Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• PSA: Trump's mistress, Stormy Daniels, is coming to Fort Worth. This PSA, of course, does not encourage you to visit that establishment on that date:
  
• Man, it was cold yesterday. And I don't need to remind you I'm The Hardest Working Man In Show Business.
  
• "Please be advised that the Needville ISD will not allow a student demonstration during school hours for any type of protest or awareness!!" Superintendent Curtis Rhodes said. Does the school district not have a lawyer? What if a group of kids want to have a moment of silence during lunch? What if one guy wants to walk through the hallway with his fist up? What if three friends come dressed in all black? 
• Since Texas has passed "open carry" I have never seen someone open carry.
• The Trump "Listening Session" was very suspicious.  Did you know no one wanted to talk about guns? The students and parents didn't even mention it other than a "guns aren't the issue" reference. What a coincidence! This Administration, for however long it lasts, will always be selling snake oil. That was a staged PR stunt. And . . . 

  

  He had to have a note which said, "I hear you."

• Flashback: 
   
• Trump supported arming teachers yesterday during the Listening Session. That would be as dangerous as me walking around with a gun at the courthouse. And let's do another Flashback: 
  
  
  
• DPS has purchased 17 drones. One cost $48,000.
• Hey, local school districts, our Governor has solved the school shooting crisis. You guys get right on that, OK? (Side note: He "orders" it?)
  
• Mark Cuban's defense of not firing Earl K. Sneed (who I had never heard of until yesterday) is ridiculous. He screwed himself yesterday giving that interview to ESPN.
  
• Before the Cowboys ever played at old Texas Stadium, Billy Graham had a crusade there. I was in attendance.
• I'm stunned that one of the new allegations in the lawsuit by a former player does not include Patterson sending Trevone Boykin back into the game after taking a cheap shot to the head by Baylor's Ahmad Dixon in 2013. Boykin lasted just a couple of plays and was clearly suffering from a concussion. I've heard horrible things about Patterson for years. 
• 
• One of the craziest things I have ever seen was a "town hall" (held in an arena) on CNN last night concerning the school shooting in Florida. Sen. Marco Rubio took a beating which even I found uncomfortable. That crowd was openly hostile. (And Rubio, in defense of taking donations from the NRA, saying, "People buy into my agenda" was tone deaf.)
  
• When the sleet and icy roads hit Wise County around noon yesterday, there were a few school superintendents who had to have been freaking out about not closing their schools from the start. (In their defense, the weather forecasts did not not predict it. Thanks, Delkus.)

Mark Cuban Is Having A Very Bad 24 Hours

NBA announces that Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined $600,000 for public statements detrimental to the NBA. Cuban’s comments, which concerned his perspective on the team’s competitive success this season, were made during a podcast that posted on Feb. 18.

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) February 21, 2018

Translated: It cost him over a half million for saying it was in the team's best interest to tank the rest of the season.

Firing It Up

We've got some pretty heavy sleet at 11:30 in Decatur.

Edit: Well, that escalated quickly.  For those on 287 or 380, stay out of the ditch.

Two new counties have been added to the Ice Storm Warning... Wise and Parker are now seeing more ice/sleet impacts from this storm. pic.twitter.com/Hq04f1Cdhb

— Dan Henry (@Fox4Weather) February 21, 2018

Above The Fold

Full page pdf.

Oh, My

One of the most racist ads in Tarrant County memory features an Obama imitator pretending to “endorse” Republican candidate Mamie Bush Johnson, an African-American: “She’s a liberal like us.” Judge Deborah Nekhom is the incumbent. #txelex #tx2018 pic.twitter.com/GEodoBilDL

— Bud Kennedy (@BudKennedy) February 21, 2018

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Billy Graham has died at age 99. This is the cover of Time in 2006:
  
• Trump moved to ban bump stocks yesterday. They were used in the Las Vegas mass murder not the most recent school shooting. Keep up. 
• A guy named Benjamin Kelly works -- well, did work -- in Florida state government. He thought this would be a good idea to send out this email. By the end of the day Monday, he was fired.
  
• My comment section is still down. I'm having withdrawals from not seeing craziness.
• If the the Thunder Truck isn't in Wise County this morning, my faith in local news has been destroyed.
• Sports Illustrated is after the Mavericks. And the team "responded" fast by issuing a statement even before SI released the story last night. They say Mark Cuban had "no knowledge" and that they had hired an outside firm to investigate. This sounds bad. 
  
• There's a commercial on The Ticket which warns against banks offering a temporary/promotional interest rate on savings accounts which later plummets. I haven't seen an interest rate on savings accounts advertised in over a decade --  maybe longer.
• Let me state the obvious: The weather is nasty today. 
• The parole board in Texas recommended clemency yesterday for Sugar Land man slated to die for murder-for-hire plot. No Greg Abbott has to either give a thumbs up or thumbs down. 

For $100,000

But to put it in perspective, after taxes he couldn't cover Jay-Z's bar tab.

Jay-Z Went Out This Weekend

Shout out to Dayhana for a successful night.  Story.

Firing It Up

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Wise County is considering a "veterans court." I'm in support of it, but it really has some Equal Protection issues when you think about it. 
• I came across The Blues Brothers the other day and, after getting past the fact it came out 38 years ago, I was struck by the production of it. Like this scene which lasted only a few seconds but is truly artistic.
  
  
• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on 60 Minutes this week and refused to deny that he called Trump a "moron."
• Overheard at the grocery store yesterday: "Unless you are dying, don't call me!" I'm guessing that's the product of a relationship that didn't work out.
• What's a "death panel"?
  
• The superintendent of Southlake ISD makes $338,488.
• Little red corvette:
  
• Link for this Wise County story:
  
  
• I would presume this is a very short book: 
  
• Donald Trump has endorsed Mitt Romney's run for Senate. Let's check in on what Mitt said two years ago and what he says now:
  
  
• New this morning: A lawyer with a connection to the Ukraine has cut a deal with the special counsel's office. He will plea later today. 
• Yep, the comments section of this blog is still not working. 

Johnny Football

He posted this and then deleted it.

I'm not sure a cigarette would do it, but who knows since he is on his Redemption Tour.  Maybe it was the bandana (which is a very bad look). Or the tattoos. And who is in the back seat?

Daytona

The Daytona 500 was yesterday, and the Texas Motor Speedway opened up so you could watch it on "Big Hoss."

This screenshot was taken from Fox 4 last night. Give that camera guy a Pulitzer.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• I still can't see the comments which are submitted. Google, which runs this platform, has acknowledged the widespread issue and is allegedly working on it. 
• Weird: A driver of a U.S. mail truck was shot and killed on the mix master in Dallas this morning.
• The indictment by the U.S. Government of 13 Russians cannot be understated. They deliberately infiltrated social media, in a sophisticated manner,  to fool you with lies. And, interestingly, there is a paragraph in the indictment that says they communicated with a Texas group who told them to focus on three states. 
• Now remember that he won't impose sanctions on the Russians and remember this: 
  
• But that news on Friday completely buried the story that Trump cheated on Melania (again)  -- this time with a Playboy bunny.
  
• Trump is running scared. The following is a complete lie. He called it a "hoax" multiple times. 
  
• Tell your kids that if they want to watch Watergate in real time, this is their opportunity. 
  
• Mitt Romney is running for Senate. He's a Republican who despises Trump, and he will win in a landslide.
• Mrs, LL watched a portion of Airplane with me. She laughed. I don't even know her any more. 
• Black Panther brought in $192 million on its opening weekend. 
• There's a growing sentiment for an organized student march in support of gun control. (One date being considered is 4/20).  The other date is a Saturday, 3/24. I would rather see it on a school day.
  
• I haven't heard it, but Fergie must have butchered the national anthem last night.
• I didn't know Joel Osteen supports "speaking in tongues."
  
• If you are the superintendent of Desoto ISD, I'd be nervous after this agenda came out.

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

 Here is some Hypothermia Comedy

 Once I move to the jungle, this will be my jungle recliner and my jungle dog.

 So now we have to trick up bungee jumping?

 Amazon's home delivery is getting out control

 "Hey, mister. I would like to give you this consolation prize for being 

extremely slow today."

Get me this dog!

I Can't Load The New Comments Today

My crack IT staff is working  on the issue.

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Did you know DPS has a program where older troopers can "retire and then be rehired in order to collect retirement benefits and a salary." And that's your money.
• "I don't care who is president. We are all doomed anyway." - Wise County probation officer yesterday speaking some wisdom at the courthouse
• A Plano West student brought a gun to school yesterday.  I'm sure that didn't freak anyone out. But wait, there's more: A Flower Mound Marcus student brought a gun to school yesterday as well.  And coming in with the Silver Medal is a kid from South Garland high school. Does this happen every day but we are just hearing about it because of Parkland?
• There was news yesterday that the Parkland shooter was a member of a White Supremacist Group, but later people were tapping the brakes on the claim. Apparently the group is know for being attention seeking Nazis.
• The way I feel before any ice skating routine.
  
• There is always news about mussels invading Texas lakes. When I was a kid, there were mussels the size of your hand all over the shores of Lake Bridgeport.
• "Just over 1 in 3 millennials in North Texas have a college degree, which ranks next to last among the metros selected as finalists for Amazon’s next headquarters."
• The Parkland shooter had his first court appearance yesterday. Here's a photo. I can 100% predict a comment that's forthcoming.
  
• The Fourth Circuit struck down Trump's travel ban yesterday. This, without even getting to the almost 300 page opinion, gives me Tired Head:
  
• A Kansas guy running as a Republican for Congress thinks it is a good idea to have an AR-15 giveaway.
  
• Let's go with a double front page today:

The More Things Change . . . .

It's "lets talk about gun laws" today after what happened in Parkland, Florida, and it reminded me of this Time magazine photo spread which came out in 1998. (You can see all the photos here.)

I love the guy in the mullet especially because he had on a "Young Country" t-shirt. That was the name of the leading Dallas country and western station at the time.