6.18.2021

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts





These were two photos I posted from this week in 2011. The top one was an uncomfortable photo from the Maverick's parade after their championship win. The bottom was from the Toronto newspaper of the crazy rioting after a hockey series loss. 

  • Day 6: The Man on the Run remains free.  This has turned into Wise County's version of The Fugitive.  (And I've had Wings' Band on the Run stuck in my head all week.)

  • The Decatur School Board's meeting to discuss the future of Head Coach/AD Mike Fuller just got interesting. I've heard that Fuller, through his attorney, has made a formal request that any discussion about him occur in a public forum. He has that right. And an assertion of that right prevents the school board from discussing him behind closed doors in executive session.  Texas Government Code 551.074(b). 
    • Side note: There is not a single reference to this morning's school board meeting in today's Messenger. I don't understand that. 
    • This, as has been represented to me, is a Facebook exchange between a taxpayer and the school board president. This would have taken place before Fuller's request for a public session. Click to enlarge.



    • Is the Board meeting broadcast live on the school's Facebook page?
  • The Supreme Court let Obamacare stand as it threw out a lawsuit filed by Ken Paxton which had originated in Fort Worth.  How much did that silliness cost the taxpayers of Texas?
    • The Court dismissed the case because of lack of standing. Personal admission: I've never understood the doctrine of standing no matter how hard I have tried.  I can read the court made rule, I can read the case, but  I don't know what it means. Trust me, I'm not alone. 

  • Of course, there's video.

  • Greg Abbott signed the Permitless Carry bill yesterday, but why was the head of the NRA, who has led the organization into bankruptcy amidst charges of waste and corruption, sitting at the table? 

  • Here is your bi-annual reminder that Gov. Abbott doesn't need to sign any of the bills passed by the legislature. They become law unless he vetoes them.
  • Mark Cuban, who believes he is the Smartest Man in the Room, now finds himself not only without a general manager but also without a head coach. It's a dumpster fire. Ironically, the billionaire is now figuratively owned by a 22 year old player, and he will do anything that player tells him to do. And even then, odds are that the player will leave Cuban high and dry in a couple of years after things don't work out. 

  • Overstate. Understate. Whatever. 

  • This is one of the "Kraken lawsuits" which failed to overturn the presidential election because there was no proof. Now there is a Motion for Sanctions hearing scheduled against the lawyers which recklessly and unethically brought it. This order from the presiding federal judge is not a good sign for them. 

  • I always like old Texas photographs, and this one got my attention yesterday. That's Highway 287 on the way to Amarillo in 1940 just outside of Quanah. 

  • She's asking to Defund the Police, right?  Rep. Matt Gaetz is a co-sponsor. 

  • Oh, I don't know, does this sound like a pyramid scheme?  "Members were told that if they’d put in $1,400 . . .  and recruited two members, they would receive a 'blessing' eight times their initial contribution — $11,200 (later upped to $11,400) — when they wanted to 'bless out,' or leave."

  • We are surrounded by con men and nut cases. They are all around you. 
  • 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: 714 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold



at 8:35 AM

6.17.2021

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




And I was sent a photo (below) within 24 hours. But I'm not sure I've heard much of Ned since then. I hope he wasn't in the fire at Aurora City Hall a couple of weeks ago.



  • Day 5: Still on the run!

  • But you won't be getting alerts on your phone any longer.

  • Not related but relevant: They found him after three hours.

  • The potential for the Decatur School Board to actually fire Athletic Director and Head Football Coach  Mike Fuller seems really bizarre. But I'm hearing the current head count on the vote would be 3-3 which means the school board president would cast the deciding vote.  From the buzz I heard yesterday, this whole fiasco is turning an unexpected spotlight on the Board.
    • Fuller's football team has made the playoffs seven straight years including a deep run all the way to the state semi-finals just three years ago. That was one win away from the championship game. Most schools can only dream of that. 
    • The school board just renewed his contract less than three months ago by a unanimous vote. What exactly has changed since then? Has Fuller done anything to breach his side of the agreement? 
    • A firing would cost lots of taxpayer money (money which, by the way, was collected from your outrageous property tax bill which we complain about all the time), and the reason for that taxpayer expense would be what? 
    • A meeting is scheduled for Friday morning. The Messenger recently railed against the abuse of "executive session" as a tool to hide from the voters. Those voters have a reason to know what has prompted the hastily called meeting and who is spearheading it. And why.
  • The House yesterday approved Juneteenth as a national holiday by a vote of 415-14. Yes, 14 representatives actually voted against it. One of them belongs to Wise County.  Yep, our own Ronny Jackson. You may remember him:


  • Greg Abbott held a press conference on his Wall project yesterday, but was instead asked about the ERCOT warnings we've received.  His answer was less than truthful. 

  • Despite the WFAA headline, this law is window dressing only. It has no teeth. There is no "offense" or penalty in the new statute for turning off a bodycam. 

  • The NFL has issued guidelines for those players who don't want to get the COVID vaccine. You think they are encouraging vaccinations? 

  • The Athletic ran a story rocking the Mavericks, Mark Cuban immediately called the story "total" BS (as he hid behind the protection of a tweet), and one day later their long time general manager is told to his the road. Don't worry, though. There will be a new episode of Shark Tank.

  • There are still big Supreme Court opinions to come, and time on this term is running out. More will be released in 30 minutes.  The SCOTUSblog twitter feed is what I monitor since it is almost instantaneous with an accurate summary of what is released. 


at 8:30 AM

6.16.2021

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




My memory is a little fuzzy on this and all the links to supporting stories are now dead, but I think the Sheriff's Office got tipped off that a gun safe taken during a burglary had been thrown into Lake Bridgeport off of the bridge in Runaway Bay. And divers found it. 

  • Day Four: On the Run!

  • According to today's Messenger, the very aggressive Decatur School Board is going to consider firing the football coach and AD on Friday morning.  I hinted about this one week ago:

  • And the story in today's Messenger about the school board meeting over in Bridgeport on Monday is wild. The board president quit before the meeting. What's going on over there? Part of the brouhaha is about the number of recent resignations. Reporter Austin Jackson published this list during that meeting: 

  • Private donations for the Wall? (Didn't Steve Bannon rip off donors doing this?)  But this whole PR campaign by Abbott is getting sad. The next thing you know, he will beg Trump to show up for a dog and pony show at the border.

  • Oh.

  • And this tweet yesterday by Abbott is just more con man type of stuff. He might has well have said, "Today I have read the Constitution." (I'm surprised he didn't use all caps.)

  • This darkening of Reunion Tower should become a Texas distress signal. 

  • That time that Sen. John Cornyn tweeted out an article from a conservative satire site in an effort to troll California who was having energy problems. 

  • From the rumor mill: I'm hearing that a recent suicide of a young person in Wise County can be attributed, at least in part, to bullying. 
  • Right now, President Biden and Putin are meeting. Some pre-closed door photos:

    AP Photo
    From Russia state media.


  • Safe to say that afterwards Biden won't announce to the world that he is taking the word of Putin over our Intelligence Agencies as was done in Helsinki in 2018. What a bizarre day that was. (And, unlike Helsinki, there will be official notetakers from both sides present during the meeting.)

  • Louisiana just reduced the penalty for possession of a personal amount of marijuana to a maximum fine on $100. Jail time is no longer part of the penalty.
  • For something I thought for most of my life was unique to Texas, Juneteenth is about to become a federal holiday. 

  • Real name. Real school announcement. The comments were what you would expect. 

  • The UIL announced yesterday that it will continue to allow Internet broadcasting of high school football games -- something that they allowed for the first time ever during last season.  This announcement comes about 20 years too late. 
  • Texas Motor Speedway fun fact: When it opened in 1996, the stands held 160,000. In 2013, facing declining attendance,  they removed the stands from the back stretch. Now they are removing more seats (and will widened the space for each remaining seat from 18" to 22") to lower the capacity to 75,000.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM

6.15.2021

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts





I stumbled across this bit of forgotten history 10 years ago. Worth re-issuing.  "An Air Force C-119  en route from Sheppard AFB, TX  to Carswell AFB, TX  collided in midair with a C-124C Globemaster II. The Globemaster was on a flight from Kelly AFB, TX  to Tinker AFB, OK."

  • Day 3 and still on the run!

    • I'm not sure why law enforcement is being tight lipped about the name of the officer that was shot in the leg and who will recover just fine. I'm hearing it it was Rex Richie. 
    • Fox 4 had a report where they obtained home security footage which actually picked up the audio of the gunshots. I heard around 10 pops. 

    • That same footage even picked up the gunman running moments later. 

    • WFAA had this: "The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Wood, who lives in Azle, previously served prison time for robbery and burglary of a habitation. The Lubbock County District Clerk's office confirmed those convictions, stemming from incidents in 2012. He began a 10-year sentence in 2014, however served only half of it, and was released in 2019."
    • WFAA also said "they" found meth "in" his motorcycle. Fox 4 had photo of that motorcycle after the guy fled.

    • WFAA said a "non-profit in Tarrant County had previously helped" the guy -- whatever that means -- and had this video of him. (That's him in the flag shirt.)

    • Side note: Rhome PD definitely needs a new building. 

  • The Messenger's Austin Jackson did a good job covering the Bridgeport School Board meeting last night. His coverage is here. It was a large crowd which included some firing off of some hot opinions towards the superintendent.  And in a split vote, the Board followed Decatur's lead of requiring Board approval before the superintendent can make any new hires during the summer.
    That's a huge crowd for a June school board meeting.
  • ERCOT issued a "Conservation Alert" yesterday and told us to keep our homes warm and not run dishwashers and other large appliances in order to avoid rolling blackouts. Uh, it's June. In Texas. 

    • Flashback: Words for our governor from one week ago. (Abbott's gonna mess around and get himself beat if he's not careful.) 

    • Flashback: Ted Cruz got into a Twitter fight with a dirty Lib from California last year and told him the only reason you can't run the A/C during the summer is because of a "dysfunctional state government."

    • Don't worry about keeping the electricity on. We've got Critical Race Theory and Permitless Carry taken care of, and they'll have a special session to make sure the very pressing issue of transgendered kids involved in sports are covered.
  •  Amazing: We learned that the craziest member of Congress just found out about the horrors of the Holocaust after visiting the museum in D.C.   (Oddly, when she actually visited Auschwitz as a teenager it apparently didn't make much of an impression on her.)

  • After my mention of Jeterville the other day, a faithful reader sent me this picture of a coozie they own. 

  • Why is anyone surprised that Mark Cuban would hire a prominent NBA gambler to play a key role in the Mavs organization in another failed attempt to try to prove to himself he's the smartest guy in the room. I'll say it again: He's got a lot of Trump con man in him.
  • I don't know anything about this college football recruit, but I'd be wary of any kid who decommits from OU and tweets out this graphic with, oddly, a "horns down" to announce it. (I'm guessing he used that photo when he first committed to OU and for some reason decided to re-issue it.)
  • Here's a wild one to end on: As crazy as it sounds, someone emailed me about a body allegedly being found in the old Bilby's Marina in the Twin Hills area of Lake Bridgeport. Email me or DM me if you know anything.


at 8:30 AM
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