Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

This was a rare Trophy Club raid which ultimately resulted in a federal prison sentence for the son of a "Southlake pastor." 

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• After pressure from Trump's government, ABC pulled a comedian -- a comedian! -- off the air.  . (Here's the video clip that prompted Trump's government's wrath. It's not about Charlie Kirk. It's about criticizing Trump.) We are in a five alarm fire of authoritarianism, and we all all just going to sit around and watch it burn
  
  
  
  
• Just hours earlier, the FCC chief, while he was a guest on a far right wing podcast, threatened to come after ABC because of Kimmel's jokes calling them "sick" and "depraved":
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Trump managed to post at 1:00 o'clock in the morning from England about ABC's action, and he revealed who is next on his hit list:
  
  
  
• It's not just the actual retribution (like law firms and universities bending the knee to Trump or CBS settling the baseless 60 Minutes lawsuit), but its also about the fear of reprisal. For example, what's Saturday Night Live and NBC thinking right now about their upcoming season? Do they dare joke about Trump?  
• It's over, folks. 
• Related: What's going on here?
  
• And he was there: 
  
  
  
  
• Also there was Sam Altman, the head of ChatGPT; Satya Nadella, the top dog at Microsoft: and Tim Cook, the head of Apple.  Welcome to the Oligarchy. 
  
  
  
• Crazy criminal legal news relevant to nearby Cooke County in particular and all of us in general: 
• In April, we had the shocking story that a visiting judge found that the past Cooke County D.A. (who now was the county's only district judge) had withheld evidence while the prosecutor in the capital murder case of Michael Newberry. A new trial was ordered.  Importantly, the current DA supported the decision. 
  
  
  
• Yesterday, however. the Court of Criminal Appeals said, "Not so fast my friends." This is the entire decision as they refused to go along with a new trial which means Newberry will remain in prison: 
  
• Gift link.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The shooter was in a cornfield. Story. 
  
  
  
• The grift never ends. Gift link. 
  
  
  
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• Oddest photo from Windsor castle:
  
  
  
• I wouldn't call that "wrangled" or "caught."  She shot it dead. (But it was legal and actually occurred south of Houston.)
  
  
• Messenger - Above the Fold