Random Friday Morning Thoughts

As if the Mavs weren't given a fair warning. 

---

• Israel has resumed bombing of Gaza. The pause is over. 
  

  

  

  
  
  
  
• The New York Times has a front page story today revealing that Israel knew for a year exactly how Hamas was going to execute its attack on October 7th but didn't believe that Hamas had the guts to do it. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I'm not saying we have another pandemic brewing, but you might want to keep your eye on this:
  
  
  
• Ken Paxton has sued Pfizer over the COVID vaccine. Sheesh. He embarrasses us almost as much as Ronny Jackson.  And the anti-vaxxer/COVID vaccine conspiracy nutcases make me want to pull my hair out. 
  
  
  
• Bad Sheriff:
  
  
  
• Speaking of, I bet we get a new Wise County Sheriff's candidate today.
• Now that is quite the headline - especially when you learn that the wife is part of the menage.  Ron DeSantis, who is not involved in threesome, has called for Ziegler's resignation.   
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Give this headline writer the day off. 
  
  
  
• Former NFL great Von Miller was arrested in Dallas but . . . 
  
  
  
• . . . that case is going nowhere.
  
  
  
• Elon Musk officially unveiled the Cybertruck yesterday and you have got to see the guy he had on stage to "throw" a baseball at it. Video  I can't say "throw like a girl" anymore, right? 
  
  
  
• Wait a second. Wichita Falls police currently do not have bodycams?
  
  
  
• Cowboy random notes:
• Brad Sham, the Cowboys radio play-by-play game, got sick on the way to the stadium and missed the game. (Side note: That radio broadcast is awful. Sham forgets that his audience can't see what's going on.)
  
  
  
• Fun fact about there being no punt in the game last night. 
  
  
  
• The Business Second™:
  
  
  
• Very, very nerdy legal stuff: A case out of Jack County was affirmed yesterday. It's weird. Stay with me here. 
• The jury gave him 55 years on aggravated robbery, and he appealed saying the evidence was insufficient. 
• The victim then suddenly died. The State, who still wanted to prosecute a co-defendant,  wanted to cut a new deal with this convicted guy because they wanted his testimony and cooperation. The new deal would change the conviction to simple "robbery" which would get him out of prison years earlier than "aggravated robbery" because of different parole laws. The appeal was abated to try to get the deal cut. 
• The deal happened and was approved over in Jacksboro.
• His lawyer then dismissed his appeal.
• The defendant then said he didn't know the new deal meant his appeal (which would result in an outright acquittal if he had won) would be dismissed so he got another lawyer to ask another higher court to reinstate that appeal.
• But that court went further and said "Yeah, we'll let you continue that appeal because that new deal you cut was not authorized under the law. We are putting that original jury verdict for aggravated robbery back in place. So go knock yourself out with that appeal." (Paraphrasing, as you probably guessed.)
• Now, several months later, he loses that reinstated appeal and ends up with the original jury sentence of aggravated robbery which carries the stricter parole law.  
• The news story after the jury verdict happened is here.
  
  
  
• I don't know what happened to the co-defendant. I'll try to find out. 
• Time which has passed since the Wise County Sheriff's Office, despite having a full male DNA profile, has failed to solve the murder of Lauren Whitener in her home at Lake Bridgeport: 4 years and 148 days.