5.20.2015

Helicopter View


at 11:36 AM

Indeed


at 8:56 AM

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • As violent storms were hitting Wise County last night at 10:00 p.m., every local news channel decided to go to its pre-planned package about the earlier storm that hit Mineral Wells. Pete Delkus turned his back on us. We will not forget.
  • I saw Sheriff David Walker on Channel 8 this morning with the caption  underneath of "Dave Walker". 
  • Noticed a car being towed in Decatur this morning by a tow truck with Wise Credit LLC on the side. Uh, oh.
  • Ok, I'll back off my rant against the Waco Police because of the way they handled Sunday's gang fight, but finally I'm hearing folks in the media begin to ask, "Did all those people need to be arrested? Should all of them be in jail right now?" 
  • As much as I'm supporting those wrongfully accused Bandidos and Cossacks, what do you think the chances are of me becoming an honorary member of either of the two? (The thought of a ceremony where one of the gangs hand me a jacket and starts applauding is comedy gold.) 
  • Have we ever seen all  for president of one party (over six months from even the first primary, by the way) all focus their attention on one candidate from the other party? The GOP may be the greatest ad campaign for Hillary that ever existed.
  • Heard TCU head coach Gary Patterson on The Ticket yesterday and he was so passive aggressive towards Baylor's Art Briles. Man, those two guys hate each other and it is so fun. (And we should have known something was going on when Briles stared down Patterson in 2011 instead of watching a game winning field goal. And it all got ramped up with Patterson's rant after the loss to Baylor in 2013.) 
  • After all this talk over the season finale of Mad Men, it was pointed out yesterday that its 3.3 million viewers were equal to the number of people who watched the Bitcoin/St. Petersburg college bowl game last year.
  • NFL: Man, the reason they print money is because they know how to entertain. They are now moving the extra point line of scrimmage to the 15 yard line which will mean the equivalent of a 32 yard field goal.  They have a rule that's part of the tradition and the fabric of the game, but if it is stupid and boring, they'll change it.  (Baseball? You listening?)
  • I think the Update website is down this morning. (Everyone take cover over there.)


at 8:39 AM

Last Night In Pictures (aka You Gotta Have A Montage)














at 7:51 AM

5.19.2015

Recapping The Storm: Radar Timeline

Begins at 8:48 p.m. 









Ends at 11:02 pm
at 10:23 PM

Firing It Up! (As A Precaution)

Tornado warning in Jack County at 5:45 p.m.


Live:


Edit: Tornado warning  by NWS for Runaway Bay and Lake Bridgeport

at 5:50 PM

Waco Police Press Conference Today

 Ok, I'll give them that.

Huh? We don't know how many officers fired their weapon? I'm 99% sure that any police agency requires a report to be immediately filed if an officer fires his weapon while in the performance of his duties. And even if not, how about asking them?  But. Ok. Let's give them an extreme (and silly) benefit of the doubt and assume they haven't ID'd all the officers.
Ok, scratch that. 


This from the same guy, Sgt. Patrick Swanton, who said less than 24 hours ago: “There was a green light put out on law enforcement [by the gangs], is our understanding from last night. We are aware of that threat . . . . We are on high alert.”


Whoa!!! Uninvited? Meaning unexpected?  So the cause of the violence was potentially something Twin Peaks did not anticipate (even assuming you can ever anticipate a gun fight in Waco). ? Had the other group not shown up, everything might have been fine? 
at 11:27 AM

Texas Counties Can Form Militias? What Are We Waiting For!



Story.

I just did a very quick glance at the law, and I think this is the relevant portion of the Texas Government Code:

Sec. 431.072.  COUNTY EMERGENCY BOARD.  The county emergency board of each county consists of the county judge, sheriff, and tax assessor-collector.  If one of those officers is unable to act, the governor shall designate another public official to serve on the board.

Sec. 431.073.  DRAFT.  (a)  The governor, by order to the county emergency board, shall apportion the number of members of the reserve militia called into service among the counties by draft according to each county's population or by other means the governor directs.  The county emergency board shall establish fair and equitable procedures for selection of persons to fill the draft according to regulations adopted by the governor.  On completion of the selection, the board shall deliver a list of the persons selected to the governor and notify each person selected of the time and place to appear and report.


at 11:03 AM

A Different Angle From Yet Another Press Conference By The Waco PD Public Information Officer


at 8:55 AM

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • From 12/11/14 Random Thoughts: "I attended a retirement reception at the courthouse yesterday and met the guest of honor's mother. 'You make me so mad because of what you write!!'" she told me in equal amounts of authentic anger and sweetness."  Ruth Cleveland Salyer, 73, will be buried today after a shockingly brief, yet courageous, battle with cancer.
  • Let me tell you something, we've got a cluster going on in Waco with this gang gun battle. Things that jump out at me: (1) 170 of the gang members have been charged with a crime. That's beyond ridiculous and a great clue that police have no idea what they are doing. Prepare to learn of tons of cases being dismissed. Then again, the DA down there is a goofball. (2) In the meantime, gang members who were simply present (which isn't a crime and kind of a protected constitutional right) will sit in jail on a $1 million bond because there's a Justice of the Peace in Waco who also does not know what he's doing. (3) Note to media: There must be a "probable cause affidavit" prepared for every warrantless arrest in Texas. Demand to see all of them. And then do some comparison to determine how much copying and pasting was done. (4) Did the shooting begin in the restaurant of the parking lot? Waco PD Public Information Officer  Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton doesn't know and said, “It will all come out in the wash at some point." (5) Swanton is way in over his head and seems to not understand that his title includes the word "information" and not "spin" or "propaganda". (6) Eighteen Waco officers in addition to state troopers were outside the restaurant when the fight began? You kidding me? This is right out of Minority Report where an army of cops were always at the scene of a "pre-crime" but in this case it still happened. No wonder Waco PD went on the defensive and blamed the restaurant while the blood was still wet on the pavement. (7) News cames out yesterday that maybe four or more of the dead were killed by cops but no one will confirm. It's probably not confirmed because it was a cluster and no one knows. (8). Going back to prosecuting 170 of the gang members, good luck: Gangs testifying against gangs? Eyewitness testimony when all the participants (and non-participants) are dressed alike? Chaos beyond comprehension? Yeah, good luck. (9) And here's a question every defense lawyer involved in this case needs to be prepared to ask: Did law enforcement officers on the scene prepare their reports after the fact independently or did they all huddle together to get a nice and cohesive description of the facts.
  • Tell me what you think about this. A Texas Supreme Court Justice last night tweets a picture of his young son and himself video chatting on the Facetime app and informing us that his son had just recited Ephesians 4 "from memory". (The judge is in bed).
  • In light of the Grapevine officer's no-bill for killing the motorist, I've heard more and more of this "Obey the cops and you won't get shot" nonsense.  Hey, obey the cops or suffer the reasonable legal consequences makes sense. Obey the cops or die does not. 
  • Between the conservatives and Fox News already beating up Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. this GOP primary is going to be insane. And yesterday Lindsey Graham announced that he will, uh, announce that he will run for President.  Prediction: He will be one of the first ones to quit. I've said Ted Cruz will get crushed but at least Cruz is smart and has a personality -- two traits that Graham does not possess.
  • The Ticket has been playing the "mom shaming 13 year old for posting on Facebook" video.  I suspect a seed of resentment has been planted in the 13 year old which will grow for decades.
  • It has to be sweeps week. Fox 4's Becky Oliver had the most confusing and nonsensical and poorly written expose on some probate/guardianship matter last night which could only cause Steve Eager to say, "What a mess."  Well, it was a mess of a report.
  • I watched David Letterman for the first time in forever last night because I learned Eddie Vedder was going to perform "Better Man".  But I was stunned to see that Letterman's monologue was even worse than I remembered -- it was cringe worthy --  and this is at a time when the best joke writers in the world should be involved. (But Vedder was kick arse. Video here.)




at 8:39 AM

5.18.2015

Waco Gang Shooting Linked To Wise County


Edit: Link to story.

And the Messenger covered it at the time. 

Random Thought at the time about the Toy Run:


at 7:56 PM

Get Me This Real Life Bobblehead Puppy!



(Edit: Not sure about the first comment telling me I linked to the "wrong" video and it "makes [me] look bad."  But it did cause me to scramble thinking I had posted a different video. Nope.)
at 4:47 PM

No Charges Against Grapevine Cop Who Shot Motorist

Some?

Edit: Here's the video (package in a PR piece from Grapevine PD.)  Hey, I'm not saying the officer deserves to be indicted because obtaining a conviction would be next to impossible (once you have a jury who will apply the reasonable doubt standard.) But was the only option to shoot and kill the guy?


at 11:00 AM

Lindsay Lohan Performing Court Ordered Community Service



At the TLC Women's Shelter in New York City over the weekend.  She has 125 hours to get in before the end of the month.
at 10:25 AM

Commencement Address From Naval Adm. William H. McRaven


I learned about this last week (it happened a year ago) but, man, it has really stuck with me. In addressing the graduating class of the University of Texas, he had some advice which some thought quirky coming from a Navy SEAL During training, he told the audience, he and his fellow servicemen were all required to make their beds. It seemed to be a mundane and silly task at the time. But now, his first piece of advice to those about to make their way in this world is this: Make your bed.

"If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

 "And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

 "If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."

 I cannot tell you how much I believe this. Many, many years ago, after a particular troubling time, I resolved to make up my bed every day.  I had no idea why I decided to do that because I never made my bed.  But now I know what was behind my newly found motivation.

When Mrs. LL and I got married, I told her I would have few requests and almost no demands. But I did have one: The bed would be made every day. I didn't care if it I did it or she did it or we did it together, but I told her that it was very important to me. And, I'll be dang, we've kept it up.
at 9:30 AM

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • The Texas House Republican Caucus approved a pledge of a "one man, one woman" standard for marriage on Friday to show how conservative they actually are. I loved the formal text of the document which starts off saying they all support the Texas Constitution which has "been in effect" since 1876. But they quickly had to admit that the gay marriage ban contained in that Constitution has only been there for less than nine years.
  • By my count, the Wise County grand jury just indicted 53 people.  Of those, 27 were for drugs. 
  • I used to mention the ultra conservative DA from Williamson County, John Bradley. He ultimately lost re-election after he opposed DNA testing requested by the ultimately declared innocent Michael Morton.   What I did not know is that he is now a prosecutor in the AG's office of . . . the country of Palau. (Survivor was filmed there in 2004).
  • The attack on Twin Peaks by the Public Information Officer for the Waco PD continues to strike me as incredibly odd.  I'm not sure Waco PD simply didn't immediately go into CYA mode after shootings.  They obviously knew there was a potential for trouble -- you can't say Twin Peaks had been uncooperative without knowing trouble was brewing -- but it happened anyway. So what did the PD do? Immediately blame the restaurant instead of the bikers gangs. Look at this statement: “What occurred here today is the worst-case scenario when a business owner puts profit over human lives.” - Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton. That is beyond bizarre for a police officer to say that while the bodies are still warm.
  • And my CYA theory is bolstered by this comment by Swanton: "I will be extremely transparent throughout this process. We will not hide anything from anybody." That's a statement of someone who is worried about being blamed.
  • You thought biker gangs didn't exist? Richie Whitt, back in 201 2010,wrote in the Dallas Observer about how they gather every weekend all over Dallas at restaurants/bars.
  • I watched abouts six episodes of Mad Men and then bailed.
  • Mrs. LL will turn on women's college softball if nothing else gets her attention. Last week I walked in and she was watching the Big Ten Network.
  •  "Obama announces restrictions on distribution of military-style equipment to police." Finally.
  • I haven't paid any attention to it, but I saw the Houston Rockets made the Western Conference Finals. "That's not a very good team over there." - Mark Cuban back in April before the Mavericks faced them in the playoffs.



at 8:39 AM

5.17.2015

A Real Life Quentin Tarantino Movie Broke Out At Waco's Twin Peaks

Or worse than a Tarantino movie . . .



Edit: And are the Waco Police actually law enforcement or are they personal injury lawyers? Within hours of the carnage they blame the restaurant? Anyone else responsible for this?



at 4:57 PM

Random College Baseball: How You Handle Being Hit By A Pitch



But I don't think I'll get the play-by-play guy's description of it out of my head for the rest of the day.
at 11:25 AM
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