Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I don't think I've ever seen a picture of a guy wanted for misdemeanor theft in the Metroplex posted so often. It's does have a comedic theme to it, however.
  
• "AUSTIN — Lacking a good source of high-speed internet, Bridgeport kids have resorted to hanging out at fast-food restaurants to get online and do homework. That could change soon, thanks to a new cable that’s coming to town under a public-private partnership between the small Wise County city and a private company. " This is part of a vague story about upgraded Internet service that appeared in a Cleburne paper.
• If the dead and dismembered Jamal Khashoggi, a permanent American resident and Washington Post journalist, had been white and of European descent instead of originally from the Middle East and a Muslim, would Trump be acting differently? The question doesn't even need to be asked.
• Remember, folks, every life is precious but apparently not priceless.
  
• It looks like we had a Steve Bartman Incident in Houston last night when a fan may have (or may not) interfered with an Astro's home run which was then called an out.
  
  
  
• I think baseball ratings would be better if they played both the ALCS and NLCS at the same time (or at least overlap by an hour or so) so we could switch back and forth during the dead time. Crazy? I'd be more inclined to watch. 
• This was a tweet from the Official Spokesman for the City of Dallas PD about a Southlake observation. I've got a question. What the heck is a "modified felony traffic stop"?   I even Googled it. The best I can tell it is a made up term when cops draw down on a driver.
  
• Travis County is considering merging the County Attorney and District Attorney's offices, and they are also considering creating a Public Defenders office. Regarding the latter, the always informative Grits For Breakfast has penned a post entitled: "Ignore self-interested complaints by defense bar over Travis County public defender creation."
• Speaking of Travis County, one judge shut his courtroom down for one day in protest over Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court. That's a little silly. But this tidbit got my attention: "Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, the county’s top elected official, said the protest was inappropriate and cost taxpayers $58,000 — the cost to run a courtroom for a day." That is some creative/false/ill-informed accounting right there.
• Sheriff Joe is suing the New York Times for $147 million for an opinion piece entitled: "Well, at Least Sheriff Joe Isn’t Going to Congress -- Arpaio’s loss in Arizona’s Senate Republican primary is a fitting end to the public life of a truly sadistic man." There is a 100% chance that Sheriff Joe will lose this campaign, too.
• There were three misdemeanor and two felony Not Guilty verdicts (so far) in Tarrant County this week. One guilty verdict in a marijuana case had this odd sentence: "0/12 + $1 fine".  (See Trial Board.) Translated it means "no days in jail which is probated for 12 months." Yep, that's odd. That person could blow off probation and then be punished with zero days in jail.  Maybe a single digit was left off in front of the "0". 
• Ted Cruz forgot to buy TedCruz.com. It was originally sold in 2004 and has been used to troll Cruz since that time. This is what you see today:
  
• Messenger: Above The Fold (I forgot yesterday.)