3.19.2021

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




This referred to the death of Kasey McKenzie, 23, of Granbury in the parking lot of the Dallas strip club, Spearmint Rhino. Eric Brent Crutchfield, in a jacked up truck, simply didn't see her and ran over her.  He was on felony probation at the time of a steroids charge, and it was revoked which resulted in a 10 year sentence. (He received a 3 year sentence on the strip club case which ran concurrently.) McKenzie's family would eventually sue the club and win $10.5 million from a jury. Her Facebook page is still up. 

  • I'm finding this "10 years ago" bit to be pretty interesting. 
  • Well, marijuana has finally killed someone.  In all seriousness, this 26 year old guy was in jail for weed. We put a man in a cage for being in possession of a plant. And now he's dead. 


  • A Texas Republican talks about the joys of lynching yesterday. Video.

  • A new NFL TV deal was announced yesterday, and it is for $10.7 billion a year.  Yet owners have a self-imposed salary cap for the players.

  • Here's the video. It's pretty funny. 

  • Fort Worth police say this picture was left in a tip jar with "HELP HE has abducted me" written on the back.  It could just be a hoax by "friends" or enemies. Maybe not. But there are some weird replies to the post.

  • Edit for above:

  • I thought the talk of "Who is going to replace Rush Limbaugh" was silly. Radio stations paid to air Rush's syndicated show. To just think that the show's owner could put someone else in as a host and radio stations would continue to shell out the same amount of cash for it was never going to happen.  Now Cumulus stations are proving this to be true as they have have given Don Bongino his own show and broadcasting it in the slots they use to pay Rush for. 

  • I got my Bill Gates Computer Chip Injection yesterday. 
    • #TeamPfizer #TeamSpeedway
    • I think I'm now picking up HBO Max when I dream.
    • Seriously, the whole experience was really surreal. It just finally hits you hard that we are trying to vaccinate the entire U.S. population against a virus which has certainly killed someone you know. Sitting in a sea of cars, it had a very sci-fi/dystopian feel to it all. 
    • But the whole process couldn't have been smoother or easier.
  • I've said this before, and I've got more evidence to support it: Germania Insurance is fantastic to deal with.  Allstate, not so much. 
  • Very random Cowboys sports point: Only Noah Brown remains on the team from the 2017 draft. Never heard of him? He was actually on field for 228 plays last year. And the Cowboys just gave him a new one year contract.  Edit: A faithful reader corrects me and points out that Jourdan Lewis is still on the team. 

  • Last chance to sign up for the Liberally Lean Pick 'Em Tournament with the jacked up scoring system benefiting first two round upsets.  We've cracked 100 entries. 
  • Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 623 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:29 AM

3.18.2021

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




Ten years ago we were in the middle of an NFL "lockout" imposed by the owners that would last until July 25,2011. At the end of it, owners won the right to impose a new thing called "the franchise tag."  (I wondered if the NFL draft was disrupted, but it was held as scheduled on April 28, 2011 even though the lockout was still ongoing.) 
  •  Absolutely incredible. So he was just a church-going white boy "having a really bad day" by going out and killing Asians? 

  • And, according to that Sheriff's investigator, the Georgia shooter wasn't motivated by race because he said he wasn't. Instead, it was a "sex addiction."   (Flashback to last week when the redneck announcer in Oklahoma who was caught on a hot mic blamed "low blood sugar" for his racism. Sugar and sex are having a bad couple of weeks.)  

  • Related:

  • If you had any buddies who celebrated St. Patrick's Day at the Overtime bar off of 820 and North Beach Street last night, you might want to check on them to make sure their legs are are ok.  Side note: The Star-Telegram reported "more than 20 units" responded. (Too many cops?) 


  • This is odd: Two separate arrests for Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy out of Tarrant County in just the last week where law enforcement accused two mothers of causing a child's illness/injuries for attention.  One thing which makes me question the strength of the cases: Both investigations were originated by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office. 


  • Related: You might have missed that the Cleburne lady convicted in a recent Munchausen case trial had her conviction affirmed by the Fort Worth Court of Appeals earlier this year (with the whole court agreeing not to reconsider there decision just last week.) She received both five years in prison and ten years probation on two counts. 

  • In a press conference held by Greg Abbott for the sake of holding a press conference yesterday, someone forgot to tell the props in the back that Texas is "100% open!"

  • Say what?

  • This lady is a mess. (It's a minor point, but she didn't pick up any new charges because of the new incident at the Office Depot. After the confrontation with the cop at the Bank of America a few days ago, she wasn't actually arrested but released to the hospital instead. The police then got warrants for trespassing and resisting arrest. Those warrants were the basis for her arrest at Office Depot although it sounds like she refused to wear a mask there as well.) 

  • Interesting stat with no explanation: During the pandemic, the Texas prison population has been rapidly going down. I suppose we haven't been "adding" as many people due to a court shut down, but that still doesn't explain it. 

  • It's horrible that former Mav's Shawn Bradley has been left a paraplegic after a bicycle/car accident, but how in the world did it happen two months ago without anyone knowing about it? 
  • Liberally Lean Tourney Pick 'Em sign up ends March 19, 11:15 AM CDT.


at 8:34 AM

3.17.2021

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




Ten years later, Justices of the Peace still don't have that authority under Texas law. 
  • This guy (allegedly) shot and killed eight people at three different Asian massage parlors in the Georgia yesterday afternoon.  I suppose it's wrong to say he looks exactly how I expected him to look. 

    • Here's the first profile of the guy which has come out:

  • This Dan Patrick vs. Greg Abbott thing really ramped up last night: 
    • A couple of weeks ago Patrick demanded that Abbott seek the resignation of PUC chairman Arthur D’Andrea because D'Andrea "refused to reprice billions of ERCOT transactions during February’s winter storm." Abbott said no.
    • Then last night the news breaks that Texas Monthly has audio of a teleconference where just days ago D’Andrea "took pains to ease investors’ concerns that electricity trades, transacted at the highest prices the market allows, might be reversed, potentially costing trading firms and publicly traded generating companies millions of dollars."
    • So not only is D'Andrea refusing to reprice the costs, he's patting the heads of Wall Street telling them he's on their side. That doesn't look good. 
    • Patrick was immediately giddy last night about the breaking news of the existence of the audio:

    • Even before the evening was over, Abbott abruptly reacted and change gears as he he sought, and got, the resignation of D'Andrea. That was fast. Most of the news agencies reporting the resignation didn't even know about the Texas Monthly obtained audio. 

    • (Side note to all of this: Here is the scene from the 2005 Enron documentary demonstrating how they made money by manipulating power plants being taken off the "deregulated" California grid to create a shortage.)
    • And Patrick is continuing his war with trying to reverse the "overcharges" during the February ice storm by passing legislation.  He rammed a bill which would do just that through the Senate. But now the House, with the implicit approval of Abbott, is basically calling Patrick a socialist and a commie and balking at the idea. Man, Austin is fighting. 

  • Weird story: Two people were killed in a home Tuesday after a powerful commercial fireworks explosion in Ontario, California.  Here's a heck of a video of when it began. (Thanks emailer.)
  • President Biden will hold his first press conference on March 25th. It's overdue.
  • The immigrant teenagers being housed in Dallas are admittedly a problem -- not because they are brown people crossing the border but because they are teenagers. (Abbott is running up there today at noon for a press conference in order to try to make some much needed political profit off of the situation.)

  • I've refrained from commenting on the Pennsylvania cheerleader mom who made "deep fakes" of rival cheerleaders falsely showing them vaping (and maybe naked and drinking) because I can't get enough of the facts. But, as much as you don't like it, there are some huge free speech issues here. It's one thing to sue someone for defamation, but in this case the State is accusing the mom of a crime for making something up. If she had just said that the other cheerleader was vaping, that wouldn't be a crime. 
  • Denton restaurant throwing down some attitude:
  • It's St. Patrick's Day so it's time to relive one of the greatest news reports of all time. All hail the Alabama Leprechaun.  
  • I'm still reconstructing my Liberally Lean Weather Team, but in an effort to regain credibility they have told me to keep an eye on Mississippi today. 
  • Time's awastin': Sign up for the Liberally Lean Tourney.  Remember the tricked up scoring system: 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:32 AM

3.16.2021

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts





R.I.P. Bono's restaurant north of Decatur. 
  • From yesterday. Incredible video.

  • The Texas Senate set a record yesterday by filing a bill and passing it in one day by suspending  all the rules and reversing deadlines. It all had to do with (the probable unconstitutional) wiping out $16 billion in electricity charges during the February storm.   It was spearheaded by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick who immediately held a press conference and conspicuously said that, despite rumors, he is not going to run for Governor. Side note: He's going to run for governor. 
  • I don't understand how to interpret the pricing at Weatherford College.
    • The price schedule:
      • "Tuition for in-district (Parker County) students was approved at $102 per credit hour, a 7 percent increase" 
      • "Out-of-district tuition increased to $170 per hour" 
      • "Out-of-district Wise County will be $129" 
    • Say I live in Jack County: What do I pay if I attend a class in Wise County? $170 or $129?
    • What do I pay if I live in Wise County and attend class at the Parker County campus? 
  • Security guard overkill.

  • They bloom like clockwork and show up seemingly overnight every year between March 10th and March 15th. I'm a big fan. 

  • I want COVID to be gone, but I'm not all that thrilled with "things going back to the way they were." 
  • This is interesting. I think there might actually be some very, very slight wiggle room of "forcing" employees to engage in a prayer, but the allegation that employees "were then harassed and fired after they refused to comply" which is the big problem. The doctor got hit with a $375,000 fine. 

  • You might want to avoid the XTC parking lot in Dallas. These are different incidences on two consecutive nights:  
    Early this morning

    Early Monday morning

  • This happened in India and is proof you don't want to stand under a tree during a storm. Video. (Warning: They all drop like a rock. One reportedly didn't survive.) 

  • I can't wait for the Feds to finally lock this guy up. Not for wasting money, but for his other crimes. 

  • Some people like looking a Zillow, I like looking at rent prices. This new apartment building which just opened in Dallas has a 512 square foot studio unit starting at $1,649 a month.
    Central Expressway and Knox



  • None of us are safe. (And someone needs to call the Apostrophe Police.) My favorite might be "High Fullutent"

  • Sign-up for the Liberally Lean Modified Scoring System March Madness Tourney. I'm serious -- get on it. First round games this year are on Friday and Saturday instead of the typical Thursday and Friday. And the funny names of bracket's keep coming: 

  • Legal nerd stuff: I've been waiting to see the appellate brief in the Wichita Falls/Lottery Winner/ Sexual Assault/High Priced Attorneys/No Defense case, and it has finally been filed. Dear Fort Worth Court of Appeals, please put up a link to it. 
  • Sports: There is no more meaningless and hollow stat than that of the "triple double." 



at 8:31 AM
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