Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Wise County has tricked up its government website as part of a renovation. Right now the fix prevents access to the criminal and civil court database or the jail database. (It's designed to be available to the public by Tyler Technologies and, up until yesterday, it had been. I noticed the old link is actually hidden under "Bond Information" on the Sheriff's page but it's no longer functioning.) Fix this, boys. And knowing our County Judge, it will be. 
• I've been warning you that Texas' bonding system to get out of jail (if you've got money, you get out -- if you're poor, you stay), is on the rocks. Federal courts are gutting it left and right, and yesterday Galveston County got hit with a wild twist: An injunction was issued that now requires everyone to be appointed an attorney at the bond hearing which normally occurs within 24 hours after the arrest. 
  
• Someone named Megan Fahey has been appointed to fill a vacant district court judgeship in Tarrant County. She's the third former assistant U.S. attorney in a row to be appointed as a Tarrant County judge. That's odd. (Note that the jobs are completely different with one dealing exclusively with federal law and the other exclusively with state law.) She was also a member of ultra-conservative Federalist Society -- which isn't odd if you want an appointment. 
  
• Why did John Bolton get canned by Trump? Well, one of the reason is that Trump's buddy Kim Jong Un didn't like him: "And he wanted nothing to do with John Bolton."  Who would have thought that Rocket Man got to influence who is on the president's staff?
• Trump, out of no where, came out with a desire to ban flavored e-cigarettes yesterday. This clip made my head spin. 
  
• I have a theory on this vaping news.  One of the (positive) hallmarks of the right wing is small and limited government. Obviously, government banning any product flies in the face of that. But I noticed about six months ago that a very conservative local radio host, who thinks government shouldn't force restaurants to have non-smoking sections, suddenly went bonkers against the vaping industry. That guy has a teenage son.  Trump also has a teenage son. I wonder, and this is pure speculation without any evidence to back it up, if those kids just happened to have been caught vaping and their mommas didn't like it. Now the right wing daddies (1) are getting pressure from their wives, and (2) looking for someone else to blame other than their sons who might be doing hood rat vaping. 
• At least I think Trump has a teenage son. He caused some confusion when, in announcing his vaping plan, he said Melania was for it because: “She’s got a son...that is a beautiful young man.”
  
• A "Florida woman was sentenced to more than three years in prison and ordered to repay $1.6 million after concocting a 'fortune telling' fraud." In other news, this guy claims to have the inside track to some secrets as well:
  
• Watch this federal judge nominee get crucified at his confirmation hearing yesterday. Even Lindsay Graham had to jump on him for not answering questions.  It was brutal. Here and here are examples. 
  
• Uber might be mismanaged, but this development which they couldn't control, is a major blow. It's amazing they can lose money using independent contractors, but if you transform those independent contractors into employees the problem gets exponentially worse. 
  
• T. Boone Pickens has died. Yesterday, New York sports talk show host Mike Francesa (who once ask a local Ticket personality on the air if he "wanted to compare paychecks") called him T. Bone Pickens multiple times. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Trump fired his third National Security Adviser in three years. Most the reports indicate that Trump and Bolton butted heads and especially in recent days over Trump inviting the Taliban to Camp David. Remember this less than 24 hours before the firing? 
  
• Oh, and Bolton, 12 minutes after Trump announcing by tweet that he was fired (at 10:58 am CST), let loose his own tweet to say  "I wasn't fired! I offered to quit!"  Bolton also texted a State TV personality, while he was on the air the less, to say he quit and wasn't fired.  
  
• Bolton was supposed to attend this press briefing which occurred within an hour after he was fired. Secretary Pompeo and Secretary Mnuchin seemed pretty shook up. 
  
• By the way, the "Fake News" New York Times knew so much of what was going on behind the scenes that they had a full story ready to go about Bolton's firing within seven minutes of Bolton's firing. 
  
• Watch a crazy Nevada judge yell at a potential juror for honestly stating she couldn't be fair in a sexual abuse case. He even threw his little pocket constitution and dropped a couple of S bombs. The case was reversed. (Credit.) 
  
• And the City of Dallas really thinks Uber is going to build a huge structure in Deep Ellum employing 3,000 people making over $100,000 a piece? Here's some headlines from yesterday. House. Of. Cards. 
  
   
• This is a lie. Fentanyl is dangerous but it is not floating poison in the air. Even his own press release says that the officers were uninjured. They only went to the hospital to get checked out because of an unsubstantiated fear  -- A fear which is created by bad information put out like this from a U.S. Attorney.
  
  
• I hope the Messenger continues to place little gems in the coverage of otherwise boring city council meetings. This little blurb was placed in a story which was highlighted by the City of Fairview proposing property taxes for the first time, in part, to pay for a city secretary who is making a jaw dropping $88,000+ a year.
  
  
• Oh, my.
  
  
  
  
• When he wasn't whining this morning, he decided to do a little self-promotion.

  

  . . . You Inviting The Taliban To Camp David

• At least he's improved somewhat: 
  
• Wait a second. What's that embroidery on the back of Melania's dress? Is that one of the towers with an explosion on the side? That can't possibly be what's going on. Right? I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
  
• I saw a story yesterday about a missing monkey in Galveston County that I "liked" on Twitter to remind me about it (first image below) which prompted a faithful reader, predicting it would make a bullet point, to send me a link to a pretty funny video (second image) of another time when a monkey escaped in Corpus Christi from a lawyer's truck. Why a lawyer had a monkey in his truck as he went to a meeting I'll never know. 

  

  "Tormenting" really sells the story.

  
  

  

  The Corpus Christi monkey even made his way into the lobby of an office building. 

• Messenger: Above the Fold. (Nope. Can't get it other than a thumbnail.)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Our own State Senator (which most of us can't name) is considering running against U.S. Senator John Cornyn. The Star-Telegram describes him as a "Tea Party Republican." 
  
• When no one in your family serves in the military, but you want to profit of a military-chic look.
  
• The headline says, "Cowboys settle cheerleader pay dispute, entire squad gets pay boost" but there aren't any details. However, the story from WFAA had quotes from two Bridgeport High School graduates. 
  
• Denton deputies in charge of courthouse security could take a lesson from Wise County deputies in charge of the same thing. Be courteous. It's not hard. (And I've always been stunned by any deputy who acts like a jerk. Not only will the person hate you, they'll automatically hate the Sheriff. And the Sheriff needs votes.) 
• You know how I'm always talking about how the Civil War "wasn't that long ago?" That crossed my mind when I learned that Commissioner Gordon from the old Batman TV series was born in 1899. His grandfather could have fought in the Civil War. Heck, his dad could have been in it. (Trivia: He appeared in every single Batman episode -- all 120 of them.)
  
• Outed CIA agent Valerie Plame has announced she's running for Congress and releases a pretty cool campaign ad: 
  
• Coors doesn't even care any longer, do they?
  

  

  
  

  
• Someone to me yesterday in court: "Why is cockfighting illegal? We eat chickens for crying out loud." Me: "We draw some strange lines in the sand in this country." Him: "We sure do. I think they made it illegal because Hispanics traditionally engage in it. It's another way to pick on 'em." Me: "Wouldn't surprise me." 
• Air Force One on the tarmac in North Carolina yesterday. 
  
• Todd Palin has filed for divorce from Sarah. Her star flamed out quickly. 
  
• This seems like a weird case. The only thing I can find on it is this: "According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Heath allegedly spoke to the victims and then left the party. He later returned with a rifle, rang the doorbell and ended up shooting his two neighbors outside their home."
  
• I have no idea if vaping is causing these injuries, but Juul and similar manufacturers might be in big trouble. Remember the Big Tobacco litigation? And these cases are weird -- it's happening to young people very quickly and not the result of long term use like you see in regular cigarettes. 
  
  
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold (I forgot yesterday)

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Did you see kids having to hit the ground when gunfire was heard during a football game in Alabama? No worries. The high school principal calmed all our fears: "It was a false report that shots were fired inside the stadium, in the game. The shots were fired two or three blocks away from the stadium. They have created this stir that Center Point is an unsafe place to play football, which is a bald-faced lie.” (Emphasis added.) 
  
• I hadn't heard of country singer Kylie Rae Harris who was killed along with a 16 year old in a multi-car crash near Taos, New Mexico late last week.  News over the weekend had a sheriff's deputy saying she "most certainly" caused the crash and they think alcohol "may" have been involved.  She had a DWI conviction out of Collin County in 2017 where an interlock device was required, but I wouldn't rule out her jacking around on her phone while driving since she was pretty active on it before the accident. 
  
• The Texas/LSU game was really entertaining. Quick thoughts: (1) Evil Empire fans are disappointed but you're season almost went down the tubes when Sam Ehlinger was rolled up on in the fourth quarter. That had "blown ACL" written all over it. (2) You guys realize that Devin Duvernay is only at Texas because he left Baylor along with the rest of his freshman recruiting class after the scandal broke?, (3) Texas could still get into the playoffs with one more loss so long as they win the Big 12.   They would have had to do that anyway. 
• After the Cowboys game last night: 
  
• Those Aaron Rodgers/State Farm commercials are horrible.   The premise isn't great (two agents) but the attempt at comedy is what makes it painful.  I always picture a bunch of high paid guys and gals in New York in a boardroom and thinking, "Yep. This is is good stuff and the best we can do." Sheesh. Hire a comedy writer. Heck, hire anyone with a sense of humor. 
• In case you missed it, Trump shockingly and in an offense to the memory of 9/11, invited the Taliban to Camp David.  (I tuned in briefly to listen to the Trump Fan Boys on WBAP this morning, and they were not pleased about it at all. We finally found something that actually made his base mad.)
  
• Then, after that tone-deaf announcement of his failed plans, Trump got distracted and degenerated into posting a literal "cat video" about his Hurricane Dorian vs. Alabama fight. 
  
• The Harris County DA's office keeps a huge list of cops who have questionable credibility. (Amazing, right?) Yet they were very slow in revealing that a cop in a DWI case was on that list. The judge finally got fed up and really laid the wood to them: A fine of $500.  (The case only made the news because any fine is unusual.). The DA's office dismissed the case but is fighting the fine. 

  

  The misdemeanor judge in the case who
  looks like he might have a ponytail.

• I'm experimenting with cord-cutting, and I put up a digital antenna this weekend. Thoughts: (1) If you're replacing a satellite dish, it's a breeze. Just remove the dish and use can use the pole that's already attached to the roof for the new antenna. (2)  More importantly, the satellite used coaxial cable so you just attach the new antenna to it. It's already laid out. (3) Positioning it was simple, and I finally got to use the pre-installed compass app on my iPhone. (4) The picture quality is fantastic, my smart TV even puts the channels in a guide, and in some type of witchcraft, you can pause live TV. (5) The purpose of a digital antenna is to pick up the local affiliates of the major networks (Fox, CBS, ABC and NBC) since online packages can't. I discovered that WFAA/Channel 8 is not with the program. 
• Side note: Thanks to the neighbor who let me borrow his ladder. It was one of those "Little Giant" contraptions which I had never used. Those things are fantastic. 
  
• I saw this headline everywhere. I don't trust this guy. (He decided to go on "vacation" his week.)
  
• The Brady Bunch kids are starring in a home renovation show to transform the interior of the sitcom's home into the way the interior, which was filmed at a studio, looked.  Those guys look pretty good. 
  
• It may be behind a paywall and of limited interest, but an "opinion" piece in the Dallas Morning News absolutely scorched a lawyer who appeared in a Tarrant County courtroom last week. Example: "From the moment [the judge]first called on [the attorney] during Friday’s hearing, the attorney seemed totally unprepared. Dead air -- while he fumbled for documents, or answers -- seemed to take up as much time as [his] actual responses. I’ve sat in two dozen or more civil and criminal courtrooms and never have I seen anything like this." (I looked him up and he lists membership in the State Bar, the NRA, and Mensa.)