Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• The pilot in the hot air balloon crash which killed 16 had two dogs named Zappa and Joplin.
• Yesterday I had the earworm of "And your lips taste like sangria" all day long. By the afternoon I was still it hearing it so I just gave up by longingly looking off into the distance with my head slightly cocked. 
• The American Sniper widow has now been hired by Fox News. Exactly what does she have to contribute?
• There's some SuperPAC which advertises on Fox News asking you to dial a number and push 1 to support Trump and 2 to basically support "crooked" Hillary. It's obviously designed to suck in Bubba, but how exactly do they make money? That has to be what they are after.
• I said "kill me!" . . . 
  
• In case you missed it: Trump eats his chicken with a fork?
  
• In reacting to gun violence, Apple will replace the gun emoji with a water gun emoji in its next operating system update.

• I have a far greater chance of dying by listening to a Jason Garrett press conference than I do from Zika. 
• I heard on the radio Sean Hannity doing an ad for a DFW real estate firm. How much do you think you would have to pay Hannity to do a 30 second spot for you? My wild guess is $10,000 but that may be way off. 
• Based upon Twitter and the activity on the court's website, it looks like the Texas Supreme Court is on a seven to eight week vacation. (Judge Jeff Boyd, for example, is in San Francisco and joked about being on a boat he couldn't afford since he has only a "state's salary". He makes $168,000 + insurance + pension + seminar speaking fees + perks.)
• Beginning of an opinion piece today in the Star-Telegram on the insane "surcharge" program levied against drivers in Texas: "Every day, nearly 1,800 Texans are entered into a registry with the sole intention of collecting money — highway robbery by your state government.After more than a decade, we can no longer sit idly by while the state’s Driver Responsibility Program ruins lives and ensnares Texans in a debtors’ prison. It’s time to end the DRP." True that. 
• Bag of Nothing had a link which shows you when you registered with the Selective Service (I've written before regarding whether this is even required any longer. It is.) He registered within a week after turning 18. I registered within 10 days before I turned 20. The law is summarized on the website: A person "must register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Late registrations are accepted, but not once a man reaches his 26th birthday." There doesn't appear to be a penalty for registering late but here are the penalties for not registering at all: "[A] felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 or a prison term of up to five years, or a combination of both." [Editor's note: Good lord.] And more: "The more immediate penalty is if a man fails to register before turning 26 years old, even if he is not tried or prosecuted, he may find that some doors are permanently closed." [Editor's note: What the heck does that mean?]
• Maybe I'm getting old, but I thought I would see a lot of Trump headlines using the the title The Wrath of Khan.

Human Chain Saves Woman

Unbelievable video as I and several other men rescue a woman from her car floating down Main St in Historic Ellicott City, Maryland, at about 8:30pm July 30th during the devastating flood. My wife and I are business owners on Main St. I was standing at the entry of my shop at the top of the human chain holding the next man's hand and filming with the other. The man who got washed away was incredibly lucky.

I thought the first guy was a goner.

I'm surprised when she started delaying the whole process by taking care of her cell phone they didn't all just say "screw it" and go on their way.

Shoplifter Brought To To Court With No Pants

This is long but lots of gold in it for those which do this stuff for a living. No pants is just the beginning. The judge picking up the phone and firing off a "What. The. Hell?" was funny. And I loved how the plea bargain/recommended sentence was shot down from the get go and the case got a lot sweeter for the defendant once the "no pants" issue was discovered. (And I kind of worry about her lawyer if that's her in the blue.)

And the judge actually qualifies as a "Hey, Now":

Today Is The 50th Anniversary of the UT Tower Shooting

Excerpts from 96 Minutes.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Trump can't screw up much more than he did this weekend -- from the Stephanopoulos interview to tweets - - but it doesn't seem to matter with his supporters. Nevertheless, Ted Cruz must just sit back these days, smile, and say "I told ya so."
  
• KRLD's weather guy "resigned" after posting on Facebook during the Democratic National Convention that the slain sons of the Mothers of the Movement were “thugs.” (I've said for years that I don't know how those guys over at WBAP keep their jobs based upon what they say on the air.) 
• Kill me . . . 
  
• I understand that ads on web sites, the Star-Telegram, for example, uses your location but what exactly am I looking at here?
  
• Open Carry hits Texas universities today.  There are 37 private Texas universities and only one will allow it: Abilene Christian.
• “Quit hiring cowards, they are hiring cowards… my partner says they are hiring cowards . . . .They are hiring ex-military and they don’t see people as human.” -- Dallas police officer calling into a live podcast as the shooting was going on that left five dead.
• Mrs. LL dreamed we had a "vacation home" in the Hamptons. This from the girl who claims she grew up without a dishwasher. 
• A phrase I heard that I don't think I've ever heard before: "Blood libel." 
• The Star-Telegram had a big story of the "millions" raised by Texas Legislators this year. But when you look at it, most candidates weren't impressive at all. For example, "State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, raised $4,360 this year and has $47,446.81 in cash on hand." That was pretty typical.
• If you thought Fox 4's Clarice Tinsley's broadcasting Facebook comments was an all time low for local media, their bits on Facebook are worse. Throw in a few "warnings" and the time honored click bait phrase of "you won't believe" and there you have it. I used to think Steve Eagar was better than this. 
  
• Sixteen people were killed in a hot air balloon in Lockhart, Texas on Saturday. I had no idea those things could carry sixteen people. (The pilot had the same name as a former editor of the Messenger.)
• I actually saw The Last Picture Show for the first time over the weekend. Pretty racy for back in the day. I looked it up and learned that at least a couple of places tried to ban it as pornography. (But for the life of me, the group's reaction to seeing the dead boy in the street -- played by Sam Bottoms who died a few years back at the age of 53 --  was so out of place and weird for a depiction of small town Texas.)
• "At a quarry in Bridgeport, Texas, where rock is crushed, sorted and cleaned, it’s hard to tell that the nation’s construction boom may be hitting a wall." - The opening line to a Bloomberg.com story today on construction and the only reference to Bridgeport.

Above The Fold

Readable full page.

It's Friday. Let's Get Out Of Here.

(I'm no video expert, but I think we have some tinkering with this one.)

(Texas vs. Dixie Chicks)

I can't stop watching Bill pic.twitter.com/r1oY0rBREN

— Rachel Zarrell ✨ (@rachelzarrell) July 29, 2016

He Just Ran Into A Great Big Hassle

Bank Robbing Denton Singer Richard Haskins Gets Minimum Two-Year Prison Sentence https://t.co/XvU7xkiGRX pic.twitter.com/dFFV6Go7sg

— Dallas Observer (@Dallas_Observer) July 29, 2016

Moral to the story: Hope that the feds decide that your attempted bank robbery case isn't worthy of their time and the case remains a state prosecution.

Who Doesn't Love Katy Perry?

Old guy caught dancing to Katy Perry is an instant classic. #guysdancingtokatyperry #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/0pGjL50uBO

— G.E. Anderson (@g_e_anderson) July 29, 2016

Around 9:00 A.M.

Funny

Robot Hillary Clinton's excitement.exe needs a little polishing #HillaryClinton #ImWithHerNow pic.twitter.com/FVXFvToTKm

— Roark (@RoarkHoward_) July 29, 2016

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• These ladies (below, not above) are probably 30 feet from each other during this split screen broadcast, right? Oh, and who wore it better?
  
• Katy Perry performed at the DNC last night. Donald Trump had some advice to her a few years back:
  
• Funny:
  
• Hillary's best line came when she paraphrased Jackie Kennedy: "War might be started not so much by big men as by the little ones . . . moved more by fear and pride."
• We get the Jerry Jones opening-of-camp-press-conference today.  Sure Thing = Confusing Statements Coming.
• Random sight this morning around the courthouse square: A guy smoking a cigarette while barefoot and while wearing pajama bottoms and no shirt. (Note to self: New "casual Friday" outfit for me?)
• Every time Fox News has Charles Krauthammer on as a guest, I think he might die before the segment is over.
• I drove into downtown Fort Worth yesterday. That I-35 construction is the ultimate beating. 
• "AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas attorney general has filed suit against Austin, accusing the state capital of violating 'open carry' rules by banning guns inside city hall." And that crazy Paxton did it within five days of a certain 50 year anniversary.
  
• The only GOP nominee that Hillary may be able to beat is the one they served up: Trump. 
• Yesterday's Update can be interpreted in a couple of ways: " Bridgeport Band Boosters will host a hot dog dinner for current Mighty Marching Maroon students 5:30-7 p.m. Friday at the Pavilion in Harwood Park. Although not supervised by Bridgeport Booster Club, students have also been invited to swim at the Bridgeport City pool for free." It reads like, "Hey, kids. We just run this private group but why don't ya'll run over there and just swim in that public pool without paying. And, by the way, you're on your own."

Seen In Criminal Court Today

The guy wasn't a defendant but only a friend of a defendant.

That's a bold statement.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Trump yesterday: "I'm would renegotiate so much of everything." It's quotes like that which keep me smiling. 
• In light of the SMU officer reportedly being swept away into Turtle Creek, the Dallas Morning News recounts when two students were pulled into the creek twenty years ago. One drowned. Her body, however, was found the next day. 
• And another.
  
• I think we all agree on something: The prosecutor in the now closed Freddie Gray cases, Marilyn Mosby, is a nutcase. (At least she didn't hide it.)
• "STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) – A municipal court has cleared former Mississippi State quarterback, and draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys, Dak Prescott on charges of speeding and drunk driving."  I was prepared to explain how that was possible but the following sums it up:
  
• But why doesn't the prosecutor just look at the case, put it in the "You-Gotta-Be-Kidding-Me" file, and reject it?
• A lot of people are upset over the supervised release of John Hinkley, Jr.  Heck, thirty-five years is a long time for attempted murder.
• Nancy Pelosi last night on Fox News on why a poll of "uneducated white men" overwhelming showed support for Trump over Hillary: "They voted against their own economic interests because of guns, because of gays, and because of God, the three G’s, God being the woman’s right to choose." Fox News did their best to make it an issue but their efforts seem to have failed. 
• Someone believed they spotted the Liberally Lean Mobile yesterday. Get me that decal!!!:
  
• One of the nutcases who comment on here cited Alex Jones' infowars.com yesterday as a source.  Oh yeah? Well, I have some pretty, pretty good evidence that the earth is shaped like a burrito. Top that. 
• I say this once a year: Every person placed on probation in Wise County is required to donate $50.00 to Crime Stoppers.  I never hear of that fund paying out a dime, I have no idea who is in control of it, I don't know if it is independently audited, and (most importantly) I'm begging to learn what the balance of the fund is. 
• An off duty Fort Worth police shot a guy this morning who allegedly came at him with a box cutter. There sure seem to be a lot of box cutters out there. And why can I never find one when I just want to assault a box? 
• I'm conventioned-out. But I thought the President was just average last night, Biden was good, and Kaine had a fairly funny Donald Trump impersonation (that is, if Ned Flanders tried to do that impression).  
• But the Democrats did have a secret weapon in the audience to appeal to women last night:
  
• Wait a second! Brad Cooper's girlfriend is a Russian!! Get me Hillary on the horn! DEFCON 1! DEFCON 1!

"Uh, Is It Supposed To Be Doing That?"

AA flight makes emergency landing after flames shoot from engine https://t.co/ENIkaedouF pic.twitter.com/OzbwIeC4N1

— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) July 28, 2016

DPS Gives Escort To Some Guy Going To Work Ranger Player On I-35

More.

For All Reasons To Be Concerned About What Trump Says, This Isn't One Of Them

Trump had a press conference today and, although it was as wheels off as usual, he said this:

Headlines, from CNN to the New York Times, immediately started appearing with this:

Trump followed up with this tweet:

I think Trump has you on a technicality. There's a big difference between asking the Ruskies to hack into emails written while Clinton was Secretary of State from asking them to turn over emails they already have.

After conferring with the judges, the split decision goes to Trump.

Copyright. 2016. Liberally Lean Graphics

Bill Clinton Still Has It

That's the gal from Friday Night Lights.