Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• I have no idea whether the Ferguson cop should have been indicted, but that DA is mentally challenged. He holds a press conference to announce the decision at 8:00 p.m. at night with all sorts of notice? The only thing he didn't do was send out RSVP cards to potential rioters.
• And a grand jury isn't like a regular jury. This isn't a situation of "they've reached a verdict -- time to announce it."  He controls everything about them. What we saw last night was a grasp at 15 minutes of fame.
• And I actually agree with Michelle Malkin: "St Louis Prosecutor McCulloch criticizes media/social media at press conference timed for maximum media/social media coverage."
• Did you hear him say that he didn't present any evidence to the grand jury but that he left the process up to his two assistance? Good lord. That's as crazy as Kenneth Starr's admission that he never interviewed or spoke to Monica Lewinsky. 
• The DA also said his office didn't make a recommendation to the grand jury. He's lying. I ran the Wise County grand jury for eight years. I worked in grand jury section of the Tarrant County DA's office as well. Prosecutors always make a recommendation. And even if they didn't, you cannot present a case without inserting your opinion. Heck, grand jurors want to know your opinion. 
• With the reputation of prosecutors being at an all time low right now due to withholding evidence and unethical conduct, that guy was the last thing they needed last night. 
• And his "sympathies for the cops run deep. His father was a St. Louis policeman killed in the line of duty by a black man when McCulloch was 12. His brother, nephew and cousin all served with the St. Louis police. His mother worked as a clerk for the force for 20 years. McCulloch would have joined the force too, but he lost a leg in high school due to cancer. 'I couldn’t become a policeman, so being county prosecutor is the next best thing,' he once said."  Good grief.
• "Former New York state Chief Judge Sol Wachtler famously remarked that a prosecutor could persuade a grand jury to 'indict a ham sandwich.' The data suggests he was barely exaggerating: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. attorneys prosecuted 162,000 federal cases in 2010, the most recent year for which we have data. Grand juries declined to return an indictment in 11 of them." Source. (Yes, I know the Ferguson grand jury was a state grand jury, but the data would be the same.) 
• Bottom line: There was never a chance in the world there would be an indictment. (And I said that at the courthouse last week.)
• "This is the biggest indictment of all: The Jets' special teams are worse than the offense." -- Sports Illustrated's goofy Peter King's tweet at the moment the Ferguson indictment news was being released. He later apologized saying he wasn't aware of the news (which means he didn't engage in dark humor but instead is oblivious in general.) 
• I came home last night and everyone in the house was wearing glasses. New. Prescription. Glasses. 
• Today, BagOfNothing discusses my "how can you care about who wins in professional sports?" point from yesterday. I know I'm in the minority on this. However, the ultimate defining moment for me was when a Dallas Cowboy, after losing a critical last season game of the year, yelled "Free agency, baby!" as he entered the locker room. (Someone help me out and find out who that was. I can't locate it. It wasn't Pacman Jones, but it was around the same time.) 
• TCU/Texas on Thanksgiving night is fascinating. At first I wanted TCU to lose since it would cause Baylor to jump them in the rankings. But if you are of the belief that Baylor, if they win out,  will jump TCU regardless (which should be true), Baylor should want TCU to win.  I have Sports Confusion. 

Hang On, Girl! I'm Coming To Help You!

Hey, its been years since I played Monopoly, but I think we can all accurately speculate that the cause of all this was the boyfriend taunting her after he landed on Park Place.  Or, even better, he took all his Monopoly money and made it rain all over her in some kind of victory celebration.

Story.

And, side note, Amy in Denton knows how to maintain her composure during book in.

11/24/2014 13:45:46 Amy, 25 yrs old ♓ Bond: $1,855 EXP INSP MORE THAN 60 DAYS EXP OPERATORS LICENSE VEHICLE W/O REQUI pic.twitter.com/hyhoFd50vd
— Arrests by @DentonPD (@DentonPolice) November 24, 2014

Random PSA From Facebook: Help This Wise County Santa Out!

And I'm jealous he's met Mark from The Rifleman!!

Index 1954

I wonder if the Wichita Falls PD had a "use of force" policy back in the day.

Krum and Bowie At The AAC On Monday Afternoon?

There should be a law against high school kids having more fun than adults.

Then again, they pay for it by having to endure high school.

I Have So Many Questions

(Graphic inserted by me for shock value. Headline ir real.)

DENTON – A child at a birthday party found hydrocodone pills in a box of Halloween candy Saturday.

According to the Denton police, they were called to the 1900 block of Northlakes Trail Saturday afternoon, where a child's birthday party was being held. Partygoers filled a piñata with leftover Halloween candy for the children.

More.

Wait a second. No one is giving away hydrocodone as part of some evil prank. That stuff is valuable. I'm guessing that some mom, dad, or teenager was doing some sneaky hiding of the stuff and it accidentally got mixed in to the pinata. (Which is a sentence I didn't expect to write today.)

Uuuuhhhhhhh

	FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4)
11/24/14, 10:48 AM Mugshot of 21-year-old woman charged with murdering 60-year-old Duncanville man bit.ly/1xUgoVI pic.twitter.com/n3KQAAO0S3

Swimming Lesson 101

Come on. Who amongst us wasn't taught how to swim by being launched into a pool and having to learn the hard way?  This girl just has a defiant quality not found in your average kid.

Hey, gal, when you're at the lake in college and your friends all stare at you and exclaim, "You don't know how to swim?"  this guy will be looking at his misdemeanor probation order and just shaking his head.

Index 1954: Machine Gun Kelly Funeral

Remainder of article . . . 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Stolen from Bud Kennedy: A guy shooting a feral hog makes the "Lifestyles" section of Texas newspaper. (There's a pic) But I hope that shooting a hog is never on my "bucket list" like this guy proclaimed.
• I read Skip Hollandsworth's recent Texas Monthly article over the weekend about a murder in Dallas. Another example of cops jumping to conclusions.  And it cost the city $1.2 million. 
• Remember that story last week where the North Texas teen was driving to Walt Disney World and a wreck caused the death of five of his family members? The cops wrote him a ticket. 
• Garrett Creek Ranch near Paradise closed in 2010 and was to become an addiction recovery center. Did it ever happen?
• In May of 2010 we were worried that Lake Bridgeport could overflow if a huge and consistent storm moved in. 
• While jogging over the weekend, I came across parents in a park filming a teenager slowly and gingerly walking away from her wheelchair. Obviously, I don't know her history (genetic or injury) but did I stop and cry? Come on. Do you know me at all?  
• Mark Davis on Twitter this weekend on show halls cancelling scheduled appearances of Bill Cosby: "Only reason to cancel #BillCosby appearance is slow ticket sales. If public wants in, shame on venues canceling due to unproven allegations." How moronic is that? The dollar controls everything? A private business can't make its own decisions? They can't send a message like Chick-Fil-A or Hobby Lobby? 
• Sports: (1) It is Thanksgiving week and both Baylor and TCU are talking about legitimate national championship hopes. How insane is that? (2) Baylor has gone for it 32 times on fourth down this year. And converted on 25. (3) That catch last night was the greatest one I've ever seen. I was upstairs and wanted to run down and tell the Family Unit, "You've got to see this!!!!" Then I remembered it was a house full of girls watching Finding Nemo again. (4) For the life of me, I do not understand how a grown male over 40 cares about who wins a professional sports game. Watch it for entertainment? Sure. Care about who wins? Come on. (5) “TCU is like a cockroach. It’s not so much what he eats and totes off, but what he falls into and messes up.” — Darrell Royal, 1962. (6) Dallas cleared the over/under line of 7.5 wins. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, I'm retiring as a Sports Expert until 2015.  I can only be a genius for so long. (7) On ESPN's Game Day at the Harvard/Yale game on Saturday they kept saying that the players "were not on scholarship." Trust me, they are. Those schools say they don't give out sport scholarships but check out the number of those players who are on academic scholarship.(8) Shockingly, it is the 20th anniversary of the greatest high school football game in Texas history. (9) Prediction: RG3 becomes a star again in Philadelphia. 
• Important news over the weekend which will be ignored by Fox News: "WASHINGTON (AP) — A two-year investigation by the Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee has found that the CIA and the military acted properly in responding to the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, and asserted no wrongdoing by Obama administration appointees."  That's the Associated Press. Read that again. And again. 
• "I think the report is full of crap," Lindsey Graham told CNN on Sunday.  *Sigh*
• I turned over to one of the new classic hip hop stations and heard "The Humpty Dance".  Stayed on it for the whole song and smiled. 
• I listened to the first episode of the Serial podcast. It was really, really good but I mainly thought that the public was finally figuring out what I've known for years: This American Life knows how to tell a story,
• The Right Wing seems infatuated with the pending grand jury decision in Ferguson. I wonder if they want rioting just so they can condemn the conduct of minorities 

Tennessee Fans Down!

It's even funnier if you just pretend the guy in the stands was retaliating for the player knocking the gal down.

Random Star Telegram "Cheers and Jeers"

Probably a minority just looking for another handout, right?

Edit:  Someone in the comments has posted a link to a Linkedin profile of someone from Arlington who has a similar name. I have no idea if that is the same person. But if it is, someone just spiked my snarky and sarcastic comment right back in my face. 

Index after 11/22/63

Above The Fold

Get Me This Baby Fox To Take Me Into The Weekend!!!

Source.

(Oh, come on. It's the beginning of the Holiday Season. That thing is cuter than most Random Thought Girls.)

Firing It Up For The Weekend!

Wise County Crime Report - 1954

I post this primarily for one reason: There was not one single drug case indicted for those six months. That got me to thinking. Was there drug use back then? When did marijuana come into play? Cocaine?

Ethical Rules To Now Be Amended To Prohibit Hypnotizing

I wasn't going to post this because it's a tad seedy, but I was torn because it is also so insane. Then I saw the guy's picture.  Holy, crap! Look away! Look away! I promise he can put you into a trance just by staring at the photo on your computer screen.

Side note: The ability to hypnotize would seem to be a pretty good skill that would be beneficial in the legal profession. Dealing with opposing counsel? Case dismissed.  Arguing to a judge? Motion granted. A jury? They'll demand the not guilty verdict form. Examining a witness? He'll admit to being Charles Manson.

Link.