Flashback

Trump says in this video that he’d never let his pick for Attorney General ban recreational marijuana, says it should be up to the states. Maybe he should tell Jeff Sessions this. pic.twitter.com/2ApgycbVzu

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) January 4, 2018

Very Random High School Football Post

This looks like Prime Mike Tyson trucking high school kidspic.twitter.com/41SUhBymGM

— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) January 3, 2018

Good lord. This reminds me of Marcus Dupree's high school highlights that were shown on 30 for 30.

He is Devonte Lee out of Oklahoma City. And you know what's crazy? He is rated as only a 2 star recruit and only has one offer and it's from the University of Nevada.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• How did the Syria civil war dominate the news a few months back and now we never hear a word about it?
• Shout out to First Financial. When in New York, Mrs. LL used a debit card to sign up for a bus/city tour and the bank immediately noticed something was amiss. They temporarily froze the card
• There was a story in the Messenger of some kid saving someone by breaking out the front window of a vehicle with his fist. I didn't think that was possible.
• AG Jeff Sessions is taking steps to have the federal government stop states from legalizing marijuana (even that is what the people of those states want.) 
• That's not the way it works. Not the way it works at all. And doesn't that just bring more attention to it?: 
  
• The most amazing thing is that this lady actually seems to enjoy her job. She has to wake up every morning and ask herself, "What has he done now that I'm going to have to defend?" 
  
• This cannot be true: 
  
• The "Cat Causes Wreck" story led one of the local news stations broadcast last night. 
• The defensive coordinator at LSU, who was pursued by the Aggies as head coach, will stay put. He will be paid $2.5 million. As defensive coordinator. 

We've Got A Donald Trump vs. Steven Bannon War!

This morning:

In an upcoming book, Steve Bannon called Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer “treasonous” and said “they’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV” https://t.co/CSAoOfoLbt

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 3, 2018

Trump is so mad he issued a statement on something called "paper" instead of Twitter.

And only a year ago they were BFFs.

Above The Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Trump really lost it last night. 
  
• From the Dallas Morning News:This happened around 2:00 a.m. this morning. 
  
• Remember me reference the ex-Baylor wide receiver who, after being drafted last year, was cut by three different teams and didn't make the practice squad on any of them. Well, the Dallas Cowboys have signed him this week.
• I've gotten through 80% of Baby Driver, and it was nothing like I was expecting. It's dark. It's smart. It's tense. But it had a distracting aspect because it is centered around a young man who keeps getting hired for crime gigs by a character played by Kevin Spacey.
• This is (1) Horrible breaking news, and (2) The most confusing statement I read in a long time. 
  
• Mrs. LL has decided to install one of those doorbell cameras by herself. I'll be dang, so far so good. (My only job was to trip the breaker which was no easy task when over half of them are not labeled!) 
• A winter "bomb cyclone" is about to hit the lower east coast? That's a new one on me. (It's snowing all over North Florida right now and they are freaking out.)
• This is from a parody site, and it's funny: 
  
• I heard there was a sign at the Decatur Post Office warning of long lines due to illness. (There is a lot of sickness going on out there and it seems to linger.)
•  I forgot to mention about the New York trip: One of the oddest moments was when the Teenagers in the House became giddy when they saw a subway rat. 

I'm Sure All Of You Have Seen This

Close Call: Dashcam video shows a police officer falling on a slippery road and nearly being hit by a car in Hurst, Texas. Police released the video to discourage traveling in dangerous weather conditions. https://t.co/wEFvR2d2sX pic.twitter.com/Gf9DDNIpbT

— ABC News (@ABC) January 2, 2018

He was getting out of the way, but that fall almost put him back in harm's way.  He didn't give the other driver a ticket or warning, considered it an accident, and sent them on their way.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• It was good to be off. I'm trying to convince myself it is good to back.
• We went to New York City and, let me tell you something, it was a scene.
• Yes it's cold here. It was colder there especially when you throw in the wind whipping through the buildings. I wore five layers everywhere I went. 
• We were a few blocks from the ball drop and, although I'd never get in that crowd, we thought we could position ourselves at least to see it happen from a distance. I backed out because it was bitterly cold but we were able to hear the crowd in the distance from the hotel at midnight.
• It was the craziest police presence I had ever seen. They were everywhere.  Our hotel was probably six blocks away and we couldn't get onto the block of the hotel without being wanded and showing proof that we were staying there. And that was just for the block. It wasn't the street that led to Times Square.
• We saw snow fall in Central Park. Very cool.
• We were in the background of The Today Show. (One interesting part of the show is the 30 minutes up to it. They have a guy outside there working that square area talking to the crowd. He told them they normally would start with crowd shots but weren't going to do it that day because of the tragedy --- a fire had killed 12 people in the Bronx the night before. The show didn't want to start with a bunch of happy people and then cut to the footage of the fire.)
• My Slumped Shoulder Moment when I went looking for some type of warm face protection and decided to go to the Nike Store. As I was looking at the map to try to find it, I learned it was in Trump Tower. Edit: I went in and it was incredibly easy. There were a couple guys checking bags, but since I didn't have one, they just waved me through. It's kind of like a mini-upscale mall inside.
• The New York Public Library is a must see.
• They are building massive skyscrapers all over Manhattan -- the type that will change the skyline from miles away. 
• I do a pretty good job of going off the grid when I'm on a vacation. 
• Off topic: That was a tremendous Oklahoma/Georgia game last night. 

A Brief Random Tuesday Morning Thought

Above The Fold

Never Forget Tiger's Christmas Message

Xmas tradition that my kids love. Mac Daddy Santa is back! -TW pic.twitter.com/pCWZNNKPRG

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) December 22, 2016

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

Sometimes you want to do this during the holidays.

 Ok, that's a bit but a funny bit.

 Get me this cat and dog!

 Probably staged, but I want to believe it is real. 

 Get me this, uh, I don't know what that is. 

There's a lot to process on this one. 

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Odd: Papa John's came to Jerry Jones' defense during his recent battle with the Commissioner and this morning we have learned the head of Papa John's has stepped down. No reason given.
• Rockdale won a state championship yesterday and I think their head coach used to coach at Jacksboro. (Side note: I can never hear "Rockdale" without thinking of that old R.E.M. song.)
• TxDOT has been "treating roads" for possible winter weather next week. Anyone else think this is the biggest waste of money there is? And does anyone think that "treatment" a week in advance would work?
• Dick Enberg, a legendary sportscaster, has died. And he is who I stole my often repeated phrase of  "Oh, my!" from. I grew up watching him as a kid, and it is buried in my brain. 
• U.N. members passed a resolution 128-9 rebuking Trump's decision to  recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. I've said before I really don't understand all of this. However, doesn't it make you think something is very amiss when the world is against you? Allies including Britain, France, Germany and Japan are part of that 128. 
• Highland Park will play for a State Championship (Jerry Jones' grandson is the QB and very, very good). But let's take a look at the diversity from years gone by. (Honestly, I don't know the date of this photo. I'll update.) Edit: Good lord, I didn't see it in the corner. That is this year's team.
  
• The Seattle Seahawks have been fined $100,000 for not following "concussion protocol" for QB Russell Wilson during a game in November. I'm sure Wilson's CTE brain appreciates that. 
• The New York Times did a story on how Trump is often compared to P.T. Barnum, the ultimate huckster and propaganda man from circus fame, and found this quote from January 2016: 
  
• I watched some of the "live" version of a A Christmas Story on NBC that aired on Sunday. It was horrible. It was so slickly produced that I turned to Mrs. LL and said, "This doesn't even look 'live'." I'm not alone as professional TV critics agreed: "No one watching would’ve known this was a live production if not for the periodic cheers from an invisible audience and the occasional blown line."
• Football fans: If you want to go down a rabbit trail, Google the "touch the pylon with the ball and you score" rule, and then look at where they put the pylons. In bounds? Out of bounds? And then think about the number of ways a guy could hit the pylon with the ball. 
  
• A fire alarm went off at Love Field this morning. Merry Christmas travelers!
  
  
  
  
• I don't understand Bitcoin but I've expressed my concerns about it. Last weekend, its value went to $20,000 per coin. It is now at $13,000. That seems like a very stable investment. 
• Ted Cruz turns 47 today. Only 47? You kidding me? At least he will "serve" long enough to eventually get kicked out of office once the voting demographics change. 

Let Me Do A Public Service

I got this comment yesterday.

Let me remind you of this post which I still talk about all the time.

Thought This Was Fake But It's From A Reputable Houston Station

What was supposed to be temporary tattoo and a fun memory with family, has turned into a permanent mistake for one woman.

Ashley Burke went on vacation to Mexico with her family where she and two others got Henna tattoos. 

More.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I saw a U.S. mail delivery vehicle going through a neighborhood before 7:00 a.m. the other day. That's a first for me. 
• Well, the Republicans rammed through the tax bill which will only benefit those who make a ton of money. You boys happy? You have no idea what just hit you or what will hit you in five years once every benefit you see in the next three years is gone. #TheBigCon
• I'll be up monitoring it for you, but based upon the Liberally Lean Weather Center projections we've got a big cold front coming in at 2:11 a.m. tomorrow. 
• Whomever wrote the disparaging comment about my Administrative Assistant yesterday, you are a disgusting individual. And you, unlike me, won't sign your name to your Internet comments. That makes you the ultimate coward. Read that word again, buddy, it was "coward."  (And you don't think I don't know your IP address? You think you're being clever?)
• Oh, by the way, the coward decided to attack on Christmas week and before 9:00 a.m.! Peace and Joy!
  
• Christmas Vacation still holds up. And the older I get, the more I relate to Clark. (Especially having a wife who just patiently shakes her head whenever he goes off.)
• The new puppy is driving us crazy. And crazy with fun.
• Twitter has been deleting white supremacist accounts. That is the company's absolute right -- it is not the government, it is a private company. I followed a couple of "Proud Boys" and they are now gone. 
• It really is a great story: A female kicker for a six man Texas football team successfully did her job in the state championship game yesterday. But NBC 5 told me this morning that she was "hanging up her cleats and won't kick in college." Really? No way!
• It's weird how the pseudo-intellectuals like Dennis Prager think that college kids are radicalized by their professors at universities but not realizing their anger might be because of their six-figure college loan debt. 
• I will always be entertained by the wording of this tweet as the modern day Robert Tilton tries to make more money. Read it. "[J]ust as the Apostle Paul did!"
  
• Watching Wise County DWI videos can be a beating and a joy. The joy comes when you find gold. I watched one yesterday where a guy who just happens to be from Thailand was asked by the officer about "karate" and "nunchucks." (If the officer saw nunchucks during the search of the vehicle after the arrest that would make sense, but I can't find it referenced in the report or see it on the DVD.) If that was just a random question I know two people in the courthouse who will explode. And that came after the initial contact when the officer asked him, "How many cervezas" he had had. Which he pronounced both as SIR-vasa and KER-vasa back to back. Most of the time my job is a beating, but there are times when I love it. 

Above The Fold

Come Hell Or High Water

I've watched this movie maybe at least three times. I think I'm going to put it into my top five of all time. It's West Texas. It's Texas Rangers. It's clever.

But this scene locks me in. I was talking to an old friend up at the courthouse yesterday and mentioned this is very similar what happened to us in the 1990s up, at what I believe, was the old Yesterday's restaurant up on the highway in Decatur. One of us asked the waitress for an extra roll. It did not go well. And we looked at each other like these Rangers do.

Language warning.

Edit: Some commentors have suggested it was a BBQ place. Upon reflection, I think they might be right.