8.09.2022

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




An 82 year old man suffering from a probable diabetic episode "hit four people in front of a Ross department store [in Lake Worth], including a 25-year-old woman, a 40-year-old woman and two children, ages four and five.  Seconds later, Martinez sped down the parking lot and hit two more children, including Savannah Deegear, who died a short time later."  Seven months later, a Tarrant County grand jury will decline to indict him. 

  •  Oh, my!


    • So what was it about? The prevailing school of thought is that its about the unauthorized taking of classified documents, but we honestly don't know. There is in existence a sworn search warrant affidavit that will explain it all, but it is sealed -- something that is  routine. But in this case involving a criminal justice event which has never happened before in the history of the U.S., it needs to be released. The public has a right to know.

    • Let's be clear: The the highest level of the Justice Department gave the go ahead for this search. From there, a federal judge had to approve the search after finding probable cause exists to believe a crime was committed. After that, the FBI then executed the search. And the FBI is led by this guy . . . 

    • What's the difference? That's a stupid statement even for him. 

    • Let's check in on the reaction of the "Law and Order" and "Back the Blue" crowd. I find all of this jaw-droppingly amazing. They have no idea if the case has merit or not.
      • QAnon weights in:

      • Wise County's own representative continues to embarrass us:

      • An account run by Trump sycophant Rep. Jim Jordan puts a different twist on "no one is above the law":

      • Hey, there's an innocent explanation! Trump was scrapbooking!
  • Beto confirms his trip to Decatur.  I'm hearing rumors of protestors.
  • Following in the steps of Parker County, Wise County Commissioners approved a proclamation yesterday calling illegal immigration an "invasion."  That's a shame. I suspect they know it's a meaningless and silly exercise, but they were bullied into doing so by the Trump Disciples who have taken over the local Republican Party.  
  • A faithful reader pointed out to me that the photos appearing in billboards promoting Decatur ISD use stock photos instead of pictures of actual students. 
  • The defendant took the stand in the "honor killing" case. I normally actually support a defendant testifying, but I wouldn't do it when the guy speaks Arabic and has to use a translator. And I also wouldn't recommend it when he has no explanation for being on the lam for a decade. Side note: The prosecutors are horrible, but even they can't lose this one.  
  • Notable death. I can't begin to tell you how much Grease meant to the teenage girls of my generation.  But I didn't remember how bad the Let's Get Physical video was until I saw it yesterday.
  • Another notable death. In addition to his writing style, I absolutely loved his voice.  I can still hear it every time I think of Ken Burns' documentary, The Civil War.
  • This is going nowhere. 
  • Random photo on the cover of the San Antonio paper showing the effects of the drought. That's Medina Lake which is only 10% full. Look at that dock on dry land which is a long way from the building/home.
  • The USA Today's Coaches Poll is out and, as always, Texas makes an appearance. Although they came in at #18, one coach gave them a first place vote.  And we know it's not UT's coach because he doesn't get a vote.
  • Turns out the OU coach the read the racial slur not once but multiple times.

at 8:31 AM

8.08.2022

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




Technically, McKayla Maroney struck this pose on August 5, 2012.

  • Beto is coming to Decatur this week if this text is correct.

  • This is awful. Yesterday evening, a truck pulling a trailer plowed into a home in White Settlement killing 18 year old Katey Kirkland. The vehicle was so far in the home that only its trailer (covered) was visible.  I think this is the Google streetview link. 


  • The person driving the fast moving car which killed six in Los Angeles has been identified and arrested. She is a traveling nurse out of Houston who worked for Kaiser Permanente.

  • The City of Rhome has forced out the City Administrator with a "separation agreement" of $100,000+ but confusingly keeps her on at $50 an hour until a replacement is found. The 15 minute, sometimes contentious, meeting is here on YouTube.  



  • The trial of the (poorly labeled) "honor killings" of the two teenage daughters in Irving continues this week. But this note caught my eye as proof that lawyers involved in even the most clear cut cases run into headaches.

  • Friday roundup of stories we've already forgotten about:
    • Alex Jones got hit with a $45.2 million punitive damage verdict.  There's a great deal of confusion as to how Texas' statutory cap on punitive damages will reduce that verdict. The statute says the cap is $750,000 but there are two plaintiffs so that would make it $1.5 million -- which is what Jones' lawyers say. But there is another argument made by the Plaintiffs' lawyer, and at least supported by one case, which says the the cap is $750K per Plaintiff per every "cause of action" they were successful upon which would make it around $9 million.  

    • This was in Pennsylvania and hardly made the news.

    • This occurred in Lafayette Park directly in front of the White House and is a popular tourist destination.

    • What's Amazon really up to here by buying Roomba?

  • They might want to focus on something down there other than screwing over this lady. She has been reassigned to "the position of assistant director of special education."

  • Remember I told you on Friday to be on the lookout for the Republican Party (at least the Trump MAGA faction) using January 6th as a date of martyrdom just like the Nazis rallied around the date of Hitler's first failed coup attempt? Well on display over the weekend at CPAC in Dallas an actor in a cage playing a January 6th arrestee in a jail cell.  Really. Even Qanon Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene -- who spoke at the convention along with Trump, Abbott, Cruz, and every other mainstream Republican -- was there to comfort the crying actor. 


  • Something seems weird about this. He's beloved in Norman and has been there a long, long time. 

  • Everyone is yelling about the price of Insulin online, but I didn't have time for a deep dive. 

at 8:30 AM

8.05.2022

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




Groundbreaking on the expansion of 380 from two lanes to four lanes on the way to Denton began this week. The projected was prompted by an accident in 2010 which took the lives of two Alvord teens, Samantha Rogers, 17, and Delaney Mancil, 15.

  • Normal Republican, conservative star, and former VP Dick Cheney appeared in a political ad for his daughter where he didn't mince words about Trump: "In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward. A real man wouldn't lie to his supporters."

  • Moments ago. So is this a recession or not? 


  • The video of the wreck yesterday in Los Angeles that killed four and injured eight is one of the craziest things you'll see.  The speed of the car blowing through an intersection was off the charts. 

  • Alex Jones trial notes:
    • Jones was hit with a $4.1 million verdict yesterday. But the trial is not over. Today the jury returns to assess "punitive damages" -- damages to punish Jones over and above what they chose to compensate the plaintiffs. 

    • I really hate to say this, but I'm not unsympathetic to Jones' free speech argument. What he said was despicable, but was it really defaming? (But liability was imposed because of discovery sanctions, so that defense may not even exist on appeal.) 
    • The wild aspect of the Alex Jones trial is, of course, his lawyer mistakenly sending the plaintiffs' lawyer the two years of text messages of Jones' phone. Well, yesterday we learned how it went down. Jones' lawyer, during discovery, sent the wrong link to the plaintiffs' lawyer. The plaintiffs' lawyer calls the mistake to the attention of Jones' lawyer. He then thanks the plaintiffs' lawyer and tells him to "disregard" that link.  But that wasn't enough to keep the plaintiffs' lawyer from using it. Jones' lawyer had 10 days to seek protection from the court to keep the texts private. He didn't do it. Here's the email exchange:

  • Have you seen your most recent electric bill yet? Have I said before that we are all suckers? Dallas-based "Oncor’s quarterly profit soared to $229 million — up from $169 million during the same months last year . . . . The quarterly results didn’t even include July, which was one of the region’s hottest months on record."

  • Less than three months after the slaughter of nineteen children in Uvalde, Wise County's crazy congressman thought it would be a good idea to post this photo. And he's standing next to QAnon supporter Lauren Boebert.

  • This is still a wild story. It actually took two trials before this sentence was imposed because the first one was overturned after the judge learned "that a court security officer had discussed the case with a juror."

  • I was anxious to see if Sheriff Joe, 90, would lose his race to become mayor of a small town in Arizona, but they still don't know results despite the election being on Tuesday.  The last update I could find is from yesterday.

  • Speaking of Arizona, remember these faces. These are all election denying, Insurrection supporting, and Trump disciples. I mean, they are certifiable crazy.  They will all be on the general election ballot in November. 

    • On a related note, I'm re-reading my Hitler book on his unlikely rise to power in Germany. Take a look at this excerpt when, in the earliest days of the Nazi party (1926), he dispatched new buddy Joseph Goebel's to Berlin to try and rouse up support.  Less than three years after Hitler's first failed coup -- the equivalent of our January 6th -- that specific day had already become a "holy day of martyrdom in the Nazi calendar."  So keep an eye out for this: Does January 6th become a "holy day" for the Trump disciples?

  • 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: 3 years, 31 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM
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