Random News: August 18, 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 18, 2022, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Here are the thoughts meandering through my brain like a fish in a turbulent river…

• Yesterday, America’s former mayor and now general nutbag Rudy Giuliani testified behind closed doors at a grand jury in Georgia, where he’s been named as a target in a criminal probe about attempted fraud in the 2020 election.
• No one knows what, if any, testimony he offered to the grand jury at the six+ hour session. If I was a betting man and Rudy was a normal human being, I’d guess he took his 5th amendment rights about a zillion times. But it’s Rudy so… anyone’s guess.
• On Tuesday, I mentioned Adam Bies, the PA guy who threatened FBI agents on the right-wing social network Gab and was summarily arrested.
• They already indicted him. That was mighty quick. Given the amount of evidence against him, it’s not really surprising.
• What is sorta funny is that Gab is furious with its owner, Andrew Torba, for having turned over the chat logs, email, and IP data on Bies without a warrant. Gab has marketed itself as a “free speech zone” where anything goes, including racism and violent threats. The users are very mad that they are actually being held to the same standards as anyone else in the USA.
• A bit of Crime Law 101.
• I know most of you know this, but I have seen some confusion before. An “investigation” is when information is being researched about a crime, and can include things like search warrants and depositions. An “indictment” is an official accusation of a crime having been committed, after the evidence is gathered. A “trial” is when the subject of an indictment is determined as being innocent or guilty, with parties always being presumed innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof is always on the accuser.
• Now you’re all lawyers. Congratulations.
• Disclaimer: you are not lawyers and neither am I, unless you are a lawyer, and then yes, congratulations to you.
• It’s super foggy here in lovely Redondo Beach, CA this morning. It’s eerie. I like it.
• If you enjoy the majestic beauty of aurora borealis, the “northern lights” that have captivated people since time immemorial, maybe consider the fact that they are disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by the solar wind… particles being blasted from the sun right at us that — if our magnetosphere wasn’t in place and functioning — would torch us all immediately and turn Earth into a dry and barren wasteland incapable of supporting life. 


• So thank you, magnetosphere. We are pretty lucky to be on this planet. It’s got a great feature set. The others seem to really suck!


• Today, Trump organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is scheduled to plead guilty to 15 felonies and to testify about the company’s criminal tax fraud, per a plea bargain announced yesterday.

• So we’ll see how that goes.
• There’s also a hearing today in from of a federal judge on releasing the FBI affidavit from the Mar-a-Lago search. I’m typically a fan of transparency in government, but not at the expense of putting innocent lives in danger.
• One idea to meet both sides is to release it, but have it be heavily redacted so the witness names and other sensitive info can remain secure.
• So we’ll see how that goes too.
• And now, The Weather: “Alphamale” by Mandaworld.
• From the Sports Desk… the Big 10 collegiate sporting conference has entered into a seven-year media rights deal with Fox, CBS and NBC reportedly worth $7 billion. The Sports Desk says that if you’re not paying those athletes, you’re all giant assholes.
• One other little news note: in Alaska’s open House primaries, the leading candidate is Mary Peltola, a Democrat who got considerably more votes than the second-place candidate… a Republican named Sarah Palin.
• Democrats in all 50 states are in it to win it. 
• Today in history… Castillian and Aragonese forces take Málaga (1487). john White returns from England to find the Roanoke Colony deserted (1590). A huge fireball meteor is seen across Great Britain (1783). Pierre Janssen discovers helium (1868). A great fire destroys almost half of Thessaloniki, Greece (1917). The 19th Amendment is ratified, giving voting rights to women (1920). Nabokov’s controversial novel ‘Lolita’ is published in the US (1958). James Meredith becomes the first Black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi (1963). Australia and New Zealand withdraw their troops from Vietnam (1971). Anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko is arrested and beaten and later dies from his injuries (1977). A power blackout in Java affects nearly 100 million people, one of the largest outage events in history (2005).
• August 18 is the birthday of first English-descent child born in the USA Virginia Dare (1587), composer Antonio Salieri (1750), UK Prime Minister John Russell (1792), businessman Marshall Field (1834), businessman Max Factor (1902), activist Amelia Boynton Robinson (1911), politician Caspar Weinberger (1917), 41st FLOTUS Rosalynn Carter (1927), former Cincinnati Reds owner and terrible racist Marge Schott (1928), director and probable rapist Roman Polanski (1933), baseball great Roberto Clemente (1934), actor Martin Mull (1943), comedian Elayne Boosler (1952), actor Patrick Swayze (1952), actor Edward Norton (1969), actor Andy Samberg (1978), and NFL player Jeremey Shockey (1980).

I guess that’s all. I’m gearing up for a Thursday packed with meetings and work. That’s okay. I’ll do the things I have to do and the things I want to do, and you will too. If you can’t, no worries. There will be other days to do things. Be kind to yourself and to others, and enjoy your day.