Random Friday Morning Thoughts

• Trump has been relentless over his criticism of Amazon (whose owner just happens to own the Washington Post.) What if the head of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, bought Twitter with his pocket change and then banned Trump? 
• If that happened, it would make me initially very happy and then, later, very sad. Trump's Twitter feed is one of my great joys. 
• We are all doomed. Count the red flags in this headline:
  
• And another: 
  
• You would think those living in downtown Fort Worth are hipsters. Turns out they are older, white, and rich. 
• It drives me nuts when there are the constant comments about how the Democratic Party was racist pre-1960. That is, in fact, true. But the people of Texas and the entire South were Democrat dominated until 1980 when they switched to the Republican Party in the Reagan landslide.  The South simply changed teams. 
• That is not to disparage anyone who runs as a Republican in the South. Regardless of your beliefs, you cannot get elected if you do not. At least for now.  (Wise County was slow to change. You could not win as a Republican in Wise County until the mid 1990s.)
• The fact that our new puppy dog is in Pet Smart's "Puppy College" makes me want to question everything I value. 
• The Texas Tribune has a story explaining why teachers in Texas can't strike because it is against the law. Trust me, they can. There is no criminal penalty but, yes, they could lose their jobs and benefits. Yet, if teachers organized en masse and walked out for a pay hike across the state, what's the State of Texas and/or local administrations going to do? Fire all of them and take away their retirement? No. First, their is no way to replace all of them. Secondly, those in charge would fear the political blowback for retaliating against teachers. The voting block of teachers, their relatives and friends is enough to destroy any politician. But a walk out would take courage.
• The fact that it has to be explained what a severe weather "watch" is compared to a "warning" makes me concerned about the public.
• Someone in Southlake got scammed by someone they met on Match.com and "was out over $200,000" and never met the person. That victim is not smart enough to have $200,000 in the first place. 
  
• At the time that I'm writing this, Dennis Prager's book has plummeted to #77 on Amazon. (I had a guy up at the courthouse ask me yesterday who he was. I told him he was a radio talk show host on his third marriage who, as proof of his psuedo-intellectualism, gives advice in a "Relationship Hour" every week.)
• Edit: Make that #87. But at least he is competing with a book called "Her Best Men":
  
• I will always love this photo: 

  

  "But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

• I went through "Bible Drills" as a kid. The Sunday School teacher would line us up as we all held a Bible. Then she would say a book, chapter, and verse and the first one to locate it in the Bible would win. I still remember this trick: Psalms, from a page count standpoint, is in the middle of the Bible. 
• Trump will avoid the White House Correspondence Dinner again. What a coward. And never forget when Obama scorched him at it in 2011. I'm not sure he has ever been back. The man has not an ounce of humor in his soul. 
• Secret: If you are on deferred adjudication for a Class C traffic ticket the chances of any municipality in Texas finding out that you got another ticket during your probation is less than 1%. (By the way, I've not received a traffic ticket since 1989. Mrs. LL, on the other hand . . . . )