8.04.2023

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

Bonus (but linked only because of language.)
at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts





A decade later, I still love that teaser/trailer/commercial. And here's a breakdown of Ozymandias on Wikipedia.

  • I don't think we yet realize just how a significant day yesterday was. It's the most significant prosecution of Trump yet, and it has to be done. The consequences of letting him get away with all that led up to January 6th is too great.   

    • The courtroom sketches seem to cement the need to have cameras in the courtroom. 


    • He's still a clear and present danger to the United States.

  • Pretty emotional video clip filmed while fighting the Runaway Bay fire. 

  • Greg Abbott's buoys have already killed a child. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in."


  • Did the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office just kill another one? 

  • "THROCKMORTON (KFDX/KJTL) — Throckmorton County sheriff resigns, blames lack of help. Doc Wigington, resigned unexpectedly Thursday blaming a lack of help with law enforcement. According to a social media post, he said that for 8 months, he has been without a full-time deputy and only a couple of part-time deputies and that the trooper and game warden are being deployed to the border and Austin."  I'd quit, too.

  • I love that the Justice Department is still rounding up the Insurrectionists. We learned yesterday that they got this guy from Brady on Monday.



  • So your just paying $1 million when you didn't do anything wrong?

  • Wise County Courthouse renovation: I can't get it to work on my laptop, but when viewed from a phone, you can get a panoramic view of the third floor of the courthouse which is now gutted.  For those familiar with it, you can now walk straight from the jury/commissioners room all the way to the other side. All the walls are gone.
    Taken from jury room looking east. The two doors are the bathrooms.

  • Legal/local stuff: A Wise County criminal case was affirmed on appeal late yesterday.  Very legal nerdy stuff: The decision deals with an interesting "commitment question" during voir dire regarding the range of punishment.  The the trial judge ruled, and the appellate court agreed, that you can't ask this:

    • Nerdy stuff continued: The defense lawyer was trying to get the hard-liners stricken for cause. The way to do it seems to be limited to asking: "Could you assess the minimum punishment of 25 years." That question is OK.  From the defense standpoint, you hope they will be honest and say "no." Then the judge would have to remove them for not being able to consider the "full range of punishment" of 25 years to life.
  • 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 30 days.

at 8:30 AM

8.03.2023

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




Eagles tight end Riley Cooper found himself in hot water 10 years ago after cell phone footage caught him using some objectionable  language at a Kenny Chesney concert.  Then, for fun, this photo of him back at Florida alongside Tim Tebow throwing a ball to convicted murderer and the now-deceased Aaron Hernandez. 

  • People feared Runaway Bay would burn down yesterday.

     

    • Screenshot of the tracking of aircraft fighting the fire. 

  • Meanwhile, a big fire broke out along 287 right past Rhome. A drone video shows how it spread from there.





  • This make no sense to me. Just see how a free speech defense goes when, say, you try to hire a hit man and then end up being charged with solicitation of murder. Plus, if you are relegated to not contesting the facts and have to look for a defense in the law, you are in deep trouble. (His first court appearance in D.C. is at 3:00 p.m. CST today.)

  • The Dallas Morning News found out the identify of the two Southlake police officers who were fired after the swastika incident, and also determined how they got outed. Doh!

  • We've now got some background info on the naked guy who was arrested in Denton. I posted exclusive Pulitzer Prize winning photos of his arrest yesterday.

  • Well look who is coming to the defense of Trump: The crooked Texas Attorney General who is in the middle of an impeachment process instigated by the normal Republicans in the legislature. 

    • Side note: Although her identify was widely known, Paxton's own lawyers have identified by name the woman he is alleged to had an affair with who is an integral part of the impeachment allegations. Laura Olson is her name. I haven't seen a picture of her and Paxton are together, but she has hung out with other Texas bigwigs. 



  • In what might have been the one of the most cringy "tough talking" crime fighting press conferences I've seen in a while, yesterday Greg Abbott, the $300,000 Man, and the Sheriff of Tarrant County spoke about a new law regarding doing donuts in intersections. 

    He thought this was a catchy soundbite? 

    You couldn't even find the Uvalde shooter a few feet away.

    There's a greater chance you die in his jail as an inmate. 

  • Getting past the world war implications for a second, those are some really cool Moscow buildings. 

  • Recent prices at the pump: Are we getting price gouged by the oil companies again?
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM

8.02.2023

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts





From Texas Monthly's 96 Minutes, published 10 years ago this month.

  • Finally, Trump has been indicted for January 6th and all that he did that led up to it. He is in big, big trouble -- as he should be. He tried to destroy democracy and the peaceful transition of power, and he needs to pay the price. 



    • Indictment text. 
    • These guys are four of the six unnamed co-conspirators. They will be charged next. John Eastman, Justice Department stooge Jeffrey Clark (see paragraph 81) , nutcase Sidney Powell, and Rudy Giuliani. 

    • Mike Pence response to the indictment. It's the closest thing he's had to a spin since January 6th. 

    • So what happens if Trump is the Republican nominee?  The election would be an existential American crisis. 
      • We have slightly over half of the population which will never vote for Trump. Heck, they will crawl over broken glass to vote against him.  That number should ensure that Trump is never re-elected as president, but there is that crazy Electoral College problem. So there is no guarantee. 
      • So that leaves the 48 to 49 % of the population who are Republicans who are composed of: 
        • Well less than half, but enough to control the Republican primaries, are Ultra-Maga Extremists. They are willing to "blow the system up", they don't care about January 6th (and actually support it), and truly have no problem with setting democracy aside and installing an authoritarian so long as it is Trump or someone exactly like him. 
        • The rest are regular and sane Republicans. And these guys are the key. Will they be willing to save the country as we know it? 
      • I cannot tell you enough how the above numbers are exactly like Germany political demographics in 1932.
      • But what happens if Trump wins after being convicted?  
  • Saw this last night.

  • I had to read the story, but it led to a little bit of a surprise. It was Walmart which was hit with the damages. Not the shoplifter. Silly.

  • University and Carroll in Denton yesterday.  A nude guy had been running through the Kroger parking lot. (Thanks emailer.)


  • Central Expressway in Plano looked to be on fire this morning. Seems problematic. 

  • Does Wise County get in on this? From the story: "Thanks to the state’s budget surplus, the Texas Historical Commission voted to increase the amount it gives to courthouse restoration projects, LaFleur said. For years, the commission has given counties up to $6 million each. Going forward, the commission will give counties up to $10 million each. Though Upshur County and three other county courthouses were awarded grants in the 12th round, the commission voted to extend the grant increase to them as well, LaFleur said."  Were we in the 12th round?

  • I bet we see more and more of this. It has to be going on everywhere. 

  • Wow, even the New York Post is on board. Fox and Friends even displayed it this morning:


at 8:30 AM
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