Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• It's Monday. Everything is closed. There is no Wise County Messenger Update. But here I am, the hardest working man . . . again.  
• The Messenger did post an update yesterday about a fatality accident north of Decatur on FM 51 which occurred on Saturday.
• Being from the mean streets of the west side of Wise County, it almost pains me to say this: With the Decatur High School's softball team making the state finals over the weekend, I'm hard pressed to think of a school with a greater success rate in UIL sports than this school year. The boys' basketball made the state tourney, football made it the state semi-finals, a cross-country state title, baseball made a playoff run, and I'm sure I'm missing something. 
• Art Briles was named the head football coach of tiny Mt. Vernon high school and it was fascinating about how it broke. And it was a pretty well kept secret because everyone should have known something was up when a school board meeting was set for 5:30 on the Friday before a three day weekend. (And I'll never get use to technology since that tiny school was able to pipe in Briles live from France on Skype. See it here.)
• As to whether its good or bad, I don't know. Letting the guy coach in a town of 2,500 doesn't seem unreasonable. But I understand the complaints.
• I don't understand the Star-Telegram stretching it this morning trying to find a connection to a TCU student's murder by a serial killer that has no connection with Baylor or Briles: 
  
• "Hey, Barry, the next time a cop orders me out of my car do I have to comply?" Naaa. Just tell him your facing an existential question and you'll get back to him once you decide. Heck, I'll even write about your situation and use a glamour shot. 
  
• This picture looks fake but it is not. Last week there was a traffic jam on the way to the top of Mount Everest. Story  (And that's no easy journey. I remember being so naive that I was shocked when reading Into Thin Air that the author, an experienced climber, was taking something like six months off to train before the climb.)
  
• Since it's a holiday, do yourself a favor and watch a couple of quick loading videos of elephants protecting themselves in the wild. (And see the coolest guide in the world).  
• NFL legend Bart Starr has died. I actually saw him play in person when I was a little kid (without having any idea who he was) in the Cotton Bowl.  He went 9 of 21 for 83 yards, no TDs, and one INT.
• Remember I told you about the fake "drunk Pelosi" video on Friday morning? At the same time, Fox and Friends were either oblivious to it or blatantly spreading it by having those two goofballs on the show who mocked Pelosi and her drinking. Steve Doocey came back later and apologized but said he was "unfamiliar" with the doctored video. 
  
• The Texas softball pitcher getting hit in the face by her own catcher is one of the most cringe-worthy things I've ever seen. She'll be fine. 
• The Texas House passed the school funding and tax bill late Saturday. I still don't know if it is smoke and mirrors and I bet our own rep doesn't either. Why am I picking on him? Rep. Phil King was absent from the vote. Of the 150 House reps, only 11 were not there. King was one of them.  
• Legal nerd stuff. If Gov. Abbott doesn't veto it, Texas will have the biggest change in DWI law since the early 1980s: For offenses after 9/1/19, a person will be eligible for deferred adjudication for first time DWI so long as you don't have a CDL, don't have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher, and agree to an ignition interlock device as part of the probation. (I'm still trying to sort this out since it all went down Saturday evening in some type of compromise. Here's the bill in its current state. I think I'm right.)
• Two Texas guys tried to jump a bridge in Louisiana and died doing so. I had to look it up to see the landscape that led to their decision and here it is. Using my superior Google map skills, the gap is 170 feet. (And that's a weird swing action on the bridge to let boats pass.) 
  
• What the . . . . ??? Is he insane? (And he deleted it and then reposted to correct the spelling of Biden's name --- like that's the disturbing part that needed to be deleted/change.) 
  
• Going into Memorial Day weekend, the Army thought it would be a good idea to post this. I don't think they got the responses in the comments they expected. Brutal. People don't like how vets are treated once they come home.
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold

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