Reminds Me Of My Days On The Mean Streets Of Bridgeport

They wilding 😭😭😭 must watch pic.twitter.com/vg0Lyj9pD9
— Kylan❤️ (@Deshaylaaaa) April 7, 2015

Seriously,  there's a lot going on here. When the first guy get hits by a car I thought it was accident and considered it to be a serious etiquette violation of street fighting protocol for the other guy to go and continue the fight. Then the driver of the car gets out and goes after him as well.  We either have a "You scratched my car with your body!" situation or we have a buddy using his car as a weapon in an effort to invoke a (soon to fail) legal claim of "Defense of Third Person".

And, then, boom!! We've got another car to the rescue.

It would be hard enough to be in a street fight and avoid a right hook much less to have to look out for incoming cars.

(Any idea what the driver of car #1 spit out?)

Random Pennsylvania News Item Of The Day

It just showed up on my news feed because of the Bridgeport, Texas reference.  But that news item was very specific as to the location of a crash.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• When I mentioned yesterday that "first responders" were having a bad week, I totally forgot about the Hunt County deputy who hit a pregnant woman. And Hunt County Sheriff Randy Moon Meeks came off as a buffoon yesterday. Looking like Buford T. Justice, he called a press conference to say there were two different "narratives". He went on to say one "reads:  'Hunt County Officers Beat Pregnant Woman' . . . Another narrative could read:  'Pregnant woman attempts to take Deputy’s gun'.  Now, you can draw a conclusion by looking at the 31 second clip that could be a possibility?  I believe that we can say that is a possibility. . . .So, which narrative is correct?  I don’t know." Thank you, Sheriff, that clears it all up.  Edit: I'm not sure why I typed Randy "Moon" but I think he was with Wise County Probation in the 1990s and my brain misfired. 
• I'm not a NASCAR fan but I feel sorry for the Texas Motor Speedway attendees this weekend since a lot of storms are predicted. 
• And Texas Tech is sponsoring a car at the race? Is this common? Is it just a one race deal? 
• The Texas House worked late into the night and considered bills to increase the types of synthetic drugs/marijuana that should be made illegal. It seems the synthetic drug manufacturers just slightly alter their product's molecular structure to make them legal and the legislature has to catch up. But with each tweak by the drug manufacturer, the stuff becomes more volatile, unpredictable and dangerous. Anyone see a problem here? What do you think is going to happen after the new law passes? 
• There was big wreck on 114 in Wise County yesterday which involved two people from Weatherford in separate vehicles. Didn't I mention another Wise County wreck a couple of months ago that involved Weatherford people in different cars? 
• The first item about a felony sexual assault trial in the Update is bizarre. A lawyer in the courthouse told me yesterday that the female "victim" and the defendant spent the night before the trial began in a hotel together. She testified at trial that "she no longer considered [an incident in 2013 to be] a sexual assault and it was instead a role playing sexual encounter."
• A long article that I hope to read: A former UTEP basketball coach had his career spiral downwards and ended up mysteriously dead while coaching in Vietnam. 
• This is pretty complicated, but the bottom line is that it looks like a Collin County Grand Jury has possibly gone rogue and focusing on new Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.  The interesting part is that it looks like the DA has no control over their investigation (and there is nothing the DA can legally do to stop them.)
• I keep forgetting that the Boston Marathon Bomber trial was a federal case. Then I began to wonder how the federal government had jurisdiction in addition to the state of Massachusetts.  I looked at the indictment (which gave me Tired Head) and it appears to be a variety of federal crimes that invoke "interstate commerce." The same clause that lets Congress do anything they want also lets the federal courts obtain jurisdiction over any crime they want. 

White House Is Flat Out Trolling Netanyahu Today

Worth sharing: Here's how the #IranDeal would shut down Iran's pathway to a nuclear weapon → http://t.co/BWuabs0TNz pic.twitter.com/8aYQi2KEgq
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 8, 2015

Flashback: Netanyahu at UN in 2012.

Get Me This St. Bernard!

(Actually, I still have a question mark over my head after seeing this video.)

In Cold Blood

Eight shots. At a man running away. To protect and to serve.

The cop has been arrested for murder.

And you know what we normally have? The cop saying "I feared for my life" (he did), the police higher ups saying we will have a "full and fair investigation and then refer the case to the DA's office for review" (they did), and then the DA saying, "The case was presented to the grand jury who found the shooting to be justified."

But what's different here? A bystander videotaped it. (Heck, the officer glances at the bystander after the murder, and I'm surprised he didn't murder him as well.)

The officer said the guy grabbed his Taser. If you look closely, it looks like he plants the Taser by the body as the man lay dying on the ground.

Do we have an odd breed of young cops out there?

And you know what came to mind? Why hasn't the video of the shooting by the Grapevine officer of the motorist been released?  So far, the Tarrant County DA has told the police not to do so.

Edit: I missed this. We are talking New York Times not the New York Post. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• There was a fire at Barry University yesterday. Yep, there is a Barry University. (I actually have a couple of T-shirts promoting the school which I don't actually wear. One says, "Live the Barry Life" which makes go into deep thought every time I see it.) 
• A guy does a blog post about the monetary value of his stay at home wife once he calculated what it would cost to hire someone to do all the household tasks.  He became a national sensation. Thanks a lot buddy. The rest of us would like to have a little word with you.
• I ran by Bill O'Reilly last night and fell in love with guest Kirsten Powers. Man, they do not like each other. And you could see the fire in O'Reilly's eyes when, during a debate about immigration, she said, "We know how much you love the children, Bill." 
• Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the craziest Donald Rumsfeld memo ever. (And I had never heard of it before yesterday. H/T Keith.)
• That Waxahachie volunteer firefighter story drives me nuts. Man, that case would make me very concerned if I had to represent any of them. If it truly is an incident which was videoed and shows an act against the will of the guy while the others are yukking it up, this could get really bad in front of a jury. Any type of hazing is stupid. That type of hazing by adults borders on being psychotic. And this type of hazing might just get you a prison term. 
• Technical legal note about that case: I predict the "Improper Photography" charge against the person videoing it will be changed to the same charge currently against the others (aggravated sexual assault) because she will be considered an accomplice.  In Texas, so long as she had the same intent as the others, she just had to "encourage" the act to be equally responsible. I bet she said something that equates "encourage".  (Also, the Improper Photography statute has been ruled unconstitutional.) 
• I like Rand Paul but he has no chance. I'm basically a Libertarian as well but even I know some philosophical dreams simply can no longer come true. Those ships have sailed. 
• BagOfNothing has been monitoring the blooming of crepe myrtles and still hasn't seen any blooms. They bloom in mid-summer don't they? (Someone get Neil Sperry on the horn.)  
• UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma may be the cockiest man on the planet. And he has every right to be. 
• There sure are a lot of advertisements for the Rolling Stone concert. They have to advertise? 
• Stellar day for first responders yesterday: (1) The South Carolina cop shooting -- I'm about to go on a rant about that in a couple of minutes, (2) The firefighters in Waxahachie, and (3) Let's throw in a 11 front desk officers in Dallas averaging $30,000 a year in overtime pay. 

A Headline I Didn't Expect To Read Today . . . Or Any Day

Story.

(I'll be in a jungle hut in Costa Rica. I think this society has nothing left to offer me.)

A Second Incident??????

BREAKING: 2nd person dies at the Argyle High School sports facility construction site... http://t.co/iQUIgPLf4w pic.twitter.com/IxHRt30L7a
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) April 7, 2015

Wise County Got Snubbed!

This makes the Boston Globe today and it's going national?  It happened to the Wise County Sheriff's Office in December (and the Decatur PD as well.)  The last I recall, the paying of the ransom didn't work for the Sheriff's office.

And The Final Liberally Lean Tourney Results

The Top:

The Bottom (which should get credit for creative names):

And the newly revised Liberally Lean Hall Of Fame:

2015 - Sam Forester
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)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• A Tarrant County assistant DA was reportedly just fired because she couldn't get to work by the newly designated start time of 7:45 a.m.  She has a child whose school opens up at 7:30. and can't get to downtown Fort Worth within the following 15 minutes. 
• Veteran Tarrant County assistant DA Alicia Cooper, who prosecuted Tyler Holder for the murder of six year old Alanna Gallagher in Saginaw, quit yesterday. 
• You think things are going well in the Tarrant County DA's office since Sharen Wilson took office January 1st?  The turmoil would have received a lot more attention if Dallas DA Susan Hawk wasn't getting all the publicity for prescription drug rehab. 
• Funny thing on Fox 4 last night that I was smart enough to notice: Steve Eager had trouble reading the teleprompter, they cut to packaged footage as part of the report, and when they cut back to Eager he had glasses on. 
• Junior In The House last night as she looked up and saw a Duke player on TV: "He's cute!" (Welcome to my world.)  I look the guy up and he was nineteen.
• The University of Virginia fraternity who was the subject of a false rape allegation in Rolling Stone says it will sue the magazine.  I only do criminal law, but I have this vague memory from law school: Isn't there some huge legal hurdles when a "group" claims they were defamed? 
• Mrs. LL coaches a girls softball team of sixth graders. I came up with a "trick play" which has to have a flaw and which Mrs. LL has rejected. Hypothetical; She has a runner on third and a runner on first. Probably 99% of the time the runner on first can steal second uncontested because a throw to second from the catcher will allow the runner on third to score. (And the chances of even getting the runner out at second ain't that great.) So here's my idea: What if the runner on first would attempt to steal but would dramatically walk/slow jog down to second. My theory is that it would be so bizarre that the catcher might panic (as well as the crowd)  and throw to second allowing the runner on third to score. And the runner going to second would be able to break back to first without getting out. Other than the play probably be borderline sorry to pull of in sixth grade softball, what's the flaw in my genius plan? 
• I saw my neighbor's garage door go up this morning and go to peek inside. It was immaculate. Note to Mrs. LL and The Kids In The House: You better look around our garage and save anything you want. There's a crazy cleaning of it this weekend. 
• Last night I referred to a household battery by putting "Class" in front of it. You know, "Class A", "Class Triple A". She looked at me like I was crazy. I did a quick Google search and got no support. Did I make that up? (Actually, she was getting the very odd C battery that I referred to as a "Class C". She thinks I'm getting it confused with traffic ticket offenses. We have very weird conversations.) 
• "Little pink houses for you and me": Dallas oil heir Albert Hill III was ordered to pay his lawyers $28 million in a trust fund battle where he was awarded $188 million. (Source - behind paywall.)
• What does this tweet last night by state representative Terry Canales mean?: "Bo dont know Charlie! @BudKennedy Bo French @charliegeren  challenger has Tx-sized baggage http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/chris- … " Attached to the tweet is a picture of Bo French and his family in a campaign photo for the Texas House. The DMN link, oddly, goes to this which is and old article about sports station The Fan. Huh?  And a Google search of "Bo French Texas House" turns up almost nothing, although a "Bo French" does show up in some American Sniper stories. Consider me confused. 

I Think The Liberally Lean Readership Will Appreciate This

First Lady Michelle Obama broke it down at the White House #EasterEggRoll. http://t.co/iB23PqsOh3 #GimmeFive @FLOTUS pic.twitter.com/rWyPw4KWE0
— CNN (@CNN) April 6, 2015

It's Hard What To Predict Which Stories Get National Attention . . .

Police arrest 17-year-old in connection with death of McKinney teen http://t.co/EPcgBFgMdQ pic.twitter.com/Zzg3CKM5QZ
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) April 6, 2015

. . . but this has potential.

There were stories over the weekend that the suicide was the probable result of bullying. He was jumped/beaten a couple of times and the events were videotaped and posted online and they spread "like wildfire". He then "borrowed a gun" from a friend tp defend himself but he later used it to kill himself.

When I first saw the above tweet I thought he was one of the guys who bullied him, but I don't think so. The story, scant on details, says "The teen has been charged with tampering or fabricating physical evidence (a third-degree felony), theft of a firearm (a state jail felony) and making a firearm accessible to a child (a class A misdemeanor)."

Liberally Lean Tourney Pick 'Em Final

I forgot to mention this morning the updated standings. Unless my math is wrong (highly possible), someone named "Sam F" has won the tourney regardless of what happens tonight. That's his bracket above. (He picks Duke to win it all.)

If Sam will give me his last name, and even if not, I will induct him into the LL Ring Of Honor.

Is there a prize? Nope. There is nothing for your effort other than total consciousness.

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.

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. 

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.