Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• We have a great a mystery going on. Where is the Afflueniza Kid?  Look, I just watched Alpha Dog again. The kid is in Paraguay walking down the sidewalk while "The Girl From Impanema" is playing. Go get him. (That is a fantastic movie by the way. Justin Timberlake is phenomenal, Sharon Stone plays a sad and overweight grieving mom, Bruce Willis plays a pissed off father, and the still relatively unknown Ben Foster may have played the angriest and scariest guy in the history of cinema.)
• I went and watched a game in Aggieland In October, and now their star quarterback, who was great that day against South Carolina, is leaving the team. The Liberally Lean curse continues.
• One of my favorite songs is REM's "Driver 8". Oddly, for a guy who never listens to music I've heard it twice this week as I push buttons on my car radio. And I love the lyrics. "And the train conductor says, 'Take a break Driver 8. Driver 8 take a break. We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away.'" 
• You have to see BagOfNothing's post on a version of Silent Night that was performed in a church. Or Vegas. It is hard to tell.
• One of the funniest lines I've heard in a long time is the response I got when I told someone that the Texas Republican Party had called me to want to know why I revoked my application after they had already rejected me. That response? "That's like a girlfriend saying, 'You aren't breaking up with me. I'm breaking up with you!'"
• I haven't opened this letter yet, but they broke up with me in handwriting and by certified mail. That's a nice touch. Personal, yet formal:

• The photoshop bit in the post below makes me laugh to no end. The Liberally Lean readers are crazy. And smart. And creative. Well, at least some of them. 
• I saw the first Star Wars in a movie theater in Northeast Mall with my dad (my mom was shopping). We both walked out saying, "I don't get it." And we both believe that to this day. My main beef is that I didn't get any back story and had no idea what was going on. (And that's exactly what The Ticket's Jake Kemp, who saw it for the first time this week, said.)

This Might Be Better Than The Play "Book of Mormon"

Video: Utah DL Viliseni Fauonuku had a message for BYU at tonight's dance-off #BYU #Utes #LasVegasBowl pic.twitter.com/A39yaLqR6L

— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) December 17, 2015

Utah defentisver tackle tells BYU, "You're a good team but a dirty team. Don't start nothing and there won't be nothing." The Vegas Bowl just got ramped up.

I don't think that comment "stayed in Vegas."

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I had a fantastic moment on Tuesday when my Bridgeport Fourth Grade teacher, Mrs. Hill, was on the courthouse square and just stopped by the office because she was feeling "sentimental" and just wanted to give me a hug. 
• That made me think about how people influence you as a young person. She ran her class by dividing us up into three different groups based upon the grades you had made in grades one through three. The top group received harder assignments and more homework than the lower groups. But the genius was each group competed against their peers. I told her, "You could not get away with that today." I think she wanted to go on a rant about the current state of education.
• Her late husband, V.M. Hill, may have been the greatest discplinarine I've ever seen and also had an impact on me. Crazy things I remember: I was late for his home room 7th grade class one morning (Drafting. Anyone out there know what drafting is?) I walked into the room and he stared me down in front of the quiet class and asked me why I was late. I blamed it on my mom. I still remember it: "Mr. Green, I happened to know where you live. You could have walked here and been on time if you had wanted to make the effort." I would never again be embarrassed for not making an effort.
• He was also the 7th and 8th grade football coach and it came down to a miraculous chance at a perfect season for both teams. On the 7th grade team, in the last game, I sniffed out an end around in the last two minutes against Bowie and abandoned my responsibilities as defensive end and tracked down the slot receiver as he was about to get the ball in the backfield. Much to my horror, the quarterback saw I had sniffed it out, didn't hand off the ball, and took off around the end where I was supposed to be. I don't know which teammate bailed me out, but they stopped him before he got to the end zone and we won. However, Coach Hill pulled me out of the game immediately (the first time all season) so I got to watch the win from bench. Lessons: (1) You aren't as smart as you think you are, and (2) You do your job as you have been taught. 
• Both 7th and 8th grade teams finished undefeated. V.M. Hill surprised everyone in the Spring by retiring. He went out on top.
• I can't get enough of this Donald Trump craziness.
• I've dogged Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee to no end. He's a Plaintiff's lawyer who has made a fortune, is cocky, and is on the board of regents for aTm. And this morning I see this lead sentence of a story: "After a six-day long trial, Tony Buzbee's client, the estate of Jose Flores, a seaman who died after being bitten by a spider while working on a vessel, won a $41 million jury verdict against the company that operated the ship."
• Someone dropped by a wooden hand carved cross at the office yesterday in honor of my mother. The guy who made it was featured in an article in the Messenger a while back. This has been one heck of a week. And, honestly, I want this year to be over.
• One Idiocracy thing about the Republican Debate was how many of the candidates wore red (a tie), white (shirt), and blue (suit).

Rumor: Decatur Church To Sell Property To Convenience Store And Be Torn Down

This is absolutely unconfirmed (which has never stopped me from blogging about anything.)

The Cornerstone Baptist Church sits on a piece of property off the exit of FM 51 off 287  in Decatur. That land is worth a fortune from a commercial standpoint. The property right across the street from it hasn't sold for over a decade because the owners are demanding a fortune and waiting for the right buyer. They will eventually get it.

The rumor is that Cornerstone will sell the property to Quickmart. It would be a genius move. Take the money and build a new sanctuary.

(By the way, I finally went to Buc-ees the other day. It was crazy. It is like six convenience stores combined without walls. Food. Clothes. A deli. Custom made beef jerky behind glass. It was like Allsup's on acid.)

Oh, and the source of this rumor is . . . (just kidding, darlin').

Unrelated: Something is weird with the host of this site today which causes some computers to stall on the site. I'm deleting sidebars and doing other html stuff to try and diagnose the problem. I suspect the Texas Republican Party. (Just kidding, darlin').  Edit: I think I tracked it down.

Guy Shuts Down Houston Highway To Propose

That guy is starring in a movie which is playing only in his mind.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• If you like politics, the Republican debate last night was beyond entertaining. Every time it came for Trump to speak I sat up. And, man, he delivered. I'm beginning to believe he might be a master politician and that he will win the Republican nomination. This is insane. 
• The debate was in The Venetian in Las Vegas which is crazy in itself. Mrs. LL and I stayed there the night before we went and got married in the Little White Chapel.  One of the reasons we chose that the "chapel" was because Britney Spears got liquored up one night and got married there. We thought it would be a funny bit. We like bits.
• And as the debate started, CNN turned the camera to the audience and focused in on, wait for it, Wayne Newton. I truly laughed out loud. 
• There is another lawyer in Decatur who got married in the Little White Chapel.
• Coincidentally, Mrs. LL and I watched Leaving Las Vegas Honeymoon in Vegas (with Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker) again this weekend. I think that movie is very, very underrated.  
• Hey, I'm on the front page of the Messenger!  (But below the fold! You kidding me? Mr. Eaton! What have I ever done to you!? Wait. Don't answer that.)  
• There is no more Leap of Faith than going "off the record" with a reporter. But I trusted her, and she kept her word. 
• I may have made my boldest statement in the history of ever yesterday when Messenger photographer, the "great Joe Duty", came over to my office to take my photo. I told him, "I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but this is what I want." For a second I was living the life of Zoolander.
• And with all the politics going on, I also feel like I'm living a redneck version of House of Cards.
• The home flooring remodeling project continues. The entire downstairs is now off limits as the tile is being settled. We are all now hostages upstairs. And I think Family Cat is so mad that I'm afraid she's about to go "call a coupla hard, pipe-hittin' [alley cats], who'll go to work on the homes here with a pair of pliers and a blow torch. You hear me talkin', hillbilly boy . . .  I'ma get medieval." And I'm not kidding. That cat is mad because she doesn't get to roam where ever she wants. She wakes us up in the middle of the night with the loudest "meows" ever. 

I Never Thought I'd Do A "Should Pete Rose Be In The Hall Of Fame" Post

Wait!!!! I just came up with a campaign idea!!!

Speaking of Crazy: Carly Fiorna

I'm not sure what the best part is: (1) When she tells the dogs that President Obama ate one of their cousins, (2) When she eats a dog bone, or (3) When she does a voice over for the dogs in the last few seconds.

Heck, I won't limit it to Carly, I think the whole country has gone crazy.

Woman vs. Florida Trooper: Who Ya Got?

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• I was in a store the other day and saw a drone for $69.99. But get this: It was a glow in the dark drone. (Apparently you have to kick it up a notch.)
• But new rules yesterday by the FAA require you, as of Monday, to register any toy drone with the government. It will cost you $5 (but it is free for the first thirty days from Monday - very gracious of them.) You will have to give the government your name, address and email. And if you don't do it, it is a federal crime.
• What's next? Some county commissioner employee is going to be indicted for allegedly providing a Trustee inmate with snuff? Oh, I got a plea bargain offer on that case yesterday: 2 years in prison or 5 years probation and a $1,500 fine. (With the fine, court costs, and probation fees, that would come to at least $5,400 that would go to the government. And also think about the amount of taxpayer money that is being used for the prosecution of this case.) And people think I'm crazy?
• Man, what happened to the Trump and Cruz love fest? And I was talking to someone yesterday who was convinced that Trump would eventually run as an Independent simply out of spite. They might be right. 
• Hey, to the commentors who said yesterday that Frazier won the fight that was depicted in that photo below: It was from the Thrilla in Manilla. Ali won. You must have forgotten that I am a Sports Expert.
• I walked in my house last night and the reconstruction project was in the aftermath of Day One. Every fake piece of wood had been torn up as well the carpet. I saw the concrete foundation and noticed that the original construction workers had written their names on it. So then Mrs. LL and I took out spray paint and did our own graffiti. I think it was the first time that the Kids In The House looked at us with a "You guys are out of your minds" expression.
• I learned yesterday that if you file as an Independent you don't even have to pay a filing fee. Now I just have to wrestle the money I gave Mrs. LL away from her who took it down to file the application for me. I'd try it but I'm afraid she'd go all Ronda Rousey on me. And win. 
• I think the attempt to get on the ballot as an Independent was successful. And I think Mrs. LL had a great day. She ended up with a cab driver who only wanted to talk about politics (Mrs. LL was like Marvin in Pulp Fiction who only wanted to say, "I don't even have an opinion"), she got to deal with Republican Death Star, she got to see the Secretary of State's Office (which apparently is one wheels off operation) and then hit Sixth Street. 
• A DPS lawyer at a hearing in Fort Worth wanted to talk to me about her dad who is suffering from dementia. I spent as much time with her as she wanted. And I could see her pain.
• I forgot to mention this: "Four of the nine people killed in a melee between rival biker gangs outside a Texas restaurant were struck by the same caliber of rifle fired by Waco police." Good lord. 
• There was a confused lady in the courthouse yesterday who just happened to be African American. (At least I think she was African American. I don't see color.) She wanted to know if she was in the right place and asked, "Is this Wise County?" I think I got her to the right place.
• Because of the flooring project in the house, I had to take The Family Pup and The Rescued Family Pup to the office. I'm not sure I've ever seen an office full of women so happy.

This Was My Day

Early morning: "I really don't need this."

But I was forced to go to Austin

Reporter Breaks Leg During Courtstorming

Story.

That's the way college basketball go. 

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I don't know anything about business, but there is news today that Dow Chemical and DuPont have agreed on a merger. For some reason, that makes me nervous. It's like a Chemical Superpower.
• I anointed Baltimore Oriole Chris Davis the Official Liberally Lean Baseball Player a few years back. He had been with the Rangers but got bounced back and forth from the active roster and minor league. He could just never put it all together. He is now a free agent he has "a $150 million, seven-year offer from Baltimore, which would average $21.42 million a year." 
• Mrs. LL recorded an old movie for me: The Life of David Gale. I had never seen it and it is really, really good (I still have some more to watch.) And we both agreed that we might need to consider Kevin Spacey the greatest actor of this generation. (Side note: I've always had a thing for Kate Winslet who is also in the movie.)
• "Gov. Greg Abbott has agreed to spend up to $2.7 million in taxpayer funds to bring . . .  WrestleMania to Texas next year." I think government has lost its mind. 
• In my first year as DA in 1993, I cut my budget by $5,000. I didn't ask for an increase in anything and there was a line item for attorney fees for appellate work to be done by "outside counsel." Outside counsel? I had been elected to work. Why hire someone else? I could do appellate work. And I did. 
• Someone accused me of an ethical violation for the post below because they thought I was trying to influence a potential jury panel. So are you saying this blog could influence people?
• So UT Austin is proposing banning guns from dorms but not from classrooms? That would seem to be a very complicated policy if you are gun toting dorm resident. 
• I mentioned I was in Love Field a couple of months back and saw a couple of kids flying all over the place on "hover boards".  They are now in the process of being banned because they seem to be catching fire all over the country.
• "Mark Cuban wants Apple to boot Twitter from its app store until Twitter finds a better way of removing 'objectionable' tweets, images and videos from its platform." He might want to focus on the Mavs, Shark Tank, or Jenga. (That last one is a huge call back joke which no one will get.)
• Forbes: "Drug Kingpin El Chapo Guzmán Reportedly Threatens To Retaliate Against ISIS." There is some reports that it's a hoax but I hope not. That would be better than Wrestlemania.

And Stuff Like This Is What Has Made Me Livid Lately

A long term Wise County resident gets indicted for a felony for allegedly providing snuff  (!!!!) to an inmate who is a Trustee and on a work crew outside of the Wise County Jail.

You kidding me? That's your tax dollars at work.

This is my new client. I think I could try this tomorrow, not utter a word, and get a not guilty verdict in about five minutes.

Incredible.

This is NOT the Rhome City Council. Repeat. NOT the Rhome City Council.

And how about this Bears fan stopping this woman from putting a beat down on that guy?

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I spent more time and added more Christmas lights to the front house lawn yesterday. As I was on a rickety ladder to put up way too many tree lights and then walking across the street time and time again to take a look at my perfection, it dawned on my that I am Clark Griswold.
• I haven't been snow skiing in forever. And now I think I'm too scared to do so because I fear I'd break every bone in my body. (Colorado/New Mexico is about to be buried in snow, by the way.)
• There's is a commercial on the Ticket for a company which can remove load bearing walls in your home to create more space. But the commercial begins with Reagan famously saying, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." That's bad taste, right?
• A federal judge in Dallas denied a state of Texas request for a second temporary restraining order to halt the settlement of Syrian refugees here. I wonder if the Order read: "The court finds Texas Attorney General Ted Paxton is a moron. It is so ordered."
• Mark Cuban complained about the refs yesterday after another Mav's loss.
• One of TCU's offensive coordinators turned down an offer to take the same job at Texas with a raise. He said no.  Man, have times have changed.
• Bloomberg poll on Trump's "ban all Muslims" position: Republicans: 65% support, 22% oppose; Democrats: 18% support, 75% oppose: Overall electorate: 37% support, 50% oppose. Those last numbers might be the election results if Trump wins the GOP nomination. 
• The Supreme Court yesterday heard, once again, an Affirmative Action case regarding the University of Texas law school. Justice Antonin Scalia  suggested that "most black scientists in the U.S. benefit from not being admitted into top-tier programs . . . . They're being pushed into schools that are too advanced for them . . . . Most of the black scientists in this country do not come from the most advanced schools." 
• And then it gets crazier. The Twitter account of "@TexasExes" wrote: "Although we take no position on the Fisher case, Scalia's comments today were racist and offensive. #BlackTexasEx"." And then, out of the blue, a Texas Supreme Court judge (Jeff Brown who must not be very bright) tweeted, "@TexasExes You speak for too many Texas Exes to behave this irresponsibly. You've unjustly smeared a U.S. Supreme Court justice." (And did he tweet that on a government computer or government phone while the taxpayers were paying him?)
• Speaking of Austin, am I going to be forced to drive there tomorrow? Seriously?
• This is yesterday's cover, but I like it:

First Amendment vs. Police Protection Of Gay Rights Parade In Fort Worth: Who Ya Got?

This opinion was handed down this morning from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. 

I'll be honest: I haven't read it yet but that first sentence indicates this is going to be good legal stuff. "Skirmish line?"

(Side note: Every Wednesday morning I look at the opinions handed down by that court.)

Bald Eagle vs. Donald Trump: Who Ya Got?

Video and story.