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And Now For Something Completely Different

Update: Trump Voted

That's a funny photo.

Let's Check In On The Election

Oh, my. (And the comment is more shocking then a random person dying overnight.)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• It's Election Day. I love politics but I'm as tired of this as you are.
• Clinton wins. She wins big. And by "big" I mean "big" by national election standards. It looks like Florida has swung back to Hillary but it's too close to call.  If that turns out to be an early win for her, the election will be called before you finish dinner.
• The great 538.com finally settles on this: 
  
  
  
  
• I don't know where ALL CAPS guy went over the last three days. 
• The next person to carry Wise County as a Democrat is the first person smart enough to garner the Hispanic vote. And it starts in Bridgeport. 
• Everyone forgets that Wise County, not too long ago, was completely Democratic. In 1992, every county-wide office holder was a Democrat. In 1996, Todd Durden won the County Attorney's job as a Republican -- the only Republican to win -- by a razor thin margin. (He beat the incumbent, Stephen Hale, who publicly refused to prosecute marijuana cases.) And then the transition began to Republican as everyone finally saw the writing on the wall.
• And make no mistake, Wise County didn't have Democrat "ideals" even pre-1996. It was just the way it had always been. And we are slow to change. 
• I saw where Hillary just voted. Random thought: Trump did remember to register, didn't he? 
• See screenshot below. Before the paywall got me, I read it was likely that one of them will plea to a misdemeanor and all others would have charges dropped. I'm guessing the initially reported facts turned out to be far from true. Edit: The Dallas Observer now has the story.
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• ESPN's 30 for 30 will produce an episode on the 1988 Dallas Carter Cowboys.  Robbery and mayhem abounded. 
• Denton County court reporters, and there are a ton of them, make $103,737.92.  What they do is amazing, but that is one great gig. 
• It will be interesting to see if Arlington voters approve the new Rangers stadium. Hey, I like air conditioning too, but how can you just walk away from a perfectly wonderful ballpark?
• We need to rethink police chases, and I would have lost my mind it this had been the result of a stolen "bait car" yesterday. (I think most bait cars are inoperable or can be shut down remotely.)
• 
• There was a prayer vigil for "our country" at the Wise County Courthouse steps last evening. I didn't see that advertised beforehand.
  
• I was watching Fox News last night and saw the following three ads in a row: (1) Some kind of freezing machine which can make food last for 25 years -- for the Doomsday Prepper, (2) Gold, and (3) the NRA.  Make no mistake about it: There is a very large percentage of the population preparing for a civil war. I'm serious. I know a couple of really smart people who those ads are aimed at. 

Entertainingly Intense!

Possibly the greatest scene in documentary history. Incredible. #PlanetEarth2 pic.twitter.com/01dDjDJcdX

— ✏️ (@MrLukeJohnston) November 7, 2016

But At Least She's A Real Charmer

USA TODAY- A 19-year-old woman claims she is pregnant with “baby Jesus,” despite an ultrasound proving that she is not carrying a child. Haley, who appeared on the Dr. Phil show this week, said she feels her unborn baby moving, and despite an ultrasound proving otherwise, she will not turn her back on her child.

Get on board the crazy train. Amazing. She just gets hit with uncontroverted evidence and fires back with the equivalent of "Just the opposite" after a long and awkward pause. And what's up with the foul mouth on her? You would expect that from someone claiming to be pregnant with the Angel of Darkness, but not the baby Jesus.

Sympathy to the doctor in that clip. There's no he saw that verbal attack from the Fake Mary coming.

Oh, My!

A fight breaks out when a husband comes home and finds his wife with another penguin. pic.twitter.com/9ejYGcJ5TJ

— Nat Geo Channel (@NatGeoChannel) November 4, 2016

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• A Texas DPS Trooper has been suspended pending an investigation after stopping two teenage girls for speeding coming home from a concert. After discovering "one pill" both were arrested and, while at the jail, it was discovered they both had nipple rings. So, according to the girls, he attempted to remove the piercings with his own pair of pliers. This is really mind-blowing. 
• Yes, that was a Baylor disaster against TCU. And it doesn't help when the assistant coaches took a shot at the incompetent Board of Regents the night before the game on Twitter.  That wasn't Baylor vs. TCU. That was a civil war of Baylor Football vs. Board of Regents.
• Art Briles might be guilty of something. He might not. The problem is that this thing has been so ridiculously handled that we don't know. The closest we got was that the Wall Street Journal said he "learned" of one of the assaults. But we don't know who he learned it from and it was well after the assault had already been reported to others in authority who were in a position to do something. But who knows. And therein lies the problem. 
• I said the other day to invest in Drones and Virtual Reality. After tomorrow's elections, I want to add another: Legal edible marijuana products. There's money to be made.
• My dad says that he recalls when juries in Texas weren't selected at random from voter registration or drivers license lists. Instead, four or five folks were called in to hand select those who would come in for a jury panel. 
• Wow: Before 1954, females were not allowed on juries in Texas. 
• At the request of the Eighth Grader In The House, we watched the new Ghostbusters over the weekend. Verdict: It is horrible. And when they made the rare clever joke, they would then explain it to you. 
• I watched one episode, Nosedive, of Black Mirror. I love that series. It's a chilling insight as to where we are headed.
• Mark Cuban has revoked the credentials of two local ESPN reporters who cover the Mavericks. That guy is unhinged and is almost a mini-Trump.
• There is a Letter to the Editor this week in the Messenger complaining about a local bookstore placing atheist and agnostic books next to the Christian books. She blamed "political correctness" because they used to be kept "under the counter" where they belonged. Uh, what year is this? 
• A guy got rushed out of a Trump rally after an assassination scare. (There wasn't one.) He was causing a ruckus and later claimed to be a "Never Trump" guy. Then I saw him interviewed and he said he had donated and voted for Hillary.  I guess that technically makes him "Never Trump" but not exactly what the term means.
• Former Attorney General Janet Reno has died. I remember her for ordering this:
  
• Or this:
  
• The Ticket sent Gordon Keith for a "man on the street" type interview on Friday morning at the Texas Motor Speedway where campers had gathered for the race. He talked to two nine year olds who said that Hillary was "evil", was going to "take away the Internet" and "separate the whites and blacks." Oh, my. 
• Once you learn about the "Mannequin Challenge" I hope you conclude it is stupid. (The Cowboys did it and TCU did it.)
• Wrong way driver over the weekend:
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• WBAP's Brian Estridge this morning on ISIS encouraging American Muslims not to vote tomorrow: "Not a bad idea." And on the organization's threat for violence: "Be on the look out for any Middle Easterner with a backpack at Spencer's at the mall." Incredible. 
• Some say Jerry Jones will replace Prescott with Romo once they get to the playoffs because of Romo's experience. Dumbest thing I've ever heard. What exactly is it about Romo's playoff record that would make someone inclined to believe he would give the Cowboys a better chance to win? 

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

Bits are fun.

Never get out of your car at NASCAR.

Ain't no humor like Old Testament humor.

I wonder if that ring went flying.

Her ability to laugh makes her a "Hey, now."

"I told you not to lay on me!"

Tarrant County Prosecutor's Closing Argument Gets Case Reversed

What was it in this murder case?

Was there any evidence of that? Uh, no. That's a problem.

And since the political atmosphere at the time of the trial in 2014, some of the relevant news events were listed in the opinion. Edit: I didn't word that very well.

Opinion here. Concurrence here. Dissent here (which condemned the comment but said that trial counsel did not preserve the error for appellate review.)

The Cubs Parade Is Hours Away And It's Already Turnt'd Up

8:15am and people are already jumping off stuff #CubsParade #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/hNn1acybAj

— Baylee Taylor (@baytay13) November 4, 2016

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I don't think I've ever watched Good Morning Texas but the local townsfolk appear to be excited about its road show this morning. 
  
• I went to vote today and was asked, "May I see your ID?" Whoa. Wasn't the Texas voter law struck down? Yes. But, under a settlement of that case, the alternative is to fill out a "Reasonable Impediment Declaration" under penalty of perjury with the contradictory disclaimer of "The reasonableness of your impediment or difficulty cannot be questioned." From there, you either had to have your voter card, or one of the following: A certified birth certificate, current utility bill, bank statement, government check, any government ID (showing address or photo), or paycheck. Sheesh. I gave up my five second act of civil disobedience and showed the ID.
• And you still think there is voter fraud in Texas? The most trusted man in news, entertainment, and pop culture almost didn't get to vote this morning. (But I got a couple of bullet points out of it -- Which is nice.)
• The creepiest thing you'll read all day: "South Carolina police have found a woman who has been missing for two months 'chained up like a dog' inside a storage container on a 100-acre property, the local sheriff said." It was on the property of a registered sex offender. Her boyfriend, who went missing along with her in August, has still not been located. 
  
• Do you think there will be anyone who gets up at 2:00 a.m. to adjust their clock because they've been told to do it at 2:00 a.m.?
• Dallas Police had a bad day: "Senior Cpl. Justin Shaffer was fired Thursday after he was found to have lied about his work and harassed his ex-wife, and Officer Ricardo Solis resigned amid allegations he approached two girls for sex last year, police said."
• Death penalty cringe: With an eight member Supreme Court, it still takes five votes to stay an execution for review. Yesterday, four voted for a stay to review a case. Justice Roberts finally joined them writing that they were wrong but would do so as a "courtesy". That just seems a little fast and free with the issue of life or death.
• This looked like a mess in Arlington after a truck lost its load of propane tanks:
  
  
  
  
• Everyone on Fox News promotes their own book but now Megyn Kelly has joined the group. Her's is interesting in that she "details of her alleged sexual harassment by her former Fox News boss, Roger Ailes" including that he "to help 'advance' Kelly's’s career in exchange for 'sexual favors.'" Recall Fox News settled with Gretchen Carlson after she sued Fox over the harassment.
• George Soros has donated $2 million to the opponent of Sheriff Joe and $1.5 million to the Democratic challenger in Houston's DA race. Not only are they state races, they are county races. 
• College Football: Don't rule out a 2 loss Oklahoma team making the Final Four before all is said and done. And the Aggies could actually pull it off if they win out (and Alabama wins out including SEC Championship game)
• I've mentioned before that Dak Prescott might end up being seriously underpaid. But can he do anything about it? All rookies sign a four year contract and the very important labor agreement provides they are paid according to how they are "slotted" (picked) in the draft. Dak could hold out but can the Cowboys pay him more if they wanted to? The answer appears to be no. The labor agreement says that rookie contracts cannot be renegotiated during the first three years. (Otherwise the pay scale based upon slotting would be meaningless.)

From Earlier This Week

Child drowns sister in bathtub while mom entertains "booty call." Mom now faces felony child abandonment charge https://t.co/HF3mhx1Mqu pic.twitter.com/c4SfHmBhlO

— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) November 3, 2016

The link has the probable cause affidavit displayed.

November 3rd

It begins. pic.twitter.com/sIqgGZcKfF

— Zach Cole (@ZachACole) November 2, 2016

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• National election polls for the presidential election are meaningless. It's all about the swing states. And the great fivethirtyeight.com now says Florida is an absolute toss up but still gives Hillary a 67% chance to win the election.
• Mark Cuban is really acting odd on this election with his Trump hatred. He said the other day ago that if his stance costs him all his money, he doesn't care. (And it has nothing to do with Trump being short of "details" as he says. This is purely personal.)
• Thanks to the great Internet investigative skills of Mrs. LL, I may have finally figured out who ALL CAPS guy is. I think he's a guy who isn't very smart pretending to be dumb in a very dumb way.
• And my bet proposal with him on the election still stands. We just need to agree on someone to hold the money. (We had a bookie offer his services in the comments yesterday. I've already proposed a mutually agreeable bank.)
• I'm not a baseball fan, but that was an entertaining Game Seven last night. (I actually fell asleep during the rain delay and woke up as the game resumed and, through sleepy eyes, for a second thought it was the 18th inning instead of the 10th. But I did stay awake to see the end of it.)
• Cubs Thought: I'm a fan of Bill Murray but he might want to take it down a notch. The same with Eddie Vedder.
• Baseball managing is so overrated. Anyone with half a brain could do it with thirty minutes notice. Compare being an offensive coordinator in football and try to do the same thing and you would have a disaster on your hands. (And I've even read George Will's Men at Work.)
• The only "play" a baseball manager needs to "call" is to bunt with no outs and a runner on base. Other than that, let them play and make the very rare obvious changes.
• Joe Buck is really, really good at what he does whether it be baseball or football.
• Troy Aikman said on The Ticket this morning that he went to the Adele concert last night and got a text that the World Series game was in "overtime." 
• The Cleveland manager last night in his post game press conference said "It hurts when you care." That sums up life like nothing else. 
• Why isn't there a easily accessible record of every time the cops search a car based upon their perceived probable cause and find nothing or every time a drug dog "hits" on a car and nothing is found. 
• The Des Moines guy who killed two cops was crazy, but his video at the high school game (see post below) presented a great First Amendment issue: Can you be kicked out of a high school stadium for holding a Confederate Flag when doing so upsets people? The answer has to be "no." (Side note: The police telling him he was being asked to leave "private property" made no sense.)
• Unrelated.
  
  
• Things to invest in right now: Drones and Virtual Reality.

Alleged Des Moines Cop Killer Update

He took a selfie of himself with a Confederate flag in front of African Americans. Escorted out of game and films it. And then comments on the video.

"I Want Candy"

Daily Mail - A woman in New York got a little too grab-happy when it came to Halloween candy and stole an entire bowl. The unidentified woman from Westchester, New York, was caught on surveillance camera nabbing the sweet treats on Halloween. There were no children in sight when the woman scooped the candy. A sign on the bowl is there to indicate children who are trick-or-treating may take candy from the dish.

Thoughts (1) That run at the end might be the most exercise she's gotten in a couple of years, (2) I have that song by Bow Wow Wow stuck in my head now -- which I just discovered has nothing to do with candy, (3) Any chance this is a rigged bit by Ring.com?