11.26.2024

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts




The riots in Ferguson erupted after the D.A. thought it would be a good idea to hold an 8:00 p.m. press conference to announce his grand jury's decision not to indict. 

  • As we knew was coming, the federal prosecution of Trump came to an end yesterday.  Jack Smith had no choice. He could either do it now, or wait for Trump to fire him and have his replacement dismiss the cases then.   So it is done.  Trump got away with it.  And all because the American people decided to effectively pardon him for his crimes in the election.  I will never understand how this happened until the day I die. 


  • New this morning: 

  • Proving once again that he doesn't understand how tariffs work, last night Trump said that he will, on his first day via executive order, impose a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada and a 10% tariff on China for all goods until illegal immigration and or drug importation is fixed. Good luck buying anything at Walmart if he does that. (But in reality, he'll probably do nothing but immediately declare victory. And MAGA will believe him.)


  • Got this Wise County tip about the appraisal district from a reliable source: "They sent out 118 (their number) notices to tax exempt organizations (many churches) of WCAD’s intent to deny tax exempt status unless they produce a portfolio of documents by April. IRS tax numbers for are not acceptable docs."
  • Gov. Abbott is already cozying up to Trump's new border czar who sounds like someone who'll put everyone, even resistant mayors, in a concentration camp.  

  • I don't know if someone shooting at coyotes should be labeled as a "vigilante", but if a bullet went through a window, I would call him a horribly reckless shot. 

  • I saw the news yesterday of the DHL cargo plane crashing while trying to land at an airport in Lithuania, but I hadn't seen the wild footage of it.  What's even wilder is that three of the four people in the plane survived.

    • And look at this headline from the New York Times from back on November 5th. 

  • Say what? Every article I see on this refers to a "proposed bill" in the Texas legislature but none of them give the bill number or the author. Andy Hopper, maybe?

  • In other drone news, the war in Ukraine ramped up overnight and got more high-tech.

  • Quite the exchange on Fox News last night. Video.

  • The Local Business Second™: A new Sonic in Bridgeport, out on highway 380, was built and opened in record time.   It's at the site of a David's Feed Store which was shut down and torn down -- also in record time.

  • Want to know your team's chances of getting into the Big 12 title game?  Here's a great and bizarre flowchart which helps you figure it based upon the order of the games being played over the extended weekend. Oklahoma State vs. Colorado start it all off on Friday. 

  • Elon Musk thinks that Lockheed's  F-35 is a waste of money, and it might be the only thing I agree with him about. 

at 8:30 AM

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
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