Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

I have no memory of a viral "talking twins" video. But the link I used back then is still up. The two kids involved in it are kind of cute, but I suppose that could get old in a hurry.  

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• New York officially legalized marijuana yesterday. In New Mexico, recreational weed becomes legal once the governor signs the bill on his desk. 
  
  
  
• Speaking of, the lead anchor of OAN had a warning for you kids yesterday about about marijuana: 
  
  
  
• Gender reveal party in Cancun goes wrong and kills two. Video. 
  
  
  
• Long time readers know I've been on a decades long campaign railing against medical examiners opining about a causes of death completely unrelated to their medical expertise. (I.e. calling a death a "homicide" or a "suicide" instead of simply saying someone died due to a gunshot wound to the head.)   In any event, now we are learning the #2 ME in Tarrant County, who has been on the job for 40 years, might not have been very good at any of it.
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Video.
  
  
  
• This got a Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD teacher suspended.
  
  
  
• Mrs. LL, much to my bewilderment, has always complained about Michael Strahan's gap between his front teeth. But two days ago I got to announce that her long nightmare was over since he announced he had gotten it fixed.  But, now, there's a chance this might have been an April Fools Bit. (Just like "Voltzwagen" just pulled.)
  
  
  
• Did you know that yoga has been outlawed in public schools in Alabama since 1997? An attempt yesterday by the state legislature to reverse this ban failed after a bill was left pending in committee.  But even if it passed, the bill would have strictly limit how yoga was conducted:
  
  
  
• Hot sports opinion: They don't "know" the cause at all. 
  
  
  
• That's not the way it works. 
  
  
  
• I'm not up to speed very much on the NCAA case argued before the Supreme Court yesterday regarding compensation of student athletes, but this got everyone's attention: 
  
  
  
• I saw this sports bet yesterday. Assuming the bet involves practice and not a game situation, I'm taking Verlander, and I don't think it is even close.
  
  
  
• Legal nerd stuff: Over the last thirty years, how the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has interpreted the term "deadly weapon" has been legendary. (It's important because a deadly weapon finding requires the defendant to serve at least  1/2 of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.) Almost anything, they have said, can qualify (hammers, rocks, pipes, bricks, and the defendant’s own hands). But yesterday the court did the first about face in years and held that holding an electric drill during a robbery, without more, was not a deadly weapon. But what is also really interesting is that the the court linked to the video of the robbery in their written opinion.  
  
  
  
• The Ranger's ballpark will be the only MLB stadium to have 100% capacity on its opening day. I'm really interested to see how many tickets they sell -- they haven't announced a sellout yet. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

It was on March 28, 2011, that 54 year old Smith County Deputy Robert Britton passed away. "Britton had responded to a report of a stray cow struck by a vehicle and was directing traffic on Farm Road 344 when the cow charged him. Bullard Police Chief Gary Lewis tells KLTV in Tyler that few noticed the cow started to stand until it was too late." The Texas legislature honored him two years later with a resolution. 

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• Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is in trouble. The New York Times has reported, and The Wall Street Journal has confirmed, that the Justice Department is looking into conduct which is, uh, inconsistent with family values.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This all started last year during an investigation by the Trump Administration's Justice Department when they were focusing on a guy named Joel Greenberg, a simple county tax collector in Florida, for sex trafficking. Greenberg was subsequently arrested.
• During the investigation, it came to light that Gaetz may have had a 17 year old girlfriend he had sex with and, here's the tricky part, paid for a plane ticket to cross state lines.  That's what makes it a potential federal crime. (There would also be a state crime problem because the age of consent in Florida is 18.)
• Here's a picture that Greenberg posted on Twitter of himself and Gaetz. 
  
  
  
• Here's a another great picture that Greenberg posted of himself, Roger Stone, and Gaetz. (The fact that Roger Stone gets thrown in is an added bonus.) 
  
  
  
• Gaetz reaction yesterday was pretty bizarre. After denying he has dated underaged girls, he added this piece of gold in an interview with Axios:
  
  
  
• He then went on Tucker Carlson and got oddly specific by saying he never "traveled" with a 17 year old girl. "That is verifiably false. You can look at my travel records," Gaetz said.  
• Then it got weirder. Gaetz told Carlson that "You and I went to dinner about two years ago, your wife was there. I brought a friend of mine,... You'll remember her." Gaetz then said this person was "pressured" by the FBI to say he was involved in a "pay for play" scheme.  That was all we got because Tucker ran away from the comment immediately by replying, "I don't remember the woman or the context at all, honestly." (Video.)  
  
  
  
• Carlson might as well have screamed, "Hey, don't drag me into this!" He later told his audience that the interview with Gaetz was "one of the weirdest interviews I've ever conducted." (Video.)
  
  
  
• Gaetz is also saying he was recently subject to an  "extortion" attempt for $25 million by a "former" Justice Department employee. No one knows what he is talking about. 
• This may all end up being nothing. There ain't no Republican going down for having sex with a 17 year old. 
• Gaetz raised eyebrows last summer when "he announced that he had a son, Nestor Galban, 19, though Mr. Gaetz said he was not Mr. Galban’s biological father, nor had he adopted him. Mr. Galban had been 12 when they met and had come to the United States from Cuba; Mr. Gaetz was at the time dating Mr. Galban’s sister."
  
  
  
• Back to normal Random Thoughts . . . 
• I'm not following the Derek Chauvin trial in the case of George Floyd all that closely, but I have no idea why the defense lawyers keeps letting the prosecutor get away with asking witnesses how it made them "feel" when they were watching the the incident. That's irrelevant. They are there to only tell what they saw. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Second Chauvin trial thought: The prosecutors better be careful. The witnesses seem to all have a pro-prosecution agenda instead of just being disinterested fact witnesses. And they seem coached. All this could backfire. 
• An official in the Gonzaga/USC game last night dropped like a rock, but he will be OK. That was scary looking especially when he hit his head. Video.
  
  
  
• I'm not saying that there is a COVID resurgence, but there are some rumblings out there.
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
• There were indictments yesterday of two Williamson County deputies involved a case which was filmed by Live PD and which the Sheriff tried to cover up. But for the dogged work of the The Austin American Statesman and the local ABC affiliate in Austin, these indictments would not have occurred.
  
  
  
  
  
• Random Letter to the Editor in the Messenger this week by a decades long critic of the town:
  
  
  
• Despite my tricked up scoring system, the leader in the Liberally Lean tourney is a guy who picked three of the Final Four. He would have gone four for four if Michigan hadn't been upset last night. Full leaderboard here.
  
  
  
• The former football coach of SMU and the University of Arkansas just took the head coaching job at . . .  Allen High School.
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

This was referring to the aftermath of one of the worse DWI wrecks in Wise County history when it occurred in 2007. But, despite the bullet point, I never followed up on probation modification despite there later being a hearing in April of 2011 according to county records. I still don't know. But it's all history now. Both are now deceased.   Betty Monroe died in 2014. Jackie died in 2018.

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• Sad update on the shooting of the DPS trooper on Friday. 
  
  
  
• Oh, my.  I remember him back from his traffic duties at KLIF during the 1990s where he'd end it with the tagline of  "See ya on down the road." 
  
  
  
• Everything is normal:
  
  
  
• The My Pillow guy is getting nuttier and nuttier. Video.
  
  
  
•  "Forney Man" is pretty close to "Florida Man." (You can click on the link if you want, but the headline pretty much tells you everything that is in it.)
  
  
  
• The number of people who refuse to get the COVID vaccine is stunning. I don't understand you people. 
  
  
  
• Vaccine passport? What Marjorie is doing below is announcing her support for  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who has said he issue an executive order forbidding private businesses from requiring so-called vaccine passports across the state -- a very odd proposition coming from the Republicans.  Seriously, if a private entity requires a vaccination card before entry that will be the price you pay for not being vaccinated. On the other hand, if the government requires it in order to do "x", then we'll talk. 
  
  
  
• President Biden, moments ago,  announced his first slate of federal judicial nominees -- eleven in all. It's a diverse group. What I like is that the names include four former public defenders. (For what it is worth, there are no Texas connections other than one nominee got her undergraduate degree at UTEP.)
  
  
  
• Baylor digression:
• They finally broke through to the Final Four. They are an astonishing 52-6 over the last two years.  
  
  
  
• The women almost made it last night as well, but a last second shot against UConn didn't go in because she never got it off. No foul called. Here's a great video of it. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Random pic from that game:
  
  
  
• What I wish would come back: The "DVD commentary" option for movies streamed online. 
• During Bridgeport's playoff soccer game last night, one player lay paralyzed on the field for quite some time. It scared everyone to death, but he'll be OK.