BagOfNothing.com

• It was a good but exhausting last three days thanks to a great visit from a family member, my Aunt Bonnie, who is really my cousin but that’s a story in itself, which doesn’t have anything to do with inbreeding, thank God. Actually, things started off really crappy but it didn’t have anything to do with Aunt Bonnie.
• The school year isn’t over for our kids yet, Thursday is their last day.
• August 6, 2018 – Better Call Saul finally gets a season 4 release date
• In news that would only interest people who work in my industry, it sounds like GitHub will be purchased by Microsoft. I think that would be a huge win for Microsoft, but a lot of people think Microsoft eventually screws up products they purchase.
• Until the First Lady makes a public appearance without any type of head covering, I’m just going to assume she had a Britney Spears moment and shaved her head. She hasn’t been seen in public for 24 days. The current administration is unconventional, so it’s not like this is super surprising. However, she’s supposed to attend an event tonight but it’s closed to the press.
• RollingStone.com – The Edge on U2’s ‘Experience’ Tour: ‘This Is For Our Committed Fans’ – The guitarist breaks down key moments in the band’s new arena show and reveals he’s ready for a break when it all ends
• Canon has ended sales for its last film camera
• How San Quentin Inmates Built A Search Engine For Prison
• Former Georgia ‘Teacher of the Year’ arrested on sexual assault charges
• DallasNews.com – Southern Baptist seminary reveals why it fired president Paige Patterson
  • Last month, Patterson was the president of the seminary and when these allegations surface, he then was reassigned to an to an emeritus role and still allowed to live on campus on May 23. That’s not the type of leadership the SBC promoted when I was a part of it, the accountability is laughable as the timing of their actions. It was hard for me to step away, it molded and shaped me during my formative and young adult years, and I felt like I was abandoning family. My life is better as a recovering Baptist.
  • The following is straight from the statement the seminary released, on Friday evening, when most folks aren’t paying attention. I can’t help but be reminded of Baylor releasing statements on Friday evening and on Thanksgiving break.
    • “But in connection with that allegation of rape, Dr. Patterson sent an email (the contents of which were shared with the Board on May 22) to the Chief of Campus Security in which Dr. Patterson discussed meeting with the student alone so that he could “break her down” and that he preferred no officials be present.”
• The U.S. is trying to find a discreet way to pay for Kim Jong Un’s hotel during the summit – North Korea is cash poor and can’t afford to stay at their preferred hotel which would cost $6,000 a night for a presidential suite. If the U.S. pays for it, they would feel insulted, so it sounds like the U.S. is trying to get Singapore to pick up the tab. I’m still surprised they didn’t take up Trump’s offer of meeting at the DMZ, which I thought was a genius move.
• You know my love for presidential history, so I found this article about an upcoming book on the office of Vice-President interesting, though I don’t think it’s a book I’d want to read. The book is titled  First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power, and it provides some interesting insight on how current VP Mike Pense will rely on counsel from former VPs, especially Biden. The article is as much about Biden, who’s eyeing a presidential run, than anything.
  • Hillary Clinton’s ‘ass-covering’ on bin Laden raid ‘rattled’ Biden
    • Vice President Pence has sought counsel from Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, Joe Biden and Walter Mondale, all of whom I interviewed. When I asked one of them what advice he gave Pence, he said: “If I tell you and it’s written then I’d drastically undercut him,” sliding his hand across his neck. “He’d get his head chopped off.”
      • Noticeably absent from that list is Al Gore.
    • But Biden and Pence talk at least once a month, which stands in stark contrast to Trump and his predecessor, Obama, who have not spoken since the inauguration, nor have their wives, Melania Trump and Michelle Obama.

• I can’t remember if I mentioned I donated blood recently and it didn’t go well. They started on my left arm and something went wrong, then they used my right arm and something caused sharp pain so they had to stop and I was left with one heck of a bruise. Yesterday they called, and when I looked at the Caller ID I was perplexed as to why they were calling. My first thought was, this is how they tell people they tested positive for something, but I have no reason to think why I should test positive for anything. It turns out they simply wanted to check how I was feeling and apologized again for what happened.
• Kansas City Chiefs’ Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Earns Medical Doctorate from McGill University – When it comes to the four major sports, I wonder how many players have actually earned a medical doctorate while still playing.
• I like that DaughterGeeding is proud of her Vietnamese heritage, she gets excited anytime she hears about the country, but I had to tell her to tone down that excitement anytime the Vietnam War is mentioned.
• BoyGeeding was trying to argue that he’s white and American and his sister was simply half-Asian.
• I was determined my children were going to be born with U2 playing in the background. When WifeGeeding was in labor, I had their entire catalog playing on random. DaughterGeeding was born to U2’s “Jesus Christ”.
• Car salesman farted in coworker’s office, pinched his nipples to ‘reinforce dominance,’ lawsuit says
• ‘The Americans’
  • I didn’t like the finale, but then again, a lot of finales don’t live up to my expectations. Once again, it’s about the journey the show takes you on, not the destination. It was still one heck of a television series.
  • I don’t see Stan doing what he did. I know the show had to go in one direction or another, but I just don’t see Stan doing what he did. It was out of character. I also thought Elizabeth acted out of character. She was always very cold and didn’t get hung up on emotion, I thought she would easily abandon her son.
  • I like how the audience is left to guess if Renee, Stan’s wife, is a spy or not. I think she is.
  • I think Stan ends up adopting Henry, but I have no idea if Henry is still going to be able to go to that private school.
  • I like how Stan’s boss and how his character evolved or was promoted through the series.
  • Paige exiting the train didn’t surprise me.
  • Of course, I liked that U2’s “With or Without You” was played.
  • I’d like to think that Phillip visits Martha, remember her?
  • My preferred ending would have had Elizabeth being killed. Stan catching  Phillip, and Phillip brokering a deal with the FBI and adopting the American way of life, just like real life Russian spy Jack Barsky. If you haven’t seen the ’60 Minutes’ segment on him, it’s fantastic.
• When I was in the Baptist and other Evangelical churches, I would sometimes hear folks worrying about things becoming “too Catholic” – Christ statue removed from SC Baptist church for being ‘too Catholic,’ artist says
• The First Lady has still not been seen in public, but she tweeted yesterday. However, it reads like it was written by her husband.
  
• I didn’t see the first Wreck-It Ralph movie but a sequel is coming out and this image caught my attention.
  

• It was time for us to throw away an old recliner, it was tattered and stained and no one in their right mind would accept it even if given to them. Instead of taking it to the dump or arranging disposal, I thought it would be fun to disassemble it with the kids and fit it in our city provided trash receptacle. It was fun cutting the fabric and tearing it away, doing something you aren’t supposed to do. When it came to the wooden frame, I thought it would be a nice time to introduce the kids to their grandfather’s handsaw and teach them proper woodcutting. My seventh-grade woodshop teacher, Homer Hensley, would have been proud.
• Does anyone have any opinions on having a ceiling fan in the master bath?
• I didn’t realize it until watching Netflix’s ‘The Crown’, but King George VI’s funeral had three British queens in attendance. His mother, Queen Mary The Queen, his wife/widow, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and his eldest daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
• And little did I know that Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Phillip, was born in Greece.
• I’m always thrown when watching a film or television series which takes place in England and the characters reference the use of miles or inches. My ignorance makes me feel like they should only use metric terms like kilometers and centimeters.
• I bet the majority of people who make fun of accents only speak one language.
• The First Lady hasn’t been seen in public for twenty days. Usually, people of her stature makes at least a very brief public appearance just waving to the crowd. I’m not criticizing her, it’s just a concerned observation.
• I’m looking forward to the series finale of ‘The American’s’ tonight, it’s been a great ride.
• Pompeii news –
  • A man managed to escape the first eruptive fury of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, only to be crushed beneath a block of stone hurled by an explosive volcanic cloud, new excavations at the site suggest. Archeologists working at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, Italy, found the man’s remains almost 2,000 years after he died.
    
    
• Please Don’t Roast Marshmallows Over the Erupting Hawaii Volcano, USGS Warns
• CIA report says North Korea won’t denuclearize, but might open a burger joint
• Homeless Jesus statue stops runaway truck in Canada
• I’m impressed.

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