3.13.2023

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




I was in Destin 10 years ago for Spring Break. Actual pic during a beach walk. Let me tell you something, those Florida beaches and water are 100% different than the Texas coast. It's night and day. 

  • Since last Friday, we had the 16th largest bank in the country fail and be taken over by the FDIC.  With the vast majority of the deposits over the $250,000 government insurance limit, there were questions whether people and companies would ever see their money. 


    • But by last night, fearing a "run" on banks across the country, the government said everyone will get their money back. 


    • And somehow, it won't cost the taxpayers a cent. I think I understand this. This wasn't a bad investment situation.  


    • One week ago: 

  • This is a very weird Wise County case out of Rhome on 287.

     
    • Police are not only looking for the driver of the vehicle which didn't stop, but they are also looking for the 911 caller who might have been a witness. Oddly, police have a vague physical description of the 911 caller but no phone number or name. 
    • And a truck can catch up to a motorcycle? "[T]he motorcycle attempted to race away and get away from the truck, but the truck continued to pursue him and chase him down, and then actually swerved toward him several times,"  Rhome Police Chief Eric Debus told  Fox 4.
    • And the Chief of Police didn't provide any wiggle room that this wasn't an accident: “This was definitely a road rage incident,” he told the Messenger.
    • Here's Rhome PD's press release:

  • So Michael Irvin thought it was a good idea to sue the Marriott for slander? The Marriott fired back in a Motion on Friday with some very unflattering details. The unedited version is here. There is a 100% chance this case is going nowhere. 
    • One thing which has seen a dramatic change over the last five years is how legal motions in high profile cases have turned into press releases. 
    • But the federal judge royally chewed out Marriott for slow walking the release of the video to Irvin's lawyer. It seems that this lawyer had the honor of being Marriott's representative in federal court and taking the brunt of the judge's ire. 
  • An East Texas police chief and officer were arrested for using a confidential drug informant to buy drugs for them (as in actually for them) on the downlow. 
  • This story isn't getting near enough press. The ex-husband of a woman is suing three friends of his ex-wife for providing support for obtaining a drug to end her pregnancy with the man. The lawyers for the ex-husband are using text messages that the wife exchanged with her friends. 
    • And the lawyers representing him are the author of the Texas abortion "bounty bill" as well as the guy below, state rep. Briscoe Cain.  Women, take notice what is happening in Austin.
  • In an unrelated case, the federal judge who will probably ban the abortion pill for being "unsafe"  told the lawyers on a conference call with lawyers on Friday that he will have a hearing on Wednesday but, shockingly, the judge didn't want to place it immediately on the public docket. Someone on the call then leaked the info to the Texas Tribune. On the call, "[Judge] Kacsmaryk said he would delay putting the hearing on the public docket until late Tuesday to try to minimize disruptions and possible protests, and asked the lawyers on the call not to share information about it before then." That's the equivalent of trying to hide your court in the shadows from the press and public.

  • Other news from Friday, which should be on every front page, was that the conservative leaders of the Texas legislature unveiled their plan to divert your tax dollars from the public schools to private Christian schools:

  • Republican battles: 
    • Mike Pence finally spoke out against Trump for riling up the people who wanted to kill him on January 6th: 
    • Steven Bannon and Elon Musk are fighting: 
  • It's time for the Liberally Lean Pick 'Em Tourney. Sign up here.  The scoring system will be tricked up like last year. The first couple of rounds are critically important and might be enough to win the whole thing. Upset picks get bonuses. There will be a slight bump picking the actual one-team winner, but it might not be enough.
  • Here's the TV schedule for the first rounds of March Madness with channels and times

at 8:31 AM

3.10.2023

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




The whole story is too confusing to summarize, but this was a great picture of the Dallas D.A. being called as a witness where he refused to testify. 

  • We've got a play in only two Acts.
    • Act I: Last November, in an elaborate press conference, he angrily denied allegations of sexual harassment made by six people. 



    • Act II: Yesterday.

  • The Cartel dropping off some guys who were (allegedly) responsible for the Matamoras kidnappings/murders and leaving an apology note is next level crime etiquette. 



  • Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, 81, fell at a D.C. hotel and suffered a concussion which required hospitalization.

     
  • Not that it matters politically, but Trump has been "invited" to appear before a New York state grand jury next week in the Stormy Daniels probe -- which apparently is a clear sign he's about to get indicted. 

    • Trump then went on a a multi-post post rant where he denied every having sex with her despite paying off the National Enquirer to kill the affair story. And he still thinks its a good idea to call her a "Horseface." That alone will kill him in front of a jury. Did I mention there is no bottom?


  • Oh, my. A little excitement at the Wilmington International Airport in North Carolina last night. 

  • Man, does he ever. Audio. Language warning.

  • A nutty moment in a high profile Waco murder case involving Fort Worth defense lawyers happened yesterday when a wheels-off juror was removed because he had been monitoring social media about the trial and shared hot opinions with other jurors.  He took the 5th when questioned by the judge.  (You can see a Twitter play by play of the event on this reporter's feed if you scroll down.)

  • I'm seeing conflicting ages for the 17 year old's pregnant girlfriend. 


  • Big 12 Tourney: Texas rolls, TCU rolls, Kansas rolls, and #10 Baylor got beat because they were out-rebounded 44 to 17 in what may be the laziest team in the history of ever. I'm bitter. 

  • Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 3 years, 249 days.

at 8:31 AM

3.09.2023

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




Yep, he got probation out of Tarrant County for an Intoxication Manslaughter case arising out of a one vehicle wreck in downtown Fort Worth. But when I looked to find a link to the old story online, I found that four and half years later his probation was revoked, and he received 10 years in prison. 

  • A slew of faithful readers have informed be that the Bridgeport Methodist congregation did vote to split from the Methodist church.
  • But at least one Fort Worth Baptist church is making news, too. And that's a big church.


  • So Tiger has women he dates sign Non-Disclosure Agreements? And here's a nugget from the story: "The court papers state that those working on behalf of Woods’ . . .  convinced [her] to 'pack a suitcase for a short vacation and, when she arrived at the airport, they told her she had been locked out of her residence [on Jupiter Island], in violation of the oral tenancy agreement and in violation of Florida law.'”

  • We've got another brawl on a flight. This time on a Southwest airliner out of Dallas on Monday.  Society is just a bunch of Barbarians.

  • Big 12 Basketball is making its way to the news page -- and not in a good way:
  • And let's do a 180 to Wise County basketball with something you don't see every day:

  • I might be in the minority here. My view is that the Marriott says they kicked him out because they Irvin said something offensive.   They aren't the ones who may have overreacted and suspended him from his job. Blame that on ESPN.  And let's not go nuts and compare having to find a new hotel to an actual lynching -- in addition to suing Marriott for $100 million in Collin County.

     
  • Final news notes on the Mexico kidnapping and murder.
    • Here's a map of where everything happened for those who have been to Matamoros:

    • Anyone remember this kidnapping and murder of a University of Texas student?

  • I'm keeping an eye on a high profile Wichita Falls murder case. The State is relying on a so-called blood-splatter expert which should set off alarms to everyone that the case is very suspect. That's junk "science."

  • This is exactly what you'll see in Texas as a reaction to silly politicians throwing a hissy fit over drag shows:  Mainstream bands will preform wearing dresses which, under the wording of proposed laws, should get them arrested. 

  • And drag shows aren't the problem in Texas. News out of Wichita Falls yesterday  . . . 

  • That's a lot of Kentuckians from one tree. And look how it all started: "She took on household responsibilities very early in her life when she married her first husband, Bill Taylor, in 1940. 'She was 16 when she married him. He was 50. That's a big difference,' Howell told Fox News Digital. 'He already had 10 children. His wife died having twins at home. He worked on the railroad. He had to get back to work. He needed somebody to take care of the kids.'" Good lord. 


  • Very, very legal nerdy stuff: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals yesterday decided to resolve whether a COVID related mask worn by a witness at trial in Tarrant County violated the Confrontation Clause. But it got there in a very strange way. The Court rejected the State's petition to review the lower court's decision reversing the case, but at the same time decided to hear the case on the Court's own motion, and set forth four specific questions that it wanted the parties to brief. They are up to something. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM
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