Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Now that was some serious wind last night. But I'm surprised I haven't seen more damage than I have (which is basically none.)
• It's the day before the Apocalpyse.  Longtime readers will remember the commenter 12/21/12 guy from way back. Three years when he first appeared? Four years? The first few times he showed up we had no idea what he was talking about.
• I was looking at Time's Top Ten fiction books and I'm not sure I had heard of any of them. But one that jumped out at me was Billy Lynn's Long  Halftime Walk.
• Miss USA was crowned Miss Universe last night. But when the pageant is held in America (last night it was in Las Vegas) and Miss USA wins, it seems so rigged. 
• The Fourth Grader In The House while watching the swimsuit competition: "This seems weird." 
• I got slammed in the comments yesterday for my "thought" that it was always boys who commit school shootings and not boys. Some guy said I was attacking men who raise their sons to be responsible hunters. Buddy, you think way more about my thoughts than I do.
• Our Elf On The Shelf was in our decorative bowl on the formal dining room table this morning. The contents of that bowl had been strewn around the floor. Creepy. 
• I like Bud Kennedy but I think he was partially wrong yesterday in his column (asserting Texas teachers can already carry guns in schools).   In his defense, Texas guns laws are far more complicated than one would think. (A teacher without a CHL could not carry a handgun into a school even if the school authorized it. But that authorization allowing her to carry a firearm would allow her to carry a rifle or shotgun.) 
• Seventy-four new troopers graduated in Austin yesterday. One was a former Bridgeport Police Officer.
• Fox and Friends brought in Santa Claus this morning to discuss the "war on Christmas." With his concept of the free distribution of wealth, I wouldn't have thought he was a Republican.