Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

Man, the Decatur Livestock Market really leaned into it in their cattle prices report back in the day. 

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• Wise County Sheriff's Officer jail/court database is down again.
  
  
  
• A small plane owned by Veruca Salt LLC, crashed about 6:30 p.m. yesterday evening along U.S. 380 near the Bridgeport airport. The pilot, 62, was airlifted to JPS. The passenger, 58, was transported by ambulance. Neither person is local.  And the best I can tell, neither are associated with the alt-rock band Veruca Salt. 
  

  

  

  
  

  
  
  
  
• Yesterday's "10 Years Ago" feature at the top had a 2013 story about a Bridgeport substitute teacher beaning a kid in the head with a ball. A faithful reader found the video on CNN's website. 
  
  
  
• These crime-creation police stings sure have been making a comeback.  And although I like Lake Worth's police chief, these police traps just clog the courts and simply feel wrong.  And this one was called "Operation April Fools." <groan>
  
  
  
• This tweet by conservative Republican Texas Rep. Jeff Leach got him sued for defamation by a MAGA disciple. That's clearly free speech by Leach and another example of MAGA Republicans strong-arm tactics.
  

     

  
  
  
  
• And he got served with the lawsuit by a process server who registered to testify on a random bill and then got up and served Leach who was serving as the chairman of the committee. Video.
  
  
  
• Quite the truck fire on 114 going into Dallas yesterday.
  
   
  
  
  
• One down. Three more to go. The Sheriff in Oklahoma needs to go next because of this mess.
  
  
  
• The city of Denton now has someone with a needle waiting for you at the jail. 
  
  
  
• A proposed book banning statute made it out of the Texas House yesterday. Banning "sexually explicit" books from "school libraries" sounds great but the problem is that it has such a vague definition that, depending on who is in charge at the local school, it will be a free-for-all on what will be banned. Just call it "sexually explicit" and put it on the stack it on the stack to be burned? 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Flashback: Germany banning books found "inappropriate" by the government. You scoff, but this is how it starts.
  
  
  
• Holy cow, this is real. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Random in-party fighting entertainment. Drinks appear to have been flowing. Video. 
  
  
  
• I just reviewed the bullet points above. A (government) prostitution sting, a Texas secession lawsuit, (government) officials in Oklahoma behind closed doors speaking of killing blacks and reporters, blood being taken at a (government) police station, a (government) prosecutor having a policy of treating Hispanics more harshly, and book banning (by government). Have I mentioned we are headed to a dark place?
• Messenger: Above the Fold
• Remember all the Gov. Abbott led press conferences after Uvalde? The end result was that Uvalde parents had to wait until the middle of the night to testify for a bill that would raise the age to purchase and AR-15 from 18 to 21. A bill which will never pass in Austin . . .