Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

Texas has been doing this troopers-on-the-border thing for over a decade. And, no, they don't hate it because they get paid a fortune. 

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• So what's the weather going to do? The Official Liberally Lean Weather Team refuses to make a prediction.  Why? They tell me that today the temperature will drop below 32 degrees by 2:30 p.m.  But by then, there will be 24% chance of precipitation which drops to a 10% chance by 8:00 p.m.  So whether we have icy roads depends on that window. It's anybody's guess. 
  
  
  
• But it will be cold.  It will get to 11 degrees tonight and we won't see above freezing again until Friday afternoon. 
• Gov. Abbott is treating this cold front like it is a nuclear attack. He gathered with emergency management personnel in his "war room" yesterday and then released an official photo. Good grief. Jut keep our lights on, hoss.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• He then moved on to super important business related to the state of Texas which threatens our very existence. 
  
  
  
• The video of the plane landing and looking like it would become a fireball is incredible.  But, amazingly, it ended up intact, upside down, and with all 80 passengers alive. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Kind of legal nerdy stuff: The highlighted part of this blurb got my attention because 99% of all crimes are eligible for parole at some point. And this case, where the guy received a 17 year sentence, is no different. But the actual story also read, "As part of his plea deal, Spencer will be eligible for parole."  That's just flat wrong. No plea deal ever has any agreement or promise about parole, and every defendant is actually warned about that at the time of the plea.
  
  
  
• Woah. Moments ago, the federal judge in the NYC Mayor dismissal brouhaha ordered a hearing tomorrow on the Motion to Dismiss. He has to grant it for it to become effective. 
  
  
  
• In a case brought by 14 states challenging Elon Musk's right and authority to dismantle the government, the Trump administration actually filed pleading last night via sworn affidavit that said Elon Musk is not in charge of DOGE at all. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Why do I feel like this meeting is Saudi Arabia is the equivalent of Germany and the Soviet Union meeting to divvy up Poland in 1939. Ukraine, whose existence depends on the outcome, was not invited to these negotiations.
  

  

  
  
  
  
• You think Trump doesn't want something out of any deal? Just look at this story from last Wednesday that got way too little press. 
  
  
  
• More proof we're doomed. Meet the new U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• So we are now getting to a point where the media is becoming afraid to criticize the Fuhrer.
  
  
  
  
• Ok, this is a little over the top (maybe), but this meme yesterday seemed on point. 

  

  The date is wrong. It was actually from 1939.

  

  Original photo

  
  
  
  
• The Business Second™. This one is going to impact DFW.
  
  
  
• Something seems wonky with the Wise County jail database. The PDF of all inmates is still being updated daily, but no one new has appeared on it in four days.  And for criminal defendants who you look up online, there used to a "J" by their name if they were incarcerated. That's disappeared. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

    The outrage before the movie's release was actually a thing back then. 

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• He tweets this on Saturday, and you tell me that he's just kidding, right?  Nope. It's over. It's too late to stop him. 
  
  
  
• And just to for good measure, the official White House account reposted the tweet (and added Trump's mugshot.) Trump's tweet is now the official position of the U.S. Government. 
  
  
  
• And more dangerously, it's a message to all his Ultra-MAGA vigilantes that their conduct, even violent conduct, is justified as well so long as they believe they are "saving the country." I can't believe we are here. 
• And Trump has his propaganda machine in full gear. Despite trying to stop "government waste", he flew down to the Daytona 500 yesterday.  And then the White House account had a whopping 21 posts about it. And they didn't even post one video looking out from inside Air Force 1 as it circled the racetrack before landing.  He's P.T. Barnum. And it's working. 
  
  
  
  
  
• Over the weekend, we learned that the man in charge of dismantling the government has yet another child. That makes it number 13 from 4 different women. This one from a 26 year old.
  
  
  
  
• This is how we learned about it.
  
  
  
  
  
• When Elon learned that the woman might have plotted to have the child with him all along, his response with "Whoa."   She responded with a request that he contact her. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• And then the baby momma issued a press release through a PR company. 
  
  
  
• So in this very odd joint interview scheduled for air on Tuesday, you'll be looking at two men who have 18 children from 7 different women. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Elon's DOGE update: 
• Let's slow down their a little bit, buddy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Yea!?
  
  
  
  
• Boo!
  
  
  
• Judges are now being let go. 
  
  
  
  
• This isn't DOGE, but Elon just casually tweeted that he thinks AI could replace all teachers right now. 
  
  
  
• Trump said that if Hamas didn't release all of the hostages by noon Saturday, then all hell would break loose. They instead released three. His reaction:
  
  
  
• Update on the Texas anti-vax story:
  
  
  
  
• Things are going well for the Mavericks.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Vehicles going over a bridge and catching fire is never good.  But @Fox4Terry was on the scene. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Jay-Z, who has more money than God, has previously threatened plaintiff's lawyer Tony Buzbee for filing the this lawsuit.  I bet he goes after him. (PDF of Motion to Dismiss.)
  
  
  
• Ken Paxton, or someone, registered a certain URL this weekend.(h/t Bud Kennedy.)  It is currently "parked" at host GoDaddy.com, but those auto-generated links that appear at the site when you look it up aren't the best look. 
  
• Legal nerdy stuff. There is a felony assault case against rapper A$AP Rocky wrapping up with closing arguments held Friday in a Los Angeles courtroom. The prosecutor started off rebuttal with the worst two minutes of closing argument you will ever seen.   And he did the exact same thing in the Robert Durst trial! Video of both, side by side, are here. Spoiler alert: It involves donuts.
  
  
  
• The Justice Department finally found someone to sign the dismissal of the Eric Adams case on Friday, but not after seven assistant U.S. Attorneys quit in protest. I'm sure you've seen it, but one shot off a resignation letter that is suitable for framing -- especially the lending.