5.23.2019

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • Here's my every-two-year-at-this-time reminder: In Texas, a bill becomes law even if the governor doesn't sign it. (He just has 10 days to veto it or it automatically goes into effect.) So when you see Abbott bringing in the cameras to "sign a bill", he's doing it for show only. 
  • How government officials don't know the limits of government is amazing. Hey, Dallas City Council, you can destroy the statute if you want, but you cannot regulate what a person does with the statute like this once they purchase it. Displaying a statue is protected speech.
  • I told you Trump was acting weird yesterday, and the then he "walked out" of a meeting into the Rose Garden to announce he would no longer do his job. (He will always be associated with Russia because he won't stop mentioning Russia.)
  • But Trump did give us a Nixon moment with "I don't do cover-ups!" Uh, sir, let me hand you what has been marked as Exhibit A:
  • The head of the Civil Division of the Tarrant County District Attorney's office announced he will quit. He's not the first one. 
  • We had another child abduction case yesterday. People are referring to this as child-trafficking related and that's probably right, but I would think that 98%+ of trafficking involves runaways.
  • The Colonial begins today. In related news, I'll raise my hand to this:
  • I don't know who this guy is but I do know two things: (1) Never trust any lawyer who uses "Esquire", and (2) He has no idea how an amortization schedule works. 
  • He is referring to Texas Rep. Donna Campbell in the following tweet as the legislature was debating a medical marijuana bill. I'd like to she that "study." There is no way it exists.
  • In other marijuana news, I've said it before: This is like arresting a convenience store clerk in a dry county for selling mouthwash because it has alcohol in it.
  • Look what Trump just called his former Secretary of State, CEO of Exxon, graduate of UT, and Eagle Scout:
  • Stickland is a goofball, but he did lead the charge to kill red light cameras this session . . . 


at 8:38 AM

5.22.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • The Feds have taken over the case of the child kidnapped in Fort Worth. My first thought was "How is that a federal crime since everything happened in Tarrant County?"  A law review article popped up on the first page of my search analyzed how the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (who knew?) pushes federal jurisdiction to the extreme. Summary: It's basically because he used a car.
  • An Amber Alert didn't go out in that case because Fort Worth PD couldn't get their fax machine to work.
  • Random Elvis thought #1: I concur with the guy below. Thought #2: For such an American icon, how come you never see an Elvis movie on TV or hear an Elvis song on the radio? 
  • I often watch shows with closed caption on. Because of that, while watching the pilot of The Americans, I learned that the lyrics of Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight say "oh Lord" instead of "Hold on."  I've been wrong about those lyrics for all my life, oh Lord.
  • He's upset and extremely weird this morning: At least 19 tweets and retweets as the sun is coming up.

  • The Messenger is losing its sports reporter/editor. 
  • An alligator was spotted next to Eagle Mountain Lake close to Jacksboro Highway.

  • All the (currently, at least) unconstitutional abortion laws being passed have penalties of prison for the doctor but none for the woman. Hardliners gonna hardline: 
  • John Walker Lindh is up for release from prison, and I had to ask myself, "Who is he again?" But Fox and Friends drunkenly told me. 
  • If you struggle through the slowest loading news site in the world (sorry Star-Telegram), you'll learn it was just a misdemeanor and no one was injured (so probation is typical) but what confused me is that he elected the jury for sentencing: "During testimony in Moore’s sentencing, his pastor told jurors that the Lake Worth man has since been to rehabilitation and gotten his chemical dependency under control."  First, why not choose the judge for sentencing and bypass the jury? A judge is going to probate the case every time. And why call the pastor to bring up rehab? Stories are legendary about the effects of Ambien sneaking up people without their knowledge. Why paint the guy as some drug addict? (There has to be more to this story.)
  • I like being able to rattle off the population of the United States. I first started doing it when it was 270 million. It's now about 330 million. (Now you can rattle off the population as well.) 
  • Hey, I appreciate the students at Alvord High School putting on a mock trial about the case of Making of a Murderer, but the first sentence told me the trial had a reversible error: "A student sat handcuffed, awaiting his fate, as the prosecution and defense teams presented their arguments Tuesday." 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:34 AM

5.21.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • Wow: Because of a tip regarding the missing Fort Worth girl, "Two and a half hours before an 8-year-old Fort Worth girl was rescued from her suspected kidnapper, Forest Hill police had gone to the man’s motel room, questioned the suspect and even looked inside his room but did not see the child."
  • I can name almost anyone in Wise County under 50 and say to a friend, "Show me a picture," and they'll be able to pull it up in 20 seconds. She calls herself "an excellent Facebook creeper."
  • I'm not sure what is the most fascinating fact about Zeke Elliott getting detained in Las Vegas at 3:00 a.m.: That he was at his sponsored football kids camp in the metroplex five hours later, the outfit of his girlfriend, or that I learned he is only 23 years old. Regardless, the nickname of Ecstasy Ewok should take on a life of its own since he was at the Electric Daisy Festival. 
  • I'm surprised he wasn't in Galveston. 
  • The Party of limited government, personal responsibility and State's rights: 
  • The most recent results for the California Bar Exam are in and they aren't pretty: The second worst passing rate in 30 years at 31.4%. And that, oddly, is an improvement from last year.
  • I really don't care about Josh Hamilton going into the Rangers' Hall of Fame, I just remember in April, 2013 he was booed at The Ballpark In Arlington and said, "Where was Jesus got-after the most? His hometown.” But he got the last laugh - he was making $24 million in 2017 to sit at home when he couldn't make any active roster. 
  • I had never heard of Leeroy Jenkins until my radio station clued me in the other day. And I now laugh every time I hear the name screamed. 
  • The Texas Legislature killed a bill that would have prevented public schools from using taxpayer dollars to hire lobbyists. The sounds like a good proposal at first until you realize that private schools have a ton of lobbyists to try and influence legislatures to funnel taxpayer dollars to them with a voucher law. Public schools should have the right to fight back on your behalf. 
  • A sixth terminal is going to be built at DFW airport at a cost of $3 billion.  I bet it'll cost more than that and that it will be fantastic (if the great Terminal D is any comparison.)  I need to research who was the main mastermind behind the idea to buy all those acres for an airport back in the day.  What a genius idea for the metroplex and it will continue to payoff for decades to come. 
  • That's a serious "let me speak to the manager":
  • I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like Dennis Prager. Philadelphia Magazine isn't a fan either. 
  • I just noticed an Arlington guy was arrested last night in Wise County and being held on a $5,000 cash bond for " Contempt of Court / Disobedience of Court Order" issued by the "County Court at Law" (but they didn't designate #1 or #2). I'm on it. That's unusual. 
  • Also weird: In Tarrant County yesterday, there were two directed verdicts in separate DWI trials. Two judges found the State failed to prove its case and sent their respective juries home.

at 8:34 AM

5.20.2019

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




  • An odd story with little facts: "A man was pronounced dead after jumping into the fountain in front of Dallas City Hall late Friday night." They are about a foot deep, right? Did he go in head first?
  • Want to see a shocking slow motion punch from a boxing match I didn't care about on Saturday night where is looks like the guy's head was literally going to explode? Howard Cosell was right when he said, “I don’t want to be a party to the sleaziness.”
  • The abduction of the girl in Fort Worth and her quick recovery was amazing. And the Smith County DA will take heat this week for dismissing an unrelated sexual assault charge against the guy last year. (But he probably shouldn't: The alleged victim had a history of prostitution, had outstanding warrants, filed an affidavit of non-prosecution, and then presumably left the state.) Here's a street view of the area where the abduction occurred:
  • I really don't know anything about that area: In between I-35 and TCU and north of Berry. 
  • I've said it before: One of the most dangerous things to do is commuting in the metroplex. People went nuts again this morning: 
  • I had a buddy go to Cuba over the weekend. Look at these random cars he took pics of which are apparently commonplace down there. (He took a bunch of other pictures that I would link to, but his Twitter account is locked because he's some kind of silk suited lawyer in a big city.) 


  • Someone drop kicked 71 year old Arnold Schwarzenegger at an event and he barely budged. 
    Incoming from the left.
  • I don't think that even Trump is dumb enough to pardon the Navy Seal, Edward Gallagher, like everyone thinks he will. (That is, assuming the case isn't screwed up by prosecutors spying on the defense team.)  His fellow Seals turned him in and appear to have credibly accused him of: 
    • Stabbing a teenage prisoner and "later took photos of himself with the corpse, holding up his knife in one hand and the boy’s head in the other."
    • Randomly shooting an elderly man who was just carrying water. 
    • Randomly shooting a female child who was walking with other girls along a riverbank. drop.
  • I heard of BTS for the first time this weekend.  I actually had to Google them once I saw he/they/it were doing something at MetLife Stadium. I don't feel bad about myself for this lack of awareness.
  • I've never seen The Americans so I watched the pilot on Saturday. Pretty, pretty good. And watching the series after we've now all learned how much the  Russians are actually involved in covert activities might make it even better for me.
  • Trump (1) Is mad at State TV for giving time to a Democrat, (2) Mike Wallace is dead, (3) It's Alfred E. Neuman not "Newman", and (4) Doesn't understand that Alfred E. Neuman was cool. 
  • Random sports thought: Man, college softball pitchers throw a lot of pitches. For example, UT's Miranda Elish pitched two complete games on Saturday (one went to extra innings) and two complete games on Sunday. Number of pitches thrown: 429. She won every one.
  • Hey, I'm not a fan of those lawyer commercial for drug litigation, but a bill just passed by the Texas legislature which prevents these ads from using certain phrases such as “medical alert,” “public service announcement” or “drug alert” will be DOA in the courts. Government can't regulate speech that way.
  • After reading the Update, a Google search of "MK23 marker round" sure didn't turn up many results. 
  • Messenger: Above The Fold




at 8:34 AM

5.17.2019

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







at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • Another Wise County law enforcement tidbit: There has not been a single case filed this year in any Justice of the Peace court for speeding 5 mph or less over the speed limit. (But that doesn't mean you won't be stopped for that as a pretext to try and search your car and just given a warning.)
  • News this morning that the one time Internet sensation "Grump Cat", 7, is dead. I had to research if I ever referenced him back in the day, and I did so in January of 2013. Someone had compared Tommy Lee Jones at the Golden Globes to the cat, and it made me laugh. 
  • Dear Alabama: If this crazy girl says you screwed up, you really screwed up. (And here's a hot legal prediction about the Alabama abortion law: A federal district court will have to strike the abortion law down, the Fifth Circuit will even have to agree to hold it unconstitutional, and then the Supreme Court will simply refuse to hear it. Why? The Supreme Court won't want to be used as an obvious political pawn in this charade but will pick another case to reconsider Roe v. Wade in the future.)
  • The Texas High School track meet was last week and one of my greatest memories was going to it while in high school (as a spectator, obviously). On Saturday, they would have the high school finals during the day and the finals for the Southwest Conference at night. There was nothing cooler than seeing a relay and watching the colorful jerseys of  UT, Aggie, Baylor, TCU, SMU, etc. round the corner. The most famous athlete I remember seeing: aTm's Curtis Dickey -- a sprinter as well as the Aggie starting tailback.
  • Remember former Judge Roy Moore from Alabama? He had to be removed as a judge once he refused to follow a federal court order to remove the 10 Commandments from an Alabama state house. He also was defeated in his Senate bid even though endorsed by Trump after allegations that he hit on teenagers at the mall and may have molested a 14 year old when he was a 32 year old assistant district attorney. Oh, and remember he sued Sacha Baron Cohen for defamation once Moore was dumb enough to appear on Cohen's Showtime show where Cohen put him through a pedophile detector test? Well, Moore lost a hearing in that lawsuit, and was not happy. So he filed a pleading this week telling the judge he should reconsider the ruling because at the hearing the judge appeared to "disrespect and disparage" him. Sheesh. Alabama has had a heck of the week. 
    From Who Is America?
    The ol' You Hurt My Feelings legal doctrine. 
  • It's still way too early, but this is the latest poll from State TV.
  • Interesting (?) fact about Biden: He’s older than each of the last five Democratic nominees for president is now (Bill Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Obama, Hillary Clinton).
  • The Messenger had an unintentionally awkward picture of the Bridgeport mayor and members of the Texas Denton Heathens motorcycle club. (And I like the name "heathens.")
  • An F-16 crashes into a warehouse in California but doesn't catch fire. Let the conspiracy theories begin.

  • The legislature isn't doing anything about bail reform for the poor, allowing police to arrest you for a traffic violation (i.e. Sandra Bland), will continue allow incarceration for a plant (weed), as well as allow you to be buried in surcharges even after you've paid your ticket, but they will protect Chick-Fil-A. Are we living in a cartoon?
  • Answer: Yes. Yes, we are living in a cartoon.
  • After mass dismissals, the new DA in Waco has reduced the misdemeanor backlog from over 9,000 to 4,600 cases.   A large number of dismissals, frankly, is something that needs to be done when any new prosecutor takes office.  Filing cabinets are always filled with junk cases -- more so if the prior prosecutor was scared of the police and wouldn't kill bad cases.
  • Trump's on a roll this morning. 
  • There's nothing more painful than former Dallas Morning News media writers Ed Bark and Barry Horn engage in humor on Twitter.
  • Looks like the storm will hit at 8:35 a.m. tomorrow. Plan accordingly. 

at 8:35 AM
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