8.07.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • Those who watch Fox 4 News will get a kick out of this. (I wonder what happened to Brandy, though.)
  • I saw these photos out of Galveston yesterday right before I hit the "publish" button, thought it should be a big deal, but then decided I was over-reacting. Nope, it turned out to be a big deal. The guy was homeless and arrested for trespassing but the Galveston PD turned it into a scene right out of Django. Kudos to their Chief:  "I believe our officers showed poor judgement in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest."
  • It seems like any school bus provider would have an app which allows the tracking of school buses by parents. 
  • There was more than just one date?
  • Collin County got a new district court after the last legislative session, and Greg Abbott just appointed Andrea Bouressa as judge. She ran for 416th district judgeship in that county in 2016 and finished last in a four man Republican primary with 12.06% of the vote. 
  • I'll admit I wasn't familiar with the work of Toni Morrison, who died yesterday, but this is great from her: "When your child walks into a room, does your face light up?" Here she explains to Oprah in 2000 (in under a minute) why that's important. 
  • A Paradise boy drowned at a small lake at the Grasslands yesterday morning. I thought this from the Messenger was odd: "Using side scan sonar, [the game warden] said they were able to find him almost immediately. The Flower Mound Fire Department responded and used a submersible remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with video to confirm they had found the boy." Despite no chance of the boy being alive by the time any law enforcement arrived, why wait for the ROV since he was only in eight feet of water?
  • Texas Christian University will now sell beer at Amon Carter this fall for football games. The school joins other Big 12 schools of Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia. There is no way Baylor ever approves beer sales in my lifetime. 
  • Watch people run in terror last night after a motorcycle backfires near Times Square.
  • This Texas House Speaker story is crazy and does not bode well for Republicans at the state level. This is what happened: The head of a conservative oil money and religion super PAC, Michael Quinn Sullivan, met with the Speaker Dennis Bonnen and the subject of giving the PAC (amazingly) press passes for the House Floor came up. Sullivan claims The Speaker said OK if the Super PAC would help target ten Republicans who weren't team players. That meeting occurred in the Speakers office, Sullivan secretly tape-recorded it,  and is now playing it for other Texas lawmakers to try to get Bonnen to quit or get ousted because he never liked Bonnen in the first place. But Sullivan won't release the tape to the public.
When mommy and daddy fight.
  • Anyone have a copy of this laying around? It was published for Bridgeport's centennial in 1973 (and sold for $3 a copy -- down from $5 when they didn't sell too well.) 
  • Then I went down a rabbit trail of the Bridgeport Index in 1973 and ran across this ad.  Hartsell Farm Supply was doing my Random Thoughts Girl bit before I even thought of it.
  • Twenty-four hours ago, Trump was forced to say this off of a teleprompter: "Now is the time to set destructive partisanship aside, so destructive, and find the courage to answer hatred with unity, devotion, and love." Now, hours before heading to El Paso to help heal a community that any functioning adult president should be able to do, he does this to the city's favorite son: 
  • Uh, a White Supremacist just murdered 22 people.
  •  Messenger: Above the Fold. 


at 8:33 AM

8.06.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • Your life can change pretty quickly by simply being a jerk in a public. I'm fine with that. (Original post by family.)
    This is from the home page of the Star-Telegram.
  • The State Bar of Texas reminded the public to be on the lookout for money-sucking vampires (who are also lawyers) after the El Paso shooting. I'm sure someone one will solicit a victim's family to sue Wal-Mart because the legal profession is full of people like that.
  • Count the number of ways this proposal by a Democratic presidential candidate makes no sense.
  • The department of Homeland Security needs to issue a travel warning by the U.S. against the U.S.  
  • More details on a former Texas elected DA.
  • I saw a service dog in the Wise County Courthouse yesterday. That's the first time I can recall ever seeing one. I addressed it as a "good puppy dog" (which is what I do even if a dog is 50 pounds and 10 years old.) 
  • He had one job: To read from a teleprompter, in a monotone voice, the words others had written. He had time to prepare at his golf resort. But he couldn't handle it. "May God bless the memory of those who perished in Toledo . . . ." 
  • For some reason, this morning Trump retweeted a commemoration of D-Day from June 6th. Today is August 6th. 
  • And he threatened Google this morning but misspelled his own name when referring to himself in the third person.  He's fine, right? Totally fine. 
  • The Cowboys released former Baylor basketball player Rico Gathers yesterday after four years. That was the weirdest and longest experiments in team history.  You almost wondered if he had secret tapes of Jerry Jones in some Moscow hotel. 
  • Yesterday I read somewhere that 85% of the Texas population lives east of I-35. I have no idea if that's true, but it sounds right.
  • I'm counting over 75 subpoenas having been issued in a murder case in Wise County tentatively set for next week. 
  • Sometimes you just get fed up. 
  • Former Tarrant County prosecutor Richard Alpert made the cover of the Wichita Falls paper (although he was named "Albert" under his photo.)

at 8:30 AM

8.05.2019

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • What a bloody weekend with the most bloodshed in Texas. Twenty dead at a Walmart shooting in El Paso climbs to the third worst mass shooting in our state's history.  It ranks only behind Luby's (25) and Sutherland (23) and right in front of the University of Texas tower (18). 
  • The killing was the result of White Nationalist Terrorism. Heck, it's such an epidemic and so obvious that even Ted Cruz had to go on record as admitting it. 
  • The shooter said the mass murder was going to be about about illegal immigration and the "Hispanic Invasion" (his words - and Trump's.) I'm not so sure. He murdered people without asking where they were from, without asking to see their papers, and not asking if the were at U.S. citizens. No. This was about killing brown people. 
  • Good lord. This morning Trump not only failed to call out White Supremacists but basically gave them a call to arms. He might as well say, "When I say 'Fake News' in the future, guys, that's your cue." (Note: The El Pasoshooter wrote in his manifesto, "The media is infamous for fake news.")
  • Lt. Dan Patrick said that the shooting was because "we won't let our kids pray in our schools." (Not only is that dumb even for him, but who's stopping kids from praying in school?)
  • At least Trump in the past was horrified at the suggestion that someone shoot illegal immigrants. No? Of course not. He is their leader. 
  • After the Dayton mass murder within hours after El Paso, you would expect in normal times for the President of the United States to address the nation. But that didn't happen because he's not capable of speaking without screwing it up or telling us to tap the brakes because there were "good people on both sides." Instead, he was yukking it up at one of his golf courses Saturday night and crashing another wedding.
  • Greg Abbott, who is scared to utter the words "white supremacy terrorism" and will never refuse gun lobby money, has a tweet for everything:
  • And remember this not-so-subtle tweet by Cornyn earlier this year?
  • Add a section for Walmart.
  • Clever.
  • The El Paso shooter was arrested without incident. Compare and contrast a guy who was arrested (and died) for being arrested for selling single cigarettes. 
  • Changing gears . . . 
    • Five were killed in a fiery car wreck on Northside Drive in Fort Worth last night.
    • The a fourth Republican Congressman, Ken Marchant, has announced he is leaving office. He's the third one to get out of Dodge after winning by less than 5%.
    • Trump had to withdraw the nomination of another Texas congressman, John Ratcliffe, as Director of National Intelligence because he lied about his resume. It's amazing that you can lie in plain sight and get away with it so long as you don't seek a position higher than Congressman. 
    • I saw Once Upon A Time In Hollywood over the weekend. Thumbs up. (But I'm hugely biased as a Tarantino fan.)
    • Big thumbs up to the HBO documentary I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter.  It's great and provides so much background that you had no idea about. (Throw in teenage dating by text, anti-depressants, Glee, and domestic abuse and you've got a wild ride.)
    • This weekend sure took the Arlington cop who accidentally killed a woman after shooting at her dog off the front page. 
    • Mitch McConnell, who of late has become very angry with the nickname "Moscow Mitch", tripped outside his home and broke his shoulder yesterday morning. 
    • A Republican district judge in Denton County won't seek re-election because “I do not like the direction the Republican Party is heading in."
    • Incredible picture a split second after fan gets hit by a foul ball at yesterday's Rangers' game. 
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.



at 8:30 AM

8.02.2019

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










at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Texas Republican Congressman Will Hurd announced last night he won't seek re-election. Why would he? The guy who represents the longest border district in the nation barely won last time, and he can see the anti-Trump turnout simply destroying him next year. (Texas Monthly just had him on the cover.)
  • The worst thing about being a member of the House would be running every two years -- which translates to running "all the time." 
  • Saw this "controversy" yesterday. The answers were either 16 or 1. I didn't see which one was correct, but I'm going with 1.  It depends, of course, on the rules regarding the order of the math equations. Rules that I barely remember.
  • It's not the best photo, but I made a friend on the courthouse lawn the other day. (It's a Husky puppy.) 
  • Mark Pittman, a Fort Worth appellate judge (who was first a district judge because of an appointment and not an election, and then a state appellate judge by appointment as well) is now a federal judge (which, of course, is by appointment.) For his judicial confirmation hearing, he had to prepare a 42 page questionnaire.  Here's an interesting note: He had to list his 10 "most significant litigated matters" (beginning on p. 32). None involved appearing before a jury. They all involved assisting other lawyers before trial. So in this day in time, you can be a state district judge, a state appellate judge, and a federal district judge and never appear before a jury? (Hey, he might be a nice and competent guy, and his story isn't unique, but I still think it's amazing.)
  • I mentioned The Ticket's Jake Kemp yesterday and a faithful reader pointed out a Wise County connection: His mom runs a high tone bedding place in downtown Bridgeport named Reilly Chance. 
  • Oh, Texas, our Texas. 
  • Former Channel 5 anchor Mike Snyder now works for the Tarrant County DA and has produced a propaganda film in hopes of increasing the office's budget. It's odd. I'm not sure who would watch it or buy into it, and the only person they could find who says that more money will be needed is some economist from SMU. And there was a weird (and not-so-subtle) moment where news footage was lifted, oddly, from Compton in LA where the economist says in a voice-over, "If we become like them . . . . " 
  • You might have to be an old-timer to appreciate this, but watch this old WFAA footage of Verne Lundquist at Cowboys' training camp in Thousand Oaks talking about the trade of Duane Thomas. It's exactly like a Dale Hanson Unplugged segment. Listen for the cadence. The pauses. The short repetitive sentences.
  • Someone one pointed out a random federal government publication entitled "Contracts for July 31, 2019." It's amazing. Thirty-nine contracts are listed and the first one begins: "Medico Industries Inc.,* Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, was awarded an $891,165,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract to manufacture and deliver 155mm M795 projectile metal parts and 120mm mortar shell bodies. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received."  Good lord. They are all mind-numbing numbers. The waste has to be beyond belief. 
  • He's just a vile and evil person. From this morning . . . 
  • A grandchild of Bobby Kennedy died from an overdose yesterday.  (That was a pretty quick announcement on the cause of death considering there hasn't been an autopsy.)  I was wondering how many children Kennedy, who was assassinated while running for President, had. He had eleven. He was 42 when he was killed. 
  • This seems significant: The Texas Tribune has discovered a DPS internal memo that instructs troopers to no longer arrest people for misdemeanor marijuana. But it's odd. They aren't simply letting people go but instead issuing a citation to appear to appear in county court at a later date. People still face criminal charges, they just don't have to go to jail and post bond. It's the implementation of a "cite and release" law that was passed in 2007 ago but was never really used. (The law only applies if the person resides in the county where the offense occurs, but no one ever mentions that part.)
  • That story implies the policy is a result of the new hemp law (making weed legal if it has less than .3% THC), but I'm not sure about that. Nevertheless, there was this great tidbit about the Tarrant County DA's office which has recently sent three marijuana cases to a private lab to determine the amount of THC in the weed. Two turned out to contain 13% and 15% THC while one turned out to be legal weed with a THC concentration of .2%.  That's a bad start with a very small sample: One out of every three weed criminal cases are bad. 
  • Absolutely amazing. Everyone knows Russia has, and is, trying to interfere. This was yesterday.
  • I watched the first half of the fantastic HBO documentary, I Love You, Now Die, on Michelle Carter -- the teenager convicted of manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide. It's fascinating and haunting. And I'm torn. I've said before I've got a huge problem with a person being prosecuted for homicide because of simply the words they say. Then the doc showed oral arguments in the Massachusetts appellate court where the judge asks, "You can be guilty of murder for hire by uttering mere words, right? We see that all the time."  Ugh. It's really good stuff.



at 8:29 AM

8.01.2019

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • North Richland Hills had to fish a car out of a pond yesterday. The owner of the car was arrested earlier for public intoxication but won't face a charge of DWI. (That's what happens when you keep your mouth shut.)  But I located his Facebook page -- NRH PD released his name in a Tweet and then deleted it -- and I found he was proud of his new car back in February. 

  • "AUSTIN — The Texas Department of Public Safety fired the state's top counterterrorism official Tuesday after he was arrested and accused of violently raping his wife’s friend. John Jones, 45, who led the agency’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division, is charged with sexual assault and was being held in Travis County Jail Wednesday on bail of $750,000." By the way, you were paying this DPS public servant $198,164 a year.
  • Running for President would be a beating. 
  • It's surprising absolutely none of the Democratic candidates at least haven't learned something from Trump. It's obvious he got the nomination by simply being unconventional -- doing the exact opposite of every candidate who came before him. But every Democrat is using the same old boring playbook: Rehearsed lines, generic talking points, and looking and acting like a politician.
  • On my Griswold family road trip, I had a rule: If we have to stop for a bathroom break the convenience store had to be on the right. We wouldn't exit, take a left turn, and go to the other side of the highway. It's a time saving thing.  
  • Shout out to attorney Richard Gladden for having a misdemeanor weed conviction overturned on appeal this week . (A Denton County jury amazingly found the evidence sufficient to convict and thought it would be a good idea to lock some one up for 180 days and assess a $4,000 for possession of a plant.) Side note: It's never a good sign when the court of appeals tells the Denton DA's office that the facts are "contrary to the State's assertion in its brief." That's not-so-subtle code for "You lied to us and we caught it." See footnote 2.) 
  • They are repaving some streets in Decatur. Unfortunately, your teeth will rattle when your car goes from the paved to the unpaved as your tires hit a cliff.
  • Hadn't thought of this, had you?
  • This is a weird fight. Empower Texans, the far right wing/oil-money based PAC which spends millions on people like Konni Burton (who lost to a Democrat) and Jonathon Stickland (an annual laughingstock who won't run again) and Tony Tinderholt (a family values guy who upgraded his wife to a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader), is after Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen. The fight is led by circus ringmaster Michael Quinn Sullivan. Story.
  • Distribution of Class C criminal cases (tickets) filed in the four justice of the peace courts in Wise County -- year to date -- is below. Fun fact: 17 of the tickets were for speeding 100 mph or more. The leader in the clubhouse clocked in at 122 mph. Fun fact #2: One guy this year got a ticket, and not a warning, for going 4 mph over the speed limit. 
  • Gallagher was convicted of posing with a dead detainee and a team of Navy SEALS thought he was a war criminal. Trump took time away from his concern of A$AP Rocky to get involved yesterday.
  • Ticket fans only: Fort Worth magazine profiled radio guy Jake Kemp. (Funny they spelled it "Kimp" in the URL.)  Kemp once chewed me out on Twitter when I put forth my patented belief that many segments are nothing more than thinly disguised ads. 


at 8:30 AM
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