12.08.2020

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

 

  • Texas hospitalizations - a tick up from yesterday. 

  • Alvord ISD is opening up its bank account.

  • Here's the first person in the world to get the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine (outside of those in the test group.) That's Margaret Keenan, 90, getting the injection in England a few hours ago.


  • I'm confused as to how the Law and Order crowd are now defending an anti-lockdown guy after he drove into a deputy. 


  • Oh, come on. (But to think the social media person up at the Wichita Falls didn't get a single comment in response to this headline.)

  • Trump is catching grief for walking out of the Oval Office and leaving a new Medal of Freedom recipient awkwardly addressing the crowd. (Video.) I don't think that's his fault. There should have been a staff member immediately say, "Thanks everyone. Guests, please make your way to [x room] for refreshments. Media, please exit through [certain door.]" (I actually saw that exact scene happen on House of Cards the other day.)


  • This is real. There's even a trailer for it. "Mario Lopez as Colonel Sanders." I don't know how much KFC paid to pull this off, but it's a great advertising bit. 

  • Ted Cruz knows the Supreme Court isn't going to sniff any case coming out of Pennsylvania or anywhere else. The election lawsuits were trash, and he's perfectly aware of that. This stunt is no different than KFC doing a bit on Lifetime. Look at me! Look at me! And so much for being a State's rights guy.  (Edit: I just noticed that the Texas AG did something nuttier this morning.)

  • Hey, more power to them. But who would have ever thought that a residential lot would cost twice as much as the Louisiana Purchase?  Here's the Google Maps link to the island which is a stone's throw from Miami Beach.  Here's the real estate listing for "Lot 4."


  • Second Amendment Alert! 
    • I've got lots of questions over this story by Dave "The Watchdog" Lieber in last weekend's Dallas Morning News. It's about a guy from Aledo who brandished a weapon in the back of a truck during the Parker County marches this summer. 

    • The story says he was charged with a misdemeanor offense after-the-fact because of it. Really? Was his conduct any different than the run-of-the-mill "open carry" guy? And the charge arose out of a complaint that some lady sent in from Ohio. The cops on the scene didn't even say a word to him at the time. You kidding me?  
    • Wouldn't the Second Amendment boys in Parker County (and across the nation for that matter) go nuts over this? Wouldn't the office of the prosecutor, Parker County Attorney John Forrest, be flooded with phone calls? Why haven't we heard about of this? 
    • But the article is crappy.  It doesn't even call into question the legality of the charge. And we don't get to learn of the status of the criminal case. 
    • So I searched the Parker County's county criminal records are online. Curiously, he actually was arrested for the alleged offense, but I don't see a criminal case against him. (If it got filed in Weatherford Municipal court instead of a JP court, it wouldn't show up online. It could have been filed in either court.) Edit: I'm wrong about that. It would have to be filed in the County Court at Law since it is a Class B. See Penal Code 42.01(a)(8) and 42.01(d). Thus, it has not been filed according to online records.


    • The article didn't even mention what he thought about the arrest or whether he is fighting the charge. Did I mention the article was crappy? 
    • Legal nerd note: To those curious as to whether it is actually crime, the statute technically says it is against the law if you "intentionally and knowingly, in a manner calculated to alarm, display a firearm in a public place." Your guess as to what that means is as good as mine. Texas highest criminal court actually had to deal with that issue involving that part of the statute in 2019.
  • Sheesh. Mugshots as Christmas ornaments. 


  • Remember how beaten down we were from all the political TV ads a month ago? Well, can you imagine what it is like in Georgia right now with the control of the U.S. Senate hanging in the balance? TV ad spending already has hit $280 million and should reach a half billion by election day. Those poor TV watchers.