Random Monday Morning Thoughts

• It's about to get cold. I've been in my weather lab in the pleasant early hours this morning  and, for those in Decatur, I think around 10:20 a.m. you'll say to yourself, "Man, it's getting cold."
• The Messenger's Update reports that a 21 year old Alvord man has been arrested for murder. Here's the story in the Denton Record Chronicle. (The body of his ex-girlfriend was found stabbed to death in rural Denton County creek.) 
• I've been on a kick lately pointing out the questionable court appointments of judges in Texas (which is an elected judge state.) Here's a wild one. There is currently a judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals who, because of the mandatory retirement age, will have to step down on December 31, 2020, even though he'll have two years left on his term. It's the law. It will happen. So is the position to be filled by election in November of 2020? The Texas Secretary of State told everyone yes. Then that office abruptly changed its mind and said Gov. Abbott will fill it by appointment. 
  
• A Houston state district judge was indicted in federal court for using campaign funds for non-campaign expenses such as her mortgage payments, private school tuition, travel, luxury items and cash withdrawals. The story refers to her as Alexander Smoots-Thomas. The State Bar web site lists her as Alexandra "Alix" Smoots-Hogan.  (My super-secret Houston sources tell me she is very well liked and considered to be fair.) 
  
• The assistant general counsel for UNT had to resign after firing off a hot example in a panel discussion on the First Amendment on campus.  “Gonna say a lot of offensive things in here, because it’s impossible to talk about the First Amendment without saying horrible things. Um, you know, you’re just a dumb n**** and I hate you. That alone, that’s protected speech.” She's a Baylor Law School graduate from 2010.
  
• Long time readers know that Mrs. LL loves the football "Spin Move."  Her delight in it is almost comical. She may still be watching Lamar Jackson's play from yesterday. (Watch.) To her credit, it may be one of the greatest executions of the move ever.
  
• I continue to believe Uber is a house of cards. And I had no idea that one of their largest shareholders was Saudi Arabia. When asked about the Crown Prince ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, we learned that the CEO of Uber actually believes a good answer was: "It's a serious mistake. We've made mistakes too, right, with self-driving ... So I think that people make mistakes. It doesn't mean that they can never be forgiven." That's the man in charge of a company losing billions a year.   
  
• The Decatur Eagles went 10-0 in the regular season and are headed to the playoffs (although your team just needs to have a pulse to get into the high school playoffs these days.)  I'm a little fascinated with Gainesville's cornerback when the game was basically over on Friday night as Decatur added another touchdown. The ol' hands-on-hips move while the play goes the other way is a new one to me. Watch. (But I'd probably do the same thing back when I was 18.) 
  
• Speaking of high school video clips, I'm not sure I've ever seen a blocked field goal travel basically 90 degrees and like a rocket into the sideline. It happened in the Bridgeport game on Friday. Watch.
  
• I suggest a different line of work for the substitute teacher at Lehman High School in Kyle, Texas after video caught her putting a beat down on a student. (And that stomp in the back at the end was quite the finishing move.)
  
• I told you Trump's new spiritual advisor was crazy, but it's worse than I thought. I had no idea she had (allegedly) had an affair with Benny Hinn. 
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• I'm not sure I realized the Chief Money Changer was selling his gospel through Fox News now. I actually clicked on the link. You aren't buying his version of the gospel, you are actually buying a subscription to Fox Nation where you can watch him along with other shows for $130 a year. 
  
• College football screenshots from Saturday:

  

  Looks bad.

  
  

  

  The "pylon cam" is amazing.

  
  

  

  Alabama had won 31 straight home games until . . . well, you know.

  
  

  

  We had a rare appearance of the chain gang. (Note that
  the first down is still right at the hash mark which it is always is these days.)

• I now bring you special holiday content (not available on Fox Nation for a fee). It involves my explanation of a high level esoteric belief of mine regarding the Butterfly Effect. It's so mind-numbing that it caused a stop down conversation yesterday. Here we go. Baylor beat TCU on Saturday in a crazy triple overtime game with some bizarre moments. I thought about going, but I didn't. Here's my belief: If I had gone to the game, it would not have happened in the exact way it did. TCU might have won. There might have been no overtime. A player might have been lost for season.  You name it. My premise is this: If my actions in going to the game caused any change in another person's movements or thoughts then that would cause an exponential change in other's movements and thoughts which would have eventually traveled to those directly involved in the actual game.  Stay with me here. Let's look at some examples on a sliding scale, starting with the crazy ones, and its impact on changing the game.  
• I go to the game and smash Baylor's quarterback's hand with a hammer as he's walking into the stadium. (A very ridiculous example, but an obvious example.)
• Moments before Baylor's game clinching interception, I run onto the field causing a delay in the game of 60 seconds before security gets me off the field. (Ridiculous again, but there's no way the next play occurs the same way, right?)
• Like I said, stay with me here. I'm about to get somewhere. 
• I run onto the field delaying the opening coin toss by 30 seconds. (That's also ridiculous, but it's now at that point where I want you start thinking. Does that 30 second delay change everything to come? A player is now distracted for 30 seconds. A different player has 30 extra seconds to motivate himself. A coach has 30 extra seconds to think about his playbook.)
• Now let's get more realistic: I travel to the game causing hundreds of people to be delayed by seconds (at stop signs, red lights, in the parking lot, entrance gates, getting to the seat.) That delay causes an exponential change/delay with others. Each person delayed will then also delay hundreds of others and those hundreds delayed will delay tens of thousands. With all those changes causing the delays and changes in peoples' routines, any million things can happen which would not have otherwise happen:
• Someone, who would not otherwise have been near coach Gary Patterson at an exact moment in time, could innocently say to him, "You've never been much of a gambler." That innocuous comment sticks in Patterson's mind.
• A kicker comes in contact with a "fan" who yells, "Don't choke" which, for whatever reason, really bugged him. 
• A player has 30 extra seconds before the game to think about what to do in a certain formation because he's not called to a final meeting due to a delay -- a delay caused by the ripple effect of thousands delays caused by me. 
• A defensive lineman hears, "We're counting on you, Lynch!" during pre-game from a fan who wouldn't have been at that exact spot and time otherwise. That comment later crosses his mind when he's tired and exhausted.
• Like I said, think of a million other examples of change. And if one single play is changed, all plays after it will be changed.
• I ran all of this by Mrs. LL who thought I was crazy but couldn't exactly say why. Interestingly, the example of delaying the coin toss by 30 seconds made her think most of all. Throw out the coin flip being delayed because of me running onto the field. I asked her if the coin flip was delayed for 30 seconds for any reason, can you tell me the game would have turned out exactly the same way? "I can't say that it would." 
• And that's my theory.
• Messenger: Above the Fold