Close Call

I am sure you saw the Southwest Airlines jet as in the featured photo avoid the smaller private jet on the runway at Midway yesterday. Wow. Now that was a close call. When you are flying and you touch down, you kind of think that you are safely landing. I don’t know what I would think if I was on a flight that touched down and then flew back up.

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H-Town Mayor John Whitmire’s detractors were reposting this Chron tweet a couple of days ago:

Violent crime increased by nearly 5% in Houston in 2024, Mayor John Whitmire’s first year in office, an uptick that brings to an end a three-year decline in violent crime in Houston and counters a nationwide decline in those types of crime.

The story referenced in the Chron tweet is on the front page of the hard copy of the Chron today and here is how it starts:

Violent crime increased by nearly 5% in Houston in 2024, Mayor John Whitmire’s first year in office, an uptick that brings to an end a three-year decline in violent crime in Houston and counters a nationwide decline in those types of crime.

Despite the uptick, Houston saw a significant decline in property crime – a category that had risen in recent years – and a five-year low in the number of homicides in the city.

Experts cautioned the slight uptick in violent crime – spurred in large part by an increase in reports of rapes and aggravated assaults – should be taken in context. The overall picture in Houston is one of cautious optimism, they said.

Here is the entire read: John Whitmire on Houston crime: Chief Diaz is getting the job done.

Disingenuous for sure. The original Chron tweet doesn’t accurately reflect the entire story. Heck, what is written on the link to the story is different from the original tweet. Oh, well.

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Let’s see. We have a major measles outbreak in Gaines County. 124 reported cases. Not a peep from Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. I guess this is one crisis they want to avoid. Afraid of their anti-vax base. Sad.

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I must admit that I get somewhat annoyed when “Today” promotes on the program the books that their hosts author, their guest appearances on other TV talk shows, their podcasts, where they go on their vacations, and even this morning, former co-host Hoda Kotb showing up a Savannah Guthrie book signing in New Jersey and hugging and gushing. Last month, “Today” devoted an entire week to a Hoda going away party. Nope. They showed Hoda at the Super Bowl. It gets annoying.  It is a bit too much.

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Jose Altuve will play left field this Friday. I don’t think Friday’s game will be shown on the flat screen.