Good Morning America's Wake Up Tweet That Was Deleted

If you haven't seen the movie, daddy ain't sleeping.

Story. (Which includes the original animated GIF.)

If You Think It's Easy To Make It In The NFL

Dallas Cowboys adding former #Baylor RB Lache Seastrunk | @sportsdaydfw http://t.co/c31AeU13ex pic.twitter.com/3W64UYR56c

— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) June 8, 2015

Baylor star, left early to enter 2014 NFL draft, and this makes his fourth NFL team. But he's yet to play a single down in the regular season.

Look Out! We Have A Supreme Court Decision That Deals With Jerusalem!

The issue in a nutshell:

Since 1948, the United States has declined to recognize any country as having sovereignty over the holy city of Jerusalem.  But in 2002, Congress passed a law that instructed the Secretary of State, upon request, to list the birthplace of a U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem as “Israel” on his passport.  President George W. Bush signed the law, but at the same time he issued a statement – known as a “signing statement” – in which he protested that the law “interferes with the President’s constitutional authority to conduct the Nation’s foreign affairs and to supervise the . . . executive branch.”

The child at the heart of today’s case, Menachem Zivotofsky, was born in Jerusalem in 2002 to U.S.-citizen parents.  When his parents applied for a passport for him, they asked – consistent with the then-new law — to have his place of birth be designated as “Israel” on his passport.  When the State Department refused, the family brought this lawsuit

Thought #1:  I didn't know the U.S. hasn't recognized Israel as having sovereignty over Jerusalem.

But let's keep going. The Court's decision:  Passport's must say "Jerusalem" and not "Israel".

Thought #2: So Obama is turning his back on Israel again?!!! Let's hear from the dissent!!:

Attaboy!!! You tell him!!! . . . . Oh, wait. They're talking about George W. Bush.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Some high ranking prosecutors in the Waco's DA's office have abruptly left. Smart move. You don't want to be associated with the upcoming Twin Peak's Biker cases. Edit: Old story. That's a bang up start for me for the week. 
• Talk radio's Mark Davis angrily tried to defend the McKinney police officer this morning. He had to stop himself so many times because even he couldn't believe what he was saying. Example: "Ok, so she was 14. So like age is now supposed to play a factor with the way the police deal with someone . . . well, you don't treat a six year old like an adult, but . . . ."). He's on an a sad island on this one.
• The War on Police is kind of like The War on Christmas. Non-existent.
• Ex-Baylor great and WNBA star Brittney Griner filed for an annulment of her marriage to fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson over the weekend, one day after Johnson announced that she was expecting a child and less than one month after they were married.  Can we make this a Lifetime movie?
• We will have the same sex Supreme Court opinion in the next two weeks. But it may be issued on the very last day of its term since they like to end it with a bang. 
• Weather talk: Saturday was brutal. It might have only been in the 90s but, with no wind and massive humidity, it was a beating. 
• A lady was almost killed (literally) by a flying broken bat at Fenway Park. (Photo of aftermath with husband and son in background.)
• I'm not going to admit that I'm still working on my softball backstop project, but I'm still working on it. I'm not sure what it was like to invent the wheel, but I'm beginning to get a good idea. But it's looking pretty impressive. I said looks. It has not yet been tested.
• "Boyd, Texas – A North Richland Hills, Texas man turned himself into authorities and was charged with third degree felony theft of livestock and second degree felony theft of livestock from the elderly on May 4 after stealing 144 head of cattle from two North Texas ranchers." A couple of Wise County law enforcement names in that press release.
• The X-Games from Austin were on ESPN this weekend. It is so Idiocracy, but I bet it will overtake the Olympics some day. They had some crazy motorcycle jump competition yesterday which basically turned into "Will the next guy die?"
• We had a Triple Crown winner this weekend for the first time in 1978, and I don't think anyone cares. 
• I would bring you a front page but my source went dark today posting only this where normally every newspaper's front page would be:

McKinney Cop Placed On Administrative Leave

Story.

You "will respect his authority" on the mean streets of a subdivision in McKinney during a pool party.

Putting the kid on the ground is one thing, but I really can't believe he pulled out his weapon. (3:10 in the video.)

Source which includes his resume (former DPS trooper.)

And this story reminded me of something from earlier this year: "House Bill 2918 introduced by Texas Representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) would make private citizens photographing or recording the police within 25 feet of them a class B misdemeanor . . . ."

This Is An AP Story? Justice WIllett Is Beginning to Haunt Me

Kind of funny, I guess.

But he actually came up with the idea and campaigned for months to have that resolution created and passed. 

I'll give the guy credit. Judges are elected in Texas and since the Texas Supreme Court will always be a statewide race, even the slightest name recognition for an incumbent is a rubber stamp for re-election.  His tweets are silly, full of dad jokes, and never controversial.

See what I mean?

But he knows how to get his name out there. (Hey, I got sucked into writing about him, the legislature got sucked in, and now the  main stream media just copies and pastes the AP story.)  He is modern day political genius. What's the phrase? "Crazy as a fox"? Karl Rove could learn from him.*

Incidentally, based upon my Westlaw search, over the last 12 months Justice Willett has authored six opinions for the Texas Supreme Court. I'm guessing that the job of writing the opinion is "assigned" by the Chief Justice to a judge in the majority which means "Hey, you and your clerk write it." During that time period, he never wrote an opinion concurring or dissenting. Those opinions, which take time and effort and passion, are written voluntarily. The absence of those voluntarily opinions may mean something. Maybe not. In those 12 months he hasn't evened "joined" a dissenting opinion. Heck, he may be content with everything the court decides.

You pay him $168,000 a year plus a pension.
_____________
*I couldn't help but think about Austin political consultant Dave Carney who was behind the failed Rick Perry presidential run and the disastrous David Dewhurst campaign for Lieutenant Governor ("Ted Cruz represented the Chinese!")  I don't know what he was paid for his advice, but Willett's free Twitter account should make guys like him obsolete.

Taking You Into The Weekend: Let's Hit The Pool

Ferris Bueller Took His Fictional Day Off 30 Years Ago Today

I'm not talking about the date of the release of the movie. I'm talking about what day it was when his character roamed around Chicago.

How do we know it was June 5, 1985? The baseball game.

I wonder if schools were in session in Chicago that day?

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• The Aggies and TCU square off in the college baseball playoffs this weekend. There was a story yesterday that the Aggie fans had snatched up all the tickets online for the game in Fort Worth after the TCU Athletic Director tweeted out the code for TCU season ticket holders to have first shot at the tickets. He did release the code, but the story might be overblown. We'll see.
• So Decatur High School had its graduation last night in Denton but 380 was closed for construction afterwards? I'm assuming there was a designated detour. How'd that go? 
• 143 bikers still sit in the Waco/McLennan County jail.  The only saving grace is that state law requires all of them to be released on a PR bond after 90 days if not indicted by that time.  Continues to watch this situation. Ultimately, I predict, it will cost the police chief his job and the DA his career. 
• Rick Perry's speech declaring his run for the  presidency included this: "You think about who we are. We’ve been through a civil war. We’ve been through two world wars. We’ve been through a Great Depression. We even made it through Jimmy Carter! We will make it through the Obama years! We will do this!"  Really? That's your big pitch? "Hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husbands" because we are about to see a train wreck of a campaign. 
• Question I heard on the radio yesterday: If a newspaper was held up in front of a third grade class, could they identify what it was? I think the answer is no.
• Fox 4 News photo of a car almost cut in half by a light pole last night. 
• I've paid no attention to the Josh Duggar controversy and I'm not sure why.
• I'm not worried about Open Carry. I worried about the guy who thinks it's a good idea to openly carry a handgun. Carrying it concealed? Makes sense. But why would you want to openly carry? 
• Month old news went viral yesterday about a student in College Station being killed because of an argument over beer pong rules. (Get ready: She was a cute young blonde and the alleged killer is black. You know what's coming.) But didn't I see a comment on here about a month ago regarding a shooting down there that involved a Wise County resident that "I needed to check into?" I don't think it's related, but I guess I'll find out. 
• I mentioned the other day that I had learned controversial ex-DA John Bradley of Williamson County had ended up with a job in the AG's office in the country of Palau.  Yesterday I learned that Rick Perry, a big fan of Bradley's back in the day, visited that country before Bradley was hired. 

It's Like Looking At The Odds For A Horse Race

.@foxnews 2016 #GOP poll: @tedcruz in 5th with 8%, @governorperry tied for 9th w/4% pic.twitter.com/QsC92L1Z05

— Evan Smith (@evanasmith) June 4, 2015

And probably as unpredictable.

Ads Disguised As News Stories

This has been on my radar for quite some time, and I think we've got a big one going on right now.

Southwest Airlines began a two day sale on Tuesday.  I heard about it on WBAP when they were bringing in a "travel expert" to talk about the deals. I became suspicious.  Later that morning I got an email from someone who knows I'm always on the alert for the ad/news trick who asked me if I heard the segment where they talked about the Southwest deals on the Ticket. He thought it was an disguised ad.

So yesterday Southwest's web site allegedly "crashed" during the day.  I saw at least two "news stories" last night on local TV. Yeah, news of a website crashing is generally bad but the stories had the tone of "the deals offered by Southwest were so good its servers crashed." Something wasn't quite right.

And today we get stories like the one above from the Dallas Business Journal about how the Southwest sale has been extended.  This is actual text from the "news" story: "The fare sale caused 'extraordinarily high' customer demand, Southwest (NYSE:LUV) said in a statement. Many of Southwest's short flights are on sale for $49 each way, making dozens of routes nationwide available for about $100 round-trip. Nonstop flights on Southwest's longer routes are priced at $99, $129 and $149 each way. The deals cover travel between Aug. 25 and Dec. 16, and do include blackout dates around Labor Day and Thanksgiving."

Doesn't that read like an ad? We are being played.

Am I saying that Love Field based Southwest paid DFW radio stations to promote the sale as "news"? Am I saying that their Internet site failure was a ruse so they could pay local DFW news stations to report about the "failure" because the "deals were so good"? Am I saying they are paying media outlets today to report as "news" that the sale has been extended?

I have no proof, but I'd bet "yes". Big time.

We are entering a new world for ads. People go directly to content and bypass ads with technology. So what's the next step for a company with ad dollars to spend? Bury the ads in the news. And with print media, radio and TV dying for ad money, they are willing to do it.

Edit: Some have pointed out that this post could be a paid Southwest ad. That actually crossed my mind while writing it. It's not, but if Southwest had paid me they would have an a brilliant ad campaign which borders on Inception.

Edit: Shout out to Fox 4's Steve Eager tonight telling Heather Hays, "It sounds like you are doing a commercial" when she reported the Southwest website problem and mentioned the specifics of the fare sale. He was sarcastic (of course). But that doesn't mean it is not true. He stoically and painfully anchored a full hour newscast dedicated to the American Idol finale one time because he's a good soldier. A snarky soldier, but a good soldier.

Let Me Unfairly Pick On That Tweeting Texas Supreme Court Justice

We begin around 10:00 a.m. yesterday. He's correct. A man is set to be executed by the government and Judge Don Willett's court, the Texas Supreme Court, has no control over it.  The Texas Supreme Court basically deals with disputes over money.  Jurisdiction about freedom, life, and death lies with the "CCA" meaning the under-appreciated Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Lester Bower is not his problem.

Later in the evening, at 6:36 p.m. to be exact, the execution of the man occurred. His name, once again, was Lester Bower. Google him. The Washington Post wrote about him under the headline of "Lester Bower’s story is everything that’s wrong with the death penalty".

Shortly after the execution, the Judge Willett responded to a tweet about an opinion he wrote two years ago concerning the value of a pet when someone intentionally or negligently kills it. 

It was a touchingly written opinion about the value of a pet who is killed, or executed, by someone else.  I guess I could be snarky at this point, but to be fair, most Texans are aren't paying attention when the execution of an inmate happens. Heck, I was probably playing with The Family Dogs at that moment. But twenty-five to fifty years from now America will look back on the death penalty as we now view slavery or women not being allowed to vote: We will ask: "That really happened?" 

I don't know what Lester Bower's last meal was. But, since I'm going all in, this was posted around 10:00 last night.

Ok, I went too far with that one.  If I get hit with Twitter Contempt, I will not appeal.

Separated At Birth

From Austin, TX:

Police have arrested Edward Roy Bennett for allegedly slashing a woman's throat at an H-E-B: http://t.co/tGoVBpXlaO pic.twitter.com/y8AmUsTbW8

— KVUE News (@KVUE) June 4, 2015

Uh, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer?

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Rick Perry is announcing his bid for President today after unveiling his web site in the middle of the night. I think he's the 10th Republican to announce. Delicious.
• Ted Cruz told an old "joke" about Joe Biden at a function yesterday. Biden's son died of brain cancer less than a week ago. When a light bulb finally came on above Cruz's head, he apologized.
• Josh Hamilton has strained his hamstring and will miss four weeks. Hey, I dislocated my shoulder because of a 6" high snow sled jump once yet I can confidently say that he's more fragile than I am. 
• Pacman is 30 years old today, and Google celebrates by letting you play with the keyboard arrow keys. Edit: I screwed that bullet point up big time. 
• Hillary Clinton was in Dallas last night for a fundraiser at the home of PI lawyer Frank Branson. I know someone who was there and am waiting for an update. 
• For the first time since leaving office, slightly more than 50% of Americans have a "favorable impression" of George W. Bush.  Bill Clinton has been above 60% since 2009.
• BagOfNothing has a video of an Addison cop smashing out the window of a car when the driver refused to identify himself. The youtube description is "Addison Cop violating my rights when I refused to SUBMIT to his bogus claims. Brown v Texas - Officers CAN NOT demand a person to self identify unless then cops has seen them in a commission of a Felony. I was just going from point A to B... this is at 9:30 am on a Saturday morning going to work." Sorry, buddy, you're wrong. 
• But the driver also said, "Did you realize in the state of Texas that speeding in and of itself is not illegal?"  You know what, he's right. Edit: link fixed. 
• "Texas lawyers this year notified hundreds of corporate clients that their hourly rates were going up. Junior partners at many large law firms now charge $650 an hour. Associates only three years out of law school bill $400 an hour." Story.  How this fraud on the the public continues to survive is amazing. It's robbery. 
• A few weeks ago, a friend of a friend was in a car accident which was not her fault. She had some minor injuries but nothing significant, and filed a claim with the other driver's insurance company to pay for the car repairs. She said the claims adjuster was "so nice" and was even willing "to pay me a little extra than the property estimate" and suggested they meet at Starbucks. Yep. Waiver and settlement agreement was signed at Starbucks in exchange for the check. 

Get Me These . . .

I Never Thought I'd Miss Rick Perry

Say you were arrested for possession of drugs but it was for an amount so small that it is either a misdemeanor or, even if a felony, under Texas law you are entitled to a mandatory probation (if you have no prior felony convictions.) But let's also say the cops only found that small amount of dope because you called 911 to help a friend who had possibly overdosed or even you had possibly overdosed? Should we make it a law that we'll give you a pass on the drug case in those situations since you were seeking help?

The Texas legislature overwhelmingly said yes.

Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed it yesterday.

(But he did sign a bill renaming a highway after the American Sniper.)

From My Email Bag

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• What a crazy scene in and around Ellis County last night. Two brothers get stopped for a traffic violation and end up taking the officer's SUV (I want to see the video of that.) They are later stopped and a standoff began which was broadcast live over the air and Internet since the police "negotiator" and the suspects were communicating over police radios. (I haven't heard the recorded audio yet, but it's coming.) Then one suspect killed himself, the other guy announced he was getting out to kill cops, and he got out with a shotgun and you can guess what happened next. 
• There may have been a murder in Jacksboro yesterday.
• "Deputy secretary of state says U.S.-led coalition has recorded more than 10,000 ISIS deaths in 9-month campaign."  I'm not sure what "U.S.-led coalition" means exactly, but we know the U.S. trained Iraqi army is a joke. When they cut and ran when ISIS approached last year, most news sources said we had spend $25 billion in training and arming them. 
• Only 25 of the Waco Twin Peak bikers have been released on bond. One person I haven't called out is McLennan County Justice of the Peace W.H. “Pete” Peterson who was the person who initially set bonds at $1 million for every single one of them. He's incompetent at best and a moron at worst. It's good to see at least someone has filed a complaint with State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
• I have never seen so many Fort Worth lawyers coming into Wise County to get court appointments for indigent defense.  And it pays next to nothing. Here is the fee schedule as of 2011.  (When it says you get x dollars for a "plea" that isn't just for the hearing for the court to accept the plea. That fee is for the entire representation: investigation, file review, client visits, research, negotiations with prosecutor, etc.  Hey, I always say there are too many cops, but there is a lawyer glut of biblical proportions in North Texas. And UNT's law school hasn't even opened yet. There will come a day when "indigent defense" means the defense lawyer is the one who is broke. 
• If I can make automatic payment by credit card for my monthly bills, I'll do it. That also means I'm in for a monumental beating when I get issued a replacement card (which will occur even because of a new expiration date). 
• My backstop project has become my Moby Dick.  I'll get it done and then figure out a way to do it better even if it means starting from scratch.  I'm opening a salvage PVC store when I'm done. 
• Remember: When Gov. Greg Abbott signs a bill at a press conference, he is doing it only for show. In Texas, any bill passed becomes law unless the governor vetoes it. He doesn't have to sign or approve any of them. 
• Sports: (1) Everyone can calm down on Joey Gallo. It is one game. (2) I'm not going to watch any of it, but a twelve day delay before the NBA Championship series begins seems a little silly. (3) But not as silly as the announcement that the two semi college football playoff games being played on New Year's Eve.  (4) The Seattle Mariners manager got thrown out of game last night and went on an "epic rant". Translated: "Look at me!!!"