Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Obama showing up for jury duty yesterday was great. (Quick three videos here.). It would be more fun being an ex-president than being a current president.
• Nothing makes you feel dumber than trying to help with a kid's math homework. I gave up years ago. 
• Nothing makes Mrs. LL clean more than having a guest over. It's almost enough to make me want to be sociable. Almost. 
• A trooper's task of knocking on someone's door to tell them of a death has to be the worst aspect of the job.
• Jerry Jones consideration of hiring Harvey Weinstein's ex-lawyer, who is brilliant but oversaw Weinstein's "spies" of his accusers, is a bad look.
• Garth Brooks won Entertainer of the Year? Country music must be in bad shape.
• WFAA had a feature on Randy Travis last night. I had no idea he was in such bad shape.
• It was a self check-out scam. But you have to love this quote:  "The computer is for my husband. Since he just got me a Coach purse, I figured he deserved something nice, as well."
  
• The Second Circuit will hear oral arguments in the Zeke case today. As I've said before, there will be no ruling from the bench. It ain't Judge Judy.
• The director will reshoot all of Kevin Spacey's scenes in All The Money In The World. That movie is supposed to be great, but it also has a release date of December 22nd. Christopher Plummer will replace him in the role of J Paul Getty.
• Mrs. LL saw this last night. I presume that's a cut out picture but in this day and time you never know. 
  
• I had a client killed in an accident this week (it is unrelated to the funeral today in Paradise.). 2017 is making a run for the worst year ever. Edit: A commentor accurately stated that I might want to re-write that first sentence. 
• The three UCLA players arrested for shoplifting (idiots) might be facing charges and reportedly cannot leave their hotel rooms until a decision is made. It might be a good thing that Trump is there at the same time. (If Trump is aware of it.)
• Yep, we certainly have a handle on gun violence in this country: 
  
• The Twin Hills Biker Trial is being broadcast on Facebook Live. I'm not sure I've ever heard of that before in Texas. (Although if court is not in session, I think it just fires up the last three hours or so that was broadcast.)  Edit: Obviously, Twin Peaks. Not Twin Hills. I've been at Lake Bridgeport too much.

I'd Like To Have A Transcript Of This

As always, language warning.

The manager need a Golden Taco Award.  Fine job. And if I heard it correctly, when she tries to calm Ms. Einstein down by saying, "Let's turns this around", Ms. Einstein says, "I don't have problems in my life, really." Oh, you do honey. Oh, you do.

Above The Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• It was a Republican blood bath last night in Virginia with the Dems taking the top three state positions and the New Jersey governorship going back to the Democrats as well. Regarding losing the governor's race in Virginia, Trump was not pleased as he Tweeted from South Korea: 
  
• It is amazing he lost because Trump said earlier in the day Gillespie could make crime "be gone."
  
• The funniest race was for the Virginia legislature. She beat "a 13-term incumbent who called himself Virginia’s 'chief homophobe' and earlier this year introduced a 'bathroom bill' that died in committee." That is the definition of being "owned." 
  
• It's going to be a beautiful day today. Get outside and enjoy it!
• The new tax plan eliminates the deduction for teachers who buy their own school supplies. 
• I'm confused:
• 
• "Hillwood Communities, a division of Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood, has closed on its largest residential development yet — a 1,157-acre tract near Interstate 35W and FM 407 in Northlake that will bring more than 3,000 homes to North Texas."  The traffic going into Fort Worth on I-35, morning or evening, is already insane. It just got ramped up. 
• I'm the worst businessman in history, and I always shake my head on how they can pull the trigger on deals like that. But if the price is right on the land, that's really all they need. They'll contract out the home building and won't have any risk. And if there is a real estate crash, they'll just wait it out. It's just shifting money from a cash account to a land account. (And it's probably just a low interest loan and not even their cash. If you were a bank, would you lend to Hillwood and take a lien on that property if the Perots' say, "This will work"? Oh, yes, yes, yes.)
• Funny line from a Defendant, who might be a little unstable, up at the Wise County Courthouse (not my client) to a court administrator: "Why do I have to pay court costs? I didn't bring the charges! The State brought the charges!" Strangely, he has a point. 
• How can you tell these days?:
  
• Someone broke into home last night and was shot and killed by the owner. You might hear some discussion about the Castle Doctrine. You can ignore it. If someone breaks into your home and you kill them, no Texas jury will ever convict you. 
• 
  

We Still Have Dinosaurs?

Is this the riskiest Chicken Wing ever eaten??? pic.twitter.com/Hg4aR98hRr

— Young Pageviews (@YoungPageviews) November 7, 2017

And old Ricardo is probably beaten down by that woman.

Pure Sorriness Right There

Story.

This Is Comforting

Interstate 35 shut down in #Dallas after suspected grenade found following fatal crash https://t.co/CfA6OQBfAl via @dallasnews #traffic

— Jennifer Emily (@byjenemily) November 7, 2017

People are driving around with grenades? That would certainly up the ante on road rage cases.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• There are reports TCU is on lock down this morning. There was a road rage incident where one driver shot at another (but missed.) Has the country gone crazy?
• The Church Shooting guy lived with his parents in a high tone home.
• Our governor is an idiot. He said yesterday that all these tragedies seem "heavy right now but put this in context of history, look at what happened with Hitler."  So if you kill less than 6 million, just "put it in context"? Austin is a clown car.
• There's actually something to this: 
  L
• Loved this line from Mark Davis' new column where he is mad at people who want gun control after all of these mass shootings: "Many of us favor addressing the actual problem, which is not a gun problem any more than drunk driving is a car problem." Uh, so why does MADD advocate ignition interlock on even first time offenders? 
• Rand Paul was attacked by his neighbor over a long time dispute over leaves. Yep, leaves. Everyone thought it was a little funny until we learned his injuries are pretty bad. He'll be out of commission for a while.
• If you are hard core into politics and followed the Carter Page story yesterday, you know that guy is going to get indicted.
• In maybe one of the most shocking moments in a criminal trial I've seen in a long time was in the Twin Peaks Trial yesterday. The DA and his assistant said they didn't turn over exculpatory evidence they heard in a witness interview because they didn't believe the witness. That's not how this works. That is not how this works it all. It should cost them there jobs -- and that is just for starts.
• Fox News: 
  
• I've got a huge internal clock and this time change is really messing me up because my body won't acknowledge it.
• Why don't we just keep the flags at half staff all the time? 
• There are reports this morning that Secretary of Education DeVos will resign.  
• The two women killed in the parking lot in Parker County were extorting money from the alleged shooter. 

I Give Up

Well, if you are going to get shot, the best place to get shot is in church. Call me crazy, but I think I'd choose a hospital emergency room.

I think it is funny that Brian Kilmeade is staring at the ceiling at the end.

This Truly Is Amazing

I have an actual serious post. This was on 60 Minutes last night, and the introduction is exactly right: "We don't know enough about how the human brain works."

Quality Comedy

We ❤️ you @EvanAndrewsFox4 ! 645 degrees right now in #DFW! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/CJdEr7Ziie

— Jenny Anchondo (@JennyAFox4) November 6, 2017

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• A 26 year old white guy kills 26 people in a First Baptist Church in Texas. And this comes on the heels of Las Vegas at a country concert.  And comes on the heels of Orlando. But let's just focus on Radical Islamic Terrorism. (And the service, according to their Sheriff, was recorded. I don't want to see it.)
• Gov. Greg Abbott, who I'm convinced is oblivious to reality, became "emotional" discussing the shooting. Two years ago: 
  
• I stole these lines: The second amendment was written 226 years ago. Think about writing an amendment right now that governs gun laws in 2243.
• The dumbest "legal expert" in the history of legal experts was on CNN giving an opinion on whether the shooting could be a federal crime. Good lord, woman. (1) The guy is dead, and (2) If he were alive, what do you think a Texas state court jury would do to him?
• The 911 tapes in the children killing case involving the East Texas woman are chlling.  She is mentally ill but the Sheriff said she had planned it out. If daddy is haunted by this for the rest of his life for doing nothing, he needs to be.
• A lot of people were upset that Bowe Bergdahl was not sentenced to prison. Trump thought he should have been executed.  (1) It was a military court so there are facts we do not know. There has to be a reason for the sentence because military courts aren't known for being lenient, (2) This proves the military is not sharing facts with Trump,
• At the same location on 287 that the young man was killed early Friday, an 18 wheeler pulled right out in front of me for the other direction later on that day. Wait until the coast is clear! Use the shoulder!  It is there for a reason!
• Zeke's fans say,  "There is no proof" he did anything wrong. You have no idea how many people are in prison simply because one person said it happened without any corroborating evidence. One person's statement counts as "proof."
• TMZ Sports caught up with Yu Darvish on the street. We learned that after years of using an interpreter in Texas, he can speak English. 
• George H.W. Bush called Trump a "blowhard" and said, "I'm not too excited about him being a leader." And this was in a new book -- it wasn't an off the cuff remark.
• Odd: Two women were found murdered Saturday night in the parking lot of First Financial Bank in Parker County.  It turned out to be a white guy who was arrested.
• I had forgotten about the Twin Peaks Trial going on in Waco but there's a reason. It keeps getting stopped because the DA didn't turn over evidence. It has been over two years! That guy is incompetent. Amazing: Dumbest DA's office in the State. 
• College football: (1) I don't know if this is true, but one of the announcers in the Baylor game said Baylor had a 70 player traveling crew to Kansas and 20 of them were walk-ons. (2) The OSU/OU game was wildly entertaining. Even Mrs. LL was locked in. (3) A great moment was after Penn State lost and one  player just headed to the locker room. The coach ran him down and told him to get back out there and congratulate them. (4) TCU is good. Very good. (5) Hot sports prediction: Both UT and Baylor will be good, very good, in two or three years. (6) Fun fact:  The USC/Arizona game ended at 1:30 a.m. in the both East and Central time zones. (7) And, finally, what is going on?:
  
• Obviously, I'm not a fan of Trump but I do admire his stamina -- especially at his age. That travel schedule he is on over the next few days is brutal. And throw in the fact that he spends his days in front of the cameras and not sitting on the beach, and it makes it almost amazing. Mrs. LL and I remarked to each other on Thursday of last week that we still hadn't recovered from our Florida trip. 
• Then again, he made it to Japan and said they were a "Warrior Nation." Good lord, man. There is no greater warrior nation than the U.S. over the last 200 years. We've fought The British. Mexico. The Civil War. World War I. World War II. Vietnam. North Korea. Iraq (twice). Afghanistan. Missile strikes on Libya. Grenada. And that's off the top of my head. 
• Someone in Austin fired at multiple cars on I-35 in Austin early Sunday morning injuring four, including a seven year old boy.
• Local: I saw  K.C. Schoenthal, 54, funeral notice in the Update. He served as my investigator for awhile when I was D.A. but haven't talked to him in years. Was he sick? 

Uh, Oh

@JennyAFox4 excessive or nah? I think so  pic.twitter.com/qCrVcSlrkx

— Cody Ludwig (@LudwigCody) November 5, 2017

Above The Fold

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

Bits are fun.

I'm sure the water is probably an inch deep, but 

I want to believe there is a Jesus Dog.

You keep waiting for disaster and then learn these guys are geniuses.

There are face plants, and then there are very funny face plants. 

You have to admire his build up. He's a born showman.

You knew it was going to be bad, but not that bad. 

This will be me on my first day after my move to Costa Rica.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I didn't post a comment about Black Creek K-9 Services and partial ownership yesterday, but I am interested. Can you send me some proof to verify what you tried to post?
• "U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault." Uh, say what?
• "Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is joining President Trump on his trip to China." How's that swamp thing working out?
• In a moment of great comedy, an outgoing Twitter employee shut down Trump's account. It was down a little over 10 minutes. 
• There were actually people upset that the Omni in Dallas payed tribute to the Astros. How could you possibly care? 
  
• This made my head explode. If a person requests a lawyer, all questioning must end. (It was a concurrence.)
  
• An East Texas woman shot and killed her five and seven year old daughters. Historically, it's been hard to convict in cases like this because the mother often suffers from mental illness. I think we all want to believe that is the only way it could happen.
  
• Houston ISD is closed today because of an Astros celebration. You kidding me? That puts many parents in a bind with barely little notice. 
• I just learned seconds ago that I know the kid that was killed. I'm sick to my stomach.
  
  
• The new iPhone costs $1,000? Sheesh.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• More and more I'm convinced people drive like morons. I'll have people blow by me in Rhome doing 85 and  weaving in and out of traffic. Not only might you cause a wreck, you are begging to be stopped. 
• I wonder where the missing Wise County K-9 dog ended up. I'm guessing he's fine and in someone's care. 
• I feel sorry for Yu Darvish after being lit up in two World Series games. I also feel sorry for his agent as he hits free agency. 
• One of the oddest things I've seen happened last night in the game when some Astro walked up to the plate in the first inning and tipped his batting helmet to Yu Darvish. That was solely to mess with his head. It worked. Edit: I didn't get to posting the comments to around 10:00. Uh, I'm pretty sure now that the tip of the hat was actually an apology. 
• Because of a part-time job, I've spent a pretty good amount of time with Decatur's Chief of Police Rex Hoskins over the last couple of months. (I've known him for years.) But now I know why he has been Chief for decades. His attitude when something is getting out of hand is not "You better back down and shut up or I'm putting you against the wall and you are going to be arrested." No, his attitude is, calmly, to say "Come over here, calm down, and let's talk about this." And it has worked every time. 
• Mrs. LL yesterday: "My shoulder has frozen up again." (I don't want to tell her, but I'm not sure I remember the first time it happened.) 
• What that guy did was moronic and he needed to be fired. But $500,000? I'd let a cop do that to me for half a million. Heck, I'd take $5,000. Maybe $500.
  
• Baseball umpires used to have these huge hand held pads that they could hold up with on hand. I'm not sure when they went away.
• This is incredible. Ted Cruz uses the Astros win and the slogan for Houston's Hurricane recovery to raise money last night. Sir, do you have no shame? 
  
• The social media executives testifying before Congress about the fake accounts created by Russsia to influence the presidential election should scare us all. Yet what a perfect plan: Create fake news to dupe a country which is quickly getting dumber and dumber.
• Ugh: 
  
• The UIL is doing high school realignment and I'm really surprised by these enrollment numbers: Alvord 212, Boyd 401, Bridgeport 651, Slidell 60, Bowie is 497, and Decatur 1,054. The disparity between Bridgeport and Decatur is shocking. 

I Told You This Morning That Junior Was Losing It

Why don’t we simplify this greatly and publish a list of those in Hollywood who aren’t creeps??? Apparently a much smaller group. https://t.co/TZTeRmKvg9

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 1, 2017

Dude, your dad had a TV show and made that statement to Billy Bush on the bus. How can you possibly be this dumb to make this post?