Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

And America would never recover

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• Israel infiltrated hundreds of pagers intended to go to Hezbollah causing them to simultaneously explode yesterday killing 11 and injuring 2,700. Everyone seems really impressed that Israel pulled this off, but allow me to retort: (1) You really didn't do anything significant to dismantle Hezbollah other than aggravate them, (2) this will only hurt any chance of getting the remaining hostages released by Hamas, (3) importantly, having hundreds of exploding devices go off when you don't have any idea exactly where they will be at the time of the detonation seems incredibly reckless, and  (4) The fact that a little girl was killed is nothing to cheer about.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• As with almost all news these days, there isn't a lot of details. The name of the judge has not yet been released, but the attempted murder did have some facts listed: A man came into a couple's home after midnight and shot them -- with the woman being hit 11 (!) times. I what must be some type of Christmas miracle, she will recover. More details are expected to be released today.
  
  
  
• I would be bet it will be many years before he is ever free again. 
  
  
  
• Is he a Geico salesman now? 
  
  
  
• Retraction explained:
• This headline about the Trump "attempted assassination attempt" in the Dallas Morning News yesterday  . . . . 
  
  
  
• gave rise to this . . . 
  
  
  
• This list has Decatur as a participating office but there isn't a lot of information otherwise. You still need an appointment (good luck with all of that) and the office will only be open until noon on two upcoming Saturdays.
  
• Crazy things said at rally's yesterday.
• I'm surprised the whole crowd didn't take off running. Video.
  
  
  
• What is their obsession with pissing off voters who don't have children? Video.
  
  
  
• Because he got paid to do so!
  
  
  
• A real ad on my Twitter timeline this morning:
  
  
  
• The Business Second™. One is in McKinney and the other is in Pilot Point. There won't be a single tract of land in North Texas that isn't developed over the next several years.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Second Business Second™:The Fed should announce interest rate cuts between 0.25 and 0.50 percent.  I'm guessing 0.25.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

She got a big kick out covering Wise County. No one else has cared as much. 

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• We have a pipeline fire near Houston. Take a look at how close those house are to it. They eventually caught fire despite being pelted with water all day.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Earthquake near Midland last night.  Blame past fracking. 
  
  
   
  
  
  
• The $350,000 Man will be a lap dog until the very end. He was at Abbott's side yesterday.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• But he actually took on a different role when he spoke up during the press conference, referring to undocumented immigrants as "cockroaches" that are part of an "infestation." That is the language that is used before an extermination. Video.
• This is kind of under the radar: There is still a federal grand jury investigative Texas AG Ken Paxton for bribery. And they heard testimony as recently as last month. From Bloomberg Law: 
  
  
  
• Regarding the Trump new "assassination attempt", mess around with Google maps, satellite view, and street view here.  And look how close you can get to the the tee-boxes for hole #7.  That's less than 60 feet. (The guy was actually positioned further to the east on hole #6.)  But, honestly, what's to prevent a drive-by with one or more AR-15s spraying into those bushes? I think I'd cut out the golf at that location for a while. 

  

  Tee-boxes for #7.

  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  
• Spin vs. Reality:
• The statement: "One of our officers was shot while protecting our subway system."
  
  
  
  
• The story: The officer was actually shot by other cops. They had opened fired on someone accused of not paying a subway fare, and also hit two bystanders. Now, in fairness, police at least say the man "charged" at them "with a knife". But still. 
  
• In a world built on grift, Trump introduced another one last night in the final weeks of a presidential campaign. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Pure clickbait. What he actually said to Wired magazine was, “If I had enough money to do it, which I don’t, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.”  And he is a pauper compared to what it takes to buy either of those entities. 
  
  
  
• NIL is getting weirder.
  
  
  
• DFW is now the #4 media market in the nation. It had been #5 for about 20 years. 
  
  
  
• Random Entertainment Thought: Movies sure have gone downhill.  It's just sequels and/or superhero dreck over the last few years. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

Football is prospering 10 years later. 

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• Warning: Trump heavy today.
• The eating-your-dogs story gets nuttier and nuttier.
• The fake claims led to bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio.
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Let's see how Trump handled it on Friday. Yep, he can't even condemn bomb threats:
  
  
  
  
  
• But that was after he said he would deport the Haitians in Springfield, who are legally here, "back to Venezuela". Video.  Good lord. 
  
  
  
• The Proud Boys, who must have been "standing back and standing by", marched on Springfield over the weekend.   Hitler had his SA/Storm Troopers during his campaigning. What's the difference?
  

  

  
  
  
  
• So can we rely on J.D. Vance to at least turn down the rhetoric? Nope. He said on the Sunday morning talk shows that he didn't really care if the Haitians weren't really eating dogs and cats. 
  
  
  
• We have non-Trump news. The second of the Jackson 5 has died.
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Trump news  which got buried by yesterday's news (which I will get to):
• This is real from yesterday morning. Has he lost what was left of his mind?
  
  
  
• Funny: Trump invited a "latin music superstar" onstage with him -- proclaiming that "She's hot!" And he didn't expect  that person to be a man when they walked on stage. Video.
• He repeated a wild conspiracy claim that Kamala Harris had an earpiece at the debate. 
  
  
  
  
• Related: The dumbest lady in the world made false claims about a person that doesn't even exist. 
  
  
  
• A Republican senator from the potential swing state of North Carolina tells Trump to quit hanging out with nutcase Laura Loomer. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Ok, yes, there was an "Apparent assassination attempt", in quotes, that happened yesterday.
• No shots were fired by the would-be assassin at Trump's Florida golf course, but he did leave an AK-47 and a Go-Pro behind. 
  
  
  
  
• That person arrested miles away was a 58 year old former Trump supporter who turned on Trump in support of Vivek Ramaswamy. He also had a long criminal history. How did he have an AK-47?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Nerdy legal stuff just for good measure: This is not the way to handle the identification of a suspect. They didn't even go to the trouble of using a suggestive photo line-up -- they just took the witness right to the guy they stopped on the highway.
  

• The Evil Empire is now a lock to win the national championship.  It's over.  And they can win even with a back-up quarterback who can run like Vince Young!  We may need to bring the Longhorn Network back to cover this greatness!  (Yes, this is my new bit.)
  

  

  
  
• On the other end, the Cowboys treated yesterday like a playoff game. 
  
• "Thousands" are moving to Springtown?: