Random News: June 26, 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 26, 2022, and it’s a Sunday. Here’s what’s happening, in my brain and the world and elsewhere…

• Let’s chat about religious freedom, starting with the first and most important Amendment to our Constitution.
• “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
• Let’s imagine I am a Jew (which is easy to do because genetically, I am).
• Dating back thousands of years, Jewish law holds that abortion services are health care, plain and simple. The concept that “life begins at conception” is explicitly held as incorrect under Jewish law.
• Tell me how, then, the SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is not in direct violation to the words and intent of the First Amendment? In what country do we live in where obeying a law forces someone to abandon their religious beliefs?
• I’ll tell you the answer. We live in a land of Christofascism, where one religion’s rules are imposed on all the others. This is against 100% of the goals of the framers of the Constitution who helped found the USA.
• Moving on… let’s talk about child support.
• If the government is requiring women who get pregnant to give birth, it’s time to expand the required responsibilities of the people who caused the pregnancies. Let’s call them “men” for the sake of clarity.
• I’m proposing immediate legislation that mandates men who impregnate women be responsible for child support until the child reaches the age of 18 for unwanted pregnancies forced to term, using DNA testing to identify the man responsible.
• That child support must start (or be back-dated) to date of conception, per current legal definitions.
• If not paid voluntarily, that child support must be docked from paychecks, or automatically removed from tax refunds and any other sources of revenue.
• Also, all pregnant women must be able to claim a fetus as a dependent for tax purposes.
• Remember, they are being forced to carry the child by law. There are many expenses involved with pregnancy. At federal, state, and local levels, governments must be required to help the financial burdens of the forced pregnancies via higher taxation.
• Every single one of you will be paying. I repeat, this is not a “women’s issue” that doesn’t affect you. It does and it will, tangibly.
• Can this be stopped? Yup. Is it too late? Nope.
• Congress can override what the Supreme Court did and pass a law to legalize abortion. To do that, we need to elect two more Democratic Senators and to hold the House. If that happens in November, Biden will sign a law codifying Roe.
• Is this possible? Yes. Is it likely? No, but that’s up to you as a voter and a person who can spread the word.
• Sigh.
• I have a couple of tips for people in Forced Birth states who are seeking an abortion. First, don’t tell anyone. Not your family, not your friends, and definitely not your coworkers. Second, leave no digital trail.
• Use secure, encrypted private messaging apps. Apple’s iMessage, Meta’s WhatsApp and Signal are all end-to-end encrypted by default.
• Always use incognito or private browsing mode on your browser.  Make sure you are logged out of any accounts such as Google before doing any searches.
• That being said, your device itself is still a liability. Don’t ever turn over your phone or computer without a warrant. Turn off all location sharing on your devices. Better yet, don’t take your phone at all if heading out of state for certain reasons, or at least power it completely off while you do. If a phone is absolutely necessary, get a burner.
• It sucks that I even have to give these kinds of tips in the fucking United States of America. It’s really sad. But this is the world we live in now, so if they want a fight, that’s what they get.
• Last thing today… the 4th of July is a week from Monday. It’s Independence Day, a national holiday we’ve celebrated my whole life. 
• Are we living in a country of independence when a minority of people are controlling the fundamental autonomous rights of the rest of us?
• I don’t know about the rest of you, but celebrating the holiday with fireworks and cookouts seems like a piss-poor idea right now. We may have been independent from England since 1776, but we are not at all independent from the worst oppressors of all… ourselves.
• Maybe Independence Day celebrations could be postponed until November 8, 2022, which is the date that we as a nation can rid ourselves of the politicians who support the removal of women’s rights. That would be a legit reason to celebrate real independence in a modern way.
• Today in history… Roman emperor Augustus adopts Tiberius (4). The Battle of Fleurus marks the first use of aircraft — balloons in this case — in warfare (1794). The first motor race is held at Le Mans (1906). The first American forces arrive in France for WWI (1917). The United Nations charter is signed by 50 nations in San Francisco, CA (1945). Madagascar becomes independent from France (1960). Elvis Presley does his final concert (1977). J. K. Rowling publishes the first Harry Potter book (1997). The US Supreme Court rules that sodomy laws are unconstitutional in Lawrence vs. Texas (2003). The US Supreme Court rules that same sex couples have a right to marry in Obergefell vs. Hodges (2015).
• June 26 is the birthday of astronomer Charles Messier (1730), US Marine Chesty Puller (1898), blues musician Big Bill Broonzy (1903), actor Peter Lorre (1904), athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911), illustrator/designer Milton Glaser (1929), musician Mick Jones (1955), musician Patty Smyth (1957), musician Terri Nunn (1961), NFL player Shannon Sharpe (1968), actor Sean Hayes (1970), actor Nick Offerman (1970), and singer Ariana Grande (1993).

Here’s wishing you a good Sunday. Do what you can do.