Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Goldman Sachs got hit with a big fine for being crooks during the mortgage crisis but finally this time the government sanctioned them with a $5 billion penalty but ordered $1.8 billion of that as restitution to the victims. Finally. When the government orders all of the fine to go to them,  a business will just pass it along to the consumer. Here, the consumer will get at least something.
• I'm sure I can find it, but I have no idea what the word "revenant" means in the Oscar nominated movie The Revenant means.
• Breaking this morning: "The Coast Guard is leading a search off the Hawaiian island of Oahu after reports that two Marine helicopters had collided." The two helicopters carried a total of 12 people. 
• "The National Transportation Safety Board wants to decrease the legal driving limit to one drink, lowering the legal limit on blood-alcohol content [from .08] to 0.05 'or even lower.'” Well, that would certainly generate a ton of cash for the government. (And the very astute of you may ask how the federal government can dictate to the states what their state laws will be. Simple: The federal government threatens to withhold highway funds if they don't.)
• The Liberally Lean curse/blessing continues: I mentioned for Decatur resident Ronnie Gage last week and now he has become the AD and head football coach at Paradise. 
• I'm writing this before the Update comes out, but I heard that the million dollar lottery winners are actually a group of employees from a "well known" business in Decatur.
• Ted Cruz started off really well in the debate last night when he challenged Trump on his "birther" claim but then took a couple of haymakers as the debate went on.  Overall, it was a horrible week for Cruz. He was exposed for a federal disclosure violation regarding a $1 million Goldman Sachs's loan, and picked a fight with the state of New York (population: 20 million -- and those  20 million people have friends and relatives who live all across the country.) 
• Probably the best part of the debate was the commercial for this summer's movie, Money Monster, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It looked like the plot is about someone sneaking onto the set of Jim Cramer's Mad Money show on CNBC, puts a bomb jacket on him, and wants an explanation as to how he has lost all of his money listening to him but everyone else on Wall Street is getting rich. Julia Roberts is producing the show live and has to decide whether to broadcast it. Official trailer here. And it was directed by Jody Foster. 
• Lindsey Graham endorsed Jeb Bush this morning. Well, this race is over. (Honestly, the Duck Dynasty guy's endorsement of Cruz a couple of weeks ago is worth about a million times more.)
• There a commercial for a Verizon Theater show of Jeff Foxworthy and Larry The Cable Guy. Please tell me they still aren't doing those  tired "you might be a redneck" and "git-r-done" bits.
• Oil dropped below $30 a barrel this morning.