8.31.2021

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




2011 was a wild weather year. It started with the ice storm screwing up Super Bowl week in the metroplex, then there was a crazy run of 100+ days, and then there were fires. The Cliffs at Possum Kingdom even got hit in that blaze above. And 10 years ago today, a big fire broke out between Boyd and Paradise that sent metroplex news helicopters out. Photos.    

  • Ok, we went up by over 200 yesterday breaking three straight days of declines. I'm still thinking this is the peak, but I'm not betting a lot of money on it. 

  • Is it really a mask "mandate" if everyone can opt out of the mandate?

  • That just feels good to read. 

  • Look what local police in the U.S. will be deprived of. 

  • New Orleans being without power and water in this heat seems like a really big deal. No definitive word yet on when it will be restored. 

  • A state Republican didn't like that a Texas district judge prevented the arrest of Democrats who broke quorum so he's introduced a bill to impeach him. His authoritarian measure found no one else to co-sponsor the bill. The representative is a former pastor who majored in "Youth Ministry" and comes from, surprise, East Texas. 

  • An attorney representing 17 of the Trump Insurrectionist is reportedly ill with COVID. This filing with the Court carries with it a heck of a footnote. 

     

  • The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas issued a press release announcing that JPS in Fort Worth has to pay $3.3 million in a "whistleblower lawsuit", but I was confused because it was a lawsuit brought by a private citizen. Why is the U.S. Attorney taking credit?  Get this:
    • "The allegations resolved by this settlement were originally filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which permits private persons with evidence of fraud to sue on behalf of the government and to share in any proceeds." 
    • So a private citizen gets to act as a prosecutor seeking money and keep a big cut if they win.
    • "Under the Act, the United States [Attorney] may intervene in such an action or permit the whistleblower to pursue it." But here, the government didn't intervene at all. They instead just "worked collaboratively" with her attorney. I think that's weird. 
    • The private citizen got $912,635.
    • Side note: It's always strange when a governmental entity gets hit with a big fine or lawsuit. It's the taxpayer which ultimately pays. 

  • Colleyville and Southlake seem to have a lot in common. 

  • Whatever happened to the cobra in Grand Prairie which was on the loose?
  • There's some business headlines I read which make me think I've been doing it wrong all my life. 

  • I'm ten episodes into Billions, and I've got to tell you I have serious problem with the corny writing. There are at least a couple of times in every episode where the dialogue literally makes me cringe and eye-roll. Then again, maybe gummy supplement power brokers talk differently than what I would expect. 
  • Random college football thought: I think Oklahoma has everything to lose by moving to the SEC. How that tiny state has had a super power in football defies all logic. And if they ever lose their edge, they may never get it back.  Nebraska going to the Big 10 should be a major warning and a case study. No one in the 1990s would ever think they could become what they have now become. And I don't know it they'll ever get it back. It could happen to OU. 




at 8:33 AM

8.30.2021

Random Monday Morning Thoughts





Ten years ago, the Aggies had just announced they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC. The Rice band, who is always doing bits, then clowned on the UT crowd in the first game of the year by spelling out SEC with a dollar sign. I'm guessing the dollar sign was a reference to the amount of money the Aggies were going to make.  

  • We've had three straight days of decreases in hospitalizations. That's a small sample, but every time we've seen that before it has meant that the peak had occurred and we are now on our way down. 


  • That was one slow moving hurricane once it made landfall yesterday morning. I bet reports of today's damage will be wild. And can you imagine being in New Orleans without electricity?

  • But get that selfie.

  • I thought this story sounded familiar. Yep, he was from Fort Worth and attended high tone Country Day High School before going to Ole Miss.  

  • What a weird story. The guy just walked into Plano PD shortly after noon yesterday and started firing. Police shot him but didn't kill him.  

  • Retaliation news:
    • On Friday, we were told that a U.S. drone killed two "high-profile" ISIS-K members with one of them being "associated with potential future attacks at the airport," a US defense official told CNN.  You have a reason to be skeptical.
    • On Sunday a drone strike hit a vehicle headed to the airport and believed to be carrying bombs, but the explosions also wiped out an extended family of 10 innocent civilians including seven children. 

  • I'm no expert on federal civil procedure, but I think it's weird that the 5th Circuit cancelled a hearing in a federal district court which was set to rule on the Texas new restrictive abortion law. Cancel a hearing? Aren't appeals normally after a judge makes a ruling on an issue? 

  • Dateline Milan, Italy: Oh, my.

  • The Decatur-Kennedale football game last Friday may be on of the worst of all time. It first got my attention that Decatur only had 96 yards in total offense, but that was nothing compared to Kennedale only having 40 yards total but still managing to win 21-7.

  • This is a wild story about a high school game shown on ESPN over the weekend involving an absolutely awful team which we now learn doesn't seem to be associated with a high school at all.  Just as weird, they had just played on Friday before the nationally televised game on Sunday. The announcers, who were covering the game plated at the Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio no less, had to apologize for the quality of play. (Video.)  And the questionable team is supposed to play at state ranked Duncanville High School on September 10. Someone is going to get hurt. 


  • Hey, Dominion Voting Systems, you might want to consider suing WBAP's Brian Estridge over his mischaracterization of this AP story this morning at 6:10 a.m.  Also, yuk monkey Stubie Doak added to the misinformation by specifically asking if Dominion would retract its lawsuit against the MyPillow guy.  Dominion doesn't mess around with lies. 



at 8:31 AM

8.27.2021

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




And I'll never do it again. Overall, it was a great experience but, man, the time commitment, the headaches, and the parents was just too much. Hats off to those who do it and go back for more.

  • On the brink of 14,000. For all practical purposes, COVID is as bad as this moment than at any other time since this entire mess began. 

  • I'm hearing Decatur High School is being hit hard by COVID but officials are being pretty tight-lipped about it. The number of "over 200" keeps coming up but that number might include those "impacted by COVID-related reasons" which is admittedly vague. But there's no way to get an official number:

  • An inmate, a jailer, and a chaplain are dead from COVID contracted at the Denton County Jail.

  • The deaths of marines in Afghanistan is sickening, but it adds to the long list from over there. Just the other day I posted this flashback from 10 years ago. Yep, let's get out of there. 

  • This is the guy Trump called a murderer and told us, "We know who he is." His motivations all makes sense now.

  • The Texas House passed the restrictive voting bill last night -- the same one that was put on hold when Democrats fled to prevent a quorum -- but the debate was not going to have the "R word" thrown around.  

  • Some say this was attempted eye-gouging by a Southlake player last night. Video. They showed the came ESPNU.

  • There was another shooting in Dallas last night which isn't noteworthy in itself, but look at this photo with four of the five cops being young female officers. Nothing wrong with that, but it just struck me as an unusual image.

  • We've got our first political news for Wise County regarding next year's primaries: Bridgeport Colby Shawn will run for commissioner to replace Gaylord Kennedy who is not seeking re-election.  
  • This was another 6-3 decision off the Supreme Court's "shadow docket" late yesterday evening -- decisions made on an expedited basis without being fully briefed or receiving oral argument. That used to be rare, but now they happen all the time. Justice Breyer is not happy. 


  • Fannin County has had some serious courthouse renovation. Big thumbs up.


     
  • Twitter rejected NFL Hall of Famer and former Minnesota state supreme court judge Alan Page's request for a verified blue check mark. 

  • Zeke doesn't have to wait to play any games in order get almost all of this year's salary since he just got an up front check. Maybe he can buy Dak another $13,000 suitcase like he did on the first episode of Hard Knocks. 

  • 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: 784 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM

8.26.2021

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




Nothing is more important in the courthouse than your credibility. That goes for everyone.

  • Your reminder that the record is 14,218. We may have broken it yesterday -- the numbers will be released this afternoon. 

  • I told you it would take 7 to 10 days to determine if we'll have a problem. We have a problem. 

  • I'm not exactly sure what Bridgeport's "Decals with Dads" is, but it looks fun. 

  • A federal judge has sanctioned nine Kracken lawyers, including Sydney Powell and Lin Wood, in their "Big Lie" post-election litigation including referring them to the appropriate body for consideration of disbarment. They should be disbarred.  And the judge went scorched Earth on them. 


  • From those conned by Trump to those willing to take a horse dewormer instead of the safest vaccine America has ever seen, I've learned more about my fellow man in the last four years than I have in my entire life.  And I've been giving them way too much credit. 

  • The Tarrant County DA's Office is going Hollywood with self-promoting tweets like this. And this one is deceiving and bordering on being an outright lie. It says he was sentenced to the "maximum" but that is misleading. The State actually failed to prove a first degree felony charge (maximum sentence is "life or 99 years") against the man and the jury found the guy guilty of a lesser second degree felony -- and that's what he got the maximum of 20 years for.  (Nerd stuff: They charged him under 30.02(d) but he was found guilty under 30.02(a)(3).)

  • This is getting a really weird. He tried to ban masks and now he's trying to ban private entities from requiring vaccine proof if the private business "receives public funds by any means."

  • But his bar for success is really low. It's currently defined as keeping the lights on during a summer day.

  • Afghanistan evacuations since August 15th: 95,700. What more could you ask for? 

  • That officer who is coming forward is seriously underestimating the number of far right wing nutcases out there.

     

  • I pointed out the other day that a person sitting on the far right of the counsel table can't see the witness in the new courtroom in Wise County. It dawned on me that this isn't just an inconvenience but is actually a constitutional issue. A Defendant has the right to confront his witnesses under the Sixth Amendment. If he or his lawyer can't see the witness's face while they testify, that's a problem. 

  • What is wrong with some prosecutors and law enforcement? Just admit when there has been a royal screw up. It's not hard. 
    Story from 2017

     
    Story from yesterday.

  • Note to defense lawyer in the story below: If the prosecutor offers you a plea deal where the victims are going to be upset and run to the press about it, don't embarrass the prosecutor further by telling the paper you were "surprised" by the offer. 

at 8:31 AM
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