10.05.2015

D Magazine's Cover Story On Dallas DA Susan Hawk: "A Woman On The Verge"


Link.
at 9:00 AM

Random Monday Morning Thoughts (As I Finally Realized I Didn't Title This Until Late Afternoon)




  • Weirdest moment of the weekend: I was sitting on a bench in my front lawn listening to 10,000 Maniacs and getting angry at Natalie Merchant for not performing Because The Night with the orchestra behind her at Bass Hall two years ago. Then two guys get out of their car and walk up to me, point at the Senior In The House's car, and ask, "You want to sell that?" 
  • How hard does the Texas Supreme Court -- full of twittering judges -- work? October 2nd: No opinions issued and no new cases granted to be heard. September 25th: Same. September 18th: Two boilerplate decisions. No new cases granted to be heard. September 11th: No opinions issued, and no new cases granted to be heard. And the number of majority opinions written by Justice Willett over the last calendar year: 4. Salary excluding benefits, health care and pension: $168,000.
  • Ads disguised: On Friday, The Ticket's Hardline spent a weird amount of time on a "Supper Club". Over the weekend, the Dallas Morning News did the same. So how do I know it is a paid ad? This line from the DMN story: "The second dinner on Oct. 15 will feature six courses from Joel Orsini, sous chef at CBD Provisions in downtown Dallas. The $95 per person dinner is already sold out, but the guest list is always open [and here was a hyperlink I deleted where you could go to pay]". Ummkay. If you consider that the The Ticket and the DMN are in a partnership, that Cumulus and Belo are bleeding money, you will have your answer.
  • BagOfNothing documented his trip to Walt Disney World over the weekend and it was good stuff. The most amazing thing? He bought a soft drink that had a chip embedded in the cup that would limit the number of refills. And it had a timer so there was a fixed cutoff time 
  • Interesting comments on Friday when I said I wouldn't listen to Dennis Prager on "relationship advice" since he's on his third marriage. Some said should a person not listen to drug addiction advice from someone who was once a drug addict? Sure they should. But I would only listen to him if he openly admitted being a past drug addict. Prager never admits to past failures at relationships. That's what makes him a simpleton and/or a con man.
  • Sports: (1) Was that the lowest moment in UT football history being down 30 points in the first quarter to TCU? (2) I remember an article once about UT beating of TCU in 1974 by a score of 81-16 as "They Day TCU Football Died". I looked up the box score of that game this weekend and noticed that UT had total yardage 334. So how did Texas score 81 points? I finally saw it: TCU had 7 turnovers. (3) Who would buy a "Western Division Champions" t-shirt even if you were a big Rangers fan? Do you think an Alabama fan would buy an "SEC West Champion" t-shirt? (4) I'm not saying Baylor will win the National Championship, but I am saying this is the best chance they will ever have to do so for the rest of my life. (5) DFW television ratings from yesterday: Cowboys, 37.3, Packer game, 12.8, Giants game, 9.8, and critical Rangers game, 6.0. 
  • I had a weird dream involving a 10 foot rope thin snake that had wings by its head. Pretty creepy. 
  • GQ magazine long read: "The Untold Story Of The Texas Biker Gang Shootout". 


at 8:43 AM

This Monday Morning


Edit: Well, this turned out horribly . . .



at 8:09 AM

10.03.2015

Friday Night Lights: Modern Day Texas Style



Source.
at 1:02 PM

10.02.2015

It's The Weekend -- Let's Get Out Of Here


at 3:59 PM

Random Band Member Fall From Last Night




That's a heck of skid once he hits the ground and a pretty funny "get up and run" recovery.
at 9:03 AM

This Week In Journalism


at 9:00 AM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Dallas DA Susan Hawk walked right out and faced the press head on yesterday. She spoke for 37 seconds, took no questions, and then turned and walked away. This will not turn out well. 
  • Note to people who drive like a bat of hell and swerve in and out of traffic on their way to work: Every thought about getting out of bed 10 minutes earlier?
  • Unemployment rate just announced: It has fallen to 5.1%.
  • I posted a photo of Clark Griswold at Wally World two days ago and yesterday BagOfNothing flies his family out to Disney World. I could only think of, "Sorry, folks. Park's closed. The moose outside should have told you." 
  • Is it just me, or do I smell BBQ around the Decatur courthouse square this week? 
  • "As of Friday, the Rangers had the worst attendance of the six division leaders. So far, the team has averaged about 30,000 fans per game, their worst since 2009 and in the bottom half of all teams in Major League Baseball."
  • The Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed a dope conviction out of Wise County yesterday.  Legally, it was correct and the guy had been in lots of trouble before. However, it's amazing that a Rhome officer used an "old fashioned VHS" tape to record the traffic stop in 2012, that it got "tangled" when he tried to remove it, that he couldn't repair it, that he placed it in "his sergeant's box", and he didn't know what happened to it after that. (The opinion refers to him as a "Boyd officer" at the time of trial but the book-in records have it as a Rhome PD arrest.) 
  • Anyone else have a problem with the story that the Oregon gunman asked the victims "one by one" if they were Christian and if they said yes they were shot in the head, but if they said no or didn't answer they were shot in the leg? None of those reports have come from someone who was in the room. The closest we have is one eyewitness, Kortney Moore, who said that the shooter asked people their religion and "then started firing away" which is consistent with a witness next door who heard a "percussion of gun shots." I'm not buying this "one by one" report where everyone just calmly stays there and takes it. 
  • President Obama on the NRA: “And I would particularly ask America’s gun owners who are using those guns properly, safely, to hunt for sport, for protecting their families, to think about whether your views are being properly represented by the organization that suggests it is speaking for you . . . . Right now, I can imagine the press releases being cranked out. ‘We need more guns,’ they’ll argue. ‘Fewer gun-safety laws.’ Does anybody really believe that?” 
  • And, with that, I just heard an ad for handgun silencers/suppressors on The Ticket. I guess the problem isn't gun violence, it's gun noise. 




at 8:47 AM

10.01.2015

Funny Video. Funnier Audio.



And that, America, is your future.

Shut it down. Let's go home.

Edit: Should be able to see it here.
at 5:51 PM

Donald Trump Touched By Hands Of The Holy At Trump Tower



Yep, to Trump's left is the holiest man in Dallas. And Wise County's border friend Kenneth Copeland was there.

Let's stop the fight. Trump is obviously going to win.


Credit: Robert Wilonsky via Dallas Observer.
at 1:31 PM

Whoa!


at 1:23 PM

Cumulus Radio Is In Big, Big Trouble



It owns The Ticket, WBAP, and more.  If you want to buy a radio station, here's your chance. And if you work for one of its radio stations and have a big salary, get ready to accept a pay cut or leave.

Look at the following shocking facts:

  • Cumulus replaced its CEO yesterday after almost two decades.
  • "On Sept. 15, Moody’s cut the ratings of Cumulus’ $2.4 billion of debt to B3 — which is junk status."
  • Profits are down 18% in the second quarter of this year
  • Cumulus shares are down 84 percent this year, closing at 68 cents Tuesday. They fell to 65 cents in after-hours trade.
List of stations in DFW the company owns:

at 1:01 PM

New Texas Law Requiring Online Posting Of Officer Involved Shootings Is Now Live


Just four so far.

The site.

(Credit.)
at 12:08 PM

Dear Katy Perry:




You are out of your mind to let a fan on stage like that.

Edit: Oops. Fixed.
at 10:32 AM

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




  • "BOWIE, TEXAS (AP) - A Texas mother is accused of abandoning her five children after police found them starving, filthy and, in the case of a baby, near death while her 8-year-old son was left in charge of his siblings."  
  • Is Montague County the most wheels off Texas county? It has a history of crazy murder cases (from a famous "cheerleader murder" case to a Nocona nurse convicted of intentionally killing 10 patients), a corrupt Sheriff's office  where the Sheriff escaped justice by fortunately dying in 2009 (that case was  insane giving rise to multiple indictments -- and they didn't get everyone), the recent case of a Nocona officer who shot and killed an off duty deputy during a domestic violence call, the county leading the "region" in Twitter rants that are racist and homophobic, and a current DA who won't release records of closed cases. 
  • Not to mention that they pronounce it Mahn-TAYG instead of the Shakespearean pronunciation of MAHN-tee-gyou. 
  • Wow: I never knew the the car of Sheriff Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit had "Montague County" on the side. 
  • I joked the other day about the potential high score of the Tech/Baylor game and now Vegas has made it the highest over/under line in history at 90.5.  
  • Someone brought up radio guy Dennis Prager yesterday. Nope, I haven't changed my mind. He is a simpleton who doesn't realize his is a simpleton. And I'm not going to listen to a "Relationship Hour" hosted by a guy who is on his third marriage and is worse in relationships than I am. 
  • I woke in the middle of the night to A Scene Of The Family Pup Throwing Up that would have made Linda Blair in the Exorcist proud.
  • Someone document this for me: The Rhome Police Department is having a National Night Out. Per the Update, "There will be free hot dogs, chips and drinks, as well as literature that helps with issues plaguing youth and society today." Get me that literature! Also, "Demonstrations of a felony traffic stop and tazing will be conducted." I think I've seen one (misdemeanor) DWI stop in my career where a cop pulled a weapon on the driver from the get go, and it happened in the last two years in Rhome. It was referred to in the police report as a "felony stop". 
  • "I don't want Middle Eastern refugees living next to me either." - WBAP's Hal Jay this morning in defense of emails opposing a bond issue in Highland Park which suggest its passage might give rise to apartments which will house the poor. The next five minutes were spent with the crew around him distancing from him and Hal Jay trying to figure out if he had said anything that might be considered racist. 






at 8:45 AM

9.30.2015

Oh, My

That is insane. From Vacation:


Back story from the Wise County Messenger's Update* from earlier this week.



And I know I shouldn't post the following:


Lasky (to Clark's son, Rusty): Has your father ever killed anyone?
Rusty: Just a dog. Oh and my Aunt Edna
Clark: Hey, you can't prove that Russ.
________________
*Side note to the Editor and the Publisher of the Messenger: Don't sue me. I'm giving you free press and a link to the Update for the masses to follow. (Someone once called my readers a "band of monkeys", but don't worry about that.) Then again, in this day and age, if you sued me we could both promote it as a "news story".


at 8:39 PM

Indiana Republican Resigns -- Says To Disregard That Sex Tape That Was Sent Out From His Phone



Story.

McMillin, whose Facebook page says he is married, did not respond to messages from The Star seeking comment. He said in an emailed statement only that he has "decided the time is right for me to pass the torch and spend more time with my family."

 "Now I want to focus all of my attention on making my family's world a better place," he said.
at 1:37 PM

Note To Dallas Police Chief: That's A Literal Bad Sign For You


at 1:18 PM
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