4.05.2022

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




That's a very obscure Random Thought from April 2, 2012. The film still exists on Amazon. And there's a related Easter Egg in today's Random Thoughts. 


  • With all the storms last night, I heard, once again, people confusing a "Watch" with a "Warning." How hard is that? The terms are obvious and self explanatory. 
  • Highlights from the evening. We got a lot of rain, but nothing like the metroplex which caught a second band.  


  • Here is a sample ballot for Wise County in the upcoming election on May 7, 2022.  It includes all city and school board races and, obviously, you'll be limited to which race appear on your ballot depending on where you live. 

    • Note: There will be another election on May 24, 2022 for the run-off races not settled in the March primary (for Wise County Clerk, etc.). Why the state didn't combine the two would seem to be a good question. 
  • As of April 1st in Texas, you can now see the name of every one arrested, what their bond amount is, and the name of the judge who set the bond.  The public list maintained by the state is here. Wise County has yet to submit any information. (The database was up and running yesterday but seems to be wonky this morning.) Edit: The database is up and running and some Wise County bonds have now been submitted.
  • Of course he does.

  • Take a look of this list of names and salaries of every prosecutor in the Harris County DA's office.  You don't find a salary under six figures until page six. 

    • When I got out of law school, the thought of working in a "government job" like a prosecutor's office was unthinkable to me and my classmates. Now it's a tremendous gig and that's even before you consider the jobs have better retirement and health benefits than the private sector. It has been a monumental shift. 
  • The Supreme Court did not accept a single Fourth Amendment case this term. 
  • I'm almost surprised this doesn't happen more often. 

  • This chart was in an Atlantic article about America's workforce and used this graph taken from a recent Microsoft study of the work habits of their own employees based on keystrokes.  Historically, employees normally have two peaks of work: One in the morning and one in the afternoon after lunch. Makes sense. But now there is a new peak developing around 10:00 p.m.  The conclusion: With everyone connected via phones and home computers, there is some catch up time after dinner and when the kids are put to bed where we are catching up or dealing with recently developed issues. This ain't good. 

  • I saw these photos over the weekend of a bunch of private motorists in Dallas doing a Keystone Cops routine to try and round up a dog who had been darting onto the highway. The video is even better


  • The rarely seen curtains were put up during Wrestlemania at Jerry World.

    • Compare to . . . 

  • I don't understand this, but it goes back to my prediction that there will now be the equivalent of Super PACs funding college athletes. 

  • This is kind of interesting. The floor does seem to give way. Video.

  • "John" won the Liberally Lean Pick 'Em Tourney, barely, by hanging on despite not picking Kansas to win it all. I like it. That's my goal: Reward people for early round upsets and give them a chance even once all their final four are gone. Final standings here


4.04.2022

Random Monday Morning Thoughts





Lancaster tornado anniversary was yesterday


  • Updated standings: I think John wins it all regardless of a Kansas victory, predicted by second place Mike, tonight. The tricked up scoring system will only reward Mike with 10 points if he is right. Full standings here.

  • Good luck avoiding a mass shootings this weekend.
    • Sacramento.

    • Dallas.

  • Fox4Terry was hard at it last night. This was actually the ramp in North Fort Worth that goes from northbound I-35 to 287 for Decatur. It happened around 2:00 in the morning. That's a tow truck and a car. Two are dead. 


  • Saturday night in Southlake: Hit and run on service road of 114 and Kirkwood. Victim of accident pursues vehicle. Loses him. But then thinks he's found him as he sees a couple exit a vehicle parked in a driveway.  Couple is approached. A fight ensues and shots fired.  The car in the driveway turned out not to be the car involved in the accident. 

  • I've told you: They are everywhere.

     

  • I find it interesting that the Medical Examiner, when no longer working as the Medical Examiner, is now freely issuing an opinion of, "I couldn't possibly tell you that." (Paraphrased.) In this case, he knocked down the "time of death" theory which has been part of criminal justice lore for hears.  



    • But just think what happen: A lady was indicted for capital murder and now the State just dismisses the case and says, "Sorry. Our bad." 
  • Legal as of last Friday. How long will Texas hold out?:


  • Texas is doing it's best to cause a teacher shortage

  • That took $2.89 billion to get that done. This is all because he got mad at the company last week. 

  • Fun fact: Alaska has such a small population (731,000 -- less than the City of Fort Worth) that it only gets one representative in the House. 

  • Dateline Denton. That's one way to encourage people to drive drunk. If you pull over and try to be safe, you'll get arrested.  Edit: I screwed this one up. That was literally "on" I-35 and not "alongside" I-35.

  • I never thought I would see a party of "conservatives" champion the government sanctioning private companies for political stances. But that's where we are. 

  • For the life of me, I don't understand the attraction at all. I mean, at all.

     

  • A fantastic history podcast for dummies (like me) which I just discovered: American History Tellers. The episodes on famous Supreme Court cases are tremendous. 



4.01.2022

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






Random Friday Morning Thoughts





Yep, it happened. 


  • Remember that horrific shooting caught on video on a porch in Lubbock late last year? Nothing will be done about it.  

  • Insert record scratch sound effect. Story. (She wasn't wrong about that.)

  • The lawyer, who I have great respect for, made it a little clearer in the story:  “Timing is everything,” Ball said. “I would not suggest somebody robbing someone holding an AR-15.” Yep, that's the way you say it. The defense claim is that the boys arranged to buy the AR-15 and then tried to rob him. 

  • I don't understand why Fox News thinks its audience wants this. They spend half their time trying to root out the transgendered.  


  • And you're telling me it's a news channel and not a propaganda channel? This morning:  


  • We need more street artists in this world. 

  • I'll say it again: I don't understand the lawsuit by Jerry Jones alleged daughter. It's not about money, and she really has nothing to gain by being declared Jones' biological daughter. And if it is about being "released" by some non-disclosure agreement that her mother signed, this seems to be a moot point: She just blurted out everything in the lawsuit which she claims she isn't allowed to say. 
    • And this seems to be a little-reported new claim by Jones which he just made about that non-disclosure agreement: 

    • Unrelated. I had never seen this: That's Jerry. And I'm guessing that's Charlotte and Stephen. 

  • As of midnight, the National Archives released the paper records of the 1950 census. You can search by name, county, and state. I found my great-grandfather and wife living in Wise County. (I already knew he had been here since 1905.) The sheets also list where each person was born and occupation if they revealed it.  My suspicions that I had farming genes turned out to be correct. I knew it!


  • Tiktok in a nutshell: 

  • Random basketball note: LSU fired its coach about a week ago. This week, 10 of its 11 players on the roster entered the transfer portal
  • 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: 1,001 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold