Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• Do people not value their time? A fast food sandwich is worth that much to you? 
  
• Trump went full Orwellian this weekend (again.) You know the upcoming release of the Impeachment Inquiry transcripts which will confirm Trump strong-armed the Ukraine in exchange for dirt on a political opponent? Well, Trump says they won't be real. No need to believe your eyes, he tells us.
  
• Ok, what about those same witness who will soon be called in front of the Judiciary Committee soon on national TV for all to see? Can we believe them then? He has an answer: 
  
• Bridgeport's own Colin Jones converted a fake punt for the Carolina Panthers yesterday. Video.
• Here's a tidbit from reading the Dot Babb book - the firsthand account of being kidnapped by the Comanches: After getting older, he moved from Decatur to Wichita Falls. He wrote there were no more than three families between the two towns and that Wichita Falls had a population of 15 families. This was in 1874. (Side note: The book is on Amazon and cheap.)
• I hope this was real on Halloween. 
  
• Sadly, this was real. (I wonder if they had a Mexican kid off to the side handing out the "bricks" saying, "He made me pay for your brick. Here it is. Promises made. Promises kept.")
  
• The next time you run into a cocky lawyer, tell him about a new guy. (And going to an out-of-state law, even Harvard, school puts you at a disadvantage in taking the Texas bar with Texas law specific questions.)
  
• Texas Congressman Chip Roy celebrated a milestone of our National Debt. This year they added $984 billion to it -- a 26% increase over the year before. 
  
• Here's a very hot Class 2A, Division I, Texas high school football opinion: I think New Deal was overrated.  (I sometimes look at how the "Top Ten Fared" in the lower divisions this time of year because normally every team wins in a thrashing.) For those with a thirst for trivia: New Deal is in Lubbock County with a population of 794.
  
• I sometimes feel I'm on an island going after Robert Jeffress but he finally got the attention of the masses over the weekend when he fired off this theologically challenged tweet. Trump represents "traditional faith values?"  Over 1,000 people dogpiled him. (He really enjoys the attention. He double-downed this morning.)

  

  Friday

  

  The double down.
• Legal nerd stuff: If you ever need a brief challenging the silly "science" behind blood splatter expert opinions, here ya go.
• Texas Monthly has a fun article on the background of the The Toadies' Possum Kingdom and the history, and myths, of the lake. 
• One of the strangest positions of the far-right which has emerged over the last few years is, "Don't send your kids to college because they might be exposed to 'concepts' which I've spent years sheltering them from." Not only is it wanting to keep your kid in an information deprived bubble, it also a very condensing position of, "Sure, I would be smart enough in college to discern what's true and what is not, but most kids aren't."  Here's an example this morning from radio guy who's scared of college (with a disturbing racial overtone to boot):
  
• Messenger: Above the Fold.