Had this pic just sent to me from inside Cowboys Stadium

Edit: The Dallas Morning News has a great slide show here. Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones dancing? And apparently they opened the roof in the middle of the George Strait concert. Nice touch.

And The Most Intriguing Gals From The State Meed

Go ahead, pick one you think you could outrun: This girl with the wild hair competed in a ton of events. And well.: The girl in blue is Bonnie Richardson from Rochelle who last year won the Class A team title all by herself. She may do it again. But she runs like her wheels are about to fly off.: And the starter just made me laugh. For you Ticket fans, it looks like the Hammer found a new gig.: And I just liked this one:

Other Participants At State Meet Today

Decatur's Hanna Galloway: Decatur's Bianca Morrison: Slidell's Bobbi Clemmer (who finished as Silver Medalist in the 800 meters - which I just realized and should have made a bigger deal out of):

Decatur's Cynthia Carrillo Grabs Silver Bronze Medal Today At State Meet in 1600

And she tracked a gal dowh from behind at the last second making this guy very sad (he's either a coach or a dad, but he was barking instructions all the way.)

At state track meet. Will try to post Wise County results on Twitter

And the Red Hat Society must be making money doing odd jobs now.

Oh . . .

. . . My.

Attack Of The Water Sprinklers

It's been a busy work day and slow Internet day, but I thought I'd throw this out. Stick with it. The station goes from "nothing will stop the show" to "we'll stop down the show to laugh for about a minute." Good times. And what a beating for the reporter to have to go set up his own lights and camera all by himself. (We learn that at the end.)

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I know we've got the youngest Mayor in the state (23 year old J.D. Clark of Chico), but I'm also told that Newark has a 95 year old city councilwoman.
• Overheard two days ago from one mother to another: "Kindergarten graduation is retarded."
• "But when Karen, 19, first moved from Colombia to Irving 10 years ago, she spoke no English and had to repeat the third grade at J.O. Davis Elementary, where she started out in bilingual classes" Today she is the Valedictorian of Irving MacArthur High School. (Her brother is the Salutatorian.)
• Good idea for the Messenger: Track down Wise County Valedictorians from 10+ years ago and find out what they are doing now.
• I'm halfway considering driving down to the State Track Meet. Added bonus: Texas and TCU are playing in the NCAA Baseball Playoffs in Austin this weekend as well. But I'll probably not do it.
• A football note you don't care about: The Baylor v. Wake Forest game will be an ABC regional game on opening weekend. Baylor hasn't been an ABC regional game (much less a national game) since 1997. That's sad. (And I still have my unused ticket to that 1997 game where Miami, with little known Edgerrin James, went into Waco and won 45-14)
• What size denim does Kelly Clarkson wear these days? Oh, My!!!!
• The "Air Guitar Championships" are back in Dallas. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is dumber.
• Oil is back to almost $70 a barrel. I guess the Barnett Shale boom is back on.
• Seventeen in North Texas are arrested on a drug investigation by "the FBI, ATF, IRS and a host of other law enforcement groups." And your government throws a fancy press conference with high priced graphics in order to justify their jobs.
• After I wrote that, I realized I had forgotten to look for a code name for that drug interdiction because there is always a fancy code name. I found it: "Operation Highwaymen." Sheesh.
• They need to call it "Operation Time Waste."
• Channel 8's Dale Hansen taking all of June off due to depression? Uh, I'm suddenly suffering from depression and would like to take all of June off with pay as well.
• Fox 4 reporter forgets where he is the other day. (But you have to wait through a 15 second commercial. Ugh. We know anybody over there that can do something about that?)
• Craziest line I saw written in anger yesterday by feuding Wise County relatives on Facebook: "You wouldn't know Jesus if he slapped you in the face." (And I'm not making that up -- somehow the fight broke out on my page.)
• Yesterday, there were some comments made on here about how much it will cost to park in the new Cowboys' Stadium. Today, Bud Kennedy has the answer.

FromThe Ol' Email Bag

Barry, I have an issue I need some info on. I know this is not Ann Landers, but, there is a very large, diverse and educated group of readers out there. This issue is about to split our home and my possible “next ex” is prepared to move out to prove her point.

Here’s the issue that I’d be interested in getting response about:

I have a sixteen year old step daughter. She is a very good kid and trusted completely. Her mother feels it’s okay for the step daughter have her boyfriend come over . . . at any time, go to our step daughters bedroom, go in, hop in bed and watch T.V. with the door closed until he’s ready to go home.

1. I am against him going into her room and closing the door. No matter how much she is trusted, it’s not appropriate.

2. I have set time limits as to how long he can stay....10 P.M. Sun. thru Thurs. nights....11 P.M. Fri. and Sat.

3. I require he knock on the door of my home before he just walks in unannounced like he lived there.

I have been told my ideas of today’s kids are different than her and that I need to come to today’s way of thinking. My wife is planning on moving out unless I “compromise”.

Opinions?

Now Confirmed

Shooting off of 407 in southern Wise County. "19 year old shot in the chest. " It may be in a relatively new subdivision just north of 407. Kincannon Drive. Edit @ 6:10 p.m.: It looks an accident, but the injury is very life threatening at this point according to a source. Edit @ 6:15 p.m.: Pronounced dead at Wise Regional. Edit @ 6:18 p.m.: Appears to be two or more kids/young adults shooting a 22 around a pond. All signs are of no foul play. A fellow blogger happened to be driving down the road.

Hippie Dance

If the hippies ever need a leader, I've found them one. It takes this guy exactly 1 minute and 20 seconds to create a dance party that Don Cornelius and the Soul Train Gang would be proud of. Heck, I almost stood up beside my desk, stripped down to my underwear, and joined in because I was so caught up in the euphoria. And I've never been, but this is pretty much the way I picture the Decatur Chamber of Commerce Auction party every year.

This Could Be A Crazy Poster

I was up at the third floor of the courthouse this morning and saw a guy, there for criminal docket, sporting a crazy T-shirt. I decided to take a pic of the back of it but I got a little too close. This is what I got.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• That's a good looking Dallas police car.
• The half-sized paper towel is a good invention.
• The Fox 4 weather guy showing us the lake levels every day drives me a little nuts. Hey, they don't change that much from day to day.
• Someone told me Liberally Lean was blocked at Bridgeport ISD. True? What about Decatur ISD?
• President Obama is over in Egypt this morning giving a speech as he trys to make peace with the Muslim world. Can you imagine how uncomfortable W would have looked walking into that room?
• "FORT WORTH — The death of a man who fell from a downtown parking garage Tuesday has been ruled a suicide by the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office." This very short story provides no information as to how that ruling was made. And allow me to quote Kip Dynamite when I say, "Like anyone could possibly know that."
• I never have thought sports radio boys Ben & Skin were very funny.
• I would never eat at a "Tea Room."
• I can't wait to see what the traffic is like at the George Strait concert on Saturday night at the new Cowboy stadium. I'm not going. I just want to hear about it.
• I really want to see the stadium and not sure I want to wait for the OU game in early September (which seems easier to get into than a Cowboy game). But I think there's a soccer match before that which might be a good option - especially since I've never been to a soccer game in my life.
• Prosecutors dismiss a capital murder case in Fort Worth weeks before trial because they decide their evidence wasn't good enough? Uh, you want to make that decision before you charge someone with a crime that carries with it a minimum of life in prison. Oh, yeah, what about the one year he spent in the Tarrant County jail after the indictment?
• The recklessness of some prosecutors in seeking (and getting) an indictment for any case that comes across their desk is frightening.
• My neighbor's kid, who was a toddler when I moved into the neighborhood, is now mowing the lawn for the first time. Now I know why you guys have kids.

Stealth Cop

It's a little blurry, but that's a Bridgeport cop hiding behind a telephone pole with a radar gun. (His car is in the background.) Rambo couldn't hide that well. (Thanks emailer.)

Let's Bring Down The Lights

The comments were turned off over at the Messenger for a bit but apparently have been turned back on but, before you run over there and leave a pithy comment, understand that you have been given a stern tongue lashing by the new owner here.

 He's definitely "old school" believing that the majority of the public is a cautious, deliberate, and a slow to anger body who believes in intellectual debate. Yeah, riiiiiiiight. That's also why I post pics of scantily clad women every morning. A friend of mine (who currently hates me), once referred to those who comment on Liberally Lean as "a band of monkeys." You know, that's kind of true. It's a freakin' circus of idiots, geniuses, racists, tree huggers, Ticket listeners, public officials, pro-lifers, pro-choicers, moms, dads, kids, spider monkeys, Christians, atheists, comedians, country folk, and the double fake everything. But the potential for a civilized debate? Nothing could be further from the truth.

An Internet comment board is nothing more than a high tech bathroom wall. Things people would never say in public will readily be scribbled in the privacy of four walls -- secure in their veil of anonymity. It's human nature. I accept that. I embrace that. That being said, I haven't really set forth my very loose rules for comments on Liberally Lean. I easily approve 90% of all comments - maybe more. And by "approve", I mean I push a button that says "publish". It doesn't mean, obviously, I endorse a particular view. So what will I not publish? Get your popcorn ready:

• Don't drop an F Bomb
• But what if you drop an F Bomb but hide one, two or three of the letters with a "&;" or "#"? You know, I change my mind on that on a daily basis.
• I hate potty humor and don't allow it simply because I think it's stupid. Really stupid.
• S bombs? Sheesh. I've let them through if someone writes a smart and passionate comment and then drops it in because he's so mad. But, generally, I'll block that.
• Even I think it's silly that I have the rules on the F bomb and S bomb.
• Derogatory statements about named individuals other than me? If they are private individuals, I think they should be off limits. If they are a public official/public figure and it's a comment of opinion, I'll let it go.
• I'll let you criticize Wordkyle, MzChief, and Jarhead because they can take care of themselves. But I sometimes feel uneasy about that.
• An exception to public official criticism: Leave prosecutors and judges in the county alone because if they get mad at me, I'll have to get a real job. If they get mad at me, my life becomes much harder. This exception is based on personal, good old fashioned American greed. "Greed, is good."
• But even with public officials, I'll avoid statements of fact that I don't know to be true. I won't publish "School Board member Joe Blow committed an illegal act by stealing from the seminar training fund." But "Joe Blow is an idiot" would probably go through. It's a tough call sometimes.
• Sexual comments? Sheesh. If it's profane, I'll kill it. If it's a little creative and subtle and funny, I'll let it go.
• Racist comments? For years, I've let those go through because that's been a pet peeve of mine. All members of the "white club" walk around saying "there is no racism in this country" when I know just the opposite is true. So I'll let the n-word go through to the comments just to let people know that racism is alive and well. But even I've grown tired of those comments.
• Do I break these rules sometimes because I'm too lazy to read every word of every comment or I make a mistake? Oh, yeah.

Now I'm off to find the next Random Thought girl. I demand a civilized debate about her tomorrow morning or you will be banned.

Wise Regional Has Tricked Up Car

Credit.

People Are Crazy . . . .And Lucky

"June 2, 2009: JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli woman laid herself on the tracks just before a train roared through a crossing in an apparent suicide attempt. But seconds after the train passed, she got up and walked away almost unhurt. The incredible scene was captured on the closed circuit security TV system at the Kfar Vitkin level crossing in Israel's north."

Browsing Through THe Bridgeport Index

A faithful reader was roaming around the Bridgeport Index archives and found this blurb. It's actually from a 1974 issue that was reflecting upon what was in a 1960 issue of the Index.