Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

 

• Wise County active cases: 31 (-1)
• As to the statewide dashboard numbers, Collin County began to ignore them last week because of unreliability. Flower Mound did so yesterday. 
  
  
  
• Texas Hospitalizations: (-101)
  
  
  
• The 17 year old Rambo who shot two people in Kenosha makes my head hurt. He's just so young and dumb. Here's a video taken before the shootings of him talking like he's out there to be some kind of superhero.  Hey, dumass, life isn't a Call of Duty video game. Speaking of, how is Tucker Carlson on the air? "Maintain order"?
  
  
  
• Here is the first video of the 17 year old shooting someone in the head at a boarded up building. That's what started it all and why he was running away with a crowd following him in the video I posted yesterday.
• The first guy who was shot threw some kind of bag at the 17 year old before he was killed. There's that video (with someone syncing up the first video with it). That doesn't justify getting shot in the head. 
  
  
  
• But I can't stress enough how open carry of an AR-15 makes criminal prosecution of anyone so difficult -- whether it be when, like here, the AR-15 carrier becomes the shooter or someone shoots the AR-15 holder (like in downtown Austin). Every self-defense case requires the prosecution to eliminate any reasonable doubt that the shooter was not reasonably in fear of his life. You inject an AR-15 in a scene like this and it becomes a criminal law nightmare. Everyone gets hyped up and on edge when you see someone walking in a volatile environment with a long barreled gun. Everyone thinks they can be killed at any second.  It's a recipe for disaster. That's why to allow open carry is beyond moronic. 
• That being said, Castro is right.
  
  
  
• But his police agency hasn't exactly been firing on all cylinders. Nothing to see here. Just drive on past the white guy carrying a gun with his hands up who had just blown away two people. 
  
  
  
• You kind of expected this. But I'm kind of surprised the Trump campaign issued a statement distancing from the kid. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• That was quite the statement yesterday as NBA players protested the shooting of Jacob Blake by refusing to take part in the playoffs. The WNBA followed suit as did some teams in MLB and the MLS.  Players have come a long way since they were scared of retribution for just taking a knee during the anthem. Oh, and check out the T-shirts which were worn by the Washington Mystics:
  
  
  
• This is code. Fortunate. Translated: "See what happens when we allow those unappreciative uppity blacks to not suffer consequences?"
  
  
  
• After being on the run for 12 years for the shooting of his daughters in Irving, yesterday Yasar Said was finally arrested in, of all places, Justin.  (I just learned that there's actually a documentary of the case on Amazon called The Price of Honor.)
  
  
  
• Hurricane Laura came through with only a drop of rain in Beaumont -- all the winds and rain hit in southeast Louisiana where there's basically nothing there except a couple of tiny towns. Didn't Gov. Abbott declare a disaster for several Texas counties a couple of days ago? 
• Have you seen the creator of Dilbert explain how Biden's name is actually the sign of Satan? Seriously. "666 identify - That's what Joe Biden's name is." It's loony bin crazy. 
  
  
  
• I've had my second major iPhone problem in less than a year. This one now won't recognize the password of some Wifi networks even when I know it is correct. Stuff like that never used to happen with Apple products.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 

• Wise County active cases: 32 (same)
• Texas hospitalizations: (-112)
  
  
  
• Big 12: The Texas Tech Red Raiders reported 21 yesterday. The Oklahoma Sooners reported 17 active cases on Monday.  Meanwhile, in Aggieland in general:
  
  
  
• In Kenosha last night, an armed man (or kid) allegedly killed what is believed to be at least one person and also shoot another in the arm. A great part of the incident is included in this footage which is the best one I've found. (Graphic.) He was running at the beginning of the video and a group seemed to be after him. I'm not sure what happened before that.  The online masses think they have him ID'd as a 17 year old. And we already have the debate breaking out of "He's a White Supremacist Boogaloo Boy" vs. "It's all just self-defense from those thugs."  Good morning, America.  
  
  
  
• From the RNC last night:
• "As a recent [law school] graduate, I can relate to so many of you might be looking for a job." - Tiffany Trump, the daughter of a sitting president, who can't find a job? Not the greatest ringing endorsement. 
  
  
  
• I thought this looked a little familiar. 
  
  
  
• Ugh. "You followed the rules, you obeyed the laws" as Trump brazenly violate the Hatch Act.  
  
  
  
  
• Noticed this line in this story: "The $31 million project is made possible by generous donors. Lead donors Mark and April Anthony of Dallas, Texas, and Rick and Debbie Wessel of Westlake, Texas, participated in Saturday’s groundbreaking ceremony. Other key donors include  . . .  Donny and Marcy Edwards of Bridgeport, Texas."
  

  
  
• I'm telling you, something very weird is going on at Fort Hood. This appears to be a suicide.

  

  
  
• I noticed someone got arrested for drugs last night in Wise County but the Rhome cops added a charge of “Prohibited Weapon - Tire deflation device.” I had to look that one up. It "means a device, including a caltrop or spike strip, that, when driven over, impedes or stops the movement of a wheeled vehicle by puncturing one or more of the vehicle's tires." I had never seen that one before. 
• Messenger: Above the Fold (The self inflicted gunshot wound by the Bridgeport teenager which happened in front of police sounds horrific. And I don't understand how it's a front page story but it's not in today's Update.)

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

 

• Wise County active cases: 32 (-12)
• Texas hospitalizations: (-616)
  
• I still don't know how this Fall is going to pan out. The University of Alabama yesterday reported 500 cases once students got back on campus. 
• From the Wall Street Journal.  (Ticket fans would refer to Cuban as a "Chris Chris.")
  
• As I smoothly segue away from "shirtless, dripping with sweat": The Jerry Falwell Jr. pool boy scandal is a lot to wrap your head around. But Falwell has a lot going on than just liking to watch.  I had already forgotten that lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump's "fixer", helped Falwell suppress racy photos of his wife in a possible exchange for Falwell's endorsement of Trump. And someone might want to look into this story from last year about Falwell's wife's 23 year old personal trainer (not the pool boy) ending up with Liberty University real estate worth over a $1 million.  
  

  

  Falwell (left) with someone not the pool boy
  

• Good lord.
  
  
  
  
• Speaking of smooth segue: I don't know why she was yelling. Watch. 
  
• How the roll call to officially nominate their party's candidate was handled by Democrats and Republicans:
  
• The Arkansas "farmer", who I hope didn't get Chinese tariff welfare, was 28 years old and went by the name Quake Lewellyn which doesn't exactly match the stereotype.
  
• She spent some of the rest of the day defending her post, writing "I want to clear the air by saying NONE of the blame should be placed on the TXST School of Music."
  
• I saw the trailer for Jojo Rabbit in a theater and thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever seen. I finally watched the film this weekend. Verdict: A shocking two thumbs up.  It was really, really good. 
  
• Holy cow. Compare the view of the north side of the White House with a photo I took in December (at 10:21 a.m. on 12/27/19 to be exact) to one that was taken yesterday.

  

  Then
  

  
  

  

  Now
  

                                                                             
• If my tracking of numbers is correct, 1 out of every 5 felony cases filed in Wise County is now based upon marijuana/THC products bought legally out of state. Most defendants are just passing through on Highway 287.  

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Wise County active: 44 (-8. That's as of Friday, the most recent numbers.)
• Texas Hospitalizations: 5,635 (-449 since Friday).  I thought it would begin to flatten out right about now. There's still a chance, but I'm beginning to wonder. 
  
• This will be interesting: On Friday, TEA announced that Texas school districts will have to report their COVID-19 numbers beginning on September 1 and those numbers will be released to the public.  And, yes, football begins Friday. I never dreamed it would happen. 
  
• KellyAnne Conway is leaving the White House to spend more time with her wheels-off 15 year old daughter. 
  
• The Republican Convention begins this week. Quite the line-up they are throwing out there. 
  
• The Republicans announced they will not have a Platform for their convention. It's all about an allegiance and loyalty to Trump now. Man, that's a bold move. Instead of distancing from the guy, they are going all in for him. Will Lindsey Graham finally be prophetic? I think about this tweet from him a lot.
  
• If you want to be the next State Senator for Wise County, you will have to get on it. The deadline to file is now Friday for an election to be held on September 29, 2020.  Gov. Abbott has cited the ongoing pandemic emergency as a reason for the quick election. Please note that West Texas ultra-conservative oil money is not happy as they see it as a way to shoehorn in a win for State Rep. Drew Springer.  Oh, and Shelly Luther announced her candidacy from the steps of the old Denton County courthouse protected by a couple of overweight middle aged men, one with an AR-15.
  
• Golfer Nick Faldo is getting married. It will be his 4th. It will be her 7th. He's literally in love with a stripper.
  
• This is horribly wild. 
  
• I can't recommend Showtime's Outcry enough for a look at how the worst prosecutors are the ones who are oblivious to, or don't care about, making sure someone is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before they decide to prosecute. They can destroy lives. For those who have seen it and were stunned to learn that Assistant D.A.  Geoffrey Puryear (pronounced "Joff-ree" as in Game of Thrones) was appointed by Gov. Abbott to a district judgeship, take heart. The job was in Travis County and he was appointed to fill-in for a newly created court. He'll face an election in November and a Republican isn't winning in Travis County.
  
• Twitter had to ban a Trump tweet over the weekend when he tried to scare people away from voting by telling them they might get COVID-19. The President of the United States "violated Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity." Think about that. (And have you ever seen a politician more scared of people voting?)
  
• Baylor's men's tennis coach abruptly resigned last month. Now we know why. He sent these text messages to a student "who hoped to a make Baylor's women's team." Oh, my.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I'd like to call off my hurricane alert for Houston. (I told you I don't have my certification yet.) It looks like it'll be no big deal. But it apparently doesn't take much these days to declare something an emergency. 
  
• The Daily News is pretty hard on the GOP this morning. In all honesty, I bet they put on a pretty good prediction. Trump may not know much, but he knows TV.