11.27.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • Stephen F. Austin beat Duke last night at Cameron Indoor Arena. Watch the ending here (and here's video shot from the crowd.) It's great. Duke hadn't lost at home to a non-conference opponent in 19 years.
  • There was a big plant explosion in Port Neches overnight which is making national news. Someone posted this of the explosion taken from their doorbell cam. (Turn the sound up.) Edit: Here's a another one showing a door being blown off.
  • When do I get an award as an Online Influencer? 
    • From May 8th of this year:
    • Then this happened yesterday with little fanfare:
  • Baylor is # 9 and Oklahoma is #7 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.  If Oklahoma beats Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game, I bet they'll end up in the final four.  If Baylor upsets OU, Baylor won't make it to the playoffs even with a 12-1 record.
  • Robert Jeffress had now gone full Robert Tilton (and you never go full Tilton.) He posted this yesterday asking for money to line his pockets. Note that a gift to "Pathway to Victory" is a gift to his side project -- it's not a tithe to the First Baptist Church of Dallas. I clicked on the link to try to learn about how your money would "effectively" be doubled but there is no explanation whatsoever. But I did learn that if you wish to give him money by credit card that you'll be asked if you will have the option to give a "3% generous gift extra to cover credit card fees! 
  • I think it would be fun to be an appellate state court judge. And there's a judge in Houston who is after my own heart because he'll fire off some hot opinions. For example, in a case yesterday, the court reviewed the trial court's error in giving the jury an actual transcript of a witness's testimony to take back to the jury room after they indicated they couldn't agree on what was said. That's crazy. The law specifically says the judge is to "have read to them from the court reporter’s notes that part of such witness testimony or the particular point in dispute . . . ." (Emphasis added.)  But, despite this blatant violation and the defense lawyer objecting before it happened, the court said "no harm - no foul." In his dissent, he says he doesn't know why the law says read-it-back instead of take-it-back, but he rightfully doesn't care. That's what the law is. It's not hard. And his dissent starts of with a bang . . . 
  • I had to look the judge up. He's Charles Spain. He just got elected for the first time last year, graduated from Baylor Law School two years after me, and his only previous judicial experience was being a municipal judge. 
  • I was staring at the front the house on Sunday contemplating a different layout for the Christmas lights when Mrs. LL, in complete deadpan/skeptical mode, walked over to me and asked, "What's the plan, Phil?"
  • Liberty County District Attorney Logan Pickett, 38, was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting his wife. "His wife said she found out after a Friday night dinner that Pickett had been having an affair for the past 15 months, according to police, causing an argument to begin." They were in Houston at the time. 


  • I am certain that that North Texas State tried, but failed, to have its name changed to "Texas State" in the early 1980s, but I can't find anything to back me up. I think there was even a bill in the legislature but it was shot down. Somehow Southwest Texas State got the name a few years later. 
  • He wants those people to testify! Really! He's just fighting it for future presidents! He's the most selfless man alive. 
  • The anti-Christ is running wild in Parker County!
  • There are two high schools in Texas still in the playoffs who entered it with a 3-7 record. 
  • Amazingly, Bill O'Reilly pushed Trump in an interview yesterday which caused him to say that Rudy was not working in the Ukraine on his behalf. How many times did Rudy's name come up in the "transcript" of the call with the Ukrainian president?
  • When your husband calls part of that city a "disgusting, rat and rodent invested mess."
  • Here's your helpful Liberally Lean Thanksgiving Tip: Don't try to fry your turkey with a nuclear bomb.
  • I wonder if there are any media outlets doing the obligatory, but false, story of this being the busiest traffic day of the year at DFW Airport.  Oh . . . 



at 8:34 AM

11.26.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




  • This will get your attention at 8:01 a.m. (Still no update. I'm guessing it's nothing.)
  • But that reminded me of this from just four years ago.
  • The Fort Worth teacher who was fired because of multiple tweets complaining about the "illegals" at her school has been reinstated. I can't disagree with that. If you work for the government you have free speech rights -- especially if you aren't on the clock when you're firing off your hot opinions. If she had worked for a private organization, she could legally be kicked to the curb. (The reinstatement ruling was also based on a procedural matter but that's not as fun to talk about.)
  • I haven't mentioned it in a while (after I was first all over it in the beginning), but the Houston cops who lied about having a confidential informant to get a search warrant and then busted in the house and murdered the innocent couple inside, have been indicted by a federal grand jury.
    Actual courtroom sketch included in a story about the case. The story also says
    they entered the courtroom "wearing scowls and shackles." Everyone is doing bits.
  • And reporters down there have been taking a deep dive into all of the data on the background of those cops since the cluster went down. Here's a fascinating one: The lead cop in that fiasco, who just happens to be black, had made 258 arrests for Possession of a Controlled Substance < 1 gram (the lowest level felony there is.) Of those arrests, 248 were African-Americans.  Houston is 23% African-American.
  • Decatur has had to travel all over God's green Earth for the playoffs, so what about Springtown which is of comparable size and location? They have gone to Snyder (219 miles), Andrews (320 miles), and this week to Brownwood (135 miles).
  • When it's too early to fight the War on Christmas:
  • Pylon Talk: We all know that if the ball "touches the pylon" then it's a touchdown, right? Well, I'm here to tell you it's much more complicated than that. Look at the pylon below. It is positioned, as it always is, out of bounds. That is, it's not inside the playing field. This OU player scored (don't worry about his body -- he never touches the ground because he's on top of the other player) by having the ball touch the pylon. But what if he just touched the outside of the pylon -- that portion is technically out of bounds. Or is it? What if, from his vantage point, the ball had gone just past the very right of the pylon but missed it simply because it wasn't wide enough?  I once heard John Madden say that the "goal line extends all the way around the world." It confused me then, I don't know if it's true, and confuses me now. I don't know the answers to all of this.
  • As a kid, the hour long NFL review show, hosted Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier, was must-see TV.  It was the only way to see extended highlights, and it introduced us all to the now classic NFL background music.  Here is the less than five minute review they had of the Cowboys' Thanksgiving win over the Redskins in the unlikely Clint Longley game of 1974. It's broken down in short parts: One, Two, and Three. As always, they are quick loading.  Here is something I had no memory of and which you old-timers will appreciate: Duane Thomas scored two touchdowns  . . .  for the Redskins.
  • Yesterday Trump showed off the dog involved in the raid that killed the leader of ISIS. But look who was off to the side at the White House: It was "judge" Jeanine of State TV. What's she up to?
  • And moment's later, Conan mauled to death the turkey on the courthouse lawn who was set to be pardoned in a ceremony.
    Just kidding. He's a good boy. Or girl.
  • With an announcement yesterday, three of TCU's top four quarterbacks have left the team this season. But the one still there, Max Duggan, is going to be great. 
    Clearly out. Clearly. 
  • A fuel truck hit two planes at DFW Airport yesterday. 

  • You hear stuff like this from the government and you nod your head in agreement. That is, until someone retorts: "Why stop there? Let's do away with safes, vaults, and sturdy locked doors, too." Then someone fires back: "All those things can be entered with a lawful search warrant."  Then you hear, "Well, why can't I have some safe place from the government? You can't get a warrant for things I've memorized and don't want to tell you, can you?"
  • I constantly pull my very ample hair out because of the guy who runs the Twitter account for the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association. And he caused me to do it again this morning. Hey, I'm 100% on board with treating courthouse staff nicely (which is really pretty easy to do unless you are a miserable human being), but in giving that advice you don't need to insult every courthouse worker in Texas:
  • Yesterday, a federal district court called the Trump Administration's (through his de facto personal lawyers, the Department of Justice) attempt to prevent Don McGahn from testifying before Congress because of a "claim to absolute testimonial immunity", which they believe gives "unassailable Executive branch authority" over the other branches of government, "baseless." So let's hear from him! Nope: They appealed moments ago. 
  • "Why do I care what’s going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? And I’m serious, why do I care? And why shouldn’t I root for Russia, which I am." - Tucker Carlson on Fox News last night.
    Comrade Carlson
  • Messenger: Above The Fold (a day early)

at 8:37 AM

11.25.2019

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • Everyone is bent out of shape about the Cowboys not going for it on 4th and 7 from the 11. You probably should be. If you don’t make it, the Patriots get the ball on the 11 (or further back) and you need a touchdown. If you make the field gold, the Patriots will get the ball probably around the 25 and you need a touchdown.  (Kicking a field goal is the equivalent of going for it on fourth and getting sacked back at the 25. You're in the same position.)
  • Another Cowboy note: All of last season (that’s 256 games), tripping was called nine times. The Cowboys were flagged twice yesterday for it in one game.  I saw someone suggested this morning that Patriot's coach Bill Belichick saw something during the week and pointed it out to the refs before the game.  If true, coaches shouldn't be allowed a pre-game ex parte communication with officials.  Both coaches should be present. 
  • The Decatur Eagles’s infinite road trip continues this week: They go to Lubbock for their next playoff game. Has Springtown had to travel this much? (I'll check and tell you tomorrow.)
  • Random thoughts about high school games I don’t care about but still made me take notice: (1) Denton Guyer had to come back from 41-14 deficit with five minutes left in the third quarter and did so by recovering three onside kicks, (2) the photo below showing a touchdown reception -- and video of the play here --  is of Rockwall’s wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba who is committed to Ohio State and who scored five touchdowns in the win over Allen, and (3) he got the game winning two point conversion reception which is a must see because the play was close to disaster.
  • House of Cards: Uber has lost its license in London.
  • Rick Perry this weekend vs. Rick Perry on July 22, 2015.
    Now

    Then
  • UT’s coach, Tom Herman, received a $25,000 bonus for becoming bowl eligible this season. (If you haven’t seen his pre-game head butt with a player before the loss to Baylor on Saturday, you have to. That fourth one looks like it hurt.)
  • Old bad sport’s take from UT’s SBN account back when Matt Rhule was hired at Baylor:
  • When in college, I went down to UT for a game with a buddy who had an internship with the Denton Record Chronicle as a photographer. He shot the football game and, after that, he had to run over to some building to develop his black and white film and somehow send it magically to Denton. I still don't know what technology he used -- this was probably 1983.  Fast forward to now. This photograph is transmitted to my phone within five minutes of when it happened.  (Side note: Those are the ugliest Baylor uniforms in the history of ever.)
  • There’s a cure for this, you know. 
  • I different kind of impeachment bullet point:
  • Wait a second! Didn't this happen (on a larger scale) exactly at this time last year?
  • I tuned into Dennis Prager on Friday to hear what silliness he was peddling and ended up hearing a Bill O'Reilly commercial for some get rich quick scheme that sounded like it was recorded in a barrel.  I shouldn't have been surprised. 
  • I replaced one of these bad boys this weekend. And I finally decided it was worth a few bucks to by a voltage tester pen. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold



at 8:37 AM

11.22.2019

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











at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • In a nice performance, Decatur won its second playoff game last night, 69-0. But that doesn't do the game justice: 
  • For decades. a lot of us have speculated when the Vinson property in the Rhome area would be sold for development.  Now, after months of speculation, it has happened. And the group that bought it, who are experts in development, say there will be 10,000 homes built on the land. This is not hyperbole: This is the biggest real estate deal in Wise County history and a watershed moment (assuming Rhome and Newark government doesn't screw it up.)

  • My only Impeachment bullet point today: Sometimes even the smartest lawyers know when they've met their match and simply leave a witness alone. You leave this woman alone. 
  • I don't know if you've ever watched OANN  (Trump as praised the fledgling "news" network before) but it makes Fox News look fair and balanced. It also employs people who fire off thoughts like these yesterday.

  • Sheesh. That Home Depot was actually scammed by two officers.
  • And remember that cop who was seen carrying full liquor bottles out of the store on the night of the tornado? The Department continues to say he was not stealing, and no charges were filed.
  • It was not a good day for Dallas law enforcement. 
  • Since I was so impeachment crazy yesterday, I didn't comment on the Oncor worker in Wise County who was electrocuted.  I'm surprised. Back in March I got to watch those guys repair a downed power line right by the house, and I was fascinated about how careful they were. Although he had probably done it a thousand times, the guy who was about to go up in the boom put all his gear on, turned to another worker, and they went though a checklist of every piece of safety gear he had on. It was just a series of speechless gestures -- pointing and touching every protective piece. 
  • Cringe-worthy Houston lawyer website: Scroll to the bottom and click on the animated video. (Speaking of, whatever happened to the Fort Worth Law Hawk?) 
  • This was from yesterday taken from the southbound service road along I-35 looking towards the Western Center. The RV fire was causing people to turn around and go the wrong way (although I'm not sure why that was necessary.)
  • This is the wildest "official statement" from a university in the history of ever is here. The University of Indiana explains why the can't fire a professor.
  • Tesla unveiled a "Cybertruck" last night. The shatterproof glass demonstration did not go well. Watch. 

  • Nothing to see here. Trump's fixer says Epstein did in fact kill himself. (Insert narrator's voice with the obvious.) 
  • It's 11/22 and this forgotten guy was mentioned on the radio this morning. I thought this bullet point is worth re-posting:
  • They didn't think this one through. (Ok, make that two Impeachment bullet points)
  • This is LBJ's note that his press secretary drafted and he edited while aboard Air Force One on the way back to Washington from Dallas.  There used to be a time where every single word spoken by a president was critically important. Statements were labored over.
  • Trump apparently made an unplanned call into Fox and Friends this morning and went into a stream of consciousnesses rant for 53 minutes.  People are still trying to digest it. They couldn't get him off the phone. 

at 8:32 AM
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