10.02.2018

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • Police at Penn State decided to use low flying helicopters to disperse tailgaters. That was dumb. Fortunately, just minor injuries were reported but the cops are taking heat about it. (Videos in the link.)
  • Voting: Straight ticket ends in Texas after the mid-terms. 
  • Longtime readers will recall that I once named ex-Texas Ranger Chris Davis the "Official Major League Ball Player of Liberally Lean." Uh, he's not doing so well (other than his bank account.) He finished the year with a 1 for 37 slump bringing is average to .168. 
  • Ever thought about how you have a disadvantage or an advantage because of these simple things you had no control over: Birthplace, skin color, birth parents, birth gender, birth language, birth name, and ethnicity. 
  • I've always considered public "mosquito spraying" to be the equivalent of a can of Raid strapped onto the back of a Tonka truck going around the field at Jerry World.
  • I'm forever thankful I've never had to go into this guy's court. In the late 1990s, the Fifth Circuit found McBryde engaged in "intemperate, abusive and intimidating" courtroom conduct and suspended him from hearing any new civil or criminal cases for one year and disqualified him for three years from presiding over cases involving attorneys who had testified against him during the investigation.
  • I've been reading a book about LBJ and came across this photo last night which got my interest. It is LBJ and Bobby Kennedy (who hated Johnson) in Brooklyn in October, 1964. An open car parade that quickly after JFK's assassination was pretty gutsy. (And I love looking at all the secret service guys - especially the one pointing at the camera and the one squatting right in the middle of the front seat.)
  • A Bridgeport officer took a spill during a "demonstration" yesterday. He's fine. Remember kids, always wear a helmet.
  • Proof that we are living in a bizarre world: Last night there were headlines that Brett Kavanaugh got into a disturbance at a bar when he was in college because he mistook a guy as as the lead singer of UB40. UB40?! Side notes: (1)  I guess it's only fitting their biggest hit had a title about alcohol, and (2) I really don't care about the incident. 
  • Remember when a phone company was called Cingular?
  • Everyone is going gaga, as they should, over Pat Mahomes with the Chiefs. Flashback: Look at his numbers against OU in 2016.
  • That massive Amazon warehouse in the Halset area employees a lot of Wise County folks. They just boosted their minimum pay to $15 an hour. 
  • Up to 2,200 homes have been announced for an area bordering Wise County north of the Saginaw cutoff and east of Rhome. There will be a new road to access it from 287.
  • Is state rep. Konni Burton the female version of Jonathan Stickland? Seems like it. 
  • Troy Aikman was on The Ticket this morning for another boring segment. At one point he said, "I had some buddies over to watch the game last night . . . . "  The interview would be interesting if they asked him who is buddies are and how he knows them. 

at 8:34 AM

10.01.2018

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • J. E. Carson, the namesake of one of Decatur's elementary schools, passed away early this morning. 
  • Los Angeles airport announces it won't bust people for weed. (Here's a dirty little not-so-secret: Any airport in a state that legally sells weed isn't going to mess with you either. They just won't say it on the record like LAX.)
  • Speaking of, Gov. Abbott over the weekend announced he would push for reducing the punishment for possession of personal amounts of marijuana to a Class C misdemeanor -- the equivalent of a traffic ticket. 
  • I didn't even know there was one. (From the official Texas prosecutors site):

  • This writer from Dave Campbell's Texas Football noted something bizarre on Friday night. How it occurred is here in the comments. 
  • The State doesn't have to prove a motive but I'm certainly curious if there was one. 
  • "I was really being tough and so was he. And we would go back and forth. And then we fell in love. No really. He wrote me beautiful letters. They were great letters. And then we fell in love." - President Trump at one his "rallies" on Saturday night. (That would make the front page of every paper if the U.S. was in a constant state of chaos.)
  • The doctor who looked at Tavon Austin was either the ghost of LBJ or Jim Leavelle.
  • It's the first week of October with the temperatures in the 80s and high humidity. Why do we live her again? 
  • I think this guy, who was labeled "creepy old man", at the Florida game got a bad rap. It looks like he is in the row behind her and not speaking to her at all. 
  • A Georgia high school football player died yesterday from a head injury he received in a game on Friday. A Tennessee State player underwent emergency surgery on Saturday after a head injury. He is still in critical condition.
  • Good and Evil? Really? Can we please pull the FBC of Dallas' tax exempt status. 
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.



at 8:30 AM

9.28.2018

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












at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




  • I forgot to mention an ICE raid in North Texas that engulfed the lives of 98 people who were caught. One was from Bridgeport and two from Jacksboro. No names given.
  • I predicted that the Mesquite officer on trial for aggravated assault would be found not guilty. I was close. There was a hung jury yesterday. 
  • The Kavanaugh hearings were historical yesterday. Random thoughts:
    • Dr. Ford was absolutely believable.
    • The widespread Republican response was that she must have been victimized but must have a mistaken memory regarding who did it. Riiiiiiight.
    • The "special prosecutor" for the Republican majority (who they abruptly booted) found herself in a position many trial lawyers have been in: She wasn't going to land a glove on the witness, Dr. Ford, so the only thing she could do was to treat the witness with respect, make what points she could (if any), and get out.
    • I don't believe Kavanaugh for a second, and I'm struggling to figure out how anyone possibly could.
    • To me, Kavanaugh acted like a spoiled rich kid prep school kid. He is James Spader from Pretty in Pink. It's almost like you could picture him being caught on a hot mic in a bus with Billy Bush. 
    • Man, two things that Kavanaugh did not want to talk about: (1) An FBI investigation, and (2) his yearbook which makes two sexual explicit coded references that he clearly lied about.
    • The video clips of Kavanaugh saying how much he "likes beer" are as funny as they are bizarre.
    • If everyone wanted to get to the truth, they would bring in Mark Judge - the alleged witness in the room. Heck, I'd take two FBI agents asking him questions and taking his statement. But that's not going to happen. (In a shocking twist which has received almost no publicity, his "statement" to the committee wasn't even signed by him. It was signed by his lawyer.) Edit: Shortly after writing this, the Committee refused to issue a subpoena for him on a vote of 11-10.
    • Having Alyssa Milano in the background all afternoon seemed bizarrely appropriate for America.
    • In the end, is Kavanaugh the very best this country has to offer for its highest court?
    • Just once in my lifetime I'd like to a Supreme Court justice who went to a public law school, had a career as a public defender representing poor people, and never made a lot of money.
  • Two guys decided to "take it outside" after getting into an argument at a JV game in Carrollton last night, went to the parking lot, and one guy ends up in critical condition with a gunshot.
  • Jane McGarry just killin' it last night:
  • Wait. Rudy thinks he was in the Senate?
  • "Chris in Decatur" made The Ticket this morning for spotting this funny description of a game played with an oblong ball in the United States:
  • Someone pointed out yesterday that no Vietnam vet has ever been President, and that perhaps all the great leaders of that generation simply died there. 
  • The Oklahoman just got hit with massive newsroom layoffs. Edit: Good lord -
  • Edit: Sen. Flake says he will vote to confirm Kavanaugh. He got an earful in the hallway.

at 8:36 AM

9.27.2018

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • Yesterday was a crazy news day. It started with an explosive new allegation against Kavanaugh and ended with Trump on a crazy and rambling press conference. 
  • It quickly got bizarre as Stormy Daniel's lawyer -- who correctly exposed Trump's affair and cover-up with regard to Stormy and which ultimately led to a federal conviction of Trump's personal lawyer --  releasing an affidavit of a woman about Kavanaugh's past. This caused Trump to unwisely start a Twitter war.
  • I told you this week would get ugly.
  • I think I understand this, but it still sounds funny:
  • I mentioned the other day that college football players are now picking up and quitting if they are benched. Clemson's quarterback, who started the national championship game last year, announced yesterday he would transfer.
  • Back to Kanaugh. Look, I don't know what he did or didn't due in his younger years, but I now have serious concerns. It is by no means enough to want to convict him of a crime, but certainly enough to give pause as to whether to hand him a lifetime job promotion where he gets to shape American law for a generation or more.
  • And to all those that refer to someone else's word alone as "no evidence", there are literally thousands of people in prison who disagree. Like I said, I wouldn't convict Kavanaugh of anything, but if convicted no court would overturn it for insufficient evidence. Heck, Texas even has a statute that specifically says the uncorroborated word of a person victimized as a child is sufficient evidence to convict. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 38.07 (West Supp. 2016)
  • But I'm stunned by the Trump hardliners who have dismissed every allegation against Kavanaugh out of hand. Most seem to always say, "I have a hard time believing" the allegations to be true. That led to the following retorts yesterday (all of which I've stolen): 
    • I have a hard time believing that hundreds of gymnasts could be molested by a single osteopathic physician over decades and not report it
    • I have a hard time believing Catholic priests would molest boys for decades and we never heard about it.
    • I have a hard time believing Kevin Spacey was a predator for years and years yet continued to make films.
    • I have a hard time believing Bill Cosby drugged and assaulted women for decades and none of them said a word. 
    • I have a hard time believing a California doctor and girlfriend who have appeared on TV drugged and abused women.
    • I have a hard time believing Sandusky did that for years at Penn State and no one came forward.
    • I have a hard time believing there was a sexual assault problem under Baylor's Art Briles' watch and it took one prosecution for the flood gates to open. 
  • Watch this case out of Tarrant County. Something about it didn't sound right when the story first broke. Terri Moore is the defense lawyer. 
  • Gas prices are at a four year high.
  • Trump said yesterday he has grown to "like" the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Does he think we have forgotten that he used the parents of the Otto Warmbier, who died as a direct result of Kim, as props during his State of the Union speech?

  • I hate to harp on this Kavanaugh nomination, but this got buried yesterday when it normally would be front and center: Mark Judge's ex-girlfriend says that "Judge had told her ashamedly of an incident that involved him and other boys taking turns having sex with a drunk woman." This corroborates the affidavit released yesterday from alleged victim #3. That ex-girlfriend now wants to talk to the FBI and Judiciary Committee about it.
  • And local conservative Christian talk radio host lectures all you women out there on "basic decency". Women, I feel sorry for you. What a pig.: 
  • The scene has started:
  • And the papers are in rare form this morning:

at 8:32 AM

9.26.2018

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • Things like this make me fear a cyberattack: Verizon's network went down for most of the country yesterday, and Delta had to ground flights yesterday evening due to computer errors. 
  • Heard at the courthouse yesterday: Girl #1 "There ain't none of my exes that I'd remarry." Girl #2: "Me neither!!"
  • I'm ashamed that the U.S. was laughed at when Trump spoke at the U.N. yesterday, and equally confused that he didn't understand he was being laughed at. However, there's a tweet for everything.  Flashback to 2014:
  • Once again, Williamson County is in the news as a Republican legislator from Georgetown allegedly went all Joe Barton on a co-ed:
  • The New Yorker is on to us. The headline and byline throw out "right-wing zealots" and "crackpots." (It's written by Lawrence Wright so it's actually pretty good):
  • Robert Jeffress is neglecting his duties at pastor at FBC of Dallas again. This time he's being paid to speak at the sure-to-be-a-party Quartet Convention in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

  • Want to see a judge run down an African American woman in the hallway after she was denied a protective order because she didn't meet a strange 8:00 a.m. deadline? He resigned. 

  • The LSU band performs "The Office" theme.
  • There hasn't been a whole lot of news about an awful story of a woman murdered in Dallas after walking her dog. Her roommate was also attacked and put in ICU.  And they lived in a nice apartment complex.
  • Bill Cosby was sent to prison on the same day that President Donald Trump addressed the U.N. I pray that time travel exists and that someone from the 1980s just arrived yesterday and turned on a TV. (Of course, they spend five minutes asking themselves, "This skinny thing is a TV? Oh, come on!")
  • I've never seen West Side Story, Mary Poppins, or any of the Jurassic Park movies.
  • It's raining like a son of a gun at the time of this writing. I hope they remembered to put a tarp on the roof at Decatur High School. 
  • Paxton is wasting his time and our money on this? (And is it Texas's or Texas'?)
  • Speaking of Bill Cosby:
  • Here's Judge Kavanaugh's 1982 calendar they he kept in high school. No, really.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:30 AM
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