Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

I was reminded while looking at this August 2013 edition of the Messenger that the paper used to be car crash photo central. (Full pdf of that page is here if you want to read it.)

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• Continuing that theme, a faithful reader sent in this pic this morning from the Big Z convenience store in Rhome where a vehicle has ended up under a tractor-trailer. This is the same location where a truck smashed into the building a couple of weeks ago shutting down the Giant Burger restaurant indefinitely. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A young Decatur man killed on a Dallas jobsite was the focus of a WFAA segment last night. The family's attorney, Bridgeport's own Michelle Simpson Tuegel is featured. (I've said it a hundred times. She's got the greatest PR guy in the history of PR guys.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• New filings in the Ken Paxton impeachment bring some news:
• This is the juicy part. His donor/bribery buddy set up a fake Uber account so Paxton could be ushered to and fro to hook up with his paramour. So seedy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• But this is what really got the ball rolling and the strongest basis for impeachment. So slimy. 
  
  
  
• Here's a reminder that the "Wise County Conservatives" (who meet in a church) and disgraced Rep. Ronny Jackson are against the the impeachment and support Ken Paxton. 
  
  
  
• We've already got a threat by an Ultra MAGA extremist against the Trump trial judge in D.C. which has led to an arrest. She is from Alvin, Texas. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This is what she said (unedited): 
  
  
  
• STAAR testing results have been released here. Here are Decatur's: 
  
  
  
• The Trump controlled Fifth Circuit sided with the radical Amarillo federal judge who practically outlawed the morning after pill despite it being approved by the FDA over 20 years ago.
  

  

  
  
  
  
• It's underreported that the lead lawyer against the pill is the wife of this guy: 
  
  
  
• New polls from the AP and Fox this morning show why the normal Republicans have a problem with Trump as the nominee: He can't win a general election.  Why the other GOP candidates just don't say, "I like the guy and thank the guy, but he simply can't win and we've got to move on" is beyond me.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Very nerdy legal stuff for criminal practitioners: A case out of the Dallas appellate court two days ago struck down some standard terms and conditions imposed by a trial court which I see all the time including (1) avoid "injurious or vicious habits" and (2) no alcohol consumption.   It also struck down the (strange) conditions that the defendant couldn't seek early termination or a motion to modify without the consent of the state. Note: These are are all conditions which were imposed by the trial court and were not agreed to as apart of a plea bargain.
• The WCSO pdf of jail inmates is still not fixed.
• Messenger - Above the Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

Wise County and Duck Dynasty were a match made in heaven back in the day. 

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• This was a headline from one year ago. I'm hearing a rumor it is about to become very relevant to Decatur. You know, focusing on the important stuff.
  
  
  
• I noticed that Rep. David Spiller of Jacksboro has entered an appearance as co-counsel for Fed Ex in the civil case that arose out of Athena Strand's kidnapping and murder late last year in Wise County.
  
• West Texas Far Right Wing Oilmen updates:
•  One of them gave about-to-be-impeached Ken Paxton $250,000 last month. They have money to burn out there.

• Oh, my. 
  
  
  
• Did the Tarrant County Sheriff kill another one?

• Southlake PD went on a Twitter comedy routine yesterday in trying to identify this guy which they say bears a resemblance to Elton John. Thread.

• A reminder that a great percentage of the population is dumb as a box of rocks, incredibly gullible, have no capability to discern the truth, and are all around you. 

 

• Speaking of, below are a couple of reactions to the Georgia indictments by the Ultra Maga Extremists. These are not serious people.

• Elon Musk ain't right. In addition to texting Mark Zuckerberg last weekend that he wanted to drive to his home to fight him (really), he has revamped Twitter to build in a five second delay if you click on a link on Twitter that redirects you to the New York Times, Washington Post, Facebook, and others.

• Random Fort Worth company work van.

• Very, very nerdy legal stuff for civil practitioners and court clerks (which will bleed over into criminal practice by default):

• WCSO still hasn't fixed their jail list PDF. It hasn't been updated since August 9th. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

The Dallas woman would receive probation for this a couple of years later. 

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• The hammer dropped on Trump and his henchmen/henchwomen last night in state court in Georgia.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• If anyone takes the time to learn the basic facts of what Trump did in Georgia, your jaw would drop.  The New York Times summarized it yesterday in a very concise article here (free.) And the federal indictment, at pages 12-16, is a quick read about Georgia which is equally stunning.  Trump is in big, big trouble. 
• We got to see the mundane process of a clerk handing the grand jury indictments to a district judge to receive them. He signed a cover sheet and then handed them back to her for filing. (Procedures vary state to state.)
  
  
  
• Trump's talking point is that all of these recent indictments are "election interreference." Someone needs to tell him he's being indicted for actual election interference. 
• Flashback from February when Trump tried to spin a report released by the special investigating grand jury which recommended indictments:
  
  
  
• The video is out where Wise County Congressman Ronnie Jackson berated a state trooper and acted like what appears to be a drunken fool. It's on Youtube, and I've got the "best" part queued up here.  The Texas Tribune article doesn't delete the slew of profanities the disgraced elected official uttered.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• He has no respect for law enforcement. He doubled down last night. Can we please vote him out of office?  
  
  
  
• The death toll in Maui is up to 99.  Of those, 80 have been found "in their cars or in the water." 
  
  
  
• The most non-surprising news ever.  
  
  
  
• I wrote this 10 years ago: 
  
  
  
• Missed this last week. A Garland man was sentenced to 27 months. Not enough. But I like how the sentences keep coming.  
  
  
  
• We set a record yesterday (which actually ended early this morning.)
  
  
  
• Zeke finally signed with someone. The guaranteed money is only $1 million so the Pats might cut him before the first game once they get a good look at him. 
  
  
  
• My weekly business/investment show on CNBC called, "It's Warehouses, People!™": 
  
  
  
• Nerdy legal stuff: A criminal case of a Waco attorney in a murder-for-hire case is being live-tweeted out of Waco. The Texas AG's office has come into assist the DA. Never use them.  They are awful.  What is printed below was just said in an opening statement. You never say that.  As a prosecutor, he might has well have said, "I understand how you might have a reasonable doubt about this case at the end of the trial - it's really complicated!"
  
  
  
• The AP Top 25 was released yesterday.   There were two teams listed which had losing records last year: OU (#20) and Aggie (#23). There was not a Big 12 team in the top 10.