Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• The Random Thought Girl™ was meant for yesterday. I've entitled this piece of art, "All Of Us After The Election". 
• While you were sleeping: 12 murdered inside a country and western bar in Thousand Oaks, California. Another day in America as we surpass our last mass shooting eleven days ago.

  

  Borderline Bar and Grill - site of shooting

  
  
• One overlooked huge Democratic win was on the Dallas Court of Appeals. Eight Democrats were elected to get a majority on the 15 member appellate court. And you can't just right it off as "It's just Dallas. What did you expect?" Those judges are elected at large from Dallas, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, Collin, and Rockwall counties. The last Democrat to win was in 1992. It is now full of Plaintiffs lawyers. (I know one Wise County lawyer who is trying to hold on to a multi-million dollar judgment in that court.)
• I've seen at least four dead deer the last couple of days along the roads in Wise County after being struck by vehicles. A Bambi-hunting friend of mine says they are in a "rutting period." Males are in crazed yet aggressive stupor looking to mate, and females are running from them. Neither are paying much attention. 
• Well, Trump fired AG Jeff Sessions (the first confederate monument he is willing to take down) for ethically recusing himself in the investigation of, well, Trump.  Newly elected Republican Senator Mitt Romney sends his greetings via a warning shot: 
  
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• "I think I am a great moral leader." "I don't know who Lil Jon is." - Trump in a bizarre press conference yesterday. 
  
• Trump later suspended the press pass of CNN's Jim Acosta for "placing his hands on a young woman" during the press conference. Hey, he can be antagonistic but that's a lie. (Video). And that's also a bold excuse to use by the Grab-'Em-By guy.

  

  An intern gets her 15 mintues of fame.

• Here's the danger of the modern world: Already there is a video at normal speed but with a slight edit distorting Acosta's hand gesture by speeding it up for a split second. It was made by the nutcase InfoWars organization and has has been shared tens of thousands of time including the White House. "Video, once the end-all central validator, is becoming as vulnerable to politicized distortion as everything else."
• Tell me this is just a coincidence: I picked up some "Oreo Chocolate Bars" out of the discount Halloween bin. I had never even heard of them and certainly had never bought them before. I checked out with a credit card like I always do, and now I'm seeing promoted ads for those cookies on my Twitter timeline. 
• The news underlying yesterday's bullet point on Texas Congressman's Will Hurd race was being changed as I wrote it. The current status. 
• Dallas Morning News: If you want to hire 20 hookers for a party ("No mom, no fat girl or whatever"), it'll cost you $40,000 with $5,000 down. Cocaine and Viagra can be part of the package. 
• "Twelve children accused [a] former preacher at Haslet Church of Christ and and proprietor of Mr. Don's Whistle Shop [of sexual assault]." He was murdered in the Tarrant County jail yesterday.
• The winner of the NASCAR race in Fort Worth didn't win after all. That's all that sport needed as attendance and TV ratings continue to plummet. 
• Here's newly elected Texas Congressman Colin Allred playing for Baylor and sacking OU's Rhett Bomar.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I nailed all my political predictions from yesterday: Cruz won, the GOP kept the Senate, Dems took the House, and Creuzot won the Dallas DA's race (but that wasn't even close with a 60/40 split).
• I missed Cruz's margin of victory because it was much closer than expected. And make no mistake about it: Texas is now close to Purple and on its way to turning Blue. Specific proof of this in addition to Beto's dramatic showing is Allred beating Sessions in a past Republican safe Congressional district, the Democrats flipping 12 Texas House seats (including Matt Rinaldi losing) and Connie Burton and Don Huffines losing their Texas Senate seats. To be fair, Burton probably lost because she has the rare traits of being both incompetent and unlikable.
  
• Watching the Beto/Cruz race live was really odd. It was neck and neck for over an hour and it looked like we were in for a long night when all of a sudden ABC and NBC called it for Cruz. They were obviously right, but it came out of the blue.
• Wise County proved it was not part of the Metroplex. Beto managed to get 44.8% in Denton County, 49.8% in Tarrant County (won) and 66% in Dallas County (won). He got 16.9% in Wise County. (A Houston buddy of mine said he was surprised Beto did as well as he did in Wise County.)
• There is not a Republican judge in Tarrant County who isn't a little bit uncomfortable this morning regarding upcoming elections. They've seen what has eventually happened in Harris, Dallas, Bexar, and Travis counties. And now it is happening to Tarrant.
• West Texas and the Panhandle is always fun to look at for Republican strongholds. The Right Wing winner last night appears to be Roberts County with 95.9% going for Cruz. Nineteen people voted for Beto.

  

  Roberts County Courthouse is bigger than I pictured.

• (Edit: I’m not sure if the following is correct )The craziest race was that of incumbent Texas Republican Congressman Will Hurd. The Secretary of State showed him winning with 100% of the ballots in and the networks called it accordingly. Then in the middle of the night the SoS said there was an error in Medina County and Hurd ended up losing by 282 votes. 

  

  This turned out to be incorrect.

• Make no mistake bout it, Democrats taking the U.S. House is the most consequential result from last night. Now nothing will get done legislatively in Washington -- and that's a good thing. And Trump will learn about the Balance of Powers for the first time in his life. 
• And if you hate political ads, get ready for 2020. It'll be Armageddon. Texas has been ignored in the last decades in the presidential race because it was solid Red -- no need for either candidate to spend money here. Last night proved that can't be taken for granted. So we'll get to see a ton of ads for Trump and his opponent. 
• Dennis Hof, the deceased owner of the Bunny Ranch, won in Nevada. 
• I'd vote for her: I linked to the "Sad LSU Girl" on Monday who CBS found during the LSU/Alabama game. She has been found, and she's a good sport.
  
  
• Let's end the political season with Triumph,The Insult Dog, talking to Cruz.
• Messenger: Above The Fold.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Election Predictions (because I'm kind of an expert at this): (1) GOP keeps the Senate, (2) Dems take the House, (3) Cruz win by 6 points.  I'll believe the Texas Blue Wave when I see it, but 6 points or less means it is coming quickly. That being said, there is something weird in the air, and no one knows what this heavy turnout means.
• The hardest race to call is the Dallas DA. But if forced to put money on it, I'm taking Creuzot  over Faith Johnson. Straight ticket Democratic voting will hurt her in a razor thin race.
• Then again, I'm no political historian like this guy:
  
• I voted early and for the first time in my life I voted angrily. I understand all the memes of "Me voting in 2016 vs. Me voting in 2018." 
  
• I forgot to mention that America's most famous Klansman supports Trump's new (and fake) race-baiting promotion.
  
  
• That ad has now been banned by all major networks, including Fox News and Fox Business. So let this sink in: An ad created by Trump's campaign is too racist even to be shown by Fox News.
• The most ridiculous graphic by a local TV station in the history of graphics. (Look at those defensive players as he tries to explain how Amari Cooper will be like Dez Bryant.)
  
• Man, Jason Garrett was mad after last night's loss:
  
   
• That's was a horrible accident, but there is no way DPS can say why someone just runs off the road. Looking at a phone? Argument with passenger? Sleepy? Something else? Yep, all are possibilities and no one will ever know.  It's all conjecture.
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• Well, we've got another prostitution sting operation in Texas. This time 75 people were arrested. The mind boggles as to the expense of the taxpayers since agencies "working with [Montgomery County] sheriff’s office were the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Houston Police Department, Conroe Police Department, Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office, the Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Attorney General’s Office, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. State Department." Sheesh. (And solicitation of prostitution is a misdemeanor.) 
• I miss the old singing and dancing GAP ads. (I think they are bringing them back this year.)
• I had almost forgotten about this Harris County case. The first trial ended up in a mistrial. Yesterday, he was convicted the second time around. (I continue to believe that the Double Jeopardy Clause should bar retrial after a hung jury. The State should get one shot.)
  
• This is surprising: Lowe's is closing 20 stores. (But only one in Texas and it is not in Decatur.)
• Sean Hannity before and during Trump's rally last night. Liars gonna lie. (Buddy, your whole show is a Trump rally every day.)

  

  Before

  
  

  

  Later

• Star-Telegram home page on Election Day: Five Cowboys stories under the "latest" news and the main story is on the team as well.
  
• Think about being a Washington D.C. resident. Today you are part of 700,000 people (more than the entire states of Vermont or Wyoming) and don't get to vote on a House or Senate member. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Why did a Texas coach who won eight state championships and compiled a record of 192-10 at Richland Springs quit last month after seven games at his new head coaching job? Hint: His kid was threatened and he wouldn't put up with it.  Story.
• “I noticed all that beautiful barbed wire going up today. Barbed wire used properly can be a beautiful sight.” - Trump at a Montana rally this weekend after news footage showed U.S. troops laying barbed wire at the border.
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• We had a white middle aged man and military vet  kill two people and injure five at a yoga studio in Florida.
• I have a lot of questions about this "promoted" tweet (meaning paid) from Saturday from an account which has 12 followers. (And even more confusing is that up until late September the account simply retweeted Trump's rantings.)
  
• Some folks in Parker County support Cruz and fear "Deep State Demon Rats."  (h/t Bud Kennedy):
  
• College football: (1) I don't think I ever seen a quarterback look so frustrated as time was running out, basically say, "Screw it. Snap the ball!" and throw a rainbow laser like Will Grier did against Texas to win the game, (2) Oklahoma has to go the Morgantown for the last regular season game of the year and then will turn around the next week and face WVU again in the Big 12 Championship Game, (3) Tech might have beaten OU if their quarterback hadn't suffered a collapsed lung for the second time this season (4) Maybe my favorite meme of all time from the LSU/Alabama game set to "The Sound of Silence".
  
• We moved closer to Idiocracy on Friday when Trump and Iran conducted foreign policy with fake Game of Thrones posters:
  
• And HBO was not pleased with Trump's trademark violation:
  
• Some teachers in Idaho thought it would be good idea to go as Mexicans and a Wall for Halloween.
  
• I continue to worry about the Star-Telegram's home page. The "latest news" this morning are three stories on Stephen A. Smith (???) and one on high school football.
  
• I've heard sports radio stations and even conservative talk radio dedicate segments to the Bohemian Rhapsody film. That's paid promotion.
• Justin Nelson is taking no prisoners in his campaign against Ken Paxton. What a place to make a speech from:
  
• I would not mess with 60 year old Alec Baldwin.
  
• Messenger: Above The Fold.

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

Halloween is canceled pic.twitter.com/bu65MUQDwp

— Dwight (@keepdwightgirl) October 29, 2018

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reach into your local ocean and you shall find a BIG BOY SURPRISE pic.twitter.com/kh1LeEJ7nX

— Techpriest Artisan Reddus (@R3D_5T4R) October 29, 2018

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SOMEONE had a good Halloween... 😂🐶 pic.twitter.com/tKVQSZPTN5

— LADbible (@ladbible) November 1, 2018

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Wait for it. 😂🐧🐧🐧🐧

📽️ig: maestro320 pic.twitter.com/tldCGGitS6

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) October 30, 2018

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After 1.5 hours of tracking THAT horse... - bee_24#RedDeadRedempion2 #rdr2 pic.twitter.com/IZqpwBXp5O

— Red Dead Redemption 2 (@Rockstar_RDR2) November 2, 2018

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Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• If I had to bet, I'd lay money that the Fox 4 reporter didn't get the joke. 
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• A Fort Worth officer was not pleased with a defendant being found guilty of only a misdemeanor and sentenced to probation. He called the outcome just the “typical Tarrant County letdown” and noted “We call it Tolerant County for a reason.”  Buddy, you don't know as much you think you know. 
• Whatever happened to Honey Boo Boo?
• State Senate race: Incumbent Pat Fallon has spent $900,000. Challenger Kevin Lopez from Bridgeport has raised a little over $91,000. (Oddity about the Texas Senate: Did you know "in elections ending in years ending in 2, all seats are up for election. Half of the senators will serve a two-year term, based on a drawing; the other half will fill regular four-year terms." So each seat after an election in a 2 year will be either on a 4-4-2 term rotation or a 2-4-4 term rotation until then next "year ending in 2." I didn't know that until this morning. 
• Tarrant County DA Sharen Wilson's most recent campaign financial report filing for the last 30 days is here. She has spent an additional $20,500 on that consulting firm out of Austin. I still do not understand that. 
• Lake Bridgeport finally hit capacity yesterday morning. 
• Beyonce and Jay Z channeled Olympic history for Halloween.
  
• O.J. just doesn't care any longer. He is what kind of doctor?:
  
• $520,000 / $350,000 / $515,000: The amount Harris County has paid three private lawyers for court appointments in juvenile courts in one year. And it is based on a ridiculous caseload for each lawyer. Another eyebrow raiser is that the county has a public defender's office that says it could handle more juvenile appointments. Something ain't right. 
• I had honestly never heard of Jacob Wohl before this week. That little Hitler starter kit might just go to prison. 
• It's still earlier, but Jon Gruden's 10 year and $100 million contract to coach Oakland might be one for the ages. The Raiders are now 1-7 in his first year.
• I asked "Where's Rudy" yesterday and he showed up last night. He must have been drunk tweeting again since there is no Don James running for Senate. 
  
• I've got to ask my dad, but I think as a kid I was taken to all night Easter outdoor show at The Holy City of the Wichitas in Oklahoma.
• Trump says if the evil Caravan shows up and throws rocks, the U.S. Army will shoot them. He's a moron. Thankfully, there is not a single soldier who would do that. I think his base is satisfied with the Fear-The-Brown-People theme. He doesn't have to go full Shoot-The-Brown-People.

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Halloween is fun as kid, a beating as a young adult, and then oddly gets entertaining again as you get older. 
• Ted Cruz admitted to being the Zodiac Killer yesterday. (At least his social media person has a sense of humor.)
  
• When the government solicits calls like this, I bet they are flooded with cases -- many of which can't be proven or have no merit. It will take a ton of work to sort them all out. 
  
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• Things I saw in movies, questioned what in the heck it was, and then forgot all about it. 
  
• Map of the 30 counties with the most number of registered voters (making up a whopping 78% of all voters.). It's almost proof that Wise County isn't part of the "metroplex" as it is left out in the upper left hand cluster of counties.  (And I-35 either created a lot of population or the population created the need for I-35.)
  
• Where'd Rudy Giuliani go?
• Our dryer is no longer heating and the refrigerator started making a loud noise this morning. How's your day? 
•  A girl sued a school around Waco after she received rope burns on her neck (racial overtones.) Her lawyers asked yesterday for $12 million from a jury but received only $68,000. But I loved this reversal of fortune quote from her lawyer: “I am very happy with the jury’s decision. We’ve got a case that the school’s position was that it was all an accident, it was minor, superficial and nothing happened that required medical attention. The jury obviously disagreed with that and awarded thousands of dollars to my client.”
• A former Springtown PD school resource officer was convicted of Indecency with a Child (a student) and sentenced to 12 years in prison.  
  
• There was a death penalty handed down in Dallas yesterday -- the first one in over five years. This picture of defendant Kristopher Love that the prosecution found was on the wall during closing arguments. (Lawyer stuff: Rule 403 jumps out at me to keep it out in the first place. It probably wouldn't work, but I'd try something.) Note: This photo was hard to find. Google images didn't help. I had to lift it out of Fox 4's coverage. I don't know if WFAA or KXAS ran with it. 
  
• Trump said he might send to up to 15,000 troops. Sheesh. Here's a reminder that he has never visited the troops overseas because he says he is "too busy." 
•  And Trump tweeted a racially charged ad yesterday. How does that crap work even with his base? #FearTheBrownPeople  This is basically Willie Horton all over again. 
  
• I wonder what local network news affiliates charge for a 30 second spot during election time? The demand for ad time has to be three to five times as much as what it normally is. They certainly must (and justifiably) jack up their rates accordingly. 
• The Government of Tennessee will kill a man tonight with an electric chair. It is 2018. (I guess in a fairness I need to point out that he declined lethal injection.)