Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

This was a horrible crime where an estranged husband murdered his wife in her real estate office off of Heritage Trace in North Fort Worth.  A six-hour stand off followed. He was eventually convicted and give a life sentence from a jury. The opinion on appeal is here (with lots of factual details.)

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• "Just before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sheriff Gleason confirmed to KVUE the victims have been identified as former Williamson County district judge Alfred 'Burt' Carnes, 74,  and his wife, Susan H. Carnes, 74. Gleason said the couple’s son, 45-year-old Seth B. Carnes, is in custody over their deaths. He has been charged with capital murder and is being held without bond."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Wise County's criminal justice software package was updated over the holidays,  but workers have since been burdened by major bugs preventing them from automatically creating even the most  basic of criminal plea paperwork.  Tyler Technologies basically runs all of Texas in this area, but any update or initial install is always a nightmare. 
• With bitter cold moving in early next week  we shouldn't have to worry about these announcements:
  
  
  
• Side note: My Liberally Lean Weather Team preliminarily reports that we will stay below freezing from Sunday morning into Wednesday.
• That's one way to say, "Trump's lawyer claims in court that Trump could order Team Seal 6 to assassinate his political opponents and still couldn't be criminally prosecuted unless first impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate." Really. Audio from the appellate argument in the D.C. Circuit yesterday.  This immunity defense stands absolutely no chance. 
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• This seems more than just pie in the sky hopes. Walmart expects to implement these deliveries by the end of the year. The announcement was made "in a keynote speech Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show, an annual event in Las Vegas" - a place where big news is disclosed.
  
  
  
• Shot:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Chaser: Wise County's own Ronny Jackson is definitely "like Marjorie Taylor Greene."
  
  
  
• From the Have-They-Gone-Nuts Department:
•  From Fox News last night
  
  
  
• Training for what?   
  
  
  
• Graphic from Bloomberg News. 
  
  
  
• The Business Second: This new rule takes effect on March 11th. Is this a big deal? It sounds like a big deal.
  
  
  
  
• This caused a question mark to form over my head.
  
  
  
• I think any 99% winning percentage chance on any in-game odds graphic is grossly overrated.

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

Bridgeport lost water for the entire day because the "water line has blown again." Decatur High School even opened up "their showers at the gym" for Bridgeport residents.

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• There sure are a lot of natural gas explosions (assuming that is the cause of this in Fort Worth yesterday.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• It's normal to be windy around here, but last night was crazy. Some red lights were out in Decatur this morning. And for some unknown reason, emergency vehicles are up around the courthouse square as I hit "publish."
• Election news:
• The Iowa Caucus is next Monday but look at the 10 day forecast. That's for the high!:
  
  
  
• A new CNN Poll this morning shows New Hampshire is getting closer. Presidential campaigns change in the blink of an eye this time of year -- we've seen it time and time again.  Is Trump unbeatable? Probably. But is there now a crack? Even a close showing by Haley could change everything:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Update out of Jacksboro. For those of you who don't know, Jack County and Wise County are in the same judicial district so the same D.A.'s office is responsible for both.  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• This is really interesting.  To be on the ballot to be a judge on the Texas Supreme Court, you not only have to pay a filing fee but you also have to submit 50 signatures on a petition for each of the state's 14 appellate districts.  But now a detailed challenge to a candidate's effort, which includes listing the alleged invalid names, has been filed in the Texas Supreme Court to throw a member of that court off the ballot. "Challenging Devine is Brian Walker, who currently sits on the Fort Worth-based 2nd Court of Appeals. Walker’s father is Scott Walker, a member of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals."
  
  
  
• He really is a child, isn't he? Musk, not Cuban.
  
  
  
• Cover of this week's New Yorker.
  
  
  
• It's across the border from El Paso.
  
  
  
  
• Lou Dobbs, out of a job since being let go by Fox News for election denialism in 2021, has found a home with the MyPillow guy.  You would think he would try to keep a little dignity and stay "retired" instead. 
  
  
  
• And with his his first guest (previously recorded), Trump proved he once again cares about himself above all others. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We don't know who broke up with who, but both sides have made a fortune off each other. 
  
  
  
• And I've got the Liberally Lean First Alert Double Winter Weather Team™ looking at the maps for this weekend's forecast which could be a bit nippy.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

The Charlie Strong era began in Austin.

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• On Friday, an Alaskan Airlines Boeing 737 lost its "door plug" causing it to return to an Oregon airport. It popped off pretty quickly and before the plane had reached a cruising altitude -- a good thing because this would have been catastrophic. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• By the way, a "door plug", which was found in someone's backyard, is explained here: 
  
  
  
• An awful update on the Jacksboro girl.
  
  
   
  
  
  
• Trump had a trifecta of awfulness over the weekend.
• He called the Insurrectionists "hostages." This is just astonishing. 
  
  
  
• He mocked, with a physical demonstration no less, the deceased John McCain for being injured in the Vietnam war. Video. But Trump is the leading GOP candidate? 
  
  
  
• He said Lincoln should have negotiated to avoid the Civil War. Video. So, like give in on the issue of slavery? 
  
  
  
• Man, she's a spark plug. 
  
  
  
• Everyone just calm down out there.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We've got headline of the year already. And here's the video (with a nudity warning - well, maybe no warning is needed.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• They just keep coming - but that was a great way to remember January 6th. 
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
• Should doctors be allowed to save lives? Stay tuned until the Supreme Court tells us. (Seriously, here's a great breakdown of this case.)
  
  
  
• This is a weird story. The Secretary of Defense was in the hospital for days, and absolutely no one was told - not even the White House. And he's still there and we don't even know why.
  
  
  
• RIP to the the great Lacey Underall from Caddyshack.
  
  
  
• Some NFL fans are in for a rude awakening when they find out Saturday's Dolphins/Chiefs is only on the paid streaming network of Peacock.