10.13.2023

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




We read a story and forget it. But an incident like this would still haunt you. 

  •  If it wasn't officially a Clown Show before, it is certainly is now. Scalise couldn't get enough votes from his fellow Republicans. We are now on Day Ten of not having a House Speaker.


    • Speaking of our own clown show, look at these two tweets from troubled Wise County Rep. Ronny Jackson six days apart. 


  • This warning is just for PR. There's no way that many people can move that fast, and a lot of them are about to die because of it. And they are not telling them to leave the Gaza Strip entirely because they can't due to the blockade. They are just supposed to move to a different area of it. 


  • The Texas Tribune has compiled a list of who the Texas Oilman PAC has been giving money to.  The PAC is infamous for its support of Christian Nationalism and book bans, and recently got in hot water when its head, Jonathan Stickland, met with a neo-Nazi white supremist.  One of the largest recipients of money is a Wise County resident.


  • This guy was 100% screwed over. The blood test, which he volunteered to give, showed zero alcohol and zero drugs. 


  • The Dallas Morning News is gathering information about the costs of the Ken Paxton impeachment trial in the Texas Senate. This is the winning paragraph so far. They were personalized mugs, too.


  • I had never heard about this case out of Olney. 

  • The writer's strike might be over, but the actors' strike apparently is not.

  • Kids will always outsmart certain types of "adults."
     
  • Big 12 last night: The ending between WVU and Houston was wild. 22 seconds left: WVU scores 50-yard TD to take the lead. 3 seconds left: Houston scores 49-yard TD to win it. Video. 
  • 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: 4 years and 99 days.


at 8:31 AM

10.12.2023

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts





TMZ, which is normally surprisingly accurate in its reporting, whiffed on this one. The lead paragraph said the child was in "critical condition" which turned out to be wildly untrue. But Peterson had punished the child with a "switch" which would eventually lead to a two year probation. His attorney was Rusty Hardin. 

  • We have a ruling in the Tanner Horner Wise County capital murder case which has grinded to a halt -- but not a final ruling. Recall that the question on this pre-trial appeal is whether the district judge properly removed his court appointed lawyers from the case and replace them with a Regional Public Defender's Office (RPDO). 
    • Yesterday, Texas highest criminal court didn't say yes or no but instead said it wanted more information. Specifically, it wants to hear from Defendant Horner as to who he wants for lawyers. And they are telling our local judge to go find out for them. Here is the money part of the ruling (Respondent = Our Wise County judge. Real-Party-in-Interest = Defendant Horner. RPDO = The new lawyers):

    • This is very weird. Last week, the RPDO filed a response in the court as to why it should be left on the case, and they attached an unsworn statement from Horner that he wanted them to represent him. I jumped on that when I saw it. Apparently, the court didn't like it being unsworn either. They want to hear from Horner. 
    • But how is this going to work? The appellate court says they want our local district judge to "communicate directly" with Horner and "ask him" if he really wants the new lawyers to stay on the case.  That's very odd and bizarre language.  Is this supposed to take place at a hearing with Horner under oath? It should. But is the judge supposed to ask the questions instead of the lawyers? What's the judge going to do if Horner just refuses to cooperate or answer -- hold the guy who is already in jail in contempt? 
    • Well, whatever is going to happen, has to happen in seven days. It now looks like a hearing on the case is scheduled for Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. in the Wise County court. 
  • The Decatur PD Police Chief and his family were the focus on WFAA last night. Story here. Fundraiser link here.  



  • The shooting happened in Forest Hill  at 6:50 a.m. in an elementary school parking lot, but the amazing thing is they didn't call off school despite the fact that no arrests were made. 

  • Wait a second. Is Dan Patrick now the spokesman for the West Texas Oilmen PAC? (He might as well be. He received $3 million from it before the Paxton trial.)

    • Some Republicans in Austin continue to go after Jonathan Stickland, the head of the Oilman PAC. Honestly, I don't know how those West Texas guys don't fire him.

  • There is a ton of bad information about the Israel situation right now, and the New York Times has a great article (free) collecting some of the online falsehoods. 

    • But the President didn't help yesterday. That atrocity may very well have happened, but don't say it until you confirm it. 
       
  • We will spend another week focusing on the viciousness of the Hamas attack (25 Americans now confirmed dead, by the way), but once Israel opens up its full scale attack and invasion of the Gaza Strip, I don't know how we can ignore the 2 million citizens - about half who are under 18 years old -- which are trapped within it without food, water and electricity. This is part of Gaza yesterday:


  • The House still doesn't have a Speaker. Behind closed doors yesterday, a majority of Republicans decided to nominate Steve Scalise by a vote of 113-99. But he will have to win a floor vote, and will need 217 votes of the entire Congress. There are only 222 Republicans so he has no room for error -- and it doesn't look like he is even close yet. Chaos continues.

  • Oh, my. 


  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:29 AM

10.11.2023

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


Yep.

  • We've got a tiny bit more information regarding the shooting of a man by Wise County deputies Monday night. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner says he died from "multiple" gunshot wounds.

    • And don't freak out that the Manner of Death is listed as "HOMICIDE."  That's just archaic ME language for "not natural and at the hands of another."   (I'm restraining myself from going on my typical ME rant about how they should only be stating, in medical terms, how a person died  -- Not the surrounding non-medical circumstances. Just leave it at "multiple gunshot wounds" and stop.)
  • "MONTAGUE, Texas — Suspended Clay County Sheriff Jeffrey Lyde will serve 30 days in Hardeman County Jail, pay fines, permanently surrendered his law enforcement license and gave up his right to appeal as part of an agreement for his punishment for two misdemeanor crimes." I can't believe they actually got him. But see how smart the prosecutors are? They cut a deal on punishment after the conviction but only if he gave up his right to appeal. 


  • Gaza's only power plant shut down this morning. Now more that 2 million people have no electricity. I think this is going to be a humanitarian disaster. 

  • Not Mary Lou! But you're telling me she didn't have insurance and has to resort to a GoFundMe equivalent?

  • Texas Scorecard, an arm of the West Texas Oil Men PAC, has jumped on the fact that Jacksboro's David Spiller now has an opponent in House District 68. And they framed it in the way you would expect the Ultra-MAGA Extremists to frame it. 

  • It took a couple of days for the media to confirm the online reports, but we had us some Nazis in Fort Worth last weekend. (And this is in addition to the Tarrant County meeting between the Nazi meeting and Jonathan Stickland who runs the oil money PAC.)  And Torchy's Tacos issued quite the blunt response. 

  • This really is an amazing photo comparison of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. 

  • Always worry about the loudest. And the headline doesn't even mention the strip clubs, pills, and misuse of donor money. 

  • The Business Second: If you know anyone with an ownership interest in Pioneer, based in Irving, celebrate for them. Fun Fact: Pioneer was formed in 1997 when MESA, Inc., founded by T. Boone Pickens, merged with another company. This deal was announced this morning.

    • Other ExxonMobil news isn't as rosy.  I know nothing about the facts of this case, but the mere fact that it happened "at La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Magnolia, Texas" where police "spoke with a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by a man in one of the hotel rooms" tells me that there is probably a back story here which might end up being a  reasonable doubt. Or more. 


  • I have only a passing interest in baseball, but those last five games were predicted by absolutely no one. 
  • The Republicans still don't have a Speaker of the House. 

at 8:30 AM
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