Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

This was a wild case which turned out even wilder than we originally thought. I found this from a lawsuit filed by two passengers who were killed in the crash: 

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• With all those people stuck on the I-95 highway in Virginia, this question came up: How long will a full tank of gas for the average car last if the engine is running with the heat on? My Google research ballparked it at about 1/2 of a gallon per hour. 
• The Little Ball of Insurrection is at it again. 
  
  
  
• The January 6th committee wants to talk to Sean Hannity. We can see why. 
  
  
  
• Within hours of this Hannity news, Trump cancelled his ill-advised press conference scheduled for tomorrow.
  
  
  
• Then Trump got stranger.
  
• The price of oil is pretty much back, isn't it?
  
  
  
• We'll see more changes at the top over the next 15 years as electric vehicles take over. 
  
  
  
• Greg Abbott is suing over the federal vaccine mandate for the Texas National Guard.  But I think he suddenly believes he's Eisenhower: 
  
  
  
• But he's better than Huffines. 
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• I'll say this about the Texas COVID hospitalization chart, it's changing rapidly. 
  
  
  
• Sounds very strange: The State Bar filed an "administrative matter" regarding a "complaint" against, as best I can tell, a prosecutor or other lawyer within the Ellis County D.A.'s office.  The county hires an outside firm to represent the lawyer (and settles up with that firm for $5,000 for the defense's final bill), but the county commissioners aren't allowed to know the name of the attorney. 
  
  
  
• I loved this quote from one of the commissioners who was complaining: “I woke up with a start Monday morning realizing for the first time since I was sworn in in 2013, I’m being asked to issue a check on behalf of ‘Anonymous’. ”
• Hey, Adelle is fantastic and her new song "Easy on Me" is already the gold standard, but when she sings the word "chance" at one point during the chorus, I hear an odd Southern twang. (It's at exactly 2:37 in this video.) I can't unhear it. 
• Let's do it. 
  
  
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

It was the great Bridgeport trophy scandal of 2012 after that photo got out.  The Messenger would follow up the story, and it even made its way to Channel 8 News which mentioned a "local blog" calling attention to the incident.   

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• New Texas COVID numbers were finally released yesterday afternoon and, whether it be a seven day average (yellow) or a new daily numbers (purple), we are now setting all time records. And that has to be only a fraction of the actual cases out there considering how hard it is to get tested. Plus, these numbers don't even include at-home testing. 
  
  
  
• But hospitalization rates are much better. During the last two peaks, we topped out with around 14,000 in the hospital. Now we have just over 7,000.
  
  
  
• Dan Patrick wouldn't even think of showing up, and he'll still win the state, and Wise County, in a landslide. 
  
  
  
• The D.C. area got hit with a snowstorm yesterday, and they handle it as about as well as we do. 
• A couple of reporters stuck on highways all night have provided updates during their ordeal. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A former VP candidate just chimed in:
  
  
  
• Trump is supporting the QAnon congresswoman, and thinks a private company should be banned by the government from "doing business." Craziness won't be going away in 2022.
  
  
  
• Other Republicans don't feel the same way: 
  

  
  
  
• There hasn't been much news on the shooting in Lubbock back in November that bugged me so much. Basically the only development is that the dead man's mother and wife have sued the shooter. 
  
  
  
• I thought endorsements were supposed to help you. 
  
  
  
• Bexar County is cancelling jury trials due to COVID.
• Here's a better angle of the rail collapse at FedEx Field. Video.
  
  
  
• And another. Identifying a DNA sample by looking at the DNA of relatives who had voluntarily sent their sample off out of genetic history interest. And the two or three Texas labs leading the way in this science seemed to be involved in almost every case. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Extremely legal nerdy stuff warning. This is incredible. The Texas Bar Journal just came out with its legal review of 2021 issues in law. I flipped to the single criminal law page (p. 32) and saw the summary of the first of three notable cases (below).  The summary was 100% wrong. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held just the opposite in Ortiz! And that quote the author put in the summary doesn't exist (it actually appears in the lower appellate court opinion which was reversed.)   I knew something was up when he called the highest court "The Criminal Court of Appeals."  By the way, the State Bar forces attorneys to pay around $250 a year to be members, and the Journal is the only thing we really get in return. It has always been awful. But this was really, really bad. 
  
  
  
• College football is now wild. Couple the transfer portal with NIL money, and it really is free agency. OU both lost and gained a quarterback yesterday. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This scheduling seems weird. If you didn't know better, you'd think that ESPN suddenly discovered they forgot to broadcast a bowl game and have to run it out there tonight.
  
  
  
• Per the Washington Post, The Washington Football Team will reveal its new name and logo on February 2nd.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

It was Iowa Caucus week. The results:

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• Highway 287 south of Rhome, northbound, moments ago:
  
  
  
• It's 2022! A new year, and a new you! Scratch that. Nothing will change. 
  
  
  
• An Arlington townhome blew up on NYE, and it was caught on video. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Two morons "setting fire" to the concrete marker at the southern most point in the U.S. at Key West, and taking photos of each other while they did it, might have been caught in one of the best quality surveillance video I've ever seen. Video. (This screenshot doesn't do it justice.)
  
  
   
• I would give you the COVID numbers, but the state of Texas is in no rush to update the figures. As of this morning: 
  
  
  
• Two very different Republican women:
• A nutcase and an Insurrectionist supporter:
  
  
  
  
• American hero and democracy icon:
  
  
  
• Jeff Bezos was killin' it on New Year's Eve.
  
  
  
• I'm sure you've seen it, but here is the full clip of the Antonio Bryant meltdown from yesterday.
  
  
  
• And here's the video of the railing collapsing in Washington and almost injuring Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts.
  
  
  
• There are still a ton of things wrong with this case on all sides. From still getting 10 years for an accident to a criminal sentence just being magically reduced because of public outcry.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Texas Secretary of State decided to announce Phase I of the Texas election audit of Friday afternoon on New Year's Eve. Guess why he tried to bury it: They found nothing. (Trump somehow got to demand that  it happened.) 
  
  
  
• Dueling cities:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We had a trifecta: Betty White, John Madden and Dan Reaves. 
  
  
  
• Random bowl win image: Central Michigan's coach doused in frosted flakes after winning the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
  
  
  
• I watched Don't Look Up. Verdict: Fantastic concept. Poorly executed. 
• Baylor will end up no worse than #5 in the final AP Poll. (For the life of me, I don't know if the AP poll traditionally leaves the four playoff teams in the top four positions after the season is over.)