5.09.2022

Random Monday Morning Thoughts





We learned Fuzzy's was coming to the courthouse square.  It's still there, and its arrival seemed to mark the turning point of the rebirth of downtown Decatur. 

  • Local election breakdown. 
    • It doesn't get much closer than this one. Probably deserves a recount.

    • Also close.  But "Bilby" and "Lake Bridgeport" are kind of synonymous.

    • This ended up being the most watched race in the west part of the county because of, well, the unusual campaign tactics of one of the candidates.

    • A former Bridgeport police officer and current investigator with the Wise County Attorney's office replaced part of the old guard in Runaway Bay.


    • Probably the most watched race on this side of the Big Sandy.

    • You often don't see four candidates for one school board spot. There isn't a run-off since there wasn't a requirement to break the 50% threshold. 

  • Three police officers from Dallas and Garland were indicted for their conduct during the Dallas George Floyd downtown riots.  The police associations (unions) of both forces were not happy. This guy, in a show of support, was at a news conference to denounce the charges. 

  • Saturday. They called it attempted "suicide by cop" in Bridgeport.

  • This is weird.  "On their arrival at the scene they were directed to the first villa. On entering a bedroom, they found a Caucasian male laying on the ground unresponsive," the Royal Bahama Police Force said in a statement. "An examination of the body was conducted, there was no signs of trauma found. The local doctor later pronounced the victim dead." The officers then proceeded to a second villa where they found another man unresponsive and "slumped the wall in the bathroom." A woman was also found unresponsive in a bedroom on a bed.


  • A sixteen year old got kicked out of the Mavericks game for "putting his hands on" the mother of Suns' star Chris Paul.  The kid looked a little in over his head. 


  • Record temps over the weekend. 

  • Still on the run!:
    • Alabama deputy and her murder-lover.

    • The guy who crashed into four teenagers, killing two, 10 days ago while driving the wrong way in North Dallas. He has been identified but not yet caught.

    • And, amazingly, this guy, Abel Elias Acosta, 14, who allegedly killed three teenagers in a Garland convenience store last December. 

  • The richest man in the world is very weird.

  • Hood County book banning news. Incredible. 

    • Maybe they were looking for this photo. (It's actually just something I came across this weekend. It struck me that (1) this ain't that long ago, and (2) "communism" was sloppily thrown around back then just like "socialism" is today. 

  • Austin judge had a bad weekend. 

  • I'm not particularly interested in the Kentucky Derby, but you can't avoid hearing about an 80 to 1 shot winning. And the race gave us a great post celebration pic, as well as the fantastic overhead video of the last minute of the race which I ended up watching over and over. 

  • Coldplay can sneak into town and sell out the Cotton Bowl, and we hardly even notice. Here's a quick snippet of Yellow from Friday night. That's quite the scene. 

  • At some point, I became a huge fan of Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell even though it is nothing like the music I generally like. Anyway, this weekend I stumbled upon a music podcast breaking down the song. I have no musical training so I didn't understand a single thing the guy was talking about at some points, but it was still fantastic. Enthralling really.  

    • I'll go to my grave believing that "And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time" is the greatest lyric ever written in any song. 



at 8:29 AM

5.06.2022

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




I normally tell that story because it reminds me that I know one of the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers. But I left out that UNT wanted to buy the property at auction (which Bobby knew) but some government red tape prevented them from submitting a bid.  Looking back, those figures of $6 million and $16 million look ridiculously small when compared to real estate deals today. (He didn't rest on his laurels by the way. He's done very well since then.)

  • The observance of National Day of Prayer on the Wise County courthouse steps, with government officials in attendance, took quite the turn yesterday as one pastor turned it into a fire and brimstones sermon over the booming loudspeakers. An audio recording of it which was provided to me is posted here. It's about 10 minutes long, but start around the 2:20 mark for the start of a wild ride. Based upon the reactions of those who have heard it so far, you'll want to listen to it. But I need to warn you that you might take offense if you are an adulterer, "fornicator", "shacking up" with someone, "homosexual or lesbian", adulterer, pro-choice, part of the "system dominated by demonic strongholds" or any other designated high priority sinner. 



    • Who is that speaking on the audio? I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was the "closing prayer" listed in the itinerary here. Please correct me if I'm wrong. And if anyone has a video of it, get the link to me and I'll do an edit and post it here later today or any time over the weekend.
    • Just imagine if you had received a notice from the government to compel your appearance around that time at a proceeding inside the Wise County courthouse and you, a person who is timid by nature and just happens to be an unbeliever, had to walk through the sounds of that audio to get to where you were required to be. 
    • Edit: All of this has already garnered the attention of others.

  • TMZ has the Jerry Jones accident video.   Jones wasn't at fault, but he really smacked the other car.  (Here is a quick video link on Twitter if you want to bypass TMZ.)

  • Fencing and barriers has gone up around the Supreme Court as they feel as though they are the ones under attack.    


  • If you think gas prices are bad, you ought to look at the price of diesel. I think it's around $5.50 a gallon. That's going to be passed on to the price of groceries and other mass produced products. In related news: 

  • Random Georgia campaign sign gives rise to an interesting trademark issue. At least he left off the curvy line.


  • Random family sports arrest.

  • Legal stuff: Great little Twitter thread about the Supreme Court clerk who leaked the Roe v. Wade decision to Time magazine in 1973.
  • 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: 1,036 days.
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:29 AM

5.05.2022

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




I had forgotten that David Dewhurst, when he was trying to capture Texas' open Senate seat, painted Ted Cruz as a Chinese sympathizer.  He was doing a Trump on "CHI-na" way before Trump.

  • Wise County Court at Law #2 Judge Stephen Wren is stepping down on September 1st. Good guy.  His court has historically handled divorces and civil suits.   
    • The Commissioner's Court will be responsible for filling out the remainder of the term which ends 12/31/24.
    • That position is not on the November ballot this year, but choosing that September 1st date is interesting and important. It's 69 days before the November 8th election. I think that if the resignation were to have been a date "74 days or more" before the general election, the position would suddenly have to be placed on this November's ballot for a new term that would then begin on 1/1/23. (I'm not 100% sure about this, but this was my quick source at page 9, question 9.)  
  • Jerry Jones was briefly hospitalized last night after a traffic accident at Harry Hines and Wolf.

  • This is kind of like the beginning plot from Jaws: How do we know that's the right coyote?



  • A student was stabbed to death in a bathroom in Belton High School south of Waco. 

  • The hot off the presses newest UT Poll shows that most Texans oppose a total ban on abortion if Roe overturned. Edit: Thanks typo Nazi. 

  • The same poll has Greg Abbott with a sizeable lead over Beto.

  • I noticed she was she was arrested for "Abuse of Corpse" which got me thinking about whether the cremated ashes of a person is a "corpse" within the meaning of the statute.  Lawyer tip: Always go look at the definitions. 



  • Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Georgia) is a pig.  And what exactly is an "over-educated" woman? 

  • Good grief.

  • Flashback:

  • I've never really thought about this, but I guess a pastor does have a copyright claim to his sermon. Story.


  • If you have a graduation ceremony at the new Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, be prepared to pay $20 for parking. 
  • I haven't paid much attention to the Johnny Depp defamation suit, but some folks have been amused at Depp's facial expressions and comments during the trial. If I'm on the jury, I'm not. I'm pissed. This may be a fun time for him (which is odd for a guy who is supposed to have been "damaged" by his wife's statements), but I'm missing work, now for the 15th day, while he is forcing me to be a captive audience to listen to his failed marriage drama.  I'm writing a $0 in the first blank on the jury verdict form I can find. 

     
  • This was one of the weirdest baseball videos I've seen in a while. 

  • I always want the last bullet point to be just text with no graphics right before the random newspaper of the day. But sometimes I got nothing by the time I get here. 

at 8:30 AM
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