2.13.2020

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




  • I woke up this morning to news that McClatchy Co., which owns the Star-Telegram, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a long press release written by McClatchy, it appears that the bottom line is that the McClathy family, who owned the company for 163 years, will no longer do so. The company will now be owned by a hedge fund named Chatham: "Chatham is a New Jersey-based hedge fund that last year reported more than $4.4 billion in assets under management on behalf of 14 clients. Hedge funds pool investment from wealthy individuals and big institutional investors, and Chatham’s specialties include investing in companies facing debt distress." The paper is still open for business, but I don't like this at all. 
  • Who ya got? (Video.) Lady Who Reclines Seat vs. Guy Who Repeatedly Punches Reclined Seat? 
  • I was going to side with the Lady until I saw she was mixing it up with everyone on Twitter and even posted this:
  • Trump's final number was 156,418 in New Hampshire which is very, very impressive for an uncontested primary. But so was the total number who voted in the Democratic Primary -- an all time record of 300,622. It's normally a 50/50 state when it comes to presidential elections. 
  • Those results shows that Trump's base loves him and are energized in support of him. But the numbers which make up that base never really change. His approval rating (green line below) is about as steady as it gets -- but it never breaks 50%. That's really amazing especially in light of the next bullet point. 
     
  • That site, 538.com, overlays Trumps numbers after 1,119 days compared to the numbers of past presidents. Look at the fluctuations with the others compared to Trump's consistency.
  • I wasn't familiar with WFAA's fairly new weather gal until I saw this picture yesterday.
  • Tyler Technologies, in addition to providing in-house software to counties, is now basically getting a couple of bucks on every document e-filed in Texas. That used to be free. Haven't I always told you that government contracts were the most lucrative contracts?:
  • As Wise County DA in 1994, I went to Tyler Technologies' small office in Plano to try to find a way to automate the office. If I remember correctly, they had a "starter software package" for counties at around $200,000 with a big annual fee. Since no other Wise County office was even networked (and basically computer-less), that didn't make sense. I ended up automating the office with a server and my own personally designed Access database at a cost of about $2,500 which included three new computers. The database went on to be used nearly 20 years.
  • "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret." Or do it in the open in an effort to cater to the Christian vote to the exclusion of all others. The verse is open to interpretation. 
  • After weeks of horrible tips, I finally agree with one. 
  • Let's check in on the state of the Dignity of the Office this morning:
  • I saw that Prager U was trending, and had no idea why. It turns out Samantha Bee went after  Dennis Prager. I'm a trendsetter. 

at 8:32 AM

2.12.2020

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • From a legal standpoint, it can't be overstated what happened yesterday: Four Assistant U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted Roger Stone withdrew from of the case -- two of them quitting their jobs entirely -- in protest of Trump's interference in the sentencing phase of the trial. They had recommended a sentence of up to eight years which Trump objected to but their boss, William Barr, stepped in and ordered the sentence recommendation withdrawn. It's stunning for every angle.
  • And yesterday Trump denied "talking" to the Justice Department but said he would have had the "absolute right to do it."  And although the "talking" part is probably a lie, he doesn't need to "talk" to anyone when he sends his orders over Twitter by saying the sentencing recommendation is a "miscarriage of justice" that he "cannot allow." 
  • And then Trump sent this bizarre tweet last night attacking the judge who still has to sentence Stone. This would get any president impeached and removed in we weren't living in what is now Bizarro Land. (Side note: Judges don't put people in solitary confinement, and Hillary was never in front of the judge to be "treated" in any manner.)
  • I started keeping track of Class C tickets filed in JP Courts in Wise County last year and missed a big one in November: We had the speeding record set: 144 mph in a 70 mph zone. Haden paid a fine in December. (Cause no. JP1-C-244782.)
  • By the way, the greatest injustice in ticket writing went to a guy who received a citation (and not a warning) in May for going 42 in a 40 mph zone. That case was actually appealed to the County Criminal Court at Law #1, but it still shows he paid a fine. (Cause no. CR-19-00877-2).
  • And for those who don't know, you can look up county records here.
  • Big Money continues to go after Kay Granger with this flyer being mailed out. (Look, I don't care one way or another about Granger. I do care about the rich, via Super PACs, trying to buy elections.)
  • Legal stuff: I'm both horrified and incredibly impressed that a brief has just been filed in the Supreme Court United States that included the meme below. It's kind of explained here with a link to the brief. (If you read the whole thing, it actually is a great way of explaining a complicated legal concept, but it's probably not wise to do it at the Supreme Court. I might do it in a pleading in front of a trial judge who I knew very well, but I don't know if I'd even do it in the Fort Worth Court of Appeals. But this appeared in a "Friend of the Court" brief, so they don't have a lot to lose.) 
  • There's a child trafficking case making the headlines in the Messenger where a guy was stopped with a minor in the car -- a minor who had recently entered the country. All the cops know is the guy was being paid to give the kid a ride from California to Georgia, but the Sheriff specifically said they don't know why. Uh, that "why" is kind of the crux of the human trafficking statute. 
  • I want to talk to the guy who purchases this. I've got a lot of questions.
  • Loved this line from a concurring federal court appellate opinion released yesterday about municipal judges and justices of the peace throwing people in jail for not paying a fine without first determining whether they had the ability to pay. We don't have debtor's prisons (which an amazing number of judges in Texas still do not seem to understand.)
  • The Sophomore In The House asked me yesterday, "The kids at school are talking about 'Texas turning blue'. We were blue? I mean, did all of a sudden everyone's views change?"  And then she immediately followed that up with, "Did everyone's views in the South suddenly change and switch to Republican? When did that happen?"  Oh, my! Pull up a chair, darlin'!
  • A pro se Defendant in Wichita Falls is not making it easy on the court.
  • Shout out to an incredibly insightful and inquisitive reporter from the Star-Telegram yesterday who called me about a case that even NBC's Dateline has been in contact with me about. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold.

at 8:30 AM

2.11.2020

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • Three people are dead in a home near Azle and no one is saying why. But cops are saying they "didn't believe there was any threat to people who live in the area" which is code for murder-suicide.
    That's the ballpark area - not the exact location.
  • The Coronavirus total death toll in China is now over 1,000. Do I have to be the voice of reason? China has a population of over 1.3 billion. Conservative estimates put the annual death rate of natural and unnatural causes at 8 million a year or around 22,000 per day. Calm yourselves. That's not even a bad flu season over there. 
  • I've never understood the appeal of Bernie Sanders, and if he is the Democratic nominee, Trump will crush him.  And even though I'm beginning to think Micheal Bloomberg will catch fire in the next three weeks, the Democrats have to worry about the Bernie junkies staying home if he sweeps in and grabs the nomination.  I can't believe this is happening. 
  • But Trump is scared of Bloomberg as evidenced this morning. Edit: Wow. He deleted it within 10 minutes. It was about Bloomberg's "stop and frisk" policy when mayor.
  • Maybe this is why he deleted it. (But he normally doesn't care about what he's said in the past.)
  • "It's Friday, Friday. Got get down on Friday." (Yep, that's her.)
  • Trump confusingly tweeted a (NSFW) clip of the premier of this season's Curb Your Enthusiasm where the show made fun of people wearing MAGA caps. (Side note: Here's Larry David's NSFW defense of the episode.)
  • I've said it before: The deputies of the Denton County Sheriff's Office who run security for the courthouse should take a week long course on public relations. It ain't gonna kill you to treat the public with a tad bit of respect. Heck, TSA puts you to shame. 
  • I see that #broomchallenge is trending. Just wait until the Internet discovers the spin-a-penny-on-a-bent-coat-hanger trick. I've been doing that bit for years. 
  • Can I place a bet somewhere on the chances of Roger Stone being pardoned? (Also, if you haven't seen Get Me Roger Stone on Netflix, it's a must see if you like politics.)
  • Dateline Dallas: "After footage of performer Genea Sky’s harrowing fall hit the Internet, she posted an Instagram video explaining what had happened and thanked friends and fans for their support. She also created a GoFundMe page to pay her medical expenses." Stolen line from the radio this morning: "She needs to be invited to the next State of the Union address for her courage."
  • If the Smashing Pumpkins released their song 1979 today it would be the equivalent of being entitled 2004.
  • Another thought about heading down 114 into Roanoke and into Southlake this weekend (something I haven't done, amazingly, in a couple of years): I absolutely believe the story today in the Morning News. There is construction everywhere. Heck, that land that the Speedway sits on is going to be worth more than the Speedway itself in a few years. 
  • Ticket fans: I would have moved Bob and Dan to drive time and demoted Corby to mid-days with Jake. 
  • Wise County Jail population this morning: 171. That's pretty low. 

at 8:32 AM

2.10.2020

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




  • Baylor suspended 14 baseball players two games each for "hazing" last year. I'll never understand why one human being wants to inflict cruelty on another for "fun."  And I don't understand the Baylor press release telling us that it's "important to note" that drugs or alcohol weren't involved. I suppose it must be better to engage in ungodly acts while completely sober. 
  • The Dallas Morning News keeps promoting this story about the "tiny" skyscraper in Wichita Falls which was allegedly built after a con man duped investors by using misleading plans: It called for a height of 480" instead of 480'.  But the story then tells us "there's no documented proof" about the scam and that "no one has ever been able to disprove the story about inches and feet." 
  • Someone made an Open Records request to the Tarrant County DA's office, the DA's office complied, then the DA's office said we gave you some stuff that we weren't supposed to so give it back or we'll sue you. I'm not sure it works that way. 
  • There's not a criminal law practitioner with half a brain who doesn't have alarms going off with this one. And I know one Wise County prosecutor who has preached and preached to the cops about this. 
  • I went to an "Escape Room" this weekend and learned something: I'm not smart enough to go to an escape room. 
  • I also ended up in downtown Roanoke. Good lord. When did all that happen? It's the restaurant capitol of the Southwest proper. I remember when Roanoke had one grocery store and basically nothing else. 
  • Trump retaliated against impeachment witnesses Sondland and Vindman (who was escorted out of the White House) on Friday. I'm still waiting to hear if someone ended up with a horse's head in their bed. 
  • You might have missed this over the weekend.
  • The Ticket has a segment called Homer Call of the Week. The winner this year was the booth from Dumas High School in their 38-35 last second playoff win over Decatur. It has some "send 'em home", "thank you, Jesus", "shock the nation", a mysterious $5 bet, and Journey's Don't Stop Believing. (You can hear it here at the 8:00 mark.)  No Wise County school has a dedicated play-by-play and color man for any type of broadcast, right? 
  • And another. (Louisiana).
  • The case of the Yogurt Shop Murders in Austin is now almost 20 30 years old, and they still don't know who did it. (They got a couple of convictions based upon coerced confession but those men were later freed, and new DNA testing matched an unknown individual.)  I read a book about the case recently and was struck by the initial lead detective's position in the case when it was first assigned to him: Despite his standard being probable cause, he was going to take his time and wasn't going to make an arrest until there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt. He wasn't going to be wrong. He got thrown off the case, and a cluster of an investigation later followed which would ruin and taint the careers of many prosecutors and cops. (I thought about it again this weekend because the Austin American Statesman had a new story about the case.)
  • No way I'm watching any of the XFL. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold.


at 8:32 AM

2.07.2020

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






at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • I'm still in a funk about my missed snow forecast. Here's a map of the ultimate snowfall. Look how close we were. It was as if there was a force-field around Wise County's borders.
    My graphics team made that little yellow arrow thingy.
  • “We were treated unbelievably unfairly, and you have to understand we first went through Russia, Russia, Russia. It was all bullshit.” - The President of the United States before his cabinet and members of Congress in the White House.
    That's an extremely white audience for a very diverse nation.
  • Trump is going to be Trump. But I can't get over the audience just fawning over him like he's a Supreme Ruler as he rants like a madman. (Rhetorically and historically speaking, haven't we seen this before?) They just waited out in the audience like children waiting for their king to say their name and praise them. It's just flat out weird.
  • What's next? Is every Valedictorian of every high school going to use the word "bullshit" in their Valedictorian speech because the President of the United States has gas-lighted them to do so? Why not? 
  • I think its a big deal that the hospital in Bowie closed. 
  • One faithful reader took at the Pat Mahomes photo I posted yesterday of him wearing the photoshopped Kansas/Missouri mix-up shirt and noticed the necklace of his girlfriend. That man is in control of his scene. 
  • The attack from big money on Kay Granger is real and just a little sleazy. This is all funded by a Super PAC.


  • Speaking of big money, one candidate for Congress a Texas House seat Dr. Glenn Rogers, withdrew from a public forum yesterday because of the Empower Texans Super PAC connection. He's right. Empower Texans is basically two rich guys out of West Texas, and now the son-in-law of one of them is running against Rogers. Roger then learned that the moderator of the forum works for Empower Texans and had already done a hit piece on him.  
  • Legal stuff which became a way-too-long-bullet-point-which-will-only-interest-two-of-you all because I saw a Washington Post story: Little Tom Green County made national news  in a Prosecutors vs. One Defense lawyer battle. 
    • The defense lawyer filed an appeal in a case involving a guy named Carpenter after his probation was revoked. She argued that the original lawyer who negotiated the plea bargain was ineffective  because, in her view, all plea bargains are unconstitutional. It's a novel argument, but the DA's office had to use resources to fight the appeal.  Importantly, the defense lawyer lost but is still pending further review. 
    • But the DA's office had a plan: Hey, Ms. Defense Lawyer, if we reach a plea bargain with you with any of your future cases and clients, we want you to sign a waiver that says,  “In no way do I believe this defendant’s plea of guilty in exchange for the State’s punishment recommendation in this case to have violated my client’s constitutional rights, including his due-process rights.” 
    • She wouldn't do it and had to withdraw from ten cases since the DA's office wouldn't try to work out the cases unless she signed the waiver as part of the deals. That's not fair to the clients so she got out. 
    • She then filed a federal civil suit against the DA's office.  I appreciate her spunk. 
    • So here's what I think is going on: (1) The DA's office wants her to sign the waiver to foreclose her trying to appeal the current plea bargained cases - most which would be probations which would only be appealed if the defendant screwed up and got revoked. (2) The  DA's office would also try to use her affirmation against her in the still pending Carpenter appeal. It probably wouldn't work, but worth a try.  (3) The defense lawyer is suing in federal court saying the policy targeting her is a violation of her Free Speech rights which, I think, has a heck of a lot more merit than you would think. 
  • I've said it before: I think there's a good chance Michael Bloomberg catches fire in the next two months and wins the Democratic nomination. 
  • This morning we learned, thanks only to journalism and a free press, that the Secret Service has been paying Trump's properties up to $650 a night for a room when he goes golfing. 

at 8:33 AM
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)