8.24.2020

Random Monday Morning Thoughts


  • Wise County active: 44 (-8. That's as of Friday, the most recent numbers.)
  • Texas Hospitalizations: 5,635 (-449 since Friday).  I thought it would begin to flatten out right about now. There's still a chance, but I'm beginning to wonder. 
  • This will be interesting: On Friday, TEA announced that Texas school districts will have to report their COVID-19 numbers beginning on September 1 and those numbers will be released to the public.  And, yes, football begins Friday. I never dreamed it would happen. 
  • KellyAnne Conway is leaving the White House to spend more time with her wheels-off 15 year old daughter. 
  • The Republican Convention begins this week. Quite the line-up they are throwing out there. 
  • The Republicans announced they will not have a Platform for their convention. It's all about an allegiance and loyalty to Trump now. Man, that's a bold move. Instead of distancing from the guy, they are going all in for him. Will Lindsey Graham finally be prophetic? I think about this tweet from him a lot.
  • If you want to be the next State Senator for Wise County, you will have to get on it. The deadline to file is now Friday for an election to be held on September 29, 2020.  Gov. Abbott has cited the ongoing pandemic emergency as a reason for the quick election. Please note that West Texas ultra-conservative oil money is not happy as they see it as a way to shoehorn in a win for State Rep. Drew Springer.  Oh, and Shelly Luther announced her candidacy from the steps of the old Denton County courthouse protected by a couple of overweight middle aged men, one with an AR-15.
  • Golfer Nick Faldo is getting married. It will be his 4th. It will be her 7th. He's literally in love with a stripper.
  • This is horribly wild. 
  • I can't recommend Showtime's Outcry enough for a look at how the worst prosecutors are the ones who are oblivious to, or don't care about, making sure someone is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before they decide to prosecute. They can destroy lives. For those who have seen it and were stunned to learn that Assistant D.A.  Geoffrey Puryear (pronounced "Joff-ree" as in Game of Thrones) was appointed by Gov. Abbott to a district judgeship, take heart. The job was in Travis County and he was appointed to fill-in for a newly created court. He'll face an election in November and a Republican isn't winning in Travis County.
  • Twitter had to ban a Trump tweet over the weekend when he tried to scare people away from voting by telling them they might get COVID-19. The President of the United States "violated Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity." Think about that. (And have you ever seen a politician more scared of people voting?)
  • Baylor's men's tennis coach abruptly resigned last month. Now we know why. He sent these text messages to a student "who hoped to a make Baylor's women's team." Oh, my.


  • I'd like to call off my hurricane alert for Houston. (I told you I don't have my certification yet.) It looks like it'll be no big deal. But it apparently doesn't take much these days to declare something an emergency. 
  • The Daily News is pretty hard on the GOP this morning. In all honesty, I bet they put on a pretty good prediction. Trump may not know much, but he knows TV.

at 8:32 AM

8.21.2020

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

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

 

  • Wise County active: 52 (+7 from yesterday).
  • Texas hospitalizations: -339 from yesterday.
  • A faithful reader tipped me off to a wild start of the school year in Jacksboro. Two students who were diagnosed with  COVID-19 on Monday were sent to school on Wednesday. <Insert record scratch.> They were immediately sent home. 
  • Now more than ever, tell your son to be careful around those sorority girls in Aggieland. Classes started on Wednesday:

  • Still not sure how this football thing is going to work out. Ten cases shut down the ECU program yesterday. So how is everyone going to feel with 10 UT players come down with COVID before OU/Texas?
  • Trump's 2016 campaign mastermind Steve Bannon being arrested on a yacht for defrauding people dumb enough and racist enough to want to donate their own money so a private wall can be built to keep out brown people is peak Trump World. And the fact that Junior promoted it calling it "private enterprise at its finest" is simply poetic. 

  • This just started this morning. It is going to be brutal. And it should be. 
  • These two, 11 and 13, went missing in Palo Pinto County yesterday but were later found in Waco. When they went missing, the only details were:  “It looks like they had assistance in leaving the house and running away. We believe they have been corresponding with an unknown person on the internet.”
  • The ATM at the old Wells Fargo bank off the Wise County courthouse square has been removed. (The county bought the building and will make it a courthouse annex.) The powers at be, in a genius move for the bank, offered a location close to the Wise County probation department. They were ignored by Big Banking. You know, there are a surprising number of people who still use ATMs in this cashless society.
  • They are going to have to drag him out of the White House. He said this just last night.
  • Last night at the DNC: After the artists formerly known as the Dixie Chicks sang the national anthem and before Joe Biden, who I had been lead to believe had suffered a major stroke rendering him unable to speak, gave a flawless acceptance speech, we got to hear from a kid who stutters but had been earnestly comforted by new nominee. (Watch it.) Say what you want about Biden, but his is a decent and compassionate man. 

  • I'm working on my Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Expert Certification to go along with my Expert Southwest Proper Weather Certification, and I think you should keep an eye on this storm. My Houston friends have gone a few months without a disaster, so they are due. 
  • Sports: TCU's quarterback, who was kind of a promising mini-Johnny Football, will probably miss the season (if there is one) because of a undisclosed condition "which he has had his whole life." It was only discovered, however, during COVID-19 precautions and testing. 
  • We ended up with 20 new arrestees in Wise County yesterday. And I'm counting an additional 12 as of 5:00 a.m. this morning. Translation: DPS and the WCSO are working the highways looking for the rent cars and out of state license plates who just happen to be committing traffic offense like "Left lane - not passing." 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold


at 8:36 AM

8.20.2020

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts


  • Wise County active: 45. (-7).  Deaths: 7 (+2). I've confirmed that at least part of the big jump we had was from a nursing home outbreak. 
  • Texas hospitalizations. That's -236 from yesterday so the drop resumes after a one day deviation.
  • If you've tried to mail a letter lately, you are acutely aware that the post office is being jacked with based upon how long it takes to be delivered. Here's a side effect: The delays are causing people to be hit with late charges on their bills if they pay them the old fashioned way or even if they use auto-pay if the bank has to cut and mail a physical check.
  • Breaking moments ago: Steve Bannon just got indicted. 
  • When a president wants to punish an American company for not allowing campaign slogans and doesn't realize that he desperately needs to hang onto Ohio in the 2020 election. 
  • It you missed what Thom Brennaman said last night when he didn't realize his mic was hot, here it is. And here's his apology less than an hour later. He was fired suspended before the game ended. 
  • Say what?
  • Russia is believed to have poisoned this guy's tea at an airport. Ever since I watched The Americans, I wonder about how they pull stuff like this off. More likely than not they used a hot girl to distract a waiter for a moment.
  • The current Democratic National Convention's biggest difference from 2016 is that this time the Democrats take Trump seriously.  The last time they considered him to be a joke, and it was not imaginable to them that a reality TV show host and known BSer could get elected. It's like Michigan having the chance at a rematch with Appalachian State.
  • Small talk about weather: Man, with the low humidity, the very early morning hours are incredibly nice for what will be 90 degree August days. It feels like Fall before Fall.
  • This guy's business used to have an exclusive tow truck contract with the city of Wichita Falls before his wheels kind of fell off. The story is a little strange, but if you ask about the president's course of travel while wearing an ankle monitor and having a gun in your car while in D.C., they get a little uptight. 
  • Ticket fans: I'm not sure what's going on but Mark "Look at the sky, Friedo" Friedman is in the hospital. Edit: The station actually said this morning he was "fighting for his life" due to pneumonia.
  • Speaking of The Ticket, the fill-in boys were discussing police searches today and briefly touched on civil right by using the standard of "if it solves crimes it's OK, right?" and "you shouldn't have anything to hide." Kill me. 
  • Since yesterday at noon, 18 people have been booked into the Wise County jail on new charges. That's an insane number. All but one were warrantless arrests  (i.e. DWI, drugs, etc.) That brings the total jail population to 189 which is a pre-COVID level. 


at 8:34 AM

8.19.2020

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

 
  • Breaking local COVID news: The virus has hit the Wise County Sheriff's Office. My well placed deep throat sources tell me that someone very high up in the administrative ranks had been diagnosed with COVID-19. 
  • Wise County active cases: 52
  • Texas hospitalizations. The streak is over. We are +10 from yesterday. 
  • The University of North Carolina shut down online classes on Monday. Notre Dame shut it down yesterday. This is going very well. 
  • Failed bit?
  • The unexpected star of the Democratic National Convention last night was calamari which made an appearance during the states' roll call voting. 
    "Vote for Biden or the calamari gets it!" 

  • Something which would have destroyed any other president in American history: The Republican led Senate Intelligence Committee released its final report yesterday concluding that Russia disrupted the presidential election to help Trump get elected and that the Trump campaign welcomed the help with open arms.  Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and "I love WikiLeaks" were all part of a grand scheme. Who would have thunk? (Not to mention Kushner's and Junior's and Manafort's meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower. How on God' green Earth did that not get them all indicted?) 
  • Let's make is simple. Here's the conclusion of Republican Senate report for those in the back:
  • I can't tell you how great this four minute clip is of Anderson Cooper just destroying the My Pillow guy yesterday. It is glorious, and it is brutal.  Mike Lindell, who is a snake oil salesman, is trying to profit by promoting a supplement which he actually calls a "cure" (his word, not mine) for COVID-19. Lindell was just placed on the Board of Directors of the company trying to pull off this scam and is trying to make money off this ruse. Cooper isn't letting him off the hook. 

  • I can't believe the Cowboys had a provision in the Gerald McCoy contract which allowed them to cut him without receiving his "guaranteed money" if he received the specific injury that he did. I've said it before, they have the worst union in America. This is the actual provision: 
  • Heck of a fire in Grand Prairie this morning. (I don't know who the @Fox4Terry guy is, but he's always on the night shift and gets some really good photos.)
It's at a plastic manufacturing plant.
"Uh, Bob, we need ya down at the plant. We got a little problem."
(Honestly, I have no idea who this guy is.)
  • The S＆P has hit a new record. The New York Times has a headline today which reads, "The Market Is Nuts." It is. And it no longer reflects the realities of the economy. It's a barometer of how the rich are doing. 
  • I've never really thought about the fact that the guy from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was wearing a jacket and tie. 
  • Messenger: Above the Fold.  (They have a front page story about something I have been griping about for over a decade: The death ramp at highway 380 and 287 which is home to the most abused guardrail in America.)


at 8:34 AM
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)