2.18.2020

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • An odd story from overnight. It's off Seminary Drive in south Fort Worth in a Alamo storage facility. (Very random side note: The Star-Telegram story linked to a map for the location and it sent me to MapQuest. I had completely forgotten about MapQuest.)
  • The Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to get a handle of a mountain of sexual assault claims. I wonder what that means to the massive amount of acreage out at Lake Bridgeport that the Scouts own. (I thought about the when I saw this sentence from the story which indicates its major assets are land: "Amid the crush of lawsuits, the Scouts recently mortgaged the major properties owned by the national leadership, including the headquarters in Irving, Texas, and the 140,000-acre Philmont Ranch in New Mexico, to help secure a line of credit.") Edit: A faithful reader corrects me: "Sid Richardson is owned by your local scout area council, not the national BSA organization, and is unaffected by the bankruptcy."
  • Dale Earnhardt, Sr. died 19 years ago at Daytona. NASCAR almost had another death last night. 
  • A lady has been arrested on charges of Intoxication Manslaughter after allegations she hit a pedestrian in Uptown Dallas. And the case gets took a weird twist when it was reported she was driving a Polaris "Slingshot."
  • Run vs. Pass percentage in the NFL. I'm no statistician, but this seems to qualify as a sustained trend. And the Cowboys paid Zeke Elliott how much? 
  • A guy tweeted "I have some questions about this sports bar steakhouse mural, which features the Ohio State Buckeyes vs the San Francisco Rams", and I can't stop thinking about it. (Not to mention the odd ball carrier and the Van Gogh like swirls in the background.
  • I watched a great documentary on Netflix about Ruby Ridge. It's titled "Every Knee Shall Bow" and is produced by PBS's American Experience. Three thumbs up.  
  • I was looking at the Wise County Jail list and noticed that last night a 63 year old was arrested for possession of marijuana for less than two ounces. Think about that. In the year 2020, a man was taken off the street by the government and placed in a cage for holding a little bit of a plant. (And at 10:00 a.m. this morning you can legally go by a bottle of vodka.)
  • Stay with me here: A former conservative state lawmaker (and faithful Liberally Lean reader) has asked me to make you aware this op-ed being distributed regarding a proposed voting rule in the Texas Senate which will change the threshold vote of when a bill can be considered. If I read it correctly, the change would require only a majority vote for bill consideration down from 60% which is the current rule. Don't care? "In our heavily urban state, rural areas could be more easily outvoted under a rule change." Translated: That majority rule ain't gonna look so good when the Democrats take a slim majority in the Senate -- something which is on the verge of happening. 
  • BagOfNothing posted a picture yesterday of his son being tested for a possible concussion. I had no idea that part of the concussion protocol was the DWI "Walk and Turn" test.
    "Hey, doc, I can't do this sober!"
  • This is a little in the weeds, but I've been following the Dallas appeal of a multi-million jury verdict award to a guy in an alleged bank fraud case in a real estate deal where he is represented in part by Decatur lawyers. I noticed that the same name of the guy who won the award showed up in a different appeal out of Fort Worth last Thursday but this time he is the defendant. The court summarized the case as "The Bagwells, who are husband and wife, served as directors of the nonprofit HOAs. During the time that the Bagwells were directors of the HOAs, loans were obtained from Sister Initiative, an entity owned by the Bagwells’ daughters, on terms that made the HOAs liable for the loans’ repayment. The Bagwells were subsequently ousted as directors of the HOAs, and litigation involving the loans ensued . . . . In essence, the trial court found that the Bagwells used the Sister Initiative loans as a means of funneling money to themselves while leaving the HOAs liable for the loans’ repayment." Opinion.
  • I really don't follow girls basketball much, but you had to like the name of last night's matchup between the Bridgeport Sissies and the Stephenville Honey Bees.

at 8:32 AM

2.17.2020

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • The implosion of the building in Dallas over the weekend left the core of it, mostly composed of elevator shafts, still standing. But it was pretty crazy because that core dropped about 30 feet, planted, and then just leaned. Watch it. 
  • Clayton Williams died over the weekend. Back in the day he challenged, but lost to, Ann Richards.  Political experts far smarter than I am said over the weekend that he lost because he admitted that he didn't pay taxes four years earlier. I have no memory of that whatsoever. I always thought it was the sexual assault joke that killed him. 
  • As I continue to poo poo the Coronavirus Fear Train, I'd like to point out that the U.S. is going through the worst flu season in years. So bad, in fact, that the CDC estimates the number of deaths so far is at 14,000. 
  • Another reason to side with the annoying guy who kept bumping the lady's reclined airplane seat: “I want to know who he is. I would like to press charges against this man. Because, I was assaulted on this plane,” Wendy Williams said in an interview with TMZ. “And American Airlines, I would like the flight attendant Loretta fired.”
  • The President of the United States retweeted a flatulence video on Saturday morning. That's something that President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho would have done in Idiocracy. We're almost there, people. 
  • Kay Granger continues to get pummeled by big bags of cash. (I feel sorry for the postal carrier for those in her district. They are delivering a ton of mailers.)
  • Trump courted the NASCAR vote by showing up at the Daytona 500 yesterday.  I'm no political expert, but I don't think he had anything to worry about with that particular demographic.
  • Ok, this is funny:
  • The Messenger has been doing some flashback articles to the era of pre- and post-Prohibition and reproduced a beer ad in 1933 for a case at $3.35.  Using a handy calculator, that's $66.48 in today's dollars. 
  • On Friday, there were 42 Class C citations (fine only) filed in JP#2 in Wise County against one guy all for one event which happened on February 9th. That seems to be a bit of overkill. 
  • The late night shows could have a field day with some man-on-the-street segments about this:
  • Being able to send a text on an iPad that doesn't have a cellular plan (only a Wifi capabilities) to only other Apple devices (iPhones and iPads) but not to someone who has an Android device is a little hard to explain. 
  • In the 1990s, Texas went Tough-on-Crime by requiring certain felons to serve a greater percentage of their sentences. Now we are seeing the aging of the prison population. It'll continue to get worse over the next decade. 
  • Speaking of incarceration, I finally watched 13th. Big thumbs up. It starts out with an excerpt from a Barack Obama speech in July, 2015 when he said, "So let’s look at the statistics.  The United States is home to 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.  Think about that." Seriously. Think about that. 
  • As I thought and hoped, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran a story about the Wise County case I'm involved in that has also grabbed the attention of NBC's Dateline. In an effort not to be outdone, the Wise County Messenger ran a front page story about it as well. (This is the reason you should support local journalism. With no newspapers, you would be left in the dark.  Subscribe to the Messenger here. Subscribe to the Star-Telegram here.) And if you want to take a deep dive of the twenty-two page detailed Motion I filed which prompted these stories, you can read it here. Multiple arrest and search warrant affidavits are included as attachments as well. Look, I'm court appointed on this deal. And although it's not the point of the Motion, it does explain why Dateline is interested which, it should go without saying, it normally not a good thing for someone. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold.


at 8:30 AM

2.14.2020

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







at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts


  • This is wild. That Dallas firefighter on the left had that wall collapse on him this morning and it was caught on video. 
  • With the Astros cheating scandal in the news, I saw this (admittedly unscientific) poll yesterday. How in the world does anyone vote "yes"? Then again, it's probably a safe bet that one out of every three people will cheat you if it benefits them. 
  • There will come a day when people are transported by automated drones which avoid collisions and land you safely in a pre-designated spot.  And that generation will look back on how we got around today and will think it was just as insane as using a wagon to travel west in the 1800s. Just look at these simultaneous screen shots of northbound Central and westbound I-30 by Dallas this morning. 

  • Someone told me about this book yesterday which is self-published by a Decatur resident. From the description, I think I could categorize it as historical fiction -- a genre which I've really come to like especially when it's about Texas.
  • A former firefighter was given probation by a jury in Tarrant County yesterday after he pled guilty in an Intoxication Manslaughter case which killed a six month old. Probated sentences in those case are rare but they can happen. Here you had a firefighter with no criminal history. And he did one other key thing: He pled guilty before the jury.  (He'll have to serve 120 days in the county jail as a condition of the probation.)  He could have received 2 to 20 years in prison and would have had to have served at least half the time period of the actual sentence. If any of my buddies in Fort Worth can tell me what the plea bargain offer was that he turned down, I'd like to know. Whatever it was, his gamble paid off. And with a deceased six month old, it was a huge gamble.
  • Dennis Prager making the news two days in a row.
  • I don't know how right-wing political talk radio would exist without Relief Factor, the Franklin Mint, and My Pillow. 
  • I referred to Sweetie Pies on the square the other day as "Matties." That earned me an Are-You-OK? look from the folks I was talking to. 
  • Had to shake my heads at the boys on WBAP at this morning when Stubie Doak proclaimed the First Amendment only provides protection from the federal government and not local governmental entities. (6:14 a.m.) That could not be more incorrect. The entire crew sheepishly agreed with him because they amazingly didn't know any better. "I'm just trying to bring a little reality into this situation [we are discussing]," Doak's said. He might sometimes chime in with homophobic jokes on WBAP's morning show, but he decided to branch out into law this morning. Stay in your unfunny lane, bro. (Yep, I'm not a fan.)
  • Kay Granger continues to be attacked by big bags of cash. Now the Super PAC Empower Texans (two rich guys out of West Texas) is throwing its weight around against her. The tweet below from this morning comes from the president of Empower Texans. But it also is very confusing because of his reference to bridges. Aren't their bridges everywhere that go over dry land? That just seems to be a strange way of attacking the Panther Island project.
  • Narrator's voice: "He doesn't have that right." 
  • I've teased and referenced a couple of times now that I had been contacted by NBC's Dateline about a Wise County criminal case they are interested in. You should get to find out what it is about, and why they would be interested in it, this weekend in the Star-Telegram. (I was certain the Wise County Messenger was going to cover it but I'm no longer sure.)
  • I never understood the prosecution of this police officer . . . 
at 8:33 AM

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
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