12.21.2020

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




  • Texas hospitalizations: There's been an increase in 13 out of the last 14 days. Any speculation about a plateau two weeks ago was definitively premature. 

  • Dueling stories on Friday. Maybe Wise County doesn't quality as "rural": 


  • Trump was very Trumpy this weekend:
    • After the Secretary of State (and everyone else and their dog) blamed Russia for the massive cyberattack, Trump defended the country. Didn't I just say that it sure seems like they have a compromising tape of him? It's flat out weird. 

    • He then had nutcases Sydney Powell and Michael Flynn in the Oval Office where he asked about invoking the military to overturn the election. I'm sorry, if that is not treason, what the hell is? It was so crazy that Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Gen. James C. McConville, the Army’s top officer, released a joint statement that said: 'There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election.'" But we just go on about our Christmas shopping like this is no big deal. 

  • Crazy attorney Lin Wood is still out there filing election lawsuits but the one he filed on Friday had a Freudian declaration at the end. 

  • After the State fought compensating a man who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, the Texas Supreme Court finally issued an Order on Friday telling them to pay the man his money. But just look how it all happened: A prosecuting attorney intentionally didn't turn over evidence which would have revealed the man was innocent. Haven't we seen enough of this every where in Texas? The heck with money and compensation, hasn't the time come for DAs and assistant DAs to be jailed over these crimes they are committing?

  • Hey Aggie, Baylor knows your pain. From 2014: 

    The Committee watching the games on Saturday from
    the Gaylord Texas looked beaten down. 

  • I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Rose Bowl game being played at Jerry World. 
  • Tim Dunn's effort to buy a seat in the Texas Senate for Shelley Luther has failed. And she got crushed in Wise County, too, 2,066-1,296 (61.5% to  38.5%)


  • I'm reading a new book on Hitler's rise to power and on Saturday learned how he courted the Brown Shirts/Stormtroopers/Sturmabteilung in the very beginning.  Hitler preached Law and Order but supported those thugs in the streets.  Sounds a little familiar. Heck, the Proud Boys are just Stormtrooper wannabees.  (And, to bring it all home this Christmas season, it was the Brown Shirts chasing the Von Trapp family in the Sound of Music which played last night. I'm just puttin' a little Hitler into your Christmas this year.)

  • I'm actually listening to that book via Audible and the reader, who has a tad bit of a German accent, pronounces "schedule" as "shed-yule", and now I want to do it, too. (Update: Ok, Internet research tells me that Brits pronounce it that way as well. I've watched British shows for years and have never picked that up.)
  • Somehow is a statue of Robert E. Lee in the U.S. Capitol. Correction: There was one until yesterday. 

  • Tiger's son was in the news this weekend as he played in a tournament with his father. Anyone else think that kid is going to be insufferable? 

  • I don't know a thing about TAPPS football in Texas, but one final fame ended in a doozy. I'm not sure I've ever seen a tie game with 15 seconds left suddenly end with a Pick Six on the final play. Watch it. 
  • For the love of all things holy, I hope the first thing that President Joe Biden does is kill Space Force. What a dumb publicity stunt. 

  • The government has enough of your money for Space Force but, after a year of COVID, can only find enough to give you back a measly $600 in the new stimulus package.


at 8:31 AM

12.18.2020

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

 

  • Texas Hospitalizations: + 100 to 9,628 (but the Texas Tribune failed to update their chart.)

  • A house fire that kills three in Decatur, including two children, seems like a big deal, but I can't find that it was covered by any metroplex media.
  • Local legal news: A Decatur law firm won a $98 million dollar verdict in 2017 in a banking/lending case which was tried in Dallas. The case was reversed this week by the Dallas Court of Appeals with a ruling of "We . . . render judgment that Bagwell take nothing on his claim." Ouch. 
  • That case involved a lot of lawyers. List below.  What do you think about a society where if the government is trying to lock a guy up for years he'll often be defended by only one lawyer (who may or may not be competent), but when money is involved in a case you see a list like this?: 

  • Speaking of money vs. crime, this lady had a heck of history. She was eventually removed from office. (Below, that's "billion" with a "b".)


  • When I've told you I grew up on the mean streets of Bridgeport, I really meant it. Records show that an Ethan Davis out of Bowie was arrested for Agg Assault by Bridgeport PD yesterday, but I don't know if it is the same case.

  • In an unrelated incident, I noticed a guy was arrested last night for DWI and the very, very rare charge of Bribery. Rhome PD is making the claim. I'm interested. 
  • Watch a nurse faint on camera after getting the COVID vaccine. It's meaningless, but people will still freak out. 

  • The soon to be ex-Vice President received the vaccine about an hour ago on live TV.  And, yes, Mother was there and got the injection as well. (Hey. Whatever happened to the COVID-19 Task Force? )


  • With the latest cyberattack by Russia occurring and Trump failing, once again, to say a word negative towards them,  I will always wonder if they do have a compromising video of him. I'm not saying they do, he just that he acts like they do. Flashback:

  • If you get a chance, watch some of the Texas high school football finals today and next weekend. I caught the last part of the two of the games yesterday, and they were more exciting than any pro or college game you'll see all year. Three of the four 11 man games have been decided by 1 point. 
    • Example: In the pic below, Jim Ned (the team, not the person), who at one point trailed 21-0, went for two in the first overtime to win the game outright. It worked. They won it. Get this: The cornerback covering him rushed for 240 yards in the first half. 

  • Random college football practice pic below (click to enlarge). It's Stanford using the field of Santa Barbara City College which just happens to sit right on the ocean. 


  • Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 532 days
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:34 AM

12.17.2020

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

 
  • Oh, my! Three dead in house fire in Decatur overnight. Photos on Messenger's Facebook here.
  • Texas Hospitalizations: +56.

  • Former Cowboys' coach Jason Garrett has the COVID.
  • As of Monday, Texas Senate candidate Shelley Luther has received $700,000 in contributions and $1 million in a loan (which she'll never have to pay back) all from one man, Tim Dunn, who is the money man behind the Empower Texans PAC. Everyone comfortable with that?
  • Fort Worth's gun and ammunition dealer Cheaper that Dirt has been accused of "price gouging." (I've always thought there was a very gray area between price/demand vs. price gouging.)  But since the lawsuit is brought by Ken Paxton, the chances of it not being successful are great. 

  • Speaking of losing by the AG's office, here's another sure fire way to go down in flames: Hire Ken Starr. The article says the Paxton's office will "hire" him and his firm. What's that costing us? And why hire anyone? The Texas Attorney General's office has an office building full of lawyers all working on salaries paid for by you. 

  • These snow totals are real this morning. It makes me want to search for the pictures people are posting from the Northeast.


  • If you want to see the text of a truly horrible proposed law in New York, take a look below. First, the government simply can't prohibit "symbols of hate" because the First Amendment doesn't allow them to. Secondly, even if there some symbols it could ban (it can't), they failed to define "symbols of hate" so basically it's meaning is unlimited. Finally, even if you could ban symbols of hate, the statute literally allows you to do it anyway so long as you put it in a book or put it in a "digital medium" (regardless of whether it "serves an educational or historical purpose.")

  • Random photo of LBJ getting angry and restrained by Kennedy while in Amarillo. 

  • For the very few of you who are cord cutters and who get their local HD stations via antenna, WFAA is now finally available. (Shoutout to a faithful reader in Denton for tipping me off.)
  • Pete Delkus working blue.
  • Local radio talk show host Mark Davis (660-AM) has gone full QAnon. Compared to the way he was in the 1990s on WBAP, he's now a full fledged nutcase. So sad. 
  • If you have some time, check out the new article profiling the career of the the great Barry Corbin in Texas Monthly. 
    Uncle Bob and Bud spot Sissy.

  • High school football fun fact: Argyle has never trailed at any point in any game this season. 


at 8:32 AM

12.16.2020

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 
  • Texas hospitalizations: +168. We've had an increase, albeit small ones, on 9 out of the last 10 days. 

  • Breaking this morning: Congress is on the verge of a new Stimulus Package. It's $900 billion but (1) your individual check will be "far less" than $1,200, (2) there will be no liability shield for businesses and (3) there will be "no funding for state and local governments."  I'm not exactly sure where all the money is going. 
  • As a guy who has made multiple bullet points over the years about the now defunct Silk Road web site on the "deep web", this news story got my attention yesterday. 

    My bullet point during my D.C. trip last December. It
    was in the Newseum. 
    I recommend


  • Buyers and sellers on Silk Road used Bitcoin -- something I hadn't thought about in a couple of years. So I looked it up. Oh, my. That's an all time high. 

  • The death of Judge Cude has created potential chaos in the courthouse. We already know that the regardless of appointments, that Judge Cude's seat and the District Judge's position will be on the ballot in the primary in the Spring of 2022. (That's right around the corner.)  And depending on upcoming appointment(s), and I'm making no predictions here, we could also see the D.A.'s job and the County Attorney's job thrown off their normal election cycle and be on that same ballot as well. We've never seen all four positions on the same ballot at the same time. 
    • But I don't understand the Sheriff being part of the group of three to make a recommendation to County Commissioner's to fill Judge Cude's seat.  What am I supposed to tell a client in a simple weed case who got illegally stopped and searched by a deputy after a bogus traffic stop while he just happened to be on the poor side of town? "Oh, don't worry about the fairness of the judge. The Sheriff helped pick him!" 
    • And, yes, I know who they are going to be pick, and I'm not worried about him, but it is still a bad look. 
  • We've got a triple murder in metroplex with very few details. One body was found at a used car dealership off 377 in Benbrook and two more bodies were found in Parker County. Other than someone being arrested, we know nothing. 
  • Mitch McConnell finally had to face the obvious yesterday by congratulating Joe Biden as President-Elect.

  • This photo of Art Briles on the sideline of Mount Vernon High School was floating around yesterday. Oh, that hair. Someone said it had a little Tiger King vibe to it. 

  • I'm seeing this headline everywhere, and it is a little nutty. If you want to take a deep dive, here's a link which contained the detailed probable cause affidavit (and it's a good lesson on what a PC affidavit should look like.)  The former cop had been watching the guy for days and was convinced he had 750,000 fraudulent ballots in his truck. He turned out to be an a/c repair guy. 

  • I noticed in the Update that Willard Howell passed away. It failed to note he was a former Wise County Judge back in the day.
  • Messenger: Above the fold


at 8:34 AM

12.15.2020

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

 
  • Texas hospitalizations: Slight uptick but still setting a new third wave record.

  • The story might behind a paywall, but it says this longtime Odessa attorney died from contracting COVID at a November pre-trial hearing he was required to attend. And it was traced to an inmate he represented. Is it to harsh to say that the judge killed him?


  • The electoral college went off without a hitch yesterday with Biden winning in the 306-232 landslide. It was proof that Democracy can't be hijacked although, at times, it wasn't exactly like the founding fathers intended. First, at least two states had to take measures to safely protect electors. And in states where they weren't afraid of assault, the electors were doing bits:

  • Overnight, even Putin couldn't hang on to false hope any longer. 

  • The man behind Texas' meritless lawsuit challenging the election is now going to cost you more. All of the people he fired for exposing his "alleged" unethical conduct are now suing him as whistleblowers, and his defense lawyer will be paid a pretty penny.  (By the way, $540 an hour is robbery.)

  • This tree, which is the subject of a new Texas Monthly article, isn't that far away. Mrs. LL drug me out to take a look at it a few years back. (I think the GPS coordinates are 33.062881, -97.132468.)

  • According to the local U.S. Attorney, six men have been charged in a frequent flyer miles scam. After reading the press release, I still don't understand exactly what they did. 

  • In case your company/agency uses it, the Treasury Department and Commerce Department  computer hack occurred because of malicious code the Russians were able to embed in some software program called SolarWinds Orion from a company out of Austin.  The company has over 18,000 customers (which you could have found on a "customer list" hosted on its website until they took it down yesterday.) 
  • I wrote about, and praised, how the Tarrant County DA was going to dismiss first time marijuana cases if someone just tested clean, but unbeknownst to her (and me) Fort Worth PD said they had stopped arresting people for misdemeanor marijuana anyway and wouldn't even he filing new cases. That's a big, big deal. I missed this in late November.

  • Random cool image: A 1896 photo of the Tarrant Count courthouse taken from the Trinity River. 

  • I forgot to check in on this game last night, but it sounded fantastic.  But if you are a gambler, that meaningless safety on the last play/kickoff of the game was made the game even crazier. A 3 point win went to a five point with the line being either 3 or 3.5 depending on when you locked in. 

  • My favorite looking offensive coordinator was fired by Texas Tech yesterday. In unrelated(?) news, Art Briles called it quits after two years at Mount Vernon High School.  

  • If you are a college football fan, this gal's most recent rendition of the playoff committee's zoom call is really, really funny. It'll take you 53 seconds. (And I normally don't like stuff like this.)

  • Trump's personal lawyer AG Bill Barr couldn't even make it for 36 more days.


at 8:31 AM
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