5.06.2022

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




I normally tell that story because it reminds me that I know one of the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers. But I left out that UNT wanted to buy the property at auction (which Bobby knew) but some government red tape prevented them from submitting a bid.  Looking back, those figures of $6 million and $16 million look ridiculously small when compared to real estate deals today. (He didn't rest on his laurels by the way. He's done very well since then.)

  • The observance of National Day of Prayer on the Wise County courthouse steps, with government officials in attendance, took quite the turn yesterday as one pastor turned it into a fire and brimstones sermon over the booming loudspeakers. An audio recording of it which was provided to me is posted here. It's about 10 minutes long, but start around the 2:20 mark for the start of a wild ride. Based upon the reactions of those who have heard it so far, you'll want to listen to it. But I need to warn you that you might take offense if you are an adulterer, "fornicator", "shacking up" with someone, "homosexual or lesbian", adulterer, pro-choice, part of the "system dominated by demonic strongholds" or any other designated high priority sinner. 



    • Who is that speaking on the audio? I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was the "closing prayer" listed in the itinerary here. Please correct me if I'm wrong. And if anyone has a video of it, get the link to me and I'll do an edit and post it here later today or any time over the weekend.
    • Just imagine if you had received a notice from the government to compel your appearance around that time at a proceeding inside the Wise County courthouse and you, a person who is timid by nature and just happens to be an unbeliever, had to walk through the sounds of that audio to get to where you were required to be. 
    • Edit: All of this has already garnered the attention of others.

  • TMZ has the Jerry Jones accident video.   Jones wasn't at fault, but he really smacked the other car.  (Here is a quick video link on Twitter if you want to bypass TMZ.)

  • Fencing and barriers has gone up around the Supreme Court as they feel as though they are the ones under attack.    


  • If you think gas prices are bad, you ought to look at the price of diesel. I think it's around $5.50 a gallon. That's going to be passed on to the price of groceries and other mass produced products. In related news: 

  • Random Georgia campaign sign gives rise to an interesting trademark issue. At least he left off the curvy line.


  • Random family sports arrest.

  • Legal stuff: Great little Twitter thread about the Supreme Court clerk who leaked the Roe v. Wade decision to Time magazine in 1973.
  • 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: 1,036 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:29 AM

5.05.2022

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




I had forgotten that David Dewhurst, when he was trying to capture Texas' open Senate seat, painted Ted Cruz as a Chinese sympathizer.  He was doing a Trump on "CHI-na" way before Trump.

  • Wise County Court at Law #2 Judge Stephen Wren is stepping down on September 1st. Good guy.  His court has historically handled divorces and civil suits.   
    • The Commissioner's Court will be responsible for filling out the remainder of the term which ends 12/31/24.
    • That position is not on the November ballot this year, but choosing that September 1st date is interesting and important. It's 69 days before the November 8th election. I think that if the resignation were to have been a date "74 days or more" before the general election, the position would suddenly have to be placed on this November's ballot for a new term that would then begin on 1/1/23. (I'm not 100% sure about this, but this was my quick source at page 9, question 9.)  
  • Jerry Jones was briefly hospitalized last night after a traffic accident at Harry Hines and Wolf.

  • This is kind of like the beginning plot from Jaws: How do we know that's the right coyote?



  • A student was stabbed to death in a bathroom in Belton High School south of Waco. 

  • The hot off the presses newest UT Poll shows that most Texans oppose a total ban on abortion if Roe overturned. Edit: Thanks typo Nazi. 

  • The same poll has Greg Abbott with a sizeable lead over Beto.

  • I noticed she was she was arrested for "Abuse of Corpse" which got me thinking about whether the cremated ashes of a person is a "corpse" within the meaning of the statute.  Lawyer tip: Always go look at the definitions. 



  • Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Georgia) is a pig.  And what exactly is an "over-educated" woman? 

  • Good grief.

  • Flashback:

  • I've never really thought about this, but I guess a pastor does have a copyright claim to his sermon. Story.


  • If you have a graduation ceremony at the new Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, be prepared to pay $20 for parking. 
  • I haven't paid much attention to the Johnny Depp defamation suit, but some folks have been amused at Depp's facial expressions and comments during the trial. If I'm on the jury, I'm not. I'm pissed. This may be a fun time for him (which is odd for a guy who is supposed to have been "damaged" by his wife's statements), but I'm missing work, now for the 15th day, while he is forcing me to be a captive audience to listen to his failed marriage drama.  I'm writing a $0 in the first blank on the jury verdict form I can find. 

     
  • This was one of the weirdest baseball videos I've seen in a while. 

  • I always want the last bullet point to be just text with no graphics right before the random newspaper of the day. But sometimes I got nothing by the time I get here. 

at 8:30 AM

5.04.2022

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



A faithful reader sent me this after seeing it along a Wise County road.

  • I can't believe Chief Justice Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the draft opinion.


  • So who leaked it? There are two theories out there.
    • A Dirty Lib did it: Someone inside the court is so mad that Roe is going to be overruled he or she threw a Hail Mary and released the draft opinion in hopes that the public outcry will be enough to back some of the judges off. Ted Cruz said this was the obvious answer yesterday and, when asked how he knew this he said, "Because I’m not a moron; because I live on planet Earth.” I'm not sure about either one of those assertions, but this theory makes sense. It is the Occam's razor answer. 

    • A Hardline Right Winger did it: One of the judges in the five vote majority to overrule Roe is slipping away so a Roe hater had the draft released to put pressure on him to get back in the fold. Let's explore this theory.

      • Let's assume for the sake of argument that Kavanaugh has decided to do the following: Let the Mississippi 15 week abortion ban law stand but not overrule Roe. He instead just wants to say it is a reasonable restriction under Casey. If that happened, you would end up with a "plurality opinion" where the strict Mississippi abortion law stands but the vote would be 4-2-3. Four to let the law stand because Roe should overruled, two (Kavanaugh and Roberts) in a concurrence to let the law stand because the restriction is constitutional under Roe and Casey, and three dissenting. 
      • That's still a win for the far right wing conservatives, but it's not the Holy Grail of having Roe overturned.  That's a big deal.  This is the best, and maybe final chance, to kill Roe. This is what they've been waiting for for decades. And now if they see that Kavanaugh is slipping away, they will want to stop him and bring him back.
      • So what if you are Kavanaugh right now? You were very close to leaving the majority and vote with Roberts in a concurrence. But now, if you do that, all your right wing buddies at the Federalist Society who got you on the Court will know that you are the only reason that Roe still lives. You will be that guy. 
      • Would the pressure work? Heck, he's a man who cried about drinking beer during his confirmation hearing so maybe he can be swayed. You think he wants to be the lone moderate wolf of courage here?  That would be why those trying to manipulate him released the draft. 
      • This ain't a bad theory. 
  • She might end up being right again. 9/5/18:

  • Preach on. 

  • So where does America stand on abortion? I think that most would love a fantasy land where no one ever thinks they need one, but we all agree that world doesn't exist. So I think most Americans  wants the option available so long as there are reasonable restrictions placed upon it. You don't like "abortion on demand" but you also don't like the sound of "Roe is overruled."  You kind of want something in the middle which, actually, is kind of what we have now under Roe and Casey. That leaves us with the current legitimate arguments over whether a Mississippi 15 week ban, or a Texas 6 week ban, is too great of a restriction.  It's hard, isn't it? That's where Kavanaugh (or maybe Amy Coney Barrett) might be.


  • I'll say it again: If Roe is overruled, Texas law will automatically become the strictest in the nation making a abortion a crime from the moment of conception. There is no exception for rape or incest. Those you have elected have already voted for that. 
    • But all of those in Texas who voted to make the state the strictest in the land were quiet yesterday after the news of the draft opinion leak. This was in stark contrast to the scene when the law was signed:

  • Back to simpler things.  Decatur completed a massive comeback in early voting and trounced Bridgeport. Heck, Boyd almost snuck into second place with a strong final two days. Watching all of this was kind of fun. 

  • David Chappelle was attacked last night. And there's video.

  • Candidates in Tarrant County for County Judge and District Attorney are trying to cash in on CRT straw man scare tactics. And are doing so in Dallas at a country club (get the irony there?) and in an event hosted by a Burleson based PAC.

  • The official prosecutors association in Texas had a great Twitter thread yesterday summarizing the latest criminal data released by Texas courts.  Here are two that jumped out at me:
    • I think this is amazing. The number of misdemeanor cases actually filed in court has plummeted now for several years.  And felony cases have a slight rise but are pretty flat overall. 

    • The other thing is that filed traffic offenses have plummeted over recent years. I'm guessing that there are simply less total traffic stops in general (which would correspond to the drop in jailable misdemeanor cases, above, since DWI and almost all drug cases originate from traffic stops.)

  • Oh, man. I only knew here through the meme. 

  • Whoever was running the board in Colorado last night might be going through a personal thing. 

  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM
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