6.06.2023

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




Original story here.  After wondering "where are they now?", I tracked someone down who has the same name as the prosecutor in the story. If it is her, she's now a divorce lawyer at Cordell & Cordell in San Antonio.

  • Apple has unveiled its virtual reality headset at a hefty price, but I bet this thing is actually great. I've said for years that people will eventually all use these things as we turn into big globs of goo. Here's the 90 second commercial for it which makes it look pretty neat. 


  • An ultra-MAGA candidate has announced for the seat of Rep. Lynn Stucky who represents Wise County in the Texas legislature.  That's the last thing we need. Stucky isn't my cup of tea, but he's at least a normal Republican. 
  • There was a pretty interesting genetic DNA case in the news yesterday after a New Jersey lawyer was arraigned on four sexual assault cases that occurred 15 years ago. Detectives used genetic databases to identify him as a possible match, but they needed his actual DNA to make it relatively conclusive. That problem was solved by obtaining "a glass and utensils" he used at a "corporate event" so the test could be done.  

  • Follow-up from the D.C. sonic boom story from Sunday as jets scrambled to track down a wayward private plane. People in D.C. freaked out over the sound but, when I was a kid roaming the mean streets of Bridgeport, I heard sonic booms all the time. No one batted an eye. They were banned in 1973. 
    • You can hear the boom here as it disturbed a dog who has a really nice life. 

  • I did a double-take this morning when I heard an advertisement on The Ticket for this:  

  • Keller ISD's superintendent has announced he will retire, but he looks pretty young. (I couldn't find his age anywhere.) Anyway, I wondered if he was just sick of the harassment from MAGA extremists of him and school board.  He's walking away from a good gig: "Westfall’s most recent contract, with a salary of $285,340.10, began on Feb. 28, 2022, and was scheduled to last through Jan. 31, 2027."

  • They are not serious people down there. 

  • Campaign trail news.
    • Fox News is now calling Trump a liar and clearly taking sides.

    • A Republican I would vote for, Chris Sununu, announced he would not enter the race.  He thinks too many candidates in the primary will only help Trump get the nomination, and he wants no part of that. 

  • To get in and out of  the sea of housing divisions on Bonds Ranch Road has to be the biggest beating . . . 

at 8:31 AM

6.05.2023

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




I had forgotten that Troy Aikman once didn't now how to use direct messaging on Twitter.

  • Wise County news: You might remember the drug raid on this home of Jake and Brooke Melton off Washburn street in Decatur in April in 2021.  According to court records (Cause no. CR24262), the drug case against Brooke was dropped but last week she was sentenced to one year in the State Jail for "Abandon Endanger Child Criminal Negligence." She'll serve day for day with no parole.  His case, CR24298, is still pending. Flashback:


  • A private jet invaded Washington D.C. air space yesterday causing fighter jets to scramble and cause a sonic boom that could be heard throughout the area.  The story behind the plane is the real news: The pilot was unresponsive and probably unconscious (like the Payne Stewart plane back in the day), and it eventually crashed in Virginia. Killed on board were the pilot as well as the daughter, granddaughter, and their nanny of the owner of the private jet, John Rumpel (pictured below.)



  • It was already weird that he Texas House had hired two high priced lawyers to prosecute the Ken Paxton impeachment case in the Senate, but things got really weird when mega-rich Plaintiff's lawyer Tony Buzbee of Houston announced on Instagram on Friday night that he would be defending Paxton.  Then Buzbee deleted the post without explanation. 


  • Kind of weird: There was big metroplex news story earlier this year when a popular pawn shop owner in Lewisville was shot and killed. I noticed that one of the guys arrested in the alleged murder was actually picked up this weekend in Wise County on the same charge and is currently in the local jail.  I know he had made bond when originally arrested in March, but I'm not sure what prompted the arrest on the same charge -- it would normally be to an added charge or some problem with the bond. The arrest was made by a deputy with the Wise County Sheriff's Office. 


  • Skeleton news crews on weekends make it almost impossible to learn about anything that happens. In Sunnyvale, a couple in a car followed a family of five into a townhomes parking lot in broad daylight and opened fire, killing a woman and injuring three children. That's all we know.


  • The governor was blabbing over the weekend about eliminating property taxes. Just what would he replace it with? He doesn't know because he's not serious. 

  • Financial advice guru Dave Ramsey (whose advice is to save more and spend less) has been sued for $80 million for endorsing a scam a company was running promising to get you out of that dumb time share that you bought.  But look at how much he was paid to do so!



  • Crazy Congresswoman Lauren Boebert released a video saying she didn't "miss" the vote on raising the debt ceiling last week, but that it was an intentional protest of not voting. But . . . 

    • . . . there's is literally a video of her running up the capitol steps late that night as someone tells her, and she acknowledges, that the voting is already over. 

  • News from the campaign trail.
    • He's gone nuts. 

    • Mick Pence must have joined a biker gang. 

    • Ron DeSantis says that the federal government that he will lead will punish those he doesn't agree with. Totally normal.  Video.

    • His wife joined in by wearing this jacket.

       

  • DNA story from below (probably paywalled.) 



at 8:29 AM

6.02.2023

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




Nothing earth-shaking here. I was looking through the Messenger from 10 years ago and came across this photo. If they were Chico second graders then, that means those kids should have just graduated. "The days are long but the years are short." 

  • Yes, the President tripped over a sandbag yesterday that was on the stage at the commencement ceremony at the Air Force Academy. Video. Big deal. (Bruce Springsteen tripped onstage last weekend, too.) But I'm surprised he didn't hurt himself. That was a pretty good tumble. 

  • I don't really understand hiring these two guys. It won't be a real trial in Senate so you don't need litigators, all the House managers except one are all lawyers themselves anyway, and the Senate has already made up their mind. Plus, what's this going to cost the taxpayers?  If I'm an Impeachment Manager, I don't hire hire-priced lawyers, I hire a Madison Avenue PR/Advertising firm to help me produce a slick presentation with videos and graphics for TV and public consumption. 


  • The Decatur girls softball season came to end yesterday at the state semis in Austin. The game ended fittingly on a diving catch by a freshman Liberty player. Video.

  • Breaking business news. That recession never came, did it? 

  • Another online sting by police nabs a guy in a high-profile position.  But if the cops tipped off the media about his arrest, they did him dirty. However, this just might be just a camera-phone pic the media got ahold of after the fact.

  • She's from Vidor. Out of curiosity, I wanted to know what procedure she had done, but the story doesn't specifically say -- although there is a reference to liposuction in general at the end of it. 


  • The current hatred of gays by the "anti-woke" mob in this country peaking at the same time as June Pride month comes around might be enough to cause our collective heads to explode. Side-note: Every MLB team will have a "Pride Night" in June with the exception of the Texas Rangers who continue to be the lone holdout. 

  • More photos from the campaign trail.
    • I have no idea what's going on here. 

    • In Iowa, and in one of the universe's greatest mysteries, pastors continue to support Trump. 

  • Business random thought that does not involve warehouses: I think in the future we are going to see more and more budget homes built for purpose of being rentals. Story

  • Legal nerdy stuff: The lawyer in New York who is in trouble for using ChatGPT to create a brief --  which included made up court citations -- asked for a clarification of the "show cause" hearing that he has been ordered to attend. In response, the federal district judge just hauled off yesterday and scribbled his response on the request. I didn't know that was a thing. (PDF version of the filing here.)

  • Very legal nerdy stuff that would be relevant to Wise County: 

  • 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, 332 days.


at 8:30 AM
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