4.08.2019

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




  • Texas Tech playing for the National Championship tonight? You bet. So the school, win or lose, cancels all classes tomorrow. (But why does the game start at 8:20 p.m.?)
  • DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who famously had no idea how many people had died in the custody of her department, is leaving. The Washington Post, who I was told was "Fake News", was dead right almost a year ago with their reporting about her relationship with Trump.  (Now he'll look to appoint someone "tougher" which, translated, means someone willing to break amnesty laws which he calls "loopholes.")
  • Nielsen learned a valuable lesson: If you work for an bad person, you will forever be known as a bad person as well.  
  • Do these things still exist? I'm guessing no. They set rotational speed records back in the day while launching kids to and fro.
  • What a great gig: You're the CEO of the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau and make $700,000 a year. You just happen to be a triathlete as well so you schedule business trips at the same time of triathlons to San Diego, Canada, Norway and Paris.  
  • There was a 17 foot python caught in Florida -- those things are taking over the Everglades because a few of them, which had been kept as pets, were released around 20 or so years ago.  But I almost want to go into conspiracy theory mode on this python because a Google image search of the story shows several photos of this python with reverse images. There's so many that I don't know which one is the original. 
  • The Baylor women won the National Championship by one point last night. What had been a cakewalk turned into a nail-biter when their best player went down with an injured knee and was taken off the court in a wheelchair.
  • The subject on my lengthy bullet point on Friday about our state senator Pat Fallon's bill is also the subject of the scorn of teacher organizations.
  • I saved $59.99 on Wrestlemania 35 last night because I'm an adult. 
  • The Liberally Lean Pick 'Em status. "Lynette" has Virginia in the final. Mystery Person has Texas Tech (that was a bold move). One of them will win it. 
  • Below is just some random guy on Twitter bragging about his new home purchase. I hope he posts five years from now so we can learn how this all worked out with his new bride. (Side note: "DA BAY" isn't Runaway Bay but a serious contender for a nickname nonetheless.)

  • "Open carry" legislation is dead in Austin after a "an activist went to the home of Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen."  That was the headline at least. I was expecting some crazed nutcase who went banging on the door with an AR-15 on his shoulder. It wasn't. It was this guy, Chris McNutt.  He was unarmed and had a flier with him. "Texas Department of Public Safety troopers intercepted him and carried the flier to the door."  Hey, I might not agree with the guy, but trying to peaceably persuade an elected official to vote a certain way requires DPS intervention and headlines across the state? 

  • There was a drowning in Lake Bridgeport last week. I was trying to remember how many times it's happened, and research didn't help me put a list together. There was a 16 year old in 2012, and a 17 year old in 2017.  I also learned that two people drowned in 1953. (Here's, amazingly, the KXAS typewritten script of the new story.) There has to be a bunch more. 
  • The Dallas Morning News published their "best of" photos for March in Sunday's paper. (Yep, I subscribe.) This one was great. The paper said it had more are on Instagram at dallasnews. (Nope, I don't do Instagram.)
  • Random school bond election amount: Voters in Prosper ISD will vote next month on a $1.3 billion proposal.
  • Trump weirdest claim, made multiple times over the last four days, is that the United States is "full."  That's just bizarre. And less than two months ago he proclaimed, "I want people to come into our country, in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally.”
  • Messenger: Above The Fold. 



at 8:30 AM

4.05.2019

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







at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • I figured out the huge uptick in the Wise County inmate population: We are housing people for Collin County.
  • The massive Quick Trip in Decatur opened yesterday, and by 8:00 a.m. there was a wreck in the parking lot. My trusted source failed me in not getting a picture. 
  • A Fox News correspondent got roasted yesterday for giving the impression that the border is so dangerous he needs a bullet proof vest, and he was triple roasted when everyone realized the bullet proof vest looked ridiculously fake (Backpack backwards? Party City purchase?)
  • Trump will go to the border today and lie to you about the wall being built. (Even Fox News admitted it was just rebuilt fencing this morning.) Nevertheless, the following was golden yesterday as Fox and Friends interviewed Sarah Sanders about it. Reign.
  • Cops doing bad bits:
  • Property owners in Tarrant County have taken it in the shorts over the last five years. This data doesn't even include the increases which were just mailed out. Those folks got a crash course in escrow withholdings: 
    And that's just school taxes.
  • People, well some people, paid good money to see Sebastian Gorrrrrrrka and Mark Davis last night in Grapevine. 
    Look at that crowd! Look at those demographics!
  • Remember when the House voted 420-0 to release the entire Mueller Report? (3/15/19) Remember when Trump said, "I want to see the report, and you know who will want to see it? The tens of millions of people that love the fact that we have the greatest economy that we have ever had." (3/20/19)
  • This is how you do it:
  • This is how you don't do it. (Fox 4's Steve Eagar made this a "news story" last night on the 9:00 p.m. newscast.)
  • Trump, who actually bragged about sexually assaulting women and has had adulterous affairs with porn stars, continued to embarrass the nation yesterday by posting a doctored video mocking Joe Biden. He's a child.  (How's the First Lady's anti-online bullying campaign going, by the way?)
  • The Jeff Bezo divorce has been worked out. She'll get 25% of his Amazon stock (that's 4% of all outstanding Amazon stock). It's worth $35 billion and makes her the third richest woman in the world. Private note to ex-Mrs. Bezo: "What's up girl?"
  • Stay with me here. Our ultra right wing state senator Sen. Pat Fallon is up to something. He's trying to amend a reasonable state law which prohibits a school board member from using taxpayer dollars or resources to support a bond issue or a candidate. But that amendment increases its scope in a shocking way in that it makes it a crime for an employee to use school "funds or resources" to express an opinion about “a political philosophy” or “a matter of public interest.” But those terms aren't defined. So a teacher sending an email on a school computer or a text on school time (there's your "school resources") to a friend that says, "I really like Beto" or "I love Trump" or "I love America" or "We should help Hurricane Harvey victims" would be a crime punishable by up to a year in jail. Yep, it absolutely would. Like I said, he has some unspoken reason for doing this (perhaps "We don't want them liberals indoctrinating our children at school!") but it has unintended consequences (that anyone with half a brain should have seen). 
  • This is crazy. A guy placed $1,500 on Texas Tech to win the National Championship before the season and the payoff is $300,000.  On the open market (yep there is one), he could sell the ticket right now for $65,000. Would you do it? I would. Then again, I wouldn't have bet $1,500 on any team at the start of the season. 


at 8:33 AM

4.04.2019

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • Texas highest criminal court yesterday struck a blow against a prosecutor and the desire to move trials further towards Idiocracy: "Playing a video of a lion trying to eat a baby to argue for a high prison sentence in a simple robbery case was an improper use of a demonstrative aid because the video invited an analogy that was not anchored to the evidence presented at trial." The court even took the rare act of posting the video.
  • I've learned that Amarillo now has a Minor League Baseball team which is affiliated with the San Diego Padres. They are officially my favorite team because of one reason: They are named the Sod Poodles. (But if you want to know what a beating being a minor league player would be, check out the post below. They are driving to Corpus Christi for their first game -- 651 miles one way.)
  • Speaking of official, The Official Liberally Lean Girl has checked into a mental health facility. Thoughts and prayers.
  • As I predicted yesterday, the Dallas DA has killed any potential criminal charges against the gal who was assaulted in Deep Ellum. (Side note: How did breaking out a back windshield cause over $2,500 worth of damage? Is it possible cops fudged on the value of damage to reach a felony threshold? No way.)
  • After last month's Supreme Court ruling, Texas has announced that it will no longer allow any clergy in the execution room. Think about that. This state is so back woods that we would rather ban all clergy from an execution than allow a Buddhist spiritual adviser. (That would be like Jackson, Mississippi closing all public pools instead of integrating them which actually happened.)
  • The House Ways and Means Committee officially requested Trump's tax returns yesterday. But they are demanding them not from Trump but from the IRS. Delicious. And he's mad this morning. 
  • Chris Faulkner, who has been in my virtual cross-hairs for a long time because he's a fraud, was told by a judge that a plea deal with a maximum of 12 years wasn't good enough. This gives me great joy. (He's the former exclusive sponsor of radio's Mark Davis podcast.)
  • The price of refurbished phones (that's what they do) is going up: 

  • Unless I'm missing something, the jail list at Wise County right now shows 29 people arrested within the last two days who have not made bond. That's a massive number over the norm. (And 22 of them were from yesterday.)
  • Let's check in on Fox News this morning as they warn us about sexual predator Joe Biden. 

  • Someone in Waco has made a huge mistake. I was glancing at the Texas front pages this morning deciding which one I'd pick and saw this one released by the Waco Tribune-Herald. It's dated for next Sunday, and the women's Final Four hasn't been played yet. I know one coach who is going to be livid.  Edit: It's gone.

at 8:31 AM

4.03.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • TCU has cancelled its spring football game due to practicing with "only about half of an 85-man scholarship roster" due to injuries and new players not yet on campus. I'm not sure I've ever heard of that before. That Cheeze-It Bowl must have taken its toll.
  • When I was a little, little kid, we all went to Disneyland on a family vacation. The travel agent told my dad that for $20 more the entire family could take a helicopter direct from the airport (LAX) to a helipad near the hotel and Disneyland. We took it.  I remember my mom was kind of freaking out because the helicopter seemed kind of rickety, and dad would later disclose he had serious concerns. He should have. That helicopter crashed one week later due to "fatigue failure" killing all 18 passengers and crew. True story. 
  • The lady who was beaten in Deep Ellum now has a warrant for breaking the window of the guy's truck.  As another example of how the new Dallas DA is already going to war with local police agencies, the office issued the statement below. Translated, it says, "The police made this decision and not us. Once we get the case we are going to kill it."
  • "This photo was buried in our #Galveston County Fair photo gallery from Friday and that's a crime." - Galveston News reporter. I have no connection with any of this, but someone should have put this photo front and center. Nothing like the quick monkey-on-a-dog glance checking out the position of his opponent as you enter turn two. And throw in the intensity of the dogs, and we've got us an award winning pic.
  • Once second you are a district judge, and the next second you're not. (Article.) He's not the first elected official to make this mistake. Apparently he "announced" his candidacy for a different position on Facebook, but I can't find exactly what he said. That seems kind of important. 
    He had been in office three months.
    Article 16 Sec. 65 of Texas Constitution.
    (The word "announce" seems very vague and generic.)
  • The mere suggestion of this profession might be the only thing which would cause me to say, "Have a seat right there young lady. I want you to listen and listen good."
  • This is an example of a paid ad. There's no way Fox News is dedicating a segment to Dunkin' Donuts without getting paid for it. But you can't just sit there and talk about how great the company is, because that's too obvious. Instead, Dunkin' Donuts comes up with a throw-away gimmick (peeps) to at least "justify" the segment, pays Fox News, and magically you have a commercial disguised as a segment.
  • Great hypothetical on the Ticket: Would you drive down to Waco to pick up a free $250? $150? $50? What's your price?
  • Speaking of Waco, the Twin Peaks Biker cases ares now officially over (except for the lawsuits) with the dismissal of the final 24 criminal cases. Do you recall how many people were arrested immediately afterwards and held on $1 million bail each?: One hundred and ninety two.  
    • I'm proud I've criticized the police and especially ex-DA Abel Reyna in this fiasco from the git go, so I went back and tried to find the first time I expressed doubts about the way the cases were being handled. I found it: May 25, 2015 which was just seven days after the incident and at a time when all of those people were still sitting in jail. This was what I wrote: 
    • Once again, I've proven not only am I a sports and weather genius, but also a legal genius. 
  • The abrupt cancelling of the AAF (the new football league) is just weird. This theory floated yesterday makes it even more mysterious:
  • There is a major politician who is trying to trick you about their ancestry. Donald Pocahontas Trump yesterday, for the third time, said his father was born in Germany. He was born in New York. 
  • In a weird TV moment, I was channel surfing last night and discovered I had something called the Cheddar Business Channel and, even more confusing, they were showing the very funny Nathan For You. 
  • Messenger: Above The Fold



at 8:32 AM

4.02.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




  • Insurance update: After three weeks, the Allstate adjuster finally came out and now we wait for an appraisal of the damage. (But I've learned you've got to have someone there on your side who speaks the language of the adjuster -- both details about construction and insurance. And that someone needs to have previously gone over the house with a fine tooth comb on their own. The adjuster yesterday started out wanting to make it quick without even wanting to pull off the tarp but ended up spending two hours with my guy talking about all real and potential problems.)
  • Sparce crowd at the Rangers last night. 
  • I ran by Sean Hannity's radio show yesterday and he was dogging Joe Biden about benign sexual harassment accusations and asking if that should disqualify him from being president.  Is this bizarro world? Hannity is part of a cult that worships at the foot of the actual Grab 'em By The P Man. 
  • In other news, Trump Jr. sat down with Fox News to talk about how disappointed he is in his father for those past "grab 'em" comments, Stormy Daniels, and more. Scratch that. He wants to alert us this morning that Biden maybe "rubbed noses" with a woman 10 years ago. (No one gets crucified in the comments more than Junior.)
  • Last night WFAA's Dale Hansen invoked Jesus regarding Trump's juvenile obsession with The Wall.  "And I don't think for a moment that the Jesus my mom knew and taught me about as a little boy would look into the eyes of the hungry, the homeless and the poor and tell them to stop at the border....while I build a wall."

  • Mrs. LL watches American Idol which causes me to look up and see (and be annoyed by) Katy Perry. There was something about her I couldn't put my figure on, and then someone pointed it out: She's looks like Shirley Jones from The Partridge Family days. 
  • Tragic news out of Bridgeport where married classmates of mine died within one week of one another due to health related reasons: Damon and Sharron Tucker.
  • Just like the Three Mexicos, that brown country of Puerto Rico just "take[s] from the USA."  (And they've actually received $11 billion.)
     "Uh, some, uh, people out there in our nation don't have maps . . . such as."
  • This April Fool's joke is actually a fantastic idea:
  • A faithful reader insisted on the following:

at 8:33 AM
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