12.23.2022

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

That last one is old, but it make me laugh every single time.
at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



I guess it was a little different 10 years ago. 

  • Which got me to thinking about just last year in DFW. Remember this?: 

  • But don't let 2021 get lost in the shuffle. I love this photo so much. 

  • Here's a neat up-to-date nationwide wind map. Current wind chill map as of 8:00 a.m.: 

  • A budget bill of $1.7 trillion passed the Senate last night which got the far, far right worked up for some reason. Texas:

  • I'm sticking by my "not the busiest" day at airports position, but cancellations can certainly make it look that way. This pretty amazing 30 second scan of the line at Love Field right now looks like a beating. And that's one incredibly long line. 

  • That's a big bond to make for someone who is accused of stealing billions. And I don't think the federal system utilizes bail bondmen. 

  • Light reading: The complete 814 page January 6th Report was released last night. 


  • With the trial of Aaron Dean going on, another one in Tarrant County didn't get much attention. No conviction there. Michael Campbell and Andrew Wilkerson were listed as the defense lawyers. Prosecutors were Bill Vassar and Matthew Jackson.

  • The strike at the Star-Telegram is over, but I'm not sure what they got. The best I can tell there was "some movement" off the $45,000 salary floor that their corporate overlord had imposed.

  • The NFL continues to print money. But, remember, the owners have a self-imposed "salary cap." 

  • Air Force 30, Baylor 15. And it wasn't that close. Merry Christmas to me!

  • I won't be here Monday. I've already received the Heisman for THWMISB™ 2022.
  • 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, 171 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:30 AM

12.22.2022

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




You don't hear the James Taylor version very often.

  • The Liberally Lean Winter First Alert Weather Team™ has issued a Triple Weather Bomb Cold Alert™.  As I hit the publish button with the winds howling and the temperatures falling . . .  
    Not sure what that sun is doing there


    • Look at what it did to the temperature in a 30 to 40 minute window in Cheyenne, Wyoming yesterday:

  • Three new charges have appeared against Tanner Horner. All we know is that they are out of Tarrant County and "Court records indicate the offenses occurred in 2013 — one in June, one in August and one in December." There was a lady on Facebook who was vocal about an assault years ago, but she described it as a one time incident.

  • He has returned.

    Him

    Not him. Don't know what happened to him.

  • Southbound I-35 in North Fort Worth was shut down for over an hour this morning around Heritage Trace.  Also, here's a random Dallas wreck this morning that looks like a mess.

  • You can tell it's holiday season because the one lone local TV reporter on duty has been sent to DFW Airport to cover the "rush of travelers." That's just filler. (And the airport rush is a myth I've yelled about for years.)

    • But poor Dan Godwyn got sent out by Fox 4 this morning to stand beside a highway to talk about the electric grid. 

  • A reminder that a wild mystery still exists.

  • I don't have any trouble with this. If you sue me,  I'm not letting you on my private property either.  

    • The most interesting part of the story is the facial recognition software. The lawyer is just part of the firm working on the lawsuit "but is not directly involved" in the litigation. I suppose that the firm's online photo roster was scanned and that's how she was detected. Pretty wild.
    • I love NBC's headline. It's not a lawyer who was kicked out, but a "girl scout mom."

  • Legal nerd stuff. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to hear a case yesterday, but this is the way the winner at the lower court framed the issue in an attempt to persuade the court to decline the review.

  • Over the top legal nerdy stuff: If you are a criminal practitioner who deals with Rodriguez "prolonged detention" issues, check out this blog post which cites this opinion. Sure it's a state court opinion from Idaho which we normally wouldn't give the time of day, but it is getting lots of attention nationwide. The opinion's author created and discussed the second by second chart of the traffic stop reprinted below. It maps out the irrelevant questions which were asked by the officer and when a drug dog was called in, without reasonable suspicion, and "hit" on the car (as they always do). The State won in that case, but only by 20 seconds.  Good stuff. I've done this type of mapping myself. The State won't always win when you do this. 

  • With all the remembrances of Franco Harris and the Immaculate Reception yesterday, I saw this photo again. It really is amazing that he got to the ball.

  • Clemson coach Dabo Swinney with the quote of the year yesterday: "We built this program on NIL . . . . In God's name, image, and likeness." (Video.)   

at 8:31 AM

12.21.2022

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




The joys of Christmases past. "Fort Worth police estimate 300-400 people crammed on top of each other and pushed their way to the entrance to try to secure a spot in line for Nike's newest shoe -- the Air Jordan Retro 11.  The shoes cost around $200 . . . . "

  • Let me tell you, I seriously whiffed on this one. I didn't think he would be convicted, and if convicted, I thought he would get probation. 

    • Introspection on how I got it wrong: (1) I still don't think he would have been convicted in Wise County, but I misjudged that Tarrant County is no longer anything like Wise County -- assuming it ever was, (2) For almost all of my career, criminal charges for "mistakes" were unheard of. Now the public, and juries it seems, welcome it. (3) I thought cops would still always be given the benefit of the doubt. 
    • I'm torn on the bizarre particulars of the sentence of 11 years, 10 months and 8 days. I don't know if is the result of reasoned consideration or a jury being a bit too cute. 

    • When it first happened:

    • I said the other day that I thought there was a serious chance the case gets reversed on appeal because the shooting was an intentional and not a reckless act. I'm now rethinking that. I'm not sure the elected judges on the Fort Worth Court of Appeals would have the nerve to do it.  It's just a political fact of life. You can serve forever in obscurity on a Texas appellate court unless you do something to call attention to yourself. 
  • Trump's tax returns have been released if interested. For reference, he took office in 2018:

  • Ukraine President Zelensky is making a surprise visit to D.C. today to make an address to a joint session of Congress. Serious question: Are any of the Representatives and Senators there? I would think they would have left for the holidays. Edit: They may be in town for last second budget stuff.


  • Wichita Falls news where an ex-deputy was found not guilty of Official Oppression.  Reading between the lines: The story says it was a trial before a judge and not a jury. The only way that happens is if both the defendant and the State agree to waive a jury. This tells me the State pretty much thought it was a lost cause but didn't have the guts to dismiss it.


  • The Washington Post, in a fantastic multi-media presentation, reported yesterday only two ambulances made it to Uvalde Elementary one hour after the shooting started. And no one was Careflighted to a remote hospital. 


  • Checking in on Fox News to see what they were outraged about yesterday.

  • Here is 40 seconds of fantastic MAGA craziness as they celebrate a judge's ruling in the Kari Lake election challenge. 
    • The judge actually tossed 8 of 10 claims but will allow Lake to try and prove that election workers intentionally fixed the election.  It's a guaranteed loss. From the ruling: "The Court takes no position as to the evidentiary weight it will give Plaintiff’s proffered experts at trial and notes that, at trial, it must indulge all reasonable assumptions in favor of the election when weighing the evidence before it."  It's over. But the video of delusion is great fun. 


  • This is a big one for my generation. He was a Super Bowl killer for the Cowboys. "Harris' death comes just two days before the 50th anniversary of the 'Immaculate Reception' [video] and three days before the Pittsburgh Steelers planned to retire his number [at their game on Saturday]." I once visited, and took photos of, the site of the Immaculate Reception which is now on a sidewalk outside the new Pittsburgh stadium.

  • It's college national signing day. I'm not even paying attention because I'm too mature for that. <checks screen> Wait. I'm I'm being told that an 18 year old has just ruined my Christmas. 

    • With the transfer portal, I suppose National Signing Day is actually just an announcement of a one year commitment. 
  • Messenger - Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM
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