8.21.2024

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




Yep, that was the fad of the day back then.

  • An elementary school teacher gets accused by the parents of a pre-k based upon only the word of that pre-K child. And they seem to be very online and "active" parents. Kudos to the DA's office for killing the case when they believed there was insufficient evidence (or quietly believed it didn't happen at all.)  But the pitchfork crowd, as they tend to do, are on the rampage in Rockwall.
  • "Pantego City Manager Joe Ashton says Franklin was in uniform and driving a fire department SUV when he offered a ride to a stranded driver who needed to pick up her child. But while riding with Franklin, his driving and behavior led her to believe he was drunk." She called him. Despite appearances. Franklin wasn't "on the clock" at the time -- not that that matters at all. 

  • That Star-Telegram headline is something. 

    • But someone want to explain this story because it makes absolutely no sense. (I guess paragraph #4 could be unrelated to paragraph #3 and the headline but, if so, it's a weird place to put it.). 

  • The risk vs. reward for this guy seems to be a little of of whack. Story.


  • There's a gold mine of nuggets out of this story from Denton. Stay with me here. 


    • It was pled on Friday before trial when the prosecutor offered 5 years to the reduced charge of Manslaughter. The defendant, the victim's wife, has been in the county jail or two and half years so she is parole eligible now.
    • The victim was found unconscious in the driver’s seat of a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.  The defendant was in the vehicle at the time and allegedly told police a man approached the truck, shooting the victim and causing the truck to crash. Police said surveillance footage showed no one approached the truck before it crashed.
    • The defendant and the victim knew each other four days before they were married.
    • A special prosecutor had to be brought in because of a possible conflict of interest: (1) The defendant had been a witness "as a victim" in some prior undescribed case and, amazingly, (2) the DA's office had previously prosecuted the victim for "murder [where he] argued self-defense. After a mistrial due to a hung jury, he pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and received a two-year sentence."
    • But, wait, there's more! The defendant "was on probation when she was arrested . . . .  [She] received an adjudicated sentence from a Bay County, Florida, judge for one count of deadly conduct and one count of making a false report of sexual battery involving a law enforcement officer."  That probation may now be revoked. 
    • The defense lawyer was Caroline Simone. The special prosecutor was Kailey Gillman from Collin County,
  • Video discovered shows the Trump shooter walking around the grounds before the shooting. 

  • The three auto dealers named seemed to have something in company. They are: David McDavid Ford Fort Worth, David McDavid Honda Frisco and David McDavid Honda Irving.

  • In 2020, Grayson County voted 74%-24% Republican. Who do you think will win this race? 

  • DNC highlights:
    • I can't say I'm familiar with the fine work of DJ Cassidy, but having him play a different pop song for each state (list here), before and as they announced their vote, was a great idea.

    • And during that roll call, Lil Jon came out to preview Georgia's vote by singing Get Low with the lyrics changed from "From the window . . . to the wall" to "VP Harris . . . to the Walz". That isn't exactly the same as rolling out Lee Greenwood.

    • As for speakers, the manner of delivery by Michelle Obama of the line of the night was a thing of beauty.   Video

    • Barack made a rare appearance and brought down the house. 

  • There were headlines last week about how signing up online for Disney+ could cause you to agree to arbitration against Disney for any claim you might file against them for amusement park incidences. Update:

  • There are about four college football games the weekend and one of them, Delaware State vs. Hawaii, is off to a a rocky start. 

  • Just when you thought NIL couldn't get any more crazy. 


  • I acknowledge that I left the last bullet point blank yesterday.

at 8:30 AM

8.20.2024

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




No, I don't think that's legal.

  • "A Galveston, Texas, jury on Monday found the parents of a teenager who shot and killed 10 classmates at Santa Fe High School in 2018 not liable for the violence, ending an unusual civil trial."

  • Yesterday evening. 


  • It look like I might have been right about how the incident from the screenshot below not being an attempted abduction at all.

  • Hey, this guy might eventually be found guilty, but this is a little premature. There were no field sobriety tests done at the scene and police don't even know his blood-alcohol level yet.  And "strongly suspect" isn't even enough to legally make an arrest. 

  • That was a short but very eventful swim through Congress.

  • Change that to God and the marketing department. 

  • Wake me up when Israel agrees to a full cease fire instead of agreeing to some murky and vague "bridging proposal."

  • DNC quick hits:
    • It was a surreal scene last night when the crowd began to chant "Lock him up!" as Hillary spoke. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of that chant, but she probably deserved that little moment of what-goes-around. (Video.)

    • Probably only 5% of you watched it, but Kathy Hochul might be the worst speaker ever. 

    • President Biden had his moment in the spotlight.

  • In Deion Sanders first press conference for Colorado the other day, a local reporter had an odd question that began about him personally having a health event and "thank god I had Aflac." It was stunning coming from a reporter and some people wondered if that question had been planted for a fee. That is, the equivalent of a paid ad. The question:

    •  Now we have this: 

  • d



at 6:52 AM

8.19.2024

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



The governor got indicted, and Tony Buzbee ended up being his defense lawyer. But there never was a trial. It would be dismissed by an appellate court two years later. 

  • That was a bad deal on Friday at the Wise County courthouse. 

  • Breaking: A talk show icon has passed away.  

  • I-35 to the south of downtown Fort Worth has been a death trap lately. This occurred around Seminary Drive right after midnight this morning. 


  • Trump had another wheels-off campaign rally. Highlights:

    • Thought he was in North Carolina when it was actually Pennsylvania. Video.
    • “I’m a better-looking person than Kamala.” Video.
    • "I love the playback controls you have nowadays. They used to call it TiVo, now they TiVo— I think it’s the single greatest invention. it is better than television." Video.
    • It's amazing he doesn't understand how a tariff works. "A tariff is a tax on a foreign country. A lot of people like to say it’s a tax on us. No… It’s is a tax that doesn’t affect our country." Video.
  • Polls in the swing states have changed dramatically. 

  • Good grief. 

  • Colorado congresswoman got a new tattoo.


  • If you like politics, this article (gift link) is pretty interesting.

  • The Business Second™: Japanese owned 7-Eleven might be sold to Canadian owned Circle K.  Value of the offer was not revealed. 

  • The Second Business Second™. When the government opposed the merger, I predicted Kroger and Albertson would abandon the effort. They should have listened to me.

  • Her girlfriend has been on an online rampage (example) to expose her alleged abusiveness.

  • Hot old film opinion: The plot of The Firm is really ridiculous. (It was on HBO this weekend.)  

at 8:30 AM

8.16.2024

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

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at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




I forgot that Goodell earned that much back in 2014. But since then we no longer know what he makes because the NFL no longer has to disclose it on tax returns.

  • The Bridgeport PD dog suffered a "critical injury during training several weeks ago" but passed away yesterday after being taken to the vet.  The ladder and flag were brought out. (Facebook post)

  • Trump had another wheels off press conference yesterday. The highlights:
    • Bad math: "Virtually 100% of the net job creation in the last year has gone to migrants In fact I've heard substantially more and actually beyond that number 100%. It’s a much higher number than that but the government has not caught up with that yet." Video.
    • "You're all going to be thrown into a communist system. You will be thrown into a system where everybody gets health care." Video
    • "I think I'm going to take some of them back to my cottage and have a lot of fun.  I like the Cheerios. I haven't seen Cheerios in a long time. I'm going to take them back with me." Video.

    • The Harris campaign certainly is not like the Biden campaign. Oh, my.

  • Police have made an identification in the clip below, but no arrests have been made. Hey, I've got a hot opinion: I'm not 100% sure I believe these kids, and I'm not sure this was an attempted abduction.  Being a former young hood rat myself on the mean streets of Bridgeport, what if one of them threw something at the vehicle or yelled something? And what if the passenger (who is a teenager), in a moment of poor judgment, decided to act like he was going to chase the kid only to decide that was a very bad idea once he saw the adult? Some of the kids are running and laughing in the beginning of the video. And they are sure very quick to yell "kidnap" and "abduction" in the whole chain of events. My radar is going off because something's not right. The most complete video I have found is here.

  • Indictments in the death of Matthew Perry were announced yesterday, but I can't get over how prosecutors hold these lengthy "look at me" press conferences. What happened to the days of just indicting someone and doing your job?



  • What the heck is this?

  • That "our love's in jeopardy" song was stuck in my head after I saw this

    • And he looked exactly like Marjorie Taylor Greene's current boyfriend.

  • I can't believe this happened. (If you know, you know.)

  • Very legal nerdy stuff which probably interests only attorneys. Watch this lawyer, who is really smart,  explain to the Court of Criminal Appeals yesterday why he allegedly misrepresented to the court that the State did not oppose a motion he filed in the Kerry Max Cook case.  He was fined $500 after the explanation. 

    • And, man, that lawyer was busy yesterday! Here is he is on that same day in a high profile case being tried in Austin! (From today's front page of the Austin American Statesman)

  • 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: 5 years and 42 days.


at 8:30 AM
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