Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Edit @ 9:05 a.m.: Nothing newsworthy going on at Carson Elementary. No fire. 
• There was a suicide by a Chico woman at Wise County Park on Wednesday. So even when it happens in a public park it is not supposed to be reported by the media?
• Motorcycle death in Dallas. 
• Watch the parade of people in this Ted Cruz commercial and wait for someone who isn't white to appear.
• Woke up to the weirdest sound in the back yard last night only to find it was water running off the house onto a plastic plant container. It sounded like a war drum. As I moved it, I looked up to see that the Family Cat had decided to sneak out behind me and wander around in the rain. Dumb cat. But I rounded her up and put her back inside.
• Bristol Palin taking a shot at President Obama's stance on gay marriage is bizarre. Perhaps she's just jealous that some kids will have two dads in their life while her's has none. (Ok, I stole that line and, yes, it's a little mean.)
• Mrs. LL's softball team won a playoff game last night to stay alive in the double elimination tournament. She was distraught later when she learned two players will miss the next game because they are going to a school dance instead. Meeting Boys greater than Softball.
• And she's playing her nemesis coach -- the gal I've referred to as the over-ranting Fake Kim Mulkey.
• Hey, I'm a dog lover and I was sickened over the little dog who died after being burned in Dallas. But for a bunch of people to show up in opposition to a potential bond reduction for the teenager accused of the crime is a little over the top. Dead people don't get that kind of support.
• One of the strangest arguments that the kid is guilty was heard on The Fan yesterday: If he isn't guilty then why did he turn himself in?  Uh, because there was a warrant. You can either turn yourself in on your terms or you can wait to be picked up.
• The blog at the Texas Monthly failed to realize that the Wise County Messenger's crime blotter has turned into a bit. 
• I thought Black Hawk Down was about one helicopter crash and the story of how a couple of guys were rescued. Good grief, I couldn't have been more wrong. I've gotten to the end of Day One and we've got a cluster going on!
• I think the best part of the shocking Time magazine cover is the kid's eyes. There's just something funny about him staring at the camera.
• The guy on trial in Wise County for a multitude of crimes chose the judge instead of a jury to assess punishment. He received the maximum. Whenever you have a crime where a jury would probably deliberate around the high end of the punishment range, you don't want to let the judge decide: He or she will always choose the higher number.
• But the defendant and the deputy who escorted him out of the courthouse look alike. 
• I saw a TV commercial for the Texas Railroad Commissioner who promises to "stand up against Obama."  I didn't know he was threatening her.
• I thought the days of "credit default swaps" (which I tried to explain here) were over but news broke last night that JPMorgan has been hit with a $2 billion loss because of them over the last two weeks.
• Hey, even I'll admit the media's reporting that Mitt Romney might have harassed a gay guy while in prep school was completely unfair. The guys is 65 years old. I don't care what he did in high school.