Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

You don't see civil rights cases filed while the criminal cases are still in the hopper. But these guys were far more correct in their assessment of the situation than the prosecutor turned out to be. 

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• I would comment on the headlines below but it all seems like a waste of time until they are appeal and the Trump appointed judiciary overturns them.
  
  
  
• We are going to end up being controlled by just a few high tech companies and AI.
  
  
  
• We seem to forget that Russia is still lobbing bombs at Ukraine even when we aren't paying attention. And one drone crossed into NATO member Romaina's air space to get to their target.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Man, this moved fast yesterday.
  
  
  
• The House voted to pass it 427-1.
  
  
  
  
• And then, hours later, the Senate didn't even want to do an open debate about it. They just all said, "It's good with us."
  
  
  
• Trump was then asked why didn't he just order the release of the Epstein files on his own instead of having to have, literally, an Act of Congress. (Video.)
  
  
  
• Trump spent the day entertaining the Saudi Price Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. 
  

  

  
  
• Flashback to when a Washington Post columnist was cut up into pieces by 15 Saudi agents with a bonesaw: 
  
  
  
• At the news conference later in the day, Trump intercepted a question to the crown prince by ABC New reporter Mary Bruce who asked: "Your Royal Highness, the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. Why should Americans trust you?"
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
• And then last night he honored the crown prince with a state dinner (and even Elon Musk and Tim Cook were there.)
  
  
  
• Let's check in on Fox News. This may be the funniest screenshot yet.
  
  
  
• My search for front pages from across Texas to end with is getting harder and harder to find because they are so generic, dated, and downright strange.  Case in point is below:  I was wondering what the story was behind the Vernon High School band which prompted that headline. The answer? There is none because there was no story. At all. The headline just went with the picture and that's it. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

Wikipedia entry of the Paris 2015 Massacre here.  I had forgotten that France even bombed targets in Syria in retaliation for the attacks. 

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• There appears that a significant portion of the Internet is down across the nation this morning. Ever feel like it is all just a house of cards? 
  
  
  
• Oh, my. A Sunday wreck in between Jacksboro and Bryson on highway 380 left five dead. From what I gather (with help from this information on Facebook), a car full of teens was allegedly passing in a no passing zone and had a head on collision with a vehicle occupied by a married couple and their four year old and one year old.  The husband and the one year old were will killed.  Three of the occupants, including the driver, of the other vehicle are deceased. 
  
  
  
• Unless something changed yesterday, a felony jury trial will begin today in the district court in Decatur of former reserve Rhome Police officer and a former reserve Montague County deputy Robert Gillock. 
• After allegedly robbing a bank in Bedford on Friday, he left the bank on a bicycle and was apprehended shortly thereafter. 
  
  
  
• It looks like former Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin has a new fiction book coming out.  But the basic storyline facts have striking resemblance to a real very real criminal case in Decatur in the 1990s: From a summary about the book: "[A] handgun wielding masked man committed an aggravated robbery of the Supreme Salon down the hill from the courthouse square. The community, Sheriff Bill Bryan, the Sheriff’s Office and a newly promoted Texas Ranger relentlessly sought the criminal’s identity ... Dedicated Wise County residents, law enforcement officers, and prosecutors presented the Texas Criminal Justice System at its best and convicted the defendant in the 271st District Court."
  
  
  
• For you legal nerds, further reading about the "very real criminal case" can be found at Cox v. State, 931 S.W.2d 349 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1996) pet. dism’d, 951 S.W.2d 5 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997) but it amazingly had absolutely no recitation of the background facts. 
• "U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio in Portland, Oregon, sentenced Joseph Emerson to time served [46 days] and three years’ supervised release"  Emerson told police he was despondent over a friend’s recent death, had taken psychedelic mushrooms about two days earlier, and hadn’t slept in over 40 hours.
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• This guy was nuts from the start after Trump appointed him. In his first address to FEMA staff, which was caught on video, he brazenly said, "Don't get in my way… I will run right over you." He lasted just a few months.
  
  
  
• Voters might want to bookmark this. 
  
  
  
• It will pass with flying colors, maybe unanimously. But I'll believe the files are released when I see them, and who knows if we will ever get them all. I'm very skeptical. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie, both obviously Republicans, have already appeared with the Epstein victims on the capitol steps this morning in anticipation of the vote. 
  
  
  
• There's a lot going on here:
  
  
  
• The SMU law professor who went missing along the Appalachian Trail is still missing. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

I miss Sarah Palin sometimes. 

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• New this morning (below).  And this comes on the heels of a motorcycle death on 1810 near Chico on Sunday morning per the Wise County Messenger. 
  
  
  
• Note to Messenger: If you want to see how AI took your story and turned it into an attorney ad, without attribution to you, look here. 
• This headline and story don't do this story justice.  She was dragged under a car for about a city block and, seconds after it happened, someone filmed the aftermath of it all from above. (Video - disturbing warning.)
  

  

  
  
  
  
• As so often the case now, the story has nothing more to tells us than what's in the headline. 
  
  
  
• We had a DPS Trooper incident at the Aggie/South Carolina game on Saturday. Video. 
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• From the official government Twitter account of the Department of Homeland Security.  
  
• Trump and the Epstein files had an interesting weekend.
• On Friday, he again called it all a "hoax" but then specifically named people and companies who should be investigated because of their association with Epstein. And he instructed AG Pam Bondi to do so. 
  
  
  
• Pam Bondi immediately said, "I'll do that investigation!"   
  
  
  
• And then, last night, Trump did a complete 180 on his position of Congress voting on releasing the files.
  
  
  
  
• And now Trump is in a wild fight with Marjorie Taylor Greene
• He's working out some nicknames (and even has to explain his comedy routine.)
  
  
  
  
• Marjorie says that she is going to get killed by the crazies out there because of Trump. 
  
  
  
• Trump, in response, tells her not to worry because no one cares enough about her to kill her. Video. 
  
  
  
• Quick hits: An incredible weekend of the crazy and insane things from the President of the United States.
• Video.
  
  
  
• Rep. Thomas Massie's first wife passed away in June of 2024, having been married for over 30 years and having four children together. He married Carolyn Grace Moffa, a former staffer for Senator Rand Paul, on October 19, 2025.
  
  
  
  
• Trump criticized a comedian and wants him off the air. And then the Chairman of the FCC retweeted it. 
  
  
  
• I keep telling you . . . . 
  
  
  
• The Business Second™: There's going to be a lot of rebooting going on once we have another ice storm and the power goes out.
  
  
  
• The college football playoffs are still taking shape, but there's still a whole lot that can happen. But for now, the Aggies look like they'll be in after a miraculous comeback, as would be Texas Tech keeps having a dream season, OU is back in the running after a big win at Alabama, and . . . .  The University of North Texas? "Do you believe in the Mean Green!"
  
  
  
• The Waco Tribune is a little dramatic. At least I hope that's just the case.