7.01.2020

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts


  • Texas is setting records left and right: 
    Hospitalizations

    New Daily Cases
  • Wise County: Active cases at 32. *Dramatic voice*: "At least that's what the government wants you to believe." 
  • Since some people thought that the summer heat would help kill the virus but just the opposite appears to be happening, here's an interesting question: Does air-conditioning increase the spread of the virus? It certainly worth exploring. 
  • It's July 1st which means the year 2020 is only halfway done with us. And it sure doesn't feel like a regular 4th of July week.
  • I haven't followed this bizarre Idaho case involving the deceased children but, based upon watching a certain movie, I have a working theory. 
  • Date line Austin: Silly looking "Bar Lives Matter" protesters met with silly looking DPS troopers dressed like storm troopers.

  • I visited a couple of Wise County groups on Facebook because a couple of people told me I'd be interested. Verdict: Those are some very scary and disconcerting places. 
  • Speaking of, the only Trump seems to care about lately is protecting statues honoring the Confederacy. Chalk it up to another weird thing relating to his bizarre campaign strategy. 
  • I'm so glad they have resumed press briefings by the Press Secretary. She was firing off some gold yesterday.
  • I've dogged Mark Cuban for years because I think he's got a lot of con man in him. But I loved to study how he is con man. One way he does it is to manipulate conversations.  An example is, when being interviewed, he ends his answer with a question which presupposes what he (Cuban) just said was true. It catches the host off guard every time.  He did it the other day:
  • Fox News just fired Ed Henry due to sexual misconduct allegations.
  • Benjamin Franklin Plumbing runs a commercial on The Ticket where one of the owners oddly announces with glee that during these "trying times" their technicians will bring a free roll of toilet paper on his service call. A single roll. (And I keep wondering if it is packaged. I've never seen a single roll package. Do they just hand you one while the end of it flaps in the wind?)
  • No popcorn shrimp in Wichita Falls: Red Lobster got locked out of it's location for failing to pay rent. Hot opinion: There's nothing wrong with Red Lobster.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold
  • The story below is about the body of the missing female soldier from Fort Hood perhaps being found. And there was just this breaking news alert that might be related: "A suspect in a Fort Hood Criminal Investigation Division case died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as officers attempted to make contact with him early Wednesday morning."  We've got a movie plot unfolding here. 


at 8:36 AM

6.30.2020

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts



  • Wise County ramping up with 'Rona:
    • Justice of the Peace #2 office is shut down due to positive case "exposure" by an employee.
    • Casa Torres in Decatur has voluntarily shut down due as well. (Man, the person who told me this better be right.) 
    • The City of Bridgeport pool has shut down for the summer and rentals of the Community Center have been indefinitely suspended due to "extra precautions due to COVID-19."
    • The County Clerk's office remains shut down after positive tests. Edit: It has now reopened.
    • Wise County finally has official new numbers: 33 active cases. (The old record for active cases, I think, was 17 or 18 a couple of months ago. And I'd bet 33 is way too low. Here is the county's long disclaimer about the numbers since the State still isn't being very helpful.)
    • All jury trials are delayed until at least September 1. (This applies to the entire state as of late last night.)
  • Texas (hospitalizations set a new record yesterday; total new cases had the typical delayed weekend reporting down-tick.)

  • I still have extreme doubts that we'll see UIL sports this fall.  But what about college/pro football? Greed and money will certainly push for it to be played, but one thing that hasn't been factored in is George Floyd. "Come again?" you say. Stay with me here. You are telling me that a football game will be played while a predominately white crowd is protected by limiting fans to 50% capacity or less as they watch predominately young black athletes roll around in piles on the ground? What happens when that optic finally dawns on everyone?
    (Looks like they had social distancing in the upper deck)
  • And can you imagine the headaches and scandals if they do try and play? Say, for example, UT quarterback Sam Ehlinger tests positive for the COVID right before the OU game, but says he feels 100% fine. Does the Evil Empire quarantine him for two weeks? How big is the temptation to try to cover up the test and pray no one finds out? Would some other team in a similar situation try to cover the test results up even from their star quarterback? You don't think a team in the SEC wouldn't do that?
    Eyes closed.
    He completed that, by the way, and it was amazing.
  • Breaking: The great Carl Reiner has died. 
  • Either he didn't care that Russia was paying for U.S. soldiers to be murdered ("No puppet!") or, at the very least, he didn't read his security briefing because he was watching Fox and Friends and tweeting. This is not going away. 
  • He's just trolling us and doing a bit, right? 
  • Yesterday's abortion decision is pretty interesting for this reason: 
    • The Louisiana law before the court which restricted abortion was exactly like a Texas law that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016. But the Supreme Court's makeup had changed since then. 
    • Because of that change, there were now enough votes to uphold the abortion restrictions, but something went wrong -- Chief Justice Roberts changed sides. He was in the dissent in 2016 and, if he would have had his way back then, would have ruled that the Texas law was constitutional. 
    • But yesterday he wrote that he would follow the majority in that Texas case and would now vote to strike down the Louisiana law which was currently before the court. Had he changed his mind? Nope. He still thinks the way he did in the Texas case. And that means he thinks the Louisiana law is constitutional. 
    • So why change sides? He voted to strike it down because, in his view, the Supreme Court can't be overruling itself left and right simply because its members change. He considers, as Chief Justice, for it to be his court and his legacy.

  • Always, always, keep Hitler out of it. 
  • s
  • Legal stuff: I was thinking of what it would be like to try to "pick a jury"/conduct voir dire if everyone on the entire jury panel was wearing a mask. It would be impossible. I've always depended just as much on someone's facial expressions as their answers to questions. (This isn't rocket science. Have you tried talking to someone wearing a mask lately?)  Along those same lines, a witness who were to testify while wearing a mask would probably violate the Confrontation Clause. (Quick research reveals one Texas case where it was error to allow a witness to testify "wearing dark sunglasses, a baseball cap pulled down over his forehead, and a long-sleeved jacket with its collar turned up and fastened so as to obscure [his] mouth, jaw, and the lower half of his nose.")
  • More legal stuff: I can't imagine trying to prepare for the bar exam right now. If it were to be cancelled at the last minute, it would be devastating. But I'm also not sure about every Texas law school dean supporting the possible option of allowing, for this one time only, a law degree taking the place of the need to pass the bar exam. 
  • The inmate population at the Wise County Jail has now hovered in 130s for a few months since the COVID crisis hit. It used to normally average in the 190s. The world hasn't ended just because there are less people in jail, has it? 


at 8:34 AM

6.29.2020

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • We still don't have any reliable updates from the State regarding the number of active coronavirus cases in Wise County. (To be clear, I'm not blaming Wise County officials. They are just as in the dark as you and me.)
  • Texas: We finally had a day where the current number of hospitilizations was lower than the day before. But it was still logged in as the second highest day ever yesterday. The number of total active cases had its typical weekend drop off but were still in the 5,000+ range.  The seven day rolling average of deaths, the only positive news we had had, is now on the upswing. None of this is good.
    Hospitalizations

    New cases per day

    Deaths per day
  • It dawned on me that the official Texas position on the coronavirus last week went from "We are all set to fully reopen" on Tuesday, to "let's pause the reopening" on Thursday, to "let's cut those restaurants back to 50% and shut down all bars" on Friday. 
  • I ordered takeout at a Wise County Mexican restaurant on Friday evening, and I'd like to report it was packed with no one wearing a mask other than the staff.
  • A COVID testing site on Thursday in Dallas: 
  • Mike Pence appeared at FBC of Dallas yesterday and has now taken the position that we all need to wear masks when we are out. Let's check in on the choir as he spoke: 
  • There was a little publicized Black Lives Matter rally at the Wise County Courthouse yesterday. Based upon the comments about a live feed of the event broadcast by one of the protesters, it sounds like she didn't need to be the self-appointed spokesperson. (I don't have a link. I think its on Facebook, and I hate going on Facebook.)
  • Trump had another stellar weekend.
    • We learned that the Commander in Chief was briefed in March of Russia paying the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and Trump did nothing. The White House doesn't deny the existence of the bounty, but instead denies that Trump knew. 
    • Trump retweeted a video of a man in a parade clearly yelling "White Power!" and commented that they were "great people." The White House denied that Trump heard those words. See a pattern here?
    • Trump told us on Friday that he was cancelling his golf plans for the weekend to work on Law and Order (back when he was still using code language). He then instead went golfing on both days. 
      Friday
      Saturday
  • The videos of this lovely couple "protecting their home" from peaceful protesters (who just happened to be black) walking by their gawdy home are wild. Quick loading videos are here and here. I'll promise you that I've had to defend multiple people on felony charges in Wise County for pointing a gun at another person in far more understandable circumstances. (The couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, are both personal injury lawyers who graduated from SMU.) 
  • This blew up on Saturday night. I'll just put leave it here in case you haven't seen it. 
    "only way"
  • Funny follow up to that:
  • Greg Abbott is turning on the oil-money rich (and oily-in-general) SuperPAC Empower Texans. He is now endorsing the opponent of the son-in-law of Farris Wilks who is the major multi million dollar contributor to the PAC.
  • We almost had a Confederate Youth Camp take place at the Sid Richardson Boy Scout Ranch at Lake Bridgeport.  But once the news broke on Saturday, the Longhorn Council, which runs the Ranch, very abruptly cancelled the event noting it was "extremely disappointed that this situation was ever allowed to happen."  (H/T Bud Kennedy.)
  • I had to drive on I-35 back and forth through Denton on Friday. Man, even after construction, it's a major beating. Hot opinion: There's too many dang exit and entrance point for traffic. There's no wonder there's a crash a day over there. 


at 8:30 AM

6.26.2020

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







at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Texas. It was right around June 10th when I noticed the uptick in hospitalizations, and began to sound the alarm on it. But, man, I had no idea what was coming:
    Hospitalizations

    New cases per day
  • Wise County is still fighting to get some reliable data. We've been in a news blackout for the last eight days. This was last night's update:
  • Random 'Rona Notes: 
    • Most of the employees of the Wise County Clerk's office were tested for the Coronavirus after the outbreak, but they still don't have the results back. Seems like we need a system with a quicker turnaround. 
    • Since when has Colleyville become ground zero for defiance? It was the first local city to balk at business restrictions and now we have this. 
    • Update from yesterday's bullet point regarding Houston's hospital bed crisis: Yep, they are almost out of beds but they can pivot to continue to handle any surges. (It doesn't make sense to me either.) 
    • Fred's Texas Cafe in the 7th Street area of Fort Worth opened on Wednesday after being closed for three months. It the immediately closed the very next day after a staff member tested positive. Do you think all restaurants are so cautious? Do most even monitor the health of the employees?
    • Finally the easiest job in the world, the Governor of Texas, has to face a real world problem. It has gone about as well I expected. 
    • The CDC said yesterday that it could be that for every one person who tests positive that there might be 10 who actually have the virus. The Coronavirus-Is-No-Big-Deal crowd jumped on that by pointing out that, if true, the death rate would be about the same rate as the flu. The Counterpoint-Crowd said "So? Don't you care about this number which will continue to rise?" Pick your side.
    • Shelly Luther update (Spoiler: She's involved in Twitter fights).

  • After years of special prosecutors whining that they aren't being paid a ridiculous amount they seek, the criminal case against AG Ken Paxton has been moved back to Collin County from whence it came. It had been moved to Harris County on a change of venue, and now it's going back. The case has now been languishing for five years. Heck, Paxton's lawyers just need to file a Speedy Trial motion and let's kill this thing. This whole process has given the criminal justice system another black eye. 
  • NASCAR released a picture of the "noose" -- a noose which had been hanging there for months -- which gave rise to the Bubba Wallace brouhaha this week. It doesn't change anything.  This thing blew up because NASCAR wanted it to blow up so they could exploit it in a feel good we-are-all-united moment at the start of the delayed race.  (For those wondering how Bubba Wallace got assigned to that particularly garage, it was based on overall standings which change after every race.)
  • A wild claim I heard on my TV box this morning isn't as wild as it seems: Trump sees he'll lose in November and, knowing that he can't stand being a "loser", he quits right now claiming the Fake News sabotaged him (and America), and then starts a Trump Revolution Network where his base of 38% pays $6.95 a month to join.  Would he monetize his presidency while he still can? You bet. Do I think it will happen? Naaaa.
  • Do I think Trump will lose? After 2016, I'm out of the prediction business in presidential races. I learned my lesson. 
  • I don't trust any American who cares about Liverpool today and especially one who wears a Liverpool jersey.  A real American would care more about whether James Madison can finally take down North Dakota State in Frisco in December this year.
  • A COVID-free Decatur lawyer dropped this bad boy by my office yesterday. (Pen used for perspective. Don't make fun of my pen -- those old school Bics are the greatest pens in the history of ever.) 
  • Legal nerd stuff: So what if cops get a warrant for a felony, the "victim" thinks it's silly or overkill, and the DA agree and wants to reduce the charge? Normally, the defendant would have to turn himself in on the felony, make bond, and then the DA could reduce the charge once the case got to his office.  In this case, the judge who was to set bond just "rejected" the charges (probably at the illegal (?) urging and contact of the DA.)  I don't think the judge can do that. He has the right to find no probable cause on a warrantless arrest and release the defendant, but I don't think he can "reject" the charges if the arrest is based upon an existing warrant. (But no one will complain so no one cares -- the most commonly used unwritten law in our system.) 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:32 AM
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