Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• The 8.2 earthquake off of Chile yesterday evening is about as big of one as I've heard about.  (And I really hadn't heard much about tsunami's until the one in the Indian Ocean ten years ago, but the entire western coastline of South America was under a Tsunami warning -- until it was cancelled without incident.)
• "Iran has chosen a former hostage-taker involved in the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran to serve as its ambassador at the United Nations, Sen. Ted Cruz said Tuesday in vowing to bar him from entering the United States." We get to decide who other countries want as their ambassador?
• Idiocracy: Texas Motor Speedway is now offering a "Big Hoss TV Dinner" at the concession stands. And I'm not sure why a TV dinner is offered at all. 
• According to today's Messenger, Alvord's ISD may not be gone at all. The 3-3 vote not to renew his contract only means that a new contract will become effective "by operation of law" (which is a fancy way of saying "automatically".
• Sports: (1) Watched the end of the SMU NIT game last night and came away from it thinking that Bobby Knight is borderline senile, (2) The Mavs fight to make the playoffs so they can be bounced in the first round took a hit last knight, (3) The Astros beat the Yankees? (4) Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the Masters after "minor" backs surgery. A lot has changed for the guy since Elin took a golf club to his SUV in 2009.
• I'm still in my jury trial but that should end today. The Sheriff was on the jury panel (for about five minutes) in a case that involved an arrest by the Sheriff's office. He joked that he received a jury summons from himself -- which is technically true.
• The funniest moment came when the prosecutor was asking some questions to a retired pastor on the jury panel and brought up the biblical story of Doubting Thomas as an analogy. The pastor gently interrupted him by saying, "You stick to lawyering and let me do the pastoring."
• Other people on the panel: A Bridgeport lawyer, a Decatur lawyer, a DPS trooper, a guy whose daughter I dated over thirty years ago, and two current clients. (None made it onto the jury.) 
• "The debate over repealing this law is over. The Affordable Care Act is here to stay. ... In the end, history is not kind to those who would deny Americans their basic economic security." - President Obama yesterday after news that 7.1 million people had signed up for insurance under the program. 
• "Man swept away in ocean baptism still missing"