1.19.2024

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

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at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




It was sold at the annual convention of The Dallas Safari Club, and made national headlines. He would shoot the animal in the following year.

  • I don't think I've ever heard of a defendant in a civil suit filing a formal Answer admitting that all the allegations in the Plaintiff's Petition are true.  That doesn't even happen when there's a settlement in a case (the defendant normally doesn't even admit responsibility.) Yet that's exactly Ken Paxton did that yesterday in the Whistleblower case. So what gives?
    • Most people think that Paxton admitted the allegations to avoid having to give a deposition. That's probably right. 
    • I don't see how this just "ends" the proceedings like Paxton claims. He didn't admit or stipulate to how much in damages the Plaintiffs are owed, so that still needs to be determined.  
    • Paxton gave an interview late yesterday where he gave the best explanation: "The end result is the Legislature has already . . . said they’re not paying anything and so there’s no reason for us to let them harass my office when we’re dealing with all these immigration issues and suing Pfizer and we’ve got this huge Google lawsuit." Story. So the State of Texas can just refuse to pay for damages under the Whistleblower statute? That seems wrong, but I'll defer to any governmental law experts out there.

  • What the heck?

  • Tell me that didn't start to read that thinking there had been a major plane crash yesterday afternoon.

  • Scenes from a funeral:
    • Man, Barron is tall.

    • The next season of Succession: 

  • I don't think I've ever heard of a trial where statements made during the trial (outside of court) are admitted as evidence in that trial. That's a fast turnaround in Trump's defamation trial.

  • The judge in the Georgia election tampering case has ordered a hearing concerning the D.A. allegedly hiring a boyfriend, with little or no experience in high stakes criminal litigation, to bilk the county out of a fortune in fees that she, in turn, benefited from.   What a colossal poor decision on her part to involve this guy. And this hearing will be televised. 

  • I love the technology, but they run $20,000 a piece? And who would have guessed White Settlement would lead the way?


  • Didn't expect the Innocence Project to get involved with this guy. I'm interested.

  • Let's check in on Fox News.

  • 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 207 days.

at 8:30 AM

1.18.2024

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




There were rumors of how Derek Holland hurt himself -- playing with his dog or during an amateur hockey game. The latter, most thought, would mean that Rangers wouldn't have to pay him for lost time. So Corby said "everyone" would lie and say it was due to the dog instead of hockey if it meant $3 million. That still bugs me. 

  • WFAA had a big piece on the tragic news out of Wise County.


    • This YouTube video, sent to me by a faithful reader, looking at the flight data is really interesting.
    • This is a photo of the actual plane taken from that video:
  • We now have campaign finance reports which have been summarized. Source 
    • The lady challenging Jacksboro's David Spiller isn't exactly lighting it up. 
    • Wise County's Texas House rep is easily outraising his challengers.
  • Attorney General Ken Paxton disclosed in his reporting that he paid his impeachment defense fees out of campaign contributions. Additionally we learned, for what they provided, the lawyers are stealing. That totals to $2.3 million.

  • Trump's favorite lawyer had a tough time in court yesterday.



  • Trump wasn't doing much better in New Hampshire last night. Debank? Video.

    • And he was begging the Supreme Court in the middle of the night for "ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY" even when he "CROSSES THE LINE". (Big all caps night for him.)
  • This makes no sense. They are just refusing to play? And, despite the headline, they have enough players to field a team -- it says in the story that "The Horned Frogs were down to six scholarship players after a number of players sustained injuries in practice Tuesday."
    • And if you have a kid at TCU and want her to get some exercise:

  • Anyone got any better ideas?

  • Fun coaching quick hits:
    • UT great Major Applewhite will be the head coach of South Alabama.
    • Jerry Glanville, yes, 82 year old Jerry Glanville, will be the coach of Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State

  • The college football transfer portal has been out of control this off season.  I don't blame players for chasing dollar but, at the same time. I loved the illusion that players cared for team and school as much as I did.  
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:31 AM

1.17.2024

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




Hey, I got one right.

  • So a Pennsylvania billionaire wants school vouchers in Texas? Why? The donor's name is Jeff Yass and here's his Wikipedia entry.



  • Trump is back in court as E. Jean Carroll sues him a second time for defamation. Why? Because after the first verdict, Trump ran in front of the cameras and repeated, word for word, the same lie that had just cost him millions. Below is what I wrote when he did it. He's screwed this time because the jury form will look like this . . .  

  • This serial murder case is all the rage up in the Northeast, and yesterday a news conference was held to announce the addition of another charge after DNA linked the defendant to a new victim. I'll tell you one thing, if I'm the DA, I'm not letting shyster Gloria Allred anywhere near that stage. 


  • An underwear clad man walking through a Dick Morris live shot on Newsmax had a lot of people asking questions yesterday. Video.

  • Meanwhile, DPS is still stonewalling all public records requests. We should get the Justice Department's report tomorrow.


     
  • Texas campaign filing reports were due yesterday, and it appears that the Texas Oilman's PAC, which has been fighting off a Nick Fuentes white supremacy controversy, was very quiet. And it did not donate to the Wise County candidate as it had in the past. 

  • After Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the presidential race yesterday , the conservative parody account The Babylon Bee wasted little time before it invoked some racism comedy. 

  • Trump has rolled out a verb bizarre "God Made Trump" campaign video (which steals from Paul Harvey's original "God Made a Farmer").  Anyway, it's, uh, something. . The only thing better was the Lincoln Project's response video of "God Made a Dictator." 
  • Okay, this got my attention. YouTube.

  • Video.

  • If the net worth article below gets you attention, check out this (gifted link) which is a quick interactive Washington Post article which will place you on a chart comparing your household to others. And we certainly don't have enough of that in this world. 

at 8:30 AM

1.16.2024

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




This really was amazing. A Southwest jet with 124 passengers landed at the wrong airport when it was headed for Branson, Missouri. It almost skidded off the runway since it was unexpectedly short. 

  • Iowa Caucuses:
    • Trump won with 51%. No real surprise.


    • Fun fact: Trump won every one of the 99 counties with the exception of one. And in that county (Johnson County - where the University of Iowa is located), he lost by one single vote.

    • Only 110,000 people voted which is only 14% of registered Republicans in Iowa. So Trump gets a major victory with 7% of Iowa Republicans who are MAGA enough to turn out in freezing temperature. And I mean extreme MAGA based upon exit polling:

    • Hey, I'm not fooling myself. Trump will most certainly be the ultimate nominee. But if it were "normal times", yesterday wouldn't have told us much. 

    • Look who was there yesterday running around with the nuttiest of Trump worshipers. 

  • I think it's really strange that all the major schools in the metroplex are closed simply because of cold weather. 
  • This headline does not make me comfortable about the quality control standards of this crime lab. They can't even keep the water running. 

  • KXAS (Channel 5) caught a lot of grief for cutting away from the last minute of the close Chargers/Lions game on Sunday night to report on snow flurries. Here's the moment. 

  • The Feds are clamping down on bits:

  • Bad timing: I saw a Tom Thumb  TV commercial yesterday where it shows CeeDee Lamb running out for passes, but the ball keeps landing all around him. He then says, "I don't think this quarterback is working." The camera then pans to a Tom Thumb mascot character. 
  • The Emmys were last night. I didn't watch them, but saw this note:

  • Legal nerdy stuff: To say that the ultra right Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is full of liberal judges might be the dumbest thing Ken Paxton has ever said. 


  • Over the top nerdy stuff: I just had a power down moment when I saw what the first day of UT Law's Federal Courts class entailed.
  • I think bringing in 71 year old Bill Belichick to run the Cowboys is a dumb idea. But it would be entertaining. 



at 8:31 AM
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