Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

As stated, it was a kinkajou. James O'Bannon, was the deputy who was bit and suffered minor injuries. 

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• Last year a Denton man killed himself in a courtroom after a guilty verdict by drinking what was then an unknown liquid. We know know it was sodium nitrite which has made the headlines lately.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• So the Republican's take over the House and the very first thing they do is hold hearings on something which all Americans have been losing sleep over: Hunter Biden's laptop and a private company, Twitter. 
  
  
  
• She's becoming the face of the Republican Party. That's not good. 
  
  
  
  
• But, in an ironic twist,  we did get the entertainment of a black woman being ask to quote a profane tweet about Trump . She complied. By way, Trump's White House asked Twitter to take it down down.
  
  
  
• Side note: If you're going through cancer treatment, you get a free pass to dress anyway you want. I, too, might choose to use the Prison Mike look. 
  
  
  
• I'm not sure what I think about this. Most of these are some high ranking school officials in a small district up by Wichita Falls. But one of them, a 72 year old, was only doing a temporary gig and had to post a ridiculous $20,000 bond on a misdemeanor. Heck, they are all misdemeanor charges. But if I had to make a prediction, I doubt any of them will be convicted and none will get jail time. The the alleged abuser, meanwhile, already took his own life "four days after the allegations surfaced."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Thought: The statute has a very vague standard that requires a report if the educator has  "cause to believe" that abuse occurred. I've not researched that. I don't know if it means "a reasonable belief" or if a person has to personally believe the allegations are true. Or if there is any discretion at all.  But, regardless, that's a very difficult position to be placed in that the allegations alone, even if false, could cause someone to kill themselves and definitely can destroy their lives. 
• Tarrant County's now three headed far right-wing dragon (the County Judge, DA, and Sheriff) are holding press conferences to appease the MAGA hardliners to solve a problem that doesn't exist.  That's a waste of money.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Random sheriff arrest.
  
  
   
  
  
  
• The death toll in Turkey is now up to 17,000. Sheesh. But after every natural disaster, I occasionally remind myself that the death toll after the 2004 Tsunami reached over 220,000. That's hard to grasp. 
• Let's check in on Fox News:
  
  
  
• That kid . . .
  
  
  
• . . . is this guy. 
  
  
  
• Michael Irvin was taken off the air as a host at the NFL Network after an "incident" in a hotel. I'm surprised that he called into The Fan to give his side of the story. The good: He said he never touched her, other than a handshake, during a one minute interaction in a hotel lobby. The bad: He basically admits he was so drunk he didn't remember the interaction. Audio. 
  
  
   
• I mentioned the other day a $20 million Southlake home that was featured on the "Zillow Gone Wild" twitter account. The Dallas Morning News had a story about it today. Things I learned: (1) it has 24 HVAC systems, and (2) it is owned by "commercial developers." I'm wondering if they are industrial warehouse investors.  
  
  
  
• Quite the "fight" in the seats at the Dallas Stars game last night. Language warning. 
• Legal nerdy stuff: We have a rare case of an appellate court agreeing with the trial judge's decision to dismiss a felony indictment because of prosecutorial vindictiveness. 
• Messenger: Above the Fold