#county judge

[thehawkseyecn]

FACT CHECK: Hays County Judge Becerra Tax Fiasco

FACT CHECK: Hays County Judge Becerra Tax Fiasco

PLEASE NOTE: Nothing in this publishing or on this website should be taken as legal advice. FACT CHECK: Hays County Judge Becerra Tax Fiasco Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra, whom is up for re-election this year, has put a lot of scrutiny on his opposition, current Hays County Commissioner Mark Jones. Recently. Judge Becerra called out Commissioner Jones related to a road to know where. He used…

[alwaysbewoke]

[travelling-my-little-pony]

Cheese Sandwich is admiring the blocks of cheese up for judging at the Devon County Show.

In England.

[butcherlarry]

Weekly Fic (and Meat) Recs 60

I'M BACK! I had a lovely time on PTO! I went home, visited with family, visited with the cattle, celebrated my birthday, attended a banquet, got a wicked sharp meat cleaver (very excited about this), visited a new arboretum, saw birds, took pictures of birds, and survived the solar eclipse! All and all, a good time all around :) Got some reading done too, so there are fic recs from what I read last week and this week on this list. Also, a meat 101 lesson at the end, USDA beef quality grades edition!

The Brothers Wayne by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas) - Superbat, wip. An update to the Bruce and Wade Wilson are brothers fic. Some family bonding between the brothers, the only way siblings know how. Beating the shit out of each other :)

Fresh Wounds (Still Cut Deep) by Inkwell1013 - Batfam, complete. A fic inspired by this art from sully-s. Alfred taking care of a newly orphaned Bruce and having no clue what he's doing (except his best).

dead man's party by TheResurrectionist - Batfam, wip. An update to Jason sees ghosts fic (while being haunted by Martha Wayne)

Patroclus by widow_account - Superbat, complete. I shrieked when I saw this fic was completed! I need to go back and reread it again in it's completed glory. Clark is kidnapped and sent to War World to fight. Bruce saves him. Much feels are involved too.

They Also Serve by Ginevra_Benci - Batfam, complete. Alfred wakes up to a surprise, Bruce kidnapping adopting a small angry child (Dick).

Precedent by Cdephiki - Batfam, complete. Damian joins the family early AU! The second fic in the series. This story is about Jason joining the family.

Padam by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas) - Superbat, wip. More of college Clark at a gay club. Bruce Wayne has entered the chat :)

Just A Little Bit... by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas) - Superbat, wip. More of eldritch Bruce and alien Clark! A plan is in the making to infiltrate Cadmus. Jason and Dick visit Ivy to ask for help

Unreasonable Love by elizabethgee - Superbat, wip. Bruce and Clark start dating and it is found out by the media. This wouldn't be too much of a problem except the fact that this awakens something in Clark's Kryptonian brain and he gets a little possessive protective of his mate boyfriend :)

shiftwork by TheResurrectionist - Bruce Wayne, complete. A neat fic from an outsider's point of view! Bruce visits one of Wanye Enterprise's worksites.

Oh Can't You See What Love Has Done (What it's Doing to Me?) by dio_icaurtica - Superbat, complete. A fic inspired by this post from frownyalfred!

Patchwork Pod by Ktkat9 - Superbat, Batfam, Superfam, wip. More of the mer Bruce fic! Tim and Bruce are recovering from their injuries.

Azure Catching the Moonlight by RenaiRin - Superbat, wip. Superman gets hit with some pink kryptonite. Be sure to read the tags! :D

Show Me How to Lie (You're Getting Better All The Time) by BookwormByNight - Superbat, wip. A Superman from an other universe shows up in the watchtower. He doesn't want to leave and takes a special interest in Bruce for some reason :)

Bruce Doing Mundane Things by aesthetic_pleasure - Superbat, wip. Exactly what it says in the title. Bruce does mundane things and Clark enjoys watching him do them.

Happy reading!

And now, as promised above:

BEEF QUALITY GRADING 101!

Since I live in the USA, my experience with beef quality grading is with the USDA standards. But, most of these rules (kinda) apply to other countries, they might just have different standards of what carcasses make it into what quality grades (for fun, look up USDA beef marbling cards and then Japanese beef quality grading cards. Marbling that would be acceptable for high quality beef in the US would be considered lower quality in Japan!)

What are USDA beef quality grades? Have you ever been in the grocery store, looked at a package of beef steaks (ribeye, sirloin, strip loin, filets, etc.) and saw a sticker on the package that said "USDA PRIME" or "USDA CHOICE"? That's the beef's quality grade! It determines the worth of the carcass. That, in combination with the Yield Grade (how much sellable meat can a processor/retailer/etc. can get off the carcass) gives you the overall price of the carcass.

There are two major factors that go into determining the quality grade of a carcass, the marbling and the maturity. Marbling is the intramuscular fat (fat inside of the muscle). Since marbling contributes to flavor and tenderness, more marbling is better! Below are the USDA marbling standards for beef carcasses:

The other factor is the maturity of the carcass. This is determined by looking at the ossification (cartilage turning into bone) of the dorsal processes (the long spiny fingers along the back bone) along the spine of the carcass. Look at the cartilage caps in the green boxes in the picture below:

The one on the far left is very white. If you were to scratch it with your fingernail, it would feel smooth. This would be considered an young carcass, or "A" maturity. The more those caps fill with bone, the older the carcass. The one on the far right has those caps completely filled with bone, so that would be considered and older carcasses, or "D" maturity. When a carcass passes into "C" maturity (like the one in the middle), that carcass can no longer be graded in to the higher priced quality grades (USDA Standard to Prime).

The maturity matters because as the animal gets older, they develop more connective tissue in the muscles. This decreases the tenderness of the meat, and consumers don't want to pay more money for tough meat. This is also why meat coming out of the middle of the carcass (along the back, so ribeye and loin) are more expensive. Those muscles have less connective tissue, so they are more tender. The tenderloin (Impress your friends by calling it by it's scientific name, psoas major!) is the most tender muscle on the carcass, so that's why it tends to be the most expensive.

Below is a chart showing what maturities and marbling scores are needed to reach what quality grade. For example, a carcass with "B" maturity and "Modest" marbling would be graded as USDA Choice.

USDA Prime is the highest quality grade a carcass can receive (well, actually USDA High Prime, but I can go more into how that's determined if someone asks about it). The lowest qualty grade you see in a retail store would be USDA Standard. The USDA Commercal, Utility, Cutter, and in the verrrrryyyy tiny corner in the bottom right is Canner. These grades are given to older animals, like old cows and bulls. USDA Commercial might be sold whole muscle (boneless) in restaurants after it has been enhanced (pumped with water, salt, sugar brine to make the meat more flavorful and tender). Otherwise, these carcasses that are lower quality grades are ground up for ground beef! Nothing more tender than ground beef! They can also get canned for canned beef. I have had many delicious meals of beef and noodles from canned beef from my family's herd 😋

As I mentioned before, this quality grade, along with the yield grade, determines the price of the carcass. If you want to check those out, click the link below:

USDA AMS daily beef reports

The report for beef carcass price per hundred weight is the second link down, called "Beef Carcass Price Equivalent Index Value". The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service always has these reports and they are always updating them each day. You will see price fluctuations throughout the year. I looks like for April 12th, the most valuable carcass for that day is a carcass that grades USDA Prime, with a Yield Grade of 1-3, and a hcw (hot carcass weight) of 600-900 lbs. A carcass that hit those standards will get you $297.92 per hundred weight (every 100 lbs, you get that much amount of money). So, a 800 lb carcass that is USDA Prime, Yield Grade 3 is worth $2383.36. This would be considered very rare though. Most carcasses in the US are grading USDA Choice, Yield Grades 1-3.

Anyway! I hope you enjoyed that Beef Grading 101! If you have any questions, feel free to send me an ask! I love discussing this!

[simply-ivanka]

“The [prosecutor] is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty … whose interest … in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the two-fold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor -- indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.” Justice George Sutherland Berger v. United States

[decolonize-the-everything]

August 29, 2024

Former Okaloosa County deputy Eddie Duran, 38, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter with a firearm, a rare charge against a Florida law enforcement officer. Duran's body camera recorded him shooting 23-year-old Roger Fortson on May 3 immediately after Fortson opened the door while holding a handgun pointed at the floor.

[...]The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office initially said Duran fired in self-defense after encountering a man with a gun, but Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran on May 31 after an internal investigation concluded his life was not in danger when he opened fire. Outside law enforcement experts have also said that an officer cannot shoot only because a possible suspect is holding a gun if there is no threat.

Duran was responding to a report of a physical fight inside an apartment at the Fort Walton Beach complex. A worker there identified Fortson's apartment as the location, according to sheriff's investigators. At the time, Fortson was alone in his apartment, talking with his girlfriend in a FaceTime video call. Duran's body camera video showed what happened next.

After repeated knocking, Fortson opened the door. Authorities say that Duran shot him multiple times and only then did he tell Fortson to drop the gun. Duran told investigators that he saw aggression in Fortson's eyes and fired because, "I'm standing there thinking I'm about to get shot, I'm about to die." In a statement released after Thursday's hearing, Smith said the deputy's actions "were reasonable and appropriate given the information he was provided relating to the nature and urgency of what he feared to be a potentially dangerous domestic situation." In the statement, he described Fortson as "a person who had armed himself before simply responding to what could have been nothing more than a routine effort by law enforcement to make sure that a domestic violence situation did not escalate." At Thursday's hearing, Smith said his team has cooperated with authorities, saying that "we've turned him in. He's not going anywhere." Smith acknowledged the video evidence of the shooting and national interest in the case. "We know that we have defenses that we're going to assert … qualified immunity, stand your ground as applies to law enforcement," Smith said.

[klanced]

Keith walking into the holding cell greeting all the regulars by name while Lance is sobbing lamenting that his life is over and his future is ruined (they were like. Trespassing or some shit he’s going to be fine)

lance: (actively dry heaving in the corner, on the verge of a panic attack as he imagines having a permanent record)(actually what does a permanent record even look like?)(omg is he going to have to go to COURT? like in JUDGE JUDY?)

keith: remy, this is lance. lance, this is remy, she’s my favorite alcoholic :)

[rabbitcruiser]

On April 13, 1881 Billy the Kid was sentenced by Judge Warren Bristol in Mesilla to hang, with his execution scheduled for May 13.  

[trexalicious]

Seriously Texas? Don't you have enough to worry about at the border without persecuting a young mother of five for returning her books a month late due to pregnancy complications? A $570 arrest warrant has been issued for her and the judge compared returning her books late to stealing merchandise from Walmart...🤯🤬👎

[empirearchives]

Me when someone scapegoats Napoleon for the wars

[mekanikaltrifle]

[throws shirtless June into the crowd no context]

[william-r-melich]

Biden Trials - 05/09/2024

Things seem to be going former president Donald Trump's way in the 4 criminal court cases against him. The documents case in Florida is being indefinitely delayed because of some pre-trial issues, as well as the appearance of the prosecuting attorney Jack Smith having been possibly hired illegally. The prosecutors recently admitted that the documents they seized were in a different order then the scanned copies they turned over to the defense, who argued for discovery, which could delay the proceedings even further.

The Epoch Times yesterday reported the following. "President Trump was charged with 40 counts related to allegedly mishandling classified information. His valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, were charged alongside him as codefendants." Judge Aileen Cannon, who's overseeing the case, wrote that to now set a date for the trial to commence before resolving the “myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA [Classified Information Procedures Act] issues” would not be fair or prudent. From the same article, I quote. "The judge still has before her several motions to dismiss charges or the indictment entirely, motions to unseal information that the defendants argue is critical in the case, and ongoing discovery issues to resolve." She also said she has yet to rule on eight substantive motions, two of which have not yet been docketed publicly, and that there are extensive discovery issues.

On top of all these issues, Trump is currently required to be in attendance in the New York "Hush Money" trial, wherein the prosecutors say they will need two to three more weeks to present their case. The other two defendants in the case, Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira, wanted a speedy trial. The judge said she had considered that against due process rights. She wrote this. “Upon such review, the Court finds that the ends of justice served by this continuance, through the last deadline specified in this Order, July 22, 2024, outweigh the best interest of the public and Defendants in a speedy trial.”

Judge Cannon has scheduled a May 20th deadline (the original trial date) to resolve seal requests over a hearing on grand jury matters. On May 22nd, the judge will hear arguments on the defendants' motion to dismiss the indictment charges due to a vindictive and selective prosecution.

On June 21st, the court will hear arguments on whether special counsel Jack Smith's appointment was unconstitutional as what has been previously claimed by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese. Meese has amicus briefs in both of Mr. Smith's cases against Trump.

Partial evidentiary hearings will be held from June 24th to June 26th for the defense's motion to compel discovery from prosecutors and the scope of what they are required to hand over.

The trial date is not likely to emerge until after the judges July 22nd status conference.

The goofy racketeering case in Fulton County Georgia is falling apart from the compromised prosecutor, Fanni Willis who hired a man with whom she had an affair with as her lead attorney. She's agreed to fire him while she's being investigated, so that trial is delayed and stands a good chance of being dismissed.

The New York "Hush Money" trial is becoming more ridiculous every day. Judge Juan Moron (Juan Merchan) is the presiding judge, who recently put another gag order on Trump, has fined him $1,000 for violating it on Truth Social. Mr. Moron said this. "Mr. Trump it’s important you understand the last thing I want to do is put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well." If he does that the prison would probably have to shut down a wing of the prison on Rikers Island to secure it for his constitutional right to Secret Service protection. I doubt he'll do it, for if he does that would all but ensure a Trump victory, but with this heavily biased judge, you never know. Porn star Stormy Daniels testified yesterday about the affair which she previously denied happened in a letter signed by her, an incident she now apparently says did occur. Never mind that it's completely immaterial to the 34 misdemeanor counts of accounting errors which have expired from the statute of limitations running out but are kept alive by being linked and raised to a felony charge for a mysterious, unnamed crime. Dictators like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are probably envious, and I have no doubt that we're being mocked, ridiculed, and laughed at around the world.

The case in Washington D.C. spearheaded by Jack Smith is also being delayed because of the presidential immunity arguments being weighed by the justices at the U.S. Supreme Court. They might not make a determination on that until June or July. Jack Smith's appointment there is also being questioned on its legality.

So, there you have the Biden trials, all with serious issues of illegitimacy leading to ridiculous clown shows and numerous delays. And in spite of their obvious attempts to hurt Trump with multiple gag orders and demanding that he be detained in court, he continues to fight them stronger than ever while rising in popularity. Some of these trials appear at this point as unlikely to survive past the upcoming election this November. And Trump is correct to call these Biden trials, for they obviously really are political witch hunts at Biden's direction, election interference that's thankfully backfiring. Boy, what a joke, what a sham, what an embarrassing disgrace!

[realhousewivesoutofcontext]

[remembertheplunge]

All is fleeting . all is ephemeral

August 16, 2014. Saturday 6:43am

“We do not know where death awaits us:

So, let us wait for it everywhere.

To practice death is to practice freedom.

A man who has learned how to die

has unlearned how to be a slave.”

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) from the book “Broken Open” p. 221.

Michel de Montaigne  also advised people to practice death. “Let us deprive death of its strangeness."

My 8/17/2014 margin note to the above was

 “We rent. Price tag patina. All is fleeting. All is ephemeral.”

(By “We rent” I meant, we occupy our bodies temporarily. 

“Price Tag Patina” is a term that I came up with to describe my practice of leaving the price tag on items I buy at yard sales and also on items that did not sell at two estate sales that I held after my partner’s death. That way, things are are ready for the estate sale when I die! It’s kind of a humorous and practical  affirmation that I will die.

End of entry

Note: 8/10/2024

I had just run into the above entries about death in my 2014 journal when I learned yesterday that Nancy Ashley had died of cancer July 29. I met her in the 90’s when she was a deputy District Attorney and I was a deputy Public Defender in Modesto, California. In 1996, she ran for Judge and won. I became friends with Nancy and her husband at that time Mike Cummins. He was also a deputy District Attorney and also became a judge. In 2013, I applied to be a judge and Nancy wrote a letter of recommendation for me . Although I was never appointed judge, her support meant a lot. I was the only out gay lawyer in town at the time. (Probably still am)

Over the years, I appeared in judge Ashley’s court in Department 6 of the Stanislaus County Court house many times. I found her to be gracious and fair as a judge.

She died at age 64, just shy of her 65th birthday . I'm about 4 years older than Nancy was. I got to thinking if I had died at age 64, what wouldn’t have happened. There would be no Remember The Plunge blog. This blog began a year and a half ago. I never would have begun open water swimming in the ocean. That started 2 years ago. I wouldn’t have been there to support my sister Zoe through her sudden illness and death about a year ago.

I never would have known the magic of reviewing my journals in preparation for a book based on them and now this blog. That stated about 4 years ago. And, I never would have experienced the gathering wonder of aging that came with men mid and late 60's

8/16/2014.  (I am now 69)

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

By Minyvonne Burke

A 13-year-old boy who was arrested and accused of planning a mass shooting at an Ohio synagogue will have to write a book report on a Swiss diplomat who saved thousands of Jewish people during World War II, a family court judge ruled.

The teen, who is not being named because of his age, was charged with misdemeanor inducing panic and misdemeanor disorderly conduct after allegedly making a detailed plan to shoot members of Temple Israel in the city of Canton, south of Akron.

He allegedly shared his plan on Discord, an online chat platform that has been used by previous mass shooters.

The Stark County Sheriff's Office learned of his alleged plan on Sept. 1, according to a Stark County Family Court filing that the sheriff's office submitted.

The teen pleaded "true," the juvenile equivalent of guilty, to all counts on Friday, NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland reported.

Stark County Family Court Judge Jim James gave the teen a year of probation and ordered that he read a book and then write a report about Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz, who saved more than 62,000 Hungarian Jews during World War II, according to the news station.

He was also banned from having unsupervised use of the internet and must continue to see a licensed therapist.

The teen was scheduled to have a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday but it was canceled because of the agreement reached.

Although his arrest happened before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, his charges come amid an increase in antisemitic attacks in the United States.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Saturday he is seeking the pardon of an Uber driver convicted of murder a day earlier in the July 2020 shooting death of a man at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin, the state capital.

Abbott, in a post on Twitter, said he will pardon Daniel Perry, 37, a U.S. Army sergeant, as soon as a request from the parole board "hits my desk."

The Republican Governor noted that he can grant pardons only on the recommendation of the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles, but that he is allowed to request pardons.

The case hinged on whether the shooting was in self-defense. A jury found on Friday that Perry, who is white, shot and killed Garrett Foster, a 28-year-old white man, who was carrying an AK-47, according to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.

Perry was driving in the city the night of the shooting and turned his Uber vehicle onto a street where a Black Lives Matter crowd was marching, according to media. Perry stopped, and several protesters including Foster approached his vehicle. Protesters told police that they feared they were being assaulted with the vehicle, according to media accounts.

Perry's defense team claimed the weapon was leveled at him and he had no choice but to fire his pistol in self-defense, the newspaper reported. Neither of Perry's attorneys was immediately available for comment by phone or email.

Perry was convicted of murder after the jury deliberated for 17 hours in the eight-day trial, according to media accounts.

“I will work as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry,” Abbott wrote on Twitter.

“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand your ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or progressive district attorney," he said. "Additionally, I have already prioritized reining in rogue District Attorneys, and the Texas Legislature is working on laws to achieve that goal."

Jose Garza, the district attorney for Travis County, where the case was tried and where Austin is located, is a Democrat, and has been in office since Jan. 1, 2021.

When the verdict was read, Perry buried his head into the chest of one of his lawyers and sobbed, the Austin-American Statesman reported.

“We’re happy with the verdict. We’re very sorry for his family as well. There’s no winners in this,” said Stephen Foster, the victim’s father, according to the newspaper.

Perry faces life in prison and is due to be sentenced by State District Court Judge Clifford Brown on Tuesday, according to online court records for the 147th District Court in Travis County, Texas.