- I got a scam phone call from the Dominican Republic at the ungodly hour of 4:00 AM.
- I use to fear the late night phone call. My dad had a heart attack three days before my high school graduation and ever late night call in college made me take a deep breath before answering it. Of course, those were the days before caller ID.
- About once a month WifeGeeding reminds me that her father said he will get any of his children out of jail once, after that, they are on their own. She said she’s been saving her’s up for a good one. I’m left to wonder if she can trade these ‘get out of jail’ chances with her siblings.
- I should be living in New Mexico, but Texas Forever – Which State Matches Your Personality?
- T.A. At University Of Iowa Emails Her Own Nude Photos To Class Instead Of Homework Assignment
- As someone who has never been to boot camp or basic training but is fascinated by it, I found this (pdf) How to Hack Basic paper pretty interesting.
- Jay Carney sure has held the position of White House Press Secretary for two years and eight months. That’s a long time for that position, and as poor as he is at it, I’m surprised he’s lasted this long.
- The Russell Crow film about Noah seems to be having some trouble. That link also includes a leaked trailer for the film.
- Select seven to hold ‘Internet reboot’ keys
- Texas Voter ID Law May Cause Problems for Women Using Maiden Names – What a district judge used for voter registration and for identification for the last 52 years was not sufficient.
- I love ‘Elementary’ and ‘Sherlock’ equally.
- College basketball coach surprises walk-on with a full scholarship in front of his team – YouTube
- This article about LeBron’s ability to play football is pretty interesting as it cites the views of three different NFL scouts and even though there’s video of LeBron just playing flag football, it really makes you wonder how good he could be on the football field. For comparison sake: Dez Bryant is 6′ 2″ and 222 lbs, Jason Witten is 6′ 6″ and 261 lbs, LeBron is 6′ 8″ and 250 lbs. Somewhat related, I always wondered what position Shaq would best at in football.
- Hearing someone say “I have a quick question” annoys me. There’s no need to clarify or think that I’m being inconvenienced, just ask me the question.
- One-Handed High School Basketball Star
- Google experiments with giant banner ads on top of search results
- Japan says space cannon to be fired at asteroid is on track after successful test
- The Dallas Safari Club Will Save the Endangered Black Rhino by Auctioning Off the Chance to Shoot One
- Texas Rangers’ Derek Holland to appear in opening scene of ‘Dumb and Dumber To’
- I watched this weeks’ ‘Person of Interest’ and thought it was one of the best of the series.
- This blog has allowed me to develop friendships from afar, and one of them happens to be a radio personality in Kansas City who was nice enough to mention my name and blog on the air.
[audio:http://www.bagofnothing.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/wwvt13.mp3]
Congrats on the shout out. You deserve some recognition for all the hard work. +rep
According to the test I should be in California. Except for taxes, earthquakes and cost of living I could see that.
That T.A. message reminds me of Parks & Recreation… Erase all pictures of Ron!
The judge and the voter-ID opponents are making a big deal about nothing on the voter ID thing. I served as an election judge for years — it's common to have someone on the rolls that needs to verify that they are the actual voter and still live where they're registered. Many of them are marked in the pollbooks as "suspense" voters — maybe some mail was returned or something and so the election clerk needs to verify that the registration information is still accurate. No one "almost didn't get to vote" — it's completely reasonable to say "the names don't match exactly, so please sign this form." In fact, I'd bet (without knowing) that the form is then processed to update the voter registration to match the ID.
I think working as an election judge and helping with the voting process is a very admirable and patriotic way to serve your country. Thanks for helping make democracy flow.
Thanks — sorry, didn't mean to go into a rant on your blog.
No worries. You have direct knowledge and experience in this area so it hits home. I appreciate getting to learn a bit more about the the process, something I've been fascinated with for quite a while. And trust me, I appreciate the service to our country to let democracy happen.
Oh, the substantially-similar-name thing is even more bullshit than I thought. You know what the affidavit is? It's a box to initial on the pollbook when you're signing in that says "similar name." If you've ever voted in Texas without your voter registration card (using some other sort of ID), you've initialed the "no certificate" box on the old form. This is the same thing — just initial the box on the combination form saying the name on the ID you're using is a "similar name" to the voter registration of record. The "almost didn't get to vote" thing is just a flat-out lie, and part of the anti-voter-ID propaganda.
Here's what the new form looks like http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/pol-su…
I'll tell you that the object of every election judge and clerk is to get every eligible person vote. And even if the people are clearly ineligible — they're in the wrong precinct, aren't registered, whatever — you let them vote a provisional ballot if they want to (and I always warned them that eligibility will be verified and if they're not really eligible, it won't be counted). Working polls is a long pain in the ass job that you do as a public service (the $7 an hour or whatever it is these days sure isn't why you do it). Every time I see some story that exhibits absolute cluelessness on how things actually work, I want to tell those people that they ought to actually try helping for a change — go through training and spend a day (or several) actually working the polls.
I am right there with you on Sherlock and Elementary…. two totally different portrayals of a modern Sherlock. Cumberbatch nails the aloof detachment of the original stories. And the genius of Elelmentary is making Watson a female and all the relationship tension that creates.