8.28.2020

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

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Random Friday Morning Thoughts

 

  • Wise County active: 34 (+3)
  • Texas Hospitalizations: (-317)

  • Here's a great collection of all the videos (quick loading) of the shootings by 17 year old Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha. I could watch these things all day trying to break down what happened. So much happened in the street (after the first shooting a short distance away), and it all happened in the blink of an eye. 

  • Just look at this photo taken from across the street about two seconds later. The guy with the handgun in the above photo now has his hands up. About a second later he'll almost get his arm blown off (graphic video) as he makes a movement forward. The guy grimacing in the foreground with the skateboard will die from that wound.  Such chaos.

  • A guy who lives near Decatur has announced he is running for the open State Senate seat. His first tweet was to support carrying a handgun without a license. (h/t Bud Kennedy.)  I saw on his website that he graduated from North Texas in 2000, but that "he skipped the graduation since Hillary Clinton was the key-note speaker." Did Hillary speak at the UNT graduation ceremony in 2000?

  • The National Hurricane Center predicted where Laura would make landfall within 0.6 miles and the exact time it would hit and did so 87 hours in advance of  it making landfall.

  • That rain Wise County got briefly yesterday afternoon was from the outer ring of the fading hurricane. Decatur is the blue dot:

  • A Wise County murder conviction was affirmed late yesterday by the Fort Worth court of appeals. The 87 page opinion is pretty boring although it names lots of people in the Sheriff's Office. And it did give us this excerpt from closing arguments which was the subject of a Point of Error. I think the defense lawyer in the Flintstones was actually Perry Masonry. Oh, and shout out to Fort Worth lawyer Christy Jack:

  • Oh, that opinion does show an appellate court will bend over backwards to affirm criminal convictions. The court had to search the Internet so it could take "judicial notice" of what the cops were required to put in a search warrant affidavit, but didn't, in order to make it comply with the law. Shout out to Judge Cude, however. 

  • This Confederate monument in Lake Charles, which city leaders voted not to remove 10-5, was taken out instead by Hurricane Laura.

  • That was one green dress last night. It also served as a "green screen" for Internet manipulation. You can search on your own -- it's overwhelming. 

  • "Good to see you, Ivanka." Funny.

  • There was just a brief shot of Barron as he stood up when Mike Pence was introduced. Man, that kid is tall. I'm guessing 6'4" and I might be undershooting it.

  • Messenger: Above the Fold 


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8.27.2020

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

 

  • Wise County active cases: 31 (-1)
  • As to the statewide dashboard numbers, Collin County began to ignore them last week because of unreliability. Flower Mound did so yesterday. 

  • Texas Hospitalizations: (-101)

  • The 17 year old Rambo who shot two people in Kenosha makes my head hurt. He's just so young and dumb. Here's a video taken before the shootings of him talking like he's out there to be some kind of superhero.  Hey, dumass, life isn't a Call of Duty video game. Speaking of, how is Tucker Carlson on the air? "Maintain order"?

    • Here is the first video of the 17 year old shooting someone in the head at a boarded up building. That's what started it all and why he was running away with a crowd following him in the video I posted yesterday.
    • The first guy who was shot threw some kind of bag at the 17 year old before he was killed. There's that video (with someone syncing up the first video with it). That doesn't justify getting shot in the head. 

    • But I can't stress enough how open carry of an AR-15 makes criminal prosecution of anyone so difficult -- whether it be when, like here, the AR-15 carrier becomes the shooter or someone shoots the AR-15 holder (like in downtown Austin). Every self-defense case requires the prosecution to eliminate any reasonable doubt that the shooter was not reasonably in fear of his life. You inject an AR-15 in a scene like this and it becomes a criminal law nightmare. Everyone gets hyped up and on edge when you see someone walking in a volatile environment with a long barreled gun. Everyone thinks they can be killed at any second.  It's a recipe for disaster. That's why to allow open carry is beyond moronic. 
    • That being said, Castro is right.

    • But his police agency hasn't exactly been firing on all cylinders. Nothing to see here. Just drive on past the white guy carrying a gun with his hands up who had just blown away two people. 

    • You kind of expected this. But I'm kind of surprised the Trump campaign issued a statement distancing from the kid. 


  • That was quite the statement yesterday as NBA players protested the shooting of Jacob Blake by refusing to take part in the playoffs. The WNBA followed suit as did some teams in MLB and the MLS.  Players have come a long way since they were scared of retribution for just taking a knee during the anthem. Oh, and check out the T-shirts which were worn by the Washington Mystics:

  • This is code. Fortunate. Translated: "See what happens when we allow those unappreciative uppity blacks to not suffer consequences?"

  • After being on the run for 12 years for the shooting of his daughters in Irving, yesterday Yasar Said was finally arrested in, of all places, Justin.  (I just learned that there's actually a documentary of the case on Amazon called The Price of Honor.)

  • Hurricane Laura came through with only a drop of rain in Beaumont -- all the winds and rain hit in southeast Louisiana where there's basically nothing there except a couple of tiny towns. Didn't Gov. Abbott declare a disaster for several Texas counties a couple of days ago? 
  • Have you seen the creator of Dilbert explain how Biden's name is actually the sign of Satan? Seriously. "666 identify - That's what Joe Biden's name is." It's loony bin crazy. 

  • I've had my second major iPhone problem in less than a year. This one now won't recognize the password of some Wifi networks even when I know it is correct. Stuff like that never used to happen with Apple products.


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8.26.2020

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 
  • Wise County active cases: 32 (same)
  • Texas hospitalizations: (-112)

  • Big 12: The Texas Tech Red Raiders reported 21 yesterday. The Oklahoma Sooners reported 17 active cases on Monday.  Meanwhile, in Aggieland in general:

  • In Kenosha last night, an armed man (or kid) allegedly killed what is believed to be at least one person and also shoot another in the arm. A great part of the incident is included in this footage which is the best one I've found. (Graphic.) He was running at the beginning of the video and a group seemed to be after him. I'm not sure what happened before that.  The online masses think they have him ID'd as a 17 year old. And we already have the debate breaking out of "He's a White Supremacist Boogaloo Boy" vs. "It's all just self-defense from those thugs."  Good morning, America.  

  • From the RNC last night:
    • "As a recent [law school] graduate, I can relate to so many of you might be looking for a job." - Tiffany Trump, the daughter of a sitting president, who can't find a job? Not the greatest ringing endorsement. 

    • I thought this looked a little familiar. 

    • Ugh. "You followed the rules, you obeyed the laws" as Trump brazenly violate the Hatch Act.  

  • Noticed this line in this story: "The $31 million project is made possible by generous donors. Lead donors Mark and April Anthony of Dallas, Texas, and Rick and Debbie Wessel of Westlake, Texas, participated in Saturday’s groundbreaking ceremony. Other key donors include  . . .  Donny and Marcy Edwards of Bridgeport, Texas."

  • I'm telling you, something very weird is going on at Fort Hood. This appears to be a suicide.

  • I noticed someone got arrested for drugs last night in Wise County but the Rhome cops added a charge of “Prohibited Weapon - Tire deflation device.” I had to look that one up. It "means a device, including a caltrop or spike strip, that, when driven over, impedes or stops the movement of a wheeled vehicle by puncturing one or more of the vehicle's tires." I had never seen that one before. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold (The self inflicted gunshot wound by the Bridgeport teenager which happened in front of police sounds horrific. And I don't understand how it's a front page story but it's not in today's Update.)


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8.25.2020

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

 
  • Wise County active cases: 32 (-12)
  • Texas hospitalizations: (-616)
  • I still don't know how this Fall is going to pan out. The University of Alabama yesterday reported 500 cases once students got back on campus. 
  • From the Wall Street Journal.  (Ticket fans would refer to Cuban as a "Chris Chris.")
  • As I smoothly segue away from "shirtless, dripping with sweat": The Jerry Falwell Jr. pool boy scandal is a lot to wrap your head around. But Falwell has a lot going on than just liking to watch.  I had already forgotten that lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump's "fixer", helped Falwell suppress racy photos of his wife in a possible exchange for Falwell's endorsement of Trump. And someone might want to look into this story from last year about Falwell's wife's 23 year old personal trainer (not the pool boy) ending up with Liberty University real estate worth over a $1 million.  
    Falwell (left) with someone not the pool boy
  • Good lord.

  • Speaking of smooth segue: I don't know why she was yelling. Watch. 
  • How the roll call to officially nominate their party's candidate was handled by Democrats and Republicans:
  • The Arkansas "farmer", who I hope didn't get Chinese tariff welfare, was 28 years old and went by the name Quake Lewellyn which doesn't exactly match the stereotype.
  • She spent some of the rest of the day defending her post, writing "I want to clear the air by saying NONE of the blame should be placed on the TXST School of Music."
  • I saw the trailer for Jojo Rabbit in a theater and thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever seen. I finally watched the film this weekend. Verdict: A shocking two thumbs up.  It was really, really good. 
  • Holy cow. Compare the view of the north side of the White House with a photo I took in December (at 10:21 a.m. on 12/27/19 to be exact) to one that was taken yesterday.
    Then

    Now
                                                                               
  • If my tracking of numbers is correct, 1 out of every 5 felony cases filed in Wise County is now based upon marijuana/THC products bought legally out of state. Most defendants are just passing through on Highway 287.  

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