7.13.2021

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




2011 might have been peak prosecutor arrogance in Texas, and I took time back then to rail against this lead story in the official Texas prosecutor publication. It was basically bragging about convicting a man with no evidence (look at the sub-headline). I was just slightly ahead of the curve. Later in 2011, the Michael Morton scandal would break revealing the practice of illegally withholding of evidence, and everyone began to look at D.A. offices in a brand new light. 

  •  Texas Democrats have fled to Washington D.C. to prevent a quorum in the legislature in protest of proposed more stringent voter laws.

    • Their excuse to "save democracy" may not sit well with some Texans, but I suppose it's more noble than fleeing to Cancun while the masses are freezing to death. 
    • Heading to the airport yesterday.

    • You can taken exception as to whether Texas' proposed new voter laws is "the new Jim Crow", but this is a lie:

  • The federal court hearing yesterday -- all six hours of it -- where a judge is considering sanctions against the "Kraken" election lawyers was brutal. And glorious.  For all my professional life I've been fearful of putting anything in a pleading which wasn't true, yet I watched Sidney Powell and Lin Wood blatantly lie last December and January about conspiracy theories. I was stunned they could get away with it. Now they won't. I just don't know why it has taken so long to slap them down. 


  • Everyone complaining about gas prices need to remember they were higher in 2005 and, on average, many years thereafter. From 2011 to 2015 they were always over $3.00 a gallon. 

  • I rewatched JFK the other day. That's one wild movie which is notorious for playing fast and lose with the truth.  And that 10 minute scene where District Attorney Garrison meets with mysterious Mr. X in D.C. where, in a rambling 10 minutes, the guy reveals all sorts of government secrets is unbelievably ridiculous. 

  • Speaking of ridiculous, Mr. X would probably have brought up this with Kevin Costner if he had a little more screen time: 

  • I completely missed this video of a pretty powerful firework being thrown into a convertible at a stop light. Good lord. 

  • Funny.

  • I had a leaky copper pipe coming from a hot water heater that a neighbor was able to replace with the skill of a licensed plumber. I would tell you his name, but I had to give him Blog Immunity because he didn't want everyone and their dog in Wise County calling him for help.



at 8:30 AM

7.12.2021

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




It's easy to forget that Roy Williams ever played receiver for the Cowboys, but I certainly didn't remember that he sued his ex-girlfriend because she wouldn't return an engagement ring that he mailed to her.  The case was immediately settled when she returned the ring.    

  • With the slimmest of margins last night, the Decatur School Board voted, for all intents and purposes, to fire its superintendent. The chaos continues. 

  • Richard Branson news from yesterday morning: 

  • Breaking down a headline. Here is the offensive clothing story. Here is the duct tape story. Here is the "Hands on head" story. 

     



  • Las Vegas on Saturday. 

  • Trump was revising history this weekend, and he's going to get a police officer killed or start another insurrection. (Audio with Mario Bartiromo who is an accomplice.) 


  • Keep your eye -- especially a large percentage of Wise Countians -- on this Delta variant. We are beginning to see the slightest of upticks. 



  • For some reason, CPAC in Dallas was the home of anti-vaxxers this weekend.
    • This pastor provides some dubious advice. Video.

    • I'm really having a hard time understanding this crowd's flirtation with death. Video. 

    • And you've always got to ramp it up a notch. Video.

  • Don, Jr. was at CPAC and had a bizarre moment. I'm not exactly sure what he was saying about Texas here. Nor did the audience.  Watch.
  • On Saturday morning, the statue of Robert E. Lee was taken down in Charlottesville, VA. You might remember that's the location of the Unite the Right rally which left a lady dead and the origin of the "fine people on both sides" comment. 
    Still shot from a video made by someone simply sitting on their porch.
    A haunting image from Charlottesville in 2017.

  • I'd feel a letter better about Texas sheriffs if they didn't all dress like they were at a wild west cosplay convention. 

  • Decatur's own Bryce Elder is off to a great in his first year as a professional pitcher. (The Mississippi Braves are the Double A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.) He currently has a 2.66 ERA.

  • There's a sanctions hearing going on at this moment in federal court over one of the bogus presidential election "Kraken" lawsuits. Lin Wood, Sidney Powell, and others were ordered to appear. 



at 8:32 AM

7.09.2021

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




Rihanna's show at the AAC ended abruptly when her stage caught fire ten years ago tonight. Video. That would have been a little scary as it first fired up.  

  • Decatur School Board news:
    • You gotta be kidding me! They are going to have a public execution on the Lord's Day.


    • Edit: The meeting will be available on Zoom here. (Meeting ID: 863 1852 0666 to enter manually.)
    • More fallout: Another football coach has up and left amongst the turmoil caused by the Board.  

    • The Messenger boldly opens up its guns on the school board in today's paper because of the secrecy and shenanigans, and it all but accuses them of Open Meetings violations and Open Records violations.  Go buy a paper. 

    • In a Letter to the Editor today, a current (and brave) teacher blasts the Board although she notes that others are "worried" she'll be "targeted" for speaking out. Recall yesterday that I said that the Board is acting like it has some kind of Joseph McCarthy-like "list". There needs to be a catchy name for this ongoing saga. Perhaps the "Blue Scare." 

    • The Messenger specifically notes that the Board has requested an AG's opinion in an effort to avoid the paper's Open Records request for all communications between the school board president and the superintendent.  Spoiler: Whenever a public entity hides behind the Attorney General request as a delay tactic, they don't want the public to know what it is attempting to hide. We want those audio recordings. 

    • I'll say it again, the burning of taxpayer money is a little noticed aspect of all of this. In addition to needlessly buying out contracts left and right, how much in legal fees has been spent? Let's see an Open Records Request for that amount. 
  • The newly crowned 2021 Scripps National Bee Champion is also a master at tricked up dribbling. 


  • It's hard to think of someone who went from Golden Boy to the slammer in such a short period of time.  He was riding high with the Stormy Daniels representation and then turned into a common criminal. 

  • You trust Gov. Abbott? His campaign sent out a press release yesterday and claimed that its own polling revealed these numbers regarding his handling of COVID. This is straight out of Fantasyland:

  • Governor candidates are coming to Wise County. 

    • If you think Don Huffines is anything other than a poser, listen to 30 seconds of his appearance on the Mark Davis Show on May 12th beginning at 12:10.  He complains that Republicans have controlled Austin for 20 years but can't get their "priorities" passed. Davis, to his credit, asks him point blank to name some. Huffines absolutely panics when he can't. 
    • I note that local attorney Paul Belew doesn't seem to be invited to the October forum despite announcing he was running for governor a couple of months ago. I knew his chances were slim, but I didn't expect him to be completely ignored -- especially by local Republicans. 
  • Last night. Oh, my.

  • I've got an idea: Pay them a decent wage.  Heck, you're selling a 50 cent hot dog for $8. I think you can work out the finances. 

  • If it is true, they picked the perfect guy to feature as the poster child as to why. 
    Dr. Robert Jeffress

  • Ever since I told you the richest guy I know told me he was quietly making his money investing in massive warehouses, I see stories like this everywhere.  "North Texas has the country’s fastest-growing industrial building market. At midyear, almost 29 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space was under construction in the D-FW area."

  • Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 2 years and 4 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

"The March 23 test results from the DPS showed a 
BAC of 0.234, according to the lab report."


at 8:32 AM
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