Random News: July 21, 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 July 21, 2022, and it’s a Thursday. A cornucopia of blathering coming at ya…

• The prosecution has rested its case in the contempt trial of gelatinous cube Steve Bannon. It took them a very short time to lay out the case.
• Bannon got a subpoena (check), the subpoena was pertinent to the January 6 investigation (check), Bannon didn’t comply (check), and the failure to comply was purposeful (again, check).
• It is unknown what Bannon’s defense will be, but the judge has already warned that if it goes into political la-la land, it won’t be good for Bannon’s sentencing. The trial could wrap up before the weekend.
• Lotta people hurting and dying in this heat. I feel like a dick at many of these times; my coastline home has remained cool throughout. Our high today was 75, and it will remain with highs in the low 70s for the foreseeable future.
• Regardless, Tucker Carlson continues to convince his flock of sheep that any act to help prevent climate change from continuing to get worse exponentially is “the government trying to control you”, so as I’ve said many times before, nothing will stop this and many more people will die as a direct result.
• A bipartisan group of Senators — well, kinda, if you count Manchin and Sinema — reached a deal yesterday to reform the ambiguous federal laws that would let a person like Trump from overturning the will of the people and the result of a valid presidential election with a pair of bills.
• This is a good thing.
• The first is called the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, and the second is the Enhanced Election Security and Protection Act.
• Eight Republican Senators have come out to say they will not support a bill to codify same sex marriage. There will be more. The current Hateful Eight are Bill Cassidy (LA), John Cornyn (TX), Ted Crux (TX), Lindey Graham (SC), Josh Hawley (MO), Jim Inhofe (OK), Marco Rubio (FL), and Roger Wicker (MS).
• The erased texts of the US Secret Service is almost certainly a violation of federal law, per the Jan 6 panel.
• Remember that oath… “And I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God.”
• Foreign and domestic.
• If members of the Secret Service are violating the Constitution, they need to be rooted out and treated as domestic enemies of the USA. It’s right there.
• Guess we’ll see.
• Gonna enjoy the Fulton County, GA grand jury next month, even more so now that Rudy “Hands In my Pants” Giuliani has been ordered to appear. That investigation is in regard to Trump’s illegal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state.
• Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned for reasons that I can’t explain due to not knowing jack shit about Italian politics.
• I started to watch a playthrough of the game Stray last night, where you play as a cat. Got through the introductory chapter and the moment the cat got injured, I turned it off. I cannot deal with that. Game looks outstanding, though.
• QotD: “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” - Socrates
• From the Sports Desk… In stage 18 of the Tour de France, can Pogacar crack Vingegaard on the last mountain finish? I don’t know what that means or who these people are, but I think this has something to do with bicycles.
• Today in history… The Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, is destroyed by fire (356 BC). Thousands are killed in an earthquake on Crete that caused tsunamis in Egypt and Libya (365). France invades the Isle of Wight (1545). All Han Chinese men are ordered to shave their foreheads and braid their hair like the Manchus (1645). Wild Bill Hickok kills Davis Tutt at the first western showdown in Springfield, MO (1865). Louis Rigolly becomes the first person to drive over 100 mph (1904). The Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty, leading to the formation of NATO (1949). A 7.3 quake hits Kern County, CA (1952). Pumpsie Green plays for the Red Sox, the last team to integrate Black people in baseball (1959). Barack Obama signs the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform act (2010). The Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of STS-135 (2011).
• July 21 is the birthday of Queen Jeonghyeon of Korea (1462), Archduchess Anna de’ Medici (1616), astronomer Jean Picard (1620), journalist Paul Reuter (1816), singer-songwriter Sara Carter (1898), novelist Ernest Hemingway (1899), theorist Marshall McLuhan (1911), violinist Isaac Stern (1920), actor Don Knotts (1924), Attorney General Janet Reno (1938), music industry slimebag Kim Fowley (1939), singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, aka Yusuf Islam (1948), cartoonist Garry Trudeau (1948), comedic genius Robin Williams (1951), bass player Howie Epstein (1955), actor Jon Lovitz (1957), soccer player Brandi Chastain (1968), actor Josh Hartnett (1978), musician Damian Marley (1978), MLB pitcher CC Sabathia (1980), and NBA player DeAndre Jordan (1988).

Well, here we are. Another day. Socrates was right, you know. A busy life can be a barren life. And yet, you (and I, and everyone) try to find some balance between the things we have to do, the things we want to do, and the things we could have never predicted to deal with regardless. Here’s to balance. Enjoy your day.