2.20.2026

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




When the Pope got made at Trump. 

  • Not much is known. Story. 

  • The retrial of the Alvarado ICE incident -- after a mistrial over a t-shirt this week -- will occur next week. And the federal judge is changing a few things:
    • He's taken over voir dire, and placing weird time limits on the length of the trial. 

    • And if you want to watch the trial, the judge tells you to drive to Dallas and watch it on a TV screen. 

  • Who knew? 

  • Another stunning confirmation of the grim reality that it is, indeed, over.   

  • With the loudspeakers blaring "YMCA" and the "Gloria", Trump convened his first "Board of Peace" meeting yesterday, and it was a weird as you would expect. 
    • It was held in a federal building which now has Trump's name on it. But he said he would have been happy with some . . . cash. Video.

    • Speaking of cash, he said the U.S. government is giving the board $10 billion.  This "board" isn't even official and was created by Trump out of thin air. And he will control the $10 billion.  


    • And Trump fell asleep during the three hour meeting.  Video.

  • It's all so North Korea-like. 

  • I'm one of the few who never watched Grey's Anatomy, but I saw this guy in Euphoria and thought he was great. 

  • The Business Second™.


  • Legal nerdy stuff: A Texas appellate court yesterday quickly reversed a case because of the trial judge telling the jury panel that "beyond a reasonable doubt" could accurately mean that a juror is 60% convinced of a defendant's guilt.
  • The Supreme Court will release one or more opinions today at 9:00 a.m. CST.  
  • Lauren Whitener Clock: 6 years and 232 days.

at 8:30 AM

2.19.2026

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




"An El Paso, Texas, school teacher is missing and is likely on the run from law enforcement following an October federal indictment on a variety of drug-related charges involving her family." She was caught and actually sentenced to 15 years in prison the following year. 

  • Overnight: 


  • WFAA has the most complete story on this arrest in Sherman yesterday.  Her lawyer has boldly stated that the blood test, once analyzed, will show absolutely no drugs or alcohol.  Maybe he's right. 


  • Southbound I-35 going out of Dallas was in a bit of bind last night. 

  • Not sure what's going on, but a search warrant was issued yesterday for Facebook in the upcoming Tanner Horner trial.

  • The Tarrant DA said it was the wish of the victims' families to waive the death penalty, but I bet there is a plea deal to life without parole in the works. 

  • So we are just going to attack Iran with no authorization from Congress (much less a Declaration of War) and with no named objective and no post attack plan? 


    • Let's check in on the Secretary of Defense. Posted yesterday.



    • Also: The secretary instituted monthly prayer meetings at the Pentagon last May, and now this guy shows up. (Gift link.)


  • When your new girlfriend refuses to go into "that house."
  • Dueling legal business headlines:
    • From the Wall Street Journal. Oh, come on. 

    • And I saw this article excerpt at about the same time which was posted by a UT law professor. 

  • The Rolling Stone invoked Arrested Development humor. 

  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:30 AM

2.18.2026

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




And it wasn't. 

  • "A federal judge in Fort Worth declared a mistrial in the case of nine [Alvarado] ICE detention center shooting defendants Tuesday in response to an attorney's shirt emblazoned with a 'politically charged message.' The shirt — worn by Maricela Rueda's defense attorney MarQuetta Clayton — bore black and white images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Shirley Chisholm and other people and scenes from the civil rights movement."  Story (which has some more gold in it.)
    She had turned the shirt inside out at this point.


  • Oh, my. (Not that anything matters anymore.)


  • I'm not real sure they should have been all excited about a random glove found two miles away anyway. 


  • This seems significant. Tarrant County after the first day of early voting: 

  • If case you missed the weird video of Robert F. Kennedy and Kid Rock working out together, here you go. 


  • This occurred on the 1974 anniversary of someone stealing a military helicopter and landing it on the White House lawn, being shot at 300 times, and surviving. 


  • I don't thing the Kalshi prediction market will take odds on which way she will vote.


  • I spoke too soon yesterday. 

  • Imagine doing this in 2020 and, when you finally decide to run for Congress, have Trump endorse your opponent this week. 

  • The Business Second™. Warehouses are still hot.

  • The head of MLB's player's union is out of a job for allegedly  having an affair with a union employee who just happened to be his sister-in-law.

  • My always shaky retirement "plans" in Costa Rica aren't helped by an American getting murdered close to one of my favorite places there. 

at 8:30 AM
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