3.02.2021

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts





The youtube link for the video is still good.     
  • Gov. Abbott is going to a Mexican restaurant in Lubbock today to make an announcement. He's either going to discontinue the "mask mandate" or announce that he is a big fan of fajitas.

  • As he has always done, Texas AG Ken Paxton ignored the law and filed a lawsuit just to placate the masses and seek publicity.  Griddy did nothing wrong. Everyone who signed up with them knew exactly what they were getting into. Yet, Paxton will sue them to get headlines. 

  • The first head has been lopped off in wake of the Texas Energy Fiasco with the resignation of the top person at the Public Utilities Commission, DeAnn Walker.  It'll be interesting to see if $850,000 a year guy  Bill Magness, the president of ERCOT, survives this thing. You know, he just might.  If there is one thing we've all learned after a major political screw-up is this: Just ride it out, let a little time pass, and you may survive. 

  • In a growing trend, Dallas PD no longer cares about the state's dumb laws of making it a crime to possess less than 2 ounces of marijuana and will no longer enforce it. Note: This isn't just Dallas police wanting to implement a "cite and release" law which allows them to simply hand a person a notice to appear in court instead of arrest them. Nope, they will neither arrest nor give a citation to appear. Fort Worth PD announced the same policy in November. 

  • Yesterday alone, there were four people arrested in Wise County for being in possession of marijuana under 2 ounces. That's it. There were no other companion offenses. (One guy was arrested by Bridgeport PD, one by Decatur PD, and two people by DPS.)
  • A convicted felon is running for mayor in Arlington, and he may or may not be eligible to do so.  But I got side-tracked by the highlighted statement below in the story. Grand juries don't convict anyone of anything -- they just hand down indictments. 

  • The Republicans in Georgia, in light of the last election results, are now trying to make it as hard as possible to vote. Things like this are happening all over the country. 

  • As America gets back to normal in this post-Trump era, the fencing has come down around St. John's church across from the White House.  

  • NFL Reporter Jane Slater got dogpiled on Twitter yesterday for promoting "unpaid" internships. She was oblivious to the fact that the only people of privilege can afford to work for free.  






  • Legal stuff: Yesterday the New Mexico Supreme Court heard an appeal of the largest wrongful death verdict in state history: $165 million. I noted that one of the issues, but not the main one, was the judge had an ex parte (one sided) communication with one of the lawyers. But, in the judge's defense, he handled it as best he could: 

  • Nerdy legal stuff: I was hoping the Supreme Court would agree to hear a pending case as to whether cops illegally prolong a traffic detention by simply running someone's criminal history. It's an open question.  Last week, the Court decided not to answer it for us. (I don't think the facts were as clean as they would like to decide the issue.) But for those who are interested in this area, here's a link for some of the great briefs filed in that case. 
  • There's is no way I give JJ Watt $23 million in guaranteed money on a two year contract like Arizona did yesterday. In addition to being on the decline, he's injury prone at this stage in his career. He played in only 3 games in 2016, 5 games in 2017, and 8 games in 2019. This season will be his 11th year in the NFL.  

  • Very random political thought: Whatever happened to Sen. Phil Gramm? 

at 8:30 AM

3.01.2021

Random Monday Morning Thoughts





I was referring to the Fort Worth Marathon that had been held the weekend before. Thomas would actually run the Boston Marathon two years later in 2013 -- the same year of the bombing. He had already finished and was back at his hotel when the bomb went off.    
  • So did you see the surgeon who appeared by Zoom for his trial in municipal court in California while he was in an operating room with a patient on the table? I've got a couple of theories. One, he is a nut who actually thought that was a good idea. Two, he's doing a bit. And he'd be able to pull off that bit because he's a plastic surgeon and probably runs and operates his own operating room in his office complex. That's routine. So he could have set it up with a friendly employee playing the role of patient just to jack with The Man. 

  • At the end of the ice storm, Mrs. LL ended up picking up milk in Fort Worth since it was in scarce supply in Wise County. After one week, I thought it would be a good idea to look at the expiration date on the bottle. Photo below -- this seems very wrong. That's just regular run of the mill 2% milk from Kroger: 

  • At CPAC, they lined up to tell a QAnon nutcase that they love her. Video. 

  • The Messenger had their annual "Best Of" issue, and I noticed that Charlie Tibbels won "Best Attorney." I shall be filing a lawsuit challenging the use of mail-in ballots and the voting procedure to Stop this Steal.  
  • Sketch artist draws the current view of the Supreme Court. 

  • The Wise County Jail population numbers are interesting after a year into the pandemic. Total inmates as of this morning is 167 - about 30 lower than pre-pandemic numbers. But the number of inmates who have been there for over 100 days is skewed much higher: 73 as of this morning. Pre-pandemic, that number averaged around 45.
  • Wise County congressional representative Ronny Jackson lied as to why he couldn't attend the House session on Friday (the one where the $1.9 million COVID relief bill passed over Republican objections) citing a "public health emergency." He actually was attending CPAC in Florida. 

  • Ted Cruz was also at CPAC. His comedy routine failed to mention that an 11 year old boy froze to death during the winter storm.  Video of Cruz delivering the line . . . 

  • Ken Paxton, who I believe will end up in federal prison for his most recent scandal, bragged about golfing with Trump on Friday. 

  • A Baylor graduate has been charged in the Trump Insurrection at the Capitol.

    • "In September Coffee began actively posting about QAnon conspiracies and releasing Instagram videos alleging the world was controlled by an all-powerful cabal of politicians, billionaires, propagandists, and Satanists‚ and that God had anointed Donald Trump to root out evil in the body politic."
    • A faithful reader pointed out that he might have made the roster for the Bears' football team.
  • Now we've got technology that makes old photos "come to life." Trust me on this one, click here to see Frederick Douglas move as he poses for the picture. (Obviously, it could be done with any still image. Here's an example of that.)

  • "Hey, go work for an hour and I'll give you all of this!"

  • I don't know if this real, but I have no reason to doubt it.

  • Did you know the first player ever drafted in the NBA was born in Wise County, went to Slidell High School, played for Decatur Baptist, and later was a principal at Bridgeport High School? (Credit: Messenger's Richard Greene.) 
  • How Mad Were Boosters at the Evil Empire Revolt: "Emails obtained by The Texas Tribune show alumni and donors threatened to stop supporting the university financially and demanded that the university president take a stronger stance supporting "The Eyes of Texas'."
  • Today is the deadline for Texas police and sheriffs departments to submit racial-profiling data on 2020 traffic stops. Past data here. 


at 8:30 AM

2.26.2021

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts






I don't remember these drastic budget cuts at Chico ISD (or Dallas ISD for that matter). And I feel like I was right: We hadn't seen school cuts like that before. And we haven't seen them since.    
  • Some things never change: We dropped some bombs on the Middle East last night. 

  • So yesterday evening the news broke that the Minimum Wage provision won't go into the Senate's version of the Stimulus Package because a parliamentarian said it wasn't procedurally proper? What's going on? The Republicans rammed through three Supreme Court justices and the Democrat controlled Senate now can't pass a law which the majority of American's overwhelming support? 

  • Seriously?

  • There were hearings at the state legislature yesterday on the energy fiasco last night. As expected, it didn't reveal or fix anything of note.  But I did learn the number of people who might find their monthly of electric bills to be in the thousands of dollars: 

  • DeAnn Walker is the head of the Public Utilities Commission, and was basically the only one to get beat up by legislators because she didn't seem to know very much. “I don’t think I understood the situation and underlying issues until we’ve lived through this,” she said. 

  • Much like the golden calf, a golden Trump was rolled into the CPAC convention last night. Now if they can just avoid the 40 years of wandering in the desert.  

  • I missed this particular picture at the rally before the Trump Supporters Stormed The Capitol.  It's a lot like that old Apple "1984" commercial from the Super Bowl. 

  • I got the mailer from the Runaway Bay Mayor going after the Messenger for criticizing Rep. Ronny Jackson for supporting of The Big Lie.  If I understand the mailer, his defense is the The Big Lie isn't a lie at all. Sheesh. (By the way, the complained of item in the Messenger was an "editorial" and not an "article.") Side note: How much did this cost him? 

  • An update on a wild story: This guy just received 10 years in federal prison  "Mark Kuper, 44, of Aledo began his career as a surgeon. But after several malpractice lawsuits related to his surgeries, he converted his practice in 2014 to an unregistered pain management clinic, the feds say."  He tried to burn the receipts in 2017 but accidentally burned his mansion down. Any chances that guy was a little wheels off in his every day life? 

  • Lady Gaga's dog walker was shot and wounded and her two dogs were stolen. The singer has offered $500,000 for their return - "no questions asked."  I'm not sure what the dog walker and attempted murder victim thinks about the "no questions" part. 

  • Watch this deep-fake of Tom Cruise. There's a scary world coming. 

  • It's legal stuff most of you won't care about but Ethan Couch's mom, Tonya, tried to get her cases thrown out First Amendment grounds. The Fort Worth Court of Appeals shot it down yesterday. I think the arguments are pretty interesting. Her lawyers are Houston lawyer, and noted First Amendment scholar, Mark Bennett as well as Stephanie Patten out of Fort Worth. 
  • In the nerdiest of legal things, some lawyers got very excited yesterday when the Supreme Court used the notation "cleaned up" for the first time yesterday.  ("Cleaned up" basically means the court is quoting another opinion but not using a verbatim quote because internal quotation marks, brackets, and ellipses have been omitted. This new citation tool was first proposed in a 21 page legal article in 2017  here, and I'm a little concerned that I care enough to dedicate a bullet point to this. 

  • Twenty-two years after it debuted, I'm six episodes into The Sopranos. Pretty, pretty good. 
  • 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: 602 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:34 AM

2.25.2021

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




I have no memory of this. And the WFAA link is dead so I can't find out all the hubbub was about.  
  • There was another murder arrest made in Wise County this week by the Wise County Sheriff's Office after a "fistfight." But for the life of me I don't understand this quote which appeared in the Messenger:

  • Edit after published: We may have another murder this morning. 
  • Bridgeport is like Denton in that it is "its own electric utility", but according to the Messenger story yesterday they aren't worried about high bills. Denton is: 

  • A video of a Harris County deputy in Houston acting like a nutcase has been circulating.  (Language warning.)  He's been placed on administrative leave for now. And this is a good time to point out that I'm seeing an increase in cursing by law enforcement in Wise County in the videos I routinely view as part of my job.  I've seen a couple just casually drop an F bomb while confronting a motorist.  

  • If you've been following this story about the Attorney General of South Dakota who claimed he thought he hit a deer with his vehicle when it was actually a person, it just got a little crazy -- maybe. Look at those opening lines in the story below. (His police interview has been released, and I've cued up the video to start where he talks about finding the body the next day.)  But he'll probably escape punishment as he should: He stopped and called the cops as soon as impact was made. As for the glasses, his car had to be towed because of the damage, and I don' think anyone noticed them at the scene. 


  • We had a pretty good Trump Insurrectionist arrest story yesterday as one guy (next to the Jesus Saves sign, below) was caught because he texted his ex-girlfriend during the Storming to tell her,  "If you can’t see the election was stolen you’re a moron.”  She, taking offense at being called a moron by someone like that, then turned the guy in. He was seen on video inside the Capitol. 
    Man making life changing decisions because he loves Trump decides to tell
    ex that she's the one who is actually a moron. 


  • I've been on the I-35 tollway in Fort Worth many times before, but I finally had to use it to go directly into downtown.  I'm now a big fan. That dedicated exit and entrance from Belknap makes it easy as pie.   (But I did pay attention to the location of the icy pile-up from a couple of weeks ago. You can see how it could happen due to the contours and slight curves in the highway. It gave me chills. And I saw a guy on the shoulder taking photographs -- probably lawsuit related.)
  • High profile Republicans were out in full support of Trump yesterday.  And they are right. 


  • Congresswomen on both sides are in mature form. Both posts with videos are here. (But Newman has a transgendered child. Greene is just mean.)  


  • The crazy QAnon church in Frisco is at it again. Last night they held an event called "How the 2020 Election Was Stolen" with the speaker being the insurance attorney, Paul Davis, who got fired for being an Insurrectionist on January 6th.  I'm beginning to pity these delusional people. 

    • Davis is now involved in an embarrassing lawsuit to throw out the election which has been wildly made fun of by lawyers and anyone else with a half a brain. 

    • Oh, and Davis signature block now looks like this: 

  • The Bridgeport Sissies beat Argyle in the playoffs last night 37-36. Here's the last few seconds where Argyle got two good shots off that didn't fall. 

  • I'm going to link to this (possible paywall) because its author, David Sibley, is a faithful Liberally Lean reader. 

  • A county commissioner for Wichita County picked up a DWI . . . 


at 8:33 AM
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