11.25.2024

Random Monday Morning Thoughts




That was a heck of catch. 

  • Chaos in normally safe and crime-free Southlake on Friday. "Police say Sean Jordan, 19, crashed while driving the wrong way on Southlake Boulevard, pulled out a rifle and began to fire at another driver and an officer."  And the video of an unidentified guy running while bullets hit the ground behind him is wild.




    • This post on social media right after it happened nailed it: 

  • Mega-church pastor T.D. Jakes appeared to begin to suffer a seizure on Sunday and  video caught it. 


  • The cold front, at least a pretty good one for this Fall so far, is blowing through as this is published. High today will be around 52 (with the hottest temperature having already occurred right after midnight.)

  • So a 74 year old woman thought she was having online conversations with Elon Musk on an almost daily basis and agreed to send him over $500,000 as an investment? And she was married?


  • We knew Trump would fire the prosecutors, but he will also have his Justice Department "investigate" the 2020 election. We are going to have a full Joseph Goebbels-like propaganda machine re-invent history right before our eyes.

  • I present to you Trump's new "deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism.": The hot tempered Sebastian Gorka. 

  • I can guarantee this won't happen. 

  • The silly presidential turkey pardon is today. 

  • The Business Second™. Say what? 
  • The Texas Supreme Court bailed out Ken Paxton on Friday by ruling that he doesn't have to sit for a deposition in a civil suit to answer questions about the conduct which got him impeached (but not convicted.)  The last time a high court ruled against Paxton was when the Texas Court of Criminal appeals did so in an AG authority case -- a ruling which lead to three of the judges being ousted after Paxton target them in the next election.  The Texas Supreme Court wasn't going to run that risk. 

  • Delicious: The Aggies and The Evil Empire renew their rivalry on Saturday and, despite the Aggies loss in overtime to Auburn on Saturday (oh, my!), the winner advances to the SEC title game against Georgia.   Texas is a 6 point favorite. 

    • And this probably is a game to guarantee a spot in the 12 team playoffs. If the Aggies win, but lose in the SEC Championship game, I bet they still get in and that might squeeze out a two loss Texas team.  But, I suspect, a two loss Texas team (with losses to only Aggie and Georgia) will get in anyway.
  • Local sports: Decatur girls win a state volleyball championship, Decatur football is eliminated, Boyd girls lose in the state volleyball final, and Paradise football scored on a dramatic play with two seconds left (video) to continue on -- they face Jim Ned (9-3) on Friday. 

  • I royally screwed up on Friday when I said an Intoxication Manslaughter defendant in Wichita Falls only got eight years. That sentence was for a previous conviction. Here's the verdict.

at 8:30 AM

11.22.2024

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


(Kim Mulkey in that last one.)
at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




President Obama attempted to expand DACA but, due to court challenges, 
it was never implemented. 
  • In Wise County yesterday, we had two jury trials going on at the same time -- one in the felony district court and the other a misdemeanor in the County Court at Law #1 --  and both ended with guilty verdicts.
    • In the felony case, Randle Jack Goodrum, Jr. was found guilty of felony DWI (meaning at least two prior DWI convictions). He elected to have the judge to assess punishment which will occur on December 30th. (Cause no. CR-24090).
    • In the misdemeanor case, Christopher Jay Crum was found guilty of assault of a parcel delivery service guy at a convenience store. I'm not sure what is going on with punishment since the court records show 2 years probation, but it also shows that he is currently in the Wise County Jail.  It's possible he got a little jail time as a condition of probation. (Cause no. CR-85388).
  • Matt Gaetz bowed out of the AG selection process yesterday. That had to be his decision and not Trump's. Trump would never have backed down. 

    • But his announcement came moments before the media broke the story that he was also involved in a threesome with the 17 year old.

  • Trump quickly scrambled and appointed former Florida AG Pam Bondi to take Gaetz's place.

       

    • She's an election denier which makes her a nut. This was all I needed to see from an old news story: "Rudy Giuliani testified about his hurried drive to Pennsylvania [the day after the election in 2020] in a car with former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to challenge the Pennsylvania election results."
    • She's full MAGA. She showed up last summer, along with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, to support Trump during his New York hush money trial. 

    • She once Guest hosted "The Five" on Fox News.  That probably cinched the deal for Trump. 

    • Fun fact: She's 59 but very photogenic.
    • Sen. Lindsey Graham is embarrassing. 
  • You've got to be kidding. 

  • I forgot to mention this yesterday. Seems big. 

  • Ken Paxton is an absolute moron.  Let's prosecute someone because they decide where they don't want to advertise?  How did Trump not pick this guy for AG?


  • The Business Second™. This seems weird.

  • I don't know if that's a good deal or not. Story. 

  • This guy was facing up to 20 years in prison in Wichita Falls. He's lucky he just got eight. 


  • Don't do this. Seriously. Don't do this. 

  • The NFL game last night was quite the sight.

  • 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 140 days.


at 8:30 AM

11.21.2024

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts




This was awful and made national news. The 16 year old was driving when he fell asleep in Louisiana as the Wills Point family was driving to Disney World. And that 16 year old survived. Both parents were elementary school teachers in Terrell. 

  • So a deputy's safety check at home where the occupants had not been heard from for "several days" reveals two people dead and another person injured but alive?


  • Fun at Love Field. Video.

  • In normal times, Gaetz would never be confirmed for AG because of his complete lack of experience. But these aren't normal times.  And payments to young women for sex, or even previously lying about it, doesn't move MAGA one iota. I still think he'll be AG one way or another. And even if not, the real story is that the head of the Justice Department, no matter who it is, will be Trump's personal hitman who will bring about carnage unlike anything we've ever seen. 



  • I'm not surprised that she was denied parole - if you are a high profile defendant, you have no chance -- but I am surprised that it has already been 30 years. 


  • All for show.

     

  • Tarrant County -- where the Wise County case of Tanner Horner has been transferred to - currently has two death penalty cases ongoing this week.  One guy actually was sentenced to death yesterday.  The other was found guilty and moves into the punishment phase today. 

  • DPS has a new $350,000 Man as the replacement for the outgoing director has been named. Get this: He was already making $315,000 as a deputy director.  We'll find out it he also acts as the governor's political lapdog, but the overwhelming odds are that he will. 


  • We had another conviction yesterday of a "patriot", "hostage" or whatever else Trump calls them. And by the time Trump is done, January 6th will be a national holiday.  And I'm only halfway joking.

     
  • Idiocracy.
    • Good gawd. This was yesterday from the President-Elect.

    • This is the new Secretary of Education who was once upside down as she was about to be pile-driven. Video. 

  • The Business Second™. The amount of money that AI chipmaker NVIDIA is making is insane.  It released its earning for the third quarter yesterday afternoon. 


     

  • Legal nerdy stuff. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed a lower court yesterday that had held it wasn't fair to a defendant to have his trial conducted inside a jail building.  But the dissent started with a banger and included a photo in the opinion: 


  • Messenger - Above the Fold

at 8:30 AM
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