Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• Most people laughed at him for the "in my great and unmatched wisdom" part. I'm disturbed by the "I will destroy" part. His belief that he has some kind of autocratic power and doesn't think twice before he says it.
  
• Man, Trump took it from all sides because of his abandonment of the Kurds yesterday.  He'll probably just change his mind (it happens all the time), but even if he doesn't, we are at the point now where the military will simply refuse to obey him. 
• I'll be. They did transfer her. (Don't read anything into the "projected release date".)
  
   
• Big case(s) being argued at the Supreme Court today. Simplified, does the federal law which prevents someone from being fired because of their sex also prevent someone from being fired for being gay? More specifically, that federal law, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, makes it unlawful for an employer “to discriminate against any individual … because of such individual’s … sex.” So this is a case of statutory interpretation -- what does the statute mean?  At its core, one side says, "Hey, firing a gay person has nothing to do with firing someone because of their 'sex'. So long as gay men and gay women are fired equally for being gay, they aren't being fired due to their sex at all."  Counterpoint: "If you fire someone for being gay, aren't you by definition considering their sex in the decision?"  
  
• Lots of questions about this one. 
  
• Wise County's Texas Ranger was featured on 60 Minutes. All this press he is getting is based upon his interrogation techniques. Several years back I was appointed to a juvenile who he wanted to talk to for the sole purpose of building a murder case against an adult. After talking to the Ranger and having him give me his word (which was completely legally unenforceable but was practically more binding than any contract), I let him talk to him. And I got to watch the two hour interview. As expected, everything worked out, and I learned a lot.
  
• This is a screenshot of a bulletpoint from May. Yesterday the grand jury (with the urging of the DA) declined to indict her. How do I know the DA urged the grand jury to no-bill her? The case is a misdemeanor. Misdemeanors don't have to go through a grand jury before being filed in court. The DA is using the grand jury for political cover. 
  
• Say what? Out of Burnet, Texas? 
  
• This probably won't interest many of you, but here's a map of Wise County schools in 1930. Look at all them. I'm guessing most of them were nothing other than one building structures that had grades 1 through 12.  You can see photos of many of them at the great site of wiscountytexas.info. For example, here is a page for Grubb Hill (which was between Bridgeport and Paradise.) 
  
• Impeachment news this morning. Trump and the State Department are telling Gordon Sondland not to meet with Congress today for a deposition in the Impeachment Inquiry. Sondland's attorney says he has no choice but to comply with The Party's command. Who is Sondland? He's the guy who, in a text exchange about the Ukraine shakedown, acted like Lance in Pulp Fiction as he urgently said, "Crank call! Crank call!" to Vincent Vega. Trump is telling a favorable witness not to appear? Something's up. And this is about to get ramped up. 
  
• That pilot on this front page below sure has a lot of Sully-like self-promotion . . . .