Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• After yesterday, we should just go ahead and make "Crazy Train" our national anthem. 
• An Emirates plane had to be briefly quarantined because of a flu outbreak and Vanilla Ice was on board. (A sentence I never expected to write.)
  
• Regardless of what you believe about the incident, this photo taken immediately after Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh was asked to shake the hand of the Parkland father, is golden. (Credit: European Pressphoto Agency's Michael Reynolds.)
  
• Speaking of the hearing, this was a heck of a moment yesterday. Either she knows something or she bluffed Kavanaugh into thinking she knows something. Worth a couple of minutes of your time. 
  
• On a lighter note, trust me, you'll love this Congressman and former auctioneer going into character to shut down a protester in a different ongoing hearing. That's quality comedy. 
• Trump went ballistic yesterday afternoon over an anonymous New York Times Op-Ed by an insider in the White House. And he actually think its treasonous for someone to question his fitness to run the country. Now he's on a Snitchhunt and wants the person to be "turned over to the government." 
  
  
• Then again, he probably does want to kill the author. "Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death . . . . "18 U.S.C. § 2381.
• The greatest conspiracy theory of who wrote the Times piece is based upon the word "lodestar" which appears in it. The person who has used it multiple times in speeches in the past: VP Mike Pence. Others suggested looking at the writing style of the author who often starts a sentence with a conjunction and uses the em dash. That would make me a suspect.
  
• This is the leaflet that the guy had with him when he crashed into the Fox 4 studio yesterday. That guy is bonkers.
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• There was a story back in July about a Decatur man being arrested for Impersonating a Peace Officer. I'm late to this, but WFAA found the search warrant affidavit issued in Denton County for a somewhat related investigation of the guy. The subject of the search was this tricked up car located in Wise County.
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• Random Picture: The current probation department building in Decatur or "The Old Rogers Building."
  
• I've been going into the Wise County Courthouse for decades, and I've never noticed this engraving of the date of construction. (I didn't take the pic and have no idea where on the courthouse it is. And the date looks a bit cock-eyed.)
  
• Decatur Eagles, 1965. I spy a County Court at Law judge.
  
• The last three photos were stolen from a Decatur Facebook page here. 
• And he took that plane? I'm sure the Beaumont common man can relate.
  
• UCLA is a 30 point underdog against Oklahoma on Saturday. A weekly guest picker for the Messenger, who is a local car dealership rep, picked the Bruins to win outright.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Breaking: Someone just got mad at Fox 4 News: "A man crashed a truck into the side of our building this morning. He jumped out and started ranting. He’s in custody now but the bomb squad is on its way. He left behind a suspicious bag. Most have been evacuated and a few are working to keep the news on air from a secure location."
  

  

  A nut? A "fake news" disciple? Steve Eagar
  wanting more air time?

• Updates:
  
  
  
• I was listening to a Wise County 911 recording the other day and discovered that the Sheriff's Office has a dispatcher with a British accent. 
• Comments in a "Fortnite stream"? There is no communication stream where someone cannot hurl insults.
  
• Then again, since I shut down the comments, I haven't had one negative email sent to me about what appears on Liberally Lean. It's amazing how people back down when they have to sign their names.
• I forgot to mention this yesterday -- saw it on national news: 
  
• It seems silly listening to the audio broadcast of a home run during sports highlights on the radio. What's the point? 
• The Brett Kavanaugh hearing had its entertaining moments.
  
  
• I'll give the guy a break for this moment. There are nut cases everywhere, and I wouldn't want someone approaching me unexpectedly either. Throw in security grabbing Kavanaugh's arm very quickly, and getting out of there seems like the understandable thing to do. 
  
• Almost 20 years ago, we had a weather expert speak to the Decatur Lion's Club. I later felt stupid in asking whether the government had ever considered trying to control the weather since that could be powerful. (I used the example of dumping three feet of rain on opposing troops during a war.) Little did I know the government was experimenting with it in 1981.
  
• Ken Starr, for some reason, is releasing a book on the Clinton Scandal. NPR has an excerpt which shows just how out of touch he was. He says that Monica Lewinsky wasn't "arrested"  after FBI agents ambushed her while she was walking but simply "detained" and told she was free to leave. Never mind that she was "detained" for hours and, when wanting to walk around to wait for her mother to arrive, an FBI agent followed her. In criminal law, we call that a de facto arrest.
• I'm guessing it went down like this. Starr (to FBI agent): "Can we do that?" FBI agent: "Sure." Starr: "Oh, goody!" Starr knows nothing about criminal law.
• The political leanings of the the fans of every NFL team: 
  
• Bill Cosby was convicted in April. He still hasn't been sentenced. 
• The excerpts from the Bob Woodward book are insane. Trump wants to fight it by attacking the credibility of an author whom everyone respects. He'll lose yet another battle.
  
• Flashback to 2013: There's a Trump tweet for everything.
  
  
• And Trump defends himself this morning against allegations that he is clueless by proving it. The man has never heard of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. (And it's like saying, "Why doesn't Congress change that abortion law?" or the gay marriage "law" or that integration of schools "law.") 
  
• Messenger: Above The Fold.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• There was a concerning opinion piece in the New York Times this weekend from the author of the famous book on Enron (which led to a documentary.) She compared the current fracking boom in the Permian Basin to the mortgage crisis and the dot com bubble.
  
• Trump attacked his AG for indicting two crooked Republican Congressman because it hurts their re-election chances. Who cares about crime, right? Let's just win elections! (This is not normal.)
  
  
• Our senior senator is now doing decades old humor: 
  
• And our governor did a weird bit of attempted humor yesterday as well:
  
• I posted the video yesterday, but here's a photo of the moment a guy caught a punt for a TD.
  
• That might be the only Labor Day parade west of the Mississippi. Looks like a party  . . . 
  
• We've got the Kavanaugh hearing this morning prior to his (inevitable) confirmation for the Supreme Court. This picture was just moments ago before he takes his seat. Semi-circle of senators. Photographers are situated in front of his Kavanaugh's chair for now. Reporters in the back at tables (who you never see). Three rows of chairs for those people who will end up in the background of  any TV shots of the witness (and I always want to know their stories as to how they were selected to be there in hearings like these.)
  
• Edit. The hearing has started off with a bang. Here and here. 
• Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is the face of Nike's new ad campaign. People immediately started "owing the libs" by destroying/disgarding Nike apparel they had already bought. 
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• Tucker was very, very upset about the Nike decision. 
  
• This Youtube video is of a DPS in a chase near San Antonio. (It looks like this occurred in February with the video recently released.) Both fire.
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• The official SBN account of TCU used the term "tuddy" for "touchdown" on Saturday causing the official SBN Baylor account to respond.
  
• I know nothing about the National Museum of Brazil in Rio, but the images during and after the fire have been sickening . . . 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• It's Labor Day. There is no Messenger Update, local news stations have skeleton crews, and metroplex papers are so thin you could floss with them.  But guess who is here providing priceless, quality content?: The hardest working man in show business. 
• If Trump is not lying above the venue, there will be a ton of empty seats. He couldn't fill up the American Airlines Center much less Jerry World or the NRG Stadium.
  
• And this recent Trump/Cruz weird love fest has caused everyone to unearth their crazy contempt for each other from just two years ago. The biggest liar in the history of politics had a theme that Cruz couldn't tell the truth (after attacking his wife and saying his dad was involved in the JFK assassination):
•  Examples:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• And Cruz went scorched earth on Trump back then as well calling him a "pathological liar," "utterly amoral," "a narcissist at a level I don't think this country's ever seen" and "a serial philanderer."
  
• Fox News shamed a black man for making an honest living: 
  
• It seems like you'll oftentimes hear prosecutors say, "It wasn't the verdict that we hoped for, but we will never argue with or criticize a jury." Uh, by saying that you kind of are, right? 
• Hot: Chico Dragon running back Nico Starnes who, against Petrolia, ran for 303 yards and five TDs on just 13 carries. Not: Decatur Eagles' passing line of five completions and six interceptions on 25 attempts.
  
• Not sure about this political cartoon which perhaps inadvertently shows John McCain moving in to bomb the Pearly Gates.
  
  
• George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and especially Meghan McCain took shots at Trump (who was golfing) during John McCain's funeral on Saturday.
  
• Trump heard about it and got mad:
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• The name. A sword. A DJ. Seems like a scene out of Kill Bill.
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• I pray that a new misdemeanor case I've been retained on has facts consistent with my client's version. It truly will be a great, "He got arrested for WHAT?!" story. 
• Get this: The high school football season is two weeks old in California. After the first two games, Healdsburg High was 0-2 after losing 0-41 and 0-61. The team had 18 players and after the two big loses, six players quit. The coach then held an anonymous team vote where they decided to pack it up and call it a season. 
• I saw one highlight of Diamond Hill's win over Conrad (breaking the state's longest losing streak), and I think I know how they won. Conrad's version of tackling was, (1) Try to wrap your arms around the runner's upper torso, (2) if successful, try to sling the runner to the ground, and (3) remain standing at all times. It was ridiculous. 
• "L. Gaga":
  
• Twin Peaks Biker Cases Update: "A judge, who said Friday he has been 'troubled by the whole Twin Peaks matter from its inception,' put off the trials of bikers in his court until after the first of the year because he wants the new McLennan County district attorney to review how the remaining Twin Peaks cases will be handled." I knew this was a fiasco from Day One. 
• College football: (1) OU looks scary, (2) UT fans have Tom Herman -- who always seems Wheels Off -- on a very short leash, (3) The receiver who made that first  great TD catch for the Evil Empire transferred from Baylor (4) Auburn beat Washington behind their QB - a transfer from Baylor, (5) Penn State "upset" Appalachian State in overtime in a thriller, (6) There seem like a ton of targeting ejections this weekend. (7) The craziest play you probably didn't see.
  
• Kevin Von Erich might have taken one too many blows to the head. North Texas won 46-23: 
  
• TCU played Southern (Alabama). Why on Earth was it a day game?
  
• Messenger: Above The Fold.