Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, June 9, 2025

  • I’d love to be a part of a discussion debating who is more powerful, taking everything literally, the President of the United States or the richest man in the world?
  • Because of my Evangelical roots, I considered never setting foot in a night or dance club a badge of honor. I admired friends in college who would wait outside to “witness” to college students leaving any of the clubs. But, since I’ve taken a few dance lessons, I decided to visit one of the more established clubs in the area. It was one of those moments when I was ashamed of my younger self, who used to be so judgmental of others. When I was inside, I didn’t see any bit of debauchery I was told was rampant. It was full of people just wanting to have fun, unwind from the stress of the world, absolutely nothing seedy about anyone there. I don’t know what I was thinking when I was younger; I guess I just wanted to be accepted by my Christian friends, so I felt I had to support what they were doing, and the adults we respected were teaching us. I’m not saying I’m going to be a regular or that I had the time of my life, but I will admit I’ve missed out on a lot of life.
  • Former DOGE engineer says federal waste and fraud were ‘relatively nonexistent’

  • Job hunting is still a challenge. I think I mentioned I’ve found several jobs at the Department of Education that I’m qualified for, but was hesitant to apply since the Trump administration is trying to dissolve it. However, a recruiter called me about one of those positions. He was selling the fact that the firm his client has a ten-year contract, so the work is guaranteed. While I wasn’t buying that, since I know the government has been cancelling or modifying, he said something that made me think it might be worth taking a risk on. Many of those roles will be absorbed by another part of the government, as that type of work still needs to be done. Not to mention, it would allow me to tread water for a little while.
  • Eight US states seek to outlaw chemtrails – even though they aren’t real
  • As of June 8, 2025, the Texas hemp bill, specifically Senate Bill 3 (SB 3), which would ban the sale and possession of consumable hemp products containing THC, has passed the Texas Legislature and has been sent to Governor Greg Abbott on May 27, 2025, for his consideration. I may be wrong, but I think in Texas, the governor doesn’t need to sign the bill; it becomes law if he doesn’t sign it, but he has 20 days after the final adjournment of the legislative session (June 2, 2025) to veto it. However, for fanfare and publicity, you will often see the governor hold a signing ceremony. I say all that because I’m curious about why the governor has been so quiet about what he plans to do with the bill. I have no evidence to support this claim, and it’s bordering on a conspiracy theory, but I have a feeling he’s holding it over someone’s head for some political leverage. That’s just a kinder way of saying blackmail, I guess. Anyway, it’s just hard for me to accept that Texas wants to shut down such a large and still-growing industry, putting many small businesses out of business. But then again, these political leaders have done plenty of stuff that hasn’t made sense.
  • U.S. Air Force cadet who graduated with flying colours isn’t allowed to serve their country3 U.S. Air Force Academy graduates denied commission under Trump’s transgender military ban
  • The 10 Hottest Cities in the US, Ranked by TemperatureTexas shows up five times on this list, including Dallas.

    The last three in the top ten are San Antonio, College Station, and Dallas. Hey, I know Dallas is hot, but Houston is a more miserable place to be with that humidity, not to mention all the chemical pollutants in the air.
  • Texas transplants shook by ‘cult’-like state pledge.

  • Humbling.

  • Long video, but I really enjoyed it as it answered in detail something I always wondered about.
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Your Bag of Randomness for Friday, June 6, 2025

  • German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was a guest at the White House yesterday and gave our president a gift, an original copy of the birth certificate belonging to Mr. Trump’s grandfather, Friedrich Trump, in German and in English. Y’all know I’m a sucker for this sort of stuff since it relates to my love of presidential history. That’s a damn fine gift. Yet, our president embarrasses us on the world stage again in grand fashion, getting easily put in his place in the Oval Office. I hope our country doesn’t get to the point where we’ll need Germany to help liberate us from Trumpism.

  • I found that sometimes ChatGPT and other AI tools have trouble reading certain PDFs I created. So, here’s some knowledge I hope that will helpsome out there. When presented with the option of “Print to PDF” or “Save As PDF” be sure to do the latter. This keeps text searchable and selectable, preserves formatting better, and ensures accessibility for applicant tracking systems (ATS) and screen readers.
  • I recently learned that Diocles, an ancient Roman charioteer, is considered to be the highest-paid athlete of all time. Curious, I did a little research.

    Diocles earned 35,863,120 sesterces over his 24-year career, which translates to approximately $15 billion in today’s dollars. These were net earnings: Diocles did not have to pay for sponsorships, promoters, or marketing fees, making his take-home wealth even more impressive by ancient and modern standards. To put this in perspective, his income was five times that of the highest-paid provincial governors of the time and would have been enough to buy grain for the entire population of Rome for a year.

    Off the top of my head, I would have guessed Michael Jordan has earned more than any other athlete. His current net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion in 2025.
  • Wife material.

  • I’m sure this will offend a lot of folks, but I found it amusing and even a bit thought-provoking.

  • That’s a bit of a smug profile photo with that raised eyebrow. But who am I to judge a book by its cover? Who is it? ProPublica just did a piece on him – “The Intern in Charge”: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention – One year out of college (UT San Antonio) and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism. He’s not even old enough to rent a car, yet he’s leading terrorism prevention.


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Your Bag of Nothing for Monday, June 2, 2025

  • I regret not making plans to attend the Fan Expo Dallas this year. I’ve always wanted to check out a Comic-Con-like atmosphere, and here was a great one in my backyard. From what I saw on social media, it was a blast.
  • DaughterGeeding turned 15 over the weekend and will be getting her driving permit this afternoon.
  • One of the crown jewels of Dallas is the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center. As a kid, I remember how big of a deal it was when it was opened, and that it was designed by a renowned architect, I.M. Pei (Louvre Pyramid, JFK Presidential Library). I never gave much thought to who Morton Meyerson was, I thought some noble Dallas dude that died long ago. So, imagine my surprise when I read an article about the man, who is now in hospice. It turns out he played a significant role in making Texas into Silicon Prairie and was one of Ross Perot’s good friends. Such good friends, Perot paid $10 million for the naming rights of the new symphony center so he could name it after his friend. I love this story about the opening night of the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in which Meyerson’s parents were in attendance.




    The article also discusses how Meyerson played a crucial role in making Michael Dell and Mark Cuban billionaires. It’s behind a paywall, but as I mentioned many other times, if you plug the URL of an article into txtify.it, you’ll get nothing but the full text of the article, as if it were cut and pasted into Notepad.
  • Perhaps the most interesting way to get dirt in the eye playing softball. Oregon pitcher Lyndsey Grein’s 67-mph pitch hit a dirt clod kicked up from her cleat, sending fragments into catcher Emma Cox’s eye.

  • I really enjoyed the latest Veritasium video with Tom Brady and the science behind the spiral of a football. Science is fun.
  • I’m not sure why, but I actually enjoyed this YouTube video of a guy trying to live a week as if he were living in the Nineties.
  • Wish me luck in my job hunt.
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Your Bag of Nothing for Friday, May 30, 2025

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