11.29.2018

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • BagOfNothing news this morning:
  • There Tarrant County DA's office does the following on Twitter, and I think it's inappropriate. First, the case is still ongoing and shouldn't be commented on. Secondly, the use of a prosecutor's name is unwarranted office self-aggrandizing (we aren't talking Clarence Darrow here). Third, that quote is legally objectionable. That's fine for closing argument, but inappropriate of opening statements.
  • We have a weird standard for "crazy" these days. So OU's quarterback's uncle was at bat in a preseason game when a bird was killed and that's "crazy but true"? I suspect the dead bird would say, "That's what you think the crazy part is?"
  • Trump has had three panic induced tweets about Mueller since 11:39 EST last night and he's at it again early this morning. (Last week he said it was $10 million, three days ago he tweeted it was $20 million and now today it’s up to $40 million. Side note: Paul Manafort's prosecution has already led to a forfeiture of around $44 million to the government.)
     
  • Breaking!: The hits just keep on coming in this "Witch Hunt". This is a charge by Mueller. 
  • But most people are interested in this silly story this morning:
  • The Senate yesterday took a "procedural step" to end the U.S. support of Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen by a vote of 63-37. They use our weapons to recklessly kill civilians and last week it was learned that perhaps 85,000 children under five have starved to death. Cruz and Cornyn voted to let the killing continue.  
  • Something I learned from the radio: Deaths from the Hindenburg explosion on May 6, 1937: 36. New London, TX school explosion deaths on March 18, 1937 just 50 days earlier: 295. And which one do we talk about more? 
  • Legal nerds only: In case you thought the "incorporation doctrine" still needed to be fought over a few rights still not expressly ruled upon by the Supreme Court, yesterday's oral argument gave a vivid clue that we can assume they all are.
  • One year ago today the Today Show began with the news that long time host Matt Lauer was gone as a casualty of the #MeToo movement. And for some reason we never saw it coming. 
  • Not photoshopped. This is the United Methodist Building right by the Supreme Court. Apparently they do bits with the sign all the time. 
  • The Update has a story about a serious wreck on 730 under 287. I said before that place is a death trap waiting to happen when two cars, going opposite directions, both use the "protected" left turn lane at the same time. 
  • After Beto carried Tarrant County, you would think that the Tarrant County Republican Party wouldn't try to act like it lives in the back woods . . . 

at 8:36 AM

11.28.2018

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • It's pretty bold when you see a defense lawyer accuse a prosecutor by name of withholding evidence. It is happening in Tarrant County right now.  
  • The Texas Rangers unveil the model of their new stadium yesterday. I've never bought anything worth over $1 billion before, but if I did I kind of would wanted to have a working model before I committed to build it.  

  • Can't say I've ever watched an episode of Spongebob, but it got my attention that its creator died yesterday at the age of 57.
  • "You do realize that no matter how important you are or what good you've done, most people at your funeral will walk out after it's over and go back to the office to answer Interrogatories in a mundane case?" -- A buddy said that to me this year as we both contemplative life at a funeral. It's stuck with me, and I now name it the 2018 Liberally Lean Quote of the Year.
  • As predicted, Cindy Hyde-Smith won the Senate seat in Mississippi -- a state with a school district which, last year, banned To Kill A Mockingbird.
  • You've seen Knickers, the gigantic cow, right?
  • NASCAR is in trouble. I saw this blurb yesterday and then went and found a chart for some historical perspective.

  • After a convoluted fight, a Texas Historical Marker will go up next Friday designating a site where a group of Texas Rangers massacred 15 unarmed Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in 1918.
  • The destruction of Fouts Field in Denton has begun. It was the home of a lot of bad football and the filming location of Necessary Roughness (a film which depicted the fictional college of Texas State -- because Texas State didn't exist at the time.)
  • More evidence we have entered into the Idiocracy era.
    "United Nations?" "Uh huh!" "Oh, that's right!"
  • The freak out continues this morning. (And I wonder what the odds are that the word "intimating" was used on Fox News within the last two hours. There's no way he came up with that on his own.)
  • And he just went on a weird re-tweeting binge including this one. This is not normal. Something has him really scared.
    His own deputy attorney general is in there.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold which has an interesting story on Wise County voter turnout history. 1992, not 2018, was a record year from a percentage standpoint. (Cutoff were the crazy presidential results for that year: Bush with 33.6% (4,555 votes): Clinton 33.0% (4,478 votes) and Ross Perot 33.4% (4,535 votes.))


at 8:37 AM

11.27.2018

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




  • I think it is very weird that the outgoing DA in Dallas is taking the Amber Guyger/Botham Jean case to the grand jury. She won't be in charge of prosecuting it so why not just leave it to the next DA as to how to charge it? (And one very odd note was that the deceased's mother was called as a witness yesterday. Not only are grand jury "live" witnesses rare, the mother has absolutely nothing of a factual nature to provide.)
  • Between their Sheriff's Office and now this, Parker County is having a stellar month.  (She's an Instagram model under "max_mcintyre"  as well. You're on your own.)
  • GM is slashing jobs and shutting down plants. #SoMuchWinning
  •  The guy wants to create State TV. Seriously. He wants an American version of Pravda in order to spread propaganda.

  • Saw a girl come to district court in Decatur yesterday in high heels and then change into tennis shoes later while she was waiting for her case to be called. (Really not that unusual.) But a blister was apparently bothering her so she asked me and a buddy of mine if she could go before the judge in bare feet. We said tennis shoes = OK. Bare feet = Not OK.
  • I'm extremely pro-prosecution in this case:
  • This is so Fox News: 
  • Dear lawyer who lost a cashmere jacket in the courthouse yesterday: You left it draped over a chair in the DA's office. The best I can tell it's about a 40 Short. 
  • Texas DPS made a drug bust of weed and THC products which were coming from California -- a state where all of it is legal to possess. The current War on Drugs in America is at an all time Idiocracy level. (Texas will just burn it all. Why not sell it back to California?)

  • Red Christmas trees in the White House seems appropriate. It has a nice Russia and/or The Shining feel to it. 
  • Well it's that time of year, so the First Baptist Church of Dallas and pastor Robert Jeffress will put on a Christmas program again. In true spirit of the birth of Jesus, they'll charge money to see it. 
    Rembrandt's Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple
  • OU and Texas is impossible to predict. OU has given up 700 yards of offense three times this year. They won those three games.
  • Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith told a prepared joke about shooting wives in the head. (She'll win today in a landslide. It's Mississippi. Trump was there last night at a couple of rallies and said of her African-American opponent, "How does he fit in with Mississippi? I mean, how does he fit in?" )
  • Paul Manafort, post-conviction, could have shed years off his upcoming sentence by cooperating with Mueller. Instead, Mueller filed pleadings yesterday saying that instead of cooperating all he did was lie to him and it's time to sentence him. (Manafort is proof positive that very dumb people can become very rich in America.)
  • He's scared again this morning. Really scared. Is something coming?
  • Dear new lawyers (and old lawyers): Never, ever throw in "Esquire" behind your name. 



at 8:30 AM

11.26.2018

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • Dear Police Departments: Don't do this. You don't have the right to stop a driver unless there is a legitimate reason. Doing a good deed, even with good intentions, is not a legitimate reason. 
  • Around two years ago I started focusing in on the Proud Boys and noted that one of its members was a lawyer who made an appearance at the Wise County Courthouse. Now that lawyer is the new President of the Proud Boys.  He first got my attention when he got perilously close to being hired as an assistant D.A. in Victoria County. 
  • Decatur won another playoff game. Get this: In their two playoff games, their quarterback is an amazing 67 of 82 (a completion percentage of 80.7) for 882 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 1 interception. There was a time during the year where he looked horrible. 
  • I don't think I knew this:
  • Remember last week I said that a certain Star-Telegram sports columnist had turned into a cartoon? He's at again:
  • Breaking: Mack Brown will be hired by North Carolina.
  • As promised, here is my groundbreaking research proving that the Thanksgiving Holidays are not the busiest flying times of the year. (My only assumption is that all planes, all the time, are basically full. If you ever fly, you know that is correct.) And with that: Here are the number of passenger planes flying in and out of DFW by day.
    • Week Before Thanksgiving
      • 11/14 - 633 - Wed
      • 11/15 - 630 - Thur
      • 11/16 - 614 - Fri
      • 11/17 - 548 (Data for 11/17 unavailable. This is avg for 3 previous Saturdays)
      • 11/18 - 579 - Sun
      • Wednesday through Sunday total flights: 3,004
    • 11/20 - 606
    • Week Of Thanksgiving
      • 11/21 - 647 - Wed
      • 11/22 - 486 - Thanksgiving Day
      • 11/23 - 528 - Fri
      • 11/24 - 526 - Sat
      • 11/25 - 588 - Sun
      • Wednesday through Sunday total flights: 2,775
  • America celebrated the Thanksgiving weekend by firing tear gas at people standing in a sovereign nation seeking asylum in America pursuant to our laws -- people who are poorer than everyone who is reading this. And Trump doubles down this morning
    This child didn't get turkey and dressing -- just tear gas.
  • Trump gets back to work for America by doing two campaign rallies for this gal in Mississippi today.
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.

at 8:31 AM

11.23.2018

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
















at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Hardest Working Man In Show Business.™
  • This pay-per-view at $20 a pop for Tiger vs. Phil has to be a ratings disaster, right? 
  • I'm just now hearing about "anxiety blankets" or "weighted blankets". Do they work? In theory, they are for people who never sleep soundly because their mind is racing oftentimes with constant dreams of worrisome situations. 
  • Keller High School's band was in the parade yesterday in New York City. Look at the temperature noted on the building (upper left hand corner) as they headed towards Macy's. With the wind, that had to be a beating. A neat experience, but a a beating.
  • Flashback: When handlers had to murder the Barney float during the parade as onlookers eventually booed and yelled, "Barney! Barney".
  • Then the kids went back to playing Red Dead Redemption 2.
  • A Messenger reporter was on the road yesterday and had an observation.
  • Trump, who called the troops yesterday, decided (after thinking it would be a good idea to rail on the Ninth Circuit on Thanksgiving) for some unknown reason to push "steam" as the preferred method of launching planes off aircraft carriers. 
  • We all ate too much yesterday so I guess world hunger doesn't exist. 
  • One more Trump thing: His answer to the question of what he is thankful for. Short answer is "Me!"
  • After being warned not to go, an American decided, without authorization, to try to enter an island populated by an isolated tribe in order to spread Christianity. Verdict: Their Department of Homeland Security doesn't mess around against illegal aliens.
  • We are all Isabella's parents shaking our collective heads from time to time.
  • We went out to eat in the Metroplex yesterday and we ran into former Wise County Sheriff Phil Ryan at the same place.
  • For some reason I end up watching North Dallas Forty for the first time. Verdict: It's horrible.  I guess it was a shocking revelation about the NFL at the time, but it was cartoonish in its attempt.



at 8:30 AM

11.22.2018

That Time Again


It's that time of year again, so here's the annual photo. Long time readers understand it and appreciate it.

Happy Thanksgiving.
at 7:30 AM
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