Skattershooting as people begin to gripe about "why is it taking you so long"  . . . .

• I feel like a genius for predicting the Worldcom collapse last month. I feel like an idiot when I look at my financial losses.
• For the first time in my life, I had my car towed. Be careful if you park in an adjacent hotel parking lot if you go to a very crowded Humperdink's in Arlington.  It will not be a pleasant experience.
• Want to know how much it takes to get a car out of an impound lot these days? That would be $180. Think that makes for a fun night? And they only take cash!
• I hate baseball in general but take a look at some of John Hart's decision for yooooouuuurrrr Texas Rangers:
• Brought in Chan Ho Park (ERA of 7.16)
• Brought in John Rocker (ERA of 6.66)
• Brought in Carl Everett (currently batting .197)
• Let Rick Helling go. (ERA of 4.98)
• Let Ruben Sierra go because they didn't want to pay him $1 million (.297, 12 HRs and 54 RBIs)
• Chose to sign Juan Gonzales instead of Sierra at $7 million (.297, 7 HRs and 27 RBIs)
• It didn't take the Rangers long to stop running those odd commercials showing John Hart in his sunglasses talking about all the great changes that had been made.
• If division leading Seattle continues on at their current pace, the Rangers would have to go 60-6 for the remainder of the season to catch them. (Source: Norm Hitzges).
• New Dallas Cowboy offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet is very funny. Not exactly Chan Gailey funny, but very funny.
• Funny line from a local elected official about the court decision declaring the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional: "My spouse told me to not try and explain it because I'll just hack people off."
• Once the court ruling concerning the pledge came down, many congressmen went out to the steps of the capitol to say the pledge before the cameras. I was more offended by the political grandstanding  than the ruling.
• So the Supreme Court says it is unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded and there are people who get angry about it? Angry?
• The kidnapping and murder of Samantha Runnion is horrifying.
• Why do some kidnapping stories regarding children make national news while others are ignored?
• The beating of the black teenager by the LA cop did tremendous damage to the reputation of law enforcement.  I feel sorry for the good cop out there.
• Do you think President Bush wants a "do over" in connection with this recent statement: "Sometimes things aren't exactly black and white when it comes to accounting procedures."
• MADD public relations guru Bill Lewis writes an article about how Texas needs to implement DWI roadblocks to solve the DWI problem.  Sheeesh. That's all we need: Rhome PD shutting down 287.
• How does that little guy from Japan always win the Fourth of July hot dog eating contest?
• We've already had one case this summer of a child being left in a car and then dying of heat exhaustion. Every female I talk to doesn't understand it.
• I'm not sure Major League Baseball will survive another strike. If the game were invented from scratch today, kids would be bored senseless with the concept.
• When Martha Stewart was asked on CBS This Morning about her current stock scandal during her weekly cooking segment, she eventually said, "I'd rather concentrate on my salad".
• Lance Armstrong hates public speaking so much that his asking price is $200,000 per speech. And there are some takers.
• The fourth biggest cause of death in America? That would be death due to infections obtained while in a hospital.
• Odd story: The third baseman for LSU, who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics a few weeks back, was found dead in his bedroom yesterday.
• Ranger Pitcher Jeff Zimmerman received some more bad news about his elbow: "He has a torn and detached flexor pronator tendon, an unstable ulnar collateral ligament, and bone spurs". He is in his first year of a three year $9.5 million contract and has yet to throw a pitch.
• County Attorney Greg Lowery has surprised me because I originally thought that hunting and the golf course would draw his attention away from his job. I was very wrong. He has no fear of the courtroom and is willing to work hard. I've already had over ten jury trials with him in just a few months.
• I'm made it halfway through the movie Sling Blade. So far, I'm loving it.
• When we have a drought, we hear about how food and cattle prices will sky rocket. When we've had ample rain like this year and the pastures are as green in July as they are in April, why don't the same products become cheaper?
• Nursing homes are facing an insurance crisis. In 1998, they paid $327.81 per bed for coverage. It is now $2,991.64. You can hug your lawyer for that. (Morning News, 7/25/02, p. 25A).
• This is a little odd. Mike Schneider, a Republican, is running against a Democrat this fall for a seat on the Texas Supreme Court. That seat is currently vacant. So what did Governor Rick Perry do yesterday? He appointed Schneider to fill the seat. Thus, Schneider can now call himself the incumbent.
• CNN had a poll the other day that asked whether President Bush did anything wrong when he sold his stock in Harken Energy Corporation years ago. Only 15% did not have an opinion. Do you think the average guy on the street knows anything about what did or didn't happen? I read an article about it in Newsweek the other day and I still don't understand it.