Random News: June 8, 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 8, 2022, and it’s a Wednesday. Let’s see what’s going on…

• The big oil companies are all reporting all-time record profits. For the first quarter of 2022, ExxonMobil pocketed $5.5 billion; Chevron $6.3 billion; and Conoco $5.8 billion. There’s no gas shortage. There’s no excuse or justification. Your gas prices are insanely high because extremely rich people decided to get richer. There’s no other reason.


• If you’re upset at this, there’s very little you could do, except to vote for candidates who might take drastic action like taxing the fucking rich. If they don’t like that, we could always nationalize oil production, but aaaaaaah, socialism, scary.
• Still, how ya like them apples? I’d laugh if they got so greedy that we took everything away from them. I’d laugh and then laugh some more.
• Eleven-year-old Miah Cerrillo, a fourth-grader who survived the mass shooting in Uvalde, TX, is testifying about gun violence today for a House committee. She had to smear herself with her murdered friend’s blood and played dead so she wouldn’t be shot and killed as well.
• Keep on talking about your rights. Go tell her how your need to own a semi-automatic, high-capacity rifle is more important than thousands of more dead kids.
• “We need to invest in mental healthcare. We need safer schools. We need to restrain sensationalized media coverage. We need to restore our family values. We need to restore our American values and we need responsible gun ownership.” - Matthew McConaughey, a responsible gun owner from Uvalde, TX.
• Did you know that most gun owners are in favor of gun law reform? It’s true.
• The Foo Fighters have announced two tribute concerts for their late friend and bandmate Taylor Hawkins, scheduled for September 3 at Wembly Stadium in the UK and September 27 at the Forum in Los Angeles.
• I’ve now heard from a dozen or more people who caught COVID at the trade show I worked last weekend. The trade organization who ran the show had zero requirements for vaccination or proof of wellness, and no masks were required (and almost no one was wearing them). If I’ve personally heard from 12 people, that means there are hundreds (thousands?) more who got COVID there.
• I will be hesitant to ever work that show again, despite having done it for nearly 30 years previously.
• Jimmy Seals of Seals and Crofts died at age 80. Those of you who know me as a musician also know of my deep and genuine appreciation for the smooth rock of the early/mid ‘70s, and I’ve covered a lot of S&C music including “Hummingbird”, “Summer Breeze”, “Diamond Girl”, and “Get Closer”. RIP, good sir.
• In weird observance news, June 8 is National Upsy Daisy Day, Best Friends Day, Betty Picnic Day, International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos, Jelly-Filled Doughnut Day, Name Your Poison Day, National Caribbean American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, World Brain Tumor Day and World Oceans Day.
• What the actual fuck.
• Today is history… 1861: Tennessee secedes from the Union. 1912: Carl Laemmle incorporates Universal Pictures. 1949: George Orwell publishes dystopian masterpiece ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’. 1966: The NFL and AFL announce a merger that will start in 1970. 
• June 8 is the birthday of Emperor Xizong of Tang (862), composer Robert Schumann (1810), architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867), comedian Jerry Stiller (1927), smooth-ass musician Boz Skaggs (1944), singer Bonnie Tyler (1951), and weirdo Kanye West (1977).

Try and find something to enjoy today. There are always good things in the world. Actually many more good things than bad. If you can’t find something good, be something good.