Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• Amazon is hiring another 450 people in Haslet. And it looks like Facebook will probably occupy a 750,000-square-foot data center nearby. That's a lot of jobs close to Wise County.
• Great clip yesterday of Ann Coulter, with contempt, refusing to hug an undocumented immigrant at an event. (Yeah, there are a ton of reasons not to do so in that environment -- safety being one of them.) But being mean is what she does -- and it sells books.
• That slow speed chase yesterday ended with a ton of cops pulling the guy out of the car. One of them immediately takes the butt of his rifle/shotgun and slams it down on the guy. Another cop behind him immediately pulls him off realizing that  the force used was unnecessary and that any idiot should know there are cameras on them.  Edit: 54 second mark to 58 seconds here.
• TV critic Ed Bark was on the radio this morning and said that one of the four local stations might get better ratings in the future if it had refused to cover the chase and then led its nightly news broadcast with a note that they didn't believe it was newsworthy.  (I don't think Bark will get a job as a consultant any time soon.) 
• Republicans Rick Santorum and George Pataki entered the race for President yesterday. Man, that field is crowded. By the time all is said and done, even Wordkyle will be taking part in the first televised debate.
• Back during the silly TCU football team "drug bust", the morning boys on The Ticket were talking about  it and two of them were adamant that marijuana users may not need to be locked up but those "dealers" sure did. Gordon Keith asked, "If your roommate just gave his buddy $20 for weed and you ask the roommate if he could have his buddy get you some next time and you give the roommate $20, is the roommate now a 'drug dealer'?" 
• Trying to figure out the status of the Open Carry bill in the Texas Legislature has been next to impossible over the last 24 hours. If it is dead (and I'm not sure that it is is), it's because of the amendment prohibiting cops from detaining and checking an open carry participant for a concealed handgun license. 
• "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong.'' - Stephen Decatur (the namesake of Decatur, Texas.) History of that quote is here.
• There was a story yesterday of a 17 year old in Irving allegedly choking his ex-girlfriend to death. Fox 4 referred to the her as his "estranged" girlfriend. I guess that's technically correct but just seems weird.