Cop v. Cop

Would you put up with sexual harrassment from this Texas Constable?

 This deputy constable said he was subjected to it but was just awarded $567,000 by a jury for his trouble. (That was $200,000 more than his attorney asked for.)

Of Course, Every Other Day They Retract and Correct Prior Reports

BREAKING: Malaysia prime minister says new data show missing plane plunged into southern Indian Ocean.
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 24, 2014

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Longview decided it didn't want Ted Nugent to perform at a festival in the city so they are paying him $16,000 to go away. (Maybe my favorite statement was from the mayor who said, “Not a lot of people know who Ted is. Younger people here don’t know him.”)
• A man who was subject to the Bataan Death March and who lived in Tarrant County for a while, died over the weekend. (I raved about this book a few years back about the March.)
• Saw some tweets this weekend that Stephen F. Austin is the ultimate party school. I'm not sure I've ever heard that. 
• A guy was shot and killed outside of a pool hall in Arlington over the weekend. He was 24 and  "the father of three sons and another baby is due."
• I read the Lake Waco Murder article I mentioned last week, and I had totally forgot how controversial former Waco DA Vic Feazell was. He was indicted by the feds but ended up being found not guilty. And WFAA went after him in a 10 part series which prompted him to sue the company and ultimately win $58 million.
• Man, CBS just wouldn't leave a crying Kansas kid alone in the Stanford game yesterday. 
• "Present-day college freshman and devout Christian, Josh Wheaton, finds his faith challenged on his first day of Philosophy class by the dogmatic and argumentative Professor Radisson." That's the premise of the film God's Not Dead which finished fifth at the box office this weekend. And we've got the blockbuster Noah coming out soon. 
• Random fact:  41 percent of all American children are born out of wedlock.
• Regarding the solicitation case reported by the Messenger last week: "[He] was arraigned on the solicitation charge by Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Terri Johnson in Decatur and was transported to the court of jurisdiction." Huh? I have no idea what that means. Everyone just sits in jail or bonds out. 
• "And another" from Oklahoma. (Actually occurred late last year.)
• James Rebhorn, a character actor you have seen a million times but didn't know his name, has died. 
• Sports: (1) Didn't expect Baylor to win by 30 last night -- and it wasn't that close, (2) The Rangers appear to be in book trouble. Profar is out 10 to 12 weeks, and their pitching staff is the worst in years, (3)  Mark Cuban thinks "the NFL is 10 years away from an implosion" because of greed. Is there a place I can bet him on that? It's simply silly. (And he might was to focus on a basketball team that he is running into the ground.) 

Above The Fold

Bonus Taking You Into The Weekend

Some lower level professional hockey goalie and girls with big thighs doing The Wobble. "Ey big girl make em' back it up, make em' back it up."

MLS Houston Dynamo Girls Taking You Into The Weekend

Tourney Update: Baylor Is Horrible

But Nebraska is horriblerer.

The Children of the Corn shot 11 three pointers and connected on none of them. Six out of 26 overall.

And Baylor is up only 13? They still have a chance to lose this game.

Edit: Lord, Have Mercer!!!!

Duke was cursed earlier this year. 

"Coach K, this is unacceptable!"

Weekend Long Reading

This long article is in the most recent issue of Texas Monthly but they are rolling it out in five parts on its website over a few days. Two parts have been released so far. It is getting rave reviews.

(The Wikipedia entry about the case is here.)

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• That was some high entertainment in the first day of the Tourney yesterday (especially if you stayed up for the Texas game last night.)
• The Fifth Grader in The House filled out a bracket which I noticed was filled with crazy predictions. Me: "You realize those numbers out beside the team names mean something, right?" Her:  "I used them on the left side of the bracket. On the right side I decided to trick it up."  I was just proud that she used the phrase "trick it up". 
• Twitter unveiled a function yesterday which allows you to discover your first tweet. Mine was boring ("Watching fox4news"), but the date beats almost everyone: 2/27/07.
• The producer of the Mark Davis Show promotes her teenage daughter's singing career like its her only hope. I hope she throws in a "Honey, this might not work out" every now and then. 
• Decatur hired a head football coach last night who comes from 6A Colleyville Heritage where he took them to seven straight playoff appearances and compiling a record of 60-19. With a resume like that it seems like he took a step back. 
• It may be years before they find that plane. It's got to be at the bottom of the ocean. 
• "The government's top economic experts warn that, without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold.More banks could fail, including some in your community. The stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet. Foreclosures would rise dramatically." - President Bush in September 2008 (as I remember how the economy had been driven off the cliff.)
• "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul." - President Bush on Vladimir Putin in 2001.
• According to the Update, a guy was arrested in Rhome yesterday for "solicitation of a minor." A guy with the same name, who lists Decatur as his home, is an accomplished professional dirt bike racer. That's either the same guy or a guy who just became very unlucky simply due to his name. 

If You Ain't Clairvoyant, You're Last

Me on 2/6/14:

Fort Worth Star-Telegram today:

And, man, the author of that story really liked quoting the movie. Even threw a spider monkey reference in there.

One Game In And I Just Lost A Billion Dollars

I Wonder If Things Right Now Are Working Out As He Planned

Fred Phelps Dead -- Westboro Baptist Church Founder Dies http://t.co/J1WciV3v84
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 20, 2014

Oh, Come On

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I mentioned a few months back that Elaine Taylor Hays, formerly of Bridgeport and daughter of the late Gordon Taylor, was running for Congress against Mac Thornberry. I finally looked up the results: She lost. Even though everyone hates Congress, it's hard to beat a Congressman.
• The played an episode Duck Dynasty on the "Big Hoss" screen last night. It can't get much more redneck than that.
• On WBAP this morning, one guy accidentally referred to the show has "Dyke Dunasty" -- another one of them, I couldn't tell which one, asked if that was a show about professional softball. I don't know how they get away with it. 
• "A Kennedale High School assistant football coach was in custody Wednesday, accused of improper photography or visual recording in connection with a video camera hidden in a faculty bathroom at the school." It's almost more shocking that he went to the U.S. Naval Academy. (But he'll never see a day in jail. That improper photography statute has been struck down and it's about to get the death nail by Texas' highest court.) Edit: Well, I'll be. It's "death knell". EDIT: I screwed up, I went and looked the statute again and there's another section of it which specifically makes it illegal to take such a photo in a bathroom. That part is probably constitutional. 
• 6. The number of police officers that the Tarrant County Grand Jury has declined to indict in the last month alone. Stories here, here, here, here, and here. 
• You can win a billion dollars if you pick all of the games correctly in the March Madness tournament. The odds? 1 in 9,000,000,000,000,000,000. (That's nine quintillion.)
• Last chance to sign up for Liberally Lean Tourney. 
• Two objects bobbing in the Indian Ocean have been spotted via satellite. Is it the Malaysian aircraft? One ship has made it there, but darkness has caused the search to end for the day. Map.
• I saw some signs around Texas about a "warrant roundup" over the last month urging you to pay up. I continue to think that's a bluff. No officer is coming to your house to arrest you for a Class C misdemeanor ticket. And if they do, don't answer -- there's nothing they can do. 
• I first shrugged when I saw a crazy website warning that a radioactive cloud was headed towards Texas from the old nuclear test site in New Mexico. I'm still shrugging. But there are other legitimate news sources that say something happened. 
• I watched just a few minutes of the SMU game last night but I couldn't take my eyes off 7'6" Mamadou Ndiaye, a freshman from Senegal, Africa.
• Next month you can buy an old nursing home in Bridgeport at an absolute auction. (Although the auction company mistakenly refers to Bridgeport as Bridgewater at one point.)
• Tom Delay's conviction was overturned last year by an appellate court. Yesterday, Texas' highest criminal court said it wants to review that decision. I can't believe they want to get involved.
• From the Update: I guess if you saw someone taking a kid out of a car trunk that you'd be a little concerned. 

Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Anyone?

About 110 people were found today at immigrant stash house in SE Housto.. pic.twitter.com/XT9ObvmJ1t
— Carol Christian (@christiancarol) March 19, 2014

It's Like A Team Of Almost Naked Super Heroes

Post – Australia’s popular male stripper group Thunder from Down Under have been involved in a shooting at a Las Vegas hotel. One person is in police custody after shots were fired at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. The male revue group regularly perform up to 11 shows a week at the hotel, and promise “dynamic dance routines, barely there costumes, state-of-the-art lighting and chiseled abs,” according to their official website. Police said that at about 9:30 p.m., a man wandered through the locker room used by the cast of the show. He was going through their personal belongings, Fox 5 Vegas reports. When members of the cast confronted the man, they allegedly pushed him out of the locker room and into a courtyard. The man then allegedly pulled a gun and fired a shot into the air. The shot ricocheted off a wall and struck one of the cast members in the face. The victim’s injury was minor, police said. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. The motives of the shooter are unknown, but he is said to be between 25 and 30 years old. He was taken to University Medical Centre and will be charged when released, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports. He appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine, police said.

Probably nothing in their locker room other than Affliction shirts and steroids. Lousy choice for a burglary. 

More News That I Missed

I love how WFAA filed this under "Entertainment".

They keep $600K in a safe? They ever heard of a a bank drop box? Or maybe it's just what they use for petty cash.

"But church officials noted there was no electronic data breach and that individuals who put their offerings in a drop box, gave online or made a bookstore purchase were not affected."

News

Wise County Commissioner Terry Ross has been removed from office by a district judge, ending a 2-year saga. http://t.co/26PZqrDPkZ
— Kristen Tribe (@WCMtribe) March 19, 2014