1.15.2015

I Have A Pretty Good Idea . . .



. . . this is what it would be like to arm wrestle Satan.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • Dez Non-Catch Controversy, Part 8,657: For those of you who think the ball didn't touch the ground.
  • So the cops bust a couple in Southlake for growing pot and all the stories say they had "numerous firearms and ammunition" in the house. Anyone want to speculate on the number of Texas homes with numerous firearms and ammunition in them? So what we got here is some pot growers. (Although the book-in photo appears to be what anyone wishes to talk about.)
  • Long term readers know I've ranted for years about how the FBI learns of some idiot "terrorist" on the Internet, sucks him into a plot that he has no capability of carrying out, sets him up, arrests him, and then claim a great victory on the War on Terror. It happened yesterday with a 20 year old in an alleged plot to plant pipe bombs in the nation's Capitol building. Somehow this has made national news. Note: FBI officials said he was no threat to the public during the course of the investigation. That's pretty much all you need to know.  (He did buy two M-15 semiautomatic rifles yesterday but the gun seller was working with the FBI, and I bet the FBI even provided him the money. Oh, and the kid was working with an FBI informant -- a guy who has something to gain -- instead of an undercover FBI agent.)  
  • Mrs. LL had some little kid relative over on Sunday and five minutes before the Cowboy game she (the kid) came up to me and said, "Change the channel to Sponge Bob Square Pants." I was looking at the computer and, without looking up, said, "Not a chance, kid."  Mrs. LL suddenly appeared from upstairs with a, "Honey, you can watch it in the game room. I'll help."
  • I actually watched a little of Sponge Bob an hour before that. Whomever writes that stuff does so when high.
  • On Tuesday, probable right wing presidential candidate Mike Huckabee told People that he questions the parenting skills of Barack and Michelle Obama for allowing their daughters to listen to BeyoncĂ©.  It didn't take long for critics to pull out the video of him playing Cat Scratch Fever with Ted Nugent on his show from 2011. Recap.
  • Watch the Open Carry nuts, or more specifically the Open Carry Tarrant County nuts, harass a state legislator yesterday. 
  • "Starting Friday, the Duke Muslim Students Association will chant [the the Muslim call to prayer], or adhan, from the Duke Chapel bell tower." Source.
  • That's a crazy mystery in Fort Worth: A car crashes in a field and two bodies associated with the vehicle (a mother and her baby) were found 500' away. Both were nude.
  • Question about those two guys who "free climbed" the 3,000-foot vertical wall on El Capitan, the granite pedestal in Yosemite National Park. Where did those safety ropes come from? 
  • "MANILA, Philippines — Pope Francis suggested there are limits to freedom of expression, saying in response to the Charlie Hebdo terror attack that 'one cannot make fun of faith' and that anyone who throws insults can expect a 'punch'."  I guess the Pope would agree with my poke-a-rattlesnake comment from yesterday. 
  • Oscar nominations released this morning. 


1.14.2015

News

Prisoners were from the Middleton Unit.


Cat Fight After Cowboy Game



But I'm not real sure we needed to be running to the Chief Of Police for analysis and video breakdown. But, heck, he acts like he's never seen a fight before.

And I loved how he said the girls will get a "letter in the mail" enclosing a citation.  Best guess is that it'll be a ticket for Disorderly Conduct.  He might as well of said, "We're gonna give them a real good talking to!"

Nancy Grace vs. 2 Chainz


Nancy Grace debating 2 Chainz about the legalization of pot.

“Umm, I’m not sure if you know but everybody has the ability to get their hands on pot right now, whether it's legal or not,” 2 Chainz (whose real name is Tauheed Epps) tried to explain to Grace. 

The whole interview is here if you're interested.  Guess which one makes more sense.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • In the first playoff ranking released last October, Ohio State was #16.
  • For some reason, there was a photo of a male appendage on WFAA's website yesterday. (Hey, you go look for it if you want.)
  • A goofy Texas Republican Congressman compared the President to Hitler. And then apologized
  • My long term nemesis Ann Curry is out at NBC.
  • Does anyone know shorthand anymore? I know one lady at the courthouse who used to practice it, but I haven't seen her use it in almost twenty years.
  • Someone questioned me on whether gas prices were above $1.00 in the late 1970s. Someone back me up on this. As a new driver back then, I know! Gas pumps back then could only be adjusted to 99.9 cents (sheesh I feel old). So when gas prices went to $1.04, the stations would set the pump price to 52 cents and put a handwritten sign on it that said "Price is for 1/2 gallon. Total price will be double what you see on pump." 
  • A Texas player gave an OU player a longhorn decal for All-Star game. The OU player turned it upside down and put it on his helmet.  I'm not sure if that is the UT player in the background of the pic laughing, but if it is: That is exactly the type of guy UT needs to keep out of the program in the future.
  • Of the 62 Democrats in the new Texas legislature, only 7 are white. Of the 116 Republicans in the Texas legislature, only 8 aren't white. Source
  • There's a story in the news about a former football player falling overboard and swimming nine miles to shore. That sounds fishy.  Deadspin wrote an article about it which implies the same thing. 
  • Twenty years ago (well 12 days from now, actually) opening statements began in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. I actually watched a little about it on a CNN special last night and had forgotten that Mark Fuhrman, after having been caught lying on the (irrelevant) issue of whether he had ever used the n-word, took the 5th Amendment when asked, "Did you plant evidence in this case?"  Sheesh. That alone would give the jury a reasonable doubt. 
  • The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed a relief pitcher who was "banned for life by the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2009, for allegedly accepting benefits from gamblers to throw two baseball games." Holy, cow. What's everyone going to think the first time he loses a game by leaving a curve ball hanging over the plate? 
  • "A potentially disastrous situation at sea turned into a stunning stroke of luck for a 22-year-old man who fell overboard from a cruise ship and was then rescued later by another passing cruise ship after another passenger heard him calling for help in the open ocean." That story is beyond amazing. Heck, the coast guard has trouble finding someone when they know they are in the ocean, and this guy was spotted by someone in a passing cruise ship?! The odds of that happening have to be astronomical. 
  • "Y'all'd've: Best contraction ever?" - Stolen from. And when I first saw it, I knew exactly what it meant. Heck, I sounded it out to see if I was guilty of uttering it. Verdict: Absolutely.
  • I certainly support the French paper's right to publish satire, but if you keep poking a rattlesnake don't you expect to get bit? 



1.13.2015

And Another - Abilene

Thirteen days in, and 2015 starts strong. Story.

(Thanks emailer).

It's Not Too Early



(NEWSER) – It may be a bit early in 2015 to be handing out the Parents of the Year Award, but a man and woman in Indiana are certainly contenders: Police say they found a cellphone video featuring Michael Barnes, 19, and Toni Wilson, 22, encouraging a 1-year-old baby girl to place a .40-caliber handgun in her mouth and say “pow.” “The video also shows the child placing the muzzle of the gun in [her] mouth,” police say in a statement (amended here). “At no point does Barnes try to stop the child from playing with the gun.” Wilson is the girl’s mother, but Barnes is not her father. Authorities obtained the video after arresting Barnes in a separate incident in which he made arrangements via social media to sell a handgun to an undercover cop, Reuters reports. Wilson claimed the gun in the video was just a pellet gun, but police say that’s not true. Barnes has been charged with child neglect, allowing a child to possess a firearm, and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, and Wilson faces the same charges, NBC News reports. The baby, as well as month-old twins in the home—of whom Barnes is the father, police say—were put into emergency care.

If I'm a gun fan, nuts like this and nuts like Open Carry would make me worried that gun laws are going to get a heck of a lot stricter in the future. 

Local sports Media News

Babe Laufenberg (@BabeLaufenberg)
After 17 years, CBS 11 and I could not reach a new agreement. So tomorrow will be my last show. Please watch. It has been a great 17 years.




Barry

Personal Foul: Taunting


Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • There were 14% fewer criminal appeals in Texas last year, and I suppose the decrease in crime is reflected in that stat. But I suppose the government staffing and funding of appellate courts will not decrease accordingly. 
  • I was getting my oil changed on Saturday and a couple in their 40s walked in.  CNN was on the TV and the lady began to ask questions to her companion about what was being covered. She quickly revealed that she had no idea anything had happened in Paris last week. Not a clue. "I haven't watched the news all week." Are there many people like that?
  • I always dog that goofy Texas Supreme Court justice but I learned he wrote an opinion last year dogging the Court for refusing to hear a case challenging the state's civil forfeiture statutes which are constantly abused by the government.  Good for him. (I think I wrote about it at the time, but the judge wasn't being a yuck monkey on Twitter yet.) 
  • Mrs. LL will always yell out, "Spin move!" at least once during a football game. 
  • The "hook and ladder" play would have a far greater success rate if it were run in the middle of the second quarter instead of at desperation time.
  • The equipment manager for Ohio State last night had the greatest hair in the history of ever. 
  • Right after the coin flip last night in the Championship Game, Nike tweeted out a photo depicting the coin in the air with the players looking up at it in the background. But it was fake. And I don't mean photoshopped. I mean fake with actors wearing uniforms. 
  • Cowboys Stadium will enter its sixth year this year. It almost feels newer than on the first day that it opened. No one can walk into that place without getting wild eyed. Edit: It was pointed out that the correct phrase is "wide eyed". Then again, after paying for parking and walking a mile to the stadium, you might be "wild eyed" as well. 
  • An Arlington Martin student/football player was murdered yesterday.  This morning the principal made an announcement to the students -- surrounded by television cameras. Bet she never dreamed that would be in her job description. (Not that it matters -- or I guess it does -- but the student had a kid.)
  • For those that call the President "arrogant", how do you explain his admission yesterday that the he screwed up by not sending a higher ranking official to Paris for the demonstration?
  • Two thousand people were massacred in Nigeria nine days ago, and it hardly makes the news. Heck, even though it basically involves an Islamist attack on Christians, trying to find the story even on Fox News' homepage is like trying to find Waldo. 
  • News you can use: A map of the U.S. showing were goats are most concentrated. 
  • If this inflation calculator is correct, gas today at $1.75 a gallon is the equivalent of paying 54 cents in 1979.  In 1979, gas actually cracked a $1.00 a gallon. Heck, it might have cracked a $1.00 in 1977 or 1978.



1.12.2015

Poor Duck Had Flashbacks To Duck Season

I'm Worried About The Internet



Someone created a video showing people doing amazing (and sometimes stupid) things but no one ends up sprawled out with every bone broken.

Get Me This Dog



Playing in the snow is cute enough, but throw in that he's too dumb to know where the squeak is coming from, and we've got us a winner.

Didn't Even Know U.S. Central Command Had A Twitter Account





Let's Go Grab Some Wings, Honey


Bar Fight After Cowboys Game by EgotasticMedia

Nothing like respect between fan bases.

I'm No Weatherman




But doesn't a cold front come in from the North? So how is Decatur in full cloud cover right now when the front has moved through Arlington causing, oddly, a clear sky.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • I just noticed that the theme from St. Elmo's Fire plays at the end of those Rob Lowe commercials.  
  • Bridgeport's Colin Jones of the Carolina Panthers got some face time during Saturday's playoff game.
  • CBS ran a one hour tribute/documentary about Verne Lundquist in November that I had recorded and finally watched. It was beyond fantastic. It was called In Your Life if you can find it.
  • I also watched A Football Life on UT's win of the National Championship in 2006 in the Rose Bowl. Also really good. But do I dare say it: Vince Young's failed pro career seems frighteningly similar to RG3's current situation. Both won Rookie of the Year and then things began to wobble.
  • Another reason to hate Mark Cuban: He's throwing this party. (By the way, I follow the guy on Twitter and his account has become an infomercial for a ridiculous app that he owns. He's trying to compete with SnapChat, and it is destined to fail.)
  • Sting was at the AAC last night in what might have been the most unpublicized event of the weekend. Tickets for the nosebleed section were going for less than $10. 
  • Fox New is running a commercial dogging Dish for not carrying the network over a contact dispute. Bill O'Reilly appears and says that Dish "is censoring us." Sheesh. Really? It's about money, hoss.
  • There are sex offender lists. There should be a list of prosecutors who are known to have withheld evidence. Those type of prosecutors, quite frankly, are more dangerous.
  • Jury selection will begin in a crazy Graham County murder case where a guy is accused of killing his two year old and six month old sons and then sending a photo of their dead bodies to their mother. It made national news.  The case was moved to Tarrant County on a change of venue.
  • So last week Troy Aikman said he "expected" Jason Garrett to go for it on 4th and 6 but yesterday he disagreed with the Cowboys going for it on 4th and 2 with less than five minutes to play? 
  • Baylor went for it of 4th down a shocking 34 times this season (led the nation) and converted 73% of the time.
  • Horrible story: A Tarrant County child on Sunday after being in a coma since a 2009 DWI crash. Although he'll get no sympathy from the public, it is stunning that the defendant/other driver is still in the Tarrant County jail awaiting trial. (Related note: Applebees got sued over the wreck.)
  • I'm not sure I can do the "Above the Fold" posts with the Messenger's front page because they have tricked up -- in a bad way -- their digital downloads. 
  • There's a "Camel Kisses Ranch" near Wichita Falls where there are actual camels. At least there is for now: One of the camels trampled two people to death over the weekend. 
  • Weird college basketball moment. Baylor was up by 7 on TCU in overtime and it looked like time expired as the ball went out of bounds off of TCU. The ref then stopped the game and went to instant replay and then put a fraction of a second back on the clock.   (The game also featured a ref who went down with a hamstring injury -- he looked like he had been shot.)
  • Trashy girl I can't take my eyes off of.