3.15.2019

It's Friday. Let's Get Out Of Here.
















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Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • Of all the horrible things about this case, there is a weird oddity: She was a passenger in a car hit from behind and she was ejected from the vehicle even though she was wearing a seat belt. 
  • The Star-Telegram twitter feed, which isn't that active, has gone wacky with a torrent of irrelevant basketball news. Here's an example of one with important SWAC news. There were at least 24 like it.
  • Emma, other than the "100" part, we're on the same page. 
  • For a District Clerk in Tarrant County who could get elected time and time again if he just kept a low profile, Tom Wilder comes across as a bit of a nut. Does he not realize that Beto carried Tarrant County against Cruz? Does he realize this is a fight he doesn't need to pick?
  • A Right Wing Terrorist killed at least 49 Muslims in two Christchurch, New Zealand mosques.  He videoed it and broadcast it on Facebook live. There is no way I'm watching it. And he left a manifesto which includes his support for Trump as a "symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose" and he hoped to spark a "civil war in the U.S."  
  • And now we all remember Trump, at a campaign rally in South Carolina, repeating with glee a fake story of 49 Muslims massacred to ramp up Islamaphobia.
  • The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that a lawsuit against Remington can forward over the Sandy Hook shooting. Hey, I don't think a gun maker should be liable for what nutcases do with a gun, but one aspect of the ruling has my attention: Just what did Remington say internally as to who their target audience was for AR-15s.
                                            
  • Random Jack Ruby trivia: (1) I didn't know that he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for a capital crime that no longer exists under Texas law: "Murder with Malice" (The conviction was reversed in a very short opinion, and he died before retrial.) (2) His name was actually Jack Reubenstein, and (3) the jury was even available to pose for pictures (no wonder there were so many death penalty sentences back then -- look at that group.)
  • Rick's Caberet has been sued by three different men claiming they were drugged in the Fort Worth club and taken advantage of by establishment employees. One guy claims his credit card was charged  $3,974 including $1,470 for 60 lap dances he has no memory of. “I had half a Bud-Light. That’s all I remember,” he said. “The next thing I remember is the next morning. I had no idea what happened. I felt I had been drugged by something like Ketamine or Rohypnol.”  That's going to be a brutal cross-examination based upon that statement alone. 
  • "A McLennan County probation officer is recovering from a gunshot wound after she was injured Thursday morning while being trained to carry a weapon for her job. Brittany Bates was at the Department of Public Safety Tactical Training Center in Florence when she holstered her handgun and it fired, striking her in the buttock." 
  • Candidates are serious about the Decatur City Council race. I've seen two or three of them with 4' x 8' signs with their photograph on them.
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3.14.2019

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




  • It's hard to be the hardest working man in show business when you are without power in a house which is missing part of a roof and it sounds like a rain forest inside. 
  • Shout out to Cannon Roofing in Decatur who immediately got out there and put a tarp on the thing in post storm winds still pushing 40 mph.
  • The worst home hit was the one next door which completely lost its roof. Horrible. But it led to the craziest part of the storm: Inside that house were a couple of old school ceiling fans that weighed about 50 pounds (really). One went flying about 100 yards, went through the garage roof of another house, and crashed into a big empty dog kennel leaving a basketball size dent in it. 
    After it was moved.

    No dog was inside at the time. 
  • From the official Twitter account of the Fort Bend County Constable Pct. 3.  That's a full assault in the War on Drugs that they are mighty proud of. (And they've been crucified with in thousands of comments so far.)
  • Regarding Gov. Abbott's harsh criticism of DPS for the way they handled the fake voter fraud scandal, DPS director Steve McCraw, always the lapdog, took responsibility for the screw-up. Then he turned around and fired an underling named Skylor Hearn (who made a whopping  $211,620.)
  • A Bridgeport man has allegedly committed a fish foul.
  • Yes, I planned on mentioning this yesterday. The man doesn't  even understand how an umbrella works. (And, man, he is worked up about something. Since yesterday morning he has fired of 40 tweets or retweets.):
  • Robert Jeffress is in the Holy Land for his annual stint making money as a sponsor and tour director. He posted photos.
    "I said on Fox and Friends that the Democrats are godless and it looks like one of them is amongst us!"
    "I thought the brochure said open bar."
  • This guy normally doesn't say stupid stuff, but this is simplistic nonsense.
  • This whole college admissions scandal has my head spinning.  Everyone knew it was going on and now the Justice Department is acting like they have broken up the mob. And Felicity Huffman is arrested at gunpoint, and Lori Loughlin has a $1 million bond? It's all just weird.
  • And this really got my attention from the press conference by the U.S. Attorney: "We are not talking about donating a building so that a school is more likely to take your son or daughter." Translated: "We're not talking about bribing college officials in a socially acceptable way." 
  • I mentioned that a guy has been convicted in Austin for killing an attorney there. After his conviction, but before the sentencing phase, prosecutors obtained a call that he made that night where he said the following. The sentencing jury heard it. What do you think they gave him? (Answer below.) 
  • He is blatantly lying. They are just begging for a pardon via the media. And it's a brilliant strategy because Trump will bite on it. 
  • I just picture the dog walking away down a suburban street. Stopping and looking back longingly. Dak, with tears rolling down his cheeks and a cracking voice, saying, "Go on, boy. You go on and get outta here." The dog lowering his head and turning to slowly walk towards Plano.
  • Answer: They they gave him 40. He got lucky. 


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3.13.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoghts

Significantly delayed due to storm issues.
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3.12.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • This was said to be on I-30 headed out of Fort Worth yesterday afternoon during rush hour (but it looks like the service road). Either way, that's serious blockage. 
  • A lawyer was murdered in Austin a couple of years back and the trial has been ongoing. There was a guilty verdict yesterday but not before a slight problem with a juror.
  • Mrs. LL was roaming around Wizard Wells yesterday and came across this. I have questions. Lots of questions. 
  • Ron Corning is leaving the WFAA morning show.  The exit sounds odd since he says he doesn't have another job yet turned down a contract extension. He describes other opportunities and, at his age, it's "now or never" to move on. Side note: Fox 4's morning show doubles them in the ratings for the "all important" 25-to-54-year-old demographic.
  • This is incredible. A telephone poll falls on a soccer field injuring two in Arkansas. Video caught it happening. It comes down fast.
  • He's moved on. Really. 
  • If we don't get that dang ol' wall built soon, stuff like this will continue to happen:
  • Random Wise County history note: I was researching historical markers in Wise County (I'm livin' large) and found one for the "Battle of Knobs" near Decatur. Then I learned there is another and almost identical marker near Archer City claiming the same Indian battle occurred there. That kind of makes you question the accuracy of historical markers in general. 
  • Fox News' Tucker Carlson's defense is right out of the Trump playbook: "Never apologize. Never admit mistakes. Attack your attackers."  I'm not sure why every person involved in a scandal doesn't do the same thing from now on because, in America, it works. 
  • There was a big story of a guy who killed three guys because of a wreck on 635 in Dallas and fled the scene leaving his teenage son in his vehicle in the middle of the night. Then I look up and see this related, yet unrelated, headline today:
  • Neighbor Cooke County's state rep has filed a bill to eliminate the County Attorney's office and have the DA handle all prosecutions (like Tarrant County.) That normally means it is a done deal. 
  • Trump unveiled his budget yesterday -- the largest in our nation's history. Yet it had cuts of over $1 trillion (with a "T") to Medicare and Medicaid. Let's have a flashback from Candidate Trump keeping in mind his current rally cries of "Promises Made. Promises Kept."
  • Nick Foles is going to get a four-year deal worth $88 million from the Jaguars with $50 million guaranteed? Dak Prescott may be an average quarterback, but an average free agent QB in the NFL will get rich. (Here's a reminder that he made $725,848 last year.)


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3.11.2019

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez got engaged. Let's check in on the always stable Jose Canseco for a reaction. 


  • The Morning News had a Letter to the Editor on Saturday from a DPS employee based in the Garland "Super Center". Although she was defending the agency, I liked her description of what troopers do when they are taken off the road and sent to the border.
  • Trump visited the Alabama tornado zone on Friday and signed, uh, Bibles. (They can forever compare the signatures on his checks to pay off his affair with Stormy Daniels to prove authenticity.)
  • We learned that the owner of the massage spa chain -- a chain which was allegedly involved with human trafficking that Robert Kraft got caught up in -- has had her picture taken with every conservative Republican known to man.  
  •  Decatur blew a 16 point lead and then lost the game on a last second shot to Liberty Hill. (Video). Liberty Hill then lost on a last second shot in the championship game. (Video).   And Slidell got more press than they've received in maybe ever with their win. 
    Liberty Hill: Joy can be temporary.
  • Legend Vince Young got fired by UT from his $100,000 a year part-time job. Do you know how much he would have to blow that job off in order to get fired by the Evil Empire?
    Vince Young: Joy can sometimes temporarily last a decade.
  • The Junior in College was back in the house this week and decided on Saturday that we would Marie Kondo our kitchen. Many hours later, a ton of "Spark Joy" jokes, and multiple trash bags, we had quite the organized kitchen. 
  • Fox News' Tucker Carlson is in trouble after an old interview was discovered with "Bubba The Love Sponge." He refused to apologize and just said he was caught saying something "naughty." His fleeing advertisers may have a different opinion. 
  • I learned my great grandfather is buried in Paradise. He was gone before I was born, but I'm embarrassed I didn't know that. (That led me to the amazing resource that is the cemetery records link found on wisecounty.com)
  • Wise County criminal justice: Whichever JP set bonds over the weekend needs to throttle it back a little.  
  • Trump said over the weekend that he didn't say "Tim Apple" but instead said “Tim Cook, Apple.” This comes on top of the White House fudging the transcript of his remarks by adding a dash (but with no reference to "Cook". He 100% said "Tim Apple".  It's Orwellian, once again. 
    Official transcript.
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.

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