I Guess We Did Decide

How the Republicans were able to screw up the biggest strangle hold of power in the history of ever is simply amazing. (The second headline is from the parody site, The Onion.)

Political Junkies Only

Dallas County looks like it has officially turned Democratic.

Results here.

If you look at the gazillion of county wide judicial elections, the margin of victory in race after race is 50.5% (Democrat) to 49.5% (Republican). It is an absolute Republican Judge Blood Bath. Edit: It changed to 52% to 48% when all votes were counted.

This is truly the big news tonight. (Although the local media spends most of its time on the Governor's race which was never a race at all).

Britney Is Back On The Market

And looking pretty good.

Local Interest Of A Dallas Election (Updated)

Vaught is a former Bridgeport resident.

Local Election Results

Are here on the Messenger's site.

Write this down: Since Wise County runs about 15 years behind the times politically, JP Mark Autry has pulled off the amazing feat of winning as a Democrat. As more and more newcomers move into the county who do not know who they are voting for, that may be the last contested Democratic win we will ever see in the foreseeable future. And I like Mark, I just think it's crazy to run as a Democrat in this crazy county.

Incumbent JP Kay Swaim lost for one reason: She ran as a Democrat.

I'm Strangely Turned On

Hot girl does Creed impersonation. Here.

Kirstie Alley On Oprah

Faith Hill: Angry or Joking?

No Way To Run A Judiciary

If you voted in Dallas today, you would be faced (by my count) with 41 contested judicial races at the local level and 8 more at the state level.

So you would get to ask yourself, "Who is the better judge for this court?" a whopping 49 times.

Do you think anyone can cast an educated vote in such a situation?

From Last Night

Hint: That's Butch and Sundance

Oh, My

From last night's Monday Night Football.

#91 has apparently been to a "Self Defense For Girls" course.

Space Shuttle

Snopes.com says it is real.

I Never Watch "Ugly Betty"

That might change.

Election Day "Hey, Now"

That has nothing to do with elections. (Scarlett)

Judgment Day

Edit: Check this out.

You....Not So Much

There's a chance that Decatur might make an appearance in the Borat movie that is getting rave reviews. Over a year ago, I mentioned that the Dallas Morning News had reported that "Ali G" (Borat's alter ego) was seen "trying to hitch a ride to Decatur".

A commenter today claimed to have seen the movie and that Borat was holding a sign that had "Decatur" on it.

I hope so.

I found this tiny picture from the movie, but it doesn't look like Decatur is on the sign (although it's hard to tell.)

Carrie Underwood at the CMA's tonight

As I look out my front door to make sure Dateline isn't about to knock.

One Final "To Catch A Predator Post"

Some neighbors of the prosecutor, Bill Conradt, that killed himself, instead of being exposed for being caught in an Internet Sting operation, snapped the top photo shortly before it happened.

If I had to guess, that looks like Chris Hansen of Dateline NBC's "To Catch A Predator" in the first picture in the black shirt and brown pants. (That's him in the second photo from the show.)

And the final picture is of a man who probably would be alive today if the police had simply gone to his office and said, "we need to talk to you." Fox 4 reported that the cops and Dateline only went to the prosecutor's house after he failed to show up at the bait house in Murphy, Texas. Nice.

Edit: And the Murphy Police Department issues a press release regarding the sting operation and, while pounding its collective chests, lists the name of all of those implicated. So how do they handle the delicate issue of the suicide? They put Conradt's name on the list without any reference to his needless death. Once again, nice.

"We'll See You On YouTube, Janey!"

And I thought Fox News was stuffy.

As I Blew Past The Country Music Awards . . .

. . . I saw that Brooks & Dunn won for "best country duo."

Uh, you might want to breath some new life into country music there, buddy. I haven't listed to C&W in the past 15 years and when I last left it, Brooks & Dunn was the big act.

(And, as a side note, they are playing that John Mellencamp commercial again. Losing . . . life . . . force . . . . )

I Miss Bill

Clinton campaigned last night as the mid-term elections are finally here.

This quick blurb is how he summarizes the Republican "politics of fear". Spot on, bruther. Spot on.

Pamela Anderson On Saturday

I don't remember ever seeing something like that at Walmarts.

I Really Don't Know

More Stumbling As I Ponder The Size Of Schools

I thought Mansfield was a small town. Three monster high schools? When did that happen?

Enrollment Figures

I just stumbled across it.

And I Used To Think Jumping A Curb Was Dangerous

Youtube.com video here.

If I were to go mountain biking on a narrow path above a ravine, and my two buddies said, "Be careful, that's a helluva drop," not once but three times... well, maybe I'd get off my bike and walk it. But that's just me.

S Bomb Warning.

Still Not A Good Enough Reason To Watch Oprah

Kirstie Alley shows up today in her newly slimmed body (she dropped 75 lbs).

I have no idea why all the photos look like a grainy 1970 eight millimeter film.

This Isn't The Most Exciting Video In The World

But the Sheriff has released a surveillance tape of a possible copper theft. Youtube has it here.

The official message:

Investigator Mike Neagle is working a theft case which occurred between Bridgeport and Decatur. The suspects were able to make away with a large amount of copper wire. Attached is a short video, which may be possible suspects. If you recognize the vehicle and or potential suspects, please contact the Wise County Sheriff's Office at 940.627.5971.

From your crime-fighting Blog.

All "Dateline". All The Time

So 20 guys get arrested in the North Texas sting, "To Catch A Predator."

Thumbs up: Not a single Wise County name on the list.

As A Follow Up to The Ex-DA Suicide

I noticed that Dateline NBC may actually have been rolling tape when the cops went to his door - and then the gun shot went off.

In an unrelated case, former DFW investigative reporter Marty Griffin (Michael Irvin's buddy) was recently about to out a pastor for "illicit" activity when the pastor killed himself.

There's a fine line between reporting news and creating news.

And isn't it amazing that people will choose death over public shame.

At Least He Has The Guts To Say It

Most politicians would have dodged that little issue.

Story.

The Privates Will Be The Downfall Of Society

Full story.

Dallas Morning News has better coverage. It seems like it was part of the Dateline "To Catch A Predator" sting.

Funny

The Today Show had a brief return appearance of Borat this morning after "his" movie was #1 at the box office (and I sooooo want to see it.)

Anyway, and exuberant Borat grabs Matt Lauer and says, "Matt, I want to celebrate tonight, do you know name of good prostitute?"

A Christian Sir Mixx A Lot Video

This google video is a repost. But it's still kind of clever.

Little Glass Houses For You and Me

The sex scandal involving Pastor Ted Haggard broke this week. He first denied any impropriety, then admitted buying meth from a "homosexual" but not using it, then the church's elders announced that he had engaged in sexual impropriety, and then he admitted as much in a letter read to his mega-church this morning.

I had never heard of this guy until three days ago.

But this clip from a movie called "Jesus Camp" is now pretty interesting.

I Take It Back

I earlier said that the John Mellencamp "This Is Our Country"/Chevy commerical hadn't been played as much as the Jessica Simpson ad.

I take it back. Never in the history of ever has a commercial ran so many times in such a short period. It is seriously putting me over the edge.

Thank goodness at least one soul created a parody of it on youtube.com.

Well,That Was Bizarre

But that's what you get when you go for a two point conversion in the first quarter when there was absolutely no reason to. (Which, of course, would have allowed you to run out the clock if you had simply kicked the extra point.)

Incredible.

My Favorite Back-Up Quarterback Name

The Guy's A Nut Case

But he's got some funny schtick.

I've Found A Commercial . . .

. . . that runs more often than that crazy John Mellencamp "This Is My Country" commercial.

Jessica.

No Big Deal

But it looks like the Rhome Fire Department was out "collecting" money on late Friday afternoon. Although the cone and the fire truck sure did lend an air of authority to the money request.

I've Been Pillaged

And did they have to start the game at 11:00 a.m.? I hate getting out my dress blues and crawling into the fetal position before dark. On good days, I can hold off the depression until 8:30 p.m.

For today, I hate the Texas Technologists.

Sports Stop Down

So I'm watching the LSU/Tennessee game today and I see that a player is hurt. They show me his picture. Then they show me a graphic to point out that said player holds the record for being the largest baby ever born in Louisiana: 15 lbs. 14 oz. (He moved to Texas later.)

For all you women out there: Oh, my.

Giggle

History and Presidents

Kinda interesting: Somebody went through each major speech of every President and noted the buzzwords that were used. Then he/she created a graphic showing those words for each speech with the size of the buzzwords correlating to how often or how little those words were used within the speech.

Pretty cool. See it here.

There is a slide at the top which will let you scroll for every president.

I Don't Know

I Refuse To . . .

. . . post this picture of Bush and the guy that was involved in the story posted immediately below.

People Are Crazy

A couple of stories from the headlines.

I'm So Confused

The State of Texas wants your email address before it will let you view eight survelliance cameras which, presumably, will capture images of immigrants scampering across the border.

And Speaking of Jacksboro . . .

. . . I love this sign. (As a boy, I was at Tiger Stadium in 1971 for the bi-district game against Bridgeport.)

That's Highway 380?

These were taken between Runaway Bay and Jacksboro this morning, and it's kind of a weird phenomenon. The only place between the two where the trees are gorgeous is at the hill which causes the steep incline as you head west. It may be just a quarter of a mile of beauty, and then it stops.

Off To Jacksboro

I went there the other day and noticed the trees were changing colors in a beautiful way. I'll try and take some pics as I drive down the highway and post them later. It's called multi-tasking.

Could There Be More Crap On That Home Page?

It looks like the web site of the Dallas Morning news has been redesigned. It's still as wheels off as ever.

Where Will I Spend It All?

I finally found out my final property tax bill yesterday. The results: My school property tax was reduced by 6.29%. Trust me, that isn't the $2,000 savings his campaign ads tell me.

Child Found Lost In Wise County

Fox 4 News had a story tonight on a child found today on a rural road in Wise County. Notes:

- Our Sheriff makes another appearance (who is his press agent? - he/she is a genius)
- It is a crying shame anyone has to live in the conditions shown
- The guy that found her said, "I'm just glad I came along" - You know, I was going to give him a little grief about that but, after a few seconds thought, I agree.

The news story on youtube is here.

I Suddenly . . .

. . . am hungry for pancakes and waffles. (Although that youtube.com clip might make you insane - I'm not sure.)

One More Halloween Pic

And I post this simply as a public service: You could trip if you don't watch where you are walking. Girls, be careful out there.

Say What?

There are stories today about a hearing in Collin County regarding the attempt to free Michael Blair (based upon DNA evidence) who was convicted in the 1993 killing of a 7-year-old Plano girl.

Two paragraphs jumped out at me in the Channel 8 story.

The district attorney also approved a hearing to bring in Charles Linch, a forensic analyst who served as a witness for the State in Blair's [previous] trial, for a meeting with defense attorneys. Linch, who now lives in Virginia, had been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital several months before his testimony at the 1994 trial, and defense attorneys say his mental condition tainted his testimony, which ultimately helped convict Blair.

Say what? The State used a witness that had been committed to the nut house? That's a new one for me.

Then there was this:

Even if Blair were granted a new trial and cleared, he would never be freed from prison because he is serving three consecutive life sentences for sex crimes involving children.

He's never getting out - why waste our time - although I suppose history deserves to know whether he is the killer or not.

Drew, We Hardly Knew You

The Cowboy's official online pro shop sells Drew Bledsoe jerseys

This didn't take long. (And scroll down before you give up looking.)

Been A Rough Couple Of Weeks . . .

. . . for Republican congressmen.

Story. (Hint: It's never a good sign when the headline reads:"Rep. Paying Ex-Mistress About $500K")

I Ordered This Print A Month Ago

And now it is hanging on my office wall.

So far I've got lots of confused looks.

I Don't Know

For The One Hockey Fan Out There . . .

. . . every NHL game this year is immediately made into a Google video that you can watch for free.

Slow Posting Day

Instead enjoy the cat fight. (And the Republicans need a better spokesperson on The View.)

I'm glad I don't have to live with any of these women.

The Big Story Of The Morning

You know, nothing surprises me anymore. I struggle between these two important and fundamental beliefs: "society is generally good" or "society is generally bad." I don't know.

(Full corruption story here.)

That Didn't Take Long

I was watching an invention called the television tonight when this ad appeared. And although all "royalties" will be donated to charity, I seriously doubt that all "profits" will have the same destination.

The Gift Of Higher Education

Youtube.com clip here.

I found this on a Longhorn blog. It was posted in October of this year with the caption of "Tensions run high at the Texas/OU watch party. "

Warning: There is more cursing in it than in an episode of the Sopranos. Although some viewers might find the girl screaming "stop it!!!" to be perhaps less offensive but more annoying.

Just Liked The Photo

One Final Halloween Pic

Lindsay Lohan dressed for the holiday last night. At least I think that's a costume.

Landmark Study?

Red wine keeps fat mice alive longer.

If this was stuck in the back of a science journal, then so be it. But the Dallas Morning News had it on its home page this afternoon.

"My stuffed toy will stop this celebration!"

I've given up trying to upload the photo. Here's the link.

Wednesday Afternoon Pick Me Up: William Shatner's "Keep It Gay"

I'm Glad Those Rick Perry Ads . . .

. . . make it so simple for me. He calls Bell a Liberal. Liberal is a bad word. So I should vote for Perry. Hmmmmm. That's so easy. I didn't even have to think.

I Hate Basketball

Wasn't it only last week when the Mavs choked and now the NBA season is starting up? The season is too freakin' long!!!

But you had to giggle when the Miami Heat opened their season last night by hoisting their World Champion Banner to the rafters and then going out and getting drilled by 42 points. Good times.

Now There Are Only 99 Conservative Talk Show Hosts On The Air In DFW

Not that you listened (I'm not sure anyone listened) but KLIF's conservative fire breathing dragon Daryl Ankarlo is packing it up and moving to Phoenix.

That guy was a nut case.

I Don't Know

Edit: Explained here.