Random News: August 7, 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 7, 2022, and it’s a Sunday. Here are some things that are things...

• Sending thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris for casting the tie-breaking vote that allowed the $430 billion climate, tax, and drug bill move to debate in the Senate.
• The vote tally (obviously) was 51-50, because math.
• However, this morning, Senate Republicans just blocked the $35/month insulin price cap for Americans on private insurance from this bill.
• All it would have taken was three GOP Senators. They even could have voted yes on this amendment and no on the rest of it… but they chose to keep insulin too expensive for the people who need it most, and they did it on purpose.
• For what? To “own the Dems”? Do you know how many folks in red states have diabetes and can’t afford the one medicine that keeps them alive?
• The Republican America is where the very wealthy can afford health care while the middle class spend their entire life savings to stay alive, and the poor just die uncared for.
• These are things to remember when you vote in November.
• Indiana’s choice to adopt strict abortion laws is already having an impact… but perhaps not the expected one.
• Some of the state’s largest employers, like pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, tech giant Salesforce, and others expressed strong concern about the impact on their ability to continue doing business in the state.
• Repeat-worthy note: the citizens of Indiana did not vote this into law. It was the state’s legislature.
• Vote.
• The Mars Curiosity Rover had its 10th birthday on Friday. Its original mission was for two years and it’s still rocking out on the fourth planet. Go Curiosity!
• Curiosity is about the size of a compact car, in case you were wondering. Some people seem to think it’s like a little RC car rolling around. Nope. It’s a chunky boy.
• New York is saying that “hundreds of people” might be infected with polio. FUCKING POLIO. Why are we going backwards?
• Vaccines work, people. The world is round, we landed on the moon, birds are real, and vaccines work.
• 20 state Attorneys General are suing the USDA over a school meal program that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
• You read that right. They want to be sure that LGBTQIA kids can be discriminated against in regard to school lunches. You’re gay? No food for you, kid.
• The AGs — surprisingly all Republican, he said sarcastically — are from the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
• Multiple mass shootings in Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio over the weekend. I was born in that state and I doubt I’ll ever go back at this point.
• QotD: “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” - Pablo Picasso
• The Weather: “Nina” by Crumb.
• From the Sports Desk… the Pro Football Hall of Fame had its 2022 induction ceremony yesterday. Among the enshrined are defensive lineman Bryant Young, offensive tackle Tony Boselli, receiver Cliff Branch, safety LeRoy Butler, official Art McNally, linebacker Sam Mills, defensive lineman Richard Seymour, and coach Dick Vermeil.
• 14-year Raider vet Branch, who won three Super Bowls with the team and died in 2019, was a favorite of mine.
• Today in history… coronation of King Otto I of Germany (936). George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit, later renamed the Purple Heart (1782). The US Department of War is created (1789). The first women do a road trip from New York to San Francisco (1909). The WWII Battle of Guadalcanal begins (1942). Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency over toxic waste at Love Canal (1978). The first American soldiers arrive in Saudi Arabia in the Gulf War (1990). Space Shuttle Discovery STS-85 launches (1997). Barry Bonds breaks* the all-time home run record (2007). 
• August 7 is the birthday of Hungarian aristocrat and alleged serial killer Elizabeth Báthory (1560), activist/labor leader Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890), baseball player Don Larsen (1929), musician Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1935), humorist Garrison Keillor (1942), singer B. J. Thomas (1942), singer Bruce Dickinson (1958), actor David Duchovny (1960), Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales (1966), baseball player Édgar Rentería (1975), actress Charlize Theron (1975), and baseball player Mike Trout (1991).

It’s Sunday, so… I don’t know. Relax? Take care of household things I can’t get to in the week? Try and be creative and make music? There’s no right answer. I’ll just flow along with the universe and see what happens, I think. Enjoy your day.