More On The OU Fraternity's Video

Things are moving fast. They fraternity was promptly suspended  and this morning there was a rally at OU. Coach Bob Stoops was there as well as the university president.

But a question was posed on the radio this morning: Should those kids be kicked out of school? I'm really conflicted by that. Edit: You know, there would be a huge Freedom of Speech issue if kicked out (and I'm stunned I didn't see that.). A public university expelling someone for what they said? Don't think that can happen.

However, that guy in the tux is about to have his name exposed and this will not be pretty.

Edit: Different angle video surfaces.

This video hasn't been posted. Watch the guys behind him try to wave the camera away... #OU #student body needs to see this.

A video posted by David Smith (@soonerdave25) on Mar 8, 2015 at 9:02pm PDT

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• There was a WBAP reporter who was injured in a car accident in Wise County in December. He will be released from the hospital, finally, this week. (Facebook link.)
• I got curious about the origin of the bathroom sign that says "Employees must wash hands". I might have spent 10 minutes on Google looking for the source but couldn't find it (which I think is amazing.) I saw some reference to an OSHA regulation but nothing definitive. 
• My mind is blown about the video of the Oklahoma fraternity caught engaging in a racist chant.  This is 2015 and those guys were smart enough to get admitted to OU.  The fraternity has been suspended in record time. 
• Never have thought much of the frat boy. 
• An early edition of the Dallas Morning News over the weekend might cost someone their job. 
• Sports: (1) Yu Darvish is done and so are the Rangers, (2) It's looking more and more like Dirk is done. His last three productive years were wasted, (3) The Miami Dolphins will rue the day they signed Ndamukong Suh to a $114 million contract with $60 million guaranteed. Just ask the Redskins about Albert Haynesworth who they paid $41 million in guaranteed money and got squat in return, (4) I've never been to the state basketball tournament but Bridgeport's appearance makes me want to go. I started thinking about a trip to Austin and then discovered they've moved the tournament to San Antonio.
• I think Mrs. LL may have bought into the conspiracy theory about the Malaysian jet that disappeared one year ago. I just didn't have the energy last night to explore it. 
• There's a 22 year old from Alvord in the obits in the Update. Anyone?
• The death of Terry Dorsey was particularly sad because he only retired two months ago.  To work that long and not get to enjoy the benefits. But that is the concept of mindfulness: Don't get caught up in the past and don't dream excessively about the future -- concentrate on the now. 
• I threw the softball with the Sixth Grader In The House this weekend. One of life's great joys. 
• I'm confused. John Wiley Price gets a court appointed lawyer in his federal court case but has to contribute $80,000 for part of the fees? Maybe I'm focusing on the wrong thing, but a court appointed defense lawyer in one federal case will get paid in excess of $80,000? You kidding me? 
• The site that I get the screen shot of newspapers is down this morning. 

I Had A Rough Night

Damaged #Lamborghini abandoned on Dallas North Tollway STORY: http://t.co/DhuY7PjNJX pic.twitter.com/0A3oCc6cdA
— WFAA TV (@wfaachannel8) March 8, 2015

Breaking: Wise County Sheriff Hanging Out With Country Music Star

I'm not sure I have the energy to start a TMZ: Wise County site, but I may just have to.

Lubbock Journal This Morning

Next playoff game this afternoon. I keep telling the metroplex media, with the Cuban connection and with absolutely no history of basketball success, there's a story here.

And I have no idea it this link works from Facebook, but here's a dunk from last night.

DPS to Legislators: Look Out For Those Glitter Bombs Coming From Them Gays

Story.

Hot Girl Making Other People Uncomfortable With Selfies Taking You Into The Weekend

Let's Check In On The #1 Golfer In The World Today

That's on the ninth hole at Doral in the Cadillac Championship.

Teacher Of Sixth Graders Drunk In Class?

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa —An Iowa teacher has been arrested and charged with public intoxication after she was allegedly drunk while teaching students earlier this week. Carissa Bryant, 33, is a sixth-grade teacher at Lenihan Intermediate School. The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office arrested Bryant Wednesday afternoon after the Marshalltown School District received a tip from a staff member that an employee may be under the influence of alcohol. Chief Deputy Steve Hoffman said the incident happened the same day a county deputy was at the school for DARE anti-drug and alcohol classes. “The irony is not lost,” said Hoffman.Sobriety tests were administered and she was charged with public intoxication. Authorities said Bryant had blood shot eyes, slurred speech, and a blood alcohol concentration of 0.19 percent.

Two quick thoughts: (1) The cops were called? Whatever happened to the days when a co-worker/friend would take control of a situation and help a girl out? Yeah, you shouldn't be drunk. And you probably deserved to be fired or suspended, but arrested?  (2) I've got her defense lined out: "You who have taught sixth graders throw the first stone."

I Followed This Guy On Twitter . . .

So much to wonder about. pic.twitter.com/9GvqQY1q79
— Ben Montgomery (@gangrey) March 6, 2015

. . . during the George Zimmerman trial because he is a reporter for at Tampa Bay paper. He posted this today.

The letter is like Christian Brothers Automotive but more direct.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• "The Tarrant County district attorney’s office has asked Grapevine police not to release dash-cam video of last month’s police shooting that killed an unarmed North Richland Hills man because it is considered evidence." Man, how bad is that video? And I bet DA Sharen Wilson didn't "ask". She demanded. 
• I wanted to rent a Rug Doctor again to clean the carpets yesterday but thought I should ask Mrs. LL beforehand since I was going to make a lot of noise. Her response, "Knock yourself out."
• I'm still working on "mindfulness" concept. At this point I just have my toe in the water and thinking "this really feels great". 
• I'm not saying I busted my arse yesterday working from home, but the concept is amazing. I have a paperless office and store everything in the "cloud" so I have every document and all case information at my fingertips. And, with Westlaw, I have the greatest law library in the world on my laptop. 
• I went all out last weekend with walking in the snow at night and sledding with the Family Unit until I was exhausted. On Thursday night at around 11:00 when the snow really came down the Junior In The House was looking out the window with me and (maybe seriously) said, "You wanna go make a snow angel?" I should have said "yes".
• Ran across a tweet by Houston judge Ryan Patrick last night who posted the cover of the most recent Texas Bar Journal which has a cover title of "The Vanishing Jury Trial". He wrote: "Um, not in the 177th. Criminal law is where the action is."  That sends me over the edge. He presides over felony cases which impact lives forever and he flippantly considers it to be "where the action is".  Quick research revealed he was appointed to the job to fill a vacancy, just happens to be the son of  Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick , and describes himself as "Christian, Husband, Father, Baylor Bear & Judge of the 177th Criminal Dist Ct. Youngest Dist Ct judge in TX". Since Harris County is a Democrat county, he'll be out of a job soon. 
• This isn't the best quality Vine, but it's a video of a one car crash this morning which resulted in a huge fire by the Texas Motor Speedway.
• Breaking: Unemployment is down to 5.5% -- the lowest in seven years. And that's without invading a couple of countries.
• BagOfNothing's dog in the snow is pretty cute. Ours loved it but were more cautious.
• Ringling Brothers has decided to phase out elephants from its circus. Donald Trump said he would never go again because "they probably used the animal rights stuff to reduce costs."  Interesting to think that he was invited to speak at CPAC a couple of weeks ago along with every other potential Republican presidential hopeful. 
• Ticket Fans: The Fake Michael Irvin's school closing song yesterday to the tune of In Da Club made me laugh out loud yesterday morning. 
• Former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling is reaching martyrdom status for defending his daughter against cyber-bullies. That's better press than he received two years ago when he was accused of defrauding the government of Rhode Island out out a $75 million loan for his private business that may have never had any chance to survive.

Big Loss For DA Even In Conservative Palo Pinto County

Do you remember this case? A lady high on drugs falls into a freezer and ends up locked in it and dying.  So what does the DA do? Prosecute the gal's husband because he admitted to providing her meth. But it wasn't just a "delivery charge", he charged the guy with causing her death because of the delivery. Really? (I know I yelled about this when I first learned about the charge.)

The defendant was dumb enough to admit to smoking meth with his wife earlier but that's about it. But is there any way in the world a prosecutor could think he could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this particular instance of smoking meth caused her death?  What if her "toxicology report also indicated other substances found in the body included marijuana, hydrocodone and a prescription anti-anxiety medication"? And what if we have an honest medical examiner who actually knows his limitations and ruled the death an "accident"?

Not guilty on causing her death. Guilty on providing her meth. And it's hard to be found not guilty of anything in Palo Pinto County.

Meanwhile, In Bridgeport

@DFWscanner @WCMessenger ...snakes and snow!!! This is one tough snake pic.twitter.com/qwsQ1YuWWT
— Bridgeport Fire Dept (@Br1dgeportFire3) March 5, 2015

Snow Morning Reading

A Dallas Morning News columnist recounts his experience when a a product he purchases doesn't include a component part that is supposed to be included.

I thought this was interesting and a bit odd.  First, Sony is to blame, not Target. Secondly, I'd just buy the missing component part. Sure, there has to be a price that would be unacceptable to me, but I'm not spending two to three hours jacking with that problem unless I absolutely have to.

(And why did he throw in there his speculation of the salary of the Target employee? Especially from a guy who works in maybe the lowest paid industry in the nation.)

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• What an insane snowstorm that turned out to be. I can look out the window forever at that stuff coming down. And I did even after everyone else in the house went to bed. 
• If one more local TV reporter tells me, "If you don't need to go out, stay inside", I might lose it.
• That being said, the live news shots of metroplex traffic this morning show that it is worse than anything over the last two weeks.
• Local Government Awards: Offices of the City of Decatur and the Wise County Appraisal District open later this morning. All others are closed. 
• I owe Alvord ISD and Paradise ISD an apology from last week. I dogged them a little bit for announcing their school closings almost at 8:00 a.m. I didn't realize that they had already delayed opening until 10:00 a.m. so parents actually had plenty of notice instead of being caught off guard at the last second. 
• Even though it is not going to get above freezing until after noon, this stuff will start melting  this morning pretty quickly.  Even when the temperature is below freezing, an unobstructed sun will melt it. (I think it has something to do with science.)
• I'm a fan of the flowering crape myrtle trees, and I've figured out that they bloom generally around March 10th. I hope this weather doesn't ruin that. Edit: Dang it. I meant Bradford Pears.
• There is nothing worse than visiting with a client who is about to agree to a plea bargain that requires prison time even it is the smart and wise thing to do. They are, in a bizarre way, the most intimate of conversations. And I'm devastated afterwards each time.
• There was an argument in the Supreme Court yesterday about the meaning of a phrase within the thousands of words in the Obamacare statute. From a legal standpoint, I'll admit to being clueless because it would take me an hour of serious study to understand exactly what's going on. 
• Pete Delkus was doing a bit on Twitter last night by announcing school closings with the phrase, "I've decided that I will close [name] I.S.D. now".  His comedy is not any better than his forecasting. 
• A radio caller the other day identified himself as a retired forensic hypnotist. I hadn't thought about that in years. DPS used to actually have "experts" that they would use to "hypnotize" witnesses in an attempt to produce repressed memories. I don't think the Texas courts were ever dumb enough to allow such testimony. 
• Does a postal delivery worker smile if he delivers an actual handwritten envelope that looks like it includes an actual handwritten letter? Ninety nine percent of his deliveries have to be junk mail and bills. 
• My obligatory shot at Mark Cuban: Forbes annual list of billionaires lists him at #603 with a net worth of $3 billion dollars. Didn't he have a little more than that in the 1990s after Yahoo! buried him in cash? It's been over fifteen years and he's not been able to increase his net worth?
• GOP Golden Child Ben Carson presidential aspirations slid off into a ditch after voicing his theory on gays. It's not the gay issue that dooms him, it's the fear of his ability to reason. If he sees x there is no telling what his y conclusion will be.
• Jane McGarry now has a full time job at Good Morning Texas. She's an odd bird. Online she is shockingly funny and witty but if you ever hear her interviewed she seems to be boringly normal.
• Commercial disguised as a newscast/broadcast:  I noticed a few months back that various radio hosts on WBAP, The Ticket, and others would casually throw in Fandango, the movie search engine into a conversation. I heard it at least four times in one week. I haven't heard it since.

Official Decatur ISD Twitter Account Causes Comedy For Some And Question Marks For Others

Decatur ISD will be CLOSED tomorrow due to icy conditions. Stay safe & warm! pic.twitter.com/GTsX2PUBJ7
— Decatur High School (@Decatur_HS) March 5, 2015

This made me laugh out loud but will probably cause a question mark form over a lot of heads. The graphic is a reference to The Ticket's George Dunham who does a Fake Michael Irvin on snow days when he announces which schools are CLOSED.

Saw This Being Reported In Various Places

Mexican national killed by Grapevine police had aggrav DWI 3 months ago in Lewisville @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/oNlb6HUZLP
— Todd Unger (@ToddWFAA8) March 4, 2015

I've got a question: What difference does it make?

(And I think I know what he means -- misdemeanor penalties can greater if the alcohol concentration is greater than .15 , but I've never heard of the term "aggravated" DWI.)

Random Newscast Silliness

Pretty funny line.  And, man, that initial look from the gal.