Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

Thoughts on civil forfeiture 10 years ago. (Here's the AP story about the DA in Shelby County that the Feds were after. I don't know what eventually happened.)

   

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• It was a nice dedication ceremony yesterday naming the courtroom at the new courthouse annex (officially called the "Wise County Court Center ") after the late Judge Melton Cude.  Judge Lowery had a hard time beginning his remarks when he became more emotional. We need more of that in this world. 
• The Aurora City Council met last night in temporary quarters. (Credit: Messenger's Austin Jackson doing yeoman's work.)
  
  
  
• I saw this headline a million times yesterday and kept thinking, "He got charged for being kicked by a paramedic?" Side note which is actually the lede: That's one one heck of a still shot from that video in that shocking case.
  
  
  
• And this headline below was everywhere. What do you expect the DA to say before the investigation is complete? That all charges are off the table?  (But I am interested in the first news conference today. I really want to know if it was a real gun with a real bullet -- that's not entirely clear.)
  
  
  
• I think it's going to be hard to get a conviction against Kyle Rittenhouse, and the judge isn't going to do the prosecution any favors, but the blurb below is a little misleading. The actual story said that while the judge "advised Rittenhouse’s team against using pejorative terms to describe the three men shot, such language could be used in their closing arguments if evidence shows the men participated in criminal acts." And telling the prosecutors that they can't refer to them as "victims" is a little unusual but not unheard of. 
  
  
  
• I'm telling you, we are getting closer to book burning parties.
  
  
  
• His actual letter to the Agency ask them to find any books which "might" cause a student to feel "discomfort." Good lord.
  
  
  
• Historical reference photo.
  
  
  
• In a related note but from a completely different source and reason, I don't know why the lady wants her record expunged or why she is getting such widespread support for it. An expungement means it is all wiped away just like it didn't happen. You don't want that. You want people to remember it. 
  
  
  
• Random Cowboy pics from their Halloween party.

  

  Dak as a lion tamer.

  
  

  

  Dalton Shultz

  
  
• What are the Aggies up to now? Video. Answer: I have no idea. 
  
  
  
• I need to put this story in my "Don't Trust Medical Examiners" file. 
  
  
  
• There were 19 deaths listed in the Update yesterday.
• Legal nerd stuff: Two Texas criminal laws were struck down as unconstitutional yesterday by intermediate courts of appeals. Here and here if you are interested in that sort of think. (One of them was the same law being used to prosecute Netflix for broadcasting Cuties. Speaking of, whatever happened to that?)
• Messenger: Above the Fold 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

I just went back and watched it. I still think it was wildly inappropriate, but I surprisingly also caught myself laughing this time.     

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• The cold front and accompanying very quick storm will blow through Wise County at 1:15 a.m. 
• Friday really is the time to dump bad news.  Arlington PD fired the officer who shot and killed the man driving very slowly in a cul-de-sac who they had blocked in, and also released the video of the incident. By Monday, everyone had forgotten about it, including me.   Fox 4 coverage. WFAA coverage. (It's the white vehicle, below.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The stock market hit and all time record high yesterday. Trump used to take all the credit when that happened. 
  
  
  
• It's a Starbucks going in on 380 in Bridgeport.  Also, Bud Kennedy of the Star-Telegram tipped me off to this site where you can find out what's going on with basically any commercial building site in Texas. 
  
  
  
• Ummm???
  
  
  
• It's just mindboggling numbers. Facebook yesterday evening announced $9.2 billion in net income on $29 billion in revenue -- all in the third quarter alone and all for a company which doesn't produce anything. 
  
  
  
• Yesterday I saw references to two new cases where a person's identity was established by forensic genetic genealogy/familial DNA -- the locating of relatives through commercial DNA databases who share most, but not all, of the known DNA markers from the unknown person you seek. And then doing good old fashioned police work after that. 
• This one
  
  
  
• And this one.
  
  
  
• I remember this quote from a small town Texas police chief from a Texas Monthly story from a couple of months ago. It is spot on. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Just like what happened with cell phones and flat screen TVs, you are about to see the age of the astronomical explosion of electric cars.
  
  
  
• Cover-up!!!
  
  
  
• You know who I think is a very possible wild-card hire? Art Briles' son, Kendal, who is the offensive coordinator at Arkansas. 
  
  
  
• Someone read this very short story and explain where that $500,000 figure in the headline comes from.  It's completely made up. 
  
  
  
• Thumbs up to this Netflix documentary. And it has quite the startling ending. 
  
  
  
• I still monitor the Texas COVID hospitalizations because I'm kind of expecting another Winter Surge, but so far there is no evidence of that happening. Yet. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

We still talk about this to this day.    

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• Another shooting in high tone Uptown last night. 
  
  
  
• More and more stories over the weekend about the Trump Insurrection. When I was a kid, I was told that advocating the overthrow of the American government was one of the worst things you could do. Was I lied to?
• You've got Giuliani, Bannon, and Eastman in a war room.  
  
  
  
  
• Of course Giuliani and Eastman took the stage urging the crowd to, "Let's have trial by combat!" 
  
  
  
• You've got members of Congress involved in the insurrection. 
  
  
  
• They named names and they are exactly who you think they would be. 
  
  
  
• And there is corroboration as the attack was ongoing. 
  
  
  
• In Kerrville on Saturday:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Still don't know if this is going to be a Starbuck or Whataburger on 380 in Bridgeport. I'm guessing a Whataburger. 
  
  
  
• I don't understand what a real gun with real bullets is doing on a movie set at all. (By the way, the author of Hillbilly Elegy is a despicable human being. For those who don't know, "@jack" is Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter.) 
  
  
  
• I've said it for years: What used to be accidents are now reframed as crimes because of overzealous prosecutors.  (But, no, he will never be charged with anything. Nor should he be.)
  
  
  
• The Elizabeth Holmes trial is an example of lawyers not realizing times have changed (speed it up, boys!) and proof that juries might not be the best way to resolve complex allegations. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• As he was acting like a tourist this weekend, he didn't realize they brought out the DPS gun boats (!!) to protect him. 
  
  
  
• For Wise County, here all the old vs. new redistricting lines now that the dust has settled.  Anyone can see their new maps, and demographic information for it, by entering your address here (courtesy of the Texas Tribune.)

Texas Senate. (Where we are now joined with Highland Park.)

Texas House representative (Parker County and Phil King are gone)

Congressional rep (For Decatur and Rhome, at least.)

• I think I've walked out of two movies in my life. One was an art house film at the Angelika, and the other was Dune in 1984.