That Was Pretty Intense

Meterologist Matt Laubhan, of WTVA in Tupelo, Mississippi warning his viewers of today's tornado.

And Another X 2

 Houston.

(Thanks emailer.)

Florida. Edit: Nevermind. I posted Ms. Florida last week. I'm an idiot. Double edit: Maybe not. Second student?

Random Thing That Bugged Me

Everyone large group needs to have a spokesperson. I've got no problem with that. And this guy is called upon by the media all the time to give a statement on behalf of DPS.  His Saturday evening was spent making statements about the Terri Johnson accident.

What seemed odd to me was the production value that DPS put into his statements. There was a DPS vehicle in the background with it emergency lights providing background ambiance. This wasn't at the scene of the crash. I don't even think he was in Wise County.  The vehicle was intentionally placed there as a prop.

Just seemed a little tricked up for such a sad situation.

Pete Delkus Is The TMZ Of Weather

Remember last week?:

Yep. He nailed it.

But I want to back track and apologize to TMZ. Even though they may be sensational and over the top, they are generally accurate. Delkus is all of those things without the accuracy.

I've dogged the guy for years because he's like the boy who cried wolf. And at  some point everyone will stop listening to him. The possibility exists that one day he'll scream "Tornado!!!", it will come, and people will die because no one took shelter. Why? Oh, you know, it was just Delkus saying the same old crap.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I really didn't deal with Terri Johnson very often, but I did have an extended conversation with her once at a wedding at the old Ruben's Ball Room. I don't easily get drawn into a conversation but she had me rambling on and on in no time. Sweet lady.
• I saw where JP Mandy Hays was called to pronounce her dead at the scene. If there hadn't been a reason to repeal that archaic Texas law, there is one now. 
• The LA Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, is in the news for being a racist, but I was struck by what a horrible person the girlfriend was in baiting him into the comments while secretly recording it. 
• I was surprised that President Obama commented on those remarks, but what he said was pretty good: "When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t have to do anything, you just let them talk.”
• It took forever for the "mainstream media" to run with the story simply because it broke on TMZ.
• Pope John Paul began a Saint this weekend. One the "miracles" used to grant him Sainthood was the alleged curing of a brain aneurysm of a Costa Rica woman. Uh, she saw him on TV and that's how she was cured. 
• You want to see a crazy house explosion? This mansion in Illinois is gone. Photo. Story.
• The Rains County deputy who shot the dog and got fired because of it hired the attorney who often appears on Fox 4 as a commentator. The lawyer decided to have a press conference on Friday afternoon which seems odd for a media savvy guy who should know that no one hears about any news which occurs on Friday afternoon. 
• Both Girls In The House played in the same softball game on Saturday, but the more curious aspect of the game was the scorekeeper who brought his own PA system. In between innings he would play songs and that's where the comedy came in. As the game went by, they got crazier and crazier. By the third inning he had played The Wobble and Flo Rida's Low.
• I told a joke in an Ali G voice over the weekend and I've never seen so many confused looks from the Family Unit. 
• Attorney General Candidate Dan Patrick once called Connie Chung's Eye to Eye program "Slanted Eye to Eye."
• Mrs. LL played in her own softball game this weekend that had to be cut short when the umpire had a heat stroke and an ambulance had to be called. 
• We watched Gravity over the weekend. I can only guess that it needed to be seen in 3D on the big screen. I give it a meh.
• Sports thoughts: (1) Vince Carter's last second game winner against the Spurs was fantastic (I saw it after that fact -- my Mavs ban is still in effect). The Star-Telegram had a great photo of it. It was ruined by Mark Cuban running onto the court immediately after it in another "look at me" moment.  (2) The NBA proves how ridiculous the game is by this travel by Jeremy Lin. (3) Nemesis update: I can't complain about the performance of Ross, Lewis, and Harrison over the weekend. 
• I watched most of the Hillsborough 30 for 30 documentary over the weekend and had to hit pause at one time as I teared up while a lady explained how she never saw her son again after he walked out the door. I fired off a, "Oh, man. I'm sorry" as I looked at Mrs. LL. She said, "What?" as she looked up from her phone. (But she did finish the kitchen painting project and it looks fantastic.)

Wise County Woman Doing Some Snake Wrangling This Weekend

Facebook video. (Not sure if it will work.)

Breaking

......confirmed deadly wrong way driver crash on 287 outside of Decatur involving Justice of the Peace Terri Johnson.

Edit: Based upon news I'm getting on Saturday night, this is going to be horrible.

Edit: Star-Telegram's first post.

Edit: Good lord, she was the wrong way driver. Possibly a seizure.

Edit: Messenger has a couple of photos.

Random Vehicle Fire

@DFWscanner wb I 20 just before New York ave in Arlington pic.twitter.com/ODuEDSftI4
— Ray Cartwright (@rayscartwright) April 26, 2014

Above The Fold

Emotions Of The Longhorns Taking You Into The Weekend

 That Bill Clinton in the background?

Cheer Like A Champion Today

"Dont give up. Don't ever give up." - Jim Valvano

Prime Time

Help me please! I need to rent a Helicopter In south Dallas by noon for a hour. #Realtalk. TRUTH
— DeionSanders (@DeionSanders) April 25, 2014

Edit: And later today . . . (Not Deion. Not Deion. Not Deion.)

Two injured in helicopter crash at Cleburne Airport http://t.co/Tp8AailyWG pic.twitter.com/4wIJ2Z6CUS
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) April 25, 2014

That's Kind Of An Awkward Press Conference Setting Right Now

.@VirginAmerica says it will fly outta @DallasLoveField to SF, LA, LaGuardia and DC Reagan. http://t.co/yVEVux2i9M pic.twitter.com/2DRTF5IXv6
— Robert Wilonsky (@RobertWilonsky) April 25, 2014

Random Friday Morning THoughts

• I blew by Nancy Grace last night and heard her say, "I'm on the fence on this case because I don't know the truth." Darlin', everyone knows that's never stopped you. (But I don't think I've ever heard her say that.) 
• A great blog post on Rick Perry's position on the current "land grab" of the federal government (Bundy Ranch; Texas border?) compared to his desire in 2005 to confiscate a half million acres of Texas land to build his failed Trans Texas Corridor that caused farmers and ranchers to show up in Austin to protest.
• Loved Jon Stewart's response to Sean Hannity getting his feelings hurt for being exposed on the Bundy Rebellion. After observing how incredible it is that Hannity's program even exists in this day and time, he says, "And to see [your show] night after night serving up the same [expletive deleted] --my god, you're the Arby's of news."
• I've seen more of Stephen Colbert since it was announced that he got the Late Show gig. Funny? I think not. Here's a non-sports prediction: He will be fired within the year.
• A complicated, important and interesting legal issue popped up at work yesterday and when I got home I could not stop thinking about it. And I tried. Then it dawned on me that I've done that all my life. If something significant occurs which causes me concern, whether it be work, relationships, or financial, I can't turn it off for two or three days. 
• The Star-Telegram's paywall is finally working over the last three or so weeks. 
• My weird food taste: I buy beans which appear to be marketed towards large hispanic families.
• It's almost impossible to watch the news with the kids in the room. Last night Fox 4 started out with footage of the dog being shot in Rains County and the second story was footage of a Dallas cop shooting some guy which got her indicted. 
• Sportsy: (1) Another reason Ranger fans should hate C.J. Wilson (2) It's amazing that Sports Illustrated puts all of its old issues online. Here's a NFL Draft Preview from 25 years ago. (3) New Knicks president Phil Jackson says that under the collective bargaining agreement that players need to make "sacrifices financially."  Umkay. Jackson is reported to make $12 million a year. And the owners of the hapless Milwaukee Bucks were just sold for $550 million after being bought for $18 million in 1989.
• We may have another school stabbing incident developing. 

This Is Insane

A man with as IQ in 50s is convicted of murder in 1977 and goes off to prison.  He appealed the decision and it was overturned in 1980 and a new trial ordered. Now get this: The defense lawyers and the prosecutors pretty much forgot about him.  He was never retried, but he remained in prison. It wasn't until 2006 that a fellow inmate was looking into his case and came to the conclusion, "Something ain't quite right here."

And he's still in prison.

(There's been a ton of press about this over the last couple of years, but I had never heard of it.)

Gettin' Your Drink On

Story.  Edit: A legal eagle out there points out this case for the proposition that the charge should probably be "Leaving Child in Vehicle" instead of "Endangering a Child." 

Based upon my crack research skills, the bar is probably the Grayson County Line on FM 730. Further research reveals they have entertainment from time to time:

Is There Anyone More On An Alarmist Than Delkus?

This is for Saturday evening.

Someone needs to tell him there's a difference between predicting the likely weather and screaming about the worst case scenario.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• This is a couple of days old, but a U.S. Marshal shot and killed a defendant in court after he "lunged" at a witness with a pen. But was a weird line from the story: "A mistrial was declared after the shooting."
• An upcoming contestant on The Bachelorette has been killed. Edit: I've been called out on this. You have to be murdered in order to have been "killed"? I don't think so.  
• Mrs. LL is still hard at with the kitchen repainting project. I think everyone in the house doubting her in the beginning has turned her into Mrs. Bob Vila. 
• Sports: (1) Mavs fans need to settle down. This won't end well. (2) Another marijuana arrest of a TCU football player. (3) Oh, come on. Yesterday Martin Perez goes nine innings and gives up three hits and no runs. Maybe my nemesis has some devil powers or something. (4) The Cowboys will not be playing on Sunday afternoon in six of their sixteen games this fall.  (5) The Boston Marathon winner wore Skechers. Skechers. (6) Hey, to the guy who thinks I'm not a great sports predictor. Who picked Yu Darvish to finish second in the Cy Young Award last year? Who said bet the house that the Cowboys would win less than 8.5 games? Who amazingly predicted the Mavs to lose to the Heat in the the 2006 Championship after the Mavs were up 2-0? This guy. 
• I'll never understand the fluctuation in gasoline prices. 
• I'll never understand an upcoming documentary called Fight Church. It's about a church and it's MMA program 
• The clemency program in the news involves primarily non-violent drug offenders who have already spent over ten years in federal prison. Think about that. Ten real years for drugs. That's insane. The Land of the Free has been in  love with putting people in cages. 
• Mrs. LL mentioned that she was saving for a "Sweet Sixteen" party. That kind of made my brain short circuit. 
• That great American right wing patriot Cliven Bundy has some thoughts on "the Negro."
• I think Facebook, which used to be a slight beating, is now a major beating.