Random News: August 5, 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 5, 2022, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! Here are things, some good, some bad, some whatever…

• Following up from yesterday, Alex Jones, a man who encouraged his radio show listeners to harass and threaten the parents of 20 six-year-old children who were killed in a mass shooting, received a judgement in a civil case. The compensatory damages were for $4.1 million to this set of parents.
• They have yet to decide punitive damages. That may come today.
• It’s the first of several trials in this regard, with others coming soon from different sets of parents.
• On a bigger-picture basis, this judgement tells other media entities who lie to people for political gain or profit that there will be consequences for their words.
• The data from Alex Jones’ phone is also being turned over to the Department of Justice, since Jones was deeply involved in the planning and execution of the failed January 6 coup attempt.
• Good news.
• More good news: four current and former officers of the Louisville Police Department are finally facing federal charges for their actions that led to the death of Breonna Taylor. This was announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
• Breonna was killed in March 2020. The wheels of justice move slowly, but they often seem to come through in the end.
• And now some awful news.
• Britney Griner has been sentenced to nine years in jail in Russia for having a THC pen device. If you haven’t figured it out, Griner is being used as a bargaining chip for Russia to get as many of their most important criminals to be released from imprisonment by the USA.
• Back to good news.
• I can’t stress highly enough what a HUGE FUCKING DEAL the vote in Kansas this week was. A giant percentage of people voted in a primary election in a midterm year specifically to combat the state forcing women to give birth.
• It wasn’t just Democrats, I should add. Millions of Republican women (and a good number of men) across the country will also be voting to preserve their bodily autonomy.
• The moment the leak came out of the SCOTUS about the repeal of Roe, I said this would galvanize the midterm vote, and Kansas provided the first tangible evidence that I was right.
• LET’S GO
• Vote.
• More goodness…
• With the cooperation of El Weirdo Extremo, aka Senator Kysten Sinema (D-AZ), Democrats are moving forward with a sweeping economic package called the Inflation Reduction Act that will result in a huge investment in energy and climate programs as well as extend health care subsidies and give Medicare the ability to negotiate drug prices. It’s not done yet but it’s closer.
• Massive win for Joe Biden, and for America really.
• From the Sports Desk… football is back, baby! Well, I mean, sorta. I mean, there’s been one preseason game, with the Las Vegas Raiders trouncing the Jacksonville Jaguars 27 - 11. I know it’s only one preseason game and almost none of the starters played, but I’ve seen enough; the Raiders will win the 2023 Super Bowl. You read it here first.
• QotD: “We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap.” - Kurt Vonnegut
• Today in history… Guangwu claims the throne of China and restores the Han Dynasty (25). Henry I is crowned King of England (1100). Sir Humphrey Gilbert established the first English colony in North America in what is now St. John’s, NL (1583). The Mayflower departs England on its first attempt to go to North America; it fails (1620). Journalist John Peter Zenger is acquitted of seditious libel since what he published about the royal governor of New York was true (1735). The British Navy calls the electric telegraph a “totally unnecessary” invention when they could wave flags to communicate instead (1816). The US government levies the first income tax to pay for the Civil War (1861). Standard Oil Company (today known as ExxonMobil) is established in New Jersey (1882). Bertha Benz takes the first road trip in a car (1888). The first electric traffic light is installed in Cleveland, OH (1914). Harry Houdini spends 91 minutes underwater before escaping (1926). Nazis massacre 50,000 civilians in Wola, Poland (1944). American Bandstand debuts on ABC (1957). Nelson Mandela is jailed in South Africa and won’t be released until 1990 (1962). Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her home from an alleged drug overdose (1962). Richard Nixon is ordered by the Supreme Court to release the “smoking gun” tape and loses all political support (1974). Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air traffic controllers (1981).
• August 5 is the birthday of writer Guy de Maupassant (1850), “elephant man” Joseph Merrick (1862), black female lawyer and founder of the National Bar Association Gertrude Rush (1880), actor John Huston (1906), astronaut Neil Armstrong (1930), record producer Joe Boyd (1942), actress Loni Anderson (1945), physicist Shirley Ann Jackson (1946), musician Rick Derringer (1947), guitarist Pat Smear (1959), NBA player Patrick Ewing (1962), rapper Adam Yauch, aka MCA (1964), right-wing French weirdo Marine Le Pen (1968), and director James Gunn (1970).

I suppose that’s all for now. I like Fridays but they’re always stressful for me, trying to get all the work done that gets jammed at me as the week progresses. I think I need to mellow the fuck out. I’m not good at that. I’d like to get better at that. But for now, I’m me, and you’re you, and let’s just get our asses to the weekend as painlessly as possible. Enjoy your day.