Bag of Randomness for Monday, March 20, 2017

  • WifeGeeding’s seventy-nine-year-old father recently rode Greyhound (long story) for a long road trip and they lost his luggage. It was found two days later.
  • Before ABC’s special on Charles Manson on Friday night, I only had a cursory knowledge about the guy. It felt weird hearing people referring to him as “Charlie” as if they were buddies. I also had no idea how involved he was in the music scene and the Beach Boys recorded one of his songs.
  • We traveled to Burleson for a wedding and on the way back tried Heim BBQ, which I’ve heard great things about. The brisket was above average but seemed a little too fatty and lacked some flavor; however, the bacon burnt ends were pretty good but I don’t think I could eat many of them though they offered a great range of flavor, char, and meat. I was impressed with the staff, they were exceptionally kind. When I was ordering I was choosing lots of samples the associate made the comment, “I’m not trying to upsell you or anything, but I’m not sure you ordered enough for you and all your family.” The restrooms were also interesting. Behind a door is a room with a community sink for about three people, and in that room is one men’s restroom and two women’s, though one had a nice changing table for a baby so that’s probably more of a family restroom.
  • I’m over-simplifying, but a lot of political headlines with the new administration are about Trump’s possible Russian ties and the accusation of Obama “wiretapping” Trump Tower. A lot of folks say this is unprecedented, but while reading my book about the relationships of presidents and former presidents, I think I found something comparable, and it involves an acting president basically accusing the previous president of helping the Russians spy.
    • Eisenhower’s attorney general, Herbert Brownell, opened an investigation into whether Truman had knowingly placed a Soviet spy named Harry Dexter White to become executive director of the International Monetary Fund. That’s right, Truman was being accused of being a traitor and was even subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activites Committee. He refused and instead defended himself in a televised national address winning public support and the investigation was dropped. There’s more detail to all of this, of course, but I’m trying to condense it as concisely as I can.
  • Jake Tapper’s stock is rising, at least his popularity.
  • Popular Mechanics – The Most Gruesome Government Report Ever Written Evaluates 34 Ways to Execute a Man – In 1887, New York State appointed three men to evaluate every possible way to execute a man—which they did in disturbing detail.
    • An excerpt:
      • Under the heading of burning they relate: “An extraordinary method of this punishment was known as ‘the illuminated body’ and invented by Sefi II, Shah of Persia. The victim was stretched on a slab and fastened to it. Innumerable little holes were bored all over his body. These were filled with oil, and all lighted together. The poor victim perished in the most unspeakable agony.”
  • Thank you, Netflix, just make it a permanent feature – Netflix is testing a button for skipping the opening credits
  • Random tidbits about Angela Merkel that I only discovered yesterday:
  • I only watched a little bit of the tournament, but when I first saw Wichita State’s Conner Frankamp I thought Prince William was playing basketball. The top of their heads is identical. Also, I don’t keep up with Michigan, but their uniforms look like what the Fab Five used to wear. Maybe that’s considered retro now, or maybe that’s always been their look, or I’m just totally off on all of this.
  • Indian engineer named Saddam Hussain cannot get a job
  • NYMag.com has a detailed feature on Kellyanne Conway and I thought some interesting photos of her as well.
  • Another interesting tidbit from that article I posted about what will happen after Queen Elizabeth dies.
    • British royals are buried in lead-lined coffins. Diana’s weighed a quarter of a ton.
  • These interesting things recently popped up in Texas’ Atlanta State Park. – It’s a wool sower gall, created after wool sower wasps lay their eggs in a white oak.
  • Why You Should Never, Ever Put Two Spaces After A Period
  • Buzzfeed – A Federal Judge Offers A Behind-The-Bench Look At Trump’s First Supreme Court Nominee – Judge Harris Hartz, who has served with Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch for the past decade, spoke with BuzzFeed News about what Gorsuch is like to work with and why be believes some of Gorsuch’s critics have it wrong about his record.
    • Hartz disputed criticism from liberal advocacy groups and Democrats in Congress that Gorsuch’s conservative approach to judicial decision-making means he is bad news for women, people of color, the LGBT community, and the environment, among others. “He’s conservative in the sense that he takes the language of statutes, for example, very seriously. But if by that you mean you always get a conservative outcome, that’s wrong,” Hartz said.
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How a Working Woman Would Handle Her Kids Crashing Her Live BBC Interview

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