$53,400,000.00

And that's just a guy's Christmas bonus. The progressive income tax system sounds really good right now.

Boyd Football Gets A Shout Out In The "Morning News"

Story Edit: This is confusing. I saw the AP All State team in the Morning News at lunch today and then did a quick search on the newspaper's web site so I could post it. I'll admit, I saw the date and then didn't look at the story. My bad. What's odd is that two kids from Boyd did make the All State team this year. I'll track down their names.

This World Is A Confusing Place

The Update . . .

. . . isn't working online. And the world has stopped turning for a moment.

An Absolute Disqualification for Any Wise County EMT

9 out of 10

Story. Random note from Wikipedia: Clinical depression affects about 16% of the population. I have a team of scientists working on a possible correlation.

My 5th Wife Used To Dunk Over Me . . .

. . . but I rarely told anyone. (Photo: From the very family friendly Sports Illustrated)

Biggest Time Waste In The History Of Ever

25 Really Addictive Flash Games

YouTube.Com Joys

- Sarah Silverman on Leno a couple of years ago discussing her "Brazilian wax" (I think I love her.) - And if Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees had a talk show (from Saturday Night Live - last weekend, I think. The first minute "opening" was gold.)

You're A Bad Man

Donald Trump, who runs the Miss USA pagent, completely used the current title holder, Tara Conner, over the last two weeks. Rumors first began to flow that the 20 year old girl had been hanging out in bars in Manhattan, and then the speculation grew (by Trump) that she might have to relinquish her crown. Trump drug it out for days before finally holding a nationally televised press conference today giving her a second chance - but humiliating her for the sake of publicity in the process.

Somber

I'm at a driver's license hearing office in Fort Worth (it handles suspensions due to DWI arrests) as I type this out. It's weird today because most of the officers in attendance have black bands over their badges in honor of the Fort Worth officer that was killed over the weekend. Somber place.

Edit: Sheesh, I'm away from the comments for the afternoon only to return to find that Christmas Cheer has broken out all over the place.

Scandal?

Rest in the Update here. I guess this is a, "see you later, we'll be in the gym" situation. Of course, the teacher of the "student leadership" class would probably be in a bit of trouble.

Prayer

As a follow-up to my Barney Williamson "Does God Intervene?" post a few days ago, I thought of this tonight. As you probably know, three hikers had been missing on Mount Hood in Oregon with two of them being from Dallas. Yesterday, one was found dead (sheesh, can you imagine freezing to death?) but the other two have not been found. It does not look good. But tonight, on Fox 4 News, I learned that the local church of one of the men held a prayer vigil this afternoon, with the pastor leading the congregation with: "We pray that [they] will be found. But we remember that God alone can save." Questions. Questions. Questions. Has God chosen not to intervene? Can prayer change that? Can God be persuaded to change his decision not to intervene? Does it matter as to the number of people that showed up at the vigil to pray? No one talks about these questions. And although everyone must have thought of them at one time or another, we feel guilty for having those thoughts enter our minds. Don't we?

Joe Barbera . . .

. . . might mean nothing to you. Knowing that he is half of the team of Hanna-Barbera might ring a bell. Joe Barbera died today at the grand old age of 95. The partners, who teamed up while working at MGM in the 1930s, then went on to a whole new realm of success in the 1960s with a witty series of animated TV comedies, including The Flintstones, The Jetsons , Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and Huckleberry Hound and Friends.

I Refuse To Link . . .

. . . to a Sports Blog that thinks its appropriate to post about a bar sponsored pillow fight between a girl in lederhosen and another girl in a short skirt. Disgusting.

$412,375.00

There are a ton of "law blogs" on the Internet. From law school students, to professors, to defense lawyers, to public defenders (my 8th future wife?). This one was a great assessment of a "special prosecutor's" bill to Dallas County in connection with the Fake Drug Scandal.

Random Cop Thought

When you think about it, isn't it odd that a cop has the absolute discretion to write someone a warning instead of a ticket? No standards. No guidelines. Some people get a break while others do not.

A TxDot Engineer's Dream Girl