Bag of Randomness for Monday, October 19, 2020

The way I’ve scheduled my remaining earned vacation days I have to take (use it or leave it), I shouldn’t be working a full work week for the remainder of the year. Most of my days off are on Mondays and federal holidays helped make it easier. One day off will be the day after election day, I have a feeling I may be up late the night before and the next day will be packed with news. Yet, I have the understanding we may not know results for weeks.

One of the more interesting local political commercials has a Chinese-born candidate accusing her white blonde0-hair opponent of having Chinese ties.

This Arkansas school turned solar savings into better teacher pay

The project that resulted has helped slash the district’s annual energy consumption by 1.6 million kilowatts and in three years generated enough savings to transform the district’s $250,000 budget deficit into a $1.8 million surplus.

Just as Hester envisioned at the outset, a major chunk of the money is going toward teachers’ salaries — fueling pay raises that average between $2,000 and $3,000 per educator.

Cornyn says he broke with Trump on deficit, border wall, but kept opposition private

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Friday that he disagreed with President Trump on issues such as the deficit and a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, but that Senate Republicans doubted their capacity to “change” the president on such issues.

The Texas Republican told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that his relationship with the president was “maybe like a lot of women who get married and think they’re going to change their spouse, and that doesn’t usually work out very well.”

Well, I know who’s not going to win the political Profile in Courage award. Sheesh, what a coward. He wouldn’t be admitting this unless he considers Trump an albatross, thinks the president will lose, or think the race with Hegar is uncomfortably close.

Why Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon, is telling the story her father wanted to tell

  • Helping to produce Warrior, the HBO and Cinemax series based on Lee’s idea, has allowed his daughter to emerge from his long shadow
  • His original pitch has been rumoured to have been the basis of the 70s hit series, Kung Fu. Seeing her father’s vision now realised is a vindication, she says

Mark Cuban’s brother on finding success: ‘I’m never going to be a billionaire and I’m ok with that’

Brian Cuban, billionaire Mark Cuban’s younger brother, says people often ask him about his work, especially since his brother is a famous entrepreneur.

But Brian, 59, isn’t anything like Mark or their younger brother, Jeff.

“We’re different people. My brother [Mark] is driven by different things,” Brian tells CNBC Make It.

“I’m never going to be a billionaire and I’m okay with that,” Brian says.

Brian is a former Dallas-based personal injury attorney, author and addiction recovery advocate. For the last 13 years, he has been in recovery from alcohol, cocaine and bulimia.

I’m sure our governor is proud of this achievement and will claim we are the most “secure” in the nation.

Texas ranks worst in national cost-of-voting study

Texas was rated highest for both the time and cost of voting. In particular, the state does not have widespread online voter registration, limits mail-in voting, closes registration a month before Election Day and has cut the number of polling stations in some areas by more than 50 percent.

Other factors that limit access include staunch voter ID laws and minimal early voting options.

The same study four years ago ranked Texas as the fifth-most restrictive state, behind Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee and Indiana. Researchers said Virginia has markedly improved access to voting since then by passing an automatic voter registration law, getting rid of its in-person registration deadline and making Election Day a state holiday, among other steps.

Oregon, Washington and Utah topped the 2020 list. Each state has a permanent mail-in voting process.

This reminds me of the time John Ashcroft lost to a man who died in a plane crash and then got appointed to be the Attorney General by president-elect George W. Bush. Ashcroft has the unique distinction of being the only incumbent U.S. Senator defeated for re-election by a dead person.

North Dakota legislative candidate who died of COVID-19 still on the ballot

Do we really need two Dakotas? They were both admitted to the union at the same time and it’s not like they need to be divided because of a hefty population.

Eruption of Sakurajima

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Bag of Randomness for Friday, October 16, 2020

Yesterday, a parent of one of WifeGeeding’s students dropped off Raising Cane’s for lunch. She was enjoying it until she bit into her coleslaw and found a press-on nail. WifeGeeding brought it up to the restaurant manager’s attention who assured her the employee with the missing press-on nail will wear gloves for now on.

Amazon took a page out of the Sears catalog. In yesterday’s mail was a decently sized toy catalog, which brought back memories of me flipping through the Sears Wishbook as a kid.

The Richards Group sure had a bad week.

My very close friend battling COVID-19 in the hospital was given convalescent plasma and Remdesivir. He’s been hospitalized for over a week, is a non-smoker, only 44 years old, and relatively healthy. This is the first time he’s ever had to visit the hospital as a patient.

I remember Benito Santiago mostly as San Diego Padre and thought it was cool that he wore the number 09. He’s the first professional player I can recall wearing a jersey with a leading zero as part of his uniform number.

Instead of watching any town hall I watched the theatrical version of HBO Max’s The West Wing. I loved it. However, I wasn’t fond of the choice of Sterling K. Brown as Leo McGarry. Brown just wasn’t old and weathered enough. Of course, there’s no replacing John Spencer. If I were in charge of casting, I would have drafted Michael Douglas. Sure, it would be a long shot. But, Douglas played the president in Aaron Sorkin’s The American President.  Martin Sheen played the president’s chief of staff, and he was exceptional. It would have been neat to see a bit of a role swap.

Ireland’s post office is called An Post. They are selling U2 commemorative stamps. Yesterday, I made my very first purchase from Ireland. My personal Holy Grail of stamps is the reverse number Sisyphus from one of the seasons of Fargo. Those who know me well know I identify a lot from the story of Sisyphus. I’d love to have it framed and hang it on the wall in my office.

Sometimes I get that phantom sensation of my phone ringing/vibrating in my pocket, and that’s when I feel like I’ve totally lost my mind.

Star Wars actors to reprise iconic roles for Disney+’s Lego Holiday Special – Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) are returning to the Star Wars universe

The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special also marks a redemptive return for the saga’s Holiday Special brand, as the project is a successor of sorts to the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special that aired once on CBS (and never again).

A New Star Wars Theory Explains the Real Meaning Behind Obi-Wan’s High Ground Advantage – A brilliant reading of the Revenge of the Sith scene connects all the way back to the Darth Maul duel in Episode I.

Rudy Giuliani Is My Father. Please, Everyone, Vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

I have a difficult confession—something I usually save for at least the second date. My father is Rudy Giuliani. We are multiverses apart, politically and otherwise. I’ve spent a lifetime forging an identity in the arts separate from my last name, so publicly declaring myself as a “Giuliani” feels counterintuitive, but I’ve come to realize that none of us can afford to be silent right now. The stakes are too high. I accept that most people will start reading this piece because you saw the headline with my father’s name. But now that you’re here, I’d like to tell you how urgent I think this moment is.

Boston News Anchor Says Appearing in Adam Sandler’s ‘Hubie Halloween’ Got Her Fired – The reporter says she “violated her contract” by making a cameo in the new Adam Sandler Netflix comedy.

GOP senator unloads on Trump in constituent call, saying ‘he mocks evangelicals’ and has ‘flirted with White supremacists’

“The way he kisses dictators’ butts. I mean, the way he ignores that the Uyghurs are in literal concentration camps in Xinjiang right now. He hasn’t lifted a finger on behalf of the Hong Kongers,” Sasse said in response to a constituent’s question about his relationship with Trump and his past criticisms of the President.
“The United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership. The way he treats women and spends like a drunken sailor. The ways I criticized President (Barack) Obama for that kind of spending I’ve criticized President Trump for as well. He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. He’s flirted with White supremacists,” the Nebraska Republican said.

The DC Universe is taking a giant leap into the future

In Gotham, Bruce Wayne is dead, and an all new Batman steps up to save the city. In Metropolis, Jon Kent steps into the boots of Superman after his father is exiled to space. And in the Amazon rainforest, a new Wonder Woman is chosen by the gods.

The dystopian lake filled by the world’s tech lust – Hidden in an unknown corner of Inner Mongolia is a toxic, nightmarish lake created by our thirst for smartphones, consumer gadgets and green tech, discovers Tim Maughan.

From where I’m standing, the city-sized Baogang Steel and Rare Earth complex dominates the horizon, its endless cooling towers and chimneys reaching up into grey, washed-out sky. Between it and me, stretching into the distance, lies an artificial lake filled with a black, barely-liquid, toxic sludge.

Dozens of pipes line the shore, churning out a torrent of thick, black, chemical waste from the refineries that surround the lake. The smell of sulphur and the roar of the pipes invades my senses. It feels like hell on Earth.

Welcome to Baotou, the largest industrial city in Inner Mongolia. I’m here with a group of architects and designers called the Unknown Fields Division, and this is the final stop on a three-week-long journey up the global supply chain, tracing back the route consumer goods take from China to our shops and homes, via container ships and factories.

You may not have heard of Baotou, but the mines and factories here help to keep our modern lives ticking. It is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of “rare earth” minerals. These elements can be found in everything from magnets in wind turbines and electric car motors, to the electronic guts of smartphones and flatscreen TVs. In 2009 China produced 95% of the world’s supply of these elements, and it’s estimated that the Bayan Obo mines just north of Baotou contain 70% of the world’s reserves. But, as we would discover, at what cost?

https://twitter.com/QuickTake/status/1316914896219607042

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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, October 15, 2020

Amazon Prime Day continues to not impress me.

I’m curious why we didn’t see any blood bleed through Dak’s sock, even a little.

I like my supreme court nominees to know what freedoms are protected by the 1st Amendment. Preferably, like the back of her hand.

If Senator Lindsey Graham was trying to add a little humor to the confirmation hearing by saying, “The good old days of segregation,” he could have at least delivered the line a bit better. The sarcasm wasn’t evident. I mean, I knew he said it out of sarcasm, but it certainly didn’t sound like it.

If there’s one thing our senior senator from Texas likes to do, it’s to spread disinformation.

Cornyn shares photo of Democratic senators from 2018, asks why they’re not wearing masks

Amy Coney Barrett on originalism: “That means that I interpret the Constitution as a law… I understand it to have the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it. That meaning doesn’t change over time and it’s not up to me to update it or infuse my policy views into it.”

I understand originalists will reference amendments allow for changes, but I’m going by the definition she provided. When the Constitution was ratified, women couldn’t vote, much less be judges, and blacks were only considered three-fifths of a person. You want to think like someone did at the time it was ratified?

While thankful, I’m surprised that Michele Bachmann hasn’t served in the Trump administration in some capacity.

The new guy in the neighborhood is a doppelganger for James Van Der Beek.

Nick Saban has tested positive for COVID-19, is asymptomatic, and coaching via Zoom. Okay, cool. But Alabama will still play this weekend? Surely, a head coach has been around his players recently. Those players may be positive even though they tested negative because of the incubation period, and will certainly infect their opposition.

Having Dementia Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Vote – Yes, you can help a cognitively impaired person participate in the election. But heed these two guidelines.

One: After reminding the person that Election Day is nearing, ask whether he or she would like to vote. A “no” stops the process, Mr. Sabatino said, but “anyone who expresses an interest in voting should be assisted, within the limits of the law.”

Two: You may read the voter the ballot choices, if he or she cannot read them, but cannot provide additional information or interpretation, although discussions before voting begins are permitted. “Ask them their choices and see if they answer,” Mr. Sabatino said. “If they do, they vote.”

New Bipartisan Super PAC “Not Our Faith” Targets President Trump

A bipartisan coalition of Christians is forming a political action committee that aims to weaken President Trump’s standing with evangelical voters.

The super PAC, Not Our Faith, plans a six-figure ad buy targeting evangelical and Catholic voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan, The Associated Press reported.

The ad accuses the president of exploiting Christian rhetoric and iconography for self-serving purposes, specifically citing his photo opportunity outside of St. John’s Episcopal Church earlier this year after police cleared Lafayette Square with tear gas and pepper spray.

“[Christians] don’t need Trump to save them. The truth is that Trump needs Christians to save his flailing campaign,” the ad states, according to the AP.

My Life as an Anti-Fascist Catfisher – Or how I found a violent white supremacist’s Achilles’ heel: online dating.

Victorian MP caught lifting speech from fictional TV show The West Wing

The Victorian MP delivered a 90 second speech yesterday afternoon which borrowed three times from a speech delivered by the fictional president Jed Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen.

Mr Talia spoke to Mr Fowles who admitted he was a huge fan of The West Wing, but said the lifting of the speech was unintentional.

“He has said he has phrases that are kind of lodged in his brain … and this was an unconscious homage to The West Wing’s creator Aaron Sorkin, who he describes as one of the greatest speechwriters we’ve ever seen,” he said.

That Victorian MP must be related to that famous Canadian Ted Cruz, who is also a plagiarist of Aaron Sorkin. (Yes, I know, I posted this not too long ago.)

The man does like to keep to a script.

 

 

 

 

 

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Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, October 14, 2020

I was listening to the radio and noticed a commercial for a business with a name like “Southwest Widows and Siding.” The commercial stated they are experts when it comes to windows because they “only do windows.” Well, if you only do windows, maybe you should update your company’s name.

But when it comes to local business names, nothing cracks me up more than Gourmet Donuts & Water. They don’t just sell donuts; they sell gourmet donuts. And they don’t just sell gourmet donuts, but they also serve water.

I really enjoyed putting up Halloween decorations last year, but I have zero motivation to do it this year, especially since I doubt a single treat-or-tricker will walk up to our door on Halloween.

I bought a dragon steam release attachment for our Instant Pot.

One of my closest friends is hospitalized with COVID-19. Unlike the president, he doesn’t consider it a blessing.

While watching the NFL Today on Sunday, I momentarily mistook Phil Simms for Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

What’s the cost per vote to become US president?

To determine cost per winning vote, we divided the amount spent by the candidate with the total number of votes they received. These numbers don’t include any funding contributed by candidates’ respective parties or political action committees (PACs) spending on their behalf. For clarity, our simple analysis is different than the cost-per-vote metric used by some campaign strategists, which is the likelihood of changing an election outcome with a marginal vote.

iPhone 12 does not come with power charger or earbuds in the box

A Woman’s football team in Houston later signed her.

YouTuber creates real-life ‘Star Wars’ lightsaber that slices steel

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