12.27.2022

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




Movie thoughts as 2012 came to a close.

  • If  you've got a friend or co-worker flying on Southwest yesterday, they probably aren't where they planned to be right now. This is truly fiasco:  Around 70% of all of its flights were canceled on Monday and it won't stop today or this week.   This has to be the result of some type of internal labor issue. 



  • It was an epic storm in the Buffalo area. The blizzard lasted 37 hours. 

     

  • There are some strange new charges appearing on the Tanner Horner entry on the Wise County Sheriff's Office jail roster. We knew about three new "Sexual Assault Child" charges out of Tarrant County, but there are now three new specifically worded charges of statutory rape of a child under 17. This tells me the alleged victim was between the of ages 14 through 16, inclusive. If they were younger than 14, the charge would be called Aggravated Sexual Assault so these charges aren't related to the Wise County abduction and murder.  (Oddly, one of the those three "Sexual Assault Child" charges out of Tarrant County has disappeared.  )

  • The Wise County official government website, at least the portion for court and jail data, was wonky over the last three days. I think a security certificate has expired (below). Depending on your browser, you won't be able to get to it without tweaking the settings.

  • Sad news out of Aggieland. And these lines just hurt: "Hoang's family said they were on their way to College Station to attend his graduation the weekend he went missing . . . .  They were supposed to meet him for lunch, but never did. Texas A&M University said Hoang was not qualified to graduate, Fox 26 reported." It would have been Ok. It would have been Ok. 
     

  • As everyone expected, the judge threw out crazy Kari Lake's election challenge. She responded as you would expect. These election-denying people are lunatics. 


  • A Christmas presentation in four acts.
    • Act I:

    • Act II:

    • Act III:

    • Act IV:

  • Let's check in presidential Christmas messages. 



  • Good lord.

  • Random photo from Texas Monthly's photos of the year. Boats converge at "party cove" on Lady Bird Lake on May 7, 2022. I'd be so worried about my boat once the slightest of wakes came along.

  • Nothing says Christmas like your pastor celebrating the Lord's birth by being on Fox and Friends on Sunday and Christmas morn before dawn. 
  • That is a great photo. The way the guy just looks into the camera. The two women beside him who are about to realize there might be something unusual about their row mate. Here is his Wikipedia entry.

  • The George Santos story of lies is really is amazing. The recently elected New York Congressman didn't work for Goldman-Sachs, didn't graduate from college and also lied about his religion.  And we now have this great all-time line: “I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos said. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.'”

at 8:32 AM

12.23.2022

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

That last one is old, but it make me laugh every single time.
at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



I guess it was a little different 10 years ago. 

  • Which got me to thinking about just last year in DFW. Remember this?: 

  • But don't let 2021 get lost in the shuffle. I love this photo so much. 

  • Here's a neat up-to-date nationwide wind map. Current wind chill map as of 8:00 a.m.: 

  • A budget bill of $1.7 trillion passed the Senate last night which got the far, far right worked up for some reason. Texas:

  • I'm sticking by my "not the busiest" day at airports position, but cancellations can certainly make it look that way. This pretty amazing 30 second scan of the line at Love Field right now looks like a beating. And that's one incredibly long line. 

  • That's a big bond to make for someone who is accused of stealing billions. And I don't think the federal system utilizes bail bondmen. 

  • Light reading: The complete 814 page January 6th Report was released last night. 


  • With the trial of Aaron Dean going on, another one in Tarrant County didn't get much attention. No conviction there. Michael Campbell and Andrew Wilkerson were listed as the defense lawyers. Prosecutors were Bill Vassar and Matthew Jackson.

  • The strike at the Star-Telegram is over, but I'm not sure what they got. The best I can tell there was "some movement" off the $45,000 salary floor that their corporate overlord had imposed.

  • The NFL continues to print money. But, remember, the owners have a self-imposed "salary cap." 

  • Air Force 30, Baylor 15. And it wasn't that close. Merry Christmas to me!

  • I won't be here Monday. I've already received the Heisman for THWMISB™ 2022.
  • Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 3 years, 171 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:30 AM

12.22.2022

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




You don't hear the James Taylor version very often.

  • The Liberally Lean Winter First Alert Weather Team™ has issued a Triple Weather Bomb Cold Alert™.  As I hit the publish button with the winds howling and the temperatures falling . . .  
    Not sure what that sun is doing there


    • Look at what it did to the temperature in a 30 to 40 minute window in Cheyenne, Wyoming yesterday:

  • Three new charges have appeared against Tanner Horner. All we know is that they are out of Tarrant County and "Court records indicate the offenses occurred in 2013 — one in June, one in August and one in December." There was a lady on Facebook who was vocal about an assault years ago, but she described it as a one time incident.

  • He has returned.

    Him

    Not him. Don't know what happened to him.

  • Southbound I-35 in North Fort Worth was shut down for over an hour this morning around Heritage Trace.  Also, here's a random Dallas wreck this morning that looks like a mess.

  • You can tell it's holiday season because the one lone local TV reporter on duty has been sent to DFW Airport to cover the "rush of travelers." That's just filler. (And the airport rush is a myth I've yelled about for years.)

    • But poor Dan Godwyn got sent out by Fox 4 this morning to stand beside a highway to talk about the electric grid. 

  • A reminder that a wild mystery still exists.

  • I don't have any trouble with this. If you sue me,  I'm not letting you on my private property either.  

    • The most interesting part of the story is the facial recognition software. The lawyer is just part of the firm working on the lawsuit "but is not directly involved" in the litigation. I suppose that the firm's online photo roster was scanned and that's how she was detected. Pretty wild.
    • I love NBC's headline. It's not a lawyer who was kicked out, but a "girl scout mom."

  • Legal nerd stuff. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to hear a case yesterday, but this is the way the winner at the lower court framed the issue in an attempt to persuade the court to decline the review.

  • Over the top legal nerdy stuff: If you are a criminal practitioner who deals with Rodriguez "prolonged detention" issues, check out this blog post which cites this opinion. Sure it's a state court opinion from Idaho which we normally wouldn't give the time of day, but it is getting lots of attention nationwide. The opinion's author created and discussed the second by second chart of the traffic stop reprinted below. It maps out the irrelevant questions which were asked by the officer and when a drug dog was called in, without reasonable suspicion, and "hit" on the car (as they always do). The State won in that case, but only by 20 seconds.  Good stuff. I've done this type of mapping myself. The State won't always win when you do this. 

  • With all the remembrances of Franco Harris and the Immaculate Reception yesterday, I saw this photo again. It really is amazing that he got to the ball.

  • Clemson coach Dabo Swinney with the quote of the year yesterday: "We built this program on NIL . . . . In God's name, image, and likeness." (Video.)   

at 8:31 AM
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