Bag of Randomness
Friday, July 17, 2026

You don’t really see presidents address the nation sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office anymore. Biden and Bush did it, but Trump and Obama preferred to stand. An address to the nation during prime time from behind the Resolute Desk feels more important and distinguished.

The midterms will take place on Tuesday, November  3, 2026. Prepare yourselves for Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Trump is going to throw a fit, and the integrity of our elections will be thrown into question. It will be a sad day for America. I continue to find it strange that he keeps complaining about the 2020 election, considering he was the acting president at the time.

ABC and NBC chose not to air President Trump’s address to the nation, which really says something about this administration’s propaganda. There’s no surprise that David Ellison’s CBS chose to run it. After his speech, CBS News chose to interview a senator who called them out on it.

As you’ve heard, Texas has a hog problem.

North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis’ neckwear caught my attention yesterday.

Here’s the story of his fashion statement:

Now that the World Cup is wrapping up, I’m sure we’re going to see an influx of notable violent ICE raids.

Notably, ICE has been hiring so quickly that they’re getting people on the force before their background checks are even complete.

ICE went on a hiring spree. Sterling credentials were not required, AP investigation finds

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants to make testosterone therapy available to the military. I actually don’t have a problem with it. My doctor’s office actually offers it to women to help with energy levels, muscle strength, mood, and sexual desire. So, I’m curious if it will also be available to the women in our military and how many will take advantage of it.

The House of Representatives passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent, and many folks are hoping the Senate will give it the thumbs-up. But some folks are really against the measure: Why Orthodox Jews are opposing the new daylight saving bill in Congress

While jobhunting yesterday, one listing caught my attention. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a job that cared about your SAT scores.

So, what happens to all the grass used at the World Cup venues? A bit of everything.

When Joe Flacco won the Super Bowl MVP, he was awarded a new Corvette. He still has it, though it’s been sitting in the garage for a long time. But, as his wife states, it’s like a trophy and parting with it would feel odd.

Damn, Joe Rogan had to break down common decency for the current Vice-President of the United States. I don’t listen to Rogan, so I’m not a fan, but I appreciate him for not backing off.

It’s not like the President ever accepted a jumbo jet as a gift or anything.

ProPublica: FCC Officials Took Pricey Gifts From Paramount as the Company Needed Approval for Billion-Dollar Deals

Former ‘Teacher of the Year,’ assistant principal arrested on child sex charges

A former Mississippi educator is in custody after police say she had sexual relations with a student. Olivia Marie Smith has been charged with sexual battery and enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes.

Smith previously worked as a teacher at Ocean Springs Middle School, where she won “Teacher of the Year” in 2022, and was most recently assistant principal at Oak Park Elementary.

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey comes out this weekend. I really never understood why it took Odysseus 10 years to make this three-hour trip.

I’m sure most of y’all are aware of how large IMAX film is, but this clip from a Dallas Cinemark is a great visual of what it takes just to watch the film. The film is so large, Nolan could only film for three minutes at a time before having to replace the reel.

 

 

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Friday, July 17, 2026

Bag of Randomness
Monday, July 13, 2026

I drove to Mineral Wells to break bread with an old friend I haven’t seen in a while. For once, traffic was great. However, one couple ahead of me riding a motorcycle freaked me out: every time they passed an 18-wheeler, they literally swerved so close that both would touch the trailers with their hands, as if they were high-fiving the rolling objects.

My friend told me that his high school-aged daughter often gets paid to dog-sit a healthy doggy for three hours.

A lot of folks fell for this AI-generated video. And surely the Minnesota Vikings and their fans will incorporate rowing as a part of their game experience.

The cigarette lighter in cars was originally designed for cigars.

The electrical cigar-lighter was invented and patented in the early 1880s by the Swiss-Austrian inventor Friedrich Wilhelm Schindler. In the 1890s, these tools were sold as electrical cigar lighters in the major German warehouse catalogues. Before the Great Depression, cigarettes overtook cigars in sales, and they became more popularly known as “cigarette lighters”, though they have remained the diameter of a standard cigar of 21 millimetres (0.83 in), or a 52 ring gauge.

Senators celebrate bipartisan housing bill becoming law despite Trump’s refusal to sign

I learned a lot of folks weren’t aware of the 10-day rule and thought it always takes the president’s signature for a bill to become law. So, in case you are wondering why there’s a 10-day rule (Sundays excepted), it’s because the Framers wanted it that way, as it prevents a president from killing a bill just by ignoring it indefinitely. Most state constitutions are also designed this way.

Once Congress passes a bill and sends it to the president, he has three options:

  1. Sign it; and then it becomes law.
  2. Veto it. He sends it back to Congress with objections, and Congress can override with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
  3. Do nothing. If the president declines to sign or veto it, it becomes law without his signature, as long as Congress remains in session.

This reflects where the framers put the burden of proof. They’d just fought a revolution against unchecked executive power, and Congress was designed as the branch closest to the people. So the default was built to favor the legislature: if the president won’t affirmatively object, his silence isn’t allowed to function as a kill switch. He has to spend political capital to actually veto something and explain why, in writing, to Congress.

The one carve-out — if Congress adjourns during the ten days, the bill dies instead of becoming law — exists for a practical reason: a veto is supposed to come with a formal objection message the president sends back to the originating chamber for reconsideration. If Congress isn’t around to receive it, that mechanism breaks down. So the framers decided silence should only count as approval when Congress is actually in session and available to respond.

I’m not sure why the FBI needs to be involved for an aorta tear.

If you hear anyone saying that Graham had a heart attack, they are dead wrong. An aortic tear is not a heart attack.

Graham was a simple, tragic man to understand. He was a much better senator when John McCain was around. When McCain died, he lost his moral compass.

It took the surprising death of Senator Lindsey Graham for Senator Mitch McConnell’s team to better address the public about his long hospital stay. Sheesh. Thankfully, the public is now better informed about this important public servant’s status. It just shouldn’t have taken so long and so much to make this happen. It’s funny how they have him holding a newspaper to try to dispel any notion that it’s not a current photo.

In the release, McConnell says, “Surviving childhood polio meant spending my entire life with mobility challenges. They haven’t exactly gotten easier to manage with age. And last month, I took a fall which landed me in the hospital.”

In an odd bit of coincidence, this was also reported yesterday:

 

 

 

 

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Monday, July 13, 2026

Bag of Randomness
Friday, July 10, 2026

It’s not even up for debate, but Bonnie Tyler’s best song was Holding Out for a Hero. Sure, Total Eclipse of the Heart was her biggest hit; I won’t argue that.

“Hero” was originally recorded for the film Footloose, which I’ve oddly still haven’t seen. My first memory of the song was as an opening credit song for a CBS show, Cover Up. Sadly, the star of the show died from the misuse of a prop handgun with a blank cartridge against his head while playing a game of Russian roulette.

An under-reported story this week: George W. Bush turned 80. That’s a milestone birthday, and I only found out about it days later.

Starting on the Fourth of July, I decided it was time to watch a television series I’ve kept putting off: Turn: Washington’s Spies.

It’s better than I expected, and I think the acting is great. After each episode, I enjoy going online to see how much of the drama sticks to historical accuracy. I’d say about 70%. It was a nice surprise seeing that the underappreciated Stephen Root was part of the cast.

And since I brought up the Fourth of July, I thought it was odd for Senate candidate Texas AG Ken Paxton to be spotted in England with his mistress during the historic holiday. He didn’t do anything “wrong,” and he’s still favored to win, but vacationing in England, the nation we had to fight to win our independence during its 250th, was just a strange move (with his mistress, no less). Well, at least he didn’t abandon Texas to visit the tropics during one of the worst recorded ice storms in state history.

And, for the sake of a little balance, Main Democrats sure can’t vet a Senate candidate. Sheesh!

Perhaps my biggest annoyance about broadcast news is when they tease a story that could prevent harm and even be time-sensitive, but don’t provide any pertinent information to force the public to tune in. They love to tout their importance and their role as a public service to the community, but they really fail when they pull this stunt.

The latest example I saw of this was ABC World News Tonight with David Muir. They teased a story about an important recall of a popular eye drop because it may contain a foreign substance. They didn’t even get to the story until well after the first commercial break. And yes, I know in today’s world, you can easily find it online. But get this: Muir gave the story probably about 15 seconds and stated more can be found on their website. So, when I visited their website about an hour after broadcast, I couldn’t find the story on the front page, even after doing a Ctrl-F for keywords.

So, in case you are wondering about the details, here’s the direct link to the recall on the FDA’s website, and here’s a news article about the recall.

In a recall notice posted on its website on Thursday, the FDA said that the recall of more than 2.5 million bottles of Lupin’s prednisolone eye drops was because of the “presence of foreign substance.”

The affected bottles come in 5 mL, 10 mL and 15 mL quantities, and were produced by the India-based Lupin, which specializes in manufacturing generic pharmaceutical medications.

Another damn White House construction project: White House Hangs Tarps Over North Portico Amid Trump’s Construction Blitz

“Standard restoration work?” If you believe this, then I have a bridge in New York I want to sell you. He’s going to change the columns, something you may remember me posting about back in March.

All the news about Senator Mitch McConnell’s health is odd and very suspect. Even President Trump said he doesn’t know what’s going on, and since when does Trump admit not knowing something? His wife arrived in China on June 12, two days before McConnell’s emergency, and remained there for over three weeks while he was hospitalized. She’s even getting heat from the newspaper in her and her husband’s hometown.

Yes, the U.S. is knocked out of the World Cup. And yes, Country Roads was a great song for all of us to sing along to, but was there a missed opportunity not sneaking in I’m A Real American? You know, Hulk Hogan’s intro music? Hear me out: not only were we the main host nation, but it literally was taking place during our 250th birthday. It’s like the planets aligned for this one moment.

Here’s the feel-good story of the week. It’s one I’ve been keeping track of for a while thanks to Steve Hartman of CBS News and his end-of-week feel-good segments. It got even better when Shaq caught wind of this 7-foot-3 young man who preferred being a cop to being a basketball player. He fell one point short on passing the state exam, so Shaq jumped in to cover his living expenses for the next five months so he could focus on passing the test.

With Shaquille O’Neal’s help, Jordan Wilmore earns his Kemah police badge

U2 released the first track of their upcoming album, and most of us fans aren’t too impressed. But hey, I’m just happy for something new and another tour.

West Virginia spent $3M to create university program to fight ‘woke ideology.’ One student is enrolled  – State lawmakers mandated the center’s creation despite recent budget troubles at the university

Hey, what could go wrong?

Federal government proposes to lessen nuclear reactor environmental reviews

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Friday, July 10, 2026

Bag of Randomn
Monday, July 6, 2026

I saw this and thought it was worth sharing, even if it’s a bit hokey.

Hate To-Do lists? Tilt your perspective a bit and rename it a Get-To-Do list. So many times in life, we feel like we “have to” do something. But in reality, we don’t have to; we get to.

It might not seem like it makes a big difference to see
life as something you have to do versus get to do, but there is. A huge, magnificent difference.

This was a fun Twitter thread to read through. And his stats are interesting.

I’m surprised that, as overweight as President Trump is, he hasn’t been taking any GLP-1 type of medication.

Also, I need to check if any of the prediction markets have odds on whether he wears a military uniform before the end of his term. I’m not talking about a flight suit like George W. Bush wore; I’m talking about some sort of decorative military outfit.

The Atlantic republishes JD Vance’s Trump op-ed from 2016

The Atlantic on Saturday republished Vice President Vance’s essay, originally published exactly 10 years ago on July 4, reviving some of the more biting comments Vance made about President Trump prior to becoming his second vice president.

In an editor’s note, the magazine said it was republishing the story “on the occasion of its tenth anniversary, so that our readers can judge for themselves how well his assessment of the man he now serves as vice president has stood the test of time.”

The original essay was written during Trump’s first presidential campaign while Vance worked at Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm, Mithril Capital Management.

Klyde Warren Park’s next phase: An ice rink and indoor pavilion

Klyde Warren Park is getting a two-story pavilion, a terrace overlooking the Dallas skyline and a lawn that will double as an outdoor ice skating rink in the winter.

Random factoids

  • John Adams is being played by William Daniels, known by many as Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World, the voice of KITT on Knight Rider, and, for us older folks, a regular on St. Elsewhere.
  • Despite the setting being Philadelphia, this was shot on the backlot of a Burbank studio in California. The fountain in the scene is the one in the Friends intro, even though many have mistaken it for the Cherry Hill Fountain. Actually, the fountain has been in a plethora of things you are familiar with. Here’s a secondary reference if you’re interested.

And to think I thought the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s staircase’s only tie to cinematic history was the Rocky films. But it was used to test out the first steady-cam two years before the release of the film.

Hegseth recently unceremoniously booted the Army’s commander of its forces in Europe and Africa — who was famously the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021. That decision even divided his party (GOP lawmakers divided over Hegseth’s ouster of top Army commander).

You can tell he was loved and respected by those he commanded as well as by their families.

The father of five had one heck of a military career.

Born on August 13, 1969, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Donahue graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1992 and was commissioned as an Infantry officer. He holds a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College and completed an Army War College Fellowship at Harvard University.
Donahue deployed over 20 times, participating in operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya. His command history includes: 
    • Delta Force: Served in and commanded squadrons for the elite 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. 
    • 82nd Airborne Division: Commanded the division during the final stages of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, where his iconic night-vision departure made headlines worldwide. 
    • XVIII Airborne Corps: Commanded the corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (2022–2024), overseeing early military coordination following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 
    • U.S. Army Europe and Africa: Confirmed as a four-star general, he took command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa in December 2024 

Awards & Recognition
Donahue’s awards include two Bronze Stars with “V” device for valor, among numerous other military decorations.

I’ve enthusiastically been enjoying HBO’s Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness. The last skit in the latest episode features the late, un-bearded Rob Reiner in his final screen appearance as George Washington. Here’s part of the skit, and here’s a language warning.

 

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Monday, July 6, 2026