7.16.2021

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts





I did an evening post at 7:30 p.m. ten years ago because of the the above conditions from the weather station in Paradise  It was 106 degrees at the moment after a day's high of 108. Today's forecast, by the way, is 93. 

  •  All of this sounds very familiar.  But this time it is all preventable. 




  • "On Thursday, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy made a historic announcement, declaring for the first time that misinformation is a public health hazard." He's right. A poll from The Economist this week found that 20% of Americans believe the COVID vaccine contains a computer chip implanted by the government. That's 1 in 5 Americans. That's 41 million adults. And just talk to the people around you. It becomes clear that figure is correct. 

  • Here's an important Democrats-In-D.C. update:


  • A double suicide and not a murder-suicide?

  • The Mavericks press conference yesterday demonstrated what a train wreck Mark Cuban's team now is.   But my favorite quote came from new coach Jason Kidd who, when he was asked if he had spoken with Luka Doncic, said that he had by phone but oddly added, “But there’s also a new way to conversate, and that’s by text."

  • Yesterday, in response to the new book which detailed just how concerned senior Defense Department officials had become that Trump would attempt to stage a coup after his election defeat, Trump released a statement where he actually began a sentence with, "If I was going to do a coup . . . ."  Comparisons online happened immediately.

  • Number of days Wise County has gone without Chick-fil-A?

  • A Texas defense lawyer discovered there had been an internal investigation regarding an officer admitting to other officers that he pulled over cars for no reason with the intent of looking for other crime. He turned the report over to the D.A.'s office who knew nothing about it. (The police department had taken no action and hadn't revealed that the investigation had even taken place.) The D.A.'s office stepped up and said they didn't trust the officer enough to use him as a witness. So far they have dismissed over 30 cases. 

  • I'm not a gambler, but when I went up to Winstar a couple of years ago, I was surprised at how  comparable it was to a Las Vegas casino. Now there is this addition over at Choctaw in Durant. But Texas won't legalize gambling because we are too good for that. 

  • There is absolutely no legitimate reason. 

  • Sounds like a judge was not very happy with a prosecutor in the Decatur courthouse yesterday. 
  • Random flyer found on Greenville Avenue in Dallas.  Why is the Texas Theater, where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested, looking for a stolen pig -- who just happens to answer to "Pig" -- and who loves truffles and mushroom tarts? Edit: Wait a second. Is this just a bit for the new Nicolas Gage movie?

  • Random Sports eye-opening graphic:

  • 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: 742 days.
  • The Messenger has a front page story today about Lauren's murder on the second anniversary of her death. They used a headline which is also the title of the book I've compared this case to. 


  • Messenger: Above the Fold (Special Lauren Whitener front page edition)


at 8:31 AM

7.15.2021

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




One of the two worked out. And I seriously misjudged Google+.   

  • Point: It doesn't seem fair that the majority in a legislative body can be thwarted by Texas Democrats who invoked the quorum rule by leaving and going to D.C. Counterpoint: It's the equivalent of the Republican Minority in the U.S. Senate thwarting the majority by just invoking the filibuster rule. 
    Texas GOP doing some posing yesterday

  • Covid quick hits for the unvaccinated. Pay attention:
    Nearby Tarrant seems bad.

    Hey! Wise County is a little darker than everyone around us!

    Another day of Texas hospitalization increases

    But you can ignore this. And you wonder how someone gets inspired to drive nine hours to El Paso and go on a shooting rampage? He knows exactly what he is doing.

  • Whatever it takes. (And I wanted to post the marine photo.) 



  • Joe Exotic had his sentenced vacated by the 10th Circuit yesterday. Not the conviction, just his sentence which will have to be redone. But the opinion starts off with this new wave of cutesy writing by federal judges. 

  • It has finally dawned on me why the Trump Insurrectionists are hell-bent on exposing the identify of the police officer who, while defending the Capitol building, shot Ashli Babbitt: They think he is a black man.  

  • Any publicity is good publicity. New York Times best seller list: 

  • Bad lawyer.

  • If you have time, read this story. There may be something really wild going on. 

  • I stumbled on this: A watchdog, who reviews the mandatory forms required of Texas law enforcement for any in-custody death, found this one from San Jacinto County for a death earlier this month. It's a little disturbing. A lady with mental health problems committed suicide after putting a cord around her neck for the third time. (Uh, you want to keep it the cord away from her after time number two?) And to make it worse, the only reason she was in jail was for a fine-only Public Intoxication charge. She had been there seven days.

  • Random fan on Twitter of the Ticket says his car was hit by a "bucket truck" yesterday which then fled towards Decatur. 


  • There's nothing shocking about this. Have you listened to talk radio? They encourage it every day.  


  • Selling a gun encased in Legos seemed like a really bad idea. 

  • It's been four days since the Decatur School Board fired anyone and paid them off with taxpayer money. 



at 8:32 AM

7.14.2021

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts





Kelli Cox was a UNT student who vanished during the day in July of 1997 after touring the Denton Police Department jail.  Ten years ago the case was unsolved, but no more. In 2016, a Texas inmate, who with the help of DNA had recently been discovered to be a serial killer, would lead authorities to her body in Brazoria County. And just last month he was sentenced to death in Oklahoma in connection with the murder of another young woman. 

  •  Nice lede by the Messenger today regarding the chaos surrounding the Decatur School Board. 

  • The Texas Democrats are in D.C. and are grabbing national headlines. And, no, they won't be arrested.

        

  • A new lawsuit in Texas challenging the new restrictive abortion law has been filed, but the Supreme Court will rule on a 15 week ban out of Mississippi before this one gets finally adjudicated. The Supreme Court decided to hear that case on May 17th and, with the new conservative majority, all the rules may soon change.

  • It's a Family Affair: Five members of the same family from Borger, Texas were arrested for their involvement in the Trump Insurrection. They, by their own admission, "are Q."


  • Texas has seen 10 straight days of hospitalizations increasing due to COVID. We went from 1,589 on July 2nd to 2,282 yesterday.  That's nothing close to our peak of 14,000 last January, but still a trend which is worth noting. 

  • But just keep on following the anti-vaxxer right wing leaders. For instance, the Jewish Space Laser theorist is full of misinformation to guide you down that path.

  • Alabama's own Roy Moore, who is basically infamous now, predictably has lost his lawsuit yesterday against Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen tricked him into an interview and then brought out a "pedophile detector" device which went off when he hovered it around the former judge and failed Senate candidate. Video here.

  • I saw this and was skeptical, but then a rabbit trail led me to Harry J. Anslinger.

  • Personal note: Shout out to Decatur Attorney Mark "The Decatur Hammer" Howell for a tremendous batch of home grown tomatoes that he personally delivered to me. 
  • Sports: The Los Angeles Angels drafted a pitcher in every single round in the 20 round MLB draft.  I love this. And I think it's smart. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold





at 8:31 AM
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)