Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

A measles outbreak put a Newark church in the national news. It was all just a preview. 

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• Huge kudos to the Wise County Messenger today for penning an editorial going after the Decatur ISD School Board for operating in secrecy and appearing to become beholden to big out-of-towner donors. An excerpt:
  
  
  
• There seem to be an unusual number of lawsuits filed this year challenging property tax appraisals of the Wise County Appraisal District. And there was a big one filed yesterday: 
  
  
  
• It was Surrender Day in Fulton County. They deserve everything they get. 
  
  
  
• Flashback: Jenna Ellis called herself and Powell and Giuliani an "elite strike force" in November 2019 as they spread lies to the nation.
  
  
  
• Trump's arraignment in court -- not to be be confused with his surrender to jail this evening -- will be televised. (Edit: CNN just reported that Trump will change Georgia lawyers. Edit: Done.)
  
  
  
• This was the screenshot during the opening question at last night's Republican debate last night. Ugh. Gave me an immediate case of Slumped Shoulders. 
  
  
  
• One second you are marching on Moscow and the next you are in a plane that blows up.  Everyone told the guy he had a target on his back. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• And he's not up for election for another three years. 
  
  
  
• Employment quick hits:
• Seeing various headlines about salary increases, or lack thereof, for county employees.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Texas Tribune has become a journalistic rising star, but it was hit with layoffs yesterday. It's the first time that's happened in its 14 year history.
  

  
  
  
• I can't say I know many Oklahoma journalists, but I noted that Berry Tramel -- a Big 12 and OU writer whose bylines I've seen for years -- has left the Daily Oklahoman and starting an online publication. 
  
  
  
• I've proclaimed him the greatest player in the history of baseball, and I stand by it. Oh, my:  
  
  
  
• Cowboys arrest: The charge is going to be Possession of THC < 1 gram. It's a State Jail Felony but about the most insignificant felony there is. (You buy a a single package of gummies at a dispensary in Colorado and you are going to be in possession of 50 grams.) And the gun would have been legal but for the possession of the THC. No reason to get worked up over this. 
  
  
  
• Messenger - Above the Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 It was a "fine levied by the Texas Ethics Commission" against Judge Sharon Keller for failing to fully disclose millions of dollars of real estate and income in financial statements." And she is still on the court.

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• I told ya it was coming. 
  
  
  
• In Georgia attempted election stealing prosecution news:
• John Eastman has turned himself in and we have our first high profile mugshot.
  
  
  
• When he doubled down on this statement yesterday like he was a QAnon nut, I was ready to call him crazy.  But upon reflection, what else can he say? It's his only defense. It's his only hope to stay out of prison. He has to maintain the lie. 
  
  
  
• Even if I'm a lesser know Georgia defendant, I'd spell "request" correctly.
  
  
  
• Trump will turn himself on Thursday night during prime time. He's a born showman. 
  
  
  
• There is a Republican debate tonight without Trump. And I just leaned that someone I hadn't heard of might be taking a seat while everyone else is standing:
  
  
  
• I think this is just a bit. No way he's serious about this, and there's no way anyone would buy it. In support of this theory, I went to the website to see if you could actually buy a ticket like he claims, and you can't. It just promises "coming soon" (with a probably false claim that the 100 "pre-sale tickets" have already been taken.)
  
  
  
• I know our leaders are dumb, but there's no way we they can be that dumb right? Dennis Prager videos simply push the accelerator down on the road to Idiocracy. 
  
• Video: Mom removed from Tennessee House Subcommittee for simply holding up a sign that read, "1 KID > ALL THE GUNS."   When she asks, "Is this what democracy looks like?", we should take heed. 
  
  
  
• Suites getting nicer. I'm sure the interior decorator didn't suggest curtains for the end zone. 
  
  
  
• Traffic on 114 news. The new development is described as "south of Texas State Highway 114, west of F.M. 156, north of Elizabeth Creek, and east of BNSF Railroad, the development would span 430 acres." My graphics department took out a red pen and told me that should be somewhere behind Northwest High School off 114. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• A former Miss Texas is running for a Texas House district in the metroplex as a Democrat. The seat is currently held by a Republican who won 54.3% to 45.2% in 2022. That photo the Texas Tribune used might be an accurate predictor of her chances if you focus on Miss Texas' Teen's expression. 
  
  
  
• We had a Wise County criminal case affirmed on appeal on Monday. That was quick. It was tried to a jury less than a year ago.
• Legal nerdy stuff: This was a very old case because the defendant was in Germany for many, many years before being arrested. One of the points of error concerned a lost video: "Slimp complains of evidence from 1995 related to this case that was lost or destroyed and argues that, even though current law does not allow for a spoliation remedy without a showing of bad faith, this Court should 'reevaluate the current state of the law and amend existing precedent with regards to spoliation in criminal cases.'" The court declined. 
• Edit: A completely different Wise County criminal case just got affirmed this morning. That was a quick one as well. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

It might not be Alabama Rush TikTok videos, but some new TCU sorority girls became a local viral sensation when several tripped over an ill-placed pavement berm. 

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• Trump will turn himself into the Fulton County Jail on Thursday and then be released on a $200,000 bond, but he might be going insane thinking about it: 
  
  
  
• Fulton County Jail in 1950:
  
  
  
• Legal nerdy stuff: Regarding his bond conditions, everyone is focusing on sections (a) through (e) which prohibits "threat[s]", but those are just examples which would fall within the broader condition of the opening paragraph. That opening paragraph prohibits any "act to intimidate . . . a codefendant or a witness." Threats are just a small subclass of "intimidate" because of the "but is not limited to" clause.
  
  
  
• "Stand back and stand by": We've got a Proud Boy on the run. He's a Florida man. BOLO.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We spend so much time talking about these things, but no one really mentions how ridiculously ineffective those things are. But if Abbott did it for the PR, it was a home run. 
  
  
  
• This was from a judge and not a jury. Whenever you see that, you can rest assured that this is an agreed deal between the State and the defense because the State couldn't find a single expert to say the person was sane. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ted Cruz. Harvard educated. 
• Yesterday morning he fell for one of the oldest and most infamous photoshops on the Internet. He later admitted he was duped, but wrote "In LA, you never know." 
  
  
  
  
• You never know if a shark is on a highway because it's in LA?  
  
  
  
• Last night, WFAA had this crazy - and I do mean crazy - video (quick loading link on Twitter here and on YouTube here).  The guys trying to break in are thugs, but does anyone care about the bullets which went flying through the wall of his neighbor's apartment? And what king of gun was that? He fired off 12 rounds in under two seconds. WFAA story link here. 
  

  

  Guys trying to kick in door. Bullets about to fly. 

  

  

  "In the video, you can see bullets [go] into Rodriguez's neighbor's apartment."

  
  

  

  Outgoing bullet holes

  
  
• Political junkies only. Here's a detailed chart of who was ahead in Iowa in August, who actually won, how and how much the polls were off. 
  
  
  
• I think I'd trust Hunter Biden, who hangs out with hookers and cocaine, more than a president's son who tries to sell the public this: 
  
  
  
• The Book Banning craze isn't new. I learned yesterday in 1969 that Baylor went nuts when the Theater Department tried to put on a rendition of A Long Day's Journey Into Night. But it's one thing for a private religious school to do this, and quite another for a public ISD to try an censor a book  about a gay kid. Side note: I knew nothing about the play or the movie, but it is ridiculously benign. And I now want to see it. 
  
  
  
• So we are just going to shoot people at the border now? Some people want to turn immigrants into the new Jews of Germany -- with  gays being a close second. (This is the second time in a week DeSantis has mentioned gunning down people crossing the border. When did this become normal?)
  
  
  
• Update on The Ticket vs. Dan and Jake: They are headed to mediation today and the parties avoided a federal court hearing yesterday on the The Ticket's TRO by temporarily agreeing to stop doing their podcast.  I bet this gets settled. 
  
  
  
• I think I've become a big fan of Stoicism.