Sunday, March 17, 2024

Random News: March 17, 2024



DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.



Good morning. It’s March 17, 2024, and it’s a Sunday. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate. While I’m relaxing here in my bathrobe with my cup of Peet’s Major Dickason’s Blend, let’s find out what the Irish-inspired holiday is all about.


  • Remember when you were a kid and were told that St. Patrick’s Day was to celebrate when some guy “drove the snakes out of Ireland?”
  • If you were at all like me as a child, you probably thought that Ireland didn’t seem like a place that would have been overrun with venomous reptiles.
  • And you’d have been right. Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary, and the “snakes” were an allegory for pagans and their practices. There were no actual fucking snakes. Just people who didn’t want to be Christians and got driven from their homes as a result.
  • Sounds about right. Anyway, he was an evangelist, and converted the pagan Irish to Christianity. He died on March 17, 461.
  • Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century and is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church.
  • Why do people drink on this somber and religious holiday? Historically, the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol were lifted for the day, and let’s face it, a lot of people will use any excuse to get drunk.
  • Fun Fact: Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival. I get that. It’s fun. I like fun.
  • Since I enjoy bringing up the unjust and controversial aspects of, well everything, note that LGBT groups in the US were long banned from marching in Saint Patrick's Day parades in New York City and Boston, resulting in the landmark Supreme Court decision of Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston.
  • Anyway, my only real childhood connection to the day was remembering to wear green when you went to school, or you’d get pinched.
  • Enough on that. Got some important shit to cover.
  • The racist piece of shit who once called himself President of the United States did a rally yesterday in Dayton, OH, where his crowd cheered when he said that immigrants are “not people.”
  • “I don’t know if you call them people. In some cases they’re not people, in my opinion. But I’m not allowed to say that because the radical left says that’s a terrible thing to say.”
  • Immigrants are people. This same dehumanizing language has been used many times throughout history.
  • Black people who were brought to the the USA by force and were required to be slaves were considered equal to three-fifths of a free individual. That’s in article one, section two of the Constitution of the United States.
  • Irish and Italian immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries were not considered as people in the same way that white Anglo-Saxon citizens were. Jews and gays were not people according to the Nazi regime of Germany in the 1930s.
  • So Donnie Dump isn’t making up anything new. It’s a page from a playbook that’s been around for literally thousands of years, where any person who didn’t look like, speak like, dress like, or act like the predominant population of an area was considered less than human.
  • Dumpy wasn’t done being a piece of shit. He made a very Trumpian threat after that statement.
  • “Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole. That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
  • I shouldn’t have to tell you that this kind of rhetoric is exactly what inspired January 6, and it will indeed lead to needless suffering and death…. especially for the MAGA folks who try and enact Dump’s apocalyptic vision of violence.
  • I will say, though, it does inspire the rest of us to be fully ready for when a small minority takes it upon themselves to negate free and fair elections.
  • We’ll be ready, and thanks to lessons learned on January 6, 2021, so will our law enforcement and national defense forces. If MAGA wants to take on the USA after Dump loses in November, I say to bring it the fuck on.
  • The Biden administration was quick to respond.
  • “This is who Donald Trump is: a loser who gets beat by over 7 million votes and then instead of appealing to a wider mainstream audience doubles down on his threats of political violence. He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge.”
  • Agreed.
  • Moving on to Sunday Gunday, where we take a quick scroll through the incidents of gun violence in the USA over the past two days.
  • Three dead including a 13-year-old girl in a shooting in Falls Township, PA. Three dead in a murder-suicide at an apartment in SW Miami-Dade, FL. Two dead, five wounded in a shooting in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, DC. Two dead in a shooting in Vidalia, GA. One dead, five wounded in a shooting in a bar in Indianapolis, IN. One dead, two injured in a shooting at a bar and grill in Romulus, MI. One dead, two injured in a shooting at a live music venue in east El Paso, TX. One dead, one injured in a shooting in the Grand Crossing neighborhood of Chicago, IL. One dead, one wounded in a shooting in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. One shot dead on Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, TN. One shot dead in Fishers, IN. One shot dead near a shopping center and apartment complex in northwest Charlotte, NC. One shot dead inside a car in East Liberty, PA. A woman shot dead in Ballwin, MO. A woman shot dead in Orlando, FL. Three juveniles shot at Newport on the Levee mall in Newport, KY. Two people shot in the East Village of New York City, NY. One shot and in critical condition in Bunnell, FL. A juvenile shot inside a home in Toledo, OH. A man shot on a hiking trail in San Marcos, CA. 
  • That’s not even close to all of them. I just can’t do this all day.
  • Not-Fun Fact: your kids are statistically more likely to be killed via gun violence than any other cause of death.
  • Please vote for candidates who support common sense firearm regulation. Thank you.
  • And now, The Weather: “Underdressed at the Symphony” by Faye Webster
  • From the Sports Desk… my mind is still boggled at the amount of movement in the NFL free agency season this past week. I mean, look at the quarterbacks alone.
  • Raiders’ Jimmy Garoppolo to the Rams. Vikings’ Kirk Cousins to the Falcons. Patriots’ Mac Jones to Jaguars. Steelers’ Kenny Pickett to the Eagles. 49ers’ Sam Darnold to the Vikings. Colts’ Gardner Minshew to the Raiders. Browns' Joe Flacco to the Colts. Giants’ Tyrod Taylor to the Jets. Commanders’ Sam Howell to the Seahawks. Saints’ Jameis Winston to the Browns. Seahawks’ Drew Lock to the Giants.
  • It’s gonna be fun seeing new jerseys on these dudes in (checks calendar) five more fucking months before the NFL season gets rolling.
  • Today in history… Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius (180). The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city (1776). The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed (1861). Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO (1948). The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite, which is also the first satellite to achieve a long-term orbit (1958). Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel (1969). A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2% (1992). 
  • March 16 is the birthday of Scotland king James IV (1473), SCOTUS chief justice Roger B. Taney (1777), engineer/businessman Gottlieb Daimler (1834), social reformer Martha P. Falconer (1862), composer Alfred Newman (1900), NFL player Sammy Baugh (1914), singer Nat King Cole (1919), singer-songwriter/guitarist Paul Kantner (1941), serial killer John Wayne Gacy (1942), singer-songwriter John Sebastian (1944), author William Gibson (1948), actor Kurt Russell (1951), actor Gary Sinise (1955), NBA/MLB player Danny Ainge (1959), actor Rob Lowe (1964), singer-songwriter Billy Corgan (1967), fashion designer Alexander McQueen (1969), bass player Melissa Auf der Maur (1972), soccer player Mia Hamm (1972), singer-songwriter Justin Hawkins (1975), porn actress Stormy Daniels (1979), singer-songwriter Grimes (1988), singer-songwriter Hozier (1990), and actor John Boyega (1992).


Time to do various things that aren’t this. Enjoy your day.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Random News: March 16, 2024



DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.



Good morning, or afternoon if I’m being truthful. It’s March 16, 2024, and it’s a Saturday. Kinda feeling more normal about Daylight Saving Time after a week of being annoyed by it, so I’m here in my blue bathrobe with a big cup of coffee and ready to explore the happenings of this wacky world with you. Let’s see what’s up.


  • Yesterday, former vice president Mike Pence said that he will not endorse Donnie Dump, the president with whom he served.
  • There is no historical precedent for a former vice president of the USA to withhold endorsement of the former president for subsequent political endeavors. Withholding his endorsement in this remarkable break with tradition, Pence rebuked his former boss in strong terms yesterday, saying Dump’s agenda doesn’t align with his view of conservatism.
  • On Fox News, Pence said, “Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years, and that is why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”
  • A lot of folks can’t remember what the Republican party used to be. Granted, I wasn’t a fan of them then, either.
  • Think of it like a well-intentioned Facebook group, maybe one set up to get volunteers to keep a local park clean. The group does well and many people join and participate in its goal.
  • And then one day, some guy comes into the group and says, “Yeah, it’s great we can keep the park clean, but you know who’s doing most of the littering? The black kids.”
  • And while there are some mild protests and arguments, he doesn’t get banned right away because the group admins don’t want to create controversy. A couple of like-minded racists want to hear him out and agree with him. And the group’s founders are kind of scared of them.
  • The next thing you know, the entire group has a singular focus of racism, no one is cleaning up the park, and while the group still has the same name, it’s completely been stolen from them, and all the people who started it have been driven out.
  • That’s the Republican Party in 2024.
  • I know some people don’t want to abandon the Republican Party. It’s what they always supported before, and perhaps their parents supported it, or most of the people in the area where they live support it.
  • But to be clear, the party they’re involved now in is NOT THE SAME PARTY as it was just 20 or so years ago. It has the same name, but that’s about it.
  • It got invaded by outsiders and all of its missions of conservatism were pushed aside.
  • I’ll quote Mike Pence again on this topic…
  • “Should the new populism of the right seize and guide our party, the Republican Party we’ve long known will cease to exist. And the fate of American freedom would be in doubt.”
  • Another former VP and staunch conservative, Dick Cheney said in a video, “In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters.”
  • If you don’t believe Pence and Cheney, believe the new MAGA Party itself. Lara Trump, the co-chair of the RNC, said last week, “Anyone who is not on board with seeing Donald Trump as the forty-seventh president and America-loving patriots all the way down the ticket being supported by the RNC is welcome to leave because we are not playing games.”
  • So, if you’re a traditional conservative or even a neocon who wants small government, family values, and other aspects of America that you thought were the right direction under leaders like Ronald Reagan, you are being told you are no longer welcome in the GOP.
  • You’ve been asked to leave. Why are you still trying to be pals with these disgusting MAGA people who do not want you there and have clearly told you as such?
  • Anyway, Pence is out. Let’s move on.
  • Yesterday, President Joe Biden expressed support for Senate Leader Chuck Schumer after he gave a speech castigating Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for Israel to hold elections and replace Bibi.
  • Joe said, “I think he expressed a serious concern shared not only by him but by many Americans.”
  • Schumer, notably, is the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US government, perhaps giving him more leeway to be openly critical of Netanyahu’s actions. He’s been a long-time strong supporter of Israel, but said the Israeli leader was allowing "his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.”
  • Fair point, sir.
  • More than 30,000 Palestinians — the majority of them children and women — have now been killed in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas terrorist group attack on Israel on October 7.
  • But the actual number of Palestinian dead is likely to be far higher, as the count does not include those who have not reached hospitals, among them thousands of people still lost under the rubble of buildings hit by Israeli air strikes.
  • The conflict will continue to impact the elections in the USA, but I believe there will be some resolution on it well in advance of the general election in November.
  • What won’t get resolved before then? The battle to maintain women’s reproductive rights, along with those for contraceptive access, in vitro fertilization, and LGTBQ+ freedoms.
  • Moving on.
  • Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in a 9-0 unanimous decision that public officials may block people on social media in certain circumstances. I told you about these cases when they were brought to the court last year.
  • While it might surprise you, I agree with them. Written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court set a clearer standard for when public officials are state actors online and when they can have more control over their social media presence.
  • The cases involved local public officials in Michigan and California (city managers, school board members) who used their personal Facebook page for things like family news and vacation pics, but also would post things like press releases.
  • They started getting attacked on their personal pages, and removed the posts and banned the repeat offenders. 
  • In her opinion, Barrett wrote that “if (defendant) Freed acted in his private capacity when he blocked (plaintiff) Lindke and deleted his comments, he did not violate Lindke’s First Amendment rights – instead, he exercised his own.”
  • Fair enough. Note that most public officials do have some means of actual official contact, including via social media. Going after them on the page where they show you pics of their kids’ sports teams and what they had for lunch is pretty trashy, if you ask me.
  • In another tidbit from the Supreme Court, Peter Navarro is still trying to wriggle out of his jail sentence. He’s supposed to report to prison in Miami to start serving his sentence by Tuesday March 19.
  • Yesterday, Navarro asked the Supreme Court to let him stay out while he appeals his conviction for refusing to testify before Congress about his involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
  • He was already shot down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week. It will be interesting to see how the Supremes vote. If they keep him out of jail, we’re in for real problems regarding the accountability of all the criminals who tried to illegally overturn the 2020 election.
  • Including Dumpy. Stay tuned on this. Moving on.
  • In 2019, the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leadership Award was established to recognize "an extraordinary woman who has exercised a positive and notable influence on society and served as an exemplary role model in both principles and practice." Past recipients have included Queen Elizabeth II and Barbra Streisand.
  • But next month, the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation will present it to four men and Martha Stewart. Among the winners are two convicted felons, the founder of right-wing Fox News, and Elon Musk.
  • RBG’s family is blasting the foundation's selection of this year's recipients, saying the decision is an affront to the memory of the late justice and her values.
  • ”This year, the Opperman Foundation has strayed far from the original mission of the award and from what Justice Ginsburg stood for," said Jane Ginsburg.
  • Everything turns to shit at some point. Again, this is what happens when bad actors take over a formerly noble organization, per our unintentional theme of the day.
  • And now, The Weather: “Seeds of Evil” by youbet
  • Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, but since it’s on a Sunday this year, it’s a solid bet that a lot of Americans are drinking green beer today.
  • Fun Fact: Cook County, IL (which includes Chicago) is the nation's county with the largest Irish-American population. It comes in at 418,997. Now you know why they dye that river bright green every year.
  • I’m not gonna preach about what you do on informal holidays like St. Paddy’s or Cinco de Mayo, where most of you appropriate other people’s cultures and eat and drink until you have no cognitive ability or reasoning skills and then assault a waiter, drive into an embankment, and get arrested or, ya now, whatever else you had in mind to do for fun today.
  • As I always say, enjoy your day.
  • From the Sports Desk… LA Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement yesterday after 10 dominant seasons.
  • He was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, an eight-time first-team All-Pro, a 10-time Pro Bowl selection, and the 2014 Defensive Rookie of the Year. Donald holds the Rams' franchise record for career sacks.
  • Honestly, I think NFL players who leave the game before their bodies are forever damaged are the smart ones.
  • Today in history… Samoset, a Mohegan, visits the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them in English, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset.” (1621). The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point (1802). Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, MA (1926). Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers, resulting in at least 4,000 deaths (1945). Launch of Gemini 8 with astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott performing the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit (1966). Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States (1988). Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery (1995). The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997.10, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93%, an even greater crash than Black Monday (2020).
  • March 16 is the birthday of astronomer Caroline Herschel (1750), US president James Madison (1751), physicist Georg Ohm (1789), comedian Henny Youngman (1906), mass murderer Josef Mengele (1911), US first lady Pat Nixon (1912), politician Charles Goodell (1926), actor Jerry Lewis (1926), opera singer Christa Ludwig (1928), film director Bernardo Bertolucci (1941), TV host Chuck Woolery (1941), singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker (1942), actor Erik Estrada (1949), singer-songwriter Ray Benson (1951), singer-songwriter/guitarist Nancy Wilson (1954), NFL player Ozzie Newsome (1956), rapper Flavor Flav (1959), singer-songwriter Patty Griffin (1964), NBA player Blake Griffin (1989), musician Wolfgang Van Halen (1991), NBA player Joel Embiid (1994), and MLB player Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1999).


Okay, time to do stuff and things, whatever they may be. Enjoy your day.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Random News: March 15, 2024



DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.



Good morning. It’s March 15, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! I am even more glad than usual to have made it back to Friday. Feels like I will really appreciate a weekend once it arrives. Let’s do some news.


  • Starting with a breaking story that makes me happy.
  • The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against Donnie Dump and his gang ruled this morning that Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis can continue with the prosecution but only if Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor she appointed and had a romantic relationship with, exits the case.
  • Bye Nathan!
  • Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee wrote that the defendants failed to meet their burden in proving that Willis’s relationship with Wade was enough of a conflict of interest to merit her removal from the case.
  • To be clear, he also found an “appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team” and said either Willis and her office must fully leave the case or Wade must withdraw for the case to proceed.
  • Again, bye Nathan! Best of luck in your future endeavors. And now that case can get back on track where it belongs, focused on Dump’s criminal racketeering schemes.
  • Moving on.
  • Yesterday, vice president Kamala Harris toured a Planned Parenthood site in Minnesota along with its chief medical officer.
  • So what?
  • Well, it was the first time in history that a US vice president or president has ever visited a facility that provides women’s reproductive care, including abortions.
  • The first woman elected vice president, Harris has made stops in key swing states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona in recent months as she tries to rally voters on the abortion issue.
  • Harris spoke to staff at the Planned Parenthood on Thursday about how abortion restrictions in other states have affected their work in Minnesota.
  • The Republican attack on women goes beyond abortion rights, and their next targets involve birth control… and despite what you may have heard, they’re still going after IVF in a big way.
  • In the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos created and stored for in vitro fertilization treatments are “unborn children” — and that those who destroy them could be held liable under a wrongful death law — ardent abortion opponents at the Heritage Foundation and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, among other groups, have sought to push lawmakers and state legislatures toward regulating IVF treatments in the United States.
  • You may consider those groups to be right-wing fringe weirdos, but guess what?
  • They are tremendously influential to the Republican lawmakers whom they bankroll. Their endgame is simple: make the regulatory environment so burdensome that IVF clinics are forced to close.
  • They will not stop until they control every aspect of women’s choices in sexuality and reproduction. Do not allow these old men to dictate what you do in life!
  • Let’s move on, or rather back to another Don the Con criminal case.
  • Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon rejected a bid by crime boss El Dumpo, who’d begged her to throw out his classified documents criminal case, and she appeared skeptical during hours of arguments of a separate effort to scuttle the prosecution ahead of trial.
  • She issued a two-page order saying that a dismissal of charges was not merited. The case, as you likely know, involves boxes and boxes of records, some highly classified, that Dump took to his Mar-a-Lago estate when he stole them from the White House.
  • Cannon, whom Dumpy himself appointed, said that a dismissal of the indictment would be “difficult to see” and that it would be “quite an extraordinary” step to strike down an Espionage Act statute that underpins the bulk of the felony counts against Trump.
  • So that is very, very good news.
  • If you can believe it, one of Dump’s asshole lawyers said these words in court: “He had the authority to do whatever he thought was appropriate with his records.”
  • Actually, the law says the exact opposite. Presidents are allowed to remain their purely personal notes under the 1978 statute known as the Presidential Records Act.
  • But the documents Dump stole were clearly presidential, not personal, and included top-secret information and documents related to nuclear programs and the military capabilities of the U.S. and foreign countries.
  • He’s not going to weasel out of this.
  • In other Dump news in a yet another criminal matter…
  • Yesterday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a judge that his office is willing to delay the upcoming trial of former President Donald Trump by a month.
  • Yes, that sucks. Dump’s hush money trial was set to begin just 10 days from now.
  • But why? Well, this is actually good. 
  • 31,000 pages of additional records relating to Dump’s crimes were just turned over by the U.S. Attorney Office, and there are still more to come.
  • So Dump's lawyers asked for a 90 day delay as a result, or a dismissal of the case. It’s the kind of thing that if not handled carefully could be the basis of a dismissal, and appeal, or an overturn of conviction.
  • So Bragg giving them an additional 30 days is long-term smart.
  • Dump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records in this case, related to reimbursements to his former attorney Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
  • Speaking of adult-related topics… say goodbye to online porn, Texas.
  • Yesterday, the adult content platform Pornhub blocked access from Texas, citing a recent legislative enactment that came into force last fall. The legislation, which was contested by Pornhub on grounds of First Amendment violations, but an appeals court dismissed the argument.
  • Texas passed HB 1181 in 2023, which required porn site operators to authenticate the age of their users and mandated the display of health advisories regarding the impact of consuming adult content.
  • Pornhub put out a statement to its user that read, in part, “While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, providing identification every time you want to visit an adult platform is not an effective solution for protecting users online, and in fact, will put minors and your privacy at risk.”
  • I tend to agree.
  • Pornhub boasts a substantial global presence. IN the past three months alone, between December 2023 and February 2024, the platform garnered 6.7 billion visits, with 27.7 percent originating from within the United States.
  • And Texas has long been a large consumer of porn. Oh well, I’m sure no one will ever make a connection between the ID you now have to show with the viewing history of midget BDSM content you use to get off, right?
  • Moving on.
  • Peter Navarro is going to jail. Ha ha.
  • Yesterday, a federal appeals court denied the ex-Dump adviser’s bid to avoid reporting to a federal prison next week to begin serving a four-month sentence for his contempt of Congress conviction.
  • The unanimous decision from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals means Navarro will have to report to a federal prison in Miami by March 19.
  • Wait, we have more piece-of-shit news.
  • Yesterday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was served a subpoena to sit for a deposition in a civil lawsuit that involves allegations he had sex with a 17-year old-girl.
  • Gaetz was issued the subpoena by attorneys representing the woman who is now in her 20s and was at the center of a years-long investigation by the Justice Department into allegations that the Florida congressman had sex with her when she was a minor.
  • There’s a name for someone who has sex with a child. That name is “rapist.”
  • In world news, Russians are heading to the polls for a presidential election that is already decided.
  • They will hand Vladimir Putin a fifth term in power. His “opponents” in the so-called election were carefully curated by the Kremlin, and pose no real threat to his dictatorship.
  • Putin’s actual opposition candidates are all either dead, jailed, exiled, or barred from running. His reelection would extend his rule until at least 2030. Putin will remain in power until his death, and he’ll likely surpass Joseph Stalin in his rule over the country.
  • It’s very important we look at Putin as an example of why we never want to allow a dictator to get into office in this USA.
  • And now, The Weather: “the REAL” by KÁRYYN
  • In some real weather news, at least two people have died in a possible tornado that hit an Ohio mobile home park, and significant injuries and flattened buildings were reported in an Indiana town as severe weather struck several states yesterday.
  • Severe weather events will continue around the world due to global climate change that is accelerated by mankind’s overuse of fossil fuels.
  • It will only get worse. We’re long past the point of reversing course. We can only hope to slow it down.
  • From the Sports Desk… another big NFL free agency story from last night, this time for the Chicago Bears, who got Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen from the Chargers. He’ll bolster the Bears' offense opposite wideout DJ Moore.
  • From the sorta-Sports Desk… apparent third-party VP candidate Aaron Rodgers has gotten hurt before the game even started.
  • It’s been reported that Rodgers shared his beliefs with multiple people — including a journalist — that the shooting at Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT, which claimed the lives of 26 people (including 20 victims who were children between six and seven years old) wasn't real.
  • After the story broke, Rodgers denied the report and stated in a social post that he has “never been of the opinion that the events did not take place.”
  • But a few years ago, Rodgers had multiple conversations where he brought up demented conspiracy theories about the event, referring to “men in black in the woods by the school”, falsely claiming those men were actually government operatives. Multiple sources have said that Rodgers claimed, “Sandy Hook never happened… All those children never existed. They were all actors.”
  • When asked about the grieving parents, the source recalled Rodgers saying, “They’re all making it up. They’re all actors.”
  • What a sick fucking piece of shit. I hope his Achilles falls out.
  • Today in history… The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place (44 BC). King Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence, granting limited religious freedom to all Christians (1672). Maine is admitted as the twenty-third U.S. state (1820). Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne, ending the 304-year Romanov dynasty (1917). Germany occupies Czechoslovakia (1939). President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress "We shall overcome" while advocating the Voting Rights Act (1965). Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union (1990). Approximately 1.4 million young people in 123 countries go on strike to protest climate change (2019).
  • March 15 is the birthday of US president Andrew Jackson (1767), physician/epidemiologist John Snow (1813), physician Emil von Behring (1854), mathematician Grace Chisholm Young (1868), singer-songwriter Lightnin' Hopkins (1912), actor Lawrence Tierney (1919), NFL player Norm Van Brocklin (1926), music producer Arif Mardin (1932), SCOTUS justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933), actor Judd Hirsch (1935), songwriter/bass player Phil Lesh (1940), director David Cronenberg (1943), singer-songwriter Sly Stone (1943), guitarist Ry Cooder (1947), singer-songwriter Dee Snider (1955), singer Bret Michaels (1963), singer Mark McGrath (1968), actress Eva Longoria (1975), rapper will.i.am (1975), MLB player Kevin Youkilis (1979), and NFL player Taylor Heinicke (1993).


It is indeed the “ides of March” today. I’m not scared of superstitious dates. I did get laid off from a job 24 years ago today, but that turned out to be a very good thing. I’m going to have a happy Friday and so should you. Enjoy your day.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Random News: March 14, 2024



DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.



Good morning. It’s March 14, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I’m feeling relatively good on this brand new day, as the sun turns the sky from black to gray, and I’m here and writing anyway. Let’s do this.


  • Yesterday, the House passed a bill with broad bipartisan support that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner to either sell the hugely popular video app or be banned in the United States.
  • Republican leaders fast-tracked the bill through the House with limited debate, and it passed on a lopsided vote of 352 to 65, reflecting widespread backing for legislation that would take direct aim at China in an election year.
  • Why do this now? Simple. US intelligence forces determined that Chinese ownership of the platform poses grave national security risks to the United States, including the ability to meddle in elections.
  • The interesting thing about this is that the coalition behind the ban included Republicans, who defied former president Donnie Dumpster in supporting it.
  • However, the bill is not at all a sure thing in the Senate, where Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, has been noncommittal about bringing it to the floor for a vote and where some lawmakers have vowed to fight it. And even if it passes the Senate and becomes law, it is likely to face legal challenges.
  • But here’s the weird thing: this fast-tracked bill seem very bipartisan but has its splits within each respective party.
  • President Biden has said he would sign the bill into law, but top House leaders like Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, voted against the bill.
  • Donnie Dump said he opposed the bill, but many of his strongest allies in the House, like Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 4 Republican in the House, voted for it.
  • And here’s the reality: TikTok is a huge harvester of its users personal data… but so is Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and all the Google properties like its search engine as well as YouTube.
  • Every one of them are mining data about you. How do I know? Because I work in the advertising world, and the amount of information I can access on you via Facebook alone is astonishing.
  • I can pinpoint target my clients’ Facebook ads based on everything you’ve ever liked, videos you’ve watched, comments you’ve made on posts, your age, your location, your race/ethnicity, your political interests… and more.
  • The only difference is that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, at least for now.
  • Moving on.
  • The presiding judge in the Georgia criminal case against El Dumpo and his crime team has thrown out some of the charges against the former president and several of his co-defendants.
  • Do I like this? No, But is it the end fo the world? Also no.
  • The partial dismissal by Georgia Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee leaves most of the sprawling racketeering indictment intact.
  • McAfee ruled that six charges in the 41-count indictment related to Trump and some co-defendants allegedly soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer lacked the required detail about what underlying crime the defendants were soliciting.
  • So now Dumpy is now facing just 88 charges over the four criminal indictments in Georgia, New York, Washington, DC, and Florida.
  • In another of those cases, today Dump’s lawyers are trying to convince a federal judge in Florida to dismiss special counsel Jack Smith's classified documents case against him.
  • Judge Aileen Cannon is set to hear arguments on two motions filed by Dump, one that says the former president is shielded from prosecution by a federal recordkeeping law, and another that claims one of the charges presents numerous open legal questions. 
  • Smith charged Dump with 32 counts of unlawfully retaining classified government records after he stole documents from the White House during the presidential transition. Big Smelly and two aides are also accused of engaging in a scheme to obstruct investigations.
  • Obviously keeping an eye on that. As we know in the USA, no one is above the law. Not you, not me, not former or current presidents.
  • Let’s talk about voting.
  • Now that the presidential candidates have sealed their respective party nominations, do the remaining primaries even matter?
  • Yes, absolutely. Each one of them predicts trends and is particularly valuable for showing the direction of voting patterns in swing states.
  • To that end, next Tuesday (March 19) is another big batch of them, with Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio all having their primaries for both Democratic and Republic voters.
  • Please vote! Thank you.
  • And that brings up another important thing to consider.
  • As you know, Dumpty Dump won Georgia on Tuesday with 84.5 percent of the vote, as well as winning Mississippi and Washington.
  • But Nikki Haley, despite dropping out of the GOP primary race a week earlier, still received 13 percent of the Republican vote in Georgia, amounting to more than 77,000 ballots.
  • Now I”ll remind you that in 2020, Trump lost Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes. And I can guarantee you that while some of the Haley supporters will hold their nose and vote for Dump in the general election, not all of them will.
  • Let’s move on.
  • I want to talk about Nex Benedict, the 16-year-old nonbinary student in Oklahoma who died a day after getting beaten in their high school bathroom.
  • Her death was used a a result of suicide, per the autopsy report released yesterday. She overdosed on diphenhydramine and fluoxetine, more commonly known as Benadryl and Xanax.
  • Like many people, I suspected this was the case. But I want to tell you: death by suicide as a result of continual bullying is just another form of murder as far as I’m concerned.
  • One has to look at the state of Oklahoma, which in recent years has passed numerous bills that are openly hostile to LGBTQ communities.
  • The state failed Nex and people like them. The culture allowed bullies to feel empowered to harass and intimidate and harm this person to the point that they felt suicide was the only way out.
  • And there’s no accountability for the people who caused this. It’s depressing, but there is a way to pay it forward, and that’s to be sure that wherever you live, you fight like hell for the rights of people who aren’t like everyone else.
  • Moving on.
  • Wait. No. Let’s stay on this for a moment.
  • The number of American adults who identify as LGBTQ+ has more than doubled in the last 12 years, according to new polling from Gallup.
  • The latest results show that 7.6% of U.S. adults now align themselves with the LGBTQ+ community — up from 3.5% in 2012, when Gallup started collecting this data. Compare that to four years ago, when the figure was 5.6%.
  • Little opinion here: nope. The number is probably similar to what it’s always been, but younger people in a more accepting environment are far more likely to be open and truthful about it.
  • The study itself says, ”Adults in these younger generations are far more likely than those in older generations to identify as LGBTQ+."
  • And I say, “Adults in younger generations are far less likely to lie about their sexual orientation than those in older generations.”
  • More than one in five Gen Z adults — age 18 to 23 during the data collection period — identify as LGBTQ+.
  • And about one in three Gen Z women identify as LGBTQ+, most as bisexual.
  • If your whole worldview is entangled in attacking the LGBTQ+ community, you’re going to be in a larger and larger minority as time goes by.
  • In other news…
  • Right now in the Senate, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is holding a hearing regarding standardizing 32-hour work week.
  • I like tis idea. Who brought it up?
  • Our buddy Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Yesterday, Bernie introduced a bill to establish a standard four-day workweek in the United States without any reduction in pay.
  • The bill, over a four-year period, would lower the threshold required for overtime pay, from 40 hours to 32 hours. It would require overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 times a worker’s regular salary for work days longer than 8 hours, and it would require overtime pay at double a worker’s regular salary for work days longer than 12 hours.
  • The committee will hear from United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, among other witnesses.
  • Go Bernie! Man, we could have had that guy as a President. Ah well.
  • Moving on.
  • Yesterday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said she would issue pardons for tens of thousands of people convicted of misdemeanor marijuana charges going back decades.
  • If approved, the pardons will apply to all adult Massachusetts state court misdemeanor convictions before March 13, 2024, for possession of marijuana or “Class D substance.” Most people will not need to take any action to have their criminal records updated.
  • I support this 100%. Healey said the pardons would apply to those arrested as far back as the 1970’s war on drugs and earlier.
  • And now, The Weather: “Bat House” by hockey season
  • If you’re in Colorado, you don’t need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows. A major storm dumped heavy snow on the state overnight, their biggest in years.
  • Major sections of Interstate 70 were closed in the Colorado mountains, with numerous reports of vehicles stranded on the highway for hours.
  • Stay safe, my mountainous friends.
  • From the Sports Desk… nah. Sports Desk has the day off.
  • Today in history… Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin (1794). ‘The Mikado’, a light opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, receives its first public performance at the Savoy Theatre in London (1885). Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt (1903). Anne Miller becomes the first American patient to be treated with penicillin, under the care of Orvan Hess and John Bumstead (1942). A USAF B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons crashes near Yuba City, CA (1961).
  • March 14 is the birthday of composer Johann Strauss I (1804), SCOTUS justice Joseph P. Bradley (1813), dentist Lucy Hobbs Taylor (1833), US vice president Thomas R. Marshall (1854), railroad engineer Casey Jones (1863), physicist Albert Einstein (1879), race car driver Lee Petty (1914), photographer Diane Arbus (1923), actor Michael Caine (1933), songwriter/music producer Quincy Jones (1933), NBA player Wes Unseld (1946), actor Billy Crystal (1948), MLB player Kirby Puckett (1960), and gymnast Simone Biles (1998).


That’s enough. Oh, one more thing. Remember how happy I was yesterday that I only had one more simple dental procedure and would then be done for years? Yeah, no. It ended up taking three hours and after my latest root canal, my dentist wasn’t happy with the fit of a permanent crown, which then required a new set of impressions and I still have to go back yet again to have that installed once it’s ready. Fucking hell. Enjoy your day.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Random News: March 13, 2024



DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.



Good morning. It’s March 13, 2024, and it’s a Wednesday. Later today, I have the final round of my dental hell, and while I’m dreading it like any normal human being, I’m also excited that it will be done for a good long while. Meanwhile, once again we have a ton of news to talk about and limited time in which to do it, so with no further delay…


  • After yesterday’s primaries in states including Georgia, Washington, and others, we have an official 2024 presidential matchup within our seemingly unavoidable two-party political system
  • First, President Biden clinched the 1,968 delegates needed to earn the Democratic presidential nomination. Later in the evening, Dumpelstiltskin passed the 1,215 delegates to officially become the GOP nominee.
  • This matchup was a foregone conclusion we’ve known for months if not longer. It sets up the first US presidential rematch since 70 years ago, when Dwight D. Eisenhower faced Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and 1956 (and won both times).
  • Only one person in US history, Grover Cleveland, served two non-consecutive terms, like Dumpy is attempting now. Others, including Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Millard Fillmore, and Martin Van Buren, tried and failed.
  • I’ve heard people ask whether these two elderly men are the best we’ve got. It’s far too complicated to answer with a simple yes or no. I will say this.
  • Now that we know beyond all doubt that one of those two men — assuming they are alive and well in November, and able to carry out the duties of the office — will be president again, I do recommend that you take a close look into your heart and determine which one has the values that best represent the type of person you are.
  • I’d also say you should objectively look at what both men did for the USA during their respective presidential terms, including the challenges they faced and how they reacted.
  • Then make your choice and cast your vote this fall.
  • Moving on. There are tons of other important news.
  • Yesterday, the Biden administration announced another package of military aid to Ukraine worth up to $300 million. The new funding became available as a results of savings made in weapons contracts.
  • Well done. The President reminded people that the package is “not nearly enough,” and Congress needs to pass additional funding, because Putin will not stop at Ukraine and will try and take over Poland and then all of Western Europe.
  • He’s right. Moving on.
  • Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) surprised the fuck out of the political world yesterday when he announced that he will leave the House on March 22. Yeah, like in just over a week.
  • Buck’s decision will leave Republicans with only 218 seats in the chamber, compared to Democrats' 213. Republicans can still only afford to lose two votes on any bill with united Democratic opposition, assuming full attendance.
  • When did Speaker Mike Johnson find out about Buck's departure plans? Oh, at the same time as everyone else, when Buck announced it. Buck later said he’d called Johnson about 30 minutes before the announcement went live and left a voicemail. 
  • That’s cold, man. Johnson was completely blindsided. So sad, too bad.
  • When asked about his colleagues’ reaction to his sudden resignation, Buck made a cryptic statement about what will come afterwards. He replied, "I think it's the next three people that leave that they're going to be worried about."
  • My goodness.
  • The extra great part of this: Buck is leaving Colorado’s 4th congressional district where Lauren Boebert is trying to run for his former seat. Now they’re going to have to hold a special election in June, and BoBo won’t even be on that ballot.
  • Meaning it will be even harder for her to win in the fall, assuming she was even able to win the primary.
  • Moving on.
  • Yesterday, the Supreme Court extended a temporary freeze on the enforcement of Texas’ fucked up “Show Us Your Papers” immigration law — SB 4 — that allows state law enforcement to detain and arrest anyone they even suspect of entering the country illegally.
  • Without action from the high court, the Texas law would have gone into effect today. It’s now paused through at least Monday while they review it.
  • Here’s hoping.
  • And speaking of bad legal takes…
  • I want to be sure you’re aware that on Monday, El Dumpo said that one of his first acts as president if he wins in November would be to free those charged and convicted of crimes related to the January 6 failed coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol.
  • That’s right. The ones who assaulted cops, who vandalized the center of our government, who smeared their own shit on the walls. Who threatened elected members of our government with assault and rape and execution.
  • Dump will free them all from receiving any punishment for their crimes. Do not allow this smelly fuck to make a mockery of our laws and our entire system of justice. Do not elect him.
  • Let’s talk a bit about former special counsel Robert Hur, who appeared before Congress yesterday to explain his investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified documents.
  • I have less to say about this than you might assume. Hur got slammed from both sides. The Democrats were angry that he added editorial-like opinions to his findings. Republicans were mad at Hur’s decision not to prosecute the president.
  • What it really came down to was that Hur found plenty of exculpatory evidence that led him to conclude that Biden’s actions weren’t illegal, and ultimately concluded that criminal charges weren’t warranted.
  • Fine. Let’s move on.
  • If I mention Aaron Rodgers, you may think I’m doing a sports story ahead of the sports section.
  • Nope.
  • He’s supposed to be the New York Jets' starting quarterback this year, but apparently has another job offer: that of vice president of the United States.
  • The former NFL MVP is at the top of the list of potential running mates for third-party candidate and well-known anti-vaccine proponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  • I’m not making this up. RFK Jr. reported it to the New York Times, saying he’s been speaking "pretty continuously" with Rodgers over the past month, and the domain name "kennedyrodgers.com" was also registered last week.
  • Hmm, let me think about how I feel about this.
  • Hahahahahahahahahahahaha (deep breath)… hahahahahahahahaha…
  • Moving on.
  • As I’ve mentioned, March is Women’s History Month, and it’s time for our annual reminder that there remains a persistent wage gap between men and women who do the same jobs.
  • Why mention this each year in mid-March? Because this is the point in a new year that women have to work to earn equal pay of what men made in 2023.
  • Women working full time, year-round earn 84 cents for every dollar men make, inching up from 83.7 cents last year. But that amount falls to 78 cents when you include seasonal and part-time workers, who account for roughly a third of women in the U.S. workforce.
  • For women of color, the pay gap is even bigger.
  • It’s no longer a matter of differences in education or experience. Women with master's degrees earn 72 cents for every dollar earned by men with the same degree, and they earn less than men with bachelor's degrees. Women with associate's degrees earn less than men with only high school diplomas.
  • Maybe someday this will be straightened out and made fair… but we keep talking about it and nothing changes.
  • Let’s talk about something that can help all people, but with even more benefits for women: strength training.
  • Research shows people who do weight training a few days a week live longer, but women get the biggest boost in longevity. Strength training is also good for mood, and it helps protect joints and bones.
  • A study based on the habits of about 400,000 adults in the U.S., and researchers found people who did strength training 2 to 3 times a week had about a 20% reduced risk of premature death.
  • And now you know one reason that despite never, ever wanting to workout every damn weekday morning, I do it anyway, and while I complain about it, I still highly recommend it for everyone.
  • My workout — which I do from 8:00-8:45am Monday through Friday — isn’t difficult and provides both physical and mental health benefits. And it does not have to be difficult, especially when you’re starting out.
  • And now, The Weather: “Do It Anyway” by Ford Chastain
  • Let’s do a chart. It’s March 1978. I am in fourth grade. ‘Saturday Night Fever’ is completely dominating the music charts, but in between those songs are amazingly schlocky soft rock/easy listening/adult contemporary hits.
  • 1. Night Fever (Bee Gees). 2. Stayin' Alive (Bee Gees). 3. Emotion (Samantha Sang). 4. Lay Down Sally (Eric Clapton). 5. (Love Is) Thicker Than Water (Andy Gibb). 6. Can't Smile Without You (Barry Manilow). 7. I Go Crazy (Paul Davis). 8. Sometimes When We Touch (Dan Hill). 9. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) (Chic). 10. Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel). 11. Thunder Island (Jay Ferguson). 12. The Name Of The Game (ABBA). 13. What's Your Name (Lynyrd Skynyrd). 14. If I Can't Have You (Yvonne Elliman). 15. Falling (LeBlanc & Carr). 16. Happy Anniversary (Little River Band). 17. (What A) Wonderful World (Art Garfunkel With James Taylor & Paul Simon). 18. Our Love (Natalie Cole). 19. Jack And Jill (Raydio). 20. The Way You Do The Things You Do (Rita Coolidge).
  • From the Sports Desk… wouldn’t it be more fun if the NFL didn’t announce free-agency trades and draft picks, and you only got to see who was on your team when they ran out of the tunnel?
  • More from trade mania: Saints QB Jameis Winston to the Browns. Titans RB Derrick Henry to the Ravens. Packers RB Aaron Jones to the Vikings. Bengals RB Joe Mixon to the Texans. Seahawks QB Drew Lock to the Giants. Vikings DE/OLB Danielle Hunter to the Texans. And many more.
  • Today in history… Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard (1639). Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto receives its premiere performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist (1845). The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves is passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation (1862). Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module (1969). The 2013 papal conclave elects Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church (2013). President Donald Trump declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States (2020). Breonna Taylor is killed by police officers who were forcibly entering her home in Louisville, KY (2020).
  • March 13 is the birthday of UK prime minister Charles Grey (1764), US first lady Abigail Fillmore (1798), astronomer Percival Lowell (1855), physicist John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (1899), publisher/philanthropist Walter Annenberg (1908), science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard (1911), cartoonist Al Jaffee (1921), singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka (1939), actor William H. Macy (1950), actress/guitarist Charo (1951), bass player Adam Clayton (1960), actor/rapist Danny Masterson (1976), and rapper Jack Harlow (1998).


So, that’s it for now. As I said up top, gonna get this dental shit over and done with. Today’s procedure is not anything any sane person looks forward to — one more root canal — but it is tiny compared tot he stuff I’ve already been through. I’ll be fine. Enjoy your day.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Random News: March 12, 2024



DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.



Good morning. It’s March 12, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. It’s the second day of waking up in total darkness and cursing the person responsible for having invented Daylight Saving Time. I’ll get used to it eventually… but not today! Anyway, we have a ton of news, so we’d best get on it.


  • Donnie Dump is trying to delay the inevitable: the start of his first criminal trial, which is scheduled to begin in less than two weeks.
  • In a motion filed March 7 and made public yesterday, Dump's attorneys asked Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan to delay the trial, which is currently set for March 25, until after the Supreme Court rules on whether Dump is shielded from criminal prosecution by "presidential immunity" in another one of his criminal cases.
  • Let’s start with the most hilarious part about this and then work our way backwards. Ready?
  • The crime El Dumpo is accused of in this case stems from a hush money payment made by an attorney for Dump to adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in the days before the 2016 election.
  • Stop right there. He’s asking the court to hold back his trial based on something that already doesn’t exist: “presidential immunity”.
  • But the best part is that the crime he is accused of happened in 2016, BEFORE he became president. Dumpster was sworn in on January 20, 2017. he was NOT president at that time and even if the world turned upside down and US presidents were immune from all criminal punishment, he simply was not president then. End of story.
  • Back to the main topic, though: lower federal courts have already determined that no such immunity exists. It didn’t exist for any other president, and Dumpster is no exception to the rule.
  • The Supreme Court will be hearing his claims of immunity for his many crimes on April 25.
  • In the Stormy Daniels case, Dump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records tied to payments reimbursing the attorney, Michael Cohen, in 2017. Dump has pleaded not guilty and denies all wrongdoing.
  • Moving on.
  • We should talk about Haiti, the poorest and most strife-ridden nation in the Americas.
  • Yesterday, Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to resign following weeks of mounting pressure and increasing violence in the impoverished country.
  • It is currently a lawless nation, controlled by heavily armed gangs who have tightened their grip on the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince, and attacked the main prison to help thousands of inmates escape.
  • Henry — an unelected official — had led the country supposedly on an interim basis since July 2021 following former President Jovenel Moïse's assassination, but he’s repeatedly postponed elections, saying security must be restored first.
  • Their last election was held in 2016. So that’s not good at all. I’m not sure if anything can truly fix Haiti, though.
  • Moving back to the USA.
  • The moment they took control, the new leadership team at the Republican National Committee — handpicked by Donnie Dumperino — started firing dozens of employees.
  • About 60 people were told they were no longer employed.
  • This is, of course, all part of the plan for MAGA to wrap up its total takeover of the former Republican party, diverting all contributions and donations to Dump’s personal use for his legal bills and other grifting needs.
  • I would be SO angry if I was a traditional Republican, whom the party has not only abandoned but has clearly been told they are no longer welcome.
  • Let’s move on.
  • You know how I’ve been telling you that Republicans have their sights set on your Social Security?
  • Yesterday, Dumpy said the quiet part out loud in an interview. He was pressed on how he plans to resolve the long-term solvency problems of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. His response?
  • “So first of all, there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting. And in terms of, also, the theft and the bad management of entitlements — tremendous bad management of entitlements — there’s tremendous amounts of things and numbers of things you can do.”
  • The Biden campaign quickly jumped on Dump’s admission and posted the video to various social nets with the caption, “Not on my watch.”
  • If you need a reminder: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are funded by your money that you’ve been paying into at every job you ever had. Stopping any program like that would be straight up stealing from you.
  • It’s not their money. It’s yours. Don’t let the Republicans fuck you out of it.
  • In other news…
  • As we’d mentioned previously, it’s another big voting day in many states. Perhaps the main state to keep an eye on is Georgia, a swing state that helped usher in Joe Biden’s presidency in 2020.
  • Donnie Dump will likely get enough Republican delegates to officially be their nominee after today. Based on the states holding primaries and caucuses, President Biden may receive the official party nomination today or may have to await next Tuesday’s round of votes.
  • Here in my state, we had just one ballot initiative while voting on March 5, aka Super Tuesday: California’s Proposition 1.
  • Its main purpose is to issue $6.38 billion in bonds to fund housing for homeless individuals and veterans, including up to $4.4 billion for mental health care and drug or alcohol treatment facilities and $2.0 billion for housing for homeless persons.
  • Sounds good, huh? I voted Yes.
  • But as they slowly continue the vote count from my state with about 40,000,000 residents, a full week later it’s still unclear as to whether this will pass or not. With 76% of the precincts reporting as of this morning, the vote stands at Yes with a very narrow lead of 2,921,235 votes (50.30%) to No at 2,887,648 (49.70%).
  • Still impossible to know if it will pass or not.
  • In other news, if you were hoping for some kind of exhibitionist thrill the next time you stay in an Airbnb, they seem to be finally curtailing their voyeuristic policies.
  • Airbnb is banning the use of indoor security cameras in listings globally, the short-term rental platform announced yesterday.
  • Previously, Airbnb allowed hosts to have indoor security cameras in common areas as long as the devices were clearly disclosed on the listing page and placed in visible spots in the home. 
  • However, hundreds of instances of guests finding cameras all over these properties have been documented, even though indoor security cameras were never allowed in spaces like sleeping areas and bathrooms.
  • Hosts who do currently have indoor security cameras have until April 30 to remove them. After this date, a host who violates the new policy could face consequences including listing or account removal on the platform.
  • Now ask yourself how the company can possibly police this action? I still say to assume that some perv is watching you at all times in every Airbnb.
  • Let’s move on.
  • You know Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law that went into effect in March 2022? Yeah, that’s not legal.
  • Florida education officials and a group of LGBTQ advocates and families have reached a legal settlement that clarifies the scope of the statute, spelling out that students and teachers are allowed to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, as long as it is not part of formal instruction.
  • The plaintiffs, which included civil rights organizations, parents, students and teachers – sued over the statute just days after Ron DeSantis (R) signed it into law.
  • So yes, you can say gay in Florida. All of that bullshit by the right-wing weirdos was for nothing.
  • But as long as we’re discussing Florida…
  • Yesterday, the NAACP made an official announcement to Black student-athletes, telling them to reconsider attending public colleges and universities in Florida.
  • The letter was in response to the University of Florida and other state schools that have eliminated their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. It was also addressed to current and prospective student-athletes.
  • Last year, DeSantis signed a bill prohibiting the use of state funds for any DEI programs. The University of Florida responded this month by closing the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, eliminating 13 full-time DEI positions and 15 administrative appointments, and ending DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors.
  • Hey, I’m sure they’ll do fine with white-only athletes.
  • Hahahahahahahahahaha… oh man, that’s funny.
  • Moving on.
  • This week marked the start of Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar. In 2024, it runs from March 10 to April 19.
  • How many people on Earth observe this religious event? Oh, only about a quarter of the entire population of the planet, comprising Muslims in every country including some 3.5 million Americans. And those people are fasting from sunup to sundown, every day, for a whole fucking month.
  • It’s not just fasting in the way you might be picturing it. They can’t even drink anything, including water.
  • No fucking way I could do that. I constantly consume things. I rarely go a full hour without eating or drinking something. I would be a terrible Muslim. I’m barely good at being an atheist.
  • Here’s a tip on supporting your Muslim friends (or at least not being insensitive to them) during this time…
  • You can feel free to eat in front of them. They get it. But don’t insist they join you at a business lunch or other mid-day event where food is served to everyone but them. That’s shitty.
  • Also, don’t compare what they’re doing to some fad weight-loss diet you’re on. That’s not the point of it.
  • You can say “Ramadan Mubarak” to your Muslim friends, which means “Happy Ramadan”. No one will take offense, except maybe some white nationalist MAGA guy who overhears you being kind to another human being.
  • And now, The Weather: “To Remember Yourself” by Darvid Thor
  • Rest in peace to Karl Wallinger, the frontman of World Party and early member of the Waterboys. He died Sunday at 66.
  • You may recall their 1987 hit “Ship of Fools.” Wallinger always worked with his friend Sinead O’Connor’s on her debut album ‘The Lion and the Cobra’ and O’Connor in turn sang backing vocals on the first two World Party albums. He was also the musical director for the Gen-X-defining 1994 film “Reality Bites.” RIP.
  • And another RIP in the music realm goes goes out to singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, who became an icon of power pop as the frontman of the Raspberries before achieving even bigger hits as a solo artist in the 1970s and ’80s. He died at age 74.
  • If you don’t know Carmen from the Raspberries’ breakout hit, “Go All the Way” in the early ‘70s, you probably know his solo songs like “All by Myself,” “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again,” and “Hungry Eyes.” Rest in peace.
  • I mentioned yesterday that I suddenly had some pain above my knee when straightening my leg, like getting up from sitting. I am not a doctor, but this diagnosis is fairly obvious: it’s quadriceps tendinitis.
  • Pretty common for athletes, and it’s likely that some of the repetitive motions I do every morning while working out for the past 12 years have come back to haunt me.
  • It should get better on its own in maybe 4-6 weeks. I’ve had instances of tendinitis before. never fun, but I get past it eventually.
  • Meanwhile, I need to figure out some other form of cardio that doesn’t involve me using that set of muscles. I’ll live.
  • From the Sports Desk… more surprises from the NFL’s free agency turntable. Some highlights…
  • Vikings QB Kirk Cousins to the Falcons. 49ers QB Sam Darnold to the Vikings. Colts QB Gardner Minshew to the Raiders. Giants QB Tyrod Taylor tot he Jets. Giants RB Saquon Barkley to the Eagles. Raiders RB Josh Jacobs to the Packers. Dolphins DT Christian Wilkins to the Raiders. 
  • I mean, that’s just a few of hundreds of moves. You probably won’t have any idea who’s on your team when preseason starts in August.
  • Today in history… The Girl Guides — later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA — are founded in the United States (1912). Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for most of the period since 1713 (1918). Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States, the first of his "fireside chats” (1933). Sir Tim Berners-Lee submits his proposal to CERN for an information management system, which subsequently develops into the World Wide Web (1989). Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO (1999). Financier Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street's history (2009). A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (2011). The United States suspends travel from Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic (2020).
  • March 12 is the birthday of composer Thomas Arne, E (1710), US first lady Jane Pierce (1806), farmer Charles Boycott (1832), author Jack Kerouac (1922), astronaut Wally Schirra (1923), playwright Edward Albee (1928), actress Barbara Feldon (1933), singer Al Jarreau (1940), actress/singer Liza Minnelli (1946), politician Mitt Romney (1947), singer-songwriter James Taylor (1948), songwriter/bass player Steve Harris (1956), MLB player Darryl Strawberry (1962), colonel/politician Tammy Duckworth (1968), and journalist Jake Tapper (1969).


Welp, that’s a lot of everything. There’s more, but I’m out of time. Enjoy your day.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Random News: March 11, 2024



DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.



Good morning. It’s March 11, 2024, and it’s a Monday. It’s also the first Monday after the start of Daylight Saving Time and I’m grumpy as fuck. Making the day all the better, last night I got one of those “hey, you’re old, here’s a random pain for no reason” issues with my knee, and that hurts too. Great start to the week. Let’s do some news.


  • As you may have heard president Been mention last week in the SOTU address, a U.S. Army ship is heading to the Mediterranean on an emergency mission to build a temporary pier in Gaza that can receive large aid shipments.
  • The expansion of U.S. aid efforts to Gaza comes amid signs of growing tension between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's military operations in Gaza, which have left more than 31,000 Palestinians dead.
  • Biden has steadfastly maintained that Israel has a right to defend itself, but said in his address that it also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.
  • I agree with both sentiments, and they are not mutually exclusive.
  • A logistics support ship, the U.S. Army Vessel General Frank S. Besson, departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia on Saturday and is on its way to the eastern Mediterranean, carrying the initial equipment necessary to construct the temporary pier.
  • Over the next 60 days, roughly 1,000 troops will deploy to the area to build the floating platform where cargo ships can offload aid onto smaller military vessels, which will transfer them to a causeway attached to the beach, where trucks can pick it up and distribute it within Gaza.
  • A full long-lasting cease fire and return of all hostages would be preferable, but this is a good step.
  • Moving on.
  • A lot of GOP talking heads have been asking if you’re better off than you were four years ago.
  • Let’s see… in March 2020, people were wiping their asses with coffee filters, being unable to find toilet paper in any stores.
  • In early March 2020, the following things were shut down almost at once: the NBA, the NCAA, the NHL, SXSW, the E3 and NAB shows, Disneyland, almost all international borders.
  • None of us knew if we were going to live or die, there was no vaccine, and the president at the time was telling us that only a few people had COVID-19 and it would be gone by Easter, and not to worry about it.
  • In fact, it was four years ago this very day — March 11, 2020 — that many places around the USA went into a total lockdown.
  • So yes. Unquestionably, 100% without any reservations, I can say with all confidence that I am much, much, much better off now than I was four years ago, and a huge portion of that improvement is thanks to the efforts of Joe Biden.
  • Thanks Joe!
  • I should probably mention the Oscars. I’ve stated before, I stopped watching awards shows probably 15 or more years ago, and I find I have zero interest in them.
  • So I didn’t watch them, but most people seem to be saying that it was a great show. The awards highlights: ‘Oppenheimer’ was the big winner, winning seven awards out of 13 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor.
  • That last one was given to Robert Downey Jr., winning the first Academy Award in his 40-plus-year career.
  • Of course, what I really enjoyed in reading the recap was host Jimmy Kimmel calling out Donnie Dump in real time while the show aired. After reading a social post from Dump, Kimmel quipped, “I’m surprised you’re up this late. Isn’t it past your jail time?"
  • The entire audience erupted in gales of laughter. I’m sure you know how much Dumpy can handle being poked fun at. Answer: not at all. He’s a giant pussy and is probably envisioning revenge against Hollywood right now.
  • Super irrelevant side note: one of Jimmy Kimmel’s earlier jobs was here in Los Angeles on local radio station KROQ in the mid-1990s as Jimmy the Sports Guy during the Kevin & Bean morning show. I’ve enjoyed Jimmy for a long, long time.
  • Okay, moving on.
  • In accountability news (aka the FA, FO section), Peter Navarro, an economic adviser to Dumpy, has been ordered to report to a Miami prison March 19 to begin serving a four-month sentence for refusing to comply with a congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021 failed coup attempt at the Capitol.
  • Navarro, 74, was convicted last year on two counts of contempt of Congress — one for failing to produce documents related to the probe, and another for skipping his deposition.
  • Fuck him. I hope he hates prison.
  • Sensitive topic ahead, if you want to skip it…
  • I limit my specific talk about gun regulation to my Sunday Gunday feature so I’m not constantly bombarding you with that depressing shit. One thing I do not cover there is self-inflicted gun violence.
  • In the United States, firearm suicide is a devastating public health crisis, claiming nearly 25,000 lives every year — about 68 deaths a day. The problem is not getting better; the firearm suicide rate has increased over the past decade.
  • And no one is more susceptible to it than veterans. An average of 4,600 veterans die by firearm suicide every year.
  • That’s approximately one in five adult firearm suicides. Over the past 20 years, the veteran firearm suicide rate has increased by 51 percent, compared to a 32 percent increase for non-veterans over this same period.
  • When people have easy access to guns and they go through what might be a temporary depressive episode, they may make a sadly permanent decision.
  • If you care about preventing gun violence and care about US military veterans, I may have some recommendations regarding political candidates who support these causes as well.
  • Moving on, and still in the “sensitive topic” realm…
  • There’s more fallout from the horribly-executed GOP rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union address last week.
  • Karla Jacinto, the woman whose story Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) shared in her response as an example of Biden’s immigration policy, spoke up over the weekend, confirming she was trafficked before Biden’s presidency and said legislators lack empathy when using the issue of human trafficking for political purposes.
  • Jacinto stated that Mexican politicians also took advantage of her by using her story for political purposes and that it’s happened again in the United States via the Republican’s twisted use of her story.
  • And let’s be clear: girls and women are indeed victims of sex trafficking, and calling attention to that fact is very important. It just shouldn’t be done in a misleading way to gain political points and deflect blame from where it belongs.
  • And now, The Weather: “Beside Myself” by Little Kid
  • The northeast is getting some heavy weather, with high winds and high tides affecting places like New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and elsewhere.
  • What was formerly considered severe weather is now more and more commonplace. That will only get progressively worse. Plan accordingly.
  • From the Sports Desk… some big moves this weekend during the NFL offseason.
  • Former Denver QB Russell Wilson is now a Pittsburgh Steeler, while former Patriots QB Mac Jones is now a backup in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, the Bucs re-signed QB Baker Mayfield to a three-year deal.
  • Today in history… Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation (1708). The first performance of ‘Rigoletto’ by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice (1851). In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre (1927). United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan (1941). Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights (1981). Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, making Gorbachev the USSR's de facto, and last, head of state (1985). The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague (2003). The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 virus epidemic a pandemic (2020).
  • March 11 is the birthday of politician/SCOTUS justice John McLean (1785), mathematician/economist Joseph Louis François Bertrand (1822), bandleader Lawrence Welk (1903), UK prime minister Harold Wilson (1916), businessman Rupert Murdoch (1931), SCOTUS justice Antonin Scalia (1936), singer-songwriter Bobby McFerrin (1950), author Douglas Adams (1952), music producer/businessman Jimmy Iovine (1953), singer-songwriter Nina Hagen (1955), drummer Vinnie Paul (1964), singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb (1968), actor Johnny Knoxville (1971), singer-songwriter Benji Madden (1979), actor Anton Yelchin (1989), and NBA player Anthony Davis (1993).


Okay, well. I hate daylight saving, or, more specifically, the transition to DST. I’m going to be taking various steps to distract myself from my bad fucking mood so it doesn’t last any longer than necessary. Enjoy your day.