Skattershooting as fast as I can . . .

• On Martha Stewart:  I've never been a fan of this woman, but the Feds sure like they are screwing her over. As usual, the federal prosecutor held a "Look At Me" press conference and claimed that she was not being prosecuted because she is a celebrity. Baloney. Note that she isn't being charged criminally for insider trading but for lying to investigators. How often does that happen?
• On Sammy Sosa: What a bonehead. How anyone could damage such a legacy is beyond me. He's guilty and he knew he was guilty. One funny line I heard was "That Harold Baines for Sammy Sosa trade doesn't look so bad right now." (The Texas Rangers made that infamous trade in the early 1980s).
• On criminal bail bonds: The girl that dumps her two kids in the median of Jacksboro highway makes a $40,000 bond. The two ladies who left the toddler in the back of the day care van have bond set at $1,000,000.  One act was intentional, the other was negligent. Trust me, there is no more unjust system than that of the setting of bonds.
• I'm not sure Scott Peterson killed Laci Peterson.
• I do have my doubts about Peterson's media hungry lawyer, Mark Geragos. He is the same lawyer that represented Winona Ryder in her shoplifting case - a case which reportedly could have been quickly plea bargained for a misdemeanor. By insisting on a much publicized jury trial, his client ended up with a felony conviction.
• I'll go crazy if I have to listen too much to Nancy Grace, the commentator who always appears on Larry King Live. To her, a person is guilty if the cops say your guilty. (And she's a former prosecutor).
• Movie review: Secretary with James Spader is weird
• The documentary, Murder On A Sunday Morning, is a must see for anyone who thinks all cops are good and pure. It is excellent.
• Jennifer Aniston's little known flick, The Good Girl, was good.
• I rented, for the sake of nostalgia, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Verdict: Highly Overrated. Phoebe Cates, however, could never be. (By the way, Nicholas Cage is in the movie but (1) he never says a word and (2) he is listed in the credits as Nicolas Coppola.)
• Catch Me If You Can is very good.
• Hillary Clinton is out promoting her new book. Nothing invokes the fire of the right wing like the Clintons.
• The book, by the way, set a "Barnes & Noble sales record for nonfiction books on its first day on store shelves," the company said Tuesday.
• The AP calculates the number of civilian deaths in the Iraq war at 3,240. How many people died on 9/11?
• Did anyone see the performance of t.A.T.u. on the MTV Movie Awards? Hey, the 100 background dancers dressed like school girls who then strip down to the undies and then kiss one another even shocked me.
• Also, rapper 50 Cent performed on the show wearing a bullet proof vest. Think he's trying to capitalize on his claim that he has been shot nine times?
• Pop up Internet ads are about to drive me crazy.
• Junk email has already driven me crazy.
• The legislature almost cut all the funding for every "narcotics task force" that is in the state. Speaking from experience, that would be money well saved.
• The legislature, by the way, passed 1,300 new laws. If they met year round, instead of once every two years, maybe there would not be this mentality to "get something done".
• Decatur Superintendent J.D. Kennedy appears to be on his way to a new job. I was impressed a few weeks back when I attended Decatur's kindergarten graduation (yes, you read that right) and saw Kennedy on stage to shake the hand of each little graduate.
• I can reason better with an angry prosecutor than I can a two year old girl.
• There sure is a lot of advertising (billboard and radio) for some new development north of Decatur called Silver Lakes Ranch. Not sure how that's going to go over.
• I saw the Dixie Chicks in concert the other day on PBS.  I thought they were good to begin with but this really sealed the deal.
• How long do you think it will be before we allow others, at our choice, to track us based upon global positioning satellite technology. What excuse would you give your spouse for NOT wanting that type of technology?
• There are still 680 detainees in Guantanamo classified as unlawful combatants.
• Signs of Very Strange Days: The top golfer is black, the top rapper is white, the tallest player in the NBA is from China, and Germany doesn't want to go to war.
• Donald Regan, who was the chief of staff to Ronald Reagan, died on June 10, 2003. I learned about it when NPR spent 30 seconds summarizing his life. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?. You can rise all the way to chief of staff, be president of Merrill Lynch, have to resign because of Iran-Contra, and all you get is 30 seconds. What's that say for the rest of us?
• Did you think you would ever see the day when traffic at 287 and I-35 north of Fort Worth would be backed up on a regular basis?
• The Texas Legislature passed a bill requiring a moment of silence every morning in our public schools.  It's the closest they could get to mandating school prayer without actually mandating school prayer. (Amazingly, on Senator Craig Estes web site, he summarizes the bill with this title: "Mandatory Prayer and Pledge in Schools".)
• VH-1's top 50 songs of the last 25 years begins like this:  1 . Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; 2. Michael Jackson, "Billie Jean"; 3. Guns N' Roses, "Sweet Child O' Mine"; 4. Eminem, "Lose Yourself"; 5. U2, "One", 6. Run-D.M.C., "Walk This Way"; 7. Prince, "When Doves Cry"; 8. Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You"; 9. The Police, "Every Breath You Take"; 10. Madonna,  "Like a Virgin".  I'm sure everyone will agree.
• State Senator Craig Estes has supported medical malpractice legislative reform by urging caps on damages for pain and suffering. Hey, I've gripped about personal injury lawsuits for years (I spent five years in the insurance defense business), but I have trouble with the following line he uses: "[A study] found that . . . about 85 percent of all malpractice lawsuits are closed without a finding for the plaintiff." If he is implying that 85% of all lawsuits are frivolous, he is misleading you. Most of the legitimate cases are settled out of court with the defendant admitting no liability (which is another way of saying "no finding for the plaintiff").
• A bill before the Governor will change Southwest Texas State University to Texas State University. That should be vetoed.