Random News: July 23, 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 23, 2022, and it’s a Saturday. Here come Saturday things…

• Former chief strategist for Donald Trump, Steven K. Bannon, was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress yesterday. He is appealing the verdict. His sentencing is scheduled for October 21.
• The minimum sentence he will serve is 60 days. The maximum is two years in federal prison.
• I don’t give two shits about Steve Bannon, but I give many shits that all people involved in the coup against the United States are found, tried, and punished, and I don’t care if that takes decades.
• They’re still finding and punishing Nazis from WWII, even those who are 100+ years old. This doesn’t just go away.
• Unlike the Nazis who stayed in hiding for decades, most of the insurrectionists aren’t quite as smart, and publicize their own crimes on various social media. They continue to make their intentions clear today. Scroll down your feed and you’ll probably see it.
• My governor, Gavin Newson, signed a bill into law yesterday that allows private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures, distributes, transports or imports assault weapons.
• Here’s the deal: it’s modeled after the Texas law that allows anyone to sue abortion providers.
• If the CA law holds up, it’s a win for people who want safe and sane gun control.
• If the CA law is struck down, it might set a precedent making the TX law invalid.
• Win-win.
• President Biden seems to be improving from his COVID. No surprise.
• Europe is experiencing historic inflation. I’m sure Fox News is stating that the price of bananas in Lichtenstein is controlled by Joe Biden. The GOP sure seems to think Biden has a lot of power.
• Here’s a secret: no president has nearly as much power as you think.
• Another secret: you have way more control over your own life than anyone else.
• The WHO declared monkeypox a public health emergency. I have many gay male friends. Since I am middle-aged, most of them are married and lead rather tame lives similar to mine (except more gay). For those who aren’t, please be super careful about who you fuck.
• QotD: “I've never met a funny person who wasn't smart. I've met a lot of dramatic people who were stupid. But I've never met a funny person who wasn't smart.” - Rob Lowe
• The Sports Desk is surprisingly busy for July, the most boring sports month. First, the Boston Red Sox got beaten 28-5 by the Toronto Blue Jays. It was the worst loss in Red Sox history; the old record was 27-3 versus Cleveland in 1923.
• The World Athletics Championships have been being held in Portland, OR for the last week. Team USA, especially the women, are doing very well. Congrats to gold medalists Katie Nageotte (pole vault), Chase Ealey (shot put), Brooke Anderson (hammer throw), and especially 22-year-old Sydney McLaughlin, who set a new world record in the 400m hurdles. She’s so good that this is the fourth time in about a year that she’s broken her own world record. She’s amazing. US men also took gold in 100m, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles, and shot put. The games wrap up tomorrow.
• Today in history… William Austin Burt patents the typograph, a predecessor to the typewriter (1829). The Chinese Communist Party is established (1921). Fox Film buys the patent to record sound onto film (1926). The satellite Telstar relays the first trans-Atlantic TV program (1962). Jackie Robinson is the first Black person to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame (1962). The Detoit riots begin and end up killing 43, injuring 342, and during down 1,400 buildings (1967). Vic Morrow is killed while shooting ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ (1982). Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered (1995). Eileen Collins becomes the first female Space Shuttle Commander (1999). Boy band One Direction is formed by Simon Cowell (2010).
• July 23 is the birthday of Scottish establisher of the penal colony Brisbane, Australia, Thomas Brisbane (1773), crime novelist Raymond Chandler (1888), baseball player Pee Wee Reese (1918), actor Bert Convy (1933), baseball player Don Drysdale (1936), actor Ronny Cox (1938), singer David Essex (1947), musician Martin Gore (1961), actor Woody Harrelson (1961), guitarist Slash (1965), amazing actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967), NBA player Gary Payton (1968), singer-songwriter Alison Krauss (1971), activist Monica Lewinsky (1973), and actor Daniel Radcliffe (1989).

I have few tangible plans for today. I’m still in a bathrobe at the moment. It’s lovely and overcast here at the beach, and I’m going to try not to do very much unless doing things is what I want to do. Enjoy your day.