Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• The Fifth Grader and I stumbled upon The Game Channel yesterday and shortly thereafter she proclaimed shows like Password and the $100,000 Pyramid are "rigged". And the more I watched the more I tended to agree with her.
• Mark Davis went on a huge rant this morning about Richard Sherman's post game comments from Sunday. And the Ticket won't stop talking about it. Why? I don't understand all the controversy. When I first saw it, I replayed it about five times and laughed the entire time. 
• And Mrs. LL can't hear Michael Crabtree's name without referring him to Michael Trabtree (a Ticket reference.)
• The Josh Brent case goes to the jury today. I'm guessing "guilty" before noon and then the punishment phase fires up.
• Everyone is beating up on Wendy Davis but she had to have known that was coming. 
• The Paradise City Council has declared 2014 as "The Year of the Bible". The Muslim population of the town will not be pleased.
• Random Paradise model pic. 
• Dallas jury awards woman $800,000 for a wrongful arrest by detective. That's pretty rare.
• There's a 25 year old Bridgeport man listed in the Update's death listings. What happened?
• "Garland police are investigating the death of a 7-Eleven clerk found behind the counter early Tuesday morning." That has to be a nerve racking job. I'd be fearful of every customer who walked through the door. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Odd: The hamburger at One Stop in Runaway Bay made the "Burgerpalooza" slide show about burgers in Dallas on the Dallas Observer website. (Credit emailer).
• Playboy's Miss February 2006 found dead at friend's house. Hey, now?
• In Comal County indigent, incarcerated defendants get to choose their court appointed lawyer: Among other concerns according to the Texas Lawyer, "[I]ndigent defendants might call five or six lawyers and spend an hour interviewing each one before making a choice. But the county pays just $250 to $300 for each appointment, so it could be 'cost inefficient' for lawyers to spend time on such interviews." Really?
• Random discovery over the weekend: Maybe the most right wing nutcase in the Texas legislature is some young guy named Jonathan Strickland who describes himself as "a Conservative Christian Republican". (Voting record.) He also appears to be in favor of cheeseburgers.
• I think my dream job would be being the camera man for Aerial America.
• I finally watched the 30 for 30 documentary of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. It was fantastic. But I'm surprised Kerrigan wouldn't be interviewed for the project. If I were her, I'd cut a deal where I gave ESPN two sentences, at her choosing, to be aired at the end of the film. 
• "This is one of the rare times where I'm going to rely upon input from the listeners rather than my own insight." - Dennis Prager before his ironically depressing "Happiness Hour" on Friday. I can't begin to tell you how much disdain I have for that guy.
• The Fifth Grader in the House asked me if I knew the preamble to the Constitution. I then proceeded to bust out in the song I learned from School House Rock. I leaned that decades ago and have never forgotten it. (Any chance that's a secret of education?)
• The Wendy Davis story, as highlighted in the Dallas Morning News,  is fascinating. I feel for her husband who paid for her TCU and Harvard education, but at the same time she's a poster child of the "The American dream" without help doesn't exist anymore.
• 1970's Elton John was really, really good. (That was prompted by the Colin Kaepernick Beats commercial which always confuses me because the song starts off as "You can tell everybody . . . ")
• Inappropriately dressed Modern Family girl at awards show?
• I really like new Fox 4 gal Jenny Anchondo.
• Dallas DA Craig Watkins: “To be realistic, this may be a 30-, 40-year career for me here as Dallas County D.A. I thoroughly enjoy what I do, and I think once we get through this election cycle, then the politics of it all will settle down.” Sadly, he might be right. 
• The Kids in the House asked me questions about Martin Luther King Sr. just to be trouble makers. 
• There was a crazy story on ESPN this weekend about Baylor basketball player Isaiah Austin. He has one eye -- I don't think the public knew that. I sure didn't.
• Random tweet I saw: "If Al Qaeda had poisoned 300K people in WV, Sunday shows would be there. But when corporations are responsible, not a peep."
• Richard Sherman's post game interview was beyond entertaining. 
• Not sure about the attempted comedy of "but salsa was spilled" in the first item in the Update. (And why in the world do they give free press to the "Overpasses for America" goofballs?)

It's MLK Day

Random Video

Footage of an Iowa high school senior making a basket this week is making the rounds on the Internet — and after watching it, you’ll understand why.

Video of the unorthodox shot was uploaded to YouTube Thursday and has attained nearly 40,000 views.

It shows Hinton senior Logan Jurgensmeier attempt bouncing the ball off of opponent Noah McWell from SC West.

But, things don’t go as planned.

Instead, the ball bounces off the floor and then, to the dismay of everyone, finds its way into the basket.

Above The Fold

Some Gal Named Laura Cremaschi Taking You Into The Weekend

And Why Should There Not Be A Warrant Requirement?

Supreme Court to consider whether police must get warrant to search arrestees' cellphone data. http://t.co/KcWTqRmZRS
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 17, 2014

Of course, we'll hear from the "I wouldn't mind. I've got nothing to hide" crowd shortly.

(A similar case is before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals but it's been months since it was argued without a decision. I'm guessing they'll put it on the back burner until the Supreme Court makes a ruling.)

Guy Proposes Marriage Using Bike Ride And GPS Tracking Software

Daily Mail-A cyclist has spelt out his love for his girlfriend – by using a GPS app to map a romantic marriage proposal. Rider Murphy Mack traced out the words ‘Marry me Emily’ surrounded by a heart, using the free software Strava, favoured by cyclists to record routes, speed and elevation. His romantic gesture on the streets of San Francisco which took in 18 miles and burned 749 calories in 80 minutes was enough win over his girlfriend.Strava allows people to use a smartphone or Garmin to track their athletic activity and then view the route they have taken on a map.

It's getting tough out there, fellas. 

Edit: I apologize for accidentally deleting the comment of "Whatever happen to the days of hitting them over the head and dragging them back to the cave?"

The "Knock Out" Game Comes To Dallas

Link.

And they speculate that the elderly man beaten in the parking lot of Campisi's might have been the subject of the "game" as well.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Tarrant County juries found defendants not guilty 17% of the time last year. That's truly a shockingly high number when you think about it. 
• Ticket Fans: In 1982, Mike Rhyner made Channel 8 News after would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley wrote KZEW.
• With the death of The Professor yesterday, only Ginger (80) and Mary Ann (75) remain.
• And the fictional Professor said on one episode that he had degrees from SMU and TCU.
• "LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A condemned Ohio inmate appeared to gasp several times and took more than 15 minutes to die Thursday as he was executed with a combination of drugs never before tried in the U.S." Keep screwing up like that and the death penalty will be abolished more quickly than it inevitably will be.
• For all the past budget fights a few weeks back, a $1.1 trillion spending bill soared through the Senate and House this week.
• And where was Ted Cruz throwing a fit about passing a budget without the repeal of Obamacare? (He is on the cover of the new Texas Monthly holding a copy of the Constitution.) I hope he runs for President simply because of the entertainment factor. And he'd get crushed. 
• Also in the magazine is an article penned by Joaquin Castro on his first year in Congress. The whole thing is online. (I wonder how they decide which articles to publish for free?)
• The judge assigned to the dead-pregnant-woman JPS case has recused herself. She didn't say the reason why. I wonder if it's because of that well known technical legal reason of  "I want no part of this political hot potato."
• If you like Major League Baseball and Jeopardy, you have to see three gals try to answer a question about a Red Sox pitcher involved in a steroid controversy who has been denied entrance into the Hall of Fame.
• Fox 4 had the video of Josh Brent at the Privae nightclub. That was one happening place.
• If the defense is trying to sell the "he was above .08" at the time of the blood test but he was "below .08" at the time of driving, good luck with all that.
• The Texas Bar Journal (horrible publication, by the way) had a section in its most recent issue where it profiled a few lawyers and asked them a series of questions including "What's the worst mistake you've ever made?"  Yeah, right. They are going to truthfully answer that? One guy responded that his worst mistake was working too hard. The correct answer for any lawyer is (1) missing a deadline or (2) being completely oblivious to an issue that could have helped your client.
• A random Bridgeport lake house in a high tone area is on the market for $849,000 but on the tax rolls for $436,000. Overpriced or undervalued?
• Obscure question: I think D Magazine's Tim Rogers really hates DMN's Steve Blow, but I could have sworn someone commented on here one time that he was just doing a bit. 
• Late yesterday, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of conviction of a Wise County man for attempted capital murder. The opinion isn't particularly interesting, but it does mention by name a Wise County deputy, trooper, and Texas Ranger. If I remember the proceedings correctly, the defendant was a nut who wouldn't listen to anyone who tried to represent him. 
• Also from the court, the government got to keep seized property of "$381,244.75 in U.S. Currency, 2000 Pontiac Grand Am, 2001 Ford Pickup Truck, and the Proceeds of the Sale of the Property Located at 2900 Kyle Cove" in Wichita Falls because the guy didn't file a brief on time. I hope there's more to the story than that. (I looked the guy up and he got a life sentence for running a convenience store that sold a ton of ingredients used to make homemade meth.)
• The lead item in the Update deals with local campaign contributions and expenditures. You can see the original documents for any candidate here. 

Hope he finally got that radio fixed

Russell Johnson, the beloved Professor on Gilligan's Island, has died of kidney failure at age 89, his wife tells @ABC's @blaustein.
— ABC News (@ABC) January 16, 2014

Edit: Oh, my. Another sitcom star!

Hot Aggie Wife Leaves Assault Weapon In Rental Car

Sun-Sentinel - A New York mom vacationing in South Florida was expecting a healthy dose of sun, surf and fun. Imagine her surprise when her daughter unzipped a bag in their rental Nissan Rogue and found a rifle — a big rifle. Looking just like the ones real soldiers use. Horrified, she immediately called E-Z Rent-A-Car and then drove to the nearest police station. And there would be one more surprise: The AR-15 semiautomatic had been left behind by model Lauren Tannehill, the wife of Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill. (More)

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