Bag of Randomness
May The Fourth Be With You 2026

Trump shares bizarre AI-generated image of himself lounging in Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool with Cabinet members

Japanese toilet maker Toto surges 18% on AI chip component expansion plan

They aren’t making AI toilets. It’s just that the same technology used to manufacture ceramics (i.e., toilets) can also be used to manufacture chips, and chips have a better profit margin these days

Ask.com shuts down after nearly 30 years, marking the end of Ask Jeeves

Ask.com, originally launched as Ask Jeeves in 1997, officially closed down operations on May 1, 2026. The parent company, IAC, announced the closure as part of a shift away from its search business.

Ask Jeeves stood out in the late 1990s and early 2000s for its natural language interface. Users could type full questions and receive direct answers, with help from a mascot called Jeeves. At its peak, the search engine competed with Yahoo in the early web era, but Google eventually took over due to superior indexing.

The company rebranded to Ask.com in 2006, dropping the Jeeves branding to appear more modern and competitive.

A new US phone network for Christians aims to block porn and gender-related content –Launching next week on T-Mobile’s network, the cell plan takes a nuclear approach to online safety.

What an embarrassment. During King Charles’ visit last week to our nation’s capital, the administration not only flew the wrong flag at one point, but later flew his country’s flag upside down as they honored our war dead. Granted, the average U.S. citizen isn’t going to know what’s proper, but you can reasonably expect the people in charge of that stuff to know proper protocol.

Here were the mistakes:

  • On April 24, the Friday before the trip kicked off, ABC News reporter James Longman said that Australian flags were briefly raised alongside American flags on the light posts lining a major thoroughfare of Washington, D.C., the King and Queen’s first major stop stateside. “For about two hours, they put the Australian flag up alongside the Stars and Stripes… I think they realized their mistake, and they’ve replaced them now with the Union Jack,” Longman said in a video shared to Instagram.
  • The royals laid a wreath and posy at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honor the fallen and the military partnership between the United Kingdom and the United States, but a problem was spotted with the Union Jack flag on parade. The national flag of the U.K. featured in the King and Queen’s escort was flown upside down.

And I’ll be honest, I had no idea what a posy was, I had to look it up. Basically, it’s a small, hand-tied bouquet of flowers and foliage often gifted to convey sentiments.

Per The Independent: Pete Hegseth is now bringing his wife to Pentagon meetings after he ousted top officials: report

Now, Hegseth has brought his wife, Jennifer Rauchet, a fellow former Fox News producer, to some meetings and she sits in the back of the room.

It’s unclear if Jennifer had any role at the meetings or was just there to observe.

Hegseth has also filled his inner circle with his brother, Phil, who was appointed as senior advisor and attorney Tim Parlatore who has represented both Hegseth and Trump, according to the report.

The Independent has reached out to the Pentagon about the culture at the Department of Defense.

Odds on this passing?

Texas residents sue Elon Musk’s SpaceX saying massive sonic booms have damaged their homes

Punch it, Chewie!

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May The Fourth Be With You 2026

Bag of Randomness
Thursday, April 30, 2026

💙 Want to help?
  • Donate monetarily: Mineral Wells Disaster Relief Fund (via Envision Mineral Wells): https://www.zeffy.com/…/donate-to-mineral-wells…
  • Donate tangible items: Mineral Wells Center of Life, 200 SW 5th St. Please see the MWCOL Facebook page for a list of donation needs. We will post any relevant updates or changes as they are available.
  • Hours: 9 am – 6 pm tomorrow, April 30th
  • Volunteer: Report in person, fill out volunteer forms and you will be deployed as needed.
Steve Purdue Training Center-
300 S. Oak Ave., Mineral Wells, TX 76067

For questions, reach out to 940-328-7766.

  • Need assistance: Red Cross is based out of the First Baptist Church or can be reached at 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767)
  • To request volunteer assistance contact 940-328-7777
We will rebuild, together 💙

This appears to be the path of the EF-3 tornado that caused winds up to 145 mph that hit my beloved hometown of Mineral Wells on Tuesday. So it barely missed the high school, but took out a good chunk of the country club and what used to be Fort or Camp Wolters, which is now an industrial park. My heart goes out to all those employees who are not displaced and have nowhere to work to earn an income.

It was so surprising for me to hear that an EF-3 hit my hometown of Mineral Wells on Tuesday. It was even more surprising when I was watching the CBS Evening News, the national, not local, broadcast, and to see them do an extended live segment.

Heck, we even made the Paper of Record and the BBC.

And here’s aerial footage from CNN, without sound.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by CNN (@cnn)

I’d just like to add that I was really proud of my 1994 classmate, a football teammate since sixth grade and now the chief of police, who handled a press conference exceptionally well. My hometown is in good hands.

A new feature from TxDOT’s Statewide Planning Map shows Texans where to find roadside wildflower blooms across the state. Just be sure to select “Blooms Across Texas” beneath the “Basemaps” sidebar menu.

The map shows the locations of four types of blooms: Prairie verbena, Texas paintbrush, Indian blanket, and bluebonnets. It also includes locations of annual wildflower festivals and other floral attractions across the state.

For the last several months, I’ve been seeing reports that the U.S. military is running short on weapons (WSJ: The U.S. Ammo Shortage Is Worse Than You Think) (US at risk of running out of missiles if another war breaks out after depleting stockpile in Iran operations).

And when you hear reports that the USS Gerald R Ford broke the record for longest deployment since the Vietnam War, countries like China (toying with Hong Kong) or North Korea could really stir the pot and take advantage of how thinly spread things are.

I’ve never watched The Sopranos, nor can I recall ever watching a James Gandolfini movie other than his small part in Crimson Tide, but I really like his son’s performance as a young, sleazy staff member in the New York Mayor’s office.

 

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Thursday, April 30, 2026

Bag of Randomness
Tuesday, April 28, 2026

I’ve got an upper-respiratory infection and feel like crud.

Regarding the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, I find it odd how almost all news organizations leave out the detail that the shooter wasn’t even on the same floor as the president or the ballroom. The shooter had to be insane to think he could get close enough to the president or any other administration officials to cause any harm after breaching the first checkpoint.

President Trump is using the incident to push the need for his coveted ballroom, which is just silly. The Correspondents’ Dinner is an annual event, and this year’s attendance was around 2,600. The initial plans for Trump’s White House ballroom would have sat 650 guests, later revised to a maximum of 1,350. State dinners, the kind in which they use a tent, generally accommodate between 300 and 500 guests.

And, I’m still a bit surprised how Vance’s Secret Service detail whisked him away much sooner than Trump’s detail.

I continue to keep an eye on how China is advancing, and sadly, how I think they will become the world leader in technology. Here are a few things of note.

I just spent two days at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show (Auto China 2026), and I need to tell you something: the future of the auto industry is electric and Chinese. I’m not being dramatic. Just realistic.

In a single hall at the show, there were more EV models on display than there are available ones in the entire United States. There are 17 halls at this show. Seventeen. And they all have more EVs than the US market.

The show features 1,451 vehicles, including 181 world premieres and 71 concept cars, sprawling across a record-breaking 380,000 square meters of exhibition space at two venues. It’s now the largest auto show in the world — and it’s not even close.

Walking through the show, the first thing that hits you is the scale. This is not like any auto show I’ve attended in the West. The energy is different. The booths are massive. The vehicles are ambitious. And almost everything is electric or electrified.

……..

The scale of what’s happening here is staggering. In 17 halls of exhibition space, Chinese automakers are showcasing vehicles that span every possible market segment — from $10,000 city cars to million-dollar hypercars, from off-road adventure SUVs to autonomous robotaxis, from electric motorcycles to luxury sedans that rival Rolls-Royce.

The battery makers are the unsung heroes. CATL, CALB, EVE Energy, and others had booths that rival the automakers themselves, and they’re pushing technology forward at a pace that makes western battery efforts look sluggish.

Full Article

Sidenote: I like this matte-red.

 

Texas leads U.S. in business bankruptcies as filings keep rising amid economic pressures

Texas is continuing to lead the nation in the number of businesses filing bankruptcy, new data show, with one of every six U.S. cases being filed in the state.

The increases are tied to economic pressures including persistent inflation, the impact of tariffs and rising interest rates and consumer debt.

Full San Antonio Express News Article

 

Texas school sent waiver for parents to allow kids to be coached by sex offender – The former Houston Astros prospect holds previous charges of online solicitation of a minor and domestic violence.

The Texas Home Educators Sports Association (THESA) thought it could get away with allowing a registered sex offender to coach minors by sending parents a waiver to sign, with the coach’s testimony attached, according to Amy Smith at watchkeep.org.

The report comes a day after Smith uncovered that Tommy Whiteman, a 46-year-old former Houston Astros prospect, was the head coach for the THESA Riders based out of Fort Worth, and had previously worked with the Haskell High School softball team—located almost an hour north of Abilene—while also operating an indoor baseball and softball facility in Keller called Redemptive Sports. He is currently listed on the Texas Sex Offender Registry until 2030 for online solicitation of a minor back in 2010, meaning communicating or distributing sexually explicit material. He also has previous domestic violence and assault convictions in Oklahoma from incidents in 1999 and 2000.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Bag of Randomness

Last night’s Jeopardy! was the best or the most competitive I’ve seen. Considering the current champion, Jamie Ding, was on a 29-game winning streak, a lot was at stake. So, seeing two true Daily Doubles during “Double Jeopardy!” was pretty tense.

During the first round, the first column of categories was “Big 12 Schools”.  To my surprise (and delight), no one buzzed in on this answer.

Interesting rodeo and rodeo-after-party ad.

Why on Earth would the University of Georgia coaches and staffers ever want to overshadow their players? I have no issue with where the president is standing, but the five men show a lack of respect, character, and simple awareness. I wouldn’t want my daughter playing for them. But much of the fault lies with the photographer, White House Communications Advisor and Special Assistant to the President, Margo Martin, for horrible staging. The photographer even allowed a purse (on the ground) to be visible.

However, I will fault President Trump for shaking only the men’s hands and not taking the time to shake the eleven women’s hands.

Walt Disney World says its new solar facility can produce 100% of the daytime power for all its parks

As per its announcement, the addition of its fourth solar facility means that all of its sites combined “can produce up to 100% of the daytime power needs of the entire resort”.

The solar project spans a mammoth 484 acres — roughly the size of 366 football fields — and provides 74,500 kilowatts of power to supply clean electricity to every park on the resort and their amenities.

Now that Walt Disney World has increased the number of solar facilities, this means that the resort now has a staggering 600,000 panels that feed power to every nook and cranny of the resort.

When you put all this into perspective, the fact that Walt Disney World has accumulated enough solar panels to provide clean electricity for all daytime operations is a huge environmental achievement, yet still an unbelievable one.

I’ve never heard of this reverend before, but his tweet was trending. He comes across as if he isn’t aware of the Reformation and that protestants have basically been done with the Papacy since the 1500s.

This administration is maddening, and no one there called them out on it. They make our country the laughing stock of the world.

First of all, an increase from 100 to 600 represents a 500% increase.

Second, a decrease from 600 to 100 is a 83.33% decrease (rounded to two decimal places).

Again, voters knew what they were getting, and they chose to put him there.

Live Nation drops $30 tickets to dozens of Dallas summer 2026 concerts

From April 29 through May 5, fans can purchase $30 tickets to see their favorite artists from different genres in venues of all sizes, from clubs and theaters to amphitheaters and arenas.

There are literally dozens of artists featured in the deal, including 5 Seconds of Summer, Empire of the Sun, The Fray, Goo Goo Dolls, James Taylor, Kesha, Kid Cudi, Luke Bryan, mgk. NE-YO & AKON, The Pussycat Dolls, Tim McGraw, and more.

I’m surprised that cereal companies would even consider not putting toys into cereal. Kids will beg their parents to buy a cereal, even ones they have never tried before, just for the toy.

Kellogg is putting toys back into some cereal boxes as a ‘Toy Story 5’ tie-in –
If you’ve missed rooting around in your cereal box for a toy, you’re in luck

Starting on Sunday, special edition boxes of Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, AppleJacks and Corn Pops will have plastic toys shaped like characters from Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5.” The movie is scheduled to hit theaters in June.

Plastic toys used to be a mainstay in breakfast cereal, but they have gradually disappeared as manufacturers tried to cut costs and consumers worried about choking and other hazards. Kellogg was criticized in 2004 for including Spider-Man watches with mercury batteries in its cereal boxes, for example.

If you use Google Chrome as your primary browser, but get annoyed when you visit a website and it asks you if you’d like to log in using your Google account, here’s how to turn that feature off.

The first part of this Simpson’s couch gag reminded me of this classic MGM cartoon.

@weirdismymiddlename86 ORIGINAL HOME OF THE CARTOON CLASSICS ON TIK-TOK THANKS TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS FOR THE SUPPORT OVER THE YEARS! Another MGM Cartoon Classic ‘One Cab’s Family’ enjoy! 😊 #fyp #foryou #fypシ #thegoodolddays #autismawareness #mentalhealthmatters #classiccartoons #pleasesupport #haterswillbeblocked #nohaters #oldcartoons #oldschoolcartoons #originalhomeofcartoonclassics #merriemelodies #warnerbros #looneytunes #looneytunescartoons #goldenoldies ♬ silence – moartea regelui.

 

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