Random News: July 31, 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 31, 2022, and it’s a Sunday. Here are some thoughts while having coffee in a bathrobe…

• 100 days.
• That’s right. 100 days until the 2022 Midterm Elections, which happen Tuesday November 8.
• What’s it all about?
• I had a hopefully enlightening chat with a friend the other day who was — like many — not at all feeling enthused by what the Democrats or Republicans were doing. I had to explain that this is a pretty common feeling, especially over the past six or so years but going back long before then.
• Here’s the deal: stop looking at the names of the parties. Stop looking at the stupid red or blue team colors. That’s for chumps who think of politics like sports teams.
• Instead, just look at the policies. Now, no matter whether your opinions lean left or right, you almost certainly won’t find that either party has platforms that you believe in 100%.
• Don’t let that worry you. You’re an adult man or woman or non-binary human. You can see which party has the policies that you share more than the other, and you can make compromises when they’re not perfect.
• Is this Midterm election important? I’d say it’s perhaps more important than almost any national election before it, including those where Presidents are elected.
• Why?
• All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for re-election, as they have a 2-year election cycle. At the moment, it’s very closely balanced, with 220 Democrats, 211 Republicans, and four vacant seats. These are literally your personal representatives from your local are (congressional district). They create the laws that affect every American every day.
• In the Senate, which holds 100 seats (two for each state), 35 of them — over a third — are up for re-election. They are currently balanced at 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and two Independents who generally vote with the Democrats. That means just one Senate seat change would allow that party’s laws to be passed. The Senate is where things get approved, be they laws proposed by the House or confirmation of cabinet secretaries, federal; judges and more.
• The election in November will also include many state and local candidates and proposals that affect you personally where you live.
• Historically, the party of the current President loses House seats, even with a popular President like Reagan in 1986 or Obama in 2010. Even with everything going on with the January 6 investigation and issues like the massive unpopularity of the repeal of Roe v. Wade, it is quite likely that the Republicans will take control of the House.
• That assumes that you don’t vote, and historically, you don’t. Midterm elections have far smaller voter turnout than in presidential election years.
• Vote.
• The Senate is a little different. Republicans have to defend 21 or the 35 seats for re-election, while Democrats have only 14 to defend.
• Despite that, with the balance being so razor thin, the four states that are most in danger from flipping Dem to GOP are very close. They are Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire. That being said, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have very decent odds of flipping from GOP to Dem, and believe it or not, North Carolina, and even Ohio and other states have smaller but reasonable odds of flipping Dem… if people vote.
• Vote.
• There are many important, possibly life-changing things at stake in this election, but I’m not going to get into any of them at the moment.
• However, we’ll look at some of these things over the 100 days between now and the election. For the time being, I just want to make sure that a) you’re registered to vote and b) if so, you confirm your registration to vote.
• You can do it today. Ask me how!
• QotD: “Knowledge is power.” - Francis Bacon
• Today in history… Marc Antony wins the Battle of Alexandria over Octavian, but most of his troops desert (30 BC). Mount Fuji erupts (781). Christopher Columbus “discovers” Trinidad (1498). The Nazi Party wins 38% of the vote in German elections (1932). New York International Airport is dedicated, and is later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport (1948). Michael Phelps breaks the record for most medals won at the Olympics (2012).
• July 31 is the birthday of Holy Roman emperor Maximillian II (1527), French Prime Minister Henri Brisson (1835), music producer and label founder Ahmet Ertegun (1923), jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell (1931), tennis player Evonne Goolagong (1951), actor Michael Biehn (1956), guitarist Stanley Jordan (1959), NFL player Kevin Greene (1962), actor Wesley Snipes (1962), musician Fatboy Slim (1963), author and transphobe J. K. Rowling (1965), baseball player/manager Gabe Kapler (1975), musician Zac Brown (1978), and NFL player DeMarcus Ware (1982).

100 days people. It’s gonna go by fast. You have a lot of other things going on, and so do I. But anything we can do together to encourage more people to vote is going to be helpful to the world today and in the future. We’ll talk more about this. Enjoy your Sunday.