5.07.2021

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

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Random Friday Morning Thoughts




The student was a 24 year old sophomore out of Temple, and it was never clear why she and two others jumped out the window. But I found a picture of it the "first floor" which made the story a little more understandable. That might be a little more than six feet, plus the ground slopes away. Also, two people were eventually charged with misdemeanors of  "making a false report to and interfering with a peace officer."

  • New job numbers were released this morning. This wasn't supposed to happen. 

  • Awful. Only 20 years old.  

  • It will probably land in the ocean but, man, can you imagine the chaos this will cause if it starts heading towards a populated area. However, I haven't been able to figure out how much notice we'll get as to where it is headed once it re-enters the atmosphere.  

  • College Station police are explaining why they tackled and tased a bicyclist after a video was widely circulated. What also got my attention was how a motorcycle cop just drops his ride on the sidewalk.  


  • If you ever thought the crazy Bill Gates conspiracy theories would go away, this won't help that happen. 

  • I'm kind of surprised this hasn't had a little more coverage than what it has.

  • A convention in Dallas which is heavily QAnon influenced has quietly been kicked out of the facility that had agreed to host them. 

  • Oh, my. Video.

    • And that guy looks strangely like Ted Cruz. 

  • Below is the box score from a softball game Monday in Alabama in the "Class 6A Area 3 Tournament."  I got sucked into this. 
    • Look at how Lanier lost by just 1 run in a shocking score of 46-45 (!!) despite only getting 5 hits. 
    • I suggest you look at the base on balls figures.
    • There were 29 batters "hit by pitch."
    • And if I'm reading it right, the winning team pulled their starting pitcher only to put her back in the game in the final inning. She then gave up seven runs on seven walks to almost blow the game, but her team bailed her out with a four run rally in the bottom of the inning.
    • It's glorious:  

  • Albert Pujols was released by the Angels yesterday. Here's a look at his salary year by year: 

  • 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: 672 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold



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5.06.2021

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts





Ended up playing for nine years which is a lifetime for an NFL player. The defensive and special teams player actually scored one touchdown in his career when Odell Beckham Jr. muffed a punt. Video.

  • WFAA/Chanel 8 picked up on the high profile arrest in Decatur of Jake and Brooke Melton last week.  Brooke is still in jail in Wise County after nine days, and there's no attorney listed. Jake was arrested in Oklahoma, but I'm not sure about his status.  

  • A baby was shot and killed in a vehicle by police in Mississippi after they opened fire on the car stopped after a pursuit of a man wanted by police. Video. There were 40 cop cars surrounding him. A police statement issued immediately after the incident said officers fired, "As the suspect exited the vehicle." The video doesn't show a man exiting the vehicle.


  • The Texas Senate passed open/concealed carry without a permit yesterday. There are a couple of amendments that still have to be resolved, by there is now a 99% chance it becomes law on September 1st. 

  • The first criminal trial in Dallas since the pandemic has just concluded. What constitutes "Stalking" is a messy line. 50 emails in three weeks is a close call between extremely irritating and a crime, but the guy also showed up at her office to "take her to lunch" and then showed up at her home. Then again, he left whenever he was asked to leave and never returned. The sentence was agreed upon: 4 years probation. (If she look familiar, you are probably right. She had to step in and run the Dallas DA's office when Susan Hawk ran into her mental health issues in 2015.)


  • And we had the first criminal trial in Waco. A man who rotted in jail for 818 days was found not guilty on an assault charge. 

    DA with a classy retort.

  • If you like deep dives, here's the complete audit report of the Tarrant County ME's office complete with autopsy photos showing the "missed bullet" found after a body was disinterred and re-examined. That's what started the current house cleaning. (Warning: There are other disturbing photos in it.) 

  • Florida's Gov. DeSantis signed the new voter suppression bill live on Fox and Friends this morning while at the same time banning local media from the event. 


  • Probably the richest guy I personally know told me a few years back that he had gotten into the business of building, buying and selling massive warehouses like those around Alliance Airport. I think of that whenever I see stories like this: 

  • The South Carolina House of Representatives voted yesterday to bring back firing squads. Let's do it. And let's televise it. If the government is in the business of killing people, let's not candy coat it with the "peacefulness" of a lethal injection. "If we, as a society, cannot stomach the splatter from an execution carried out by firing squad, then we shouldn’t be carrying out executions at all." Wood v. Ryan, 759 F.3d 1076 (9th Cir. 2014)(Kolinski, J., dissenting)

  • Thinking you can appeal a Facebook decision to the Supreme Court is a moronic take. Yet this guy has 1.7 million followers on Twitter. 


  • George Jung, the drug dealer about who the film Blow was loosely based upon, has died. I really liked that movie. 

  • Average apartment rent in North Texas: $1,222.



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5.05.2021

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




I still think about that moment all the time, and I'm not sure why.  And I don't think 
I ever saw the man again. Weird.

  • Announced at 8:00 a.m. by Facebook: The decision on the indefinite suspension of Trump's account.  You know, despite all the instant headlines saying the ban of Trump was "upheld", I think that this is really a Trump win. The Board called the decision "arbitrary" and ruled that Facebook must reassess the decision within six months to come up with an "appropriate penalty."  



  • Even Fox News got it wrong. 

  • Ted Cruz went to Florida. (Flashback to when he called Trump a "sniveling coward".) 

  • The Texas Senate might vote on the open/concealed carry without a license bill today. It has already passed the House, and Abbott says he would sign it. 

  • The Texas House, in another top priority, also passed a bill allowing alcohol sales at hotel bars at any time of the day or night. 

  • A bill that criminalizes abortion after six weeks passed the Texas Senate yesterday despite its dubious constitutionality. The oddest part of it is that it allows "any person" to sue "any person" who "aids or abets" in the abortion (which could include providing emotional support to a friend). 

  • After yesterday's post, a faithful reader and former famous Fox 4 reporter alerted me to the whereabouts of Becky Oliver: She's a real estate agent selling high end homes in Dallas. 

  • The Dallas Mavericks are trying to introduce this character as a mascot but it seems to be a flop. Who could have predicted that? (Mark Cuban thought that it would be a good way to attract "Gen Z.") 

  • I had never seen this until two days ago, and  I agree that it might very well be the worst scene in the history of television. 

  • Baylor hired a new women's basketball coach, but I'd feel more comfortable about her if she didn't get off the private plane looking like she just rolled out of bed. 


  • Compare and contrast Kim Mulkey arriving at LSU:

  • "The Eyes of Texas" controversy is continuing at the Evil Empire. 

  • Messenger: Above the Fold
  • The growing use of running DNA samples through commercial testing companies available to the public solves another cold case:

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