Random News: July 12, 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.

---

Good morning. It’s July 12, 2022, and it’s a Tuesday. General observances of things…

• Yesterday, we got our first look at an image from the James Webb Space Telescope.
• The area of the sky pictured is so tiny, it would take up the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length from here on Earth. And yet, it’s showing us details of thousands of galaxies, including some formed in the early stages of the universe.
• The main galaxy cluster being viewed is from 4.6 billion years ago… slightly older than the Earth has existed.
• However, you’re also seeing warped images of other, much more distant galaxies from over 13 billion light years away, due to the gravitational lensing effect. That light reaching us is three times older than our sun and solar system.
• It’s mind-blowing. It’s fucking amazing.
• That image is being called Webb’s First Deep Field; NASA has more to show us today and of course there will be many, many more over our lifetimes.
• Here is some good news that is bound to also create immediate confusion and controversy. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra issued info yesterday to clarify that federal law preempts state abortion bans when emergency care is needed. The federal government can penalize institutions or providers that fail to provide abortions as needed to treat medical emergencies.
• We’ll see how that plays out in forced-birth states. What will inevitably happen is that a state will refuse, a woman will die, and there will be a federal lawsuit, and yet another Supreme Court decision.
• But the federal law — which has been in place since 1986 — states that if a hospital or doctor refuses to provide abortion for medical emergencies like ectopic pregnancy or complication from miscarriage, they could lose Medicare and Medicaid provider agreements and could face civil penalties, along with federal fines of $119,942 per violation.
• That’s pretty good news. It really is.
• Abortion is health care.
• Today’s January 6 hearing starts at 1PM EDT. The focus will be on the rise of radical extremism, with a lineup of witnesses that includes people involved in the coup and members of groups like Oath Keepers.
• It’s likely we’ll hear testimony from people who were fooled into believing the false narrative of election fraud that came directly from the former President, and whose illegal actions during the coup attempt can be traced directly to Trump as well.
• POP QUIZ: A guy tried to flee deputies on a riding lawnmower until he was tased, and was found to have a gun, a handcuff key, and a well-used meth pipe on him. In what state did this happen?
• Back in space, the full supermoon tomorrow night will be the visually biggest and brightest moon of 2022. Yes, it’s the second of two consecutive supermoons. I don’t know how this shit works.
• This one is called the Buck Moon. Doesn’t cost a buck to see it (ha ha, dad joke for the win); just walk outside and hope it isn’t cloudy.
• Fox News complained over the weekend that gas prices were falling too fast and that mom-and-pop gas stations would be hurt be the decrease. Folks, please wake up and see how you’re being manipulated here. Please.
• QotD: “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” - Mark Twain
• Today in history… ‘Nuremberg Chronicle’, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published (1493). The Mughal Empire annexes Bengal (1576). The American Army briefly occupies a Canadian settlement at Windsor, Ontario (1812). The Rolling Stones perform for the first time at the Marquee Club (1962). Riots begin in Newark, NJ (1967). Space Shuttle Atlantis carries a new airlock to the ISS (2001). 
• July 12 is the birthday of Roman politician/general Julius Caesar (100BC), poet Henry David Thoreau (1817), film producer Louis B. Mayer (1884), architect Buckminster Fuller (1895), stage director/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895), comedian Milton Berle (1908), artist Andrew Wyeth (1917), pianist Van Cliburn (1934), comedian/rapist Bill Cosby (1937), actress Cheryl Ladd (1951), figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi (1971), and actor Topher Grace (1978).

What’s up with me today? I have a couple of meetings and a bunch of deadlines, and it’s my grocery shopping day so there’s that. And… I don’t know, man. I just live life and do things, and try not to be a dick. I’m not always successful but I do try. Enjoy your Tuesday.