12.11.2023

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




I know I've beaten that ice storm to death, but it dominated the news back then. Watch this youtube clip of sheets of eyes falling off a building in Plano during the Monday thaw. Insane. 

  • The Texas Supreme Court, at the request of Ken Paxton, has at least temporarily stopped a district court judge's ruling which would allow a 31 year old woman to terminate the pregnancy of a non-viable fetus. A final ruling could come any second. Follow all the filings in the case here.


    • The woman's lawyer had to file a response last Friday afternoon. They did, and it started off with fire: 

  • I watched a little bit of this trial on Friday, and it may be one of the weirdest murder cases ever in Dallas.  This guy lives with two women and claims one of them -- the woman on trial -- stabbd and killed a girl in his bed who he had met on the streets of Deep Ellum hours earlier.  And I'm not sure he's all that believable about what happened. The trial continues today. 



    • Edit: There is one report this morning that the companion murder charge against one of the women who is not currently on trial has just been dropped.  That would be the lady in the middle of the above photo. The defendant is on the right. If true, I don't think that's a good sign from the prosecution. 
  • Local politics: I'm not sure I understand why the challenger to our state representative, Dr. Lynn Stucky, is criticizing him for receiving a $1,000 contribution from the President of the University of North Texas . . .

     
    • . . . when he he is the one who received $55,000 from the embattled Texas Oilman PAC and is touting this as a badge of honor: 

  • This isn't some online poll. Oh. no. This is legitimate poll by The Economist.  Now if you had told me that 1 in 5 (or even way more) had never heard of the Holocaust, I could more easily believe it.


  • Elon Musk is allowing Alex Jones back on Twitter because of an online poll Musk posted. Jones, who has more conspiracy theories than can be counted, thinks Sandy Hook was a hoax and false flag.


    • Flashback:

  • Last week at a congressional hearing, some high tone university presidents couldn't come out and condemn any of their students calling for the genocide of all Jews. One resigned over the weekend in the fallout. But . . . 


    • . . . remember when I told you Big Law was the biggest scam there was? Below is Exhibit A. (Story.) WilmerHale has over 1,000 lawyers and billed $1.34 billion in fees in 2022. 


  • Ken Paxton's lead impeach lawyer couldn't win a city council race in his hometown. 


  • Sports quick hits:
    • We've never seen anything like him, and now we've never seen anything like the contract he was just awarded. All guaranteed. (Here's you're occasional reminder that the NFL owners, on the other hand, have a self-imposed salary cap.)


    • High school football very random note: Brock knocked Paradise out of the playoffs and last Thursday Brock was knocked out as well. This story by a contract reporter by the Star-Telegram had some great photos but some very odd captions. This one got my attention because it doesn't seem possible, and it's kind of harsh considering the kid is in high school:

    • NFL excitement:
      • Final score:

      • First half of of Texans/Jets: 

  • The Business Second: Something is going on.


  • An Intoxication Manslaughter case that started last week in Decatur might still be going on. I'll find out this morning. A subpoena got issued on Friday, the fourth day of trial.

at 8:31 AM

12.08.2023

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




Ten years ago we had a ridiculously warm day (just like today), but it was followed by temps in the 30s for the next six days.

  • Breaking job news, and it is all good. 

  • Yesterday a Texas district judge granted a woman the right to terminate a pregnancy where, in an awful situation, the fetus is not viable and her doctors say the continued pregnancy "posed a risk to her health and future fertility."  It's amazing that a woman in Texas has to go to a judge to beg for this.

    • Shockingly, Texas AG Ken Paxton responded by threatening any doctor who acts under the lawful court order. And he even sent out letters directly to her doctors and hospitals. This is wrong, full of lies, fascist, and downright ghoulish.  Texas is the The Handmaid's Tale.

  • What going on here?


  • So you're 10 days into a 30 day jail sentence, have high blood pressure, get transported to the hospital, and then you get released to get to go home? There might be two justice systems after all. 


  • "My family are huge fan of the Dallas Maverick" (without the "s") - New Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson speaking yesterday in Austin. 

  • Hunter Biden's presidential aspirations are in trouble again as there is another indictment, this time for tax fraud.  Although I'm not sure it was necessary to spell out what he actually spent his money on in the body of indictment, the boy definitively was a player. 


    • Fox News is giddy this morning.

  • There are absolutely no details about this case of the missing woman who was "found" but, let me tell you, there is something very fishy going on. "She’d last been seen after DeSoto police briefly took her into custody Dec. 1 for a misdemeanor, then released her later that same day." 


  • Texas Oilman PAC News:
    • Shelley Luther, who was hospitalized due to an aneurysm earlier this year, has fully recovered apparently as she announced that she is running for the Texas Legislature.  During her last attempt to run for the Texas Senate, she received $210,500 from the West Texas Oilman PAC. 

    • Regarding the Oilman PAC's most recent controversy, the frontman for its spending is trying to rebrand after being caught meeting with a white supremacist. 

    • Source for the Texas Oilman PAC donations.

  • This report from ESPN's Adam Schefter about how Bills coach Sean McDermott tried to inspire his team yesterday:

  • Fun sports fact: Dallas has made 38 straight field goals - with the last miss dating back to last Thanksgiving. But during that same time period they have missed nine extra points. 
  • 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 165 days.

at 8:29 AM

12.07.2023

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts





At the time, there were two White House dogs: Bo and Sunny. Bo was actually from Boyd, but it was Sunny who committed this assault. 


  • Another day in America: Three dead in a shooting at a college campus. 

    • The shooter has a little different profile than what we are conditioned to expect: He was a 67 year old professor who had recently and unsuccessfully sought a job at the school. He also "wrote a 15-page theory on the Zodiac killer and posted about 'powerful organizations bent on global domination.'" Good lord. 

  • I noticed a Wise County murder case (background here) involving Daniel Trevino Hernandez  is set for a plea on December 12th.  It got my attention because he was back in jail this morning. 
  • Chris Christi is a breath of fresh air on the Republican debate stage primarily for realizing that if Trump is nominated, the Republicans will lose. But his best moment last night was when he put smarmy Vivek Ramaswamy in his place.   Video. (By the way, Ramaswamy said January 6th was an "inside job" last night.  How are nuts like him at the top of the Republican party?)

    • At the same time, he also came to the defense of Nikki Haley.  "This is a smart, accomplished woman. You should stop insulting her . . . . And Nikki and I disagree on some issues, but I’ll tell you this: I’ve known her for 12 years, which is longer than he’s even started to vote in the Republican primary."

  • In a few short months, Kevin McCarthy went from Speaker of the House to quitting Congress.

    • Flashback: 

  • Let's check in on Trump's right hand man and renowned racist. There's a conspiracy around every corner with these guys: 

  • Everything you know about U.S. oil production/exports is wrong.  After setting a record of producing 13.5 million barrels a day in August, we now are exporting a "near record' 6 million barrels a day.  Oil dropped to below $70 a barrel yesterday. 

  • The Fort Worth City Council is bent out of shape about police/fire department vehicles being driven home when "home" is a long way from Fort Worth.  Four of them are routinely driven to Wise County based upon a report presented to them. (My graphics department added the green dot for Decatur and the red circle.)


  • What First Amendment?: The Dallas Morning News has a story today about a jury verdict based upon alleged misrepresentations by a home solar panel company. But my eyes bugged out when the defense lawyer was interviewed. Buddy, it doesn't work that way: 


  • Sunset, Texas got a shout-out from Fox 4's weatherman.
     

  • From today's DMN. Blackstone is one of the world's largest private equity firms based in Manhattan. 

  • Extremely nerdy legal stuff for practitioners: Since 4/1/22, any magistrate who sets bonds in Texas is supposed to first review a "public safety report" about the criminal history of the defendant. (It's just a modified criminal history printout). But what happens when you later ask the trial court for a bond reduction -- must the trial judge also review that "public safety report" in order to accurately assess whether the bond should be reduced? This Court of Criminal Appeals said "yes" yesterday. "If the trial court did not consider the public safety report required by statute, then it erred . . . ."
    • Side note: The law which created the need for the public safety report also mandated this statewide public database of every bond decision. Its clandestine purpose was to out the magistrate if a bond decision goes wrong. 
  • Fun Fact: I don't have much interest in the Heisman Trophy, but this will be the 30th year that the presentation has been hosted by Chris Fowler. 
  • Messenger - Above the Fold

at 8:31 AM
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