Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

Rick Perry, after 13 years as governor, announced he would not be on the ballot for that job again.

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• Texas lawmakers were patting themselves on the back for "cutting" school taxes yesterday. It doesn't seem significant. Here are the main points:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sweden will join NATO after Turkey dropped its objections to it yesterday. President Biden has been confident over the last 12 months it would happen, and he was instrumental in getting it done. That's what happen when adults are in charge. Here is what the new map will look like:
  
  
  
• Back in 1982, the whole country got wound up after Tylenol scare. Everyone was talking about it. 
• From Wikipedia: "The Chicago Tylenol murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in the Chicago metropolitan area in 1982. The victims consumed Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. Seven people died in the original poisonings, and there were several more deaths in subsequent copycat crimes." 
• The event basically changed the way products were packaged in stores forever. That's why you now see a plastic seal inside most containers.
• Well, we had a related death yesterday. This guy was never convicted of the actual crime, but he was convicted for extortion in connection with it:
  
  
  
• I saw this headline, and it reminded me that we have heard anything about the local Decatur hospital's expected plan to become acquired by HCA. The negotiations were announced last January. 
  
  
  
• I-30 in Fort Worth was shut down for hours yesterday after a car wreck caused an overhead sign support to collapse. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Talking to my Tarrant County buddies, every single one of the gripe about the court management software system that Tarrant County uses. The problem: It's awful, doesn't work, and is down all the time.  The county has spent over $26 million on it and it has taken over a decade to roll out. Incredible.  One of the biggest backers of the software over the years is Tarrant County District Clerk Tom Wilder (which kind of explains a lot.)
  
  
  
• Let's check in on Fox News last night:
  
  
   
• I would summarize this but I'm not sure I understand it all. 
  
  
  
• A hazing scandal cost a Big 10 coach his job last night. The weird thing is that the school had decided four days ago that the appropriate punishment would only be a two week suspension. The scandal was revealed by the student newspaper.
  
  
  
• Decatur's Bryce Elder was named to the All Star game but he won't pitch in it. From an Atlanta Braves SB Nation post:
  
  
  
• "Superbug fungus" is a good scary name . . . 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

Two things: (1) The Chicago Sun-Times actually had to apologize for that headline because the flight involved an Asiana Airlines plane, and (2) Before the week was out, maybe one of the most amazing pranks ever played on a television station occurred relating to the fake names of the flight crew. 

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• Re: Last week's body found in Lake Grapevine.  When cops said that the body showed signs "inconsistent with drowning", they now appear to be right. From the story: "Burch was interviewed, and police said he told detectives he got into an argument with Holmes in the early morning hours of July 5 as they were heading to the lake. Holmes was shot multiple times and her body was then dumped into the lake, police said." Side note: That is not Travis Tritt. I think
  
  
  
• Our Sheriff created a Facebook post about this on Friday which is a little hard to follow, but here is how it began:
  
  
  
• The best I can tell, it is referring to this:
  
  
  
• Significant news event buried on Friday. The feds got a result in the prosecution of the El Paso mass shooter via a plea agreement which seems more than satisfactory.  The Texas state charges, which were stuck in the mud by a DA who was forced to resign, is still spinning its wheels. I'm really not sure what the point of the state charges are now.
  
  
  
• Seems wrong. And, to be clear, we are talking about a live girl. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• New this morning: 
  
  
  
• Street "takeover" at Beach and North Tarrant Parkway in North Fort Worth on Saturday night. But some of the guys arrested were involved in the takeover in Austin as well. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The New York Times focused on Justice Clarence Thomas hob-bobbing with rich people in a weekend article, but one paragraph seemed odd to me.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Dallas mayor lives in a really expensive house. But he has to be in shock over how his tax bill has skyrocketed: "The market value of the Johnsons’ home has gone from $280,000 in 2013 to $1.8 million this year, according to appraisal district data."
  
  
  
• We got the Britney Spears "assault" video over the weekend. I've been studying it like it is the Zapruder film.
  
  
  
• How can Wise County continue to support this man after such disrespect for our land?
  
  
  
• Funny. Being a fan of Reno 911, I thought the same thing when I saw the photo posted by Marjorie Taylor Greene.
  
  
  
• Random photo I stumbled across: The Jack County Courthouse in 1869. That one is long since gone. 
  
  
  
• Being family friendly, I can't repost what Elon Musk is posting about Mark Zuckerberg. Has anyone embarrassed himself more in such a short time than Musk. What a mental midget. 

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

1500 drones create a stunning Chinese dragon in the night sky. pic.twitter.com/n109hZJjRM

— China Perspective (@China_Fact) June 21, 2023

r>

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That's a couple less fireworks we'll hear tonight. pic.twitter.com/KPwNzrDVXY

— jamie (@gnuman1979) July 5, 2023

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Random Friday Morning Thoughts

I forget how much carnage was routinely put on the front page of the Messenger for a couple of years back then. They briefly had.a different owner than long-term Decatur media mogul Roy Eaton. 

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• I guessed that the Medical Examiner was the source of the headline below, but I was wrong. That's the police with a hot opinion even before the ME got to see the body. That's all we know right now.
  
  
• They didn't boot her because she's a QAnon crazy but instead because, in part, she was mean to Lauren Boebert.
  
  
  
• This kind of treatment of the Official Liberally Lean Girl is unacceptable. 
  
  
  
• Elon vs. Zuckenberg. Twitter vs. Threads. Full letter.  Is it ok to hope that both lose?
  
  
  
• Look out! There's been a big jump in mortgage interest rates in the last seven days. We've even got conflicting headlines as to just how how they hit yesterday afternoon. The 6.81% comes from Freddie Mac. The 7.22% number comes from a private monitoring firm.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Trump's co-defendant in the Mar-a-Lago documents case was finally arraigned in federal court yesterday once he found a lawyer to represent him at the hearing. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Uh, here is some of the new lawyer's past advertising.
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Here's the door dash tipping video that everyone was talking about yesterday. Language warning. Story about it is here. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Texas is back!
  
  
  
• NFL Training camps start later this month and no one yet wants Zeke Elliott. 
• 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: 4 years and 3 days.