4.06.2015

Ted Cruz's First Ad



BagOfNothing.com posted this video and it completely slipped past me.

Man, there's a lot going on in this thing.  It really is mind blowing. First, he is unabashedly after the Christian vote and is willing to alienate all others.  (For a guy who loves Israel, he doesn't care about the Jewish vote -- which, of course, is small. That explains it.)

I'm not familiar with his father's story which required "the transformative love of Jesus Christ" in order for him to stay with Cruz's mother.

His wife wears a sweater with the sleeves tied around her neck for dinner? And I love the little kid on the far right who looks at Cruz during the fake prayer as if she is thinking, "Daddy, you be crazy." (And, come to think about it, aren't you a little crazy if you'll do a fake prayer for a commercial? How offensive is that? Did I miss the Bible verse which had the political ad exception to praying in your closet alone?)

But he hit all the hot buttons. Family. Prayer. The flag. Soldiers. 9/11. (But he'll go through the roof when he realizes he missed putting in the eagle.)

And what was up with that line of, "This is our fight" at the end?

This presidential run is going to be crazily entertaining. I said it a couple of weeks ago. He's like Timothy Treadwell in Grizzly Man: He has no idea what is about to happen to him.
at 9:14 AM

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • A guy fell through a skylight at that Williamson-Dickie building off of Highway 287, sued, and was awarded $33.8 million -- and that was twice what his lawyer had asked for. I have no idea how the tort reform laws will shrink the verdict, but I bet it is substantially. 
  • I heard a lot of talk about the documentary McConkey on The Ticket so I watched it this weekend. Verdict: Fantastic. I was left with the thought of, "Buddy, if you want to push life to the limits so long as you understand you are probably going to die early, I've got no problem with it." 
  • When ebola victim Nina Pham sued her employer/hospital, I wrote that I was curious as to why she's was not limited to only a worker's comp claim. That defense was raised in the hospital's Original Answer. 
  • I watched a little bit of Killing Jesus on Fox News and had a sense of satisfaction realizing how that network and Bill O'Reilly were profiting off of religion. 
  • I went out to Easter lunch yesterday at a restaurant, went to the bathroom, and came back to find that the meal had been served. Mrs. LL channeled Pulp Fiction and said: "Don't you just love it when you come back from the bathroom and find your food waiting for you?" I missed the greatest opportunity in not replying with: "We're lucky we got anything at all. I don't think Buddy Holly's much of a waiter." (Which is a line I've used for years.) 
  • I learned from the Junior In The House that the word "gnarly" is back in vogue. 
  • Isn't there tremendous Free Speech issues with Revenge Porn laws? You voluntarily provide a risque picture of yourself to a spouse/boyfriend, you break up, and then the guy posts it on the Internet And the government can make that a crime? Let's back it up 40 years. She takes a polaroid of herself and gives it to her boyfriend and then her boyfriend shows it to his buddy. That can be a crime? Could the government make it a crime for a person simply to describe what the photo looked like? (And I can't wait for the first brain dead comment of "So you support Revenge Porn?")
  • I cleaned out a big kitchen drawer this weekend and came across a package for a refrigerator light with "Don't throw this away!" written on it on with a Sharpie.  Everyone in the house knows that when I go on a cleaning binge I will throw away everything. 
  • Fast and Furious 7 made $143 million over the weekend. "Shut it down. Let's go home."
  • I watched a lot of the classic The Ten Commandments movie last night which I haven't seen in years. Man, there's a lot of wheels off aspects about that film. Ovcr the top acting. Crazy special effects. A lot of sexual innuendos which I never caught before. And the opening credits go on forever and include a statement along the lines of, "For all who see this, they will be compelled to walk the path that Moses walked." (That's a horrible paraphrase but I can't find the exact quote.)
  • Want to know how old I am? I first saw that movie at the drive in theater in Decatur. 
  • Four of the first five stories in the Update today are about high school spring sports. The other one is about the weather. 
  • Thoughts on the DMN front page below: (1) Another church doing bits, (2) The Star-Telegram had that story on the Irish Travellers connection to that Colleyville murder a couple of weeks ago. 


at 8:39 AM

4.05.2015

That Got Him A One Game Suspension



So much going on there. The act. Dirk's grimace. Dirk's immediate stutter dance. The guilty party holding up his hands in the "who me?" mode. Dirk turning around with the look of astonishment and anger. The ref right in the background to see it all.
at 4:32 PM

Can Someone Tell Me If Kentucky Lost Last Night?


Ok, thank you.

(There was quite a bit of rioting in Kentucky last night and this photo is popping up everywhere. Oddly it was taken last year when they advanced to the Elite Eight.)
at 4:22 PM

It's Easter


Turned on the TV to see a production of Fake Jesus being beaten by two big guys dressed in black while a guy sings a hip hop song.

Elevate Life Church is in Frisco. The pastor has appeared in a couple of advertisements during Joel Osteen's show (with Joel Osteen endorsing him).  I presume Osteen is paid for that.
at 10:36 AM

4.03.2015

Get Me This . . .




. . . this . . . ?????  


at 11:54 AM

Day Two Of DFW Construction Issues









at 10:00 AM

In Store Video Of The Crash In Fort Worth This Week



Lady never had a chance.  I'm back to my Butterfly Effect theory.  Think of all the tiny momentary events that had to happen in her day (and week and year and life) that caused her to be standing in front of a cashier at that very second.

Edit: Ok, the lady at the counter didn't die. But a different woman did in a horrifying fashion as the vehicle plowed into her.  She obviously was out of view.  For those who took time to point out the correction, thanks. I wonder if those few seconds they took the time to do so will have any impact on the Butterfly Effect in their lives?
at 8:56 AM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • A prosecutor in the Tarrant County DA's office who was in charge of the prosecution of the murder case involving a Grapevine veterinarian quit the day after obtaining a 50 year sentence The departures continue to mount. 
  • The fact that a Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is being released should make us all just want to give up. 
  • Fox 4 ran a "buttock enhancement" commercial during its newscast last night with a nice doctor telling us that he offers the procedure starting at $4,995.  Ok, maybe that should make us all want to give up. 
  • First Baptist Church pastor Robert Jeffress is actually an official "Fox News Contributor." (I thought I'd noticed he had appeared on the network quite a bit lately.)  Note to Board of Deacons: He is doing irreversible damage to your church. You may like the publicity now, but his crazy rants will come back to haunt you. 
  • In January, Amazon announced it will hire 500 new employees for its site in Haslet. Yesterday they announced they will hire 400 more.  That's big news for nearby Wise County. 
  • I forgot to mention yesterday when the Fake Barry Green approached Brian Cuban on Twitter about burying the hatchet, Cuban was beyond gracious and forgiving. 
  • This weekend I will only eat Peeps that are free range. (I stole that from Tim Rogers of D Magazine. Although I'll admit it seemed funnier last night.)
  • I'm going to wear out my Baseball Pitchback net. Last night Mrs. LL had to say, "You gonna stop? It's dark."
  • If Wordkyle says the new Iraq nuclear agreement is worthless well . . . I'll agree with him. 
  • The Family Cat has been throwing up lately. We've got an appointment with the vet, but this is really odd. And she seems to be incredibly thirsty Any expert opinions out there? 
  • Sarah Colonna has been all over the radio and local TV the last 24 hours. Admission: I have never heard of her.
  • This Vine clip of Michael Irvin cheering at the NIT last night is as funny as it is bizarre. Buddy, it's the NIT. I just try to envision him screaming "CLOSED!"
  • I'm kind of surprised today's Update didn't mention the death of Stephen Hale. 
  • BagOfNothing went off about the online resume of the new female sports reporter at Fox 4. Sounds like something I'd do, not him. 
  • I read the lead article in the DMN this morning about the Irving City Council and Sharia Law. That public meeting last night was embarrassing. And all of this is about a resolution supporting a silly Texas bill -- a resolution that wasn't even necessary.  I'm not sure the mayor isn't creating a controversy just to get publicity. 




at 8:39 AM

4.02.2015

Taking Applications For Window Washers



Daily Mail- When you apply for a job as a skyscraper window cleaner, a head for heights is essential. But you probably don’t anticipate being repeatedly slammed into the side of the building as your platform is thrown around like a toy in the wind. Such was the fate of two window cleaners working at a skyscraper in Shanghai recently, People’s Daily Online reported, with their ordeal filmed from inside the building by an onlooker. The incident occurred at the 91st floor of the 101-storey Shanghai World Financial Centre, the city’s second-tallest building at 492 metres (1,614ft). The one-minute video shows the platform swing violently in wind with the Lujiazui Financial District hundreds of metres below.
at 4:03 PM

The Passing Of An Infamous* Wise County Lawyer


I've learned Stephen Hale has died. It happened in his sleep. It's odd to think that I saw him in court just a few days ago.  I always liked Stephen because he was a cordial, soft spoken, and bald-headed hippy who didn't really care what others thought. 

For those who don't know, he became the subject of controversy that spread all the way to the metroplex when he refused to prosecute misdemeanor marijuana cases while serving as the Wise County Attorney.  That was pretty bold. He would get a case, the evidence supported marijuana possession, there's a law against marijuana possession, and he killed the case based upon principle because he thought it was a stupid law. And this was in the 1990s in Wise County! The press loved this story. He had a front page article on the Dallas Morning News, was a feature story in the Dallas Observer, and was even on The Mark Davis Radio Show (how I would love to hear that.) He pissed off local law enforcement and eventually lost re-election only by a small margin. (Oh, how times have changed. He ran as a Democrat when Wise County hadn't figured out it was a Republican county, so the straight ticket Democratic voting almost put him back in office in the most conservative of Texas counties.)

Here's the Dallas Observer story: 


He later ran for DA in Denton County and stood no chance of winning. Loved this quote from him in the article below: "It's hard building a constituency of old stoners."  But it didn't help that he pled guilty to marijuana possession two weeks before the election and received probation. It seems that local cops and Denton law enforcement ran a sting operation on Hale and arrested him for buying marijuana from an informant. I was DA in Wise County at the time and wrote this about it. (I went back and read it and I love my tone: It's wrong for the cops to target people they don't like but I couldn't say that at the time.)


He left the area after the election and practiced law in Galveston for a while.  He then moved to Alaska although I'm not sure what he did up there. Then some time last year, he showed up back in town and opened up a law office.  I have no idea why.  He took a lot of court appointments and seemed happy. His hippy tendencies still stuck around as he showed up in a hoodie for district court a couple of times. That is, until he started showing up in coat and tie -- I'm guessing someone in authority told him the hoodie wasn't going to cut it.

One cold day, in a courthouse hallway, he was wearing the craziest hooded fur jacket you have ever seen. It was massive. It was ridiculous. It looked like he could survive the Iditarod in that thing. He told me that it was made out of the coats of five wolves which were killed when his horses trampled them in Alaska. My eyes got big. I regret not exploring that story with him because I was simply busy and had clients waiting on me. I can always find out later, right?

And now that chance is gone because he is gone.  An elected official. Crazy civil disobedience from inside the belly of the machine. An arrest.  Another election. Galveston. Alaska. Wolves. And that's just what I know about.  That's a pretty entertaining life.
_______
* A couple of comments took me to task for using the word "infamous". I've always considered infamous to mean a person being somewhat well known for an unusual reason, normally controversial, which caused people to notice him. In looking up the textbook definition, it truly is a lot harsher than it is sometimes used these days. However, I guess some truly did consider him in that light. 
at 12:39 PM

9/11 Was Retribution From God Because Of Abortions In America




Or so says First Baptist Church of Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress (who just might be turning into crazy Pat Robertson.)

Link.

How that Board of Deacons allow him to continue to embarrass that church is beyond comprehension.
at 10:48 AM

Random Silly Video Which I Thought Too Much About



Link if video doesn't work.

(The video doesn't end with a big finish, just to let you know.)

But thoughts:

  • I've spent a ton of time doing laundry in apartment laundromats back in the day, but I've never seen a washer/dryer combo at the end of a hallway.  Duplex? 
  • Kind of surprised that was in Nebraska, and I don't know why.
  • On the phone with her lawyer? Not only is that a horrible bluff but a bluff that wouldn't scare anyone. 
  • She called 911? I feel your pain dispatchers.
  • My favorite line is when she tells him that recording her is illegal and "you can receive a ticket and a big fine" for doing so and "she has sued people over it and won." I don't want to go into a big civil case vs. criminal case distinction here, but I'm guessing she's making all of that up. 
  • In all seriousness as we all make fun of her, isn't there a possibility that if we knew her background we might be a little more sympathetic towards her? That just crossed my mind when I thought about what the future holds for those three little kids, living motel to motel, whose mother was killed in the convenience store accident in Fort Worth. 
at 10:06 AM

That's Horrible




It looks like they had the frame up of the indoor practice facility up when it collapsed.
at 9:21 AM

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • Some are up in arms that a school make-up day for the earlier weather cancellations includes Good Friday. I think Bridgeport ISD is doing that. 
  • The Tarrant County DA has announced her office will not file criminal charges against the Northwest ISD kid who wrote a fictitious yet violent and sexual blog.  I've dogged her but she made the only decision she could. That's not a crime. Nor could it ever be because of the First Amendment. And the school will not discipline him either. Nor can they.  
  • Lots of people love free speech so long as and they don't find it offensive. It's akin to people loving freedom of religion so long as they agree with their beliefs being expressed..
  • I've heard some theories that DPS disciplined the trooper for posing with Snoop Dog because he was overweight and did not appropriately represent DPS. Others mentioned that the fact that Snoop called him a "deputy" riled up the heads of DPS.  I'm not saying DPS considers themselves above those law enforcement officers who work for sheriff offices but ....Ok, they do.
  • But there was a comment under the Snoop Dog post yesterday which indicates that the trooper had previously filed a complaint against a TBCA TABC agent and the higher ups at DPS didn't appreciate the whining. 
  • I misquoted Dennis Prager yesterday. I said he didn't believe it was possible that anyone would refuse to provide a service or product to someone because that person was gay. He actually said he didn't believe anyone would refuse to do so based upon religious reasons. That makes the statement even more insane. (He should read yesterday's comments.) 
  • Arkansas' governor figured out that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to sign the "religious freedom" law.  And all those potential GOP presidential candidates better back away as well. 
  • I dogged Brian Cuban hard on Sunday but I'll give him credit for simply dropping it. Side note: I couldn't agree more with a commenter on that post who pointed out that I wasted a beautiful Sunday afternoon while creating that snarky diatribe. Double side note: Cuban unblocked me on Twitter so I couldn't help but glance at his timeline yesterday and was stunned to see that someone had created a new profile and was impersonating me in order to try to set up a meeting with him as a peace offering. That's disturbing  -- not for me -- for him. He sniffed it out quickly. (If he hadn't, I would have alerted him in a New York minute.)
  • Dallas DA Susan Hawk hired a new first assistant and I'm hypnotized by her photo. One second I think she's good looking and then next second I think she's not. Then I think she looks angry and vindictive and then I change my mind and think she looks vulnerable. The picture is like a work of art. (Do you think Mrs. LL will be upset when she gets home and sees that I got a print of it and hung it above the fireplace?)
  • Sports: (1) When a person like Tony Romo restructures his contract, he's just spreading out the prior agreed upon payments and getting a little extra to compensate for the time value of money. It's not a pay cut. (2) Mavericks fans shouldn't feel any optimism about last night crazy high scoring game. A depleted OKC team decided to turn the game into a bit and still almost won. (3) The Ticket's Musers this morning said it would take a #1 pick and more to trade of Adrian Peterson. I think it would take next to nothing. Peterson's contract calls for $12.7 million, $14.7 million and $16.7 million over the next three years. There's talk Minnesota might even consider cutting him to avoid paying those amounts. If that's what they want to do, getting anything in a trade is a gift. 
  • Yesterday WFAA referred to the woman killed in the Fort Worth convenience store/car incident this week as "homeless". Today, the Star-Telegram referred to her as a married and loving mother of three who was living motel to motel. Note: She was 24 and poor but had children ages 8, 5, and 8 months.  


at 8:39 AM

4.01.2015

Firing It Up


This is a still shot at 4:45 and that purple area is expected to go right over Newark and then Rhome and ten into eastern Wise County.  And it sounds pretty potent:


Edit: At 5:10 it had taken a right turn but it had hung over Newark for what seemed forever. For all those cars on 287 going between Rhome and the Saginaw cut off, I'll bet they are getting crushed if that hail kept up.

Edit: Thunder Truck in Wise County!!!



at 4:47 PM

I Kept Waiting For The April Fool's Joke Disclosure



I'm not seeing it. As crazy as this sounds, it appears to real. From The Dallas Morning News.
at 12:43 PM

There's A Lot To Contemplate About This




Incident less than 24 hours ago.
at 12:00 PM
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