Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

TMZ, which is normally surprisingly accurate in its reporting, whiffed on this one. The lead paragraph said the child was in "critical condition" which turned out to be wildly untrue. But Peterson had punished the child with a "switch" which would eventually lead to a two year probation. His attorney was Rusty Hardin. 

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• We have a ruling in the Tanner Horner Wise County capital murder case which has grinded to a halt -- but not a final ruling. Recall that the question on this pre-trial appeal is whether the district judge properly removed his court appointed lawyers from the case and replace them with a Regional Public Defender's Office (RPDO). 
• Yesterday, Texas highest criminal court didn't say yes or no but instead said it wanted more information. Specifically, it wants to hear from Defendant Horner as to who he wants for lawyers. And they are telling our local judge to go find out for them. Here is the money part of the ruling (Respondent = Our Wise County judge. Real-Party-in-Interest = Defendant Horner. RPDO = The new lawyers):
  
  
  
• This is very weird. Last week, the RPDO filed a response in the court as to why it should be left on the case, and they attached an unsworn statement from Horner that he wanted them to represent him. I jumped on that when I saw it. Apparently, the court didn't like it being unsworn either. They want to hear from Horner. 
• But how is this going to work? The appellate court says they want our local district judge to "communicate directly" with Horner and "ask him" if he really wants the new lawyers to stay on the case.  That's very odd and bizarre language.  Is this supposed to take place at a hearing with Horner under oath? It should. But is the judge supposed to ask the questions instead of the lawyers? What's the judge going to do if Horner just refuses to cooperate or answer -- hold the guy who is already in jail in contempt? 
• Well, whatever is going to happen, has to happen in seven days. It now looks like a hearing on the case is scheduled for Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. in the Wise County court. 
• The Decatur PD Police Chief and his family were the focus on WFAA last night. Story here. Fundraiser link here.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The shooting happened in Forest Hill  at 6:50 a.m. in an elementary school parking lot, but the amazing thing is they didn't call off school despite the fact that no arrests were made. 
  
  
  
• Wait a second. Is Dan Patrick now the spokesman for the West Texas Oilmen PAC? (He might as well be. He received $3 million from it before the Paxton trial.)
  
  
  
• Some Republicans in Austin continue to go after Jonathan Stickland, the head of the Oilman PAC. Honestly, I don't know how those West Texas guys don't fire him.
  
  
  
• There is a ton of bad information about the Israel situation right now, and the New York Times has a great article (free) collecting some of the online falsehoods. 
  
  
  
• But the President didn't help yesterday. That atrocity may very well have happened, but don't say it until you confirm it. 
  
   
• We will spend another week focusing on the viciousness of the Hamas attack (25 Americans now confirmed dead, by the way), but once Israel opens up its full scale attack and invasion of the Gaza Strip, I don't know how we can ignore the 2 million citizens - about half who are under 18 years old -- which are trapped within it without food, water and electricity. This is part of Gaza yesterday:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The House still doesn't have a Speaker. Behind closed doors yesterday, a majority of Republicans decided to nominate Steve Scalise by a vote of 113-99. But he will have to win a floor vote, and will need 217 votes of the entire Congress. There are only 222 Republicans so he has no room for error -- and it doesn't look like he is even close yet. Chaos continues.
  
  
  
• Oh, my. 
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

Yep.

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• We've got a tiny bit more information regarding the shooting of a man by Wise County deputies Monday night. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner says he died from "multiple" gunshot wounds.
  
  
  
• And don't freak out that the Manner of Death is listed as "HOMICIDE."  That's just archaic ME language for "not natural and at the hands of another."   (I'm restraining myself from going on my typical ME rant about how they should only be stating, in medical terms, how a person died  -- Not the surrounding non-medical circumstances. Just leave it at "multiple gunshot wounds" and stop.)
• "MONTAGUE, Texas — Suspended Clay County Sheriff Jeffrey Lyde will serve 30 days in Hardeman County Jail, pay fines, permanently surrendered his law enforcement license and gave up his right to appeal as part of an agreement for his punishment for two misdemeanor crimes." I can't believe they actually got him. But see how smart the prosecutors are? They cut a deal on punishment after the conviction but only if he gave up his right to appeal. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Gaza's only power plant shut down this morning. Now more that 2 million people have no electricity. I think this is going to be a humanitarian disaster. 

  

  
  
• Not Mary Lou! But you're telling me she didn't have insurance and has to resort to a GoFundMe equivalent?
  
  
  
  
• Texas Scorecard, an arm of the West Texas Oil Men PAC, has jumped on the fact that Jacksboro's David Spiller now has an opponent in House District 68. And they framed it in the way you would expect the Ultra-MAGA Extremists to frame it. 
  
  
  
• It took a couple of days for the media to confirm the online reports, but we had us some Nazis in Fort Worth last weekend. (And this is in addition to the Tarrant County meeting between the Nazi meeting and Jonathan Stickland who runs the oil money PAC.)  And Torchy's Tacos issued quite the blunt response. 
  
  
  
  
• This really is an amazing photo comparison of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. 
  
  
  
  
• Always worry about the loudest. And the headline doesn't even mention the strip clubs, pills, and misuse of donor money. 
  
  
  
• The Business Second: If you know anyone with an ownership interest in Pioneer, based in Irving, celebrate for them. Fun Fact: Pioneer was formed in 1997 when MESA, Inc., founded by T. Boone Pickens, merged with another company. This deal was announced this morning.
  
  
  
• Other ExxonMobil news isn't as rosy.  I know nothing about the facts of this case, but the mere fact that it happened "at La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Magnolia, Texas" where police "spoke with a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by a man in one of the hotel rooms" tells me that there is probably a back story here which might end up being a  reasonable doubt. Or more. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I have only a passing interest in baseball, but those last five games were predicted by absolutely no one. 
  
• The Republicans still don't have a Speaker of the House. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

This made headlines because two "bikers" in a larger group had "dragged a driver from his car in Upper Manhattan and beat him in front of his wife and baby daughter." It turned out that one of the two was an off duty undercover cop. Both men were ultimately convicted. 

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• Wise County Deputies shot and injured killed a man in the 100 block of Honeysuckle in Paradise last night after they responded to a domestic disturbance call. No names released yet. Edit: Update reports that the man was "identified as 37-year-old Edward Lander."
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Israel's response has historically been one of, "If my neighbor burns my tool shed down, I'll level his house and everything and everyone inside."  And I haven't heard near enough about the impact of no water or electricity on over 2 million people with no place to go. 
  

  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• All of this makes me very uncomfortable.   He was a mess in court, and the jury convicted him in under 20 minutes. 
  
  
  
• Some Republicans in Austin went after the West Texas Oil Money PAC yesterday for hosting a Nazi. 
  
  
  
• Example
  
  
  
• More
  
  
  
• By the way, this is the guy who is in charge of administrating the PAC and for meeting with Nick Fuentes.   Jonathan Strickland is, and has always been, a miserable human being. And he's the ultimate simpleton. 
  
  
  
• The Voucher Scam fight officially began in Austin yesterday.  If you care about your kid's school, you should care about this.  
  
  
  
• He a nutcase and his campaign kickoff where he forgot to bring his speech with him is golden. And funny. Video.
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• I gave up on the NFL once I figured out that fans care more about the outcome than the players.
  
  
  
• Extremely nerdy legal stuff which is appeal related. The Fifth Circuit is getting weird. Yesterday a dissenting judge, who didn't write a dissent, instead just attached a fake majority opinion that he felt should have been written. (Opinion here. Look at page 1, the one paragraph dissent on page 5, and then page 6.)