Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• I finally saw the images of the multiple bodies of dead children thought to have been killed by chemical weapons in Syria. And there's really not much we can do other than to intervene militarily -- and that's not going to happen.
• After much urging, I watched the latest episode of The Bridge.  That was some late night Cinemax like stuff going on. Oh, my. 
• Lots of outpouring on Facebook about the death of Brian Mooney of Decatur yesterday. [Edit: Corrected. Major screw-up earlier.]
• A week ago there was a big hit in the Chicago/San Diego NFL game and the NFL.com site posted a clip of it within seconds referring to it as a "spectacular tackle." Earlier this week the NFL fined the tackler $21,000 saying the hit was illegal. Source. The NFL promoteth violence and also taketh away thy money.
• ESPN's Outside the Line and PBS's Frontline had been working for over a year on a joint project about concussions in the NFL. ESPN, which is cozy with the NFL by paying the $1 billion a year for the rights to Monday Night Football, abruptly pulled out of the project yesterday. NFL pressure? You bet. ESPN is awash in conflicts of interest when it comes to sports news.
• The Texas Parks and Wildlife folks will be doing a detailed analysis of the fish in Lake Bridgeport this fall. (Assuming the lake is still there.)
• What a run by David Dewhurst: (1) The anti-Ted Cruz Chinese ads, (2) The Wendy Davis filibuster debacle, and (3) the phone call to Allen PD.  Things were a lot easier for him when all he had to do was get on a horse once every four years to film a corny campaign ad and rely upon his name to dupe an uninformed public. I've said this before, but I've been calling Dewhurst out since 2001. 
• And he was a little tipsy on that phone call, wasn't he?
• Looking back in time, I discovered that I had once been given a Dallas Stars regular season game ticket in 2001 that had a face value of $135. I thought that was insane then. I think it's insane now. Do they still have tickets that cost that much? 
• OK, the jury in the Hasan case is taking it's time. I think there are about 35 charges so maybe they are actually talking about each one instead of just checking the "guilty" line. 
• Ben Affleck will be the new Batman (in a movie I won't see.)
• If you're into payrolls in Major League Baseball, you will absolutely love this interactive graphic.
• Greg "The Hammer" Williams hadn't updated his blog in weeks but tweeted this morning that he's "back" and his absence was not due to drugs or drinking. He also says he will tell his side of the story about the breakup of The Fan's RAGE show which will be different than the version from Richie Whitt. There are divorced couples who hate each other who don't have as much animosity between them as those two.
• Update warning: The first item concerns "Taste Of Wise" at the Decatur Civic Center. No news today.