Random Friday Morning Thoughts

The judge actually got suspended for the remainder of his elected term over this. Story about it here. Video (turn the volume down a bit) is here.

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• Gun violence is almost non-existent in Japan. But not today.  
  
  
  
• Here's a video of the shooting from some distance. Those two blasts sounded like they were from a shotgun.
  
  
  
• But it turned out to be a homemade hand cannon. 
  
  
  
• Photos of the immediate apprehension of the guy:
  
  
   
  
  
  
• Well, they finally disclosed it. 
  
  
  
• New job numbers released moments ago.  So is a recession not coming? 
  
  
  
• Alabama's George Wallace was a moderate until he figured out that being a Klansman in Alabama was the way to become really popular with the masses.  Greg Abbott has found his playbook.  (But note that in this new "policy", Abbott uses to words "to the border" and not "across the border.")
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Texas Democratic reply pulled no punches.
  
  
  
• This is surprising. "The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.30% in the week ending July 7, down from 5.70% the week before."
  
  
  
• No one has ever experienced buyer's remorse more than this nutcase. 
  
  
  
• This Twitter thread of multiple future headlines has a disturbing feel of accuracy to it.
  
  
   
  
  
  
• That makes two of us. 
  
  
  
• Misery is criminally under-rated. As is Honeymoon in Vegas.
  
  
  
• Just as soon not be. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 3 years and 3 days.
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

There were all sorts of accolades given a decade ago, but I noticed that I posted this Youtube clip of him explaining to Opie, with a great deal of indignation, that he couldn't listen to a secret recording between an attorney and his client. 

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• The right wing leader of Britain who had odd hair, constantly lied, broke norms, and was never qualified for the job, has resigned after his own party revolted against him. That's kind of refreshing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• No warning signs here.
  
   
  
  
  
• Uvalde news yesterday.
• Another failure revealed. Texas Tribune story. 
  
  
  
• A teacher played dead while laying in blood for an hour. 
  
  
  
• From the home page of the Dallas Morning News right now. The police chief probably needs to rethink that smile considering the backdrop and the anniversary. 
  
  
  
• Oil has dropped from a high of $122 a barrel on 6/8/22 to $99.50 yesterday.  And I'm seeing gas prices at the pump to be dropping below $4.00 this morning.   
  
  
  
• A Southlake couple found shot to death in their home has led to some extremely tight lipped reporting.  Reading between the lines, it sounds like a murder-suicide although no one will come out and say it.   And I think it's odd that the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, which will report a deceased's name on its public website as soon as they get the body, isn't doing so here. 
  
  
  
  
• Here's an example of the ME's website. This morning they are already identifying someone who died at 5:45 a.m. It's normally just routine for them.
  
  
  
• This story, which was only promoted by the local DFW CBS affiliate, said it happened in Wise County.  However, I'm 100% sure there was no one booked into the Wise County Jail on or around July 5th with those charges. No names were given in the story. This is weird. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Yesterday, for the first time in months, I told you that I thought the COVID numbers were beginning to trend upwards and no one was paying attention. Then yesterday afternoon Dallas County announced this:
  
  
  
• The QAnon Republican representative shared this false image yesterday.
  
  
  
• This is wild. Last Monday, a Florida resident videos a cop in a patrol car driving erratically. Calls 911. Cop's buddies show up and find him to be hammered drunk. Video. 
  
  
  
• The head football coach at Chico resigned last week, but I loved this line as reported by the Messenger that said he "led the Dragons to a 4-26 record" but still "qualified for the playoffs twice."

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

I posted this back then because I was surprised at the progress on One World Trade Center. But it wouldn't open until November, 2014. 

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• The biggest gut punch of a story from the Highland Park shooting might be this one:
• In the immediate hours after the shooting, authorities were trying to find the parents of this boy who got lost in the chaos of the gunfire.
  
  
  
• The parents were later identified.
  
  
  
• I really don't understand why there is not more of any outcry to reinstate the 1994 "Assault Weapons Ban."  The AR-15 is the major problem and the weapon of choice of basically every mass shooter.  And I understand getting anything passed in this political environment is a tall -- if not impossible -- order but no one, save for the Washington Post this morning, hardly mentions it. 
  
  
  
• Tucker Carlson had it all figured out last night. Video. Fox News is becoming a parody of itself. 
  
   
• And you just know where this is headed. 
  
  
  
• This little girl was found wandering around an apartment complex in Plano yesterday. CBS 11 reported that late last night: "Caregivers, who are both deaf, have been located.  The family is being reunited."
  
  
  
• There was a wild story on Fox 4 of an apartment in Carrollton being riddled with "nearly 40 bullets" in the middle of the night.  The family inside said they had to have been the victims of mistaken identity. But two unrelated points got my attention: (1) The story ended by saying the family is considering moving from the "apartment complex they have lived in for 25 years."  (2)  The other one was this video shot which revealed a three monitor computer setup with a laptop suspended above them. What's going on there? (But you can see some of the bullet holes in the wall.)
  
  
  
• I got chewed out by a visiting Justice of the Peace from Fort Worth yesterday. That was a first for me. (The local constable serving as bailiff whispered to me, with great joy by the way, that "I've got my handcuffs ready for you!") 
• One Texas county, with the "support" of other counties, declared an "invasion" yesterday in an attempt to invoke a provision of the Constitution which doesn't apply to immigration. But it got the headlines they were seeking from the people they were seeking approval from. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• But, predictably, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick jumped on the bandwagon for publicity. But language like this is going to get someone killed. And what's next? Urging concentration camps? 
  
  
  
• We haven't heard much about a COVID "surge" in Texas lately, but I just checked the charts, and the recent uptick hasn't stopped. I know a couple of people who just got it. (And I bet the numbers are being grossly under-reported with the majority of people just riding it out on their own.)
  
  
  
• And you wonder what causes inflation? Free money just keeps on coming apparently. 
  
  
  
• There was a hearing yesterday in Mississippi over whether a "trigger law" can take immediate effect, but I was taken aback about how they still start court with a prayer.  Video.
  
  
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold