8.05.2019

Random Monday Morning Thoughts



  • What a bloody weekend with the most bloodshed in Texas. Twenty dead at a Walmart shooting in El Paso climbs to the third worst mass shooting in our state's history.  It ranks only behind Luby's (25) and Sutherland (23) and right in front of the University of Texas tower (18). 
  • The killing was the result of White Nationalist Terrorism. Heck, it's such an epidemic and so obvious that even Ted Cruz had to go on record as admitting it. 
  • The shooter said the mass murder was going to be about about illegal immigration and the "Hispanic Invasion" (his words - and Trump's.) I'm not so sure. He murdered people without asking where they were from, without asking to see their papers, and not asking if the were at U.S. citizens. No. This was about killing brown people. 
  • Good lord. This morning Trump not only failed to call out White Supremacists but basically gave them a call to arms. He might as well say, "When I say 'Fake News' in the future, guys, that's your cue." (Note: The El Pasoshooter wrote in his manifesto, "The media is infamous for fake news.")
  • Lt. Dan Patrick said that the shooting was because "we won't let our kids pray in our schools." (Not only is that dumb even for him, but who's stopping kids from praying in school?)
  • At least Trump in the past was horrified at the suggestion that someone shoot illegal immigrants. No? Of course not. He is their leader. 
  • After the Dayton mass murder within hours after El Paso, you would expect in normal times for the President of the United States to address the nation. But that didn't happen because he's not capable of speaking without screwing it up or telling us to tap the brakes because there were "good people on both sides." Instead, he was yukking it up at one of his golf courses Saturday night and crashing another wedding.
  • Greg Abbott, who is scared to utter the words "white supremacy terrorism" and will never refuse gun lobby money, has a tweet for everything:
  • And remember this not-so-subtle tweet by Cornyn earlier this year?
  • Add a section for Walmart.
  • Clever.
  • The El Paso shooter was arrested without incident. Compare and contrast a guy who was arrested (and died) for being arrested for selling single cigarettes. 
  • Changing gears . . . 
    • Five were killed in a fiery car wreck on Northside Drive in Fort Worth last night.
    • The a fourth Republican Congressman, Ken Marchant, has announced he is leaving office. He's the third one to get out of Dodge after winning by less than 5%.
    • Trump had to withdraw the nomination of another Texas congressman, John Ratcliffe, as Director of National Intelligence because he lied about his resume. It's amazing that you can lie in plain sight and get away with it so long as you don't seek a position higher than Congressman. 
    • I saw Once Upon A Time In Hollywood over the weekend. Thumbs up. (But I'm hugely biased as a Tarantino fan.)
    • Big thumbs up to the HBO documentary I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth vs. Michelle Carter.  It's great and provides so much background that you had no idea about. (Throw in teenage dating by text, anti-depressants, Glee, and domestic abuse and you've got a wild ride.)
    • This weekend sure took the Arlington cop who accidentally killed a woman after shooting at her dog off the front page. 
    • Mitch McConnell, who of late has become very angry with the nickname "Moscow Mitch", tripped outside his home and broke his shoulder yesterday morning. 
    • A Republican district judge in Denton County won't seek re-election because “I do not like the direction the Republican Party is heading in."
    • Incredible picture a split second after fan gets hit by a foul ball at yesterday's Rangers' game. 
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.



at 8:30 AM

8.02.2019

It's Friday. Let's Get Out Of Here.










at 2:00 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts



  • Texas Republican Congressman Will Hurd announced last night he won't seek re-election. Why would he? The guy who represents the longest border district in the nation barely won last time, and he can see the anti-Trump turnout simply destroying him next year. (Texas Monthly just had him on the cover.)
  • The worst thing about being a member of the House would be running every two years -- which translates to running "all the time." 
  • Saw this "controversy" yesterday. The answers were either 16 or 1. I didn't see which one was correct, but I'm going with 1.  It depends, of course, on the rules regarding the order of the math equations. Rules that I barely remember.
  • It's not the best photo, but I made a friend on the courthouse lawn the other day. (It's a Husky puppy.) 
  • Mark Pittman, a Fort Worth appellate judge (who was first a district judge because of an appointment and not an election, and then a state appellate judge by appointment as well) is now a federal judge (which, of course, is by appointment.) For his judicial confirmation hearing, he had to prepare a 42 page questionnaire.  Here's an interesting note: He had to list his 10 "most significant litigated matters" (beginning on p. 32). None involved appearing before a jury. They all involved assisting other lawyers before trial. So in this day in time, you can be a state district judge, a state appellate judge, and a federal district judge and never appear before a jury? (Hey, he might be a nice and competent guy, and his story isn't unique, but I still think it's amazing.)
  • I mentioned The Ticket's Jake Kemp yesterday and a faithful reader pointed out a Wise County connection: His mom runs a high tone bedding place in downtown Bridgeport named Reilly Chance. 
  • Oh, Texas, our Texas. 
  • Former Channel 5 anchor Mike Snyder now works for the Tarrant County DA and has produced a propaganda film in hopes of increasing the office's budget. It's odd. I'm not sure who would watch it or buy into it, and the only person they could find who says that more money will be needed is some economist from SMU. And there was a weird (and not-so-subtle) moment where news footage was lifted, oddly, from Compton in LA where the economist says in a voice-over, "If we become like them . . . . " 
  • You might have to be an old-timer to appreciate this, but watch this old WFAA footage of Verne Lundquist at Cowboys' training camp in Thousand Oaks talking about the trade of Duane Thomas. It's exactly like a Dale Hanson Unplugged segment. Listen for the cadence. The pauses. The short repetitive sentences.
  • Someone one pointed out a random federal government publication entitled "Contracts for July 31, 2019." It's amazing. Thirty-nine contracts are listed and the first one begins: "Medico Industries Inc.,* Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, was awarded an $891,165,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract to manufacture and deliver 155mm M795 projectile metal parts and 120mm mortar shell bodies. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received."  Good lord. They are all mind-numbing numbers. The waste has to be beyond belief. 
  • He's just a vile and evil person. From this morning . . . 
  • A grandchild of Bobby Kennedy died from an overdose yesterday.  (That was a pretty quick announcement on the cause of death considering there hasn't been an autopsy.)  I was wondering how many children Kennedy, who was assassinated while running for President, had. He had eleven. He was 42 when he was killed. 
  • This seems significant: The Texas Tribune has discovered a DPS internal memo that instructs troopers to no longer arrest people for misdemeanor marijuana. But it's odd. They aren't simply letting people go but instead issuing a citation to appear to appear in county court at a later date. People still face criminal charges, they just don't have to go to jail and post bond. It's the implementation of a "cite and release" law that was passed in 2007 ago but was never really used. (The law only applies if the person resides in the county where the offense occurs, but no one ever mentions that part.)
  • That story implies the policy is a result of the new hemp law (making weed legal if it has less than .3% THC), but I'm not sure about that. Nevertheless, there was this great tidbit about the Tarrant County DA's office which has recently sent three marijuana cases to a private lab to determine the amount of THC in the weed. Two turned out to contain 13% and 15% THC while one turned out to be legal weed with a THC concentration of .2%.  That's a bad start with a very small sample: One out of every three weed criminal cases are bad. 
  • Absolutely amazing. Everyone knows Russia has, and is, trying to interfere. This was yesterday.
  • I watched the first half of the fantastic HBO documentary, I Love You, Now Die, on Michelle Carter -- the teenager convicted of manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide. It's fascinating and haunting. And I'm torn. I've said before I've got a huge problem with a person being prosecuted for homicide because of simply the words they say. Then the doc showed oral arguments in the Massachusetts appellate court where the judge asks, "You can be guilty of murder for hire by uttering mere words, right? We see that all the time."  Ugh. It's really good stuff.



at 8:29 AM

8.01.2019

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts



  • North Richland Hills had to fish a car out of a pond yesterday. The owner of the car was arrested earlier for public intoxication but won't face a charge of DWI. (That's what happens when you keep your mouth shut.)  But I located his Facebook page -- NRH PD released his name in a Tweet and then deleted it -- and I found he was proud of his new car back in February. 

  • "AUSTIN — The Texas Department of Public Safety fired the state's top counterterrorism official Tuesday after he was arrested and accused of violently raping his wife’s friend. John Jones, 45, who led the agency’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division, is charged with sexual assault and was being held in Travis County Jail Wednesday on bail of $750,000." By the way, you were paying this DPS public servant $198,164 a year.
  • Running for President would be a beating. 
  • It's surprising absolutely none of the Democratic candidates at least haven't learned something from Trump. It's obvious he got the nomination by simply being unconventional -- doing the exact opposite of every candidate who came before him. But every Democrat is using the same old boring playbook: Rehearsed lines, generic talking points, and looking and acting like a politician.
  • On my Griswold family road trip, I had a rule: If we have to stop for a bathroom break the convenience store had to be on the right. We wouldn't exit, take a left turn, and go to the other side of the highway. It's a time saving thing.  
  • Shout out to attorney Richard Gladden for having a misdemeanor weed conviction overturned on appeal this week . (A Denton County jury amazingly found the evidence sufficient to convict and thought it would be a good idea to lock some one up for 180 days and assess a $4,000 for possession of a plant.) Side note: It's never a good sign when the court of appeals tells the Denton DA's office that the facts are "contrary to the State's assertion in its brief." That's not-so-subtle code for "You lied to us and we caught it." See footnote 2.) 
  • They are repaving some streets in Decatur. Unfortunately, your teeth will rattle when your car goes from the paved to the unpaved as your tires hit a cliff.
  • Hadn't thought of this, had you?
  • This is a weird fight. Empower Texans, the far right wing/oil-money based PAC which spends millions on people like Konni Burton (who lost to a Democrat) and Jonathon Stickland (an annual laughingstock who won't run again) and Tony Tinderholt (a family values guy who upgraded his wife to a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader), is after Speaker of the House Dennis Bonnen. The fight is led by circus ringmaster Michael Quinn Sullivan. Story.
  • Distribution of Class C criminal cases (tickets) filed in the four justice of the peace courts in Wise County -- year to date -- is below. Fun fact: 17 of the tickets were for speeding 100 mph or more. The leader in the clubhouse clocked in at 122 mph. Fun fact #2: One guy this year got a ticket, and not a warning, for going 4 mph over the speed limit. 
  • Gallagher was convicted of posing with a dead detainee and a team of Navy SEALS thought he was a war criminal. Trump took time away from his concern of A$AP Rocky to get involved yesterday.
  • Ticket fans only: Fort Worth magazine profiled radio guy Jake Kemp. (Funny they spelled it "Kimp" in the URL.)  Kemp once chewed me out on Twitter when I put forth my patented belief that many segments are nothing more than thinly disguised ads. 


at 8:30 AM

7.31.2019

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts



  • Zeke Elliott and the Cowboys are being sued for $20 million after a 2017 wreck that Zeke was involved in.  The lawyer is Lawrence Friedman out of Dallas. Here are the opening paragraphs of the lawsuit and a photo of the wreck. Spare me. 
  • It dawned on me that the small law firm even made a Liberally Lean bullet point last month. Yep. same lawyer. 
  • There was a great brawl at an MLB game last night and it's worth taking at a look single-handedly going and attacking an entire team. (Video.) That's Amir Garrett who is 6'6".
  • DFW Airport is raising it's "pass through" airport fee to $6 -- that's where you go straight through and use it as a tollway. I'll swear in the 1980s that there was no fee so long as you could get through the airport in, say, fifteen minutes or less. 
  • Wise County game wardens have been busy based upon these cases filed yesterday.
    (Not a smooth perator?)
  • I didn't watch the Democratic debate last night, but I heard Elizabeth Warren killed John Delaney as the power of the split screen of the two was dramatic.  Someone also created this after that moment. 
  • There was a very weird Trump moment in Virginia yesterday which isn't getting much press. Trump has names spelled out phonetically on his teleprompter from time to time so he won't mispronounce them. That's not unusual. What is weird is for Trump, for some unexplained reason, to say out loud the phonetic spelling to the audience. In this case, the teleprompter told him to pronounce "George Wythe" as "George With." But he then spelled out "With" as "W-I-T-H." Watch it. What's even more bizarre is the official White House transcript didn't even bother to protect him and actually pointed out his error.
  • We have another crazy crime story out of my two favorite criminal justice places: Williamson County and Waco. I love the defense lawyer's comment: "They arrested him for sending a candy bar." That case is DOA. 
  • I've liked Elton John ever since I was a kid. I had no idea about this:
  • Buried in the Messenger: There are nineteen current active health insurance claims by county employees for $50,000 or more. Insurance reps say the number should be around five based upon the size of the insured group. (Support local journalism.)
  • Another Zeke Elliott contract note: He is scheduled to make $3 million this year. Nothing can be done about that. This contract year can't be torn up or renegotiated. It's part of the mandatory four year rookie contract deal which had a non-negotiable salary slot. It's the player's union who needs a new contract. (Side note: Dak Prescott is stuck with $2 million this year.) 
  • The Cowboys are valued at $5,000,000,000.00.
  • On the way to Colorado I saw a sign for the Ludlow Massacre Memorial. I had never heard of it. Good lord. Just the government murdering U.S. citizens for striking over working conditions. (One of life's modern miracles was simply turning to Mrs. LL and asking her to Google it as we passed by.)
  • Messenger: Above The Fold.


at 8:34 AM

7.30.2019

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts


  • There are no details yet, but it appears a husband shot and killed his wife in a room at the Hotel ZaZa in Uptown last night. I was in Hotel ZaZa once. I did not belong in Hotel ZaZa.
  • The Messenger has a story of a "Man shot in back" in three different formats and they've never named him. Come on. 
  • Trump signed a 9/11 bill yesterday and said this about being at Ground Zero: "Many of those affected were firefighters, police officers and other first responders. And I was down there also, but I’m not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you." That, of course, is a lie. He was actually calling a radio show to shockingly brag about now having tallest building in Manhatten (which also was a lie.)
  • He also made a joke about the bill being so big the stage might fall "but if it does it's not falling very far." His brain is a wonderland.
  • Police in Arizona made the news yesterday. First, it's illegal. Second, if the cops see a bag of cocaine in the passenger seat, a conviction is impossible. Third, who wants to be bugged by the cops when you're trying to get somewhere? Fourth, it's government promoting a private business at taxpayer expense. 
  • The Messenger also had a story of a guy who was hit by a car on 287 in Rhome early Saturday morning. About four hours earlier, Mrs. LL almost hit a guy in the exact same area who was only inches from the fog line. No way to know if it was the same guy.
  • Anyone else uncomfortable with a 25 year old teaching a 21 year old to fly? 
  • A faithful reader sent me this picture of a bird who "fell onto a car right in front of" a Decatur resident. That thing looks very weird. (It looks like it was plucked and placed there, but they swear they saw it fall from the sky.)
  • Yesterday in the Messenger's Update: "Funerals - None pending." I haven't seen that in forever.
  • I've gone into a weird study of early 1800s U.S. history over the last year and now I'm simultaneously reading Michner's Texas, watching Ken Burns old documentary The West, and listening to the audiobook of H.W. Brands' Andrew Jackson. (I listened to the latter on my isolated Colorado hikes which was perfect.) Why is it I didn't care about the subject at all in my early life, but now can't get enough of it?
  • (1) No. (2) I never did think that.
  • More Zeke Elliott thoughts if the Cowboys don't pay him: Sit out this year and forego $3 million, but come back the next year at the contract salary of $9.1 million.  Then after that he's a free agent with -- and this is the key -- fresh legs. If the Cowboys then threaten to hit him with the franchise tag, I'd threaten to sit out again. He's proven he will. (Or, worst case, take the franchise tag money which will probably be at least $13 million by then.) In any event, not playing this year makes the most sense without a long term deal. $3 million is not worth the wear and tear on the short life of a NFL running back of his caliber.
  • He's up an whining like a toddler this morning and begging people to watch State TV.
  • And we learned he promoted the 1890 racist manifesto titled Might is Right or The Survival of the Fittest (but there is no way he was able to comprehend it) . . . . 

at 8:31 AM
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