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

2020 in a clip pic.twitter.com/SFRuQOwgtR

— CCTV_IDIOTS (@cctv_idiots) August 9, 2020

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College Football Season in a nut shell... pic.twitter.com/MzmKIuR5Hd

— Reggie Bush (@ReggieBush) August 10, 2020

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This could not have gone any worse pic.twitter.com/5JU8EhNi13

— influencersinthewild (@influencersitw) August 9, 2020

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Nationals grounds crew can't get the tarp on the field, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/Wu3xgHrwmc

— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) August 12, 2020

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The SEC, ACC, BIG 12, & AAC all playing football this fall pic.twitter.com/KMlKQizTkt

— KD ➐ (@notkdk3) August 12, 2020

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MAN OVERBOARD @foreplaypod pic.twitter.com/IiTzbnMhP9

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 14, 2020

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Random Friday Morning Thoughts

 

• Wise County active cases: 61. That's a record. I've got an unconfirmed tip that our crazy jump in the numbers is due to a nursing home outbreak. 
• Texas hospitalizations. I'm impressed by the consistency of this decline. But is anyone else a little suspicious that the decline started at the exact same time as the Trump Administration took the official reporting away from the CDC?
  
• Texas schools are opening but late yesterday Stanford decided to shut the campus down. Yep. Stanford thinks it is not safe.
  
• I wonder Trump is OK. He'd normally lose it over something like this. Video.
  
• The United States Postal Service is going the way of Trump University and Trump Atlantic City Casino.  But this time he's trying to kill it. 
  
• A Denton Guyer cross country runner died after practice yesterday morning. 
• The sorriness of Mike Pence is so often over looked. This was incredible. We lost 22 million jobs this year and then Pence celebrated that just 9 million came back. (And, to boot, that 9 million figure, which isn't even true, is still less than the 11 million jobs added during the Obama administration.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I'm convinced 30% of the population is nuts. Case in point, the host of The Mark Davis Show played this video on Tuesday of a Hasbro Troll Doll which, very weirdly, has a button in its private area which prompts it to make odd responsive noises. Is it a little crazy? Yep. How'd it get made? I have no idea. But his callers lit into him for not 100% buying into the theory that Hasbro intentional made the doll in order to groom children for pedophiles. (You can listen to it here. 8/11/20 at 8:00 a.m.) So people are crazy or most of Davis' listeners are members of QAnon. Both are possible.
  
• Hot August Night Day.
  

  

  108?!
  

• I'm finally watching Outcry - the Showtime documentary about the Williamson County wrongful prosecution of the Leander High School football player. I get so pissed off watching things like this because I know how easily this good happen in our current system. And if this show doesn't burn these prosecutors to the ground, I'll be even more pissed off. The first episode (which is available on Amazon - the rest are on Showtime) even recaps the Michael Morton case calling out the prosecutors by name. It's great.
  
• Williamson County is always a criminal justice train wreck. It even made the news today.
  
• I almost hit a opossum in downtown Decatur this morning. (Put that on my bragging montage.)
• "Sure, winning isn't every thing, It's the only thing." - Oft attributed to Vince Lombardi but was actually said by UCLA coach Red Sanders. Sanders died this day in 1958 of a heart attack while shirtless in a hotel room with a prostitute and an elderly man. Which just goes to show you, people have always been wheels off. 
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Wise County active cases: 52. My head is spinning. Since the very beginning, it was unusual to see our cases change by two or three from day to day. But this week the numbers have been Monday: 27, Tuesday: 37, and Wednesday: 52.  Take us DEFCON 3 and get me the President on horn. (By the way, it is the first day of school for Decatur ISD.)
• Texas hospitalizations: But the downward streak continues. 
  
• I missed this one yesterday morning. Again, is he trying to lose? And why is he dead set on courting the I'm So Scared Of The Black Man Coming To My Neighborhood vote?
  
• 69 of the 73 college football programs who thus far have committed to playing this fall are located in Red States. 
• The heck with DEFCON 3. Take us to DEFCON 2.
  
• Maybe it's the boxed wine talking, but what exactly is she saying here?
  
• Jerry Jones said the word grace 18 times yesterday in regards to how he plans to react to players kneeling during the National Anthem.  That made me think about the definition of grace. There's God's grace, you can say grace over a Thanksgiving turkey, and there's the Elanie Benes type of grace.
  
• Everyone is making fun of Jerry talking about the "air flow" at Jerry World, but I think he was actually referencing something we don't know about: If the roof were to be opened but those massive glass panels at each end remained close (a combo we never see), I bet you would have a heck of a wind blast through any of the open doors fans would use to enter. You ever have one door open in your home on a windy day and then open up a door on the opposite side?  Boom! Wind blast + door slam. Now do that at Jerry World. I bet it is even dangerous. (But, yes, none of that has anything to do with COVID.) 
• Below: Random speeding ticket filed yesterday in Wise County. That's 112 in a 70. That's not even close to the record set last year of 144 in a 70 (Cause no. JP1-C-244782.)
  
• Trump nominated a young lady to be a U.S. district judge yesterday. She graduated from law school from Florida in 2012 and has spent most of her career working as a judicial clerk. I'm sure she's the most qualified person in the land. 
  
  
  
• "How can Joe Biden call himself a man of faith and bring on someone like Kamala Harris." - Mike Huckabee filling in for Laura Ingraham on Fox News last night.
  
• If you think the two guys are actually listening to Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight for the first time, I've got news for you. That's a bit. 
  
• The idea of this guy being Wise County's state senator makes my head explode.
  
• As I was stuck in a waiting room yesterday, I was beaten down to an oldies station and was forced to listen to Hotel California.  But I did think about this: If the song were released today, the lyric of "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969" would, in order to be consistent, have to be changed to "We haven't had that spirit here since 2012." That record was released in 1977.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 

• Wise County active cases: 37. What? Where did this crazy increase come from?
• Texas hospitalizations. They continue to go down but, as the most trusted source in COVID news, I'm cautiously sounding the alarm. We've got something weird going on. The number of tests being administered has gone from around 60,000 a day to 20,000, but the positivity rate is now at a record 22%. Throw in that the "tested positive" number was almost at 9,803 yesterday - almost a record.  Something is literally in the wind. 
  
• As predicted, the Big 10 and PAC 10 canceled their football seasons yesterday. The Big 12 then announced its commitment to "move forward" but, I'm telling you, that isn't going to happen. 
• Compare and contrast: So the best minds at Ohio State and Stanford don't think it is safe to play but Denton Ryan and Lake Worth think it is OK. 
• The JP traffic ticket trial broadcast on Youtube yesterday wasn't the cluster I thought it would be, but still proved you can't adequately defend or prosecute someone via video. But, man, it was fun to watch. The final verdict was that she was found guilty of speeding but the jury failed to find she did so in a construction zone while workers were present (which would have doubled the  punishment range.) 
  
  
  
  
• What was also fun was to watch other lawyers do a play by play of it on Twitter. I learned a lot from some of the constructive criticism some had of the participating lawyers. Other people just made me laugh.
  
• Two prosecutors and two defense lawyers in a traffic ticket case proves there are too many lawyers in this state.
• The whole jury selection and trial took the entire day (despite, you could tell, the judge and the lawyers had spent a lot of time the day before ironing out any issues that could cause any delays.) The whole trial done in person would have taken only the morning. 
• A half-naked guy appearing in a mirror's reflection while Urban Meyer was giving an interview, and Meyer's freak out when he notices it, is equally bizarre and funny. Watch it. 
  
• It's pronounced "Comma-la."
  
• Let's check in on Hannity's prediction after last night's election. 
  
  
• Seriously, I've noticed a shortage of Diet Mountain Dew, too -- my drink of choice and the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast.
  
• Patent Infringement litigation is the the new Wrongful Death litigation. And East Texas remains a plaintiff's haven regardless of the decade.  Yesterday: 
  
• There are probably only a couple of you have seen it, but I watched The Last Narc on Amazon about the killing of a DEA agent by a Mexican cartel in the 1980s, and the alleged link to the CIA and Iran/Contra. Here's a hot opinion for those who have watched it: I'm not discounting the CIA's involvement, but I don't for one second believe the words coming out of the mouth of the show's star witness. 
  
• Jerry Jones will speak in public today. I'm curious to what he'll look like. Has he been sick? 
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

 

• Wise County active cases: 27.
  
• Texas hospitalizations. That is one consistent drop. I think I'm counting 10 days in a row where there has been a decrease.
  
• I'm guessing the Big 10 and PAC 10 cancel the Fall football season today (or at least be so afraid of the blowback that they secretly delay the announcement for a week.) The Big 12 will have to follow. 
• The simplest pandemic question which stops people down on both sides of the crisis is: "What number of deaths is acceptable?"  Let's face it. There is an acceptable number to all of us. But none of us can dream of stating what that number is.  
• We've got us a potential candidate for the state senate which covers Wise County: Shelley Luther. Remember when she was held in contempt for opening up her salon on May 5th. Remember May? When the rules were silly because it couldn't get much worse?
  
• There were Confederate statue protesters in Weatherford last night. I saw the video clip below and my mind immediately went to: "What's the legal basis for the traffic stop?"  I could come up with a couple of reasons that would probably justify it, but "Mouthing off at protesters" can't be the sole basis. 
  
• And we need to be very concerned about Joe Biden's gaffes? 
  
• The first ever "binding Zoom criminal trial" will take place in Travis County today where a JP will hold a Class C speeding trial. I'd raise holy hell over that. Every person called for jury duty will log in from respective homes. If needed, they will be provided an iPad ahead of time. What a disaster. And you can watch it on youtube here. It is set to start at 9:00 a.m.
• We had Amber Guyger news yesterday and today there's news on another cop convicted of murder. Former Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver's conviction was affirmed by the Dallas court of appeals. The opinion is here. He received 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.  (Legal note: I'm not sure why the designated it as "Do not publish" because there's some noteworthy stuff in it.)
  
• Russia has developed a vaccine for the 'Rona. Or at least they claim. But I did laugh when I saw they named it "Sputnik V." Everyone loves bits. 
  
• It happened two years ago in Key West, but video was released yesterday of handcuffs being put on an eight year old. Back story here.
  
• When Monday throws you a curve ball. (You don't wanna know.)
  
• I finally finished The Leftovers. Verdict: I'm not sure I've ever thought so much about a show in my life. It's Lost without being stupid and with an odd religious undertone . Weird, not perfect, but definitely an attention grabber.  Two thumbs up. I couldn't stop thinking about it even when I thought I hated it. Bonus: You get to see Wes Hightower from Urban Cowboy again. 
  
• I've not been through Waco since they've started the I-35 construction. That looks like a mess. Scheduled completion date is 2023.
  
• Jerry Jones is still missing. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Wise County Active: 25 (That was from Friday night, the last update, but we took a big jump).
• Texas hospitalizations: 
  
• COVID and Sports: In just 48 hours over the weekend, the college football season was placed in big jeopardy. The Big 10 shut down practices among reports it was seriously considering moving games to the Spring, the MAC actually shut down its season for the Fall, and Sports Illustrated released a story that said the real problem is the long term consequences that COVID-19 has is on the heart. 
  
• I know my time is running out for this to come true, but I continue to believe there is no way we have UIL high school football in Texas. It would be a last minute bombshell announcement, but I still think it is coming.  
• Remember that Florida Georgia high school last week where the kid almost got suspended for taking photos of the crowded hallway? Well they announced yesterday that it would cancel classes today because of new COVID cases.
  
• While you weren't paying attention on Saturday, a handful of Republican chose Wise County's state senator Pat Fallon to take a vacant seat in Congress. That means Senate District 30 is open and will be on the November ballot. That will cause a mad, mad scramble. How many will be on the ballot? 5? 10? More?
  
• Here's who the West Texas oil men are mentioning for that state senate seat. Stickland? He doesn't live in the district, does he?
  
• Wise County Judge J.D. Clark posted this image of downtown Decatur from 1916. I think that perspective is facing North. (Those double turrets are on the the east side of the courthouse.) That would have been right around the time cars were first showing up in the county, although I'm not sure where everyone was when this photo was taken. 
  
• Trump announced he was signing a bunch of executive orders over the weekend which would impact things like unemployment benefits and the payroll tax since Congress couldn't, you know, pass something called a "law." 
  
• He signed the Executive Orders in front of his golf club members while he was spending a three day weekend at Bedminster, New Jersey. There's something similar here I can't quite put my finger on.  
  
  
  
  
• I've notice the Wise County Jail is now routinely slapping INS holds within 24 hours on people who are arrested for simple misdemeanors.
• The name of a 30 minute show on the local Fox affiliate on Sunday morning: "Did Talcum Powder Cause Your Cancer?" Let's kill all the lawyers.
• All the headlines on local DFW media on Saturday read that Amber Guyger had appealed her murder conviction. That's not even close to correct. She appealed the case last summer (she had 30 days to do so). What happened was that her brief was filed in the Dallas court of appeals last week. You can read it here. 
  
• Hey, for you lawyers out there, what do you think about citing an English case of  "Jaggard v. Dickinson, 3 All ER 716 (1980), 1981 (QB) 527" as your best case, dedicating six full pages to it, and even attaching a copy of it to the brief? 
• What if I added that Guyger's brief included Google Streetview images of the street where the event in Jaggard occurred, those images being 40 years after the fact, and asking the Dallas Court of Appeals to take judicial notice of them?
  
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• When this building collapsed, it was quite the sensation since it was caught on video. But not many people noticed this bit of news from over the weekend. 
  
• According to the Update, Decatur ISD will reconsider banning students from taking part in extracurricular activities if they choose "at home" learning. The vote was 4-3 last time.