Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

The now defunct Deadspin gave us great stories and graphics like this. 

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• The presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party: 
  
  
  
• You've probably seen it, but he was destined to get crushed in this lawsuit once this part of his deposition was played to the jury. He was asked about the Access Hollywood tape and he said that not only was it true that "stars" could grab any woman, but that it was also "fortunately" true.  What a moron. 
  
  
  
• Business news moments ago: Inflation has cooled for the 10th straight month. 
• DPS confirmed that the Allen mall shooter was a neo-Nazi when it said investigators "determined that Garcia subscribed to neo-Nazi ideology, with neo-Nazi tattoos and patches found on his person at the scene of the crime." Side note: DPS's $300,000 Man, who is still employed somehow, was not at the press conference yesterday. DPS sent the "regional director" and at least seven others instead. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• There's been a weird attempt on social media to deny that the shooter was a neo-Nazi and has even gone so far as to say it as all a false flag. A big supporter of this weirdness is Elon Musk. Why did it offend him when he heard that there were reports that the guy was a white supremist?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I told you yesterday that the bill to raise the purchase age of an AR-15 from 18 to 21 didn't stand a chance. Late last night it died, without having the House or Senate ever even vote on it, when it was left off the calendar deadline. 
  
  
  
• A DPS unnamed trooper was hit by friendly fire to the north of us in an incident where law enforcement killed a man in a "hail of gunfire" --  although the deceased didn't fire a shot. It all began in Archer County and ended up in Wichita Falls. The deceased, Anthony Scott Nelon, 45,  has the exact same name as man who used to live in Paradise. I'm trying to figure out if it was him. 
  
  
  
• Trouble in Denton County after a "forensic death investigator" was arrested for theft. That's a weird position she held in that it doesn't appear that she worked for any law enforcement agency but is simply employed by Denton County (who doesn't have its own medical examiner.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The convicted murderer out of Austin who had racist rants on social media before the killing and who Gov. Abbott announced his desire to pardon, has still yet to be sentenced. Yesterday, prosecutors told the judge they wanted 25 years. The defense asked for 10. (In Texas, a person can never get probation for murder regardless of the circumstances.)
  
• No!!!!!
  
  
  
• In the weeds legislative action last night. One of the most disturbing Texas bills which was momentarily killed last night, but was basically resurrected in a different version, is House Bill 20 which allows the equivalent of private storm troopers with no law enforcement to "enforce" the border. It's disturbing because it grants "immunity from criminal and civil liability."  That creates private death squads.