Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

The Presumptive Republican nominee got a head start on who he might pick if elected.  Neil Gorsuch, who he would end up nominating, was not on the list. 

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• More revelations about the Insurrection Slush Fund:  Trump and his family may have cheated on his past taxes, but the IRS can no longer do anything about it. The corruption is unprecedented. 
  
  
  
• I wonder if Cornyn is rethinking his plan to name Highway 287 after Trump? 
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Update on the Cybertruck in Lake Grapevine. 
  
  
  
• Some reports make this sound like the Kansas City receiver has had his probation revoked and he's going to jail because of it.  Nope.  As part of his original sentence he was going to have to sit for 30 days in the Dallas County jail at some point during his probation.  After testing positive for THC, the judge ordered him to start serving the 30 days right now.   
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Big fire in McKinney yesterday afternoon from a lightening strike. Video.
  
• If you don't get hit by a Cybertruck in a local lake, you might get blown up by a pipe bomb. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This world is getting too weird. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Random thought: Trump loves the security features of his new ballroom so much and is so anxious to get the thing built, that it's almost like he's expecting to use it as a bunker in the future. (And we now know that if you are outside committing acts of violence on his behalf, you will not only the pardoned, but you'll be rewarded with big bags of money from a slush fund.)
  
  
  
• Elections:
• Trump got a win last night. Massie voted to release the Epstein files.  
  
  
  
• Alabama did not help with its reputation. 
  
  
  
• This is really good and detailed.
  
  
  
• Nerdy legal stuff: There was a capital murder conviction reversed yesterday because the defendant's family was excluded from the voir dire process because of lack of courtroom space. Hernandez v. State, No. 14-25-00292-CR (Tex.App. - Houston[14th Dist.] 2026) 
• Falling through a manhole in midtown Manhattan seems unusual: 
  

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

It seems that this was one of the first  of a string of murder cases that began to filter through the Wise County judicial system.

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• I lead today with the greatest corruption in the history of the American presidency. A five person committee, selected by Trump's former defense lawyer, will have complete discretion on how to spend an obscene amount of your tax money.  And nothing prevents them from giving the majority of it to Trump himself.  It's over.  
  

  

  

  Congrats. You are writing checks to these people. 

  
  
• At least Blanche has to answer questions today. 
  
  
  
• Look what happens when the 17 and 18 year old shooters are exposed to Islamophobia by our "leaders."
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
• Local: Here's a nugget I saw in a Star-Telegram story
  
  
  
• Cyber Truck down! Cyber Truck down!
  
  
  
• He became the most famous cop in America.
  
  
  
  
• This is going in the wrong direction. 
  
  
  
  
• Trump surprised no one by backing off a threatened attack of Iran  yesterday (the sixth time he has done so), but he actually said in a tweet that one was "scheduled" for today.  
  
  
  
• One word in the headline explains everything about his reasoning: 
  
  
  
• Our government just established a religion right before our eyes over the last 18 months.  (Yep, it's real.) 
  
• John Cornyn pulled out Rick Perry and former senator Phil Gramm (!) to campaign for him yesterday.
  
  
  
• Legal nerdy stuff: I was trying to figure out how a brawl in a state courtroom could lead to federal charges, but I guess once he grabbed the gun he became subject to a federal firearm law based upon interstate commerce. 
  
  
  
• I read ten stories about this verdict, and I still have no idea what question the jury was asked. And throughout the weeklong trial, I don't remember the issue of limitations ever so much as being mentioned.   EDIT: A faithful reader sent me a PDF of the actual filled out jury verdict. 
  
  
  
  
• Tech's gambling quarterback has sued the NCAA and has hired the Speaker of the Texas House as his lawyer. Judge Phillip Hays, a Lubbock native and twice a graduate of Texas Tech, was assigned the case.
  
  
  
• Here's the text of the full settlement agreement establishing the $1.8 billion slush fund. It's amazing. (Look at Paragraph IV(E) which indicates that the public won't even know who or how much someone gets paid from the fund.)

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

The first report that a retractable roof ballpark was possible "and sooner than you think."

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• The police shootings are certainly related, but I'm not sure you can call them happening at the "same scene."
  
  
  
  
• "AUSTIN, Texas — Three people were in custody following at least 10 random weekend shootings in Austin, Texas, that left four people injured, city officials said Sunday. Driving around the city in stolen vehicles, the suspects fired at two fire stations, apartment buildings and houses during a robbery and shooting spree from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said." Two of the three arrested are ages 15 and 17.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ok, the Tarrant County DA (and no one else) has announced that the FBI has found the remains of Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez and that the Tarrant County Medical Examiner has confirmed it via "dental records."   I'm surprised. 

• That exact same area which was searched in in 2023 when Everman police tore up the concrete porch to search underneath it:

• Two military jets crashed into each other at an air show yesterday, but somehow all four pilots were able to eject.  Video.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• It's over. 
  
  

  

  
  
• This seems concerning.
  
   
  

  

  
  
  
  
• I don't know anything about diving, but everyone seems to be freaking out that these folks were "deep inside a cave system about 160 feet underwater." The total death count was five.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Another day, another existential threat.  
  
  
• So somehow the Senate parliamentarian is apparently our only hope left for any type of Congressional pushback of Trump. 
  
  
  
  
• The Business Second™. Somehow it is not illegal for the president to hold and trade stocks. He just has to file public disclosures which Trump did this weekend.  
  
  
  
  
  
• Breaking moments ago: Trump just dropped his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.    So is this rumored $1.88 billion slush fund for Insurrectionists and others going to happen?  (Legal nerdy stuff: Look at this footnote in their filed court "notice.")
  
  
  
• This story starts off with a bang. 
  
  
  
  
• Nope. You don't get to "up" the charges because you are pissed off a defendant successfully appealed. 
  
  
  
  
• I promise you that I flipped over and watched this playoff game beginning in the middle of the 7th because I wanted to see how in the heck Texas Tech softball was getting beat 8 to 0 with the pitcher that they have.   But with the Red Raiders down to their final out and final strike, they ended up winning.
  
  
  
• Evangelist James Robison has died.  He was a really big deal in DFW back in the day.