From The Corpus Christi Caller: Ebola!!!!

BREAKING: Shaeriff Jim Kaelin said the Nueces County Jail is on lockdown due to an Ebola threat. Jail is assessing. pic.twitter.com/FMAeA9vfIz
— Krista M. Torralva (@CallerKMT) November 6, 2014

Odds of it being Ebola: 1 in a Krillion

(And Shaeriff Kaelin is not to be confused with actor Omar Sharif. [Rimshot. Hal Jay wheeze laugh. Rock me]).

Edit: Sheriff does not understand that prematurely screaming "possible Ebola" makes a sheriff look like a moron.

Sheriff: Inmate does NOT have Ebola. No Ebola threat.
— Krista M. Torralva (@CallerKMT) November 6, 2014

PETA IS AFTER WISE COUNTY!

Nosey the elephant, lame and hurting, is currently traveling through Texas, where she will be forced to give rides and perform grueling circus tricks at the Wise County Fairgrounds in Decatur as part of the Family Fun Circus, which is scheduled to appear November 5. We don't have much time, so please act today and ask decisionmakers to cancel Nosey's appearances immediately.

You may have seen that Newsroom actor Olivia Munn recently penned a scathing letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and that True Blood's Kristin Bauer van Straten called and e-mailed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) about the agency's failure to help Nosey. Nosey's exhibitor, the notorious Hugo Liebel, has been forcing the elephant to perform despite the fact that she has been consistently lame since at least July 27. According to a leading elephant expert and veterinarian, "Nosey demonstrates needless suffering and pain with each step while forced to provide rides to the public." Despite Liebel's long history of animal-welfare violations—including citations for shackling Nosey with short chains and denying her veterinary care—the USDA has refused to step in to help. Now it's up to compassionate people like you to ensure that Nosey is not forced to perform.

Just this week, the cities of Gainesville, Denton, and Terrell, Texas, refused to allow Liebel to exhibit Nosey after hearing of his abusive history. And after hearing from PETA and its supporters, the Buy For Less supermarket in Oklahoma City barred Liebel from performing on its property last month. People are listening! Join PETA today in politely urging representatives of Wise County to follow these compassionate examples by canceling Nosey's appearances right away. (Source)

I'm not sure what is going on, because PETA has deleted the page and I had to get it from Google cache. I think the County's position is: It's in the limits of Decatur, go talk to them.

In a related matter, I have hearsay info that the circus yesterday involved a miniature horse and two dogs (only one who could do tricks) and no elephant.

But, what the heck, Facebook petition!!!!

Courthouse news: Read People!

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Other election news I missed yesterday: (1) GOP whipping girl Sandra Fluke lost her bid to join the California state senate, (2) American Idol star Clay Aiken lost his bid for Congress in North Carolina, (3) Zach Dasher, nephew of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, lost his GOP bid for Congress in Louisiana. and (4) weed was legalized in Oregon, Washington state, D.C., and Alaska.  What a weird country. 
• Speaking of Alaska, remember when the Supreme Court sanctioned the punishment for a kid who was punished for holding up a sign in that state which read, "Bong Hits For Jesus." He was punished for referencing what is now legal activity. 
• Lost in the defeat of Dallas DA Craig Watson is the fate of former (and fired) WFAA reporter Debbie Denmon. She became the Dallas DA's office "Director of Communication" but, the best I can tell, was told to never communicate. On election day, Watkins (being Watkins) issued a press blackout before the election results were in.  
• "President Obama said on Wednesday that he would seek specific authorization from Congress for the military campaign against the ISIS." I'm with the Libertarians on this one: There is no Constitutional authority for Congress to "authorize" military action if the President so desires to use military action. They either declare war or they do not.  That why Ron Paul had a big problem with Bush and Iraq: There was never a declaration of war. Congress just approved force if Bush wanted to use force. 
• "Who cares about this stupid election? We all know it doesn't matter who gets elected . . . .  Do you really think it's gonna change anything around here, make one single person smarter or happier or nicer? The only person it does matter to is the one who gets elected. The same pathetic charade happens every year, and everyone makes the same pathetic promises . . . ." - character Tammy Metzler from the very underrated 1999 movie, Election.
• I'm always surprised that those who think it is a big deal that the election results, when shown on a red/blue map, is shockingly red. Hey, that little blue spot around a place called "New York" is worth more votes than the vast red space of Montana, Idaho, and West Texas combined. 
• "Conservative Pundit Dennis Prager Says College Sexual Assaults Are Lies To Get Votes" That guy may be nuttier than Hannity.
• I was home about an hour early yesterday and put on my running gear. Right before I'm out the door, I get a call that the Junior in the House's car in the high school parking lot is dead and needs a jump. So I'm off. Car jumped. Success. I tell her to "drive it for awhile" to charge it up. I drive home. The car is sitting in front of the house.  "Hey, I told you to drive it." She rolls her eyes and goes to drive it -- except the battery is dead again. I try to jump it again but this time nothing. Absolutely nothing. For some reason, I've got a four year old, yet never used, battery in the garage so I swap it out despite her question of, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Battery installed. Jumped. Success. I tell her to go drive the thing and charge it up. I go off on my jog. A quarter mile away I see her at an intersection. I wave. She waves back but frantically and in a panic. The car died at the intersection. How is that possible? So, me the middle aged jogger, goes and talks to a teenage girl at the intersection. A couple of people drive by giving me a weird stare. Mrs. LL has been called to bring the Gangsta Mobile and the jumper cables. She arrives. Try to jump it off -- nothing. For some unexplained reason, I have a two year old battery, yet never used, in my trunk. They go to retrieve it and return.  A cop shows up.  I fully expect I'm about to have my name and date of birth cross checked against the sexual offender list but it doesn't happen. He's a nice guy. I switch in the new battery and jump it. Success. Now I take the car to drive it and charge the battery since we are scared that it'll die again with the Teenager driving it.  Success again. I park it in front of the house.  It is now dark.  I jog anyway.
• First item in the Update deals with a tractor death near Boyd: "The man, from Decatur, was not identified pending notification of next of kin in Mexico and positive identification." Last item in the Update: "SERVICE for Jesus Saldana, 20, of Mexico is pending at Christian-Hawkins Funeral Home in Boyd." I'm guessing those two items aren't related but we'll see. 

Too Many Cops?

	Arrests by @DentonPD (@DentonPolice)
11/5/14, 2:33 PM 11/05/2014 14:10:36 Dewayne, 50 yrs old ♐ Bond: $352 BICYCLE RIDE ON WRONG SIDE OF ROAD NOT PASSING pic.twitter.com/dFxwUEC3ej

Random Decatur Drive In Ad: 1974

• Frankenstein wasn't enough? We had to add a monster?
• Before there was Lincoln, there was "Captain Kronos". 
• Hey, Chinatown!!
• Never heard of Warren Beatty in The Parallax View. 

I Think I've Found The Most Conservative County In Texas: Hartley County

Over 90% for Greg Abbott with turnout at over 60%.

The population is 5,537 which includes those in the confines of Dalhart Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

We've Got Another College Kid Winning That Basketball Contest

Unlike the one I posted last week, he got help on the rebounds. (Boy, did he need it.)  And nice 'fro on the white boy!!!

Hey, That Lady From Iowa Who Grew Up Castrating Hogs Won!

Let's go to her for a reaction to the big win:

Index

I don't think you could get away with this today.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• No election surprises on the national or Texas level last night. 
• I was impressed that J.D. Clark got a whopping 83% of the vote for Wise County Judge but then I noticed basically every single Republican in statewide voting received 80% or more of the Wise County vote. I'll have to check, but I bet that is at all time highs. 
• Texas won't be blue if Democrats sit on their arse: In the last presidential election, 3,300,124 Texans voted for President Obama.  Wendy Davis received 1,820,571 votes in this election. Yeah, it's a mid-term election, but still. 
• But I just checked Abbott's comparable numbers: Romney got 4,569,843 and Abbott received 2,775,353.   If my math is right, Davis received 55.1% of what Obama received and Abbott got 60.1% of what Romney received. Significant, but not "game on" changing. 
• I love this election stuff. 
• Nationally, the most entertaining thing to watch in the future is how the Normal Republicans and the Tea Party Republicans get along in the Senate. I'm counting on Ted Cruz to not let us down in the entertainment department.
• And since President Obama can veto any crazy legislation without fear of an override, we have a stalemate for the next two years. And I'm fine with that. 
• Craig Watkins lost the DA's race in Dallas County by a hair. An incumbent and a Democrat DA in that county lost. You have to be a major screw-up to pull that off. And, make no mistake about it, he's a major screw-up. And not very smart. And unethical. Other than that, he's a swell guy. 
• The Republicans lost 27% of the house in the mid-terms. Oh, I'm sorry. Wrong election. That occurred under Abraham Lincoln. It takes a while for the "current" to be put into "historical" perspective. 
• I've said it before, if the government tells me I can no longer sell my mineral rights to a fracking company, hasn't the government, legally speaking, "taken" my minerals without compensation?
• Brian Knox has a column in the Messenger this week which begins "Dear APD:".  I think I'm a smart guy, but I have no idea what the heck he is talking about. It's written like a break up letter but he's clearly talking about some undescribed medical procedure. Someone over there clue me (and the rest of the county) in. 
• Bad cop: A Grapevine police officer was placed on administrative leave after admitting to taking and ingesting K-9 training narcotics.
• I've often wondered about cops stealing drugs.  If I have a client accused of possessing 2.5 grams of meth (a third degree felony) and the lab comes back with .9 grams (only a state jail felony), we probably aren't going to complain. And the cop can always say, "The 2.5 grams was the weight including packaging." 
• "Alex from Target" was a marketing scheme? (And how do I know about Alex from Target? I have a teenage girl in the house.) 
• Bowie had its first murder in 20 years.  You know, it's possible the guy could have claimed it was an accident (and he still might), but it doesn't help that you later burn the body. 
• Looked up last night and Family Pup #2 had a diaper on. 

Above The Fold

Six In Ten Go Straight Ticket

Wise County straight ticket voting early: 60 percent. Of those, 87 percent Republican, 13 percent Democrat.
— WCMessenger.com (@WCMessenger) November 5, 2014

And I expect that will mirror the final results. Edit: Those numbers are basically exactly what the final numbers showed.

I've never understood the straight ticket voter regardless of party.

Dancing Anchor Guy During Break Wrapping Up Your Monday

Side note: I bet she's the life of the party.

DPS Was Lying To You In 1974

So it's the end of August with around 1,550 traffic deaths in Texas. (I'm assuming "Major" Bell wasn't using fiscal year numbers.) So let's go crazy and assume it double by the end of the year to get us around 3,000. (That's what is was for 2009 and 2010, by the way.)

How many murders/homicides actually occurred in the U.S. that year? (Back up source with same number.)

Heck, there were 970 murders in Chicago in 1974.

David Dewhurst Won't Die!

Ballot irregularities omit my name from ballot in Bexar Co. Call Secretary of State if you spot other problems http://t.co/7KEr3k5bC9
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 4, 2014

In all seriousness, this better not be a widespread problem throughout Bexar County. Abbott could win without it, but still.

Edit: Reports are trickling in that we've got a photoshop hoax here.

Index 1956

This is for Bridgeport folks only, I suppose.  Heck, it may only be for me.

For my entire childhood and teenage years, Mr. and Mrs. Funk (they always let me call them G.B. and Norma Gale) were my next door neighbors. I got a kick out of coming across their wedding story. Lots of long time Bridgeport names in there.

There's not much else on the page other than a State Fair ad and an alert about an "apartment shortage" with instructions to alert the mayor if you have a place to rent.

Edit: And Norma Gale to the rescue in '74:

Senate Forecast For Tonight

Those are the States in play. Seven Democrat incumbents. Two Republican.

The "+" means the number of percentage points of the expected win. For example, in North Carolina, there is a 69% chance that the Democrat will win with the most likely margin being by 1% point of the vote.

Source: The great Nate Silver. (I don't know how he does it, but that guy is good.)