Random News: August 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 August 31, 2022, and it’s a Wednesday. Here’s a flurry of various observations…

• Last night, shortly before its deadline at 11:59PM EDT, the Department of Justice filed its response to the FPOTUS’s request for a Special Master in the criminal investigation into his actions.
• Just a couple of notes. It’s 36 pages long and you can read it yourself if you so choose.
• One: it was a catastrophic mistake to request the Special Master. It allowed the DoJ to publicly reveal how he engaged in criminal obstruction of justice.
• Two: It wasn’t just one crime that the DoJ laid out in its response. It’s direct evidence of a series of very serious crimes.
• Three: The very fact that he waited two full weeks after the search warrant action to make his request made it too late to stop the analysis of the materials seized.
• Four: not only is there no legal support for the relief that FPOTUS has requested, but now with an avalanche of evidence presented in such a direct way, anyone in the political sphere who had continued to support him now faces being attached to the actions of a very guilty criminal.
• Here’s a short conversation that sums it up nicely.  Don Lemon: “Why would Team Trump even ask for a special master, knowing what the evidence is?” George Conway: “It’s insane. Basically, they asked for the Justice Department to punch them in the face. And that’s what the Justice Department did in this brief.”
• Along with the filing, they included one photo… a sad-looking shot of dozens of secret and top secret documents callously scattered on a Mar-a-Lago floor on top of a tacky carpet, next to a box of framed Time Magazine covers.
• As usual, the FPOTUS isn’t going down alone; he always drags those close to him under at the same time. One of his lawyers, Christina Bobb, signed a document that the stolen documents were were in one storage location when they weren’t, and that all docs were turned over in response to the original subpoena when they weren’t.
• That’s the definition of obstruction. That is many years in jail.
• She’s going to need a really good lawyer.
• What I’m about to say is almost certainly futile, but here’s a message to my old friends who I lost due to their loyalty to the MAGA cult: it’s not too late. I will still welcome you as a friend after you realize that you’ve been conned and cheated for all these years.
• What’s next for FPOTUS? 
• As always, good question.
• Here’s the thing: after a filing this strong, the DoJ has left zero doubt that an indictment is coming. It is coming. That means a trial is coming after that.
• Trump will do everything he can to delay and postpone it through every way that’s ever been done by any criminal.
• I do NOT think he will be indicted until after the election on November 8. It’s unfortunate, but the fact is that the government does not want to be seen taking an action that would be perceived by some as directly influencing the election.
• But at this point, he WILL be indicted for very serious felony-level federal crimes, the greatest of which is the attempt to obstruct justice from being served.
• To tell you what happens after that, I’d need to have psychic powers of precognition, which I do not. I’ll wait and see along with the rest of the world.
• Moving on, sorta.
• Yesterday, Google removed the FPOTUS’s Truth Social app from the Google Play store due to their lack of moderation of violent content… including users openly planning to overthrow the US Government.


• It’s still available on Apple’s App Store. For now.
• And as we mentioned the other day, they are deeply in debt to their hosting company, so all this may be a moot point soon enough.
• RIP to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He died yesterday at age 91. He was definitely one of the key figures of global politics in the later 20th century.
• And now, The Weather: “August” by Michael B. Thomas.
• Today in history… Byzantine Empress Theodora dies childless, thus ending the Macedonian dynasty (1056). King Henry V of England dies of dysentery and Henry VI becomes King of England at the age of nine months (1422). Union forces led by General William T. Sherman launch an assault on Atlanta (1864). Mary Ann Nichols becomes the first of Jack the Ripper’s victims (1888). Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents his navigable balloon (1895). The USA passes a Neutrality Act to try and stay out of the tensions concerning Germany and Japan (1935). Malaysia gains its independence from the United Kingdom (1957). Princess Diana dies in a car crash in Paris (1997).
• August 31 is the birthday of Roman emperor and super perv Caligula (12), Roman emperor Commodus (161), Chinese emperor Zhang Zong (1168), educator Maria Montessori (1870), radio/TV host Arthur Godfrey (1903), actor/educator Sanford Meisner (1905), novelist William Saroyan (1908), composer Alan Jay Lerner (1918), actor Buddy Hackett (1924), musician Wilton Felder (1940), illustrator Roger Dean (1944), singer-songwriter Van Morrison (1945), violin great Itzhak Perlman (1945), musician Bob Welch (1945), actor Richard Gere (1949), athlete Edwin Moses (1955), drummer Gina Schock (1957), voice actor Dee Bradley Baker (1962), singer Debbie Gibson (1970), comedian Chris Tucker (1971), and NFL great Larry Fitzgerald (1983).

I suppose that’s enough for now. Go do your Wednesday things. I shall do the same. Tomorrow, perhaps we’ll discuss some of the possible results of the public’s actions after the FPOTUS is indicted. Foreshadow: it won’t be pretty, but the USA doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 30, 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 August 30, 2022, and it’s a Tuesday. Let’s talk of things…

• Yesterday, the judge handling FPOTUS’s “special master” request granted the DOJ’s counter-request to file a 40 page response to Trump’s complaint.
• Just a quick side note: the DOJ has a 99.6% conviction rate on people they indict.
• Yup.
• Remember awhile back when Cassidy Hutchinson testified before the January 6 committee and spoke of the actions of Secret Service assistant director Tony Ornato, who had told her about Trump lunging for the wheel of the limo and so on?
• Ornato is also still under scrutiny for the missing texts from his department around January 6, 2021.
• Ornato suddenly left the agency yesterday. He retired. At age 48.
• Hmm.
• I try not to dwell on mass shootings that happen almost every day in the USA, but I need to recognize someone here. On Sunday, when some punk-ass 20-year-old went into a Safeway grocery store in Bend, OR with an AR-style rifle and a shotgun and started shooting, 66-year-old employee Donald Surrett Jr. could have easily just run away.
• Instead, he confronted the shooter and tried to disarm him.
• Had he not done this, the shooter could have killed many more people. Surrett was killed while trying to save others, which included families shopping with your kids. His selfless act saved lives. Celebrate Don Surrett as a hero.
• Three died in the attack: Surrett, an 84-year-old shopper, and the little prick who killed himself as cops arrived.
• But yeah, keep making sure that every unhinged piece of shit can buy semi-automatic weapons and large capacity magazines with no background checks. That’s the American way, isn’t it? That’s what the ammosexuals jack off to every night.
• Jackson, MS has a state of emergency after being left without enough water to flush toilets or fight fires. Massive flooding, ironically, disabled the city’s water treatment plant. They also can’t drink the untreated water going through the pipes.
• President Biden will be addressing the country on Thursday night during primetime. The topic is “the continued battle for the soul of the nation”. I’m interested.
• From the Sports Desk… today’s the day for NFL teams to cut down to their final 53-man roster for the upcoming season. Related note: just because someone is cut from a roster doesn’t mean they might not a) get picked up by another team, or b) join that team’s practice squad and eventually get signed to replace another player later in the year. Most of the guys getting released are rookies and undrafted free agents, though sometimes it’s also veterans whose time has come to retire. Either way, by tomorrow morning you’ll know who plays for your NFL team.
• And now, The Weather: “One of These” by Wombo.
• Today in history… Guru Ram Das becomes the Fourth Sikh Guru/Master (1574). HMS Pandora sinks after having run aground on the Great Barrier Reef (1791). Melbourne, Victoria, Australia is founded (1835). The city of Houston,TX is founded (1836). Germans defeat the Russians in the WWI Battle of Tannenberg (1914). The Queen Mary wins the Blue Riband with the fastest transatlantic crossing (1936). The Moscow–Washington hotline between the leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union goes into operation (1963). Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1967). President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar of Iran are assassinated in a bombing (1981). Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage (1984). The 11-day Ruby Ridge standoff ends with Randy Weaver surrendering to federal authorities (1992). The last remaining American troops leave Afghanistan, ending U.S. involvement in the war (2021).
• August 30 is the birthday of novelist Mary Shelley (1797), physicist Ernest Rutherford (1871), politician Huey Long (1893), actress Shirley Booth (1898), actor Fred McMurray (1908), MLB great Ted Williams (1918), musician Kitty Wells (1919), actor Bill Daily (1927), rich guy Warren Buffett (1930), musician John Phillips (1935), race car designer Bruce McLaren (1937), radio host John Peel (1939), illustrator Robert Crumb (1943), model/actress Peggy Lipton (1946), musician Dave Brockie (1963), musician Lars Frederiksen (1971), and model/actress Cameron Diaz (1972). 

Well, I suppose that’s it for now, or at least that’s all I have before 7:30am when I try and wrap this shit up. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 29, 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 August 29, 2022, and it’s a Monday. Let’s go over some things that are trapped somewhere in my mind and want to get out… along with my 2022 Senate voting analysis!

• Here’s one big difference between me and a PAC: my focus is not about you donating money to candidates. Any money. Hey, if you can afford it and it makes you feel good, great.
• I’ve made small donations at various times… usually because I like a swag item like a Biden/Harris coffee mug or a Bernie Sanders t-shirt or whatever. So I’ll donate if I get something I’d want anyway.
• Do candidates need money to run campaigns? They sure do.
• That being said, unlike the texts and email you get from politicians of all sorts, my only “call to action” is to vote. You must vote.
• Let’s talk about the Senate. 34 seats out of 100 are up for reelection this November. Some are foregone conclusion to be won by the Democrats or Republicans. Some are swing states where either party has a chance.
• As a reminder, in the Senate, there are currently exactly 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and two Independents that tend to caucus/vote with the Dems.
• Wanna talk about all 34 seats? Sure, why not. Swing states are indicated with a ***.
• Alabama: Republican Katie Britt will defeat Democrat Will Boyd by a large margin. She’ll replace outgoing six-term Senator Richard Shelby. No change there. SAFE GOP.
• Alaska: Due to a ranked-choice system, incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski is up against Kelly Tshibaka, another Republican here. No matter who wins, no change. SAFE GOP.
• ***Arizona: Incumbent Mark Kelly, a Democrat, is facing Republican Blake Masters. They like Kelly in AZ and he’s currently polling well, though there are no guarantees with a state like Arizona. My current bet… no change. LIKELY DEM.
• Arkansas: Two-term incumbent Republican John Boozman will almost certainly defeat his challenger, Democrat Natalie James.  No changes. SAFE GOP.
• California: Incumbent Dem Alex Padilla took office to replace the former Senator, a certain Kamala Harris, and will face Republican Mark Meuser. Padilla has been doing fine so far. He’s got this. SAFE DEM.
• Colorado: Two-term incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet is facing Republican Joe O’Dea. Bit of an interesting case here; O’Dea is a moderate who does not support Trump’s Big Lie regarding voter fraud, and supports some aspects of abortion. That being said, Bennet is currently polling pretty well ahead. My bet… no change. SAFE DEM.
• Connecticut: Two-term incumbent Democrat Richard Blumenthal will go against Trump-backed commodities trader Leora Levy. He’ll win. SAFE DEM.
• ***Florida: Two-term incumbent Republican Marco Rubio will be facing US Rep and former police chief Democrat Val Demings in November. You’d think that Florida is an automatic win for the GOP, but due to the huge backlash against the overturn of Roe, the picture in FL has shifted. Polls have varied; some show Rubio ahead, others show Demings ahead, others show a tie. I say she has a real shot here but no one knows for sure. TIE, LIKELY GOP, POSSIBLE FLIP TO DEM.
• ***Georgia: The seat is currently held by incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock. He’s going up against football player Republican Herschel Walker, who just seems beyond terrible. Polls are unfortunately very close, and this one is in danger of flipping. Please support Warnock any way you can. TIE, POSSIBLE FLIP TO GOP.
• Hawaii: Incumbent Democrat Brian Schatz has been great so far and is well liked by Hawaiian residents. He’s facing Republican Bob McDermott. Schatz will win handily. SAFE DEM.
• Idaho: Four-term (BOOO) incumbent Republican Mike Crapo will be facing David Roth, an out gay man. In Idaho. SAFE GOP.
• Illinois: Incumbent Democrat Tammy Duckworth faces Republican attorney Kathy Salvi in the general election. Duckworth has done well in the gig so far and is popular. She’ll hold the seat. SAFE DEM.
• Indiana: Incumbent Republican Todd Young will face Democrat Mayor Thomas McDermott, Jr. in November. Indiana is typically highly conservative, even though it’s less so than you probably assume. SAFE GOP.
• Iowa: Seven-term (BOOOOOO!!!!!!!!) incumbent Republican Chuck Grassley, who is 88 years old, is almost certainly going to beat Democrat Michael Franken, who is a retired Navy admiral. However, Grassley’s lead is the lowest separation he’s ever faced; he’s only up by eight points. SAFE GOP.
• Kansas: Two-term Republican Jerry Moran will face Democrat former Kansas City mayor Mark Holland. SAFE GOP.
• Kentucky: Two-term Republican Rand Paul is going up against Democrat Charles Booker, a state representative. I like Booker. He seems like a great and well-qualified guy. I seriously doubt he has any chance at winning in KY. SAFE GOP.
• Louisiana: Okay, so… this state has no primaries. Whoever is running gets on the ballot. That’s all. Incumbent Republican John Kennedy will win no matter who faces him. SAFE GOP.
• Maryland: Incumbent Democrat Chris Van Hollen will face a homebuilding contractor Republican named Chris Chaffee. SAFE DEM.
• Missouri: This state has a weird situation. The incumbent GOP senator is not seeking re-election. The GOP primary was won by State attorney general Eric Schmitt, who defeated former Governor Eric Greitens, who’d resigned from office in disgrace after a number of felony indictments. Schmitt will face Democrat Anheuser-Busch heiress Trudy Busch Valentine, and he currently leads by 11 points in the polls. SAFE GOP.
• ***Nevada: Another swing state. Incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto is facing former state attorney general Adam Laxalt. She currently has a 7 point lead in polls but it will stay close. LIKELY DEM.
• New Hampshire: This state has a very late primary on September 13. That being said, incumbent Maggie Hassan will be the Democrat nominee, but New Hampshire is not immune from electing GOP candidates. However, Republican candidates who do well in NH have always been moderate ones, and this crop of contenders are all pretty MAGA, especially leading contender Don Bolduc. LIKELY DEM.
• New York: Four-term (BOOO) incumbent Democrat and U.S. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer will defeat his GOP opponent, Newsmax TV host Joe Pinion, by a lot. SAFE DEM. 

• ***North Carolina: Most people aren’t calling NC as a swing state… but I am! Trump endorsee GOP rep Ted Budd is favored, but keep your eye on dark horse Democrat challenger, former Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court Cheri Beasley. They’re in a dead heat right now with no obvious leader. Support Cheri! TIE, LIKELY GOP, POSSIBLE FLIP TO DEM.
• North Dakota: Not sure why I’m bothering here, but two-term incumbent Republican John Hoeven will easily beat engineering professor Katrina Christiansen. Fun Fact: Christiansen’s party isn’t even Democrat. It’s “North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party”. SAFE GOP.
• ***Ohio: I’m calling it a swing, and I don’t care if you don’t. Venture capitalist and author J. D. Vance is the GOP nominee; U.S. rep Tim Ryan is the Democratic nominee. Vance is narrowly leading Ryan at the moment; I think this is a race where the women of Ohio might be the turning point. TIE, LIKELY GOP, POSSIBLE FLIP TO DEM.
• Oklahoma: OK has two Senate seats opening up due to Jim Inhofe retiring. In the regular election, the incumbent Republican James Lankford will beat the Demo opponent Madison Horn. In the special election, US rep Markwayne Mullin will beat former US rep Kendra Horn. SAFE GOP x 2.
• Oregon: Four-term (BOOO) Democrat incumbent Ron Wyden will be beating Republican former financial advisor Jo Rae Perkins by a lot. SAFE DEM.
• ***Pennsylvania: Okay, this is a BIG swing state. Democrat candidate Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has run a great campaign against his Republican opponent, TV doctor Mehmet Oz. The polls are still tight but I think Fetterman is going to take it. LIKELY FLIP TO DEM.
• South Carolina: Incumbent Republican Tim Scott will beat Democrat state representative Krystle Matthews. Zero doubt. SAFE GOP.
• South Dakota: Not sure why I’m bothering with this, but I said I’d do them all. Three-term Republican incumbent and U.S. Senate minority whip John Thune will handily defeat the Democrat nominee, navy veteran and assistant professor Brian Bengs. SAFE GOP.
• Utah: Here’s a funny: Democrats aren’t bothering to run a candidate in this election. Two-term Republican incumbent Mike Lee will face independent Evan McMullin, a former CIA operations officer and 2016 presidential candidate. SAFE GOP.
• Vermont: In a gift to the term limit gods, eight-term Senator Patrick Leahy is retiring. Democrat US rep Peter Welch is running against Republican former military officer Gerald Malloy, and will win. SAFE DEM.
• Washington: Five-term (BOOOOOO) Democrat incumbent Patty Murray will get her sixth term by beating Republican nurse Tiffany Smiley. SAFE DEM.
• ***Wisconsin: Swing! The two-term incumbent Republican Ron Johnson is not at all well liked in his state. Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is his Democratic opponent. This is a dead heat tie at the moment, but polls in the past two weeks give Barnes between a 4-7 point edge over Johnson. TIE, LIKELY FLIP TO DEM.
• Holy shit, that was a lot of research and writing. 
• I do this for free. You’re welcome.
• Also, all of this is completely meaningless unless you vote.
• Yes, you. Literally you. VOTE.
• And now, The Weather: “The Drive” by Widowspeak.
• Today in history… Copper coins are minted in Japan (708). The city of Nuuk, Greenland is founded (1728). American forces defeat the British and Iroquois forces at the Battle of Newtown (1779). Massachusetts farmers have an armed uprising against high taxes and debts, called Shays’ Rebellion (1786). Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction (1831). Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first internal combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen (1885). The Goodyear tire company is founded (1898). The Beatles perform their last ticketed concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco (1966). Netflix is launched as an internet DVD rental service (1997). Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast, killing up to 1,836 people and causing $125 billion in damage (2005).
• August 29 is the birthday of physician/philosopher John Locke (1632), physician/writer Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809), engineer Charles F. Kettering (1876), actress Ingrid Bergman (1915), saxophone kind Charlie Parker (1920), singer Dinah Washington (1924), soldier and politician John McCain (1936), actor Elliot Gould (1938), director Joel Schumacher (1939), press secretary and anti-gun activist James Brady (1940), singer Michael Jackson (1958), actress Rebecca De Mornay (1959), astronaut Chris Hadfield (1959), SCOTUS justice Neil Gorsuch (1967), bass player/singer Meshell Ndegeocello (1968), and pitcher Noah Syndergaard (1992).

So, at various times, I will also be doing some mini-guides to the House races (which I’ll need to break up, because there are way too many of those fuckers) and maybe some gubernatorial races too, if I feel like it. For the time being, I’m gonna work for a living and do what I do. You do you. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 28, 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 August 28, 2022, and it’s a Sunday. Here’s whatever I think is possibly relevant to whatever…

• Filed under the “be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it” folder… the FPOTUS has requested a “special master” to help handle the criminal investigation resulting from his theft of documents and his refusal to return them. 
• The judge that he begged for this privilege seems inclined to grant it. What is a special master?
• It’s just a person appointed by a court to oversee some aspect of a case to help ensure both parties abide by a judge's orders. Often they are former judges.
• Here’s the deal. First, it’s only being used as a delay tactic. Second, once the master is picked, the FPOTUS will throw a fit because somehow, whoever it is, it will be a friend of Obama and Hillary and so on.
• But the reality is that by the letter and spirit of multiple laws, he is a) already guilty and b) has admitted guilt via multiple public statements.
• Therefore, you probably think you’re going to see Mr. Orange in an orange jumpsuit.
• Never gonna happen.
• The very best case scenario is that he gets indicted, there’s a trial, there are many instances of domestic MAGA terrorism throughout that process, and he is found guilty of a variety of very serious federal crimes.
• He won’t go to prison. There will be some arrangement for him to be under some kind of house arrest, and part of the condition of the sentence will not allow him to incite violence via public statements. They may be able to keep him in line with the awareness that his sentence could be made much worse if he chooses to violate the conditions of his punishment agreement.
• But MUCH more likely in my mind is that as soon as this becomes real to him, he flees to another country and continues to stoke violence from his villain’s hideout.
• Anyway, this is all just me talking out of my ass with total speculation, but I do promise you it’s an informed bunch of bullshit. That much I can promise you.
• Moving on.
• I’m done talking about student loans. The hypocrisy of people who got loan forgiveness that’s tens and hundreds of times larger than the $10,000 these folks got is sickening. I refuse to give them any more airtime.
• Here’s a poll, though, about canceling some student loan debt: Approve 54%, Disapprove 46% (YouGov).
• Instead, let’s talk about something that matters: voter registration.
• Take a look at Texas. Prior to the repeal of Roe, new registrants in TX were modeled at +5 GOP. Since then, that has swung to a shocking +10 Dem, a 15 point margin swing. Also in TX, people under 25 comprise 37% of new voter registrations.
• In Pennsylvania, 65% of new voters have registered as Democrats.
• Michigan has had 12,879 new voters registered since the Dobbs decision. Women are out-registering men by 8.1%. Dems are out-registering GOP by 18%.
• The largest gender gap for new voters since Roe’s repeal isn’t in blue states. It’s actually more pronounced in red states where the women there have much more to lose personally.
• Last thing on that. REGISTER TODAY. As the GOP starts panicking more, they will get more and more draconian in making it harder to register.
• They do NOT want you voting.
• Fuck them. Register and vote like a fucking warrior.
• Here’s a little sign. The GOP has canceled about half its ad buys in support of Senate candidate Blake Masters in Arizona, to the tune of about $8 million. Dem Mark Kelly is leading the Trump-backed Masters by 16 points. The GOP is bailing on Masters entirely.
• And now, The Weather: “Sorry (Dispensa)” by Draag.
• Here’s something you may have wondered from time to time: where do I get all this shit I write every day?
• It’s not magic. I look at major news sites like CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, BBC, WaPo, and news aggregates like Google News.
• I am also very active on Twitter (@zakclaxton, if you wanna) and I follow a whole bunch of politically-focused accounts. I often get info there hours or days before it hits most media.
• And then I write you my analysis of things I read and see. I know how to look at info and put it into understandable packets. That’s, like, my job description, man.
• Today in history… Fatimah, daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, dies (632). Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founds the oldest continuously European-occupied city in the continental United States near St. Augustine, Florida (1565). William Herschel discovers Saturn’s moon Enceladus (1789). The US takes possession of then-unoccupied Midway Atoll (1867). Caleb Bradham's beverage "Brad's Drink" gets a better brand name, being changed to “Pepsi-Cola" (1898). Italy declares war on Germany in WWI (1914). Toyota Motors becomes an independent company spun off from Toyota Industries (1937). Black teenager Emmett Till is brutally murdered in Mississippi, kicking off the civil rights movement (1955). Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech (1963). Cops and protestors clash at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago (1968). 
• August 28 is the birthday of writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749), Nobel prize-winning doctor George Whipple (1878), conductor Karl Böhm (1894), comic book legend Jack Kirby (1917), actor Donald O’Connor (1925), actress Roxie Roker (1929), baseball manager Lou Piniella (1943), drummer Danny Seraphine (1948), actor Luis Guzmán (1956), actor Billy Boyd (1968), actor Jason Priestley (1969), god of all gods Jack Black (1969), singer LeAnn Rimes (1982), and singer Florence Welch (1986).

Welp, time to end this little word party for now, and to be a productive human in some way. Not sure how yet. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 27, 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 August 27, 2022, and it’s a Saturday. I’m in a bathrobe. Let’s go…

• The heavily redacted version of the affidavit for the search warrant action at Mar-a-Lago has been released. Neither the FPOTUS nor the DOJ wanted it released for very different reasons.
• However, the media sued under transparency laws and prevailed.
• A few things to learn from it this far.
• The FPOTUS had 184 classified documents, including some top secret, in his possession at Mar-a-Lago.
• 67 of them were marked as Confidential, 92 of them Secret, and 25 of them Top Secret.
• They felt there was probable cause of obstruction in retrieving the documents. That is a serious crime unto itself, as we’ve discussed previously.
• The paperwork says that the redactions are necessary to protect “a broad range of civilian witnesses.” That almost certainly means that these witnesses are people in the former Trump admin or those close to him at Mar-a-Lago.
• What none of us yet know who aren’t Trump and who don’t work for the DOJ: what those specific documents are.
• However, if you’d asked me even last week if the FPOTUS will actually be indicted for crimes such as obstruction or espionage, I’d say it was likely he would not. If you ask me now? I give it about even odds, or maybe even better than that that he will be indicted.
• To be 100% clear, I believe with all my heart that Donald Trump committed a slew of crimes and that some are so serious, they could make another person eligible for the death penalty or perhaps life in prison.
• But he is banking on the idea that former presidents are immune from the law. I think he’s mistaken and I think he will be indicted.
• When? No one has any idea. Next week? Next month? Next year? It’s anyone’s guess.
• One other note… the FBI says FPOTUS mixed top secret documents with newspapers, magazines, and personal correspondence. I don’t even know what to say about that.
• What an idiot. We almost lost the country to that idiot.
• From the Sports Desk… the Las Vegas Raiders ended up 4-0 in preseason. Last night, their bench made the Patriots’ starters look like a high school team. The Sports Desk is very concerned that all of their mojo was used up in preseason. Guess we’ll see.
• Little reminder that women (and their male allies) getting out to vote to help save their right to make decisions about their own bodies might save the whole world. The 2022 midterm election is in 72 days.
• Vote with a vengeance.
• And now, The Weather: “Concrete Over Water” by Jockstrap.
• Today in history… the Visigoths stop sacking Rome after three days (410). George Washington gets his ass kicked by British forces under William Howe at the Battle of Long Island in what is now Brooklyn, NY (1776). Napoleon defeats a bigger army of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden (1813). Cruse oil is discovered in Titusville, PA, leading to the world's first commercially successful oil well (1859). Krakatoa is almost completely destroyed in four explosions during a volcanic eruption (1883). The UK and Zanzibar fight the world’s shortest war, from 9:02am to 9:40am (1896). In the Battle of Ambos Nogales, the US takes on Mexico in the only battle of WWI fought on American soil (1918). The Kellogg–Briand Pact outlawing war is signed by fifteen nations… lol (1928). First flight of the Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet aircraft (1939). The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records is published (1955). An attempted coup d'état fails in the African nation of Chad (1971). Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years (2003).
• August 27 is the birthday of shōgun Ashikaga Yoshikazu (1407), philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770), vice president Hannibal Hamlin (1809), vice president Charles G. Dawes (1865), serial killer Ed Gein (1906), president Lyndon B. Johnson (1908), actress Martha Raye (1916), baseball player Pee Wee Butts (1919), computer pioneer Kristen Nygaard (1926), writer Ira Levin (1929), pianist Alice Coltrane (1937), guitarist Sonny Sharrock (1940), musician Daryl “Captain” Dragon (1942), actress Tuesday Weld (1943), actor Paul Reubens (1952), guitar rocker Alex Lifeson (1953), fashion designed Tom Ford (1961), and dog trainer Cesar Millan (1969).

I actually have no plans at all. I have no idea what I’m doing today, if anything. I may play some guitar, write some tasty riffs, create some amazing lyrics, and record a demo. I might do none of that. Maybe I should take a shower and get dressed. That seems like a good idea. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 26, 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 August 26, 2022, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! Here is an array of disparate potpourri…

• As of yesterday, abortion bans went into effect in Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Another was going into effect in North Dakota today until it was blocked by a judge late yesterday.
• In Texas and elsewhere, abortion — a medical procedure — is now a felony. It is punishable with up to life in prison, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
• If you vote for candidates who are opposed to forcing women to give birth, we may be able to make safe and legal abortion the law of the land.
• FUCKING VOTE. Register, confirm your registration, and get your votes in how you do… by mail, by drop-off, or at the polls on November 8.
• The FPOTUS’s Truth Social media company is facing significant financial difficulties. Its web hosting company, RightForge, says the Tangerine Tyrant owes them $1.6 million and hasn't been paid for months.
• Meanwhile, the White House grew a pair of balls yesterday and responded on social media to Republican politicians who were trying to score points off the student loan forgiveness program by listing their own forgiven PPP loans, some of which were in the millions.
• Let’s fucking go!
• The new White House social media person is named Megan Coyne, and may she live forever. She’s the one who posted the PPP loan hypocrisy. We need people who can punch back, and a tough young woman from New Jersey seems like the right person for the job.
• Luke Bowen, the political director of Texas Right to Life (the state’s largest anti-abortion group) was arrested for solicitation of a minor for sexual purposes.
• Why do the MAGA people accuse everyone else of being pedophiles? Because they literally are and feel guilty about it. That’s my guess, anyway.
• A Missouri school district is going to allow paddling. Thank the gods my offspring is grown up and long past school age; if I heard of my child being paddled at school, that paddle would end up inside the school admin’s anal cavity. Sideways.
• The public release of the redacted Mar-a-Lago search affidavit will be out shortly. Expect a whole lot of black lines.
• And now, The Weather: “Them Changes” by Thundercat.
• After my friend and bandmate Bunny busted me yesterday for accidentally including the same song twice in The Weather, I’m being more cautious now.
• Today in history… the Delhi Sultanate takes Chittorgarh and kills thirty thousand Hindu inhabitants (1303). An English army easily defeats a French one twice its size at the Battle of Crécy (1346). John Fitch gets a US patent for the steamboat (1791). The eruption of Krakatoa begins its final stage (1883). The 19th amendment takes effect, giving women the right to vote (1920). The 50th anniversary of US women being able to vote is marked by a nationwide Women's Strike for Equality (1970).
• August 26 is the birthday of UK prime Minister Robert Walpole (1676), mathematician Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728), UK Prince Consort Albert (1819), inventor Lee de Forest (1873), socialite and philanthropist Peggy Guggenheim (1898), Catholic saint Mother Teresa (1910), physicist Katherine Johnson (1918), journalist Irving R. Levine (1922), basketball guy Tommy Heinsohn (1934), congresswoman and VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro (1935), movie trailer voiceover guy Don LaFontaine (1940), drummer Moe Tucker (1944), singer-songwriter Leon Redbone (1949), NBA coach Stan Van Gundy (1959), musician Branford Marsalis (1960), singer Shirley Manson (1966), actress Melissa McCarthy (1970), actor Macaulay Culkin (1980), actor Chris Pine (1980), baseball player Elvis Andrus (1988), hockey player Wayne Simmonds (1988), and NBA player James Harden (1989).

Who’s ready to kick some ass?!?!? Who’s ready to aim your foot at an ass and go full Chuck Norris on that ass?!?!?! You are! Go get ‘em. Get that ass. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 25, 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 August 25, 2022, and for some reason it’s a Thursday. Here just a bunch of random whatever stuff…

• President Biden did something nice and managed to anger the far-right and far-left, which seems typical in the modern world.
• People making under $125,000/year are eligible for up to $10,000 in student loan debt relief. Per Biden, almost ninety percent of this loan relief will go to folks making less than $75,000 a year. They’d work all their lives and never get out of that hole.
• They left wanted more relief; the right wanted no relief.
• Here’s a funny thing about that… many of the conservatives complaining about this student loan debt relief received hundreds of thousands — or MILLIONS — of dollars in PPP loans that were all forgiven by the government.
• But the difference is that was for them, and the other is for someone else.
• People who lack empathy and are filled with narcissism are probably the worst kind of people overall.
• They don’t have to be mean or evil per se. They can’t even tell what meanness is. Of course, it’s easy for them to keep a list of the people they care about, because there’s only one name on that list.
• Moving on…
• Yesterday, President Biden also appointed Kimberly Cheatle to be the next director of the United States Secret Service. She’s worked there for over 25 years and will be the second woman to head the agency.
• The job is open after James Murray announced his retirement in July… while facing questions about deleted text messages from January 6. Probably best to get a fresh start.
• My state, California, will be banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 with an expected vote today.
• I couldn’t be happier.
• The rest of the nation will follow thereafter. Note: the ban will apply only to new vehicle sales, but this will mean a near certainty that gas vehicles will be phased out entirely in the next 30-40 years. I might even live to see it. That’s cool.
• Note: the car companies didn’t push back on this at all. They know the future lies in zero-emission vehicles.
• In more good news, the Uvalde, TX school board finally fired district police chief Pete Arredondo by unanimous vote. Arredondo was in charge of the botched response during the Robb Elementary shooting massacre.
• Today, the DOJ is submitting the redacted version of the affidavit that was the basis of the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. My bet is that it won’t tell you much, but you never know.


• From the Sports Desk… not truly a sports story per se, but Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa and a co-plaintiff were awarded $31 million in damages from the LA County Sheriff and Fire Departments. They’d taken and shared photos of the mangled dead bodies from the helicopter crash in January 2020.
• It’s obviously reprehensible. And it’s now illegal; Gavin Newsom signed the "Kobe Bryant Act” later that year to stop first responders from sharing photos of a dead person at a crime scene "for any purpose other than an official law enforcement purpose."

• The memory I want to share is that the day the crash happened, the smaller news item was a strange respiratory virus in Asia that was starting to have cases in the USA.
• It’s been a fucked up time. For literally everyone. For years.
• It’s gonna get better. Unless you’re Donald Trump or maybe Gary Busey.
• Gary Busey is obviously mentally ill. He wrecked a motorcycle with no helmet on in 1988 and has had permanent brain damage since.
• That being said, in the course of a week, he sexually groped multiple women at a convention in New Jersey, and then was caught masturbating on a bench in a public park yesterday here in LA. He’s 78. Someone needs to help that guy.
• The Sports Desk also says that the Sports Desk has a breaking story. The Jazz are trading Patrick Beverley to the Lakers. He’s one of those guys you hate unless he’s on your team.
• And now, The Weather: “Autograph” by Syd Arthur.
• Today in history… Byzantine emperor Constantine V discovers a plot against him and executes the leaders (766). António Mota and a few of his friends become the first Europeans to visit Japan (1543). Gallileo demonstrates his first telescope (1609). A hoax is published in ‘The New York Sun’ about the discovery of life and civilization on the Moon (1835). Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim across the English Channel (1875). Germany purposefully destroys the library of the Catholic University, losing hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts in WWI (1914). The British Royal Air Force bombs Berlin in WWII for the first time (1940). Paris is liberated by the Allies during WWII (1944). American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell is shot and killed by a former member of his group (1967). ‘Voyager 2’ makes its closest approach to Saturn (1981). ’Voyager 2’ makes its closest approach to Neptune (1989). Belarus gains its independence from the Soviet Union (1991). Linus Torvalds announces the first version of Linux (1991). Aaliyah is killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas (2001). ‘Voyager 1’ becomes the first man-made object to enter interstellar space (2012). Hurricane Harvey kicks Texas’s ass (2017).
• August 25 is the birthday of Russian ruler Ivan the Terrible (1530), painter George Stubbs (1724), Bavarian king Ludwig I (1786), writer/activist John Neal (1793), detective/spy Allan Pinkerton (1819), fluoride champion dentist Henry Trendly Dean (1893), actor Van Johnson (1916), actor Mel Ferrer (1917), athlete Althea Gibson (1927), actor Sean Connery (1930), TV host Regis Philbin (1931), jazz legend Wayne Shorter (1933), baseball player and mustache king Rollie Fingers (1946), bass player Gene Simmons (1949), metal god Rob Halford (1951), keyboardist Geoff Downes (1952), singer-songwriter Elvis Costello (1954), director Tim Burton (1958), singer Billy Ray Cyrus (1961), guitarist Vivian Campbell (1962), rapper Shock G (1963), singer and murder victim Mia Zapata (1965), singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy (1967), 7-time NBA champion Robert Horry (1970), model Claudia Schiffer (1970), actor Alexander Skarsgård (1976), and actress Blake Lively (1987).

Was that a lot of stuff? It felt like a lot of stuff. I never know how much stuff will end up included in this stuff. I’m now going to go do Thursday things. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 24, 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 August 24, 2022, and it’s a Wednesday. Here are some things that I think I think…

• There were some state primaries yesterday.
• Val Demings handily won the Dem primary for US Senate. She’ll be going up against Marco Rubio on November 8. Go Val!
• Also, Charlie Crist — the former Republican governor of FL who quit in an unsuccessful bid to be the senator but then changed to being a Democrat and has been a congressman since, confusingly — won the primary and will face Ron DeSantis for the governor’s race.
• Normally I’d be apprehensive about this but, I mean, it’s Florida, so the weirder, the better.
• Had a brief moment of panic when unhinged insane person Laura Loomer was winning her primary for a House seat for much of the day. She ended up losing to the incumbent who cannot be as bad for the USA as she would be. That lady is a nut.
• Loomer makes Boebert and MTG look like rational and well-educated people. That’s how bad she is. Full on QAnon psycho. We all dodged a bullet there.
• Speaking of Florida…
• Florida has banned Medicaid coverage for gender affirming care for trans people. Fuckers.
• Side note: when you are gathering information for your little news thing and do a general search for “Florida trans”, you’re going to see a lot of very feminine and attractive people with penises. Just FYI. I should have probably anticipated that.
• Yet another note from that dingleberry of a state: a Florida Christian school will refer to students only by their 'biological gender,' and they’ve asked gay and trans students to unenroll and leave the school entirely. If it’s a private school, I suppose it’s within their right to spread hate and ill will.
• Isn’t that what Christian schools are for, anyway?
• Note to anyone who doesn’t get it: you don’t choose your sexual orientation or your gender identity. The best parallel is telling a short person to be taller or else.
• A lot of people are mentioning former Air Force member and NSA contractor Reality Winner in regard to the FPOTUS’s stolen classified documents. They say, understandably, that if she did over four years in jail for one stolen document (that she was using as a whistleblower), Trump should get a million years in prison. They’re probably correct.
• However, I’ve gotten to know Reality a bit since she got out of jail, and she specifically does NOT want people bringing her up in this situation. She is adamantly against the current penal system, and doesn’t want to be the poster child for punitive action.
• I respect that.
• Two assholes who conspired to kidnap (and likely rape and kill) Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 were found guilty yesterday.
• Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were also found guilty of conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction that they tried to buy from an undercover federal agent.
• These are proud Trump supporters. This is what Trump supporters do. if you’re one of them, this is what I assume you’re into.
• From the Sports Desk… rest in peace to legendary Hal of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, who won a Super Bowl in 1970 with the Chiefs. Dawson was 87.
• It’s both the Ukrainian independence day and the six-month mark of the Russian invasion. Can you at all envision having spent the past six months with an invading force of military running through your city, bombs and missiles incoming, and not knowing if you or your family would live to see the next day?
• I am grateful every single day about the relative level of peace in my life. Every. Single. Day.
• And now, The Weather: “Dial Up” by Flasher.
• Today in history… the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs is written (367). The Visigoths pillage Rome (410). Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz, Germany after being blamed for the bubonic plague (1349). William Penn receives a colony now known as Delaware, and adds it to Pennsylvania (1682). British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burn the White House, the Capitol and other buildings (1814). Amelia Earhart flies across the USA from Los Angeles to Newark non-stop (1932). Allied troops attack German-held Paris (1944). The treaty creating NATO goes into effect (1949). Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies disrupt the NYSE by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery (1967). Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon (1981). Ukraine declares itself independent from the Soviet Union (1991). The IAU redefines the meaning of “planet” and Pluto is demoted (2006).
• August 24 is the birthday of writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899), mob boss Carlo Gambino (1902), historian Howard Zinn (1922), R2D2 actor Kenny Baker (1934), guitarist Mason Williams (1938), guitarist John Cipollina (1943), wrestling promoter Vince McMahon (1945), writer Paulo Coelho (1947), semi-Democrat Joe Manchin (1947), musician Jean Michel Jarre (1948), political asshole Mike Huckabee (1955), actor Stephen Fry (1957), baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. (1960), actress Marlee Matlin (1965), NBA player Reggie Miller (1965), comedian Dave Chappelle (1973), and actor Rupert Grint (1988).

My day is in typical Wednesday mode, which is not terrible exciting. I’ll be planning and writing and drawing, which is what I do. It’s overcast here near the ocean, which is good for getting work stuff done. I know sometimes you wake up with the realization that your life is going by and time is limited, and can this really be all that there is? And the answer is that yeah, probably that’s true, and yet there’s beauty in routine and responsibility, and that the things you do are more important than you realize. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 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 August 23, 2022, and it’s a Tuesday. Some informational content in bullet form is forthcoming…

• The former president filed a lawsuit yesterday. The suit is titled ‘Trump vs. The United States of America’, which is the most appropriate description of the last six years or so.
• The motion and accompanying statement is, in legal terms, a whole lot of hoo-haw. It’s a bunch of malarky. It’s the meaningless drivel of an insane person with no basis in reality as we know it.
• Attorney Ken White’s legal review of the motion: “I mean this is shitty on every level.  It's shitty strategy, shitty lawyering, shitty writing, shitty organization. It's even shitty as propaganda. It's just incompetent.”
• But wait. There’s some comedy.
• When his incompetent legal team initially filed the suit, they initially stated that the FPOTUS is being represented by Donald J. Trump, PRO SE.
• “PRO SE” means he is representing himself. Can you even imagine what a scene that would be, with him pretending to be a lawyer based on something he saw on TV or in a movie one time? That would be comedy gold.
• Sadly, they updated the docket so that he has an actual lawyer listed. I mean, I assume it’s an actual lawyer. It’s Trump, so who even knows for sure?
• Regardless, the known situation for FPOTUS just got a whole lot worse. The New York Times reported yesterday that Trump took over 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago. It’s way more than was assumed.
• The 300+ documents include material from the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the FBI, spanning a variety of topics of national security interest.
• Taking a single classified document results in years in jail for most people. Even taking a single UNCLASSIFIED document without permission is a serious crime.
• It’s not looking good at all. I mean, it is looking good for people who believe in justice and equality. But for FPOTUS? It’s looking really, truly, spectacularly bad. 300+ documents bad.
• Trump’s lawyer Christina Bobb, who up until recently had been an anchor for the OAN network, had signed off on a document that all classified documents had already been returned. They, as it turns out, had not, by a long shot.
• So she’s gonna need a lawyer, and if you know anyone who’d like to the the former president’s lawyer’s lawyer, that’s going to fuel the legal industry for awhile. His other lawyers will also need lawyers, and then they, themselves, might need lawyers.
• Speaking of lawyers, I need to quote Ken White again when he says, “I know I am kind of obsessing about this but this is my area and this is historically and flamboyantly incompetent and surreal. Like imagine you love football and it's the Super Bowl and it's kickoff and the kicker whips out a javelin and kills the mascot and yells FOOT FAULT.”
• I think the FPOTUS should be given a light sentence under the circumstances of being a general idiot who has no idea what he’s saying or doing. Say, just five years per document. He’d only have to serve (checks calculator) 1,500 years in prison, and with good behavior could get out in as early as 800 years.
• And now, The Weather: “Here I Land” by Nicholas Stevenson.
• Funny note about today’s Weather. It’s a song I actually first heard on the real ‘The Weather’ from ‘Night Vale’, and I liked it so much I not only bought it, but got to know Nicholas Stevenson and have enjoyed a bunch of his other music as well. So that’s cool, I guess.
• Oh, also it’s Ukraine’s independence day tomorrow, and the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is nasty, with the UN saying that the world is facing a moment of maximum danger.
• Hopefully we’re all alive for the weekend. I was gonna work on some tunes. Can’t do that if I’m dead.
• From the Sports Desk… here are the current ten best teams in Major League baseball: Dodgers (84-37), Mets (79-45), Astros (78-45), Braves (76-48), Yankees (75-48), Cardinals (70-51), Phillies (67-55), Padres (68-56), Rays (66-55), and Blue Jays (65-55).
• It’s Florida’s primary election today. Charlie Crist is going to have a pretty easy victory over Nikki Fried in the Democratic race for governor. He’ll go on to face the thoroughly evil Ron DeSantis in the general election in November.
• Val Demings will be the victor in the Democratic primary for US Senate. She’ll go up against Marco Rubio in November.
• Today in history… the Golden Horde lays siege to Moscow (1382). George III states that the American colonies are in open and avowed rebellion (1775). A state named Franklin in what’s now eastern Tennessee declares itself independent but is not accepted into the USA and only lasts four years (1784). Japan declares war on Germany in WWI (1914). Italy executes anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti (1927). Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies in WWII (1944). César Chávez begins the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history (1970). The World Wide Web is opened to the public (1991). Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown during the Libyan Civil War (2011).
• August 23 is the birthday of King Louis XVI of France (1754), physicist/astronomer Sarah Frances Whiting (1847), actor/dancer Gene Kelly (1912), actress Barbara Eden (1931), drumming madman Keith Moon (1946), folk-rock singer-songwriter Linda Thompson (1947), actress Shelly Long (1949), guitarist Dean DeLeo (1961), actor River Phoenix (1970), Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (1971), NBA eternal legend Kobe Bryant (1978), and NBA player Jeremy Lin (1988).

Well, zippity doo dah, here we go with another fucking day! Let’s do those things that we do. I have work deliverables, meetings, grocery shopping, and probably some other shit that I can’t remember because I need more coffee. You do what you do. Be cool to people and animals. Especially animals. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 22, 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 August 22, 2022, and it’s a Monday. Various things and stuff coming your way…

• You ever notice most news is bad?
• It’s true. Would you be more likely to click a link that says, “Terrible new disease affects three in ten people” or one that says, “Man beats diabetes through diet and exercise”?
• Anyway, you click the link, the algorithm tells the media entity that that’s the type of headline that brings them success, allowing them to sell more ads, and then they serve more of the bad news to make more money.
• It is what it is.
• While I do post alarming information from time to time, I don’t post purely “bad news”. Awful things happen every day with fires and plane crashes and stampedes and so on. You don’t see them here.
• That being said, the footage of the three Arkansas cops — two deputies and a police office — beating the fuck out of an already-subdued man is beyond sickening. 
• Ya know, Americans don’t want to hate cops. We know it’s a hard job. We know cops are an important part of a functional society.
• Then things happen like George Floyd, or the cowards in Uvalde, or this, and… it’s hard not to assume that all cops act this way, and we only see the small percentage that are caught on video.
• I know some law enforcement people. All of them are decent human beings. And they all have to pay the price when other cops do this kind of shit.
• But that all the more means that when incidents like this do happen, the punishment to the cops must be quick and severe.
• Anyone in a position of public trust, be it a teacher, a law enforcement officer, a doctor, a judge, or other who uses his or her position to betray that trust, has to face more harsh penalties than others.
• The deputies have been suspended; the cop is on administrative leave. I’m afraid that won’t be enough unless we hear some extenuating information that justified what they did to that man outside a convenience store in Mulberry.
• Moving on.
• Conservative pollster Rasmussen has President Joe Biden at his highest approval rating thus far, at 47%. That’s good news.
• The same poll on NBC, however, has Biden at 42%, and American Research Group has him at 37%.
• Polls are stupid.
• And now, The Weather: “Catamaran” by Yawning Man.
• Dr. Anthony Fauci has announced he is stepping down in December after more than 50 years of public service. If you want to create a statue to an American hero, he’s a good choice.
• Today in history… King Richard III dies at the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485). The English civil War begins (1642). The first America’s Cup is won by a yacht called ‘America’ (1851). 12 nations sign the first Geneva Convention (1864). Cadillac Motor Company is founded (1902). Michael Collins of the Irish Free State army is shot dead in an ambush (1922). German troops begin the siege of Leningrad (1941). Nolan Ryan becomes first to get 5,000 strikeouts (1989). Roy Moore is suspended for refusing to remove a 10 Commandments rock in the Alabama Supreme Court building (2003). 
• August 22 is the birthday of pressure cooker inventor Denis Papin (1647), composer Claude Debussy (1862), writer/satirist Dorothy Parker (1893), blues man John Lee Hooker (1917), writer Ray Bradbury (1920), general Norman Schwarzkopf (1934), actress Valerie Harper (1939), baseball great Carl Yastrzemski (1939), writer/director David Chase (1945), Grateful Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux (1947), actress Cindy Williams (1947), guitarist Vernon Reid (1958), musician Roland Orzabal (1961), musician Tori Amos (1963), Wu Tang rapper GZA (1966), singer Layne Staley (1967), actress Kristen Wiig (1973), host James Corden (1978), NFL player Randall Cobb (1990), and singer Dua Lipa (1995).

Well, it’s a Monday and I have shit to do. We’re not always in our best place to do our best shit, but life keeps rolling and there will always be good days and bad days. I’ve had more good than bad; I’m grateful for that. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 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 August 21, 2022, and it’s a Sunday. No idea what’s going on in my mind or the world, so let’s find out together…

• Not-fun Fact: The historical average time limit of a democracy on our little planet is about 300 years. The USA has made it through 246 years, and even survived a civil war with our democracy mostly intact.
• But there’s no guarantee that the USA won’t fall into a fascist dictatorship. The former president tried hard to make it happen.
• Your vote today hopefully guarantees that your daughters and sons get to vote tomorrow.
• Maybe you don’t give a fuck about the future or subsequent generations or any of that shit. Fine.
• Just focus on today then. 
• The rights of women to maintain bodily autonomy, without being forced to give birth and having access to safe and legal abortion. Over 2/3 of ALL Americans, Democrats and Republicans, are in favor of this.
• Enacting laws to provide background checks so guns aren’t so easy to get for the kind of people who want to shoot up schools and kill our children.
• Keeping the costs of medical care and prescription drugs affordable for all Americans.
• What can your vote do? It can elect candidates who will help codify Roe into national law, strengthen gun laws while still respecting 2nd Amendment rights, and keep working toward health care plans for everyone that don’t favor the wealthy and leave the rest of us to die or go broke with medical bills.
• Those things can and will affect your life TODAY. Your lives and those of your family.
• On a related topic, here’s an old phrase: if you don’t use it, you lose it.
• If we don’t respect the Constitution of the USA, we lose the rights that it guarantees us. If a person is allowed to flaunt his egregious lack of respect for laws and gets no punishment, then all laws are pointless. So for anyone who thinks it’s time to forgive and forget the January 6 coup attempt, or that a former President steals national security documents, that’s a fast road to total anarchy and nihilism.
• If you want to live in a country where the people with the most money and guns win every time, I feel sorry for you… but I’m going to fight you all the way before allowing that to happen.
• What about things like inflation and gas prices? Are those important to people? Hell yes they are! They are affecting people all over the world, in the USA, in South America, in Europe, and in Asia.
• But your vote doesn’t affect those things very much. What you can do in that regard is to stop accepting corporate greed and to limit your consumer spending while telling companies that you simply won’t pay outrageous prices just to bolster their record-breaking profits.
• And now, The Weather: “Thin Air” by Wand.
• Some polling… please note that I don’t include polls of less than 1,500 people or done by extreme partisan groups if possible.
• Nevada Senate: Adam Laxalt (R) 47% (+3), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-inc) 44% (Trafalgar)
• Nevada Governor: Joe Lombardo (R) 46% (+2), Steve Sisolak (D-inc) 44% (Trafalgar)
• C’mon Nevada. Turn that shit around.
• Ohio Governor: DeWine (R-inc) 44%, Whaley (D) 43% (Lake Research)
• Please vote, y’all.
• From the Sports Desk… The Sports Desk once again reminds you that preseason NFL football games are a combination tryout and scrimmage, and are meaningless. My Las Vegas Raiders are 3-0 in preseason and it means nothing at all. Zero. Three games in, and less than half of our starters have spent one second on the field. Don’t get too happy or too sad about anything in preseason.
• Today in history… Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from the Spanish (1680). James Cook claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales (1770). Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in Southampton County, VA (1831). An F5 tornado slams Rochester, MN, which leads to the creation of the Mayo Clinic (1883). A Louvre employee steals the Mona Lisa (1911). The Soviet Union does the first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (1957). Eisenhower signs an EO and proclaims Hawaii as the 50th state (1959). Tiger Woods wins the PGA and becomes the first golfer since 1953 to win three majors in a calendar year (2000).
• August 21 is the birthday of Philip II of France (1165), inventor William Murdoch (1754), pianist/bandleader Count Basie (1904), animator Fritz Freleng (1906), sportscaster Jack Buck (1924), actor Melvin Van Peebles (1932), NBA great Wilt Chamberlain (1936), singer Kenny Rogers (1938), guitarist James Burton (1939), singer Jackie DeShannon (1941), musician Joe Strummer (1952), actress Kim Cattrall (1956), SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg (1961), actress Carrie-Anne Moss (1967), singer Serj Tankian (1967), Google founder Sergey Brin (1973), really fast dude Usain Bolt (1986), singer Kacey Musgraves (1988), and actress Hayden Panettiere (1989).

I have no specific plans today. I need to sew a button back on some shorts. That’s the exciting height of my activities today, and I may or may not get to that. I am going to relax and recharge my energies, which is important. There’s no rule that says you have to be doing something specific for every minute of every day. Sometimes it’s nice to just appreciate being here and alive, and that’s good enough. Enjoy your day.

Random News: August 20, 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 August 20, 2022, and it’s a Saturday. Various thoughts while I procrastinate doing normal human things for awhile…

• Ever since the leak of the Dobbs decision that allowed the far-right Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade, women in every state have been registering to vote in unprecedented numbers.
• That’s one reason that the measure to outlaw abortion in Kansas was defeated so soundly. That’s what happened in a very red, conservative state.
• Other states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina also have seen huge spikes in women’s voter registration. In Kansas per above, 70% of the new voter registrants since the SCOTUS ruling are women.
• The only states where there’s less of a gap between genders in registration are those where abortion rights are already more protected.
• Fuck around, and find out… on Tuesday November 8.
• Before we canonize all women for saving this country, let’s also keep in mind groups like Moms for Liberty. They are, by any definition, a hate group whose latest mission is to gather LBGTQIA children in public schools and put them in “special classes, like for example children with autism, Down Syndrome”, ostensibly for reprogramming.
• They are also against diversity and inclusion, and are pro white supremacy.
• Fuck those ladies.
• Vote, because your life really depends on it.
• Moving on.
• A judge has rejected Senator Lindsay Graham’s (R-SC) second effort to quash the subpoena for his grand jury testimony in the case against Trump’s tampering in the 2020 election in Georgia. He’s currently scheduled to testify Tuesday. he’s still fighting it.
• Just tell the truth, Lindsay. If you have nothing to hide, you won’t be in any trouble. Right, law and order people?
• 37 people in four states got sickened with E. coli from eating at Wendy’s. Maybe skip that for awhile.
• Update your iPhones/iPas/Macs immediately. A security flaw could allow someone to get total access to your shit.
• From the Sports Desk, a big hats off to the seemingly immortal Albert Pujols. He pinch hit a grand slam for his 690th home run this week. He’s fifth on the all-time home runs list behind Rodriguez (696), Ruth (714), Aaron (755) and Bonds* (762).
• And now, The Weather: “Paper Fog” by Cory Hanson.
• A new study is finding that COVID is resulting in an increased risk of brain disorders two years after the initial viral infection. The risks measured were for dementia, epilepsy, psychosis and cognitive deficit (aka brain fog).
• Today in history… Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection (1854). Andrew Johnson declares the Civil War officially over (1866). Tchaikovsky debuts his ‘1812 Overture’ in Moscow (1882). The first commercial radio station, now called WWJ, begins operations in Detroit (1920). The American Professional Football Conference, now called the National Football League, is organized in Canton, OH (1920). Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd grand slam, a record that stood for 75 years (1938). NASA launches the Viking 1 probe toward Mars (1975). Nasa launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft (1977). More than 100,000 people rally at the Soviet parliament building protesting the coup to depose Gorbachev (1991). Joe Biden gives his acceptance speech as the Democratic presidential nominee (2020). 
• August 20 is the birthday of 23rd POTUS Benjamin Harrison (1833), writer H. P. Lovecraft (1890), pedal steel legend Sneaky Pete Kleinow (1934), journalist Connie Chung (1946), golden god Robert Plant (1948), bass rocker Phil Lynott (1949), singer-songwriter John Hiatt (1952), news anchor Al Roker (1954), rapper KRS-One (1965), guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott (1966), singer Fred Durst (1970), actress Amy Adams (1974), and singer Demi Lovato (1992).

Okay then. I’ll take a shower and get dressed now. It seems like the right thing to do. Enjoy your day.