Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Arizona has an odd death penalty phase for their capital murder trials: A witness just gets to stand up and address the jury without being questioned or cross-examined. Jodi Arias did it yesterday. And, boy, was it odd. She asked for life in prison instead of death with all the emotion of a corporate power point presentation.
• Odd breaking news: "A man killed by an FBI agent Wednesday morning in Orlando was friends with the Boston bombing suspects, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel." The FBI doesn't get involved in a lot of shootings, do they? 
• I flew by the radio version of the Mike Huckabee Show on Monday and there was a guest host who was taking calls on the very, very tired topic of the use of the term "African-American." One caller said, "I read less than 3% of those people have even been to Africa, and I bet 85% of them couldn't find it on a map."  He was not rebuked. And the GOP wonders why it has a problem. 
• We get a new refrigerator tomorrow that has a water/ice dispenser in the door -- something I've never owned in my life. 
• Re: The Athletic Director shakeup in Paradise ISD. Something seems extremely out of sorts but I can't get a handle on it. (And I'm sorry that I can't post all the comments but some contain factual assertions that are pushing it.)
• Note to Family Pup: If you don't stop standing on my back at 4:30 a.m. and licking my ear because you want your belly rubbed, we're gonna have a talk. 
• How in the world did the Norman Transcript get the death count so wrong yesterday -- the headline said at least 91 were dead. Obviously, we have a "cover-up", a "lie", and an attempt to "deceive the American people." Or it could just be a mistake based upon bad information. 
• But how in the world did "only" 24 people die in that thing? 
• I don't know why there seemed to be a huge argument last night on Twitter between people I follow on the pronunciation of ".gif".  Some say with a long G and some say you pronounce it like "jiff." I've always pronounced it like the latter which is apparently how the inventor pronounced it as well. 
• The odds of there being a news report about a post-disaster community "coming together" or being "resilient"? 100%.
• Schools letting out school early yesterday or parents picking up their kids early was bizarre. The fact a tornado hit two school in Oklahoma does not mean that tornadoes are attracted to schools. 
• If the purpose of a strike is to annoy another person (to call attention to your concern), the hunger strike seems to have the concept backwards.
• Picture of the Tea Party protests of the IRS in Fort Worth yesterday. 
• From the Update: "The CSCOPE lesson plans had been criticized by many for teaching 'anti-American' and 'anti-Christian' values . . . ."  Define "many".
• I never thought I would think much again about Fuzzy Zoeller and friend chicken, but Sergio Garcia brought it all back to the forefront yesterday. 
• The Rangers lost last night 1-0 with Yu Darvish on the mound. Is there anything sillier than a pitcher's won/loss record? Darvish gets a loss for a performance we would beg for in every single game.