8.27.2021

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




And I'll never do it again. Overall, it was a great experience but, man, the time commitment, the headaches, and the parents was just too much. Hats off to those who do it and go back for more.

  • On the brink of 14,000. For all practical purposes, COVID is as bad as this moment than at any other time since this entire mess began. 

  • I'm hearing Decatur High School is being hit hard by COVID but officials are being pretty tight-lipped about it. The number of "over 200" keeps coming up but that number might include those "impacted by COVID-related reasons" which is admittedly vague. But there's no way to get an official number:

  • An inmate, a jailer, and a chaplain are dead from COVID contracted at the Denton County Jail.

  • The deaths of marines in Afghanistan is sickening, but it adds to the long list from over there. Just the other day I posted this flashback from 10 years ago. Yep, let's get out of there. 

  • This is the guy Trump called a murderer and told us, "We know who he is." His motivations all makes sense now.

  • The Texas House passed the restrictive voting bill last night -- the same one that was put on hold when Democrats fled to prevent a quorum -- but the debate was not going to have the "R word" thrown around.  

  • Some say this was attempted eye-gouging by a Southlake player last night. Video. They showed the came ESPNU.

  • There was another shooting in Dallas last night which isn't noteworthy in itself, but look at this photo with four of the five cops being young female officers. Nothing wrong with that, but it just struck me as an unusual image.

  • We've got our first political news for Wise County regarding next year's primaries: Bridgeport Colby Shawn will run for commissioner to replace Gaylord Kennedy who is not seeking re-election.  
  • This was another 6-3 decision off the Supreme Court's "shadow docket" late yesterday evening -- decisions made on an expedited basis without being fully briefed or receiving oral argument. That used to be rare, but now they happen all the time. Justice Breyer is not happy. 


  • Fannin County has had some serious courthouse renovation. Big thumbs up.


     
  • Twitter rejected NFL Hall of Famer and former Minnesota state supreme court judge Alan Page's request for a verified blue check mark. 

  • Zeke doesn't have to wait to play any games in order get almost all of this year's salary since he just got an up front check. Maybe he can buy Dak another $13,000 suitcase like he did on the first episode of Hard Knocks. 

  • 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: 784 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM

8.26.2021

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




Nothing is more important in the courthouse than your credibility. That goes for everyone.

  • Your reminder that the record is 14,218. We may have broken it yesterday -- the numbers will be released this afternoon. 

  • I told you it would take 7 to 10 days to determine if we'll have a problem. We have a problem. 

  • I'm not exactly sure what Bridgeport's "Decals with Dads" is, but it looks fun. 

  • A federal judge has sanctioned nine Kracken lawyers, including Sydney Powell and Lin Wood, in their "Big Lie" post-election litigation including referring them to the appropriate body for consideration of disbarment. They should be disbarred.  And the judge went scorched Earth on them. 


  • From those conned by Trump to those willing to take a horse dewormer instead of the safest vaccine America has ever seen, I've learned more about my fellow man in the last four years than I have in my entire life.  And I've been giving them way too much credit. 

  • The Tarrant County DA's Office is going Hollywood with self-promoting tweets like this. And this one is deceiving and bordering on being an outright lie. It says he was sentenced to the "maximum" but that is misleading. The State actually failed to prove a first degree felony charge (maximum sentence is "life or 99 years") against the man and the jury found the guy guilty of a lesser second degree felony -- and that's what he got the maximum of 20 years for.  (Nerd stuff: They charged him under 30.02(d) but he was found guilty under 30.02(a)(3).)

  • This is getting a really weird. He tried to ban masks and now he's trying to ban private entities from requiring vaccine proof if the private business "receives public funds by any means."

  • But his bar for success is really low. It's currently defined as keeping the lights on during a summer day.

  • Afghanistan evacuations since August 15th: 95,700. What more could you ask for? 

  • That officer who is coming forward is seriously underestimating the number of far right wing nutcases out there.

     

  • I pointed out the other day that a person sitting on the far right of the counsel table can't see the witness in the new courtroom in Wise County. It dawned on me that this isn't just an inconvenience but is actually a constitutional issue. A Defendant has the right to confront his witnesses under the Sixth Amendment. If he or his lawyer can't see the witness's face while they testify, that's a problem. 

  • What is wrong with some prosecutors and law enforcement? Just admit when there has been a royal screw up. It's not hard. 
    Story from 2017

     
    Story from yesterday.

  • Note to defense lawyer in the story below: If the prosecutor offers you a plea deal where the victims are going to be upset and run to the press about it, don't embarrass the prosecutor further by telling the paper you were "surprised" by the offer. 

at 8:31 AM

8.25.2021

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




Just a reference to two movies about a virus sweeping across the nation. 
  • At this rate, we break the last peak's high on Friday or Saturday.

  • If you are an unvaccinated teacher or coach or student, I don't understand you at all. 
    Sure, you might get sick . . . 

     
    . . . but you probably won't die.

  • It's cool how the Aggies round up the freshman for a class photo, but if you wanted to create a super-spreader event this sure looks like a way to do it. 

  • A car full of juveniles chased by police crashed into another car last night and killed its driver. There's footage of the car flying by a Fox 4 reporter.


  • This is wild. She's on the run. 

  • If you haven't seen the wild drone footage of The Star at Frisco at the beginning of last night's Hard Knocks, here you go.  (I couldn't help but have a Black Mirror kind of thought of, "What if one of those things was programmed to go after and harm a person?")

  • The guy is free to make to any decision he wants, but it seemed weird to plead guilty yesterday in the middle of trial with the only possible result being the triggering the automatic maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

  • Hate Nancy Pelosi all you want, but she is a master at what she does. In the midst of chaos yesterday, she rounded up every single Democrat to pass the $3.5 trillion portion of President Biden's $5 trillion infrastructure plan.

  • Open carry in Texas begins in a week. If you are a business owner and want to give a proper trespass notice to keep guns out of your store, you'll now have to post three signs. One for a person with a license who is concealed carrying, another for a licensed person who is open carrying and now one for open carry by a person without a license. 

  • The U.S. evacuated 7,000 people from Saigon. The U.S. has now evacuated 70,000 from Afghanistan and that number will soar before August 31st. 
  • Ken Paxton had his own office investigate his own conduct and found himself incredibly innocent. What an embarrassment to Texas. 

  • Very nerdy legal stuff which even I don't completely understand: A Republican judge on the Dallas Court of Appeals released a very unusual 80 page concurring opinion on Friday attacking his colleagues (all Democrats) for manipulating the internal procedures and screwing him out of being part of 2-1 decision. As I understand it, that judge was part of a three judge panel that was set to issue a 2-1 opinion in which he was one of the two deciding votes. But the other judge that made up the two judge majority had already lost his re-election bid and was leaving the court on December 31st so they had a deadline to get the opinion released. However, the other judges on the court, mostly Democrats, invoked/manipulated/broke some internal rules causing the opinion not to be released before December 31st causing the 2-1 pending opinion to become a 1-1 in limbo opinion. That judge ain't happy and, breaking protocol, revealed how it all went down. 

  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:32 AM
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