3.27.2023

Random Monday Morning Thoughts





I had forgotten how large the crowds were outside of the Supreme Court on those two days. And the signs were fantastic. Collection here. 

  • We've now entered the Theater of the Bizarre. I've been sounding the alarm to keep a lookout for Trump and his supporters making a martyr out of those jailed in his first coup attempt at the January 6th Insurrection. On Saturday night in Waco, they openly did so.  It's gone even further. They are all openly embracing the Trump Insurrection. This moment was a terrifying sight. (Video from the crowd.)

    • We've now entered early 1930s Germany. They are coming.


    • Hitler, who had his own failed coup 10 years earlier, ran only once for President and got about a third of the vote. But the German political system, along with German apathy for tossing democracy aside, made it ripe for the taking. Our strange system which will allow Trump to win the Republican primaries with probably only the hard-core support of no more than a third of the entire voting population is eerily similar. 

    • They always unashamedly place at least one token African America in the background behind Trump for the cameras.  No surprise there. However, I didn't expect him to be in Baylor gear.

    • I'll never understand how the FBC of Dallas tolerates Rev. Robert Jeffress. He was in Waco to address the crowd. 

  • By the way, Trump deleted the social media post where he threatened the Manhattan D.A.  The Murdock owned New York Post thinks he's gone crazy.

  • I think the South has become the new "tornado alley." The one on Friday night in Rolling Fork, Mississippi was incredibly powerful and killed a total 26 across two states. The fact that a water tower was toppled and the bark was peeled from trees gives you a pretty good indication.


  • Gwyneth Paltrow took the stand in her civil skiing accident trial on Friday and, until now, I don't think I've ever described a witness as adorable. The moment came when she admitted using an F bomb after the collision. Video

  • I don't know if I'm more troubled by the 27 number or the 6 figure.

  • No arrests have been made for the double murder in a car at a Denton apartment complex. I saw Fox4Terry got a picture from late last week. 

  • Some bank called First Citizens just bought the failed Silicon Valley Bank.

  • The plan of Israel's wanna-be authoritarian president to dismantle the courts so they can't touch him is not going well. And it sounds like he is finally backing down from the plan this morning. 

  • Hey, I know I do Trump all the time, but if you want to see something he did that was funny, watch these 47 seconds of the end of a video where he ad-libs that some people might not want to leave their children any inheritance -- "and deservedly so." 

  • I'll admit that as an old guy, I didn't know what it meant either. Video.

  • Former Baylor and current LSU coach Kim Mulkey wore the greatest jacket in the history of jackets on Friday. Her team is headed to the Final Four.

  • Liberally Lean Leaderboard.  Amazingly, our leader -- who is now guaranteed to win -- picked two of the find four teams (Connecticut and Miami) in this wacky tourney.  He, bizarrely, even correctly picked #16 Fairleigh Dickinson seed to beat #1 seed Purdue.

at 8:31 AM

3.24.2023

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




Shaq visited Gov. Chris Christie on March 21, 2013.

  • This seems a little concerning from overnight:

    • And if that gets your attention, wait until you learned we've already responded with airstrikes. 

  • My highly paid and trained weather team was spot on with its prediction this morning.

     

  • Two people were found shot to death in a car at an apartment complex in Denton not far from the mall early this morning. 

  • The leader of the Republican Party went full Hitler on his social media platform all day yesterday and into the middle of the night:
    •  He posted a picture of him holding a baseball bat next to the Manhattan DA.

    • He called the black D.A. an "animal" (good lord!) and also said he was "Soros backed" (read "Jew backed.")

    • And he promises "death and destruction."  I cannot believe what I'm seeing. It's all out in plain sight.  It's a call to arms to the Stormtroopers. 

    • And he even posted this computer generated picture yesterday.  

  • Meanwhile, we still are having the fallout from his last Insurrection.  One of his groupies received three years in prison yesterday. Not enough. 


  • But the alternative candidate was making headlines yesterday on Fox News as well:

  • Since the district judge in Montague County is stepping down, Gov. Abbott will get to appoint a successor. Applications are currently being submitted.

  • This is nuts and should be on the front page of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Last week, the wife of the Tarrant County D.A. stood up in front of a crowd with a microphone, introduced herself as such, and told them the way to get school librarians arrested for having objectionable books in the library is to bypass the D.A. and go directly to the grand jury. And, disturbingly, she added that the strategy would work because grand jurors "look a lot like us." Video (with captions).

  • Dak Prescott got a new full leg tattoo. That's dumb, but knock yourself out.

  • There is no way Zeke Elliott has offers from these three teams. I'm still not convinced anyone will want him.  

  • Liberally Lean Leaderboard.
  • 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, 263 days.

at 8:30 AM

3.23.2023

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




We are "celebrating" the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq this week, but just 10 years ago it was still a mess over there. In 2013, there were 8,955 people killed in acts of violence. 

  • In one of the weirdest plays in Maverick's history, the entire team failed to guard the Warriors after a time out, allowing for an uncontested dunk. Video.

    • So this is what happened: The ball gets knocked out of bounds on a play and the refs indicated it was the Warriors' ball. Instantaneously, the Mavs called a time out and, in response, the ref then pointed at their bench to grant that time-out. The Mavs claim that they thought the pointing at them was an indication the ball had really been awarded to them.  That's why they were unprepared for the Warriors just throwing in the ball after the time-out with no one guarding them.
    • Of course, that doesn't explain why all five Mavs were at the other end of the court. If they truly thought it was their ball, they were going to need at least two players on the other end of the court. 
    • Coach Jason Kidd cited "confusion." Yep, for you. Mark Cuban said he would "file a protest" of the game. That's embarrassing.

  • Liberally Lean Weather Forecast: It will storm in Wise County around 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. 
  • School shootings momentarily shifted to Colorado yesterday.

  • Long time Rangers play-by-play man will miss the start of the season. You never know what is going on in someone else's life. 


  • He was convicted because of a photo-lineup.  Photo-lineups are rarely, rarely used any longer for this very reason.


  • This case was a dog in 1986 and certainly isn't any better now. The defendant, now 65 years of age, was 22 at the time.  

  • This story is picking up a little steam. I would expect this from private Abilene Christian but not from a public university. And we live in a weird, weird world when drag shows can go from an obscure after-thought to Public Enemy #1 instead of, say, school shootings. Culture wars are so brain-numbing.  

    • And he really leaned into it in his statement. 


  • The Texas House passed a harmless and thoughtful resolution yesterday -- one of hundreds of routine resolutions they will approve this session -- extending Muslims across the state the legislature's best wishes as the holy month of Ramadan begins. 

    • Of course, I expected someone like Tony Tinderholt to be of only two legislators to vote against the measure when it came up for a vote. And you knew he would use it to do some self-promotion as an Islamophobe. (I should note that the fact that Tinderholt being on his fifth marriage has nothing to do with this.)


    • But what I couldn't believe was that our own Rep. Lynn Stuckey, and Jack County's rep, David Spiller, had the official legislative journal of the vote reflect they changed their vote to "no."  I'm stunned and disappointed. Not at the journal procedure -- that's common -- but by their ultimate vote. Both of the men are of greater character than to pander to the lowest common denominator by voting no.  They are both better than that and should be ashamed.

  • Who is the world believes it is?
  • John Cornyn, every now and then, remembers what it was like when Congressmen were statesmen. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:34 AM
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