Your Bag of Randomness for Friday, July 12, 2024

  • The MLB All-Star Game is in Arlington, Texas this year and they are selling some ugly merchandise. That right there will cost you $149.99. Sadly, some sucker is going to buy that at full price.
  • I wonder how many times the current World Series champions have hosted the All-Star Game.
  • In anticipation of Biden’s press conference yesterday, I wondered where it would be held. The setting matters, and I just wanted to know if he would be taking questions in an environmentally friendly White House or something like a cramped hotel conference room. I thought typing “Where is President Biden’s press conference today?” into Google would give me an easy answer. I couldn’t find an answer on the search results page or the top four choices it gave me. I started to kick myself, saying I needed to use AI because it would just spit it out, and Microsoft’s Copilot gave me an immediate answer with several sources within a second. For the heck of it, I compared it with the other AI models I use. Surprisingly, ChatGBT gave me a very incorrect answer, citing the White House’s briefing and statements pages. It appears it was confusing campaign announcements in Pennsylvania. Google’s Gemini told me to basically use Google, “I can’t help with responses on elections and political figures right now. While I would never deliberately share something that’s inaccurate, I can make mistakes. So, while I work on improving, you can try Google Search.” Perplexity also gave me a correct answer with several sources.
  • I was watching another WWII documentary yesterday. Roosevelt attended the Yalta conference in February 1945 and didn’t look well. He did two months later. I wish I could find some detail on the physical toll he was in and what his mental acuity was like speaking with Stalin and Churchhill. He was 63, so I’m pretty confident he was with it, but being in poor health and traveling to Europe sounds taxing.
  • Do you know what a higher rank in the Soviet Army was, a General or Marshall? I didn’t know until I looked it up. It’s the latter.
  • ‘Miss AI’: World’s first AI beauty pageant crowns winner
    • Meet Kenza Layli, a Moroccan lifestyle influencer who hopes to bring “diversity and inclusivity” to the AI creator landscape. With nearly 200,000 Instagram followers, and a further 45,000 on TikTok, Layli is entirely AI-generated, from her images to her captions and buzzword-filled acceptance speech.
  • Vouge has done a smart thing and hired JFK’s only grandson as a political correspondent. Jack Schlossberg will combine his background in law and business (he received his JD and MBA from Harvard) with the self-described “silly goose” tendencies he displays on social media, and he’s a free spirit and quite loquatious. He’s unmistakably Kennedy and certainly takes after his uncle, JFK Jr, but a lot more personable. He likes to wear black because of Johnny Cash and is taking ballet lessons to help with an injury. Keep an eye on this 31-year-old.

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by Jack Schlossberg (@jackuno)

    • I found this part of the interview interesting:
      Was there a moment—family story, speech, policy—that really connected you to your grandfather?I was in 10th grade, taking US history, and we were learning about the Kennedy administration. I felt uncomfortable, so I was goofing off. The teacher called on me and tried to make me look stupid by asking me what the Kennedy administration’s policy was in Laos—which I still don’t know the answer to after many years of trying to figure it out. Nobody does. I was really embarrassed. That day I went home and started reading. That’s when I started getting serious about learning about my family and got really inspired by it. <
      @luke.mcquillan JFK’s grandson would absolutely enchant Little Edie. #littleedie #greygardens #jfksgrandson #jackschlossberg #impressions #comedy #funny #fypシ゚viral ♬ original sound – Luke McQuillan️‍

      /li>

  • A lot of guys were expressing their love for Detective Danielly De Andrade of Hollywood, Florida, on Twitter yesterday. She’s originally from Brazil.

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Your Bag of Randomness for Thursday, July 11, 2024

  • I used a pencil sharpener on Tuesday night at trivia. That made me wonder when I last sharpened a pencil, maybe over a decade ago.
  • I bet there’s a proper way to put my sunglasses in my car’s sunglasses department, but I’m not smart enough to figure it out.
  • BoyGeeding and I were in the car the other day, and Tear for Fear’s Everybody Wants to Rule the World played on the radio. To my surprise, he knew every word. He said it was popular because it was attached to some YouTube video.
  • My father enlisted in the Navy but retired from the Army as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CW4). At the time, CW5 didn’t exist, and I think he said something about serving longer as a CW4 than anyone else. Maybe he was exaggerating, but he wasn’t using that tone of voice with me when he said it. When I interned at Dyess Air Force Base, I started to learn about the different officer ranks and was sad to find out that the Air Force doesn’t have any warrant officers. They used to, with the last one retiring from the Air Force Reserves in 1992. But, last night, I found out that in February 2024, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General David W. Allvin announced that the Air Force will re-introduce the warrant officer rank within the information technology and cyber fields as a way to maintain technical leadership with those skills. Here’s a little more on warrant officers and their history, even Fort Wolters in Mineral Wells is referenced.
    • Warrant officers are interesting folks. W-1 is technically enlisted. Above E-9 and below other warrants. W-2, 3, 4 and 5vare Chief Warrant Officers and are commissioned. A 2LT outranks a W-5. W-1 makes below 2LT pay. CW-2 pay is comparable to 1LT. W-3 is comparable to CPT, W-4 is comparable to MAJ and W-5 is comparable to and even exceeding LTC. WO is the best rank in the Army. Respected, technical experts, technically officers and rating a salute, but with psychology of NCO’s! They are selected from the best and brightest of NCO’s, and serve as pilots, boat captains, technical section leaders and commanding officers of special units or detachments. The military decided early in WW2, that all pilots would be officers, not NCO’s. A shortage of college graduates who were otherwise qualified to be pilots created a dilemma. These men could not be commissioned as lieutenants. The WW2 equivalent rank of flight officer was created in response and non flying chiefs were created. By the time if the war in Vietnam, to fill the ranks of ever increasingly needed chopper pilots, the Army took warrant officer candidates to flight s hool at Ft. Wolters TX. They were sent straight from basic as chopper pilot candidates during Vietnam. These young 19 year old pilots mostly flew Hueys as W-1’s, but this program ended during the end of that war. Many Vietnam Chopper Warrant pilots served until they were just weeks shy of age 62 (mandatory retired age for warrant officers), and served in the Persian Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. Many became civilian bush chopper pilots, police, air ambulance and news chopper pilots, a proud legacy of Army aviation.
  • A friend was nice enough to invite me on his boat to watch the Fourth of July fireworks in Little Elm on Lewisville Lake. I didn’t know his girlfriend was tagging along, that made me feel like a third wheel. I also wasn’t expecting to hear Lee Greenwood’s one hit and Toby Keith’s I”ll Put A Boot in Your Ass on repeat.
  • Trump was asked about debating Biden again. If I were advising him, I’d tell him not to because there’s nothing to gain and just say something like you don’t like to beat up on elderly men.
  • I know it’s Biden’s mind everyone is worried about, but I would have advised him long ago to walk around with a walking stick. Every time I see him walk on live television, I’m scared he’s going to stumble and fall. If anyone says it’s a sign of weakness, just quote Teddy Roosevelt and say Churchill used one.
  • Abbott seems to have the darndest time with electric companies – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calls for investigation into Houston power outages after Hurricane Beryl
  • Texans use Whataburger app to track power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl
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Your Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, July 9, 2024

  • I remember learning how our Founders debated the best way to elect the president or chief executive. I remember learning and comparing how other democratic countries choose national leaders directly elected by voters or by a parliamentary system in which party leaders choose who will serve in the executive role. I thought that was absurd, that there is no better way to select the leader of a nation than by citizens directly electing him or her by popular vote. Then I learned we don’t really do that either, that we have the Electoral College and electors basically choose who will be president, though they typically follow the voice of the people represented by the national election. I thought this was America, and there was no better way. But look where we are. A common complaint over the years is how bad these two candidates are. However, Biden and Trump are the ones the people have chosen. Twice. I don’t know what my point is, but I’m frustrated and worried and trying to accept we get what we deserve because, in essence, we chose these candidates.
  • Towards the end of the Mack Brown era at the University of Texas, loyal fans of the football program adored the man but felt the game had passed him by, and it was time for him to step down. It was a hard thing to accept. Well, because football is life and football is everything in Texas, that’s how I feel about President Biden.
  • I understand the argument some Democrats have made saying we are too far into the election year to choose another candidate. I guess those folks aren’t too familiar with history. In the last week of August 1968, Hubert Humphrey became the last candidate nominated for president without running in any of the presidential primaries. Conventions were held for party leaders to choose a presidential candidate. It wasn’t until the conventions that the public knew who was a candidate. So, all that talk about there not having enough time from the convention to election day is a bunch of malarky.
  • When it comes to replacing Biden on the Democratic ticket, you don’t hear much about the VP taking his place. I’ve read some interesting stuff about her and how quietly strategic she is. I think Jerry Brown predicted this years ago. I’m just saying don’t underestimate her.
  • West Texas pastor who used illegal donations from churches to campaign for office is fined $3,500
  • $2 Million Worth of Vintage Cards Stolen in Theft Caught on Camera at Dallas Show
  • Satanists in Florida offer to fill school counselor roles after DeSantis law
    • Florida Satanists are volunteering to fill school counselor roles after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a law allowing religious chaplains into public schools amid staffing shortages.
  • OceanGate cofounder plans dive to Bahamas’ portal to hell
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Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, July 8, 2024

  • One of the D-Day stories I think about is how the beaches of Normandy were supposed to be bombed. The idea was to make a lot of holes on the beach so the men would have cover from German fire. But not a single bomb hit the beach. The bombers missed their target. It makes me wonder how many lives could have been saved if those men storming the beach had some sort of cover.
  • While I enjoy Max’s House of the Dragon, I find it hard to follow. No matter, last night’s episode had more action than I expected and I was entertained.
  • Abbott announces launch of State of Texas Taiwan Office
    • Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sunday Texas was working toward opening a State of Texas Taiwan Office in an effort to enhance “the economic and cultural cooperation between Texas and Taiwan, promoting more trade, investment, and collaboration between Texas and Taiwan,” per a news release.
  • Student who once loved school has lost hope in Denton ISD after years of bullying
  • This is an interesting way to fight the problem – More citations coming in Northern California after drone reveals illegal fireworks use
    • “We are combing through the reports to the Nail Em app, many of which contain time-and location-stamped photos and videos of violators,” the Woodland Police Department said on social media. “We also have video footage of violators that were taken by our drone team in response to firework complaints. These individuals will soon be receiving their citations in the mail or by personal delivery.”
    • I’ve never heard of the Nail Em app. Here’s a description:
      • “Nail ‘em” places the power of illegal fireworks enforcement in the palm of your hands. Easily report the possession, sale and/or use of the illegal fireworks in your community along with photos and GPS location. Your complaint will automatically be routed to the correct law enforcement and/or fire personnel. Opt in to receive notifications and you will be informed regarding when and how your complaint was acted upon. This “Nail “Em” app is being provided to you and your community free of charge as a public service of TNT Fireworks. Thank you for taking the time to keep your community free from the dangers posed by illegal fireworks.
  • Keep in mind, this is in the UK – McDonald’s rebrands Happy Meal as just ‘The Meal’ for Mental Health Awareness Week
  • Oklahoma, Alabama now has vending machines for bullets in grocery stores</li>
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