger.

That Cheerleader Took That Charge Like A Champ

I Have No Idea What The Back Story Is

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

Edit: Due to repeat

• Mrs. LL and I saw American Hustle this weekend. Verdict: Very good. And the late seventies soundtrack was an added bonus/ (Side note: That little Jennifer Lawrence is going to be the next big thing.)
• I learned I've been confused January Jones and Amy Adams for over two years -- which is silly since they look nothing alike. 
• And we basically never go to a movie unless it is being shown at one of those places that's a combo restaurant/theater. 
• Tarrant County DA's press release regarding various cops charged with forging overtime slips: “Based upon the Tarrant County District Attorney’s high ethical standards, these cases are being dismissed in the interest of justice.”  Can you call yourself ethical? Isn't that a term that others should use about you?
• I saw a tweet about Senate hopeful (and nutcase) Steve Stockman giving a speech that was closed to the press. I wanted to read the story but some outfit called Texas Weekly has a subscription fee of $250 per year!
• That water outage in Bridgeport is inexcusable, right? 
• I can't wait to hear the real story of how Derek Holland blew out his knee. I'm guessing he was on stilts in a clown outfit. 
• Lane Kiffin has been named the offensive coordinator at Alabama. It'll be interesting to see if he can destroy that program as well.
• If I hear that Bruno Marrs song one more time, I might off myself.
• Mrs. LL and I ended up watching an episode for the last season of Girls over the weekend. Is it always that intense?
• The Golden Globes once again proved its the only awards show worth watching.
• The E! Network made a fun fact out of Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease.
• I haven't been to a high school basketball game in years, but Decatur 67, Bridgeport 33 sounds like a beat down. 
• They introduced the Punt, Pass and Kick winners during halftime at one of the games yesterday. I remember when they actually had the passing competition during halftime. (Some kid would be dressed up in the opposing team's uniform and get booed. Good times.) 
• There was some kind of Tea Party "Freedom Rally" in the metroplex this weekend where Ted Cruz spoke. There is absolutely no chance of him winning the Republican nomination but I'd love to see him try. 
• I've been a long time critic of Peter King and especially the drivel that is Monday Morning Quarterback. Case in point: Just read the small portion where he recounts his interaction between himself and another guy on a train here.
• "Study finds MTV’s '16 and Pregnant' may have prevented 20,000+ births to teenage moms in 2010." I didn't think kids were that smart.
• I'm not sure he played (he was nursing a calf injury), but it had to be a pretty interesting game yesterday for Bridgeport's Colin Jones. He was drafted by the 49ers and then traded to the Panthers. 
• A Southwest airlines flight landed at the wrong airport yesterday. That is beyond comprehension. 

Bicyclist On The Fort Worth 7th Street Bridge

I actually drove across it for the first time this morning. This happened a bit later. Nuts.

Above The Fold