4.03.2018

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • When's the last time you felt like it was freezing in the evening and then woke up to a 70 degree temperature?
  • Here's some advice to the "Affluenza Teen": Shut up. Don't give interviews. Lay low. (Which is basically good advice for anyone when the criminal justice system is after you.) And did her really drive off in a Tesla after being released from jail? 
  • Speaking of, any chance he is scared of his own FBI and Justice Department?:
  • I was at a driver's license hearing (DWI related) yesterday where the DPS lawyer called the officer as a witness first -- the only witness in the brief hearing. The defense lawyer then went on cross and asked just a couple of questions of the officer who was sitting across the table from him. DPS then rested and the judge asked the defense lawyer if he had any evidence. He said, "Yes, I'd like to call the officer." A huge question mark went over everyone's head (including mine) and he, I think, sensed it. So he said, "Well it was their witness and now I'd like to call him as my witness." Huh? 
  • The same lawyer after the hearing told the DPS lawyer, "I'll get back to you on this one. It's really interesting." Dude. The judge will issue a decision within two days and then the case is over. If you have any "interesting" evidence, that was the time to present it. You do realize the DPS lawyer isn't the prosecutor in the DWI case, right? 
  • Monday at the Masters where players skip the ball across a water hazard at the sixteenth hole is some of the most entertaining things you'll see. 
  • I once had an IRS agent show up in my office in Decatur, read me my "taxpayer rights", and then tell me I had been filing the wrong Employer's Withholding tax return form. I asked him if I had not been paying enough -- a legitimate question since he had traveled all the way to see me --  and he told me, "No, you have just have been filing the wrong form." That's still one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. Once I filed the right form, I had a $5.00 refund coming. 
  • I can't imagine what it it is like these days to be a high school kid. I can't imagine what it is like to be a high school teacher. 
  • Nothing like a redneck song from 1984 to put you in position to beat an a Democratic challenger in Texas in 2018.
  • I'm not making this up -- This is where Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz decided to start that re-election kickoff last night. I bet that was a very diverse crowd:
  • I thought U.S. Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, the Democrat who currently represents the El Paso area and is challenging Cruz, was Hispanic. I was wrong. Side note: Look at this: 
  • Mrs. LL has gone on a watching binge of The Office lately (which pretty much means I am, too.) I'll throw this out: The Office is greater than Seinfeld. 
  • Does anyone have a link to a guide as to how to grow tomatoes? Or, alternatively, where a farmer's market type stand can be found this summer where you can find home grown tomatoes?
  • Trump will do one of his insane tweets criticizing Amazon and the stock will go down that day. How much would you bet that someone in Trump's inner circle shorted that stock the day before one of those tweets because he tipped them off? 
  • I spent a couple of hours in White Settlement yesterday. It is far from a white settlement. 
  • That's a massive Oklahoma teachers' strike/protest which is going on. 
  • Villanova won the basketball National Championship last night. They won every game in the tournament by double digits. 

at 8:37 AM

4.02.2018

I Give Up


Story.

People will believe anything on social media. No, that's not Emma. That's the Official Liberally Lean Girl having a bad moment a few years back.

And this comes after a fake photo started circulating of Emma tearing up the constitution.








at 4:02 PM

One Armed Catcher




at 3:04 PM

A Must Watch And Read For Those Who Care About America and Journalism

These are the Texas stations that the comrade owns:




at 8:50 AM

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • Here's a question that neither dad or I could answer: Are the precinct lines in Wise County ever redrawn? And are they based on population? If so, you would think they would be redrawn every 10 years with the census. 
  • According to the Bridgeport Index, a customer's computer exploded in the Dairy Queen last week. 
  • Stephon Clark, the guy who was murdered in his back yard by police in Sacramento, was shot eight times with six of them being in the back according to an autopsy.
  • The cop who shot a Baton Rouge man at point blank range was no billed by a grand jury. Then the chief of police fired him anyway. He had been on paid leave since the incident in July of 2016 (which is a nice gig if you can get it.) 
  • For some reason, the federal government decided to prosecute the wife of the killer in the Orlando Pulse nightclub shootings. On Friday, they lost. Look at this statement from a former U.S. Attorney from South Carolina: 
  • Those pipe bombs found in Wise County made me think of this old story which gets more bizarre every time I read it. (I'm not saying they are related, it just made me think of it.) 
  • Even if you don't care about women's basketball, that UConn/Notre Dame semi-final was as good as it gets. Edit: I wrote that on Saturday as a draft. Then the championship game happened last night and trumped it. (Last shot here.)
  • This is from the Dallas Morning News on Friday in article about how housing is unaffordable for so many young people. I find this number shocking. The "D-FW area" is massive: 
  • Fox News' Tucker Carlson (who still has "dumb face" because he never closes his mouth) interviews Fabio about the politics in California. #Idiocracy
  • Baylor paid ex-coach Art Briles $15.1 million after his dismissal because of the school's sexual assault scandal. President Ken Starr got $4.5 million.  We'll never know what Briles knew. We will always know that Starr is incompetent. 
  • Trump's lawyer, the one responsible for this Stormy Daniels fiasco, graduated from Cooley Law School. It has often been referred to as the "worst law school in America."  A buddy of mine once referred to it as the Mel Cooley Law School. (You've got to be old to get the joke.) 
  • The head of the EPA has been living in an apartment for $50 a night -- an apartment owned by an energy lobbyist. And he only had to pay when he stayed there. You kidding me? (That's the same guy had been the focus of his first class travel -- including a trip to London at taxpayers' expense where he went to Wimbledon.)
  • I still love that the girls team from Bridgeport High School went back to the name of "Sissies" a few (many?) years back.  They were called that originally because the men's team was known as the "Bullies" -- not "Bulls" as they are now. If my memory serves me correctly, the girls were known as the "Lady Bulls" for a few years but that didn't make much sense. 
  • Trump hands me gold every day. This is too easy. The only thing more white is the Klan or the Proud Boys. Oops . . .  .Trump did throw in one token African-American and put him at the end of the row. I apologize. 
  • Ted Nugent on the Parkland high school survivors: "The lies from these poor, mushy-brained children who have been fed lies and parrot lies . . . . The level of ignorance goes beyond stupidity."  The good thing is they have no idea who he is. 
  • As of yesterday, twenty-three Republican Congressmen have said they won't seek re-election. Thirteen others have not said they won't quit but are running for a different office. 
  • Man, people are bent out of shape after the live performance of Jesus Christ Superstar last night. 



at 7:55 AM

4.01.2018

Above The Fold


Full page PDF.
at 8:46 PM

3.30.2018

The Bridgeport Index Announces It Will Start Printing Some Stories in Spanish


And then all hell broke loose on Facebook on the holiest weekend of the year.

Mr. Bridwell, not only is it a wise business decision, it is a courageous decision in this day and time. I've never been prouder of my hometown paper. And, based upon the comments, I've never been sadder.

Edit: Proof. Everyone go buy an Index. Merchants, advertise to show your support.


at 9:02 PM

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

 Mrs. LL helping me put the kayak in for the summer.
 TxDot workers?
 America at 5:00 p.m. on every work day.

 'I've told you to put down the phone and pay attention to me!"
Dog Dive Afternoon



at 2:00 PM

We Are Now In Full Idiocracy Mode




at 10:57 AM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • The worst thing about being a criminal defense attorney is that you are rarely negotiating with the State from a position of strength. You have to appeal to fairness, consistency, and a sense of justice.
  • We have Harris County deputy news as this guy is arrested on child porn. (Side note: It got my attention that "The Grand Prairie Police Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Texas Rangers and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office participated in the investigation, along with the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force." That's a lot of agencies. But what's Grand Prairie doing in there?): 
  • This is what the Astros shifted to when Gallo was up to bat yesterday at the Rangers' home opener. It's insane. And it is also insane that a professional baseball player can't lay down a bunt towards third.
  • It gives me great comfort to know that Roseanne Barr is a Trump fan and that Trump called her to congratulate her for the great ratings of the reboot of her show.
  • Speaking of -- this is real. Those cookies are shaped as people: 
  • And most people don't remember this: 
  • By the end of the year, Fort Worth police might be able to shoot from the air if they get their wish. It's the continued militarization of police.
  • The "flyover" at the Rangers home opener occurred before the national anthem and during a moment of silence?
  • How much is this Greg Abbott trip to India costing us? He went sight-seeing at the Taj Mahal yesterday.
  • Rangers' beat writer Evan Grant was on The Ticket yesterday before the home opener and actually seemed distracted because he was in the dining area. And now we see this: 

  • Laura Ingraham is learning that saying stupid things about a survivor of the Parkland shooting has consequences. Advertisers are fleeing (current count is 7) because the 17 year old kid fought back. She apologized once she realized she was in financial trouble. 
  • And this is local radio talk show host Mark Davis, formerly of WBAP, in a nutshell. He comes to Ingraham's defense in a multi-Twitter rant last night, sanctimounsly lectures everyone, yet does not realize he has a greater sin.  Does 660 The Answer advertisers know he did this earlier this week?
    Last night
    Earlier this week: He approved calling those teenagers who
    survived Parkland "little bastards."
  • Hot opinions at UNT:

at 8:38 AM

3.29.2018

Random Thought Girl Leaves White House




And Trump's exit is right out of Arrested Development:




at 2:18 PM

Southlake Police Doing Bits And Attacking The Rangers

They deleted it. Someone is earning taxpayer dollars running that account.

But the city went into damage control. All of these people are being paid with taxpayer dollars, too:




at 1:48 PM

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • Social media controls the world now. Time magazine named the Person Of The Year in 2006 as "You" because they saw it coming. And the magazine was mocked for it. The "lame stream" media is always wrong, right?
  • “I knew he was a shallow, lazy ignoramus, and I didn’t care.” -  Extremely conservative Ann Coulter on Trump two days ago at Columbia University.
  • Trump threw out another blatant lie this morning. Amazon has been collecting taxes for every state since March of 2017. Why does he hate Amazon? The owner of Amazon owns the Washington Post.  (Side note: Isn't the U.S. Postal system a "Delivery Boy" by definition?)
  • My long time iPad died a year ago, and I'm too cheap to buy another one. I used to carry it with me every time I went to the courthouse to take notes for any significant developments. So I tried an experiment: Buy a spiral notepad and keep a journal doing the same thing. I love it. Although I do get kidded for going "old school."
  • One weird thing I experimented with was writing my updated "to do" list every morning. I go back to the day before and look at the list, see what I accomplished, then write it all over again with deletions and additions. It reminds me the first thing in the morning of what I need to do. 
  • This doesn't sound good from the Ellis County DA's office. I wonder if it is ransomware:
  • Still one of the craziest local stories I've seen is when the computers at the Wise County Sheriff's Office were hacked by ransomware. And they ended up paying. (I can't remember the amount.) Boeing was hit by it yesterday.
  • There's a new HBO series called Barry.  I'm honored. (Seriously, not only was the first episode  fantastic, it recreated one of my favorite movie scenes of all time from True Romance)
  • A police "expert" on a conservative talk radio show said there are times when it is OK to turn off the mic on a body cam. Let me tell you, the answer is "never" when they are interacting with or investigating an individual. It's a red flag every time if it happens. 
  • Sheesh. By the way, this guy ran for district judge in 2014 and lost in the primary by less that 1% of the vote. His arrest warrant, which involves multiple allegations, is shocking. 
  • Did some administrator at Decatur ISD get fired? I need confirmation. 
  • One of my first bullet points after Trump was elected was about his conflict of interest problems because of his business interests, and I used his hotel in D.C. as an example. Yesterday a federal judge ruled that a lawsuit claiming Trump violated that conflict of interest because of the Emoluments Clause can go forward. (Let me simplify this: Let's say a judge in Decatur owned a bed and breakfast and lawyers from out of town came into town the day before court and just happened to pay to stay in that bed and breakfast before their court appearance. You comfortable with this?)
  • The Rangers open their season today. It will end on September 30th. By that time, the Texas Longhorns will have already played 41% of their regular season football games. 

at 8:33 AM

3.28.2018

Crazy Day For Wise County High School Students

Crash in Decatur at Hale and Trinity, and there was a Chico bus wreck.
at 3:14 PM

She Wouldn't Do Well On Jeopardy




at 9:00 AM

Above The Fold



Full page PDF.
at 8:50 AM

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • Well, Kim Jong Un went and visited with China's president. This will work out well. Those two are teaming up together. 
  • And another (Arizona): 
  • I actually mentioned a couple of weeks ago how this guy was the target of a cheap shot by a Baylor player when he was at TCU. Maybe it did cause a brain injury. These facts, if true, are bad. And the Seattle Seahawks immediately cut him: 
  • I should have fired it up yesterday.
  • Any of you boys ever taken that train from Fort Worth to Austin?
  • Mexico played Croatia at JerryWorld yesterday. You say you don't care? Many do: 80,000 showed up. 
  • On this day (well, yesterday) in 1977. I had never heard of this. 
  • Things got a little tense at a Sacramento City Council meeting in light of the shooting of Stephon Clark 20 times by police. The guy on the right is his brother.
  • Arlington High School is on lock down this morning, but it appears only to be as a precaution. 
  • "Former Disney Channel star Caroline Sunshine has traded her Mickey Mouse hat for a White House hard pass. Sunshine, 22, is the newest member of President Trump’s White House press team." Say what?

at 8:38 AM
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