Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• In an incredible moment yesterday morning, Rudy Guiliani, Trump's wheels-off lawyer, told Meet the Press that "Truth isn't truth." Consider Kellyanne Conway's, "Alternative facts" and Trump himself saying "What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening,” and then remind yourself that these people are saying everyone else is lying.
  
• The rain on Saturday night in Arlington was insane. The Rangers' game was delayed over two hours and finished up moments before 1:00 a.m. 
  
  
  
  
• I don't know why this doesn't lead the news in every outlet in the metroplex: Millions of dollars collected for the families of the officers killed in the attack in Dallas in the summer of 2016 never made it to them. The man in charge: A cop with the Dallas Police Association who paid himself an administrative fee. Additionally, last year 74% of all donations to his "fund" went to telemarketers -- one of which is described as "his friend." 5% went to the families of the fallen officers.
• Almost every trial I see on the news shows a prosecutor making an "argument" during opening statement while the defense lawyer just sits on his hands letting him get away with it.
• The Balch Springs trial of Officer Oliver continues. Note to conservative talk show hosts: Murder in Texas does not require "premeditation" of "malice aforethought."
• I finally saw all of Get Out over the weekend. Verdict: It was really good until it devolved into a typical American horror film. (But I sure do understand the Dak Prescott mural now.)
  
• The amount of torn ACLs in the NFL is amazing. There were 51 last year and we are already up to 11 (and counting if you add this weekend), and we are just halfway through the preseason.  
• The lawyer in the story below was Frank Branson. He has been winning ridiculous verdicts for over thirty years: 
  
• Oh, Williamson County. The judge who told the Sheriff not to bad mouth him on social media got slapped down. 
  
• UT had three players transfer from the football program last week. Baylor has been hit with transfers lately as well. We are seeing a whole lot of, "If I'm not playing, I'm leaving" from today's college players. (Unrelated: Look at the Morning News' "All Area Preseason Football Team" and notice that six of the eleven offensive players have committed to Oklahoma.)
• I told you there was something weird about that Manafort trial. The jury has deliberated for two days and has asked for a clarification of "reasonable doubt." 
• I'm worried about the Star-Telegram. Its six lead stories on its home page this morning  include three about food, one about high school cross-country, one about an average Cowboy, and traffic (with the generic "we want to hear from you."
  
• Remember that bomb that hit a bus in Yemen and killed 40 children? It was made by Lockheed Martin and sold to Saudi Arabia by the U.S.
• He is terrified:

  

  (This Morning)

  

  (Yesterday)

• Melania Trump will take part in a "summit" today on "cyber-bullying." 
• Yesterday afternoon, a father stabbed his 18 month old son to death in an open area of an apartment complex in Lewisville. "During the attack, the father was yelling 'Jesus is coming,'  a witness told police." Radical Christian Terrorism? What would you be saying if he had yelled, "Allahu Akbar"?
  
• The Messenger reported a child drowning in today's Update.  In this world where nothing is hidden, the name is listed on the website of the Tarrant County Medical Examiner. 
• Messenger: Above The Fold

It's Friday. Let's Get Out Of Here.

Genius. And those lines are tremendously straight.

Get me these kangaroos!

"Not the white pants! Not the white pants!"

The only thing better than her dress bit is her joy of executing it. 

Lady, that's a Demon Cat in your back seat.

What the heck is going on here?

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• A guy died in a plane crash at Rhome Meadows air strip last night. How many air strips are in that part of the county? I know of four. 
• If you don't vaccinate your kids, you are a flawed guy.
• My favorite guy on Hard Knocks is Carl Nassib who gave out financial advice on Episode One. "You have a million dollars and after seven years of getting 10 percent on that money every single year, you’re gonna double it.” That's pretty much the Rule of 72 so I can't argue with him.  But that 10% is the tricky part. One player asked him if "all I have to do is put [it] in the bank and let it sit there?" Nassib said, "Yep." Uh, can I have the name of that bank? 
• Here's a pic of the tree going out of the side of the third floor of the Wise County Courthouse.
  
  
• The former Chancellor of UT, Admiral William H. McRaven, who I am already a fan of because of his stance on "make your bed", went up another notch in my eyes when he went after Trump. Hook 'Em!
  
• The fact that the Worst DA in Texas still doesn't have a single conviction in the Twin Peak Biker Cases is even more shocking once we learn that one of the bikers' defense lawyers said this in court this week: "Metzger, who has been [the biker's] attorney for two years, asked for the second time to withdraw from the case and to allow [another lawyer] to take over. [He] told the court he has never tried a felony case before and would be incompetent in his representation of [his client]. He also said his life, his family and his practice would be ruined if [the judge] forced him to stay on the case."
• Per the Update, a Wise County man was sentenced to two years in prison for Agg Assault. I watched just a little bit of the trial, and I'm surprised he wasn't probated. (And he'll have to serve the full two years in prison. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. §508.145(d)(1).)
• This is like the lead singer of a rock band yelling, "We love you Dallas!" to the audience:
  
• And it reminded me of . . . 
  
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• Baylor and Auburn will play a home-and-home. I'm going to Auburn on a road trip! I just have to wait until 2026.
• Aretha Franklin had her first child at age twelve.
• Yesterday the entire Senate unanimously passed a resolution that the press was not the "enemy of the people." Someone is gonna be maaaaaaaad. 
• The blonde on Fox and Friends had a "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" moment yesterday.
• Fox News put Patti Label in the background of an Aretha Franklin graphic and had to apologize. The Onion quickly jumped on it by doing a parody graphic with the larger Aretha image being replaced with Gladys Knight. Quality humor.
  
  
  
  
• Yesterday we learned Trump's "military parade" would cost $92 million. The Pentagon then said, "Let's put that thing on hold, buddy." But, of course, this morning he claims he cancelled it.
  
• I'm no property tax expert but a ruling out of the Fort Worth appeals court is getting lots of attention. (Even the Harris County Appraisal District filed a "friend of the court" brief warning of a "Substantial and unanticipated losses in local revenue" if the property owner won.) That property owner, a Denton lawyer who practices in Wise County quite a bit, did win: The 10% limit on the increase in an appraised value for a residence (the "homestead cap") is applicable for the first full year after the property was purchased so long as the "homestead exemption" was claimed during that first full year. (You property experts will understand the opinion more than me.)
• I'm surprised Colt McCoy is still in the NFL. He won't be for long if he keeps taking non-flagged hits like this. 

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• This is a crazy case out of Colorado: We had a pregnant wife and her two young kids missing --  it was just featured on NBC Nightly News last night with an interview of the husband. He has since been arrested. Before the arrest: "[Detective] Baumhover said nothing appeared out of place at the house and officials are unaware of any mental health issues associated with Shanann Watts . . . . Shanann Watts' phone, purse and wallet were all found inside the home [with the car in the garage]" "Chris Watts told KUSA that the couple had an emotional conversation early Monday."
  
  
• After the SMU/North Texas football game in a couple of weeks, there will be a "professional wrestling match." Dear SMU, you are better than that. Dear UNT, you are better than that. 
  
• Cricket Infestation Warning: I'm predicting Moderate unless they love humidity in which case I'm predicting the End Of The World Via Crickets.
• There was some very late legal move yesterday in an attempt to stop the trial of the former Balch Springs police officer who shot and killed the unarmed kid leaving the party. The cop had talked to Internal Affairs and the defense now claims the prosecutors are illegally using information obtained from those conversations. According to the Morning News, the issue concerns a "Garrity warning." I can't say that doctrine readily came to mind. A quick Westlaw search indicates those words have only appeared in two Texas appellate cases -- both unreported. (Basically, if your government employer compels you to cooperate with IA, your cooperation can't be used against you in a criminal case.)
• Twenty year old Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. had hit a lead off home run in three straight games. Last night, on the very first pitch, he was intentionally hit by Marlins starter Jose Ureña.  There is nothing more cowardly than that. And equally cowardly was the Braves players on the bench which didn't storm the field to go after Ureña. (They just did the typical baseball standoff.)
  
• Cowboys' Travis Frederick saw a specialist because of a hurt neck. If that turns out to be a problem, my prediction of "take the under" for Cowboys' season wins becomes more of a lock than it already is. 
• Remember the news item where the newspaper published information regarding the Parkland shooting because the Parkland school board was too dumb to properly redact portions of it? Well, the judge, who must have never taken a First Amendment class, is mad. "In the future, she declared, she will consider listing exactly what the newspaper can and cannot print." You kidding me? When she was appointed, the governor said, "Liz is committed to the principle that the judiciary must say what the law is, and not what it should be." It helps if you know "what the law is."
  
• Speaking of First Amendment Idiots: He's upset again this morning. 
  
• A Travis County jury took less than an hour yesterday to decide that a punch that left a TCU football player with a broken jaw outside of a West Sixth Street bar last summer was justified. When you have a "defense of third person" argument involving a late night incident on Sixth Street, you're in a pretty good position. (It probably didn't hurt that the defendant was 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 168 pounds. The "victim" was 6'6" and 260.)
• This is the most Donald Jr. pic in the history of Donald Jr. pics: 
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• Steve Perry has a new album coming out. I'm more shocked that he is 69.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• The new "letter grades" for Texas schools were released moments ago.
• This case is being tried in the Wise County District Court this week.
• Funny:
  
• The Wise County DA's office is getting another clerical position. 
• Ted Cruz has asked Trump to campaign for him in Texas against Beto O'Rourke. Here's a flashback from 2016:
  

  

  Trump on "Lyin' Ted"

• We currently live in Tattooed America. Irving PD had to change its policy by no longer requiring officers to cover up their tattoos. It's simple reality: As the population ages, we now have a ton of middle aged people all tattooed up. 
• Something seems a bit odd about the Pennsylvania "grand jury report" which "implicates" over 300 Catholic clergy in the sexual abuse of what they "believe [to be] ... in the thousands" of individuals. Hey, that kind of abuse certainly exists in the Catholic church, but putting together one case of sexual abuse is a daunting task for police and prosecutors. For a grand jury to just sit in a room and issue such a sweeping report seems to be fraught with peril. (Almost all of the priests names were redacted and will not face charges -- which makes it easier to throw allegations around.)
• I can't keep a bush alive for over three years and there's a tree growing out of the side of the third floor of the Wise County Courthouse. (I had someone take a photo two days ago but she hasn't sent it to me.) 
• Yesterday at the courthouse a young lady walked up to me and asked, "Are you a lawyer?" Me (with Slumped Shoulders), "Yep." Her: "What happens if a lawyer doesn't show up for court?" Me: "If you were in the courtroom just now when the judge called roll, you won't get in trouble . . . " Her (interrupting): "No. What happens to the lawyer?" Me: "I just first wanted to make sure you understood nothing bad was going to happen to you." Her: "Hey, thanks. You are a very good lawyer." Mercy. The standards these days are incredibly low if that's all it took.
• Sarah Huckabee Sanders was par for the course yesterday: (1) She looked like a deer in headlights when she said she couldn't "guarantee" that a tape of Trump using the n-word does not exist, (2) She had to come out late last night and apologize for lying about "President Trump [creating] three times as many jobs for black workers as President Barack Obama did."
  
• I always grip about prosecutors not understanding the intricacies of "recklessness" in Texas criminal law, and here is a "fantastic example." (This guy teaches younger prosecutors in seminars.) Below, in my opinion, is a faulty and simplistic explanation of the term "recklessness" and is certainly not a "fantastic example" of it. Heck, it might not even qualify as criminal negligence if that were part of the Agg Assault statute.
  
• There are new apartments being built in Decatur by Lowe's and some kind of "super tractor supply" type store going in where the old drive-in theater used to be. (That's code for "across the street" for you youngsters.)
• Messenger: Above The Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

•  I've ranted that "movies" are nothing like they used to be. Case in point, Meg made $44,500,000 in its opening weekend.
• Quality comedy from Maury:
  
  
• Trump has, ironically, gone Unhinged on Omarosa. Here is a rant from this morning ("that dog!") followed by a couple from yesterday (once again calling an African American "not smart"):

  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
• So let me get this straight, she was paid $180,000 a year, wouldn't show up for work, but Trump kept her around because she said "GREAT things about me . . . . "
• Completely missed this on Sunday night in the Cubs/Nationals game: Bottom of the ninth, down by three, bases loaded, two outs, 2-2 count. Quick loading Twitter video here. (And to make it Texas relevant: Cole Hamels pitched seven innings and gave up only one hit/one earned run.)
• They don't have a Thunder Truck, but Fox 4 was tooling down the highway yesterday and captured a pickup getting a little loose. 
  
• Whenever there is news of a WWE death, I never have the foggiest idea of who the guy was
• Happy Birthday to the great Gary Larson.
  
• We've got another odd airplane story. A guy in Utah gets arrested for domestic violence, gets released, and decides to fly his small plane into the house where his wife was. He died. She didn't.  
  
  
• Breaking: If you look closely you can see a huge section of a massive bridge is gone. It's in Italy and the death toll has been estimated in the "dozens" but so far the official count is eleven. 
  
• Talked to a lady yesterday who swears by the "grocery pickup" at the Walmart in Haslet. It sounds like there are a million ways for it to get screwed up, but apparently it works like a charm. 
• Dak Prescott's dad got arrested for less than two ounces of weed. Let's all collectively yawn. (the number of news outlets that refer to it as less than "two grams" when it is less than "two ounces" is amazing. Copy and paste. Copy and paste.)