Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• I got an email report from someone I trust who reports that Decatur's "Speedo Man" (he's pictured in the masthead, above) has died.  According to the email:  "He was a good guy with a good sense of humor. He was one other best dozer operators I've ever met. It was uncanny. He could push a pile of dirt or timber 200 yards and not lose an ounce of the dirt pile or there wouldn't be a teaspoon of dirt in the whole ball of timber if pushing timber or brush. He could barely read or write but he could eyeball grades and cut them to within +/- an inch or two. Again, it was uncanny. Inspectors would take their lunch breaks on the site to watch him work." He never EVER drank water- only coffee no matter how hot it was.
• I'm pretty sure that the SMU scientists erected their own seismic equipment within the last week and half at the old Texas Stadium site. Very nice timing considering the last 24 hours of activity. 
• Big news this morning: At least 12 people killed in Paris in a terroristic attack at a satirical magazine. (I clicked on a "graphic footage" link this morning and wish I hadn't.) They were targeting specific individuals including the editor and a cartoonist. There are already collections on the Internet of the paper's most "offensive" covers -- they are obviously in French but there are explanations in the sidebar in that link. 
• Does Salman Rushdie still live in fear after all of these years?
• There is a Wise County inmate who has been mailing out uh, toilet paper, to various county officials over the past week or so. 
• I rarely watch MSNBC, but Rachel Maddow last night had the funniest segment as she ran footage of Joe Biden interacting with the newly sworn Senators and their families.  It truly is like Christmas to him. And it's so tense watching him because he's so wheels off. 
• Every friend I have who has ever used Uber loves it. 
• "DALLAS — A Dallas attorney, Andrew Lee Siegel, faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in a nearly $1.6 million vodka investment scam." I thought he might be associated with "Sigel's wine of the week" until I discovered is name is spelled differently that the liquor chain. 
• For the Republicans to take over both houses of Congress yesterday, they sure seemed grumpy. 
• I had no idea the very wheels off Kennedale "And Another" teacher was released from prison last month. (Credit: BagofNothing for seeing it.) She had been sentenced to five years in August of 2012, but she probably had accumulated a ton of back time. If I remember correctly, all her "victims" were of legal age but she was prosecuted under the teacher/student "improper relationship" statute.
• I'm late to this story, but the Assistant Dallas DA who got a arrested for DWI has to be a moron for firing off the "Do you know who I am" card. (But he sure looked "fly" in the Channel 8 video.)