Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

I posted this back then because I was surprised at the progress on One World Trade Center. But it wouldn't open until November, 2014. 

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• The biggest gut punch of a story from the Highland Park shooting might be this one:
• In the immediate hours after the shooting, authorities were trying to find the parents of this boy who got lost in the chaos of the gunfire.
  
  
  
• The parents were later identified.
  
  
  
• I really don't understand why there is not more of any outcry to reinstate the 1994 "Assault Weapons Ban."  The AR-15 is the major problem and the weapon of choice of basically every mass shooter.  And I understand getting anything passed in this political environment is a tall -- if not impossible -- order but no one, save for the Washington Post this morning, hardly mentions it. 
  
  
  
• Tucker Carlson had it all figured out last night. Video. Fox News is becoming a parody of itself. 
  
   
• And you just know where this is headed. 
  
  
  
• This little girl was found wandering around an apartment complex in Plano yesterday. CBS 11 reported that late last night: "Caregivers, who are both deaf, have been located.  The family is being reunited."
  
  
  
• There was a wild story on Fox 4 of an apartment in Carrollton being riddled with "nearly 40 bullets" in the middle of the night.  The family inside said they had to have been the victims of mistaken identity. But two unrelated points got my attention: (1) The story ended by saying the family is considering moving from the "apartment complex they have lived in for 25 years."  (2)  The other one was this video shot which revealed a three monitor computer setup with a laptop suspended above them. What's going on there? (But you can see some of the bullet holes in the wall.)
  
  
  
• I got chewed out by a visiting Justice of the Peace from Fort Worth yesterday. That was a first for me. (The local constable serving as bailiff whispered to me, with great joy by the way, that "I've got my handcuffs ready for you!") 
• One Texas county, with the "support" of other counties, declared an "invasion" yesterday in an attempt to invoke a provision of the Constitution which doesn't apply to immigration. But it got the headlines they were seeking from the people they were seeking approval from. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• But, predictably, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick jumped on the bandwagon for publicity. But language like this is going to get someone killed. And what's next? Urging concentration camps? 
  
  
  
• We haven't heard much about a COVID "surge" in Texas lately, but I just checked the charts, and the recent uptick hasn't stopped. I know a couple of people who just got it. (And I bet the numbers are being grossly under-reported with the majority of people just riding it out on their own.)
  
  
  
• And you wonder what causes inflation? Free money just keeps on coming apparently. 
  
  
  
• There was a hearing yesterday in Mississippi over whether a "trigger law" can take immediate effect, but I was taken aback about how they still start court with a prayer.  Video.
  
  
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

His life would take a wild turn. The convicted murderer is eligible for parole next year.

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• There is nothing more American in this day and time than people being killed while celebrating their "freedom."  Six dead at an Independence Day parade. 
• This video appears to be the best in capturing the gunshot sounds. That's definitely a guy pulling the trigger of an AR-15 weapon of war as fast as he could, pausing to put another clip in, and then firing again.
  
  
   
• Arrest video and photo. It took all afternoon, but they finally tracked him down.  
  
  
  
• We've got another potential Pulitzer photo for another mass shooting. 
  
  
  
• That looked familiar. 
  
  
  
• Only victims identified publicly so far: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• If you dare, you can see the photo here. I'm becoming more and  more convinced the public needs to see the carnage that an AR-15 can do in such a short time. 
  
  
  
• Various photos of the 22 year old shooter. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Of course.
  
  
  
• Not that it really matters, but the town of the shooting, Highland Park, has been the location of several movie houses. 
  
  
  
• There was another shooting in Philadelphia at a fireworks show last night that caused crowds to scatter, but I'm not believing this big city police propaganda for one second. That's one magic bullet.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• There were dozens of fires across the metroplex last night as people decided to shoot off fireworks during a drought.  Even the official Fort Worth fireworks show along the Trinity River had to be cancelled after nine minutes once fires broke out:
  
  
  
• The Fort Worth Fire Department alone responded to 203 grass fires yesterday. 
• In this story I learned that this is the same attorney who is representing the Jack County Judge who refused to perform same sex marriage. (That lawsuit is before the Fifth Circuit.)
  
  
  
• Random sports news.  
  
  
  
• "The average price of a new car is at its highest on record, topping $47,000."

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

Ten years ago this 17 year old girl was found shot to death outside of a home in a high tone area of Fort Worth. The eventual story of how she ended up there turned out to be wild.  (Stories here and here.) And then it got crazier when the homeowner who found her was also found dead a few months later, hogtied and burned in his car.  You want more? His death was tied to a white supremacy group and a man in Boyd. (Stories here and here.) It's worth the rabbit trail.

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• THWMISB™
  
  
• Friday night excitement that started in Wise County.
  
   
  
  
  
• We had a big shooting on Saturday evening in Haltom City. Cops were called out to an incident in a residential neighborhood and, when three of them arrived, a guy opened fire. 
• Two people are the home were dead: 33-year-old Collin Davis (found in the driveway) and 32-year-old Amber Tsai.
  
  
  
• Three officers were "injured". There's a neighbor's camera that picked up the moment cops arrived, and it looks like one of the officers was hit. The police chief says three were actually grazed.
  
  
  
• Six homes were hit across the street including an "elderly person" inside one of them. 
• The shooter escaped but killed himself about a half mile away.  
• Abortion updates:
• The post Dobbs landscape in America seems to be getting off to a rough start. 
  
  
  
• This Texas rep is out there making threats which aren't even true. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• All the headlines on Saturday said the Texas Supreme Court brought the pre-Roe Texas statute criminalizing abortion back to life in a late night Friday ruling.   However, there are some smart guys on Twitter who I follow who aren't so sure about that's what the ruling means. Regardless, it's just a matter of time before abortion in Texas is totally banned due to the trigger law -- although time is of the essence right now to some women out there. Fun fact: The original Texas abortion law actually was enacted even earlier than the 1920s and dates back to before the Civil War. 
  
  
  
• Some people speculate she had a nose job while on the run in Costa Rica from a murder charge. I would have never recognized her. 
  
  
  
• Dateline: Waco.
  
  
  
• If you haven't seen the montage of the debates for Wyoming's senate seat (video - 1:58 in length) or for Arizona governor (video - 2:20 in length), you have to. The U.S. is in big, big trouble.  
  
  
  
• Speaking of, the Patriot Front, the equivalent of Hitler's Brownshirts, marched through Boston on Saturday.   I'm telling you: Pay attention to what is happening out there. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sheesh. (Although Delkus didn't predict that Wise County would get rained on all day yesterday.)
  
  
  
• We don't sing the Star-Spangled Banner in a manner that lets the listener know there's actually a question mark at the end. 
  
  
  
• Did you know that if you are over 65 you don't have to pay your property taxes? Well, kind of. The rules are: (1) You still owe the taxes but the government can't come in and sell your home at foreclosure to make you pay it, (2) Once you pass, the government can enforce its lien for your unpaid taxes, (3) there is an interest rate of 5% for the unpaid balance, and (4) you still take a credit rating hit even though you have a legal right to withhold payment.   Overall: That doesn't sound like a good idea. 
  
  
  
• I saw this update on Saturday and haven't seen anything since then. I guess he is still out there.
  
  
  
• Uvalde Consolidated ISD School Police Chief Pete Arredondo has resigned from his newly won city council seat without ever attending a meeting.   You knew that was coming even though he, as is his nature, was slow to realize it.