Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

That was actually from February 2011 after the investment banks were bailed out after the mortgage crisis. But, somehow, I ended up being wrong. Inflation turned out to be only a brief blip in 2011. But I stand by my general theory that the government dumping free money into the economy will bring on inflation. Now inflation is today's lead headline, and it comes after 18 months of the government throwing out free money via PPP forgivable loans and COVID stimulus checks. 

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• Rittenhouse observations:
• I think it was a very smart thing to let the kid testify. Even if a juror or two thought they were crocodile tears, there's at least one which loved him. And one is all you need. (And he may have 12.)
  
  
  
• Couldn't agree more:
  
  
  
• The prosecutor is very good, but his cross-exam was awful for one big reason: It was too long.  You get in. Do what damage you can. And get out. 
• Don't get me wrong: I think Rittenhouse is a punk and dumb arse. But I think he'll be found not guilty because the State cannot prove it wasn't self-defense. It is their burden. 
• I've been chewed out by a judge before but never like that. Video.

  

  "Don't you get brazen with me!"

  
  
• The other day I said it was helpful for the defense that Rittenhouse "looks good."  And then I heard someone say yesterday that, "If he had been a black kid with dreadlocks shooting people with an AR-15, he would be found guilty in seconds flat."   I've been doing some soul searching about my earlier statement ever since. What exactly did I mean by he "looks good"?  
• This really happened. Video.
  
  
  
• If you think the New York Times is liberal, look at the way they are describing the case yesterday: 
  
  
  
• I'm not 100% sure, but I think there is a "sexually violent predator" case being tried in Decatur right now. That's a crazy law, passed in 2015, which allows the State to "civilly commit" someone even after they have served every single day of their criminal sentence. The cause number is  CV21-03-136.  Records show that in 1994 the defendant received a 30 year sentence in CR-10291(which is troublesome for me because I would have been the D.A. then, and I don't remember it.) 
• That's an eventful week:
• He quits the Fort Worth City Council to run for state rep.
  
  
  
• Not so fast. (And good job to the Star-Telegram for embedding a pdf of the actual Motion to Revoke within the story. More news stories should do that - or at least provide a link to the actual document discussed.)
  
  
  
• Look at these indictment figures from yesterday in Wise County:
• 61 total indictments.
• 47 of those were for drugs.
• Of those 47 cases, 41 were for possession.
• Of those 41 cases, over half were for possession of less than one gram. 
• A little scare in Bridgeport overnight. Bridgeport PD reported she was found safe at 4 a.m. 
  
  
  
• His constant announcements of forming a "task force" is always lipstick on a pig. He did the same thing after the El Paso mass shooting and the Big Freeze of 2021. It means nothing.  
  
  
  
• Finally some teeth. 
  
  
  
• This statement in the initial press conference in Houston turned out to be absolutely not true, and it was reckless for him to say it. 
  
  
  
• TMZ was way off. 
  
  
  
• I don't know who Continental Carbonic Products, Inc is but they announced yesterday they have "decided to build a new liquefied carbon dioxide plant and dry ice production facility in Bridgeport, Texas, with  . . . [a] completion scheduled for early 2024."
• If you know a veteran from Iraq or Afghanistan, they are probably struggling even more than you know. 

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

It was briefly a big deal which got a news helicopter up here. The fire was actually between Boyd and Paradise just north of 114. 

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• The Kyle Rittenhouse trial took a little bit of a twist when prosecutors unveiled a "high definition" footage of the first shooting. See it here.  "A Kenosha detective, Ben Antaramian, testified that authorities learned [earlier that] someone had recorded drone video, which played on Fox News, but were not given a high-definition version until Friday." I didn't hear an explanation for that. (I still don't think Rittenhouse will get convicted of the most serious charges. The State has to eliminate all reasonable doubt that it wasn't self-defense, and I've got that doubt. ) 
  
  
  
•  QAnon Shaman news from yesterday.
• What the prosecutors want:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The response by the lawyer of the Insurrectionist:
  
  
  
• This ruling late yesterday giving the National Archives the right to release Trump documents probably doesn't immediately mean much because Trump has already appealed it. But it is interesting because the National Archives has revealed exactly what it is willing to give up unless a court orders otherwise: "White House call logs, video logs and schedules related to January 6 as well as three pages of handwritten notes from Trump's then-chief of staff." Trump is nervous about that. 
  
  
  
• A secret audio recording of a UT Defensive Line coach Bo Davis going on a profane laced rant directed at the team after the loss to ISU on Saturday was released yesterday afternoon.  I'm guessing that fans of the Longhorns agree with him 100%.
  
  
  
• If we elect the Dumbest Man in East Texas to be the Texas AG, we deserve everything we get. 
  
  
  
• And this is great: His website, which was launched exclusively to explore an AG run, has a math problem (as pointed out by the Texas Tribune.)

  

  Texas Tribune excerpt

  
  

  

  Louie' website

  
  
• Oh, my.
  
  
  
• He's not kidding. The QAnon people are still there. And they are singing. 
  
  
  
• I'm still waiting for a ruling on this case which is on appeal. I wished the court would have released the briefs that were filed, but it didn't.  From December 2020: 
  
  
  
• But Rodgers added, “But in the end, I have to stay true to who I am and what I’m about and I stand behind the things that I said."  Side note: Why do Rodgers and Pat McAfee look like they both are homeless under a bridge when they get together for every interview?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I'm stunned he actually got an interview. This would be a disaster. 
  
  
  
• I'm a little surprised by this. 
  
  
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

The scandal at Penn State broke out 10 years ago this week.  I had forgotten that Joe Paterno announced he would retire at the end of the season only to actually get fired two days later.    Jerry Sandusky, who is now 77, is still in prison. 

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• You can watch it here. It's probably more stupid than it is offensive. 
  
  
  
• Bridgeport hired a new City Manager (from Westworth Village) and a new Fire Chief (from Highland Village) last night. Lots of changes going on over there. 
• Breaking Tarrant County news: District Attorney Sharen Wilson will not run for re-election. Wow.
  
  
  
• For people placed on probation for misdemeanors in Denton County, at least some judges allow for all the required community service hours to be wiped out if the person provides proof of a COVID vaccination. Wise County should do that. 
• I hadn't looked at the Wise County vaccination numbers in a while: 
  
  
  
• The attire of the prosecutor in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial is getting attention. A tie clip and a pocket square is a little over the top. And it that some kind of Star Wars lapel pin?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I also watched a little bit of the Ahmaud Arbery trial yesterday which is a cluster since the State decided to try three men in one trial. (Why??!!) But I'm also worried a little about the prosecution when I saw them call a police officer, Adam Jackson, to the stand as their last "quick witness." The prosecutor asked him, in a very routine manner, "You've reviewed your bodycam footage since then, right?" Answer: "No." Question (with a bit of surprise in her voice): "You've not seen your bodycam video?" Answer: "No."  Uh, does anyone there want to prepare in a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trial?
  
  
  
• Missed this last month: Of the 17 million registered Texas voters, 2 million have registered in the last four years. 
• Put me in the group of people who think federal district judges shouldn't try to be cute. From yesterday:
  
  
  
• If this report is correct, 52 out of 58 Texas local school bonds failed in last week's election. (I don't know if it is true because it comes from The Texan which is run by Konni Burton and constantly screwing things up.) 
• MSNBC's Willie Geist ran the New York City Marathon on Sunday to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation and saw Fox, who had a cane and is looking pretty fragile these days, along the course and stopped to give him a hug. Video.
  
  
   
• This seems like it should be a bigger deal. We knew about the big Dallas PD "loss of data" scandal but it now has a new twist where the the deleted data actually ended up  in the hands of hackers.  (If you want to download 1.8 terabytes of helicopter footage, here's a link.) What else do they have? 
  
  
  
• Rest assured, no one has asked him that.   Side note: Any boss who thinks it's a good look to announce he would be "wearing [his staff] out" is a horrible boss. (He's a former U.S. Attorney appointed by Trump, Dan Patrick's son, and apparently loved to stick the Fed's nose in what would otherwise be a state investigation.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• An "encounter with SWAT" is a weird way to word this headline. 
  
  
  
• Legal nerd stuff: This was actually a pretty crazy case out of Montague County which I had been following. It's a growing trend where prosecutors can't legally prove someone was intoxicated so they use the fall back charge of regular manslaughter and claim the defendant was reckless for drinking and driving even without being intoxicated. It worked here.
  
  
  
• More legal nerd stuff: The "SWAT team" got involved in the arrest after the mandate was issued by the Fort Worth Court of Appeals once the PDR was refused by the Court of Criminal Appeals in August. She was out on bond and then allegedly on the run when the appeal failed. 
• Did Dennis Prager sleep through the 1980s?  
  
  
  
• It's kind of sad that the Pole Assassin and her monkey are already old news.