1.10.2017

Trump Is An Anti-Vaxxer?


at 2:16 PM

Let's Check In On The Heartland



KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A local pastor is taking heat on social media after posting a video to Facebook that gained more than one million views. Sunday night, Pastor Lamond Rushing is apologizing to the handicapped woman it offended. FOX 4’s Molly Balkenbush spoke to that woman and the pastor. That video had more than 11,000 shares before Pastor Lamond removed it from Facebook, after our interview with him. Hundreds of people in the comments mercilessly mocked the woman in the video, while hundreds of others shamed the pastor for posting it. Becky Kittrell said the battery died on her power wheelchair Saturday and she was left freezing in Kansas City’s dangerously cold weather. “If I get stuck for a period of time and stuff, I get so cold I’ll be like, ‘I have to get home,” Becky explained.
at 1:08 PM

I've Always Thought These Ordinances Were Weird




But I struggle to find a constitutional argument against them despite it is your personal property parked on your own real estate.

However, is it an offense regardless of the amount of time the car is running? Is thirty seconds a crime?  What is "unattended"? If I can see the car out the window does that meet the definition? And notice the "keys in ignition" part of the ticket. Is a car with a remote starter OK? If so, it's not the wasted emissions that the ordinance is designed to fight but theft. So why isn't it a crime to leave my keys in my car if it is not running?

So many questions on the day the Texas legislature goes back into session to screw some more things up.
at 12:18 PM

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

  • Great. I go to bed right after halftime and maybe missed the second greatest national championship game in the history of ever. (But when a game is scheduled to start at 7:00, halftime doesn't begin until after 9:30, and the game ends after 11:30, something is wrong.)
  • Somebody needed to check the head ref for steroids. (Here's a very funny GIF of him.)
  • I had to block the Prime Minister of India on Twitter because he kept mistakenly putting my twitter name in his tweets. (I'm not making that up.)
  • I thought the Fort Worth "Why Don't You Teach Your Kid Not To Litter" Officer would be fired. I didn't necessarily think that would be deserved, but I thought they would bring down the hammer hard on him. Nope. Just a 10 day suspension. 
  • Trump has named his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as one of his senior White House advisers. Sheesh. One bright spot: The 35 year old will now be subject to conflict of interest laws and that's a minefield he'll either walk away from or be blown up in. 
  • Cabinet confirmation hearings begin today. Since 1977, only one presidential nominee has been rejected. That was Texas' John Tower for defense secretary.
  • "Democratic lawmakers plan to rehang a controversial painting on Capitol Hill that angered law enforcement groups with its depiction of police officers as pigs, after Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter personally took down the picture last week."
  • If you think the NFL cares about concussions, think again. If you haven't seen the viscous hit on Dolphin's quarterback Matt Moore over the weekend, please look at it. And then after a 10 second examination he was cleared to play. 
  • Anyone know anything about the Alvord teen death mentioned in the Update yesterday?
  • Baylor officially reached #1 yesterday and then was made an underdog at West Virginia tonight. 

at 8:37 AM

1.09.2017

I Didn't Even Know There Was An Exemption Policy


at 2:16 PM

I'm Insane Now


at 10:25 AM

Streep vs. Trump: Who Ya Got?




"But there was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good; there was nothing good about it. But it was effective and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh, and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head, because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life. And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kinda gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others we all lose." 

 Trump's response (which is amazing that he even responded):







at 8:55 AM

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • The Golden Globes award show is the best award show ever. (I'll probably do a Meryl Streep post later and Trump's ridiculous response. It is worthy of that.)
  • I updated the Property Values link on wisecounty.com thanks to a reader who let me know the old link was dead and provided me with a better one. (By the way, I registered that domain name 20 years ago when I stumbled upon something called "the Internet." I'll sell it some day.) 
  • I saw on Fox 4 they had a 5K run on the very cold Saturday morning at UTA combating domestic violence called the Jiggle Butt Run. That's funny.
  • Pete Delkus, you need to step up your game (he's insufferable on Twitter by the way). First, KXAS has a Thunder Truck and a new fangled "S Band" satellite which proves they can do bits. And then we get this out of Atlanta on Friday:
  • If you saw the scenes at the Fort Lauderdale Airport on Friday you know that it was absolute chaos. But any talk of moving the security border all the way outside the baggage claim area is silly and makes no sense. If done, you could carry a gun in your luggage and then retrieve it inside the secured area. Heck, at that point you could go back and hijack a plane. 
  • And should we ban people like the shooter? He is an American citizen, a veteran who served in the Middle East, and had a concealed handgun license. 
  • In the last three days, Fort Worth PD has sent out three tweets. Two of them were about a guy who didn't pay a cab fare. Really? That's the biggest thing you got? 
  • Baylor is now the #1 basketball team in the country but this screenshot and caption from Saturday's game is funny:
  • Instead of building mega-churches, why not build mega-homeless shelters?
  • Saturday afternoon near Rhome there appeared to be a major police intervention/traffic stop. DPS was involved. I saw a crazy dark purple unmarked Charger with so many lights that it would make people at a rave go insane. And there was also an undercover truck. Let me guess: A bust based upon edible weed that was bought legally in Colorado. Folks, it's not cocaine. It's not heroin. It's not meth. But Texas classifies THC the same way. If the legislature doesn't reclassify it this session, then I'm living in the dumbest state in the country. 
  • Trump said the hacking had no effect on the election. But he mentioned "Wikileaks" 164 times during the last month of his campaign.
  • I'll post it sometime this week, but I amazingly stumbled upon FBC's Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress appearing on a game show a couple of decades ago. I've got it recorded. It is beyond gold. He refers to strip clubs and is asked how many of 10 college coeds in front of him would prefer their husband be a virgin. (I thought I found an undiscovered treasure but D Magazine already knew about it.)
  • Trump's cozying  up to Russia should make all of us uncomfortable. I liked it better when Reagan referred to them as the "Evil Empire."
  • Great moment with my dad this weekend after talking about Costa Rica and he asks "Have you ever thought about just walking away and opening up a T-shirt shop on the beach?" Hey,  I've got responsibilities, a family still to protect and raise, current clients to protect and fight for, promises to keep,  but I'm beginning to develop a plan to get to the jungle. 
  • After I told Mrs. LL that, she came up with this plan  (paraphrased): "Don't just retire down there. Let's create the equivalent of a Jungle Bed and Breakfast for your crazy blog readers. If they can get down there, we'll take care of them for a week. Show them where to go. What to do. Drive them around. Continue to do your goofy Random Thoughts but advertise the Bed and Breakfast every day." That's a pretty genius idea. 
  • You want to know who won the election? The very smart Republicans who were "Never Trumpers." Talk about holding the "I Told You So" card. 

at 8:35 AM

1.07.2017

Above The Fold


at 8:28 AM

1.06.2017

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

Penalty. Unsportsdoglike conduct. Targeting. 
 Talk about an interview ending on a "hard break."
 Legs. Use them.
 Mother of the Year
Father of the Year
(The kid seemed to get a kick out of it.)


at 2:30 PM

NFL Fans Are The Absolute Worst


at 11:00 AM

School Grades Are In

 Decatur
 Bridgeport
Paradise
 Alvord
Chico

Slidell

Edit: Sorry, Boyd



Full report in PDF form (link fixed)
at 10:42 AM

Wasn't Even Courteous Enough To Go With The Flow Of Traffic


at 9:30 AM

This Is Cool


at 8:54 AM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • So Trump didn't mean he would build a wall by forcing Mexico to pay for it. He meant you would pay for it if he can get convince "The Swamp" to spend your money: 
  • Then he moved on to really important things and his replacement on The Apprentice.
  • There's a criminal defense lawyer in Houston who just scorched a prosecutor turned defense lawyer and then also took on a judge. It begins:
  • I'm a notorious cleaner when I get control of the house by myself for a couple of days, and I'll throw away anything. Mrs. LL's very important work folder went missing after one of those stints about five months ago. She blamed me. Yesterday, she found it -- at work.  Once again, a man in America has been falsely accused by those in a position of power!
  • KXAS has some breaking weather news this morning. Fire up the sand trucks!
  • Norman, Oklahoma is not impressed.
  • Dan Patrick's "bathroom bill" proves he is a moron. North Carolina was boycotted left and right for their bill and the same is about to happen to Texas. 
  • It's getting dangerous out there when a 15 shoots and kills a 17 year old in a Chili's parking lot in Garland in the middle of the afternoon. 
  • As bagofnothing pointed out, Fred Willard looked dangerously thin and frail on his appearance on Modern Family this week.



at 8:43 AM

1.05.2017

Breaking: Conservative Lindsey Graham Wants Russia To Pay Price For Election Hack More Than President Does


at 10:49 AM

What A Weird Texas Scouting Fundraiser Video



This is weird from start to finish. The guy eating the ghost peppers comes across as a serial killer, and the guy introducing him comes across as a modern day Charles Manson who directs serial killers.

So odd.

Do you have to eat ghost peppers to become an Eagle Scout these days?

Side note: I'm not sure I've ever had a ghost pepper. Mrs. LL and I were in Mexico once and were encouraged by a waiter to try some kind of pepper -- I ate maybe a 1/4 of an inch of it, and it almost killed me. I guess I just don't have the serial killer DNA.
at 10:41 AM

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • America has become a showplace for atrocities caught on video. Yesterday's news: A cop body slamming a kid at school. Four hooligans torturing a handicapped kid (live streamed on Facebook even.)
  • I should have mentioned the passing of Fort Worth lawyer Jim Shaw yesterday. Great guy. The Star-Telegram's headline while I was out: "He fought cancer as hard as he fought for his clients."  That makes me want to head back to the jungle. And one thing about a battle with cancer: It's not a fair fight. 
  • Trump might implode even before he begins. He praises Julian Assange, mocks our FBI and CIA, and says he knows more about the Russian hacking than others. And have we already forgotten that he dared Russian hackers to find Hillary's missing emails? What if the FBI and CIA has found out he was in cahoots with the Russians so that's why he's trying to discredit them? 
  • Hugh Hewitt this morning says Ted Cruz told him Assange "did enormous damage to the United States," and "tells me he cannot imagine ever saying anything good about him."
  • There's a guy in Bakersfield, CA who will send me videos of movies and music from time to time simply because he reads the blog every day. That's an incredibly nice gesture.
  • If Baylor beats OSU this weekend, they will be the #1 basketball team in the nation on Monday. 
  • The Republicans have a mess on their hands on their stance to strike down Obamacare. There's no way they can agree on a replacement. And I don't think they are crazy enough to repeal it without having a replacement. 
  • And if they do make a change, even if it is a repeal with no replacement, does anyone think premiums will be cheaper four years from now? 
  • I wonder if there is a Texas Monthly college football curse:


  • Question at the courthouse yesterday: Who was the Decatur police chief before Rex Hoskins?
  • The new Texas "fetal burying" rule will be struck down in the next couple of weeks. 

at 8:37 AM
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