- Time is running out to sign up for the Not Double Fake Liberally Lean Tourney Pick 'Em.
- I hadn't seen Timothy McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones, since the bombing trial. Now this week he's been in the news representing the OU fraternity and a witness in the Super Bowl ticket trial. (I remember an article about him during the the bombing trial's individual jury selection which explored his ability to talk to any juror in depth about their jobs. A nurse. An engineer. An oilfield worker. A mechanic. He could reference bizarre minutia about their area of expertise.)
- Odd story of a guy who left a toddler in his car yesterday in Dallas. He went to the movies at 11:00 on on a Tuesday after a nap? And, from a criminal standpoint, it was interesting to see him arrested on the spot yet a police officer interviewed on camera said it was an "accident" and it "could happen to anyone." That case is dead in the water. As it probably should be.
- But I couldn't take my eyes off this "good Samaritan" involved in that story. (Photo.)
- I've got to research that assault case against possible new Dallas Cowboy Greg Hardy. I've heard for months he was "convicted" by a judge but the case was later "dismissed" when the victim didn't show up for a jury trial. Confuses me to no end. Edit: A Ticket guy with the answer.
- Republican congressman Aaron Schock resigned yesterday in the midst of a financial scandal. Young. Good looking. Douchey. Magazine cover model. Not very bright. He couldn't survive politically today but he will be able to in a few years from now. Coverage on Entertainment Tonight will be more important than Meet The Press.
- Motorcycle death in Burleson.
- Based upon reports from the Kids In The House, pinching is still alive and well on St. Patrick's Day.
- I've never been sure about just exactly what happens at South by Southwest.
- Local media thoughts: (1) Something is weird with Fox 4's Steve Eager. He's become the equivalent of an attitudinal teen. (2) No one is more arrogant on Twitter than sports guy Mike Fisher. And he has no reason to be. (3) How does Clarice Tinsley keep a straight face reading those Facebook posts? Probably because she doesn't understand how silly she looks. (4) I like Fox 4's Jenny Anchondo. (5) Ed "Uncle Barky" Bark doesn't understand that being a television "expert" (not sure how that is even possible) doesn't make him an expert in everything. (6) Whatever happened to Jean-Jacques Taylor?
- I'm kind of surprised that every kid doesn't have an implanted GPS chip by now.
- The paper below has a story about a judge using technology in dealing with late night search warrant requests for blood. "[Judge] Neves, who is often lying in bed when the calls come in, approves the warrant and swears in the officers on a tablet using the county’s video chat." That almost sounds like the judge is a rubber stamp.
3.18.2015
Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts
3.17.2015
"Wham Sauced": Girl Gets Crushed At Finish Line
And this is what the Internet was made for.
But what the heck is with the the finish line tape? This isn't a marathon. It's a 400 meter dash.
Side note: If I'm Fox, I demote Troy Aikman and Joe Buck immediately and make these guys my A team. Full throttle energy with some comedy thrown in.
I Mentioned Pinching In Random Thoughts . . .
On #StPatricksDay you can pinch people who don't wear green. You can also pinch people who aren’t #UpForWhatever. pic.twitter.com/B9aATwrEXo
— Bud Light (@budlight) March 17, 2015
. . . and this Bud Light post appears to be getting a lot of backlash.
Edit: That was embedded earlier and it appears the original tweet has now been deleted. Here is what it looked like . . .
Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts
- I've always wanted to write a book, and Mrs. LL and I stayed up way too late talking about one last night: The Bridgeport basketball championship and everything swirling around it. Think about it. Small town with no basketball history. Four new move-ins. The impact of "select" sports programs today. Why Bridgeport? The race angle. The Cuban connection. That house. And that just scratches the surface. Look, Friday Night Lights was a fantastic book about Odessa Permian's football program but what we just saw trumps that to the nth degree. But I would need your help with information.
- Edit: You guys realize that Friday Night Lights was an eye opening critical piece, right?
- From Channel 8 News last night: "WISE COUNTY — A bag full of abandoned puppies was dumped into a rural Wise County creek bed on Sunday. Now the family who took them in is pushing for the owner to be held accountable."
- For some reason I ended up following Chuck Woolery on Twitter and was amazed at what a right winger he was. Then I noticed he is a spokesperson in commercials which appear on Fox News for a product that has to be a scam called the "Willow Curve". It looks like an electronic device out of Star Trek to cure joint pain. Wait a second! Throw out very conservative opinions to become beloved to an elderly Fox News viewer with pain and then try and sell that product? That has to be a coincidence, right?
- Very obscure sports observation: In light of SMU's tourney appearance in more than two decades, coach Larry Brown was interviewed a lot yesterday. He talked slowly and seemed beyond lethargic. He's 74. Something didn't seem right.
- The video didn't show much, but last night the metroplex media had a story of police shooting a mentally ill guy at almost point blank range. Amazing. Edit: The Dallas Observer has posted the unedited video. The shooting happens right after the 1:00 minute mark. You've got to be kidding me!!!!
- The Texas Senate approved Open Carry yesterday for those who have a concealed handgun licenses. Hey, I understand those who want a CHL, but why would you ever want to carry a gun that is exposed?
- If a program comes on dealing with monkeys, our house shuts down.
- I didn't see the HBO mini-series on Robert Durst but if they are going to try and convict him based upon his "bathroom confession", good luck with all that. I could only think of the scene in Presumed Innocent when Harrison Ford sarcastically and angrily uttered in the hallway, "Yeah, you're right. I killed him" to the prosecutor. Later the judge would say (and I paraphrase): "In my neighborhood, if someone were to be falsely accused they would respond with 'Ya momma.' But I suppose in his neighborhood a person would respond with, 'Yeah, you're right."
- When I was in elementary school I was riding in the car with my mom to school on St. Patrick's Day when I realized I wasn't wearing anything green. My mom looked around frantically and came up with the idea to paste a Green Stamp to my belt. (I laugh just thinking about it.) But I ended up getting pinched all day because no one noticed it. Question: Do kids still pinch one another for not wearing green? I would think not.
- The Liberally Lean Tourney Pick 'Em. Don't forget. Sign up. We had 57 who did so yesterday. Couple of funny names in there.
3.16.2015
Please, please, please sign him!
Guess who's working out with the Eagles?!?!?! http://t.co/QdhOkhWqiF pic.twitter.com/XSUF6pr8wt
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) March 16, 2015
Liberally Lean March Madness Pick 'Em Tourney 2015
Link to sign up should be here.
My incomplete list of past winners:
2014 - Chris Read
2013 - Tad Billmire
2012 - ????
2011 - Wise County Attorney James Stainton
2010 - Nine year old Blake Cooper (son of former Decatur stationed DPS Trooper Scott Cooper)
Internet Laughed At This Guy Over The Weekend
As did I.
And we should all be ashamed of ourselves.
I do a horrible job of it, but I try to always be mindful of where a person has been before I judge them. It's the concept of, "Maybe he's had a bad day." But sometimes a person has had a very hard life. Sometimes self-inflicted. Sometimes out of their control like this man.
Random Monday Morning Thoughts
- I'll get the Liberally Lean March Madness Pick 'Em Tourney up later this morning.
- A lady had her probation for murder revoked in Tarrant County last week for the new offense of credit card abuse. (I know I wrote about the original trial when it happened despite having no specific memory of doing so. And I know that makes no sense.) The story says the verdict led to the a change in the law which no longer allows a jury to give probation in a murder case -- which is insane.
- The Family Unit wanted me to hit softballs to them on a field yesterday so off we went. Fantastic afternoon. Started off by hitting them grounders. Good stuff. Then they wanted me to hit them high fly balls to the outfield. You know, I haven't done that in years and failed miserably at it. I resulted to throwing the ball instead of hitting it. I'll be sharing a hospital room with Yu Darvish after Tommy John surgery later today.
- This has been posted and posted again by the Dallas Morning News on social media: "Mark Cuban's lawyer has the coolest, most challenging job in the legal profession." Most challenging? The headline writer has to be an intern. Trust me, there's a new lawyer today who just got a court appointment in a criminal case who has a more "challenging" job. Think about the consequences.
- Blue Bell had a recall after three people died from eating the the product. Died! (That goofy Texas Supreme Court judge always panders to his audience by tweeting about how he loves Blue Bell. What happens if a case involving the tainted product ends up in front him?)
- I was only halfway watching This Week With George Stephanopoulos when I perked up because I heard a politician say this about the issues in Ferguson. "But we need to begin to look at how we move forward. You don't move forward by talking about things like the militarization of the police, which really is decisions [sic] that need to be made by the police of how they protect themselves and how they protect others in the hard job they have to do." Good lord. Not only do the police need to unilaterally decide how they arm themselves but we don't need to question it?
- Later I hit "play" on the new episode of Vice which had a disturbing segment on the militarization of the police. Great, great show.
- I was in the front yard yesterday and was watching a bird chirping when I saw one of the Family Dogs looking at me through the backyard fence. I decided to take him on a walk and, for once, do so without listening to radio/podcasts/music. With my ears open, a block over I got to smile when a little neighbor girl yelled out of her upstairs window, "Hello, Barry!!!" But then that mood was taken down a notch when I later heard an argument between a couple in a garage. Such is life.
- I heard on the radio that girls love Game of Thrones (which I've never seen.) True?
- The new Will Farrell movie looks horrible. Thought: Has he ever been in a dramatic role? Other comedians have done it. Robin Williams. Steve Martin. Bill Murray. Even Adam Sandler.
- I'm up to date on Better Call Saul. Those feelings of doubt about the show have now vanished. It's fantastic.
3.15.2015
Bridgeport Wins State Championship -- Media Is Not Impressed
Nothing from the Star-Telegram's sports home page:
And I didn't find anything in the Dallas Morning News -- even on its page dedicated to high school sports. But it still had this item up (mentioning a fact that was also referenced on Fox Sports Southwest about a million times last night):
And I didn't find anything in the Dallas Morning News -- even on its page dedicated to high school sports. But it still had this item up (mentioning a fact that was also referenced on Fox Sports Southwest about a million times last night):
Channel 8 strikes a similar theme:
3.14.2015
Star-Telegram Fires First Shot At The New Tarrant County DA
Story.
Let's be honest about the elephant in the room: That lady is a nutcase. She's like an angry and unhappy Ted Cruz or Dan Patrick on meth yet with ultimate power. You should all be scared. Make no mistake about it, she holds the most powerful position in Tarrant County with the capability to destroy lives. Ironically, the article (which only scratches the surface) concerns how she is treating her staff with an iron glove. If the article accurately represents her attitude towards those who she should care about, I fear for those who she is prosecuting.
The stories are legendary about how, as a judge, she harshly treated prosecutors, defense lawyers, and even spectators in her court. Until recently I thought it was limited to that. Then I learned she treated her court staff just as harshly. That's mind blowing. Those who work for you protect you. I'd love to see how she treats a waiter.
Side note: Many years ago I was talking to a former Tarrant County assistant DA who told me she had an upcoming probation revocation hearing in Wilson's court. "It's a true-but" she said. I replied with a confused, "What?" "It's a true-but. You know, the allegations in the motion to revoke the probation are true but there are some reasons why he shouldn't be revoked," came the response. I asked, "Does that ever work in that court?" Her response: "Not really. Unless the defendant is young, white and female." I turned to her in amazement but she was distracted. She had uttered those words casually and with no axe to grind.
I can't tell you how badly I feel for every prosecutor in her office. I suspect that most would leave but because of the ridiculous glut of lawyers out there, they simply have nowhere to go. But for those who have already walked out, you will never regret the decision. You can always look in the mirror and say, "I refused to be bullied by her."
Wilson's campaigns as a judge always amused me. Her signs would say, "A tough Republican!" Politics aside, shouldn't that read, "A tough and fair Republican"?
Being a bad person and horrible boss is one thing, prosecuting people is another. We live in an age where we are finally discovering how wrongful convictions can occur because of prosecutors who care more about themselves than doing the right thing and seeking justice. I said last year that Sharen Wilson has the potential to be the re-incarnation of the now disgraced former Dallas DA Henry Wade. I just pray that every media outlet monitors her every move. Kudos to the Star-Telegram for at least firing the first shot.
3.13.2015
Bridgeport 68, Madison 60 (Final)
And that webcast on FoxSports was of pretty good quality.
The Morning News previewed the team today:
And there are those grumbling:
A lot of negativity coming from the coaches section over that Bridgeport team. #UILState
— Ponder Basketball (@PonderHoops) March 13, 2015
Trophy Club Youth Sports: Bring Your Lawyer
At least if stuff like this goes on.
This is a new court opinion. It's long. Kinda complicated. But the facts are insane.
A guy sues two other guys for defamation arising out of everyone's participation in "Trophy Club Roanoke Baseball Association." (You know, a baseball league for kids.) In fact, Ryan Williams was a coach and he sued his assistant coach and the commissioner of the association. If you ever been involved in those summer sports of youth baseball and softball, you learn that its some of the parents and coaches who make you fear for our future instead of the kids.
I tried, the best I could, to wade through the facts and I kept waiting for the Big Reveal. What could possibly have been said that prompted a lawsuit? It's bizarre. It basically centered on Williams believing that he was called "abusive" as a coach which he did not appreciate. But there's also part of the opinion regarding the treatment of Williams son by others during the all-start team selection process. However, I was left with the impression of, "You sued two people over that?"
The opinion documents meetings, telephone calls, emails, and text messages among parents and coaches. So much time and energy wasted.
The court actually kicked out the lawsuit. Legally, they considered it to be a "SLAPP" lawsuit under Texas law -- filed in retaliation for the defendants exercise of free speech and without enough evidence existing to ever support the plaintiff's claims of defamation.
I only wish the court would have ended with the opinion with, "We conclude there is no crying in baseball." Instead, they remanded the case back to the trial court to determine if the defendants are entitled to an "award of costs, attorney's fees, and sanctions."
Love the guy in the background: "Woah!"
FAILURE... IS an option lol but u can always get up & keep going! Traffic now back to normal speeds at @CBS4Indy pic.twitter.com/X1fPqORJcu”
— Katie Solove (@KatieSolove) March 12, 2015
Random Friday Morning Thoughts
- I said yesterday that the prosecutor in that horrible double child murder in Graham had caused the jury to question her credibility by telling them the defendant loved his children whom he had killed. Yesterday, that jury decided against the death penalty.
- The failure to get the death penalty in that case is telling. That would have been a no-brainer for a jury 30 years ago and just shows how the public has now turned against it. If the Texas legislature never has the courage to abolish the death penalty, a civilized society might do it for them by never imposing it.
- Historic day for Bridgeport basketball as it plays in the state tournament at 1:30 p.m today.
- Jeopardy fans: Watch only one contestant make it to Final Jeopardy as the two others end in the negative number.
- Had a kid kind of circle me on a bike yesterday while I was jogging and at one point pulled out a cellphone. I could only think about the scene in Breaking Bad where a kid on bike turned out to be a hitman.
- For America to be a Christian nation, we sure have a lot of experts on Islam.
- I haven't mentioned it, but I was really disturbed of the footage of ISIS from a couple of weeks ago destroying rare works of art in an Iraq museum. Then I heard someone say that its crazy how that video can cause in some people a more emotional response than the numerous executions. (Side note: I learned from an On The Media podcast that most of the works of art which were destroyed were simply duplicates with the originals having been moved for safe keeping before the arrival of ISIS. A quick search found a similar report from Newsweek.)
- Got behind an extended cab white truck this morning on College and then Hale streets and it was going 10 mph. Not 20 or 15. 10 mph. That's sloooooow. But it was staying in between the lines and came to a complete stop at a stop sign and signaled. It was just barely moving. It was too dark for me to see the driver.
- I can't find a news article on it, but an Austin reporter covering the legislature noted yesterday that the heads of agency after agency lined up a hearing asking for millions of dollars to repair and upgrade government buildings.
- Grapevine cop involed shooting update: I'm not sure what I think about the lady who claims she came upon the victim laying by his car with no cops around. In essence, she is saying after the cop shot him, that cop left. The videos in the case would give us the truth but they are not being released. If she's right, this is going to be bad.
- "Innocent Driver Injured In Carrollton Police Chase."
- From all of the mercenaries on the Mavericks to the crazy number of players changing teams during NFL free agency, Jerry Seinfeld had it dead right: "When it is all said and done, we're just cheering for laundry."
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