Bag of Randomness for Monday, November 2, 2020

I hope this store has a massive clearance sale on Wednesday.

On Halloween morning, DaughterGeeding greeted us with, “Happy 500-something Martin Luther anniversary of hanging the 95 theses on the church door!” There was a lesson about that in one of her classes earlier in the year and the anniversary being on Halloween just stayed in her mind.

Despite the kinds not going out to trick-or-treat this year, WifeGeeding did a phenomenal job of making the night special for the kids. As a family, we carved a pumpkin, played truth or scare, bobbed for apples, play games, scavenger hunt for candy in the dark with the use of a headlamp, and watched some Scooby Dooby Doo Where Are You.

We did hand out candy and had a little over a dozen trick-or-treaters. I had a PVC pipe of about four feet long and used that to slide candy down to their candy bags and buckets. The University of Texas and Oklahoma State football game was on and went into overtime. I was stuck handing out candy but it was the first time BoyGeeding and I “talked football.” He would run over and tell me about the previous play, if it was a run or pass, yardage, down, and time left on the clock. I had a few questions from time to time but he answered them clearly. He told me this was a great learning experience for him and now he “actually understand down and distance.” It was a real sweet moment.

It’s despicable what that caravan of deplorable did to that Biden campaign bus traveling down the highway. And it’s sickening the Deplorable in Chief condoned it.

A lot of people who voted for Trump last year were quiet about it and that skewed polling data last year. I’m curious is that’s going to happen this year but with Republicans who voted for Biden.

Watching stories of voters in other states dropping off their ballots into official state voting boxes (somewhat dresembling a U.S. mail drop-off collection box) and being able to go online and verify their vote was accepted and tabulated the next day seems so foreign for this Texan. It makes me disappointed in our state leadership for putting us behind the times.

I’ve never seen a Sean Connery James Bond film. But then again, I haven’t seen many James Bond films. I suppose my favorite Connery films are Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and The Rock.

No, Sean Connery did not write a mean letter to Steve Jobs – Following the James Bond actor’s death, the long-debunked “letter” has resurfaced

Downtown Dallas looked great on Halloween night.

This was a last weekend of being forced to watch political ads while watching any live sporting event on television. The country will collectively breathe a sigh of relief.

Bye-bye coal, hello solar: Why Texas’ top power company, Vistra, is embracing clean energy – Since 2016, the Irving-based company has closed or announced the closure of 19 coal plants, and it’s investing $850 million in Texas renewables — with a lot more to come.

Trump Camp Uses Online Gimmick to Fuel Donations Into December – The Trump campaign is now automatically checking a box to create recurring weekly donations from supporters until mid-December.

President Trump’s campaign is raising money for a prolonged political and legal fight long after Nov. 3 and recently began automatically checking a box to withdraw additional weekly contributions from online donors through mid-December — nearly six weeks after Election Day.

Predicting “FRAUD like you’ve never seen,” the language on Mr. Trump’s website opts contributors into making the weekly post-election donations “to ensure we have the resources to protect the results and keep fighting even after Election Day.” Users must proactively click to avoid making multiple contributions.

The unusual post-election revenue stream would help Mr. Trump pay off any bills that his campaign accumulates before Tuesday — a campaign spokesman said no such debts had been incurred — and could help fund a lengthy legal fight if the results are contested.

How Are Americans Catching the Virus? Increasingly, ‘They Have No Idea’ – New outbreaks used to be traced back to crowded factories and rowdy bars. But now, the virus is so widespread not even health officials are able to keep up.

As the coronavirus soars across the country, charting a single-day record of 99,155 new cases on Friday and surpassing nine million cases nationwide, tracing the path of the pandemic in the United States is no longer simply challenging. It has become nearly impossible.

Gone are the days when Americans could easily understand the virus by tracking rising case numbers back to discrete sources — the crowded factory, the troubled nursing home, the rowdy bar. Now, there are so many cases, in so many places, that many people are coming to a frightening conclusion: They have no idea where the virus is spreading.

A room, a bar and a classroom: how the coronavirus is spread through the air – The risk of contagion is highest in indoor spaces but can be reduced by applying all available measures to combat infection via aerosols. Here is an overview of the likelihood of infection in three everyday scenarios, based on the safety measures used and the length of exposure

West Point agrees to issue smaller-sized combat uniforms to new female cadets

AUSTIN, Texas — Women entering the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., will now have access to smaller-sized Army combat uniforms following a request from Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., to review the school’s policy on unisex uniforms for incoming cadets.

“I am grateful that the Army has agreed to change its uniform policy at West Point to be more inclusive for female cadets,” Hassan said in a statement. “Uniforms are an important part of military academies’ culture, and ensuring that female cadets have uniforms that fit is essential to making them feel included in a space that has been historically male-dominated.”

The senator wrote to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy on Oct. 5 asking he review the policy and explain why women weren’t offered the female sizes of the Army Combat Uniform, known as the ACU, during their issuance of gear, even though the uniforms are sold in the base’s Post Exchange. This left women to pay out-of-pocket for better-fitting uniforms

We Have Never Had Final Results on Election Day

In reality, the scenario Mr. Trump is outlining — every vote in a modern election being “counted, tabulated, finished” by midnight — is not possible and never has been. No state ever reports final results on election night, and no state is legally expected to.

Americans are accustomed to knowing who won on election night because news organizations project winners based on partial counts, not because the counting is actually completed that quickly. These race calls mean Candidate A is far enough ahead that, given the number of outstanding ballots and the regions those ballots are coming from, Candidate B would realistically be unable to close the gap.

The difference this year is not the timing of final results — those will come, as always, by the certification deadlines each state has set, ranging from two days after the election in Delaware to more than a month after in California. The difference, rather, is when news organizations are likely to have enough information to make accurate projections.

If, as Mr. Trump suggested, courts were to force states to stop counting after Nov. 3, it would be an extraordinary subversion of the electoral process and would disenfranchise millions of voters who cast valid, on-time ballots.

 

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Bag of Randomness for Friday, October 30, 2020

Ruth Vader Ginsburg

The primary reason I’m going sans beard right now is because I think it would increase my chances of getting COVID.

My commemorative U2 stamps from Ireland arrived in the mail this week, much faster than I expected.

Election wise, I have a feeling a variation of the following will happen, but I pray that it doesnt, and it’s all due to that damn Electoral College.

Republican state legislatures complain about voter irregularity claiming the results aren’t accurate and instruct their electors not vote on behalf of the popular vote but what they think properly reflects the results of their state. For example, Biden wins the popular vote in Texas, but the Texas legislature claims voter fraud and instructs their electors to vote for Trump (though some may opt not to follow suit).

How far off is this thought? Not as crazy as you’d think. Republicans control both legislative chambers in the six most key battleground states – Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, and North Carolina. Some electors might do what that Texas elector did last time and choose to vote against what the voters wanted. There could be just enough of them to make things unstable where neither candidate can get the required 270 votes to win.

If the above scenario happened, the election would then go to the U.S. House of Representatives and each state would get just one vote. Majority wins, so all that’s needed is 26 votes, which is the exact number of state delegations Republicans control. Currently, Republicans control 26 delegations to Democrats’ 22, with Pennsylvania tied and Michigan a 7-6 plurality for Democrats, with a 14th seat held by independent Justin Amash.

The tired and old cliche of “Democrats fall in love, while Republicans fall in line” may very well happen and we’ll be stuck with another four years of Trump. When it comes to playing hardball, Democrats are soft and Republicans are fiercely tough at playing politics. We saw that in the 2000 election and we see it with the Senate Majority Leader and President now.

They dreamed of esports glory. Then their bodies broke down  – Professional gaming is booming, with millions on offer for the best players. But esports is also taking a physical and mental toll – and some have decided that enough is enough

A handful of gamers Migliore has worked with directly have been left with constant pain. “Over time, you get these chronic micro traumas, these tears,” she explains, describing what can happen to human tissues after years of button-mashing. Then, a slight but sudden shock to that musculature, anything from pushing a heavy bag into a car boot or swinging a bowling ball can cause a bigger injury in the worn out tissue.

And while she hasn’t seen a displaced tendon like the one suffered by Bright among any of her own patients yet, she acknowledges that it’s something that could happen to a gamer. Esports athletes, she says, perform up to 600 actions per minute with their fingers while playing some games. But human hands evolved for climbing trees.

For those pushing for greatness, the toll on their bodies can be high. Esports insiders, including players and coaches, are increasingly worried about the pressures that competitive gamers face. Player health varies widely, with issues ranging from hand, neck and back pain that sometimes requires surgery, to poor nutrition, bouts of insomnia and mental health issues including anxiety, depression and burnout.

The folks that may cause any civil unrest have been stocking up on ammo fear years.

Walmart pulls guns and ammo from store displays, citing potential “civil unrest”

Walmart on Thursday said it has pulled guns and ammunition from the sales floors of its U.S. stores as it seeks to keep firearms from being stolen should social unrest erupt.

“We have seen some isolated civil unrest, and as we have done on several occasions over the last few years, we have moved our firearms and ammunition off the sales floor as a precaution for the safety of our associates and customers,” a Walmart spokesperson said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. “These items do remain available for purchase by customers.”

Why did an Oregon health official dressed like a clown read off the coronavirus death toll?

A video in which Oregon Health Authority officials dressed in costume give COVID-19 information is getting national attention, almost two weeks after it was initially posted.

The reason? A screenshot of the video showing an official in sad clown makeup, reading of the daily virus death toll, tweeted by Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Samantha Swindler, was shared widely on social media.

Dr. Claire Poché, a public health physician with the Oregon Health Authority, kicked off the Halloween safety video by removing her surgical mask to reveal a full face of clown make-up, somewhat reminiscent of the Joker, one of Batman’s creepiest rivals.

“As of today, there have been 38,160 cases of COVID-19 in Oregon, with 390 new cases being reported today,” Poché said. “Sadly, we also reporting three deaths today, bringing the statewide total for COVID-19 related deaths to 608.”

The optics aren’t ideal, especially as Oregon, like many states, deals with surging coronavirus cases.

Folks in the Houston area were able to vote anytime of the day for a straight 24 hours. That’s pretty neat.

Up all night: Harris County offers 24-hour voting Thursday

“Whether you’re a first responder who clocks in and out at 5 a.m., a medical professional working to save lives around the clock, someone keeping shelves full at grocery stores, or a shift worker keeping our port running, we want to give you the opportunity to cast your vote at a time that is convenient for you and four family,” Harris County Clerk Christopher Hollins said in a statement.

The 24-hour option is one of several innovations in Hollins’s ambitious $27 million election plan for this year; others include nearly tripling the number of early voting sites, drive-thru voting, sending mail ballot applications to all registered seniors and hiring more than 11,000 poll workers.

Road rage.

This is a long video for you to invest your time in, but it’s up my ally.

Presidential historian Jeffrey Engel fact checks presidential scenes from movies and television including ‘Frost/Nixon,’ ‘Lincoln,’ ‘Pearl Harbor,’ ‘Vice,’ ‘Saturday Night Live,’ ‘The Comey Rule,’ ‘W.,’ ‘The Special Relationship,’ ‘The Wind and the Lion,’ ‘Thirteen Days,’ ‘LBJ’ and ‘John Adams’ and analyzes their believability and execution.

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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, October 29, 2020

I set a goal to finish John Dickerson’s book The Hardest Job In The World – The American Presidency before the election and I did so with a week to spare. While I wouldn’t consider it great, I thought it was very, very good and should be required reading for new administrations or anyone about to work for the president.

I really enjoy reading on the Kindle. Not only is the e-ink very easy on the eyes after a full day of staring at a monitor, if I want to know the definition of a word or a brief biography of a person, all I have to do is select the text. I have mine set up to tell me the percentage of the book I’ve read, but with a book like this can be misleading since there’s a large bibliography and notes section. For instance, when I read the last page on the acknowledgements, it showed I was only 64% finished with the book.

Next up, the just released Matthew McConnaughey book.

Colorado Trailer park tenants say landlord sends note implying a vote for Biden is a vote for increased rent

F the current President is re-elected, WE WILL NOT RAISE THE RENT FOR AT LEAST 2 YEARS!

Voting is your choice and we are not telling you how to vote. We are just informing our tenants what WE will do according to the election results.

If Trump wins, we all win. If Biden wins, we all lose.

I had no idea he owned that trademark.

This is an uncomforting statement from Trump son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner – “Trump’s now back in charge. It’s not the doctors.”

The youth vote in Texas is up by more than 600% from last presidential election

In Texas, as of Friday, 753,600 voters cast a ballot in the 2020 election. During the same time period in 2016, only 106,000 Texans younger than 30 had voted, according to the analysis, representing a 610% increase. In 2016, less than a third of the voters who cast a ballot in 2016 were younger than 40, according to the Texas Tribune.

What is it with Republicans not wanting more people take part in democracy? Oh, nevermind.

Republicans weren’t happy about Facebook’s push to register more voters – The network claims to have registered 4.4 million new voters for the 2020 US election

Facebook’s voter information center was planned as a nonpartisan push to register voters, but it ran into unexpected trouble from Republicans. A new report from BuzzFeed Newsreveals that six Republican secretaries of state contacted CEO Mark Zuckerberg in September to ask him to discontinue the project.

“While such goals may be laudable on their face, the reality is that the administration of elections is best left to the states,” read the letter, obtained by Common Cause through a public records request. “The Voting Information Center is redundant and duplicative of what we, as chief election officials, have been doing for decades.”

The letter was sent directly to Zuckerberg from the secretaries of state of Alabama, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia, all working on behalf of Republican state governments.

Many thanks to a loyal reader who saw a need and decided to fill it. I mentioned I was curious to know what the national media thought of our new ballpark and he sent me this great ESPN article.

World Series 2020: Our impressions from inside Globe Life Field

Three of our reporters — Alden Gonzalez, Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers — have been covering the Fall Classic from MLB’s newest ballpark. We were curious about a stadium few have seen in person, so we asked them a few questions.

Here’s the first question and their corresponding answers:

What’s your overall impression of Globe Life Field?

Alden Gonzalez: It’s a modern, bigger, more comfortable, yet less charming — and in my opinion, unnecessary — version of the old place.

Jeff Passan: It’s fine. Retractable roofs are never not cool, and the knowledge that in the hot summer months fans won’t bake in the sun makes it a clear upgrade. Aesthetically, there’s nothing particularly inspiring about it. Because they’re operating at a quarter of capacity, the full range of amenities remains unclear.

Jesse Rogers: It’s both intimate and big at the same time. There’s good and bad in that assessment. It feels cozy, especially if you’re in the lower bowl, but the tradeoff was going straight up. If you have a fear of heights, this is not the park for you. Five levels up makes for a great view of a hockey game — but not for baseball. The video scoreboard screams Texas big and is easier to watch from up high than the live action.

Here are the other questions asked about our crossbred baby from a Costco, a Lowe’s garden center, and a large tin barn.

  • What’s your favorite thing about the ballpark? Your least favorite thing?
  • Most of us have seen Globe Life Field only on TV. What’s something we might not realize from watching the game broadcasts?
  • Does it really look like a big-box store from the outside?
  • What makes it better — and what it makes worse — than the, ahem, ‘old’ ballpark (Globe Life Park, the Rangers’ home from 1994 to 2019) across the street?
  • Where would you place it in your personal ballpark rankings?

You can tell this national writer hasn’t really experienced a long hot Texas summer, “Least favorite is the dome itself. OK, it’s cool when it opens and closes, but this is Texas. Besides the occasional storm, what’s the need for a dome? I like the conditions playing a part in the action.” That writer also complained about how “high” the park was, which seemed weird.

These 10 charts show how the economy performed under Trump versus prior presidents

Propane heaters are the new toilet paper – Restaurants are “winterizing” to accommodate outdoor dining in the chilly months. And some items they need are in high demand—and seeing surging prices.

Costco drops Chaokoh coconut milk over allegations of forced monkey labor – Costco Wholesale Club is the latest retailer to say it won’t stock coconut milk that used monkeys to pick coconuts, PETA said.

The Anonymous White House Insider Who Wrote ‘A Warning’ Just Revealed Himself.

In an article posted to Medium, Miles Taylor revealed himself to be the writer and White House insider behind an anonymous 2018 New York Times op-ed (“I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration”) and the subsequent book “A Warning,” published in November 2019. Taylor served as chief of staff to former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Acting Secretary Chad Wolf.

I like the way he started the article, with this quote from Theodore Roosevelt.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about anyone else.

— Theodore Roosevelt

I like the way he ended the article, with this quote from Abraham Lincoln.

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

— Abraham Lincoln

 

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Bag of Randomness for Wednesday, October 27, 2020

I should have watched the first game of the World Series. If anything, to see what was said about our new ballpark. Yes, I like that we no longer have to worry about weather, but it looks like a tin shed. I’m very curious to know what the players think about the turf, which I believe is made out of coconuts.

Matthew McConaughey on raising his children to embrace being affluent: ‘Don’t feel guilty about that. Own it.’

“At the same time, we want our children to own the affluence that we have,” he said. “Don’t do any false modesty like, ‘No, my mom and dad aren’t… Yes, we are! Keep your chin high! When someone says, ‘I bet you live in a big house, don’t get shy.’ Don’t feel guilty about that. Own it.”

Junior Miller read my letter about the five hole and pie hole confusion on the air yesterday. It was part of his “Women Say the Darndest Things About Sports” segment.

This was an unexpected fun time-waster.

An East Dallas Home’s Halloween Decorations Prompt Multiple Police Visits

“I’m most proud of the wheelbarrow tipped over by the street full of Hefty bags, looking like a failed attempt to dispose of the dismembered bodies in the middle of the night.” Novak says. “A kid walked by and asked me what happened to them; I said they ate too many Skittles.”

A recent rally in Wisconsin was typical. In 90 minutes, President Trump made 131 false or inaccurate statements.

This Addiction Treatment Works. Why Is It So Underused? –
An approach called contingency management rewards drug users with money and prizes for staying abstinent. But few programs offer it, in part because of moral objections to the concept.

Jon Stewart will return to TV with an Apple TV Plus series – There’ll be a companion podcast and potential for more in the future

Stewart will host a new series for Apple TV Plus that will feature focused looks at his advocacy work and “topics that are currently part of the national conversation,” Apple said in a press release announcing the series.

Stewart’s new series doesn’t currently have a name or a release date. The Hollywood Reporter says the show is expected to start next year, and it says the episodes won’t come out on a nightly or weekly basis. Apple says the show will run for multiple seasons, but it doesn’t say how many episodes will be included in each run.

The Lincoln Project is becoming a media business

The Lincoln Project is looking to beef up its media business after the election, sources tell Axios.

Driving the news: The group is in talks with the United Talent Agency (UTA) to help build out Lincoln Media and is weighing offers from different television studios, podcast networks and book publishers.

Why it matters: Lincoln’s plan is part of the new trend of activists developing massive audiences for political influence that they are then able to spin into commercial media success.

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