Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

I was reminded that I documented  gas prices on 10/15/14 -- a price which is basically the same as today.

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• We now know the name of the new judge who will preside over the Tanner Horner capital murder case: Judge David Hagerman of the 297th Judicial Court in Tarrant County . Horner got the right to a new judge once the case was transferred to Tarrant County on his Motion to Transfer Venue --  a motion which was granted by local judge Brock Smith. 
  
  
  
• I can't say I can name a One Direction song, nor was a familiar with this guy, but I know a big story when I see one. Sidenote: TMZ initially published some (very) cropped photos of the body but then deleted them. 
  
  
  
• Told you this would happen yesterday. 
  
  
  
• But in a bizarre move, a conservative committee of the Texas legislature has subpoenaed the man facing execution today to also appear before them in Austin since that would prevent him from being strapped to a gurney in Huntsville.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• But the subpoena also smells of a publicity stunt by Rep. Jeff Leach (far right, above) who is shameless.
• So why was this Blue Alert which woke us all up cancelled yesterday you ask?  "The Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to inquiries about why the Blue Alert was canceled."
  
  
  
• I'm no fan of this guy, but I'm stunned his lawyers haven't learned the names of his accusers yet.  If someone wants to allege you of a heinous crime against them, you kind of want to know who is doing the accusing, right? Never mind that pesky Sixth Amendment right to confront your accuser.
  
  
  
• Fannin County is giving Wise County a run for the most dangerous rural county to drive in. If the headline below seems familiar, it is because there was another wreck there earlier this month which also, amazingly, claimed five lives. 
  
  
  
• Another military domestic aircraft accident.
  
  
   
• So when does a headline say "brothel" and when does it say "sex trafficking"? 
  
  
  
• Politics:
• Kamala Harris went into the hostile confines of Fox News and, depending on which echo chamber you are in, either (1) did poorly or (2) was subjected to an ambush-like interview where she performed fantastically. 
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
• But earlier in the day, Trump also appeared on Fox News but it was in front of a we-are-humbled-to-have-you-in-our-presence crowd.  I thought his ill-timed joke at the expense of a woman who died under the Georgia abortion ban was really cringy. 
  
  
  
• The Business Second™. "A federal jury in Fort Worth awarded American Airlines $9.4 million on Tuesday in the airline’s suit against Skiplagged Inc., a website that promotes bargain fares through 'hidden city' ticketing, a practice that saves many fliers money but, American contends, costs airlines millions in uncaptured revenue."
  
  
  
• "Hidden city" explained. This seems like it should be legal. 
  
  
  
• Messenger - Above the Fold

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

This "moving" of Halloween by the Decatur City Council even made the national AP wire. 

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• We had the Allred/Cruz debate last night. 
• Allred's best moment was calling Cruz out for contesting the election in the Senate hours after the Insurrection took place. Video.
  
  
  
• Ted's worst moment: Dodging an abortion question from one of he moderators three times at the very beginning of the debate and then complaining about being asked. Video.
  
  
  
• Jerry Jones got crossways with his interviewers in his weekly interview yesterday. Audio. There have been a lot of people say that this was a calculated plan by Jerry so as to make headlines. I don't believe that at all.
  
  
  
• Everyone can get bent out of shape about this, but the government will kill him tomorrow.
  
  
   
  

  

  
  
  
  
• We have an update on the missing San Antonio woman.  Kind of. She hasn't been found in the landfill, they are just looking in the landfill.
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Early voting: "Roughly 252,000 ballots were cast in Georgia yesterday, shattering the previous record of 136,000 in 2020." That means something, but I'm not sure what. 
  
  
  
• Trump:
• One day after standing on stage for 38 minutes while music played, and three weeks before the election, Trump went to social media last night to hawk his latest grift of cryptocurrency.  Amazing.
  
  
  
  
  
• Trump taking questions from a Bloomberg reporter was cringe-worthy yesterday.

• No one might hate Trump as much as Drudge.
  
  
  
• I obviously knew of Musk and Adelson (the Mavericks owner), but I wasn't familiar with Uihlein. He is the "the chief executive of the shipping company Uline and one of the wealthiest people in the Midwest."

• The Business Second™.  When you see mansions everywhere and wonder, "Who are these people?", I guess its people involved in businesses I've never heard of  . . .  
  
  
  
• It's official: The Tampa Bay Rays currently have no place to play in 2025 since there is no way Tropicana Field can repaired in time. And they may just tear it down. 
  
  
  
• Tom Brady is now one of the owners of the Las Vegas Raiders. 
• Very nerdy legal stuff: The number of cases set for oral argument in all 15 Texas courts of appeal and the wild disparity between them. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

What a glorious picture I had found from the July 19, 1973 edition of the Bridgeport Index.

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• I have no idea what happened in this trial because no news organization covered it. The Dallas Morning News just found out about it by looking at court records. So what went down? Who knows. "A spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney’s office declined to comment."  A guilty verdict would have meant an automatic life sentence which would mean at least a real 40 years.
  
  
  
• He's lost it.  What a bizarre incident last night. Here's a quick video montage.  And, to add the appropriate flavor to this weird fascist lovefest, one of the songs on his playlist was Dixie (!) sung by Elvis. Video.  Edit: And here's one which greatly captures just how weird this was. 
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sheesh.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Kamala heads to Fox News for an interview. Do you ever see Trump sitting down with CNN? 
  
  
  
• The Liberally Lean Weather Center tells me the cold front will now hit at 10:15 p.m. tonight which will bring a high tomorrow of 66 degrees. 
• I think this is a  little underreported: Seth Altman, the man who was the subject of the Blue Alert that woke up all of Texas, is still on on the run. 
  
  
  
• You two boys want to settle down? We've got enough problems in the world. 
  
  
  
• This was the DA involved in the original Bernie case and who was played my Matthew McConaughey in the movie.
  

  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I'm halfway through this, and it is great.  It's not about how Twitter has changed, but instead is a recent history lesson of what went on behind the scenes of Elon's strange purchase of it.
  
  
  
• Thanks to the krillions of people who came out the woodwork to tell me the concrete sidewalk being built on 380 between Decatur and Bridgeport will be for a safety barrier. Question: Were cars crossing that median a problem? I'm not sure I even recall one single wreck involving a car crossing the median. 
  
  
  
• I'm working on my official election prediction, but I've still got to spend some more time in the lab.