Leading Off (10/12/11)

Rangers Lost. And now there’s talk of what went wrong and what needs to go right. But, I’m not worried. I have faith. Bandwagoners always have faith. (By the time we get to the action, most of the doubtful moments have already passed.) You know who else has faith? Ben Doskocil, the lifelong Rangers fan who caught the Nelson Cruz grand slam ball. (And, just in cause you’re wondering, he’s not selling.)

Pet Cemetery Could Be Destroyed. Listen. I know how these people feel about the possibility of their pets’ cemeteries being auctioned off. I recently said goodbye to my childhood home where Rusty, Flower, Rosy, Ringo, and Butch were all buried. It made me sad. The difference, though, is that my burial plots were free. These people paid hundreds of dollars to have their pets buried. And there’s the history. One tombstone dates back to 1945. So I see why they’d be saddened by this, and I hope something can be done.

Terror Plot Foiled. Manssor Arbabsiar offered a Drug Enforcement Administration informant $1.5 million to kill Adel al-Jubeir, a UNT graduate and Saudi ambassador to the U.S. The plan was for a bomb to kill al-Jubeir at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. Arbabsiar once lived in North Texas, but most recently lived in Corpus Christi. He was arrested two weeks ago. Obviously, he did not know that his hired murderer worked for the government.

East Dallas Times Editor in Coma

Since I don’t live in East Dallas, I haven’t had much reason to regularly click over to EastDallasTimes.com. But I have met its publisher and editor, Bruce Felps, who is a pretty nice guy. Apparently he suffered a brain aneurysm last week, and has been in a coma at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas since.

This article at NBCDFW.com (where Felps also blogs) gives more details. You can keep up with his progress here.

Leading Off (10/11/11)

Rangers Are Awesome. I really hope you watched the game the last night, because Nelson Cruz’s walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning was quite something. To celebrate this morning, pop over to the Detroit Free Press. Columnist Drew Sharp will 1) help you relive the awesomeness and 2) remind you that some newspaper writers can actually write. Sample: “The Tigers no longer have baserunners. They have castaways, hopelessly lost on an island, waiting for a rescue that never comes. They would be better off flashing SOS signals to overhead planes than counting on a teammate bringing them home with a clutch hit.”

T. Boone Pickens Has a Fancy House. This story is behind the paywall, but I think you can still see the photos. Pickens has himself a little weekend getaway up in the Panhandle. A new coffee table book has a look at it. Alan Peppard reports that the property features “two elegant homes, stone-tiered waterfalls, elevated aqueducts, 20 miles of manmade lakes, a chapel, vast kennels, a movie theater, an airstrip, a golf course, an art gallery and guesthouses.”

Occupy Dallas Settles in for the Long Haul. The protest group got a permit (sub. req.) that will allow them to remain camped out at Pioneer Plaza until Friday, but some members vow to hang in there “until the change occurs.” Me, I would have given my protest group a name that allows more flexibility. Instead of Occupy Dallas, maybe something like Extended Stay Dallas.

First Baptist’s Dr. Robert Jeffress On His Endorsement of Rick Perry

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