12.19.2022

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




As there should have been, there was a ton of fallout from Sandy Hook in the days following the shootings. Back then, I thought this picture would become famous, but it didn't. ("Jillian Soto, identified by USA Today, breaks down as she learns the news about her sister, Victoria Soto, who was killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. (Jessica Hill/AP)")


  • Thursday won't be pretty, and Friday morning these will be the lows . . .  

    • Right now my Liberally Lean Weather Team™ is projecting the front to hit with a vengeance around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. At that moment, winds will dramatically hit from the north (mostly around 25 mph the rest of the day), and temperatures will drop from the morning high of 42 degrees to 26 degrees by noon, 19 degrees by 4 p.m., and 11 degrees by midnight. 
    • Baylor and Air Force play in Fort Worth in a bowl game on Thursday night beginning at 6:30 p.m. 
  • Oh, my! Not the Baby Jesus!

  • The jury deliberates on punishment today in the Aaron Dean trial, but we had a weird event happen on Friday when a guy was arrested for failing to take the oath as a witness. Video.

    • This is how it went down. He was sitting in the gallery and the defense just stood up and, out of nowhere, "called him as a witness." It's entirely unclear if he had anything of merit to testify about, and he had been seen in groups outside the courthouse demonstrating against the officer. Thinking it was a just a stunt, he refused. The judge then had him arrested under the bizarre pretext of on-the-spot "declaring his bonds insufficient" -- bonds that were in existence on unrelated criminal charges. 
    • Here's the kicker: I don't think he was under subpoena. I'll be honest, I have no idea whether a person has to comply with a defense "request" to be a witness even if that person is sitting in the courtroom. My gut reaction, with doing absolutely no research, is no. 
    • The late Judge Fostel used to amuse me when, during trial, an attorney would ask him if a witness "could be excused" or "could be released" after testifying. Fostel would always ask, "Is he under subpoena?" If the answer was "no", he would always give an answer which implied that he didn't have any control over a witness if they weren't compelled to be in court in the first place. 
  • We had the fourth largest earthquake in Texas history (and the second 5.0+ one one in the last month) on Friday, and most people don't even know about it. 

  • Amber Heard announced moments ago she will settle the defamation suit brought by Johnny Depp which she has on appeal. Her insurance company will pay $1 million.  Bad decision. That was constitutionally protected speech. 
  • Some people go to Christmas parties, drive around and look at Christmas lights, or perhaps stay home and watch It's A Wonderful Life. Others, on the other hand, spent their weekend . . . 

  • Imagine spending $44 billion just to show the world that you are one weird guy. And he might just jack around and end up losing every dime of it before it's all said and done.  

  • The January 6th Committee holds its final meeting today.

  • Elon Musk and Jared Kushner were hanging out at the World Cup final yesterday. No surprise.

  • We've got a new leader in the clubhouse. 
    Graphic source: New York Times.

  • But the QAnon Congresswoman has found a new cause.

  • This may have had a a top five crazy ending to an NFL game late yesterday afternoon. Video.

  • The high school playoffs wrapped up at Jerry World on Saturday. Below was the scene from the media's sunny perch later in the afternoon. (The best of all the 12 games involved China Spring, who beat Decatur in the semis. They were down 21-0 at halftime and came back to win it 24-21 on a last second field goal.)


  • That was really a pretty fancy sign for what was supposed to be a less than ideal area of housing. 

  • This is what I use to select which front page to post every day. Panola County maybe the tiniest publication on that list. It is Carthage to which they refer to here . . .