Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• Stephen F. Austin beat Duke last night at Cameron Indoor Arena. Watch the ending here (and here's video shot from the crowd.) It's great. Duke hadn't lost at home to a non-conference opponent in 19 years.
  
• There was a big plant explosion in Port Neches overnight which is making national news. Someone posted this of the explosion taken from their doorbell cam. (Turn the sound up.) Edit: Here's a another one showing a door being blown off.
  
• When do I get an award as an Online Influencer? 
• From May 8th of this year:
  
• Then this happened yesterday with little fanfare:
  
• Baylor is # 9 and Oklahoma is #7 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.  If Oklahoma beats Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game, I bet they'll end up in the final four.  If Baylor upsets OU, Baylor won't make it to the playoffs even with a 12-1 record.
  
• Robert Jeffress had now gone full Robert Tilton (and you never go full Tilton.) He posted this yesterday asking for money to line his pockets. Note that a gift to "Pathway to Victory" is a gift to his side project -- it's not a tithe to the First Baptist Church of Dallas. I clicked on the link to try to learn about how your money would "effectively" be doubled but there is no explanation whatsoever. But I did learn that if you wish to give him money by credit card that you'll be asked if you will have the option to give a "3% generous gift extra to cover credit card fees! 
  
• I think it would be fun to be an appellate state court judge. And there's a judge in Houston who is after my own heart because he'll fire off some hot opinions. For example, in a case yesterday, the court reviewed the trial court's error in giving the jury an actual transcript of a witness's testimony to take back to the jury room after they indicated they couldn't agree on what was said. That's crazy. The law specifically says the judge is to "have read to them from the court reporter’s notes that part of such witness testimony or the particular point in dispute . . . ." (Emphasis added.)  But, despite this blatant violation and the defense lawyer objecting before it happened, the court said "no harm - no foul." In his dissent, he says he doesn't know why the law says read-it-back instead of take-it-back, but he rightfully doesn't care. That's what the law is. It's not hard. And his dissent starts of with a bang . . . 
  
• I had to look the judge up. He's Charles Spain. He just got elected for the first time last year, graduated from Baylor Law School two years after me, and his only previous judicial experience was being a municipal judge. 
• I was staring at the front the house on Sunday contemplating a different layout for the Christmas lights when Mrs. LL, in complete deadpan/skeptical mode, walked over to me and asked, "What's the plan, Phil?"
• Liberty County District Attorney Logan Pickett, 38, was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting his wife. "His wife said she found out after a Friday night dinner that Pickett had been having an affair for the past 15 months, according to police, causing an argument to begin." They were in Houston at the time. 
  
  
  
  
  
• I am certain that that North Texas State tried, but failed, to have its name changed to "Texas State" in the early 1980s, but I can't find anything to back me up. I think there was even a bill in the legislature but it was shot down. Somehow Southwest Texas State got the name a few years later. 
• He wants those people to testify! Really! He's just fighting it for future presidents! He's the most selfless man alive. 
  
• The anti-Christ is running wild in Parker County!
  
• There are two high schools in Texas still in the playoffs who entered it with a 3-7 record. 
  
• Amazingly, Bill O'Reilly pushed Trump in an interview yesterday which caused him to say that Rudy was not working in the Ukraine on his behalf. How many times did Rudy's name come up in the "transcript" of the call with the Ukrainian president?
  
• When your husband calls part of that city a "disgusting, rat and rodent invested mess."
  
• Here's your helpful Liberally Lean Thanksgiving Tip: Don't try to fry your turkey with a nuclear bomb.
  
  
• I wonder if there are any media outlets doing the obligatory, but false, story of this being the busiest traffic day of the year at DFW Airport.  Oh . . .