9.25.2018

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • "Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger, who fatally shot 26-year-old Botham Jean in his Cedars apartment, was fired Monday." I'm not sure I have a problem with that even though, like I've said, I don't think there is a criminal offense here. Nevertheless, I don't think you can have an officer on the force who made such a tragic mistake. 
  • There was a murder arrest in Wise County last week and, in another incident, a guy got arrested for Agg Assault in Decatur where the alleged victim was in critical condition at JPS. At first, they weren't sure he was going to survive. That would have been two murder charges in Wise County within a week. 
  • We've entered a weird time in our country when a Supreme Court nominee, while the confirmation process is still ongoing, goes on a friendly TV network to campaign for his confirmation. (And let's bring the wife along for good measure.) 
  • Hal Jay on WBAP this morning: "That interview didn't count." His bubba co-workers were in shock. 
  • I used to think the Cowboys were getting a great deal by only having to pay Dak Prescott what he is due from his small rookie contract. Turns out, they may only be paying him what he is worth.
  • One of the strangest aspects of the Kavanaugh story is his yearbook from that high tone prep school that he attended. The whole publication appears to have been edited by students without any faculty oversight whatsoever with references to beer drinking and partying scattered throughout. For example, he was "Treasurer" of the "Keg City Club." 
  •  But someone noticed that at least 13 male students, including Kavanaugh, made reference to being a “Renate Alumni” or "Renate Alumnius". What the heck did that mean? The New York Times figured it out: "It is a reference to Renate Schroeder, then a student at a nearby Catholic girls’ school." You get the idea. Oh, my! Here's a group photo with the shocking "Renate Alumni" reference underneath it. Kavanaugh is pictured next to Mark Judge, the man who allegedly was in the room during the alleged assault of Dr. Ford. 
  • Everyone of those guys from Georgetown Preparatory School remind me of James Spader's character in Pretty in Pink.
  • I had forgotten that when Kavanaugh was first introduced by Trump that he fired off this big lie right off the bat: "No president has ever consulted more widely or talked to more people from more backgrounds to seek input for a Supreme Court nomination."
  • I still think this cop will be found not guilty. 
  • There is a rash of college players walking away from their teams. Oklahoma State's leading receiver from last year announced he would transfer since he doesn't like the way he was being used this year. It's the new, "Play me or I'm leaving" mentality.  Baylor had it happen last week. Arkansas had one yesterday, too. 
  • Ted Cruz got harassed out of a D.C. restaurant. (Video.) I want to feel badly for him but I just can't.
  • Sports Illustrated has a story (which takes half a day to load) about the new atmosphere at UT football games. It included a video which included a gal who just happened to have two flasks.
  • Anyone could walk into a baseball dugout with no other coaches and with no notice and still lead a major league team to a victory. "Guys, just go play ball." Get thrown onto a football sideline with no other coaches and tell your team, "Guys, just go play ball" and you'd get slaughtered. 

at 8:30 AM

9.24.2018

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • Decatur High School is closed for three days after the building took on water. (Facebook video from last Friday as it occurred.)  "One of the wettest we've ever seen from the standpoint of water." 
  • It was wet in Irving on Friday night.
  • And a tree in Plano did not take kindly to the wet soil. (That would make me sick as a homeowner.) 
  • That seat on the Supreme Court which Kavanaugh is nominated for has quite a history. He will (likely?) replace Kennedy who only ended up on the court because Bork's nomination was shot down. And then Bork's proposed replacement didn't survive due to this horrendous sin: 
  • The Rangers' firing of manager Jeff Banister on Friday was just weird. Getting past he had nothing to work with, why not wait a handful of games until the season was over? Something is going on behind the scenes.
  • I watched the Cruz/Beto debate on Friday. I think the only thing that will be remembered is Beto saying, "True to form" after Cruz ended the night as a jerk when he was supposed to say something nice about Beto.
  • For old time Southern Baptists only: I was channel surfing on Saturday and came across once famed DFW evangelist James Robison in a TV studio with his wife interviewing a guy. Old time religion? Nope. He was selling amino acids.   
  • The Evil Empire sure did make sure TCU's band had good seats on Saturday:
  • In what was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen, some guy bootlegged the overtime of a great OU/Army game, which for some reason was only on pay-per-view on Saturday night, for the nation to see. He just turned his camera to the TV on his wall. 
  • Speaking of that game, the OU crowd applauded Army as it left the field and Army, well, did what Army does: 
  • I mentioned a couple of weeks back that the pylon rules are far more complicated than anyone knows. For example, did you know the pylon is inbounds in the NFL but is out of bounds in college football?  I might get Board Certified in Pylon Law.
  • Weirdest "Friday" high school game: Lancaster trailed Mansfield Legacy 8-7  with 3:53 remaining when the game was postponed at 45 minutes after midnight. When it was resumed on Saturday afternoon, Lancaster started with 4th an 1 at its own 18. They went for it, made it, and went on to score and win the game. 
  • The #1 reason you shouldn't be a fan of pro football: You care more than the players and coaches do.
  • Told you Sean Lee would get hurt.
  • They gave him what?
  • Trump only had three tweets yesterday. This was one of them: 
  • Oddity of oddities: Stormy Daniels' lawyer calls out the head of a private school in Arlington for obscene language and offers proof.
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.
  • I don't know if any allegation are true nor do I automatically doubt them. Regardless, this is going to an ugly week:

at 8:30 AM

9.21.2018

It's Friday, Let's Get Out Of Here. (Trying Something Different)
























at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • What's up with these Jerusalem travel commercials showing clubs and pools? I'm kept waiting for the line of, "Come party in the Holy Land where Jesus walked!"
  • You've got to read this "wrong person" theory presented by Ed Whelan on how the Kavanaugh accuser probably ID'd the wrong person -- a person who he identifies by name and posts his current photo. Whelan is going to get sued for defamation. (He's the President of the conservative "think tank" called the Ethics and Public Policy Center.) And, buddy, you don't avoid a lawsuit by defaming someone and then throwing this out: 
  • Edit: He took it down this morning an apologized. "I made an appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment." You can reconstruct what he said here.
  • I mentioned once that my extended family was almost scammed by a call of "[name] is in jail in California and you need to send money to bond him out".  Scammers ramped up their game with an elaborate hoax on others by representing a family member had been kidnapped and ransom money was needed immediately. (I remember one happening in Southlake.)  Well, they actually caught one lady guilty of the crime near Houston and she got 88 months in federal prison yesterday.
  • I asked yesterday if iPhones were the cause of the increase in teen suicides (a trend which began in 2007.) Someone had more insight: 
  • You want far right wing conservative judges like Kavanaugh? The Fifth Circuit has ruled that prosecutors don't have to turn over evidence indicating a defendant is not guilty if the case results in a plea instead of a trial. You kidding me? (I've written about the case before where the guy is indisputably innocent.) The Fifth Circuit's ruling has no bearing on Texas state prosecutors, however, because of a Texas statute enacted after Williamson County destroyed Michael Morton's life. Texas prosecutors have to turn over that information up front.
  • Not a bad idea: 
  • Florida has one-upped Wise County's (late) Speedo Man found in the blog's header (If you don't watch the video in the link, a highlight was a female neighbor in support of him referring to the family "As the nicest people who would give you their clothes [she pauses to giggle] if he had any on.")(Credit for tip: Bridgeport Trump supporting emailer.)
  • On "the first play from scrimmage" makes no sense. Research it. I thought it meant "on the first play since practice", but I don't believe that any longer. I also believe no one knows what that phrase means. 
  • You hear about murder-for-hire cases that never get pulled off, but a successful one I had never heard of went down in Rowlett three years ago. Well, I guess it would have been successful but for the conviction:
  • I believe this. He'll get crazier if the Democrats don't take the House. He will feel completely empowered.
  • Ricki Lake turns 50 today. Heck, she was just a kid when she had her talk show in the 1990s. (Random brain trigger: What happened to fellow talk show host Jenny Jones?)
  • In a horrifying video, Abilene redneck neighbors confront one another with guns and one ends up dead. Here it is edited for language -- it is more than tense.                                                                                                      
  • Well, he just did it. He called her a liar.
  • $487,000: The bonus that Ohio State assistant coach Ryan Day received for taking over the head coaching job during Urban Meyers three game suspension. 



at 8:30 AM

9.20.2018

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • Yesterday morning I made a bold weather prediction about rain on Friday night and within hours all Wise County schools moved their games to Thursday night. I've got more power (and more accuracy) than Delkus. 
  • Odd conversation on The Ticket yesterday where the hosts said a guy should never have an umbrella at a kid's sporting event to block out the sun. I'd do it if I wanted to and wouldn't particularly care what anyone thought. 
  • The mastermind behind 3D printable AR-15s weapons is wanted after meeting an underage girl, who misrepresented her age, at a hotel and paying her for sex. He is now on the run. Thoughts: (1) I'm not defending the guy, but for some crazy reason it is not a defense in Texas if a person actually believed the other person was not a minor. (2) It is odd that this wasn't a sting operation. She just later revealed the incident to a counselor. (3) They met on SugarDaddyMeet.com which might be the greatest name for a dating site ever. 
  • Remember that big undercover drug bust of eighteen TCU students in 2012 mostly over small amounts of weed? That seems sillier now than it did then. And it was ridiculous then.
  • Celina ISD, a 4A school, is going to build a $24.5 million football stadium. 
  • This banner ad at the very top of The Dallas Morning News' home page is not helping newspapers fight the "Fake News" label. (I knew it was a scam, but I had to click on it to see. It's just an ad for male enhancement product. No reference to "charges", and I seriously doubt Costner is involved in the promotion of the product like they claim.) How can the Morning News in good conscience take money for that deceptive ad? 
  • A long read in the Washington Post which is getting lots of buzz about a high school girl in Arlington who, over 10 years ago, couldn't get the Tarrant County DA's office to prosecute an alleged sexual assault at a party. I remember when that happened, and I think I backed the DA's office for not bringing charges on a case it could never win. 
  • Have you seen the news footage of the trial of the former Mesquite officer who is on trial for Agg Assault for shooting a guy in the parking lot? The "victim" testified yesterday that he was in the parking lot because he was lost, had just smoked weed and done cocaine, and had his shirt off in 40 degree temperature. I doubt the officer had the right to detain him for just being in a parking lot, but the man did make a movement which caused the officer to be alarmed. Oh, by the way, the victim has a criminal history as long as your arm. If the officer gets convicted, things are really, really changing. 
  • The Rangers had a home afternoon game yesterday. Those green seats aren't people.
  • The iPhone was introduced in late June of 2007. Coincidence? (I'm serious.)
  • "Police say they’ll beef up their presence in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards this weekend after an ATF warning that the Mongols motorcycle gang is likely planning a rally there that could draws hundreds of members of the notoriously violent gang."
  • Trump gave an interview to The Hill and it was as wheels off as ever: 
    • Trump on W's decision to go into Iraq worse than Civil War: “To me it's the worst single mistake made in the history of our country. Civil war you can understand. Civil war, civil war. That’s different. For us to have gone into the Middle East, and that was just, that was a bad day for this country, I will tell you.” 
    • He forgot that he had to win the election first: "If I did one mistake with Comey, I should have fired him before I got here. I should have fired him the day I won the primaries," Trump said. "I should have fired him right after the convention, say I don't want that guy."
    • Marching orders from Fox News: He ordered the declassification of Russia-related documents in part because he has been asked "by so many people that I respect, please. The great Lou Dobbs, the great Sean Hannity, the wonderful great Jeanie Pirro."
  • For the life of me, I've never understood hazing or the sorriness of those who cause it.
  • Texas/OU will have an 11:00 a.m. kickoff.


at 8:30 AM

9.19.2018

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • One of the Family Pups decided to eat the carpet. I feel good about myself for not committing first degree puppy homicide.
  • When I heard this guy was going to be up at the third floor of the Wise County Courthouse several months back, I remember telling the prosecutors that I thought he was one of those "Proud Boys." He might be in trouble.
  • Texas Superintendent news: The head of Irving ISD schools just up and quit yesterday, and (2) another school sup thought it would be a good idea to post on social media that "you can't count on a black quarterback."
  • Texas Prosecutor Ineptedness: Prosecutors in Austin played the wrong 911 call in a trial and didn't realize it until the frantic 911 caller finally said her name. The judge was not pleased: “How in the world could you let this go this far and not recognize the differences [between the right and the wrong tape]?” he said. “Y’all don’t know enough about your case? … This is very disturbing.”
  • It's been a while since I've listened to a Cowboys game on the radio, but I caught a bit of one on Sunday. It is pure Idiocracy. "And after Tavon Austin's first Home Depot touchdown, here comes Brett Maher on for the J.C. Penney extra point." (I've got the sponsors wrong, but otherwise that is dead on.) 
  • Oh.
  • Kavanaugh's alleged victim now wants an FBI investigation prior to her testifying before the committee on Monday. I don't know what is going to happen now, but it's only Wednesday.
  • Longtime sports radio listeners in DFW will remember barber Leon Simon who was a frequent caller who got a gig as a co-host on KLIF. He has passed away. He was famous for down home witticisms like: "Just because you put boots in an oven doesn't make them biscuits." And when Michael Irvin showed up in a fur coat for his cocaine trial back in the day, Leon said, "If you are accused of stealing chickens you don’t show up at court with feathers coming out of your pockets.” 
  • There was a Wise County deputy arrested yesterday which was briefly the worst kept secret in the county.  Everyone knew almost moments after it occurred. (I'm not sure what I think about him having his book in photo taken in his WCSO uniform.) 
  • I'm not sure what theappeal.org is, but they took a shot at Tarrant County DA Sharen Wilson:
  • “One of the wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water” - Trump yesterday on Hurricane Florence in a pre-recorded message.
  • Courage:
  • Her pig before it gets sifted at the stock show. (This will make about five of you laugh):
  • I've been in the Liberally Lean First Warn Storm Tracking Lab™, and I'm predicting major rain early Friday evening until around noon Saturday. From the standpoint of water, it will be wet.
  • Messenger: Above The Fold (when breaking deputy news breaks too late to make it.)



at 8:30 AM
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