Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• We started dropping bombs on ISIS in Syria yesterday. Rightly or wrongly, it doesn't feel like America if we aren't dropping bombs.
• According to Grumpy TV Critic Ed Bark, Fox 4 went 19 minutes before finally getting around to mentioning the death of Max Morgan last night. I would have thought they would have at least led off with the news followed by a "more later" comment. 
• When I lived on the lake, I was always concerned about the wind forecast because that determined whether I could take the boat out. As a jogger, I'm now concerned with the humidity forecast. By the way, this morning is fantastic and feels like the first full day of Fall. (Which it is.)
• We've still got new Family Pup #2 but, as someone on here warned us, we now have someone from Craigslist trying to convince us that it is their dog. Their story is simply unbelievable. After refusing to answer even the most basic of questions (uh, what street do they live on? -- not the actual address -- just the street. Any distinctive features on the dog?), they wrote, "If you are through with your investigation, can we have our dog back? Our child really misses her." Oh, the ol' pull on the heart string trick.
• You can see how people just roam Craigslist looking for "found" purebreds and then make contact trying to get the pooch for free. 
• I was worried the Wise County deputy story would go viral. It is has now made the Huffington Post. 
• "Of the $3.4 billion in traffic surcharges that have been assessed over the last decade, only $1.4 billion has been collected—an abysmal collection rate of 40 percent. Another telling stat: Nearly 1.3 million Texas drivers now have invalid driver’s licenses due to the program’s spiraling penalties." What a joke. 
• Sports (some from over the weekend): (1) The Aggie Cadet throwing a block to protect Reveille at the SMU game has to be a campus hero by now. (2) I never stay up for late Pac 12 games but Arizona scoring 36 points in the fourth quarter and winning on a Hail Mary on the last play over California on Saturday night sounds fantastic, (3) That look on Jimbo Fisher's face as he turned away from the suspended Jameis Winston who showed up for pre-game warmups in full gear. There has to be some higher ups in the academic administration of FSU who want to kick him off the team.  (4) Oft injured Ranger Jurickson Profar, who didn't play an inning this year, is hurt again. The best that never was? (5) Any chance Tech jumped the gun last month when it signed Coach Bro to a "contract extension through 2020 that will pay $3.1 million in 2015 with a $200,000 raise each year to $4.1 million in 2020"? (5A) With the Ray Rice incident fresh in our minds and considering OU banned highly touted freshman Joe Mixon for slugging a girl in a bar, what about Tech reinstating the freshman a couple of months ago after he slugged the female basketball star during a pick-up game?  (6) Since Jean Jacques-Taylor is now in my cross-hairs, I thought I'd at least be one of the few people who reads what he writes. His recent post of "5 Plays That Shaped The Cowboys Win" is comical. It should be named "5 Obvious Plays That Even A Casual Sports Fan Would Know Caused The Cowboys to Win." Dallas stopping the Rams on fourth down in the fourth quarter was a significant play?!! Give me more insight like that!!! (7) Everyone talks about the electricity of an LSU game at night. I went to one two years ago and was completely disappointed. It wasn't even a sell-out against Washington in an early season game. (8) UT quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, apparently not realizing the team already has two losses, says he "expects" Texas to be in the national four team playoff
• Dallas police reported a major drop in crime yesterday. Yet, the taxpayers will still pay for the same number of cops and same number of prosecutors who will have to justify their jobs. And that is accomplished by arresting and prosecuting folks for alleged offenses that are so insignificant that they don't need to be in the system. 
• That TCU student on trial for date rape was found not guilty yesterday. I wonder if he realizes that it's possible that a different jury would have locked him up. The Star-Telegram wouldn't identify the "victim" by name as part of its policy. But after someone is acquitted, should that policy remain intact?
• ABC has a new show about a criminal defense lawyer/professor called How To Get Away With Murder. It might end up being  horrible, but I like the promo which has her saying, "People ask me how I can I represent someone who I know is guilty? The answer is 'I don't care.'"
• The fact that Highland Park ISD has suspended some books from being taught in high school due to "objectionable" material is mind-boggling. And the fact that one of them is named The Working Poor: Invisible in America proves the administration is tone deaf. 
• There might not be a funnier picture than a guy in a polar bear suit being arrested at the Rally for Climate Change in NYC yesterday.