9.01.2021

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




It is kind of wild to think about what all would have been documented if cell phone video was as common then as it is now.   


  • A slight increase yesterday but you still can't rule out that we are possibly plateauing. 


  • No, the Taliban did not execute a man from a helicopter. Ted Cruz deleted his false tweet. Dan Crenshaw left his up. 

  • No, we did not leave service dogs behind in Afghanistan. Junior has always been a lying propaganda machine. 


  • Now do you still blame the kid from Southlake who skipped his Senior year at Southlake Carroll? 

  • Texas new Draconian abortion law went into effect last night at midnight when the Supreme Court failed to stop it. It's just as crazy as you have heard. Today, if you give emotional support or  encouragement to a woman before she has an abortion at seven weeks, anyone can sue you for $10,000 and attorney's fees. And they will win.  (And subsection three is weird. So I can be sued if I intend to encourage her but didn't get around to it?)


    • The phrase "aid or abets" is not defined in the statute, so let your imagination run wild. That's the real weapon of this law. That and the fact that anyone can sue you. 
    • It just dawned on me that any vigilante and bounty-seeking plaintiff could file their lawsuit in any Justice of the Peace court where almost all judges aren't lawyers. Those courts have jurisdiction up to $20,000.
    • Extremely legal nerd stuff: The legislature is actually trying to avoid Roe v. Wade completely by setting up the statute where its enforcement is not by the government making a violation of it a crime but by private citizens bringing a civil lawsuit. Thus, they will argue, if there is no "state action" then any constitutional Wade-based right to privacy doesn't apply. But that won't work. Think about the oft-ignored, albeit brief, state action discussion in New York Times vs. Sullivan as to why in some situations constitutional protections apply when a private person sues someone in state court. 
  • From the People-Are-COVID-Crazy Department, watch this lady tell a school board in Lee County, Florida that “You are all demonic entities. All of us Christians are sticking together to take you all out . . . .  These doctors that were sneering at us like we’re scumbags, they need to go back to [effing] med school.” She claims to be a registered nurse of 13 years.

  • A paywall? Nooo! But I think I'll pay it. I use Wirecutter all the time. It's fantastic. You need to make a purchase? Enter the generic name of what you want to buy and they'll give you suggestions based upon their testing.  

  • I've never seen Ted Lasso but those that do are convinced this character is CGI generated.

  • Someone posted a pre-game pick of the small crowd at the Rangers game yesterday (which really isn't fair to do it pre-game), but I can tell you why I would stay away.


  • I still can't get over the offensive performance of both teams in the Kennedale and Decatur game. But try to explain how Kennedale won with -1 passing yards and averaging 1.13 yards per rush? 

  • You want a PDF of all the college football games on TV this weekend? This is great. 

  • Messenger: Above the Fold