Bag of Randomness
Tuesday, February 3, 2026


A text I received from one of my closest friends who’s a Baptist pastor.

I can’t put into words how much it bugs me that he didn’t crop out his shoe at the bottom of the photo.

This is a good opportunity to repost this old story about the plot next to the JFK assassin.


The Trump Administration exempts new nuclear reactors from environmental review

The Trump Administration has created an exclusion for new experimental reactors being built at sites around the U.S. from a major environmental law. The law would have required them to disclose how their construction and operation might harm the environment, and it also typically required a written, public assessment of the possible consequences of a nuclear accident.


Nixon thought no one over the age of 40 should be able to run for a U.S. House seat. He also believed no one over the age of 70 should be in Congress.


Per The Dallas Morning News: Between 2014 and 2023, Dallas saw an average of nearly 14 fatal motor vehicle crashes annually per every 100,000 residents, according to a recent analysis.


I haven’t read the Texas Monthly article, but I’m just going to guess it’s about what’s ailing most Americans: affordability.


Texas Education Agency moves to correct 4,200 errors in Bible-infused elementary school curriculumState Board of Education members criticized the publishing errors and postponed their vote on the agency’s request until their next meeting.

Republican board member Audrey Young, who chairs the board’s instruction committee, said Friday that her committee has seen a high number of corrections before, but not “in the 1,000s, plural,” she said.

Four other publishers that submitted correction requests, for comparison, reported a combined 16 errors.


I didn’t know that Ken Starr represented Epstein and became friends with him. Baylor sure knows how to pick outstanding leadership. It’s also interesting that Epstein had a liking for James Dobson’s counseling approach.


Aggies aren’t handling the new Texas Monthly cover story well. The imagery is certainly provocative to anyone near and dear to College Station. The article is long, maybe too long, but definitive. So I could read it later, I printed it as a PDF using the “Reader Mode” function, but it was still 41 pages. However, I thought I knew a lot about Aggie history, but I learned a lot more. Especially how much of an honor it was for the male student body to dress up as women before they allowed females to enroll.

Interestingly, most of the old photos of their campus were attributed to the Hardin-Simmons University library.

And to try to stick the landing, Texas Monthly is offering its help.


Two Memphis City Council members are facing criticism after posting social media videos questioning whether last week’s snowfall in the Mid-South was real.

In separate posts, Yolanda Cooper-Sutton and Pearl Eva Walker suggested the snow may not be natural. Both referenced melting ice with a lighter as part of their claims, sparking backlash and widespread discussion online.

Memphis has some interesting characters. Remember that story I posted about two summers ago when I visited Graceland and the Lorrain Motel? I bought a postcard to send to a friend. After writing a message and addressing it the next morning, I put a regular postage stamp on it. On the way to St. Louis, finding a Post Office or mailbox for outgoing mail was harder to find than expected due to construction. Frustrated, I walked into a bookstore and asked if they would be kind enough to put the postcard in their outgoing mail. They absolutely refused and weren’t polite about it. It was nothing but a postcard with a stamp on it, but they were treating me as if I were trying to trick them into mailing a pipe bomb or anthrax.




Keep an eye out for any Murray State games and his 20-year-old French freshman. A little research tells me he already played a bit of pro basketball in Europe, which doesn’t disqualify him from college play.

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Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Bag of Randomness
Friday, January 30, 2026


I had a 1974 episode of The Rockford Files was playing in the background. Rockford stated his rate was $200 a day, plus expenses. As I often do when I watch old shows and movies, I decided to visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.

That amount today would be worth about $1,166.00. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.74% per year between 1974 and 2025, producing a cumulative price increase of 551.22%.


A loyal reader reminded me of the The Brimley/Cocoon Line, which I’m dangerously croping in on.

We all thought Wilford Brimley was pretty old-looking in Cocoon. But 50 isn’t what it used to be.



When I saw this headline:

I couldn’t help but think about what I read in this article:

It’s got to be a tough pill to swallow knowing your employer laid you off for cost savings, while overpaying the wife of a sitting billionaire president for a documentary no one is going to see.


I’m having to dig into savings, but I noticed a little risk I took after reading a Jerry Jones article in June 2019 will pay off. The article reported that the worst GM in the NFL decided to invest in a natural gas exploration initiative in East Texas. I thought it was worth taking a chance because Jerry may not know football, but he knows drilling.

“There’s $100 billion present value with gas out there,” the 83-year-old billionaire said in an interview. “That’s why I’m talking to you on the telephone rather than trying to fix our defense with the Dallas Cowboys.”  WSJ

Of course, I have also made many poor investment choices over the years.


 

 

 

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Bag of Randomness
Thursday, January 29, 2026


I know nothing about electricity distribution. However, with today’s technology, wouldn’t it be possible to use a low-voltage heating device to prevent power lines from freezing? I’m willing to bet those heating elements could be powered by solar panels or mini-turbines at the top of each pole or tower, with the power stored in batteries.


One thing about this tragic story I haven’t heard anyone mention is the tremendous guilt the teen driver of the Jeep must be feeling, and how he will probably carry it for life. The pessimist in me wonders if lawsuits will follow.


For the longest time, Dallas Cowboys fans would gripe about media bias regarding the Hall of Fame keeping so many Cowboys from getting enshrined. That media bias sure become evident now that Bill Belichick won’t be making it to the final round of voting.


Austin has a new concept grocery store that is pick-up or drive-thru only. I like the name of the place.


I finally watched John Carpenter’s The Thing for the first time. To be honest, I think this is the only John Carpenter movie I’ve seen, as I’ve avoided horror in my younger days. The movie was better than expected, and seeing an un-moustached Wilford Brimley was pleasand surprise.

My favorite obscure fact about Brimley is that he used to be a bodyguard for Howard Hughes.


Heads up, Central Texas (Feb 2–27): Planned GPS disruptions


 

 

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Bag of Randomness
Wednesday, January 28, 2025


I received this interesting email yesterday.

At first, I was confused because I made a post on Monday. However, it turns out I made a mistake scheduling the couple of posts, thus no recent posts. Sorry about that. It’s nice to know that someone actually cares and appreciates my content. I should post more often, I try to twice a week. Things have been just so darn discouraging as of late, personally and nationally. Hopefully, I can be more consistent.

Ah, what the heck, I’m turning comments on today.


I had a pipe freeze on Monday, which caused a big, unfortunate mess. I rushed to the main water turnoff valve in the front yard, but had trouble finding and accessing it because it was covered by at least two inches of ice.

The leak caused was such a mess that I knew my small one-gallon wet-dry vac wouldn’t put a dent in it. Thankfully, my neighbor let me borrow his larger one that holds sixteen gallons. I had to empty that thing six times. My quick math tells me that’s about 96 gallons. I called the property management company immediately, but had to leave two messages and didn’t get a hold of them until a couple of hours later.


This tweet randomly appeared in my feed, and I thought it made a strange and outrageous claim. I’ve been in a lot of local non-chain donut shops over the last three decades. Each has a slightly different taste and/or texture, and every one had a visible kitchen in the back.

As you go through the thread, you can even see that he double-downed on it. I can’t tell if this guy is insane or leaning into it a bit and using AI to make up stuff.

And, for the record, this family-owned shop in my old neighborhood has the best donuts and kolaches I’ve ever had, and I continue to go out of my way to support them. If they had a website or even a Facebook page, I would have linked to it, but that’s how mom-and-pop they are.


One ticket! (via The Guardian)


The God They Preach at the Pentagon


 

That reminded me of this recent Amish video.


It’s like he has a pet stingray.


OK, how can you not adopt this pup?


This image was trending recently, but it comes from an April 11, 2025, Financial Times article.




Compare and contrast.


Reagan Presidential Library

No Nobel, No Peace
L’État, C’est Moi

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