4.03.2023

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




The aftermath of the unsolved murder of Kaufman County DA was still making the news, and I had forgotten how the Aryan Brotherhood was the target of speculation. The story of a federal prosecutor in Houston withdrawing from an unrelated prosecution of the gang because of "security concerns" was one of the headlines.  

  • The results of a lightning bolt in Decatur yesterday.

  • I fear the road rage of the nutcases out there. A woman was shot in the neck in Grapevine on Friday morning.
    • This is the 30 year old guy from Euless who was arrested.

    • I found his shirt. It's a Christmas t-shirt with a fake button that says, "Does this shirt make me look fat?"
  • The tornados in Arkansas were rally bad, but one of the best phone videos I found of its power this one where it transformed the landscape in about five seconds.  Below is a "before" screenshot from an unsuspecting guy.

    • Speaking of "before" . . . 

    • . . . compared to now.

  • If Trump doesn't take a motorcade from Trump Tower down to the Manhattan courthouse tomorrow, I'll be very disappointed. If he wants a show -- and he does -- that would be a heck of a show. 

  • There were two very bad wrecks that all happened right before dawn on Sunday morning.
    • Lake Worth (that's the 820 overpass over Jacksboro highway)



    • Carrollton (wrong way driver in express lane)

  • Fox News is in trouble in the Dominion lawsuit.  The trial judge on Friday ruled that the election lies that Fox hosts said about Dominion were clearly false and the jury would not be asked to rule on that issue. The only remaining issues will be (1) whether Fox News knew they were false or had a "reckless disregard for the truth" and, if so, (2) damages.  

    • Court's judgment here.

  • This is real. Video.

  • A Connecticut lawmaker was arrested for DWI. The following happened when asked to submit a sample of her breath. . Video.

  • Everyone sure seems bent out of shape because of what happened at the end of the women's national championship game. I wouldn't have done it, but it didn't really bother me.  (Here's videos/thread of what it's about.)

  • Liberally Lean Pick 'Em is now final. "Ashleigh's Best Bracket" picked up some points by having Connecticut in the final two, but that will be the last points in the tournament which was heavily weighted for first and second round picks and upsets.

at 8:31 AM

3.31.2023

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




The time that I got sued and won and didn't even learn about it until a week after it was all over.

  • Well it finally happened.


    • Quick thoughts: Am I big fan of this? Not really.  I think there are far  bigger crimes that needed to got first: The state Georgia election tampering case, the federal concealing of documents in Mar-a-Lago, and especially the federal January 6th Insurrection. But, if anything, at least the ice has been broken that the man is capable of being indicted. Let's get them all rolling. 
    • Just 48 hours ago:

    • There's lots of Republicans condemning the prosecution without even knowing what the charges or the facts are.

    • All signs indicate that Trump will surrender himself in New York on Tuesday with a spectacle that he will more than welcome. And, man, will be a crazy scene. But in the unlikely event that Trump would rather have the cameras show him being drug out of Mar-a-Lago in handcuffs, Gov. DeSantis said yesterday that he would help with that circus. 
      • DeSantis doesn't care that the Constitution as well as federal law actually require the extradition. (Who cares about silly laws, right?)
      • And, actually, if the State of Florida refused, the Manhattan D.A. could then petition a federal court in Florida to handle the extradition instead. 
    • I was curious how the New York Post would handle it. 
    • Trump is hard at it this morning.
  • The missing Newark man had been found "deceased in a shed next door to where he disappeared." From reading Facebook posts by at least one family member, they have a lot of angry questions. 

  • I'm so glad that Gwyneth Paltrow won this silly skiing accident trial.  If you want to see the moment during the trial when the Plaintiff lost his case, watch this clip when he strangely brought up Jeffrey Epstein's island while testifying.  And kudos to Paltrow for counter-suing for $1 and to the jury for awarding her the $1. Here is the video of the verdict being read.
  • So a guy, while on trial for a road rage for getting out of his vehicle and slashing another guy's tires with a machete, gets involved in a rage rage shooting on his way to the trial?  He'll be surprised to learn he was convicted and sentenced to 43 years. 
    • But wait, there's more!: "During the sentencing phase of the trial, jurors were told about three additional road rage incidents involving Williams — including two from 2021 in which he was accused of brandishing a machete and threatening drivers in Dallas County."
  • There's a guy on the loose after shooting at cops last night in Sunnyvale. Schools are closed there while police continue their manhunt. Honestly, I'm not real sure I had any idea where Sunnyvale was. 

  • Buried by the Trump headlines was news yesterday morning that a crazy Fort Worth federal judge completed gutted the Obamacare requirement that insurers pay for almost all of the preventive care.  Explainer.
  • And I feel sorry for this guy who also got buried by the Trump indictment news. 
  • Texas public schools might be saved after all! Don't accept their lies that they aren't trying to gut your local schools. 

  • Cowboys running back Tony Pollard got this gawd-awful tattoo.
  • Very legal nerdy stuff for criminal practitioners only: On Wednesday, the Court of Criminal Appeals refused to hear a lower court defense win on a Rodriguez prolonged detention issue.  But you have to read the dissent to not granting the PDR where three judges say to allow a prolonged-detention for a drug dog is actually doing drivers a favor because otherwise police are going to start arresting people on Class C violations to justify the searches to in order avoid a Rodriguez violation. (pp. 4-5.) 
  • 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, 270 days.

at 8:27 AM

3.30.2023

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




PGA player Justin Dufner became a brief internet sensation as he visited a school in Dallas as part of a promotion for the Bryon Nelson. 

  • This happened before midnight last night. Moments ago the death toll was placed at nine soldiers. 


  • The Texas private school voucher program, which will gut rural schools by sending tax money to Christian private schools, is gaining serious traction. Wise County's representative appeared at a private school in Denton with Gov. Abbott this week to promote the bills.

    • Kudos to the Wise County Messenger for making this issue a front page story. 

  • New Fox News poll. Are the normal Republicans really going to allow his clown car to take the Party over the cliff?

    • Good lord. 

  • Yesterday, the Republican majority Texas House passed a bill which would give the jury the option of finding a defendant, after they had found him guilty of capital murder, to not be eligible for the death penalty because they also believed the defendant was suffering from "severe mental illness" (defined in the statute) at the time of the crime. The finding would instead cause the defendant to be sentenced to life in prison without parole.  Amazingly, Wise County Rep. Stuckey and Jacksboro's David Spiller voted against it. Have they lost their minds? 


  • Here's a nutty story. The U.S. Attorney's office says that the head of the San Jose Police Union has been dealing drugs, including fentanyl, from overseas using the police union's computers and office. 


    Above from the press release from the U.S. Attorney

    She was allegedly shipping to customers using the "SJPOA" -
    the San Jose Police Officer's Association mailing account

    Texts with her overseas suppliers

  • Before the Nashville school shooing fades from our memories . . . 


    • Instead, our politicians vow to protect and nurture the AR-15 . . . 

  • Kind of nerdy legal stuff about the Trump judge in Amarillo.  Here's the article. Here's the opinion it references. 

  • I really haven't watched much of the Gwyneth Paltrow trial, but apparently the plaintiff's lawyer keeps referring to himself as "a simple country lawyer", and it's driving people crazy. 

  • Messenger: Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM
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