Random News: June 13, 2022

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.

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Good morning. It’s June 13, 2022, and it’s a Monday. Random whatever coming at ya…

• Today is the second session of the January 6 Committee hearings. It’s actually just about to start right this moment, at 7AM PDT. It’s being broadcast and streamed on most news sources. You can go to YouTube and search “Jan 6” and one of the live feeds will pop right up.
• Yesterday, the committee announced that they already have enough evidence to give to the justice department to indict Trump for illegal efforts to overturn the election.
• I’m not making any predictions. Not good, not bad, not anything.
• Today’s Committee session will be focused on Trump’s false claims that led to the January 6 coup attempt.
• Jennifer Hudson is now an EGOT. For those unfamiliar with the term, it’s a rare title for someone who has won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards. Only 17 people in history are in this group. Hudson won her Tony as a producer, but that’s not uncommon… only four EGOT recipients got all four of their awards as performers: Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, and Audrey Hepburn.
• Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ is the latest film to be banned in Saudi Arabia over a same-gender kiss scene. Other recent movies that won’t be shown in the region for LGBT content include 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,' 'West Side Story' and ‘Eternals'.
• I’m glad we live in a country where most people can handle seeing expressions of love regardless of gender.
• Most people. Not all people. We’re far from perfect.
• I never play the lottery; my math skills are too good for me to throw money away. Still, someone wins (even if the odds are much lower than being struck by lightning). Jeffrey Chandler, a retired firefighter in Maryland, was going to visit his grandkids and decided to pick up doughnuts for them on the way. He spontaneously bought some lotto tickets while he was there, and ended up with a dozen doughnuts and $96,879.


• Sperm counts in Western men have dropped by more than half over the last 40 years, and the cause may be a cocktail of common chemicals found in items including milk cartons, canned tuna, receipts, acetaminophen, and fossil fuels. Much of the damage occurs during pregnancy when these chemicals disrupt hormone production, and then continued exposure makes it worse.
• Combined with cultural and societal changes in how many children people choose to have, more than half the world’s population now live in regions where the birth rate is lower than what is needed to replace the population.
• Hmm. Trying to decide if I like or dislike this.

• From the sports desk, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals are here. The Colorado Avalanche will host the Tamp Bay Lightning for game 1 on Wednesday night. Meanwhile game 5 of the NBA Finals are tonight in San Francisco; the series is tied 2-2.
• Today in history… The Edict of Milan grants religious freedom throughout the Roman Empire, which is funny because then and now, that term almost always applies only to Christians (313). Martin Luther gets married against the celibacy rule for priests in the Catholic Church, and starts a whole new religion as a result (1525). Rhode Island becomes the first colony to ban import of slaves (1774). A fire burns down Vancouver, BC (1886). The Supreme Court rules that police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them in Miranda v. Arizona (1966). Michael Jackson is acquitted in his child molestation trial (2005).
• June 13 is the birthday of physics great James Clerk Maxwell (1831), actor Basil Rathbone (1892), funny guy Paul Lynde (1926), sculptor Christo (1935), actor Malcolm McDowell (1943), guitarist Howard Leese (1951), actress Ally Sheedy (1962), musician Rivers Cuomo (1970), and actor Chris Evans (1981).

I know most of you are doing things like me, which is working on a Monday. Still, try and catch a recap of today’s Jan 6 Committee hearings if you can. Either way, I’ll recap what I know tomorrow. Onward and upward.