- The murder trial going on in Wise County has a jury composed of 11 women and 1 man. I'm not sure I've ever seen that make-up before. The defendant is female. And, no, I would never think to myself, "When's the last time eleven women agreed on anything?"
- Trump "fat shamed" the wrong person last night at a rally.
- There was a 70 year sentence handed down out of Parker County for a guy convicted of branding his girlfriend with a belt. (I tried to research him to see if he had any Wise County connections but couldn't find any. But I did find a prior appellate opinion where he was convicted of domestic violence even with the testimony of a very uncooperative girlfriend. And I even found the trial transcript that a lawyer posted here and here. It would be very interesting to learn if the victim in that case, who was named in the transcript, was the same one in this week's trial, whose name I can't find.)
- Another chapter in the "militarization of police":
- I'm as confused as anyone else about Plano Senor High cancelling the upcoming game with El Paso Eastwood because of unnamed "safety concerns" in light of the El Paso shootings. Plano P.D. says there have been no threats. Whomever made the decision (superintendent, athletic director, etc.) is waking up this morning with the realization of, "I didn't really think this through, did I?"
- This is unusual: A day after the Philadelphia cop shootings, the U.S. Attorney in Philly issued a statement where he blamed, and went scorched earth upon, the local elected D.A. "There is a new culture of disrespect for law enforcement in this City that is promoted and championed by District Attorney Larry Krasner – and I am fed up with it." And that's the mild part.
- There will be no greater justice than this guy ending up like Ted Haggard. And how the First Baptist of Dallas survives him is a testament to the state of organized religion these days.
- There's a new breed of politically active Christian out there who believes that no matter how vile you are or someone else is, they can be "chosen" by God to lead. And if you're "chosen", or more importantly you believe you are chosen, nothing else matters. I first noticed this in the bizarre Evangelical support of Trump, and it seems to be the theme of the new documentary "The Family" that I just started on Netflix.
- Trump has inquired about the U.S. buying Greenland? No one's told him that Iceland is the green one and Greenland is the ice one, right? (Fun fact: Did you know this isn't the first the buying of Greenland has been floated? Harry Truman actually offered to buy the country for $100 million in gold in 1946.)
- Ex-Rangers made some very odd news last night: Yu Darvish pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 10 only to have reliever Derek Holland come in to get the loss by giving up a grand slam. In a different game, Ian Kinsler pitched a shutout inning (with two walks and a hit batsman even) and then hit a home run.
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