Random News: August 6, 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.

---

Good morning. It’s August 6, 2022, and it’s a Saturday. I’m a guy in a bathrobe, and here are my thoughts…

• As you may have already heard, horrible person Alex Jones received the second part of the judgement in his first of several defamation trials by parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims (that Jones claimed was a false-flag hoax). The compensatory damages to the first set of parents was for $4.1 million.
• The punitive damages, announced yesterday, were for a bit more.
• $45.2 million. Yup. Forty-five million, two hundred thousand dollars.
• Before you get too full of schadenfreude glee, keep in mind that Texas law (the state where the case was held) will likely knock that down a good amount. There are legal caps that vary by state regarding punitive damages, based on factors of income, percentage of other damages, and so on.
• Regardless, am I glad Mr. Jones is found responsible for what he’s done? Yes, but on a much bigger and more important picture, this kind of thing is a major deterrent to other “little Alex Jones” people out there. Journalists, bloggers, podcasters who intentionally lie and spread misinformation for political or financial gain.
• Last week was really good from a sociopolitical view. I always make it a point to appreciate the good times when they come around.
• That being said, Indiana has passed the nation’s first post-Roe near total ban on abortion. Note that when people are given the chance to vote on it, they side with choice in large percentages. The Indiana law was put in by their state legislators, not the voters.
• FUCKING VOTE. And don’t vote for people who take away your rights.
• Amazon bought Roomba. Is anyone else envisioning an Alexa bot that goes through your whole fucking house, listening to all conversations, and automatically starts buying shit it thinks you need?
• We’re all going to die.
• Gas prices are down. Biden didn’t do that, nor did he make them high. The POTUS isn’t the Wizard of Oz, people.
• Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian broke up. Biden also did not do that.
• From the Sports Desk… nothing, except I was named Most Improved Player of my high school basketball team in 1983. True story, though not news.
• The Weather: “Cross The Sea” by Alex G.
• QotD: “Madness is rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
• Today in history… Bogotá, Colombia is founded (1538). 60 proof sheets of the US Constitution are delivered to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (1787). William Kemmler is the first person executed by electric chair (1890). Gertrude Ederle swims the English Channel (1926). The Soviet Union absorbs Estonia (1940). The USA drops the atomic bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan (1945). Jamaica gains independence from the UK (1962). Tim Berners-Lee releases his idea for the World Wide Web (1991). The Ramones play their final concert (1996). NASA’s Curiosity rover lands on Mars (2012). 
• August 6 is the birthday of poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809), penicillin inventor Alexander Fleming (1881), gangster Dutch Schultz (1901), actress and wonderful person Lucille Ball (1911), actor Robert Mitchum (1917), actor/director Peter Bonerz (1938), actress Michelle Yeoh (1962), NBA player David Robinson (1965), singer-songwriter Elliott Smith (1969), director M. Night Shyamalan (1970), and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell (1972).

Welllll. I should go do things. I’m a human. We do things. Don’t we? Enjoy your day.