2.28.2019

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • The DFW media was in Wise County yesterday for a hearing on whether the kids from the Kids-In-Cages story will remain in CPS custody for now. The obvious answer occurred: Yes. But a couple of cameramen got to film the top of the courthouse. 
  • The Texas Open Meetings law was struck down as unconstitutionally vague yesterday. Here it is: 
  • A faithful reader corrected me by noting the Texas high school basketball finals are now in San Antonio and not Austin. The Liberally Lean staff regrets yesterday's error. 
  • Buddy, you care way too much about a professional football team from 25 years ago:
  • Trump and Rocket Man's nuclear talks abruptly broke down and Trump left early. #TheArtOfTheDeal
  •  But before he left, Trump gave Kim a complete pass on the death of Otto Warmbier. Why? Because Kim said he he had nothing to do with it. (Reminds you of Trump saying he believed Putin when he said there was no Russian tampering, and the Saudi Prince over the murder of the journalist.)

  • There's a former Baylor football player on trial for sexual assault in Waco, and I'm not sure how it is going to turn out because it seems to have some proof problems. But a reporter, who is following the case, tweeted the following yesterday which got my attention. It was the first day of trial. Listen, judge, if you've got something better to do while a guy is on trial for his life, go do it and let someone who cares take your place.
  • Michael Cohen delivered high entertainment yesterday. But Fox News looked less than interested based upon the detail given to their graphics.
  • The hearing had moments of drama when it felt like it was right out of The Godfather 2 and low points when Republican Congressman were printing off tweets from third parties that were made during the hearing and asking, and being allowed, to place them into the record. 
  • I take it back, the low point came when Rep. Mark Meadows trotted out a black Trump employee as a prop to combat claims of Trump racism. (Meadows once proved he himself was color blind by saying that "2012 is the time we are going to send Mr. Obama home to Kenya or wherever it is!"))
    "I'd like to mark this black person as Exhibit A."
  • To show how insane it got, Rep. Ayanna Pressley fired back: "Would you agree that someone could deny rental units to African-Americans, lead the birther movement, refer to the diaspora as 'shithole countries,' refer to white supremacists as 'fine people,' have a black friend, and still be racist?" (Video.)
  • I'm tripling down on my Kyler Murray NFL prediction: There is no way I'd take him with a first round pick. I don't know if I'd take him with a second round pick. (I'm not saying that won't happen. I'm saying it's a mistake if it does.)
  • Our 22 pound cat is down to a svelte 18 pounds. (That's one of our dumb dogs beside it. And he's not a puppy. He's a good sized dog. )
  • I present to you the greatest country song in the history of ever. Parked By The Lake.

at 8:30 AM

2.27.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • I didn't need to start my day by seeing this on my TV from WFAA.
  • The Messenger is making changes. They are doing away with the free All-Around Wise which was published mid-week and going to two regular paid weekly papers. They are running a special for $15 a year for both weekly issues which you can subscribe to by going here (see page 14.) Online subscribing is not currently available. (This is not a paid ad, but I've stolen so much from them over the years I feel guilty.)
    (The first headline could have been worded better)
  • The kid is probably just doing a bit to get a rise out of everyone, but if the school bans anything selectively based upon certain content, I'll support her. (I've seen different reports about the school's policy. ) 
Naive Person (Left)
  • We will all be reminded today of who the character of the person who sits in the Oval Office (when he shows up for work.) 
  • And Cohen will even produce an installment check Trump wrote to him while President to reimburse him for paying off Stormy Daniels. Here's a timeline and the check:

  • This Congressman possibly broke federal law yesterday with this intimidation. He has since "apologized" and deleted it. (And it's a weird strategy to defend Trump by calling out someone's supposed sexual and marital infidelity.)
                                     
  • I mentioned I was reading a book on Texas history, and I'm at a point which coincides with the anniversary of the Alamo siege.  Even a book which tries to put Texas in its best light makes it clear that our sanitized version of  what led up to "The Alamo", as well as the defense of it, is not what most believe.
  • I don't really follow Decatur basketball that much, but they may end up in Austin for the state tournament if they keep it up. They crushed Burkburnett 79-42 in the playoffs last night. 
  • There was a murder on Twitter this morning by John McCain's daughter. (And how a guy who faked bone spurs to avoid Vietnam can send out that tweet is mind-boggling.) 
  • Dallas Cowboy (now free agent) David Irving has probably violated the NFL's drug policy again. 
    "Who me?"
  • A club in Wichita Falls is being sued for not paying licensing fees for the music they play. "The average cost to bars or restaurants is less than $2 per day for the right to play unlimited music at their establishments, according to [the Plaintiff's] news release."
  • I had a conversation yesterday with a Baylor lawyer about having to recite Rule 279 in law school. That means nothing to 99.9% of you. To the 0.1%, it is still the subject of nightmares. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold. (Links above.)





at 8:34 AM

2.26.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • Dak Prescott's dog bit someone which has made the news. Oddly, within the last 24 hours both Fox 4 and WBAP have aired viewer/listener complaints of, "This wouldn't be news if it wasn't the Cowboys quarterback!" First, who gets so bent out of shape to even make that complaint? Secondly, both news organizations had an odd reply (Steve Eagar from Fox 4 and Steve Lamb from WBAP) by saying "Of course, we would!" Uh, no, you wouldn't. You might do a story about a dog mauling but not a dog bite which has to happen every single day in the metroplex.
  • I was over at the Denton County courthouse yesterday going through security when some cute county employee comes down to pick up a Jimmy John's order. It was high comedy when the Jimmy John's guy asks her to sign for the order, and the courthouse employee asks, "Does anyone have a pen?" At that moment, at least three Denton County deputies raced to produce a pen for her to use -- all holding their pen out for her choice. She then did the cute-girl-laugh.
  • Some of the Waco Biker cases are now in the hands of special prosecutors. Three more of those cases were dismissed yesterday. "The prosecutor called the way the McLennan County District Attorney's Office handled the 2015 deadly shootout a 'harebrained scheme' that was 'patently offensive' to him."  I've just always called him, "The Dumbest DA In The State."  That whole cluster will be a documentary one of these days. 
  • Well I guess, like land, "they ain't making any more of it." ("But why at gun shows?" I ask rhetorically.)
  • Overestimate is one word. 
  • It's hard to figure out where this Administration comes down on "when life begins" these days. It can't possibly be different based upon nationality or skin color, right?
  • Lady Gaga was on MTV's Boiling Point in 2005.
  • I'll never understand Robert Kraft walking into a "spa" for 14 minutes in Jupiter, FL on the morning of the AFC Championship game in Kansas City later that day. There's so much going on there. 
    Literally later that day.
  • There's another "Does Roundup cause cancer" case (it doesn't) going on in federal court in California. The Plaintiff's lawyer is in big trouble when the judge issues an order immediately after opening statements are delivered. (I've got a lawyer buddy in Abilene with the last name of Wagstaff, and I prayed it was him. It wasn't.)
  • A former Bridgeport High graduate is now a head football coach in Tyler. 
  • From the Wall Street Journal this morning. That "documents" thing got my attention. 
  • Little Rocket Man is in Vietnam to meet with Trump. Get this: He traveled 2,485 miles by train. 
  • BagOfNothing got a ticket for parking slightly on his own grass in his alley! He violated City Ordinance 15-134b! I can understand an HOA violation, but to have the government make the conduct illegal is amazing. I have no idea what the constitutional standard is -- perhaps the "takings clause" when the regs are so onerous that your property loses value? -- but this seems very heavy handed. I know the government regulates things like chickens in your backyard. And it can prevent you from putting up billboards on private land you own by a highway so long as the ban is not content based. It's not an area I dabble in.




at 8:30 AM

2.25.2019

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • Mrs. LL somehow got hooked into a marathon of Dirty Jobs. I've got to admit, that guy is funny.
  • This case was in the newspaper in Mineral Wells, the Dallas Morning News, and Star-Telegram where it was implied that possibly Palo Pinto authorities released a murder suspect on a PR bond because they didn't want to pay for his surgery. Once it went national, the story wasn't quite as nuanced. 
  • A nude wedding in Wise County made it to a photo in the New York Times. (Credit: Faithful reader, Joe.)

  • The Tarrant County DA is mad that the Tarrant County Purchasing Agent wants all purchases by the DA's office to go through him. So mad that she has requested an Attorney General's opinion.
  • This Denton County DA didn't like the way a story was reported by the Record-Chronicle when a woman was sentenced to probation for theft of $345,000. (Side note: The Denton County DA's twitter account normally looks like it is controlled by a teenage girl since it is generally consumed with "getting follows" and nothing else.)

  • The interesting and/or odd murder case against the designer of the Schlitterbahn ride in Kansas was dismissed. But the dismissal was for a very odd reason: Inadmissible evidence was presented to the grand jury. (I've never heard of a dismissal based on those reasons.)
  • Bob Sturm of The Ticket said that  "most" people, meaning greater than 50%, who call themselves "Cowboy fans" could not name three defensive players on the team.  I think he's right. 
  • Last Saturday was the 25th anniversary of the announcement that Baylor, UT, Tech, and aTm were joining the Big 8 Conference. Twenty-five years ago. (aTm, Missouri, Colorado, and Nebraska would eventually bail.)
  • Trump wants to hijack the 4th of July in D.C. for a political rally. Nixon tried that as well and it did not go well.
    "Your favorite President." He's a man-child.
  • Should we call this "socialism", welfare, or just drug test farmers and complain about it?
  • The current origin of "Fake News" referred to truly fake stories on the Internet (not simply negative press based upon facts.) A perfect example is the current mass of fake reports that Kamala Harris is the aunt of Jussie Smollett. It's shocking how people believe that and promote it.
  • Trees always bloom right around March 10th. That's in a couple of weeks -- we had no winter. 
  • Spike Lee won an Oscar last night for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman, and referred to the next presidential election by saying, “Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate.” Trump was not happy.
  • And we all know Trump isn't a racist (despite saying there being "fine people" on "both sides" in Charlottesville.) He even proved it this weekend by tweeting a picture of the token African-Americans from Fox News.  (If you aren't familiar with the fine work of Diamond and Silk, here's a recent example.)
  • There was confusing news about two Apple stores closing in Frisco and Plano but opening one in the Galleria in Dallas. A smart person figured out why: It is based upon a Supreme Court ruling in 2017 regarding patent venue. By moving just a few miles, they will be out of the Eastern District of Texas -  a patent infringement happy jurisdiction. 
  • That's a bunch of cocaine that seized at a port of entry. I thought that stuff was just on the backs of people crossing the Rio Grande?
  • There was a kayaking death on Lake Ray Hubbard on Saturday. Being pretty much an expert kayaker myself, you would have to have been out of your mind to take one out in those winds. 

at 8:30 AM

2.22.2019

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

















at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • We had something happen in Wise County yesterday which I've never heard of in our fair county: It looks like we had a federal drug raid the DEA. By 5:00, we had nine folks booked into and transferred out of the Wise County Jail.  Four were from Bridgeport, two from Paradise, one Rhome and, oddly, one Euless and one Springtown. 
  • I've pointed out the Proud Boys for quite some time, and noted when one of them, a lawyer, made an appearance in the Wise County courthouse in November, 2017.  Uh, we have a development on him: 
  • There's a shirtless Lincoln statue at a federal courthouse in Los Angles? 
  • You might remember the lawyer in Dallas who was apparently murdered via fire in his home in the Park Cities. No arrest has been made and now the Dallas police won't release reports despite an order from a district judge. They are appealing the order. Trivia #1: The district judge who signed the order is now on the appellate court which will rule on the appropriateness of the order. (He'll recuse himself.) Trivia #2: I met Ira Tobolowsky once in the 1980s at a deposition at his office and afterwards a gave him a lift to the Mansion for dinner with his wife. 
  • Lawyer gets punched by client after 47 year sentence handed down. Video.
  • Stranded at Donner Pass!!!
  • Random Trivia: Was Chester Arthur a U.S. President? True or False. (That was on Last Week Tonight, and I was completely wrong.)
  • Man, there's a lot of new coverage of the Jussie Smollett false report. It's news but not that big of news.  But I can't believe he still claims the attack is true after the last two days. It's time to fall on the proverbial sword.
  • Meanwhile, the White Nationalist who was arrested two days ago is already out of the news. 
  • Michael Cohen will testify before a Congressional hearing next week. That will be a circus of biblical proportions. "In connection with the President instructing you to pay the National Enquirer to kill the Stormy Daniels story, what did Mr. Trump say exactly transpired between he and Stormy Daniels that he wished to cover up? Please give details." "And when Mr. Trump engaged in the acts of [describing them], his third wife was pregnant with Barron, is that correct?"
  • One of the Smartest Guys in The Room is free. In 2001, he was paid $132 million. 
  • I didn't know that in Texas if you get appointed to a high ranking position (district judge and above), you sometimes have to be confirmed by the Senate. Most of the time this never happens because the appointments occur while the legislature is out of session and the appointed person wins an election before they meet again. (That's not the case of the recently appointed Texas Secretary of State who concocted the voter purge attempt and who may not get confirmed. Question: Did we ever find out how many on the "list" for Wise County were actually not citizens? Eight counties aren't even going to check.)
  • Funny: https://www.hasrogerstoneviolatedhisgagorderyet.com/
  • If I'm Zion Williamson, I'm not playing another second for Duke. The school makes millions, the coach makes millions, ESPN makes millions broadcasting college sports, and Nike makes millions. I think it's his turn without risking blowing out a knee. 
Abilene? He makes the front page in Abilene?

at 8:34 AM
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