Random News: August 2, 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 2, 2022, and it’s a Tuesday. I am one busy fool all day today, so here’s some stuff that I might wanna say…

• Quick chat about political parties in the USA. There have always been two, the Democratic Party and Republican Party, right?
• No. Not at all. The Democratic Party was founded in 1828, making it the world’s oldest political party, and has 47,000,000 members. The Republican Party was founded in 1854 and has 35,000,000 members.
• But there is also the Libertarian Party, founded in 1971 with a current membership of about 700,000. The Green Party was founded in 2001 and has about 400,000 members. There are dozens and dozens of other parties, some quite large, like the Constitution Party, Working Families Party, Alliance Party, Peace and Freedom Party, and many, many others. Some are conservative, some are liberal, and others are focused on a single topic or issue.
• But wait? What about before all this? What party were the founding fathers?
• Well… George Washington was an Independent. Adams a Federalist. Jefferson a Democratic-Republican. Those parties evolved into today’s major parties.
• Anyway, the point is that there have always been options beyond Democratic and Republican parties; those other parties just never capture the public interest on a widespread scale, and tend to be so focused in their goals that they alienate those who don’t share their priorities, which is the other 98% of voters. In close elections, all they tend to do is siphon votes from major party candidates.
• Andrew Yang saying he’s formed a “third party” is an insult to any of these other groups who’ve strived for recognition over many years.
• Okay then.
• Over the weekend, the USA took out Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who played a key role in 9/11 and numerous other terrorist attacks. He was once described as the number-two dude in Al-Qaeda behind Osama bin Laden, so they weren’t going to stop looking for him. He met a drone in Kabul.
• Mo Ostin passed away at age 95. Mo was one of, if not THE, most important single person who made the record industry the way we knew it in the 20th century (and still know it today, to a degree). He led Warner Brothers Records for 30 years and was instrumental in the careers of artists like The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, R.E.M., Madonna, Frank Sinatra, Van Halen, the B-52s, Tom Petty, Green Day, Prince, and so many more.
• In Piece of Shit news, insurrectionist Guy Reffitt was sentenced to 87 months (over seven years) in prison for his actions in the failed January 6 coup attempt. He was the guy with the zip ties who also had a gun with him and made threats to Nancy Pelosi. It’s the longest sentence yet for a Jan 6 offender, though they could (and should) have charged him with a more serious terrorism crime. He’s lucky he only got seven years. Reffitt is the first one to face trial; he won’t be the last.
• Five states have primary elections today: Arizona, Missouri, Washington, Kansas, and Michigan. Most of the same issues are in play… Trump-backed election deniers versus traditional Republicans, and Democrats fighting it out. Abortion measures and other vitally important issues are also on some of these ballots. Reminder: there are just 98 days until the general election. Please vote.
• Today in history… Hannibal’s Carthagian army beats a larger Roman army at the Battle of Cannae (216 BC). Henry Hudson sails into Hudson Bay looking for a northwest passage (1610). The first United States Census is conducted (1790). Japan’s Edo society closes system its abolished (1869). General strike in Vancouver, BC (1918). Calvin Coolidge becomes president upon the death of Warren G. Harding (1923). The positron is discovered (1932). Adolf Hitler becomes Fürer of Germany (1934). The Marihuana Tax Act makes cannabis illegal in the USA (1937). Iraq invades Kuwait, leading to the Gulf War (1990). 
• August 2 is the birthday of designer of Washington, D.C. Pierre Charles L’Enfant (1754), actress Myrna Loy (1905), Israel president Shimon Peres (1923), writer/acitvist James Baldwin (1924), actor Carroll O’Connor (1924), football executive Lamar Hunt (1932), musician Garth Hudson (1937), director Wes Craven (1939), musician Jim Capaldi (1944), musician Andy Fairweather Low (1948), musician Andrew Gold (1951), musician/producer Butch Vig (1955), singer Apollonia Kotero (1959), and NBA player Kristaps Porziņģis (1995).

For those of you who give a flying fuck, I have a show tonight in Second Life, and we’re back at Tuesday which is my grocery shopping day, and I have deadlines and meetings up the ass. But that’s okay; I’d always rather have too many things to do than nothing to do. That’s true most of the time, until it isn’t. Enjoy your day.