Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

Let me abandon my "10 Years Ago" post to bring front and center an image that was shown yesterday in the trial of Tanner Horner.  Without question, it is already the most famous photo in Wise County criminal justice history. 

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• For detailed reporting on the Horner trial, the Messenger is providing updates throughout the day without a paywall. It's good. I'll just give you some images from yesterday: 
  
• A packed house as the trial was about to begin. Moments later, the DA will have to give an opening statement that only minutes earlier he thought would be about guilt/innocence instead of  "just" the death penalty.
  
  
  
• DA James Stainton gave the opening. “You’re going to hear what a 250-pound man can do to a 67-pound child. It’s horrible . . . . One thing that you can’t unhear is the level of fight in a 7-year-old girl when she’s facing certain death."
  
  
  

• The defense lawyer opened with a very strange NBA basketball analogy of a guy who tore his Achilles tendon. 
  
  
  
• Paradise first grade teacher Lindsey Thompson was the first witness. She did a fantastic job. 
  
  
  
• Elizabeth Strand, stepmom at the time of the abduction. 
  
  
  
• The jeans that Athena was wearing at the time of her abduction.
  
• The FedEx package that was actually delivered at the the time of the abduction. 
  
  
  
• If the photo at the very top becomes the lasting image at this trial, this photo by Amanda McCoy of the Star-Telegram is a close second.
  
• Lane Akin, the former sheriff of Wise County, was emotional on the stand.  
  
  
  
• James McGuire, an FBI agent, was the first person to contact Horner as the investigation was unfolding. 
  
  
  
• ADA Patrick Berry, who normally takes the lead in most murder trials, finally got into the action. I suspect we will see a lot more of him. 
  
  
  
• WFAA does commentary on its feed. 
  
  
  
• Today at the trial, videos of Horner police interviews will be shown. 
• The War.
• After saying he would probably wipe out an entire "civilization" -- the single worse utterance of words by a president in the history of the United States -- Trump caved last night.  So we learned we have a madman as president who is willing to bluff genocide as a negotiating tactic.  
  
  
  
  
• When people ask how could the Holocaust happen under Hitler, yesterday you saw how. We all sat around waiting for 8:00 p.m. EST to see if Trump would destroy millions and millions of people.  And we would have let it happen.
  
  
  
• Trump went from requiring an "unconditional surrender" to this . . . 
  
  
  
  
• This morning, it appears that Iran will continue to collect a toll for the ships they allow to go through -- something that didn't exist before our attack of Iraq. And overnight, Iran fired missiles at the UAE, and Kuwait.
  
  
  
  
• One local news quick hit. 
• A Johnson County sheriff's deputy was shot and injured last night.  Side note: Notice how this Twitter blurb begins with "Gemini said."  There is no person named Gemini in the story.  Gemini is, however, the name of Google's AI. 
  

• Back to the Horner trial, the in-truck video recording system of the FedEx truck captured the audio of the murder. It, understandably, will be horrific.  I don't know how the live video feed from the courtroom is going to handle that. 

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

The last punch in the Republican Party's attempt to stop Trump.  

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• The long-awaited Tanner Horner capital murder case will start today, and it is being live-streamed by CourtTV on YouTube here.  It will also be shown on the WFAA+ app, and it should be on the Fox Local app as well. Edit: In a shocking move, Horner pled guilty moments ago.  The trial will now proceed on the death penalty issue. 
  
  
  
• And its getting media coverage the likes of which I haven't seen in a long tine. All these stories/posts have occurred within the last 24 hours: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
• Messenger story from yesterday evening.
  
  
  
• Gift link to a very long story. (And it includes a video link on Twitter of a new angle -- at least to me -- of her incredible inbounds pass to win the state championship.) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Texas congressman was hitting on another staff member before his affair with the most recent one which led to her setting herself on fire. 
  

  

  
  
• "The woman's husband told police that she had vessel’s keys with her when she fell into the water, causing its engine to shut off. He had to paddle the 8-foot, hard-bottom boat for hours before he reached shore early Sunday, he said."  Story.
  

  

  
  
  
  
• New craziness this morning: "A whole civilization will die tonight . . . ."   Everyone just ignores his crazy threats of genocide as the rantings of a madman, until they are not. I doubt anything will happen today, but there's no one left in government who will stop him once he goes over the cliff.  
  

  
  
  
• Lets just' pull that back a little bit. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• J.D. Vance is using your taxpayer money this morning to campaign for wanna-be dictator Victor Orban in Hungary.  Incredible. 
  
  
  
  
• Rantings of Trump yesterday:
• Let's jail a journalist for not giving up a source. Hello fascism.  Video.
  
  
  
• That's what Hitler said about the Jews, rights? Video.
  
  
  
• Those poor kids have to be so confused.  Video.
  
  
  
• The embarrassment never ends.  Video.
  
  
  
  
• The Real Estate Second™. 
  
  
  
  
• Final Liberally Lean standings:
  
  
  
• Weird law enforcement fact: The city of Aledo didn't get its own police department until two months ago. Before then, they just contracted with the Parker County Sheriff's office. 

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

"In total, Walker allegedly stole $224,682 in cash and $14,887 in money orders from Walmart" according to original PC affidavit. 

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• This isn't the same as being found not guilty by reason of insanity. Instead, they will "send her to Wichita Falls" where she will, in a few months, miraculously "be cured" making her eligible to stand trial.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Dateline San Antonio.   Video.
  

  

  
  
  
  
• The biggest story in the world right now is that the president of the United States is a demented old man who has his finger on the button of our nuclear arsenal.  
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• So what happened with U.S. planes and pilots over the weekend? Here ya go: 
• One F-15E was shot down in Iran on Friday with two pilots on board. One pilot was quickly rescued. 
• Not mentioned much: "A second U.S. Air Force combat plane crashed near the Strait of Hormuz about the same time the F-15E was shot down over Iran, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters. The lone pilot in the second plane, an A-10 Warthog, was rescued."
• Then the race was on to get the remaining F-15E pilot. Here's a New York Times gift link describing his rescue.  But a lot of people are raising eyebrows over the explanation given regarding four of our own aircraft supposedly blown up by the U.S. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Our governor was dumb enough to not realize a picture was fake. 
  
  
  
• "Tori Spelling and several children were taken to the hospital following a car crash last week, the actor’s spokesperson confirmed to NBC News. The spokesperson also confirmed that the Beverly Hills, 90210 star, 52, was driving with seven kids in the car — four of her children and three of their friends — when another driver allegedly ran a red light while speeding and struck their vehicle."
  

  

  
  
  
  
• The greatest headline of the year so far. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The government shouldn't be doing this.
  
• Nerdy legal stuff: A pro se brief was recently filed in a legal malpractice case out of Waco with a picture on the front of Paxton's impeachment trial. I have no idea why.  
  
  
  
• It's official.  Since the Dallas Morning News was sold, it has dropped off a cliff.  This was on its home page this morning scattered among a slop of sports stories:
  
  
  
• The Liberally Lean Pick Em Tourney will come down to tonight. With he final worth 100 points, a third place holder can jump to the front. 
  
  
  
• Our friends in England see what is happening.