Loved this quote from former President George W. Bush yesterday at the memorial service, “Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.” Everyone should read that twice and let it set in.
“Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.”
“Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.”
The memorial service was more light hearted than I expected. Former President George W. Bush made reference how one slain cop was a Rangers fan and got some laughs, Police Chief Brown started off talking about dating teenage girls, and President Obama got big laughs referring to Brown’s statement using Stevie Wonder lyrics to express his feelings and stating he’s glad he married Michelle, a big Stevie Wonder fan, before Chief Brown got a chance to meet her. And then it ended with Bush doing some dancing to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic“. At one point it looks like Laura is giving him the evil eye that a mother gives a child for misbehaving, but I really get a kick out of the end when he tries to point to someone in the crowd while holding hands. I had no problem with his actions, though I expected him to be more subdued, and it gave me a good laugh.
That man loves to dance – GIF1, GIF2, GIF3 – Good for him.
I don’t think I’ve seen Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas included in any of the recent memorial services. That’s very telling considering that church is in the heart of downtown. Senator Ted Cruz also seems to be very low profile, which is equally telling, though he rode on Air Force One with the President and sat on stage during the memorial service. Cruz was all over the scene and very outspoken during the explosion in West. Heck, Gov. Abbot had second and third degree burns and made an effort to visit.
I was very proud of how Senator John Cornyn was able to rise above partisan politics and give President Obama a very warm welcome. He went above what I thought was expected, and he had one hell of a line:
“Being ‘a Texan’ doesn’t describe where you’re from. It describes who your family is.”
Star-Telegram reporter tweeted yesterday that Arlington PD helped Dallas with security and traffic concerns. It’s a shame that wasn’t really reported, and a very cool thing Arlington did to help a neighboring city.
Pictures of what is supposedly the dead body (via blast from the bomb robot) of the sniper that killed DPD officers were floating around Reddit yesterday but has since been taken down.
I know many military folks choose to be buried in their military uniforms, but I have no idea if it’s that way for police and firemen.
I wonder how many times a sitting President and Vice President were in Dallas. Obviously, Kennedy and Johnson, and Reagan and Bush were here for the 1984 Republican National Convention, and now Obama and Biden. It’s pretty rare for both the President and Vice President to be in the same city for an event, other than the capital, of course.
Texas intends to require aborted fetuses to be buried or cremated come September, adding new abortion regulations after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s restrictive clinic laws. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state health officials to propose the changes, his office said Thursday, which were quietly put out for public comment this month.
What a time to be alive
For you fans of all things LEGO and Disney, a $350 Disney castle set with over 4,000 pieces will be released in December.
Dallas was in the running, I think it was even a finalist, to host the Republican National Convention next week. If that would have happened, that overworked police force would really be overworked.
I have a feeling Trump’s VP pick will be Newt Gingrich. With Gingrich’s past infidelity problem, I thought it might keep Trump from using that card against his opponent and husband, but Trump isn’t conventional.
Cifuentes, 25, was crowned June 11 despite having a criminal record and previous marriage, which should have disqualified her, according to a lawsuit six pageant contestants filed against the local contest’s director, last month.
On Friday, the company will announce a new flavor to celebrate National Ice Cream month. According to the company, it will even begin stocking stores with the mysterious flavor the same day. There are currently 17 Blue Bell flavors available in half gallons.
I found a new local blog to follow, Obese Ninja. Here are two posts which stood out:
WifeGeeding didn’t believe me when I told her I could fit into her Daisy Duke like jean shorts, but I didn’t. She didn’t think I’d take her up on the dare to go to our friend’s house for dinner in them, but I did. Go ahead and tease me all you want, just do more than take the low-hanging Caitlyn Jenner jokes. I think WifeGeeding is going to post the pics to Facebook.
I read a tweet yesterday which stated only the first five U.S. Presidents have not been photographed. I did a little research, and that appears to be true.
“I want my daughter to see me interacting with police that way so she doesn’t grow up with the same burden that I carry, when it comes to interacting with law enforcement,” Williams said. “And I want the Dallas Police to also see me, a black man, and understand that I support you, I will defend you and I will care for you. That doesn’t mean that I do not fear you. That doesn’t mean if you approach me, I will not immediately have a visceral reaction and start worrying for my personal safety. But I will control that the best I can and not that let impact how I deal with law enforcement.”
It’s interesting to think how Dallas Police Chief David Brown came close to losing his job within the last year but now will almost be untouchable. I’m not a citizen of Dallas, but I never had a problem with him and thought he’s always been doing a great job. It’s a bit sad it takes an event like this for people to notice how he’s changed DPD for the better.
I feel like President Obama will have visited Dallas more than any other sitting president. Mr. Bud Kennedy, if you are reading this, please fact check me on that.
My place of employment has an online bulletin board where employees can post various announcements or whathaveyou. One such person in D.C. wanted to extend her thoughts and prayers to the families of the Houston police regarding the recent tragedies. Instead of correcting her in a reply to her post for the rest of our work community to see, I just sent her an individual email stating I think she confused Houston and Dallas.
I’m not saying I’m for or against Black Lives Matter, but some folks affiliated with them decided to stop traffic on 75 yesterday with banners stretching the width of the highway. I will say that is a stupid and dangerous way to get attention.
I read up on this whole Pokemon Go phenomenon and have concluded it’s a stratagem deployed by the CIA to track civilians, just like they did with Facebook. (Written in sarcastica.)
I’ve got a lot of respect for Tim Ducan, I just wish he’d admit to committing more than four fouls in his entire career. I’d contribute money if his future statue was with his hands up and with “who me?” face. If I recall correctly, the Spurs were lucky to be in a spot to draft him. David Robinson and a lot of the Spurs were injured for most of the previous year, that lead to a horrible regular season record which set them up with a good draft pick.
Huge contrast between his retirement and Kobe Bryant’s, two vastly different personalities. All of the hardware, none of the arrogance. No Players Tribune or SI or television special, just a simple press release from his team.
Matthew 6:6 – But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Sorry folks, I did the old AM/PM thing when scheduling this post.
I think Mayor Mike Rawlings and Police Chief David Brown have performed admirable and said exceptional things to the media. The humility and grace they’ve displayed come in marked contrast to the political posturing elsewhere. I also thought Gov Abbott was respectful and dignified.
I’m surprised, in a good way, FBC Dallas’ Robert Jeffress or John Wiley Price haven’t found a way to garner any of the spotlight over the weekend. But our Lieutenant Governer is another story.
I’m also a bit surprised there isn’t a popular hashtag or slogan that has popped up. Boston had #BostonStrong. I’m not saying I think there should be one or I’d like one, I’m just surprised in the world we live in something hasn’t popped up. EDIT: I saw something about a Dallas Stong event. Double EDIT: The Dallas Morning News has a meme generator – #MyDallasIs
I guess one can compare any decade to another, but this weekend I felt we were reliving the Sixties. Random comparisons off the top of my head – First black Supreme Court Justice – first black U.S. President; UT Sniper – Sandy Hook or the sniper in Dallas this weekend; bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham – Charleston church shooting; Mississippi civil rights workers’ murders – police shootings; LBJ’s war on poverty – Obamacare; Vietnam War – War on Terror; tensions with Russia; hippies – hipsters; the popularity of marijuana; NASA reaching new frontiers.
A lot of folks were surprised the Dallas Police Department used a bomb attached to a robot to kill the suspect. Somewhat related, Bud Kennedy of the Star-Telegram tweeted a link to an article about the Philadelphia police dropping a bomb from a helicopter on a house to end an armed standoff 31-years ago.
After nine days of deliberations, the jury said the city used excessive force and violated Move’s constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure when the authorities dropped a bomb from a state police helicopter onto the group’s fortified row house in the West Philadelphia section on May 13, 1985. The bomb ignited the fire, which destroyed 62 row houses in a black working-class neighborhood of schoolteachers, merchants, ministers and police officers.
We gave LeafGeeding a good little range test on Sunday. We drove from Lewisville to our church in Irving, and then to Hutchin’s BBQ in Frisco by way of LBJ and the tollway, and then back home taking Preston to Sam Rayburn (121). Nissan’s website allows us to see our driving stats, and it said we drove 60 miles. We made it home with the range gauge saying we still had 23 more miles to drive until empty. I’ve noticed highway driving and maxing out the AC will decrease the range rapidly, but I really didn’t hold back on this test.
The grounds of GeedingManor had some storm damage over the weekend. Yesterday I busted out the chainsaw and felt like George W. Bush clearing brush at the Crawford ranch. Seriously, it felt good to be outside and work up a good sweat, like I was doing something manly. I can totally see why he did that sort of thing when out of Washington, but I wonder if he still does that sort of thing.
D-Magazine has ranked Neighborhood Services as the best restaurant in Dallas and their burger is also ranked one of the best. We decided to give their burger a trying on Saturday. It was one solid burger, but it was so big you couldn’t get a good bite. It’s important for me to to get all bun, bread, and everything else in my mouth. I also found it too juicy, which is normally a good thing, but with the size and all the juice, it was just one sloppy experience. And before any of you comment, get your mind out of the gutter.
But I did think their Addison location has some cool Texan and patriotic decor
It’s 7/11 which usually means you can get free Slurpees at 7-Eleven.
The pop-culture fad of the summer of 2016 will be remembered for Pokémon Go. It’s everywhere. But this meme is relevant to me.
Last night on ABC a revised version of the old game show ‘Match Game’ aired with host Alec Baldwin. It’s hard watching Baldwin as a television host because I kept thinking it was an SNL bit. I do thoroughly enjoy his podcast though.
What a horrible day for our community nation last night.
KTVT’s Ken Molestina had a heck of an exclusive during the chaos. When DPD released the suspected shooter’s photo (which was plastered all over the national news and social media), Molestina was able to interview his brother who eloquently stated his brother’s innocence. The brother went on to state that once the shooting occurred, he made his brother hand his AR15 to an officer to avoid being mistaken as the shooter. He further stated the AR15 was unloaded and his brother was just exercising his Second Amendment right. He went on to say his brother’s cell phone was dead (talk about bad timing) and that right after the shooting, his brother was standing next to him when Molestina earlier interviewed him – so Molestina was standing right next to the suspect shortly after DPD released a photo of him. It’s my understanding that the suspect matched the description of the suspected shooter, specifically, the camo shirt.
Molestina, a few times, refused to show police on camera because he didn’t want to sacrifice any strategic planning they might be doing.
It was interesting watching KTVT last night as anchor Doug Dunbar kept asking for the bottom banner to be removed to get a better picture of what was going on or to showcase something important.
The moment Megan Kelly realized the police they were showing on live television might be dead. I’m actually uncomfortable posting a link to that video, and have seen a lot of video on social media last night of Dallas cops actually being shot and killed, but absolutely don’t feel comfortable posting links to those. But if you are a viewer of Fox News, they did air a lot of them.
Many on social media were wondering why the crowds remained in Dallas. The best explanation I heard was that so many places were blocked off by the police and public transportation was halted, people had nowhere to go.
Another complaint about LeafGeeding, there are no dials, only buttons. Sometimes I just want to crank the volume or air down with a quick turn of a knob, not having to hold or repeatedly pressing a button.
I’ve lost my jigsaw, which I haven’t used in years, but yesterday I needed it.
BunnyGeeding peed on me yesterday. We ain’t on good terms.
I need to find a Google Chrome plugin that strips any website of Taylor Swift. I’m tired of seeing her love life plastered everywhere.
I came *this* close to posting the sandwich Twitter photo as a single post yesterday (it’s just a ham sandwich after all) but had a feeling some of my more sensitive readers would have been offended. Instead, I just put it in Bag Of Randomness to give anyone the option of clicking it.
One of the survivors from The Miracle on the Hudson (US Airways Flight 15490) did a Reddit AMA yesterday, here are a few things that stood out – the context of the question is in the answers.
The plane hit hard in the back, the water rushed up the sides making it dark and a terrible sound of metal groaning as it bent.
I think that’s one thing I never took into consideration, was the noise that one would actually hear.
At first I had lost everything but what I was wearing. I eventually got my luggage back it had been cleaned, packed back meticulously. Every bobby pin was itemized. I was compensated for my lost luggage before I even got back to Seattle. My purse was the only thing not recovered.
a big plus was people didn’t really push or shove. There was lots of yelling.
After the crash I waited a week to fly home to Washington. I have flown 27 times since. It’s still terrifying but I want to go place and see things so it’s a must.
I do have some PTSD. A big trigger for me is the smell of something burning that is out of place. Electrical burning is the worst.
The only free flight I got was that one and the one home.
There were children on the flight. A family got on with a little girl about 3 and a baby less then a year. The mother had to sit in the front with the baby and the dad sat in the back near me. I remember when we were stuck in the back I was yelling “Move hurry up, there’s a kid back here.” adding in the F bombs when I thought she wasn’t listening of course. I couldn’t imagine the fear they must have felt. I was by myself and didn’t have any loved ones to worry about.
