Random News: September 20, 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 September 20, 2022, and it’s a Tuesday. Whole bunch of whatever coming right up…

• Today, September 20, is National Voter Registration Day. Here’s the thing… if you’re not registered, I want you to do that. If you are registered, I want you to a) confirm your registration and/or b) help someone else register.
• If you’re not sure how, hit me up in the comments or contact me any way you want. I will totally help you! It’s easy!
• What’s the upside to registering to vote? Well, it’s having a say in the things that affect your own life and the lives of people you care about, today and in the future.
• What’s the downside? You tend to get spam from political candidates (which you may get anyway), and will likely at some point get called to serve jury duty. It’s not a big price to pay, frankly.
• The Midterm Election is exactly seven weeks from today… 49 days away. Please register and vote. Thank you.
• Authorities in Texas have opened a criminal investigation into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' flight last week that took roughly 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
• Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County issued this statement: “The Bexar County Sheriff's Office has opened an investigation into the migrants that were lured from the Migrant Resource Center, located in Bexar County, TX, and flown to Florida, where they were ultimately left to fend for themselves in Martha's Vineyard, MA.”
• To be clear on this… Ron DeSantis kidnapped 50 people in Texas, flew them to Florida to parade them around, and then again flew them across state lines for a big joke.
• He must be removed as Florida governor immediately, and face these criminal charges.
• The immigrants were here legally.
• Sherri Papini, the California woman who faked her own kidnapping in 2016 in a weird-ass hoax, was sentenced to a year and a half in prison on Monday. She pleaded guilty in April to mail fraud and making false statements and was also ordered to pay nearly $310,000 in restitution.
• What an idiot.
• Alaska, a state you probably rarely think about and probably don’t understand very well, has been dealing with major floodwaters from the remnants of a typhoon. Residents are continuing to grapple with power outages, water damage, and concerns about how to survive the coming winter.
• Hurricane Fiona is fucking up the Caribbean. Puerto Rico has no power, Dominican Republic has no running water, and it’s slamming into the Turks and Caicos as a Category 3. It could hit Bermuda as a Category 4. Go away, Fiona!
• As I predicted — though anyone could have — the FPOTUS’s legal team is already complaining about the Special Master that THEY THEMSELVES requested in the criminal investigation about documents he stole. 
• The special master, Raymond Dearie, has asked FPOTUS to elaborate on his claims around declassifying the documents recovered last month from his golf motel in Florida. 
• Last night, attorney and former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti tweeted "I've seen enough: Trump's team miscalculated by asking for Judge Dearie to serve as Special Master."
• Ha ha.
• Over 1,600 books were banned during 2021-22. About 50 conservative groups were involved in this act of censorship. The biggest focus of the ban are any books that even mention LGBTQ topics. 
• These books were banned in 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students in 32 states.
• My governor, Gavin Newsom of California, who will pretty much certainly be President in the next couple of election cycles, signed a new law yesterday that says California workers cannot be fired for use of cannabis when not on the clock at work.
• Since recreational marijuana use is legal here, this makes sense. Otherwise, one could be fired for drinking a beer at home, and so on.
• Things haven’t been going so well for former crack cocaine addict and current CEO of MyPillow, Mike Lindell. After surrendering his phone to the FBI last week, yesterday a federal judge ruled that Lindell must face a defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic Corp, whom he’d falsely accused of a conspiracy to rig the 2020 election.
• He’s also being sued by Dominion Voting Systems in a similar but separate case.
• And now, The Weather: “Darmok” by Mega Bog.
• From the Sports Desk… barring some unforeseen circumstance (i.e., injuries or the like), I don’t see anyone beating the Buffalo Bills this season. I think there’s a possibility that they could go 17-0 into the playoffs. Last night they easily annihilated the Tennessee Titans 41-7 on Monday Night Football.
• Of course, they’re the Bills, and I can say two simple words that make them less confident of a championship victory: wide right.
• Today in history… Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem (1187). Cardinal Robert of Geneva is elected as Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism (1378). The Nankai tsunami washes away the building housing the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in, and it’s been outside ever since (1498). Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda which ultimately culminated in the first circumnavigation the globe (1519). The future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom begins the first visit to North America by a Prince of Wales (1860). U.S. President Chester A. Arthur is sworn in upon the death of James A. Garfield the previous day (1881). British police known as "Black and Tans" burned the town of Balbriggan and killed two local men in revenge for an Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassination (1920). The first Cannes Film Festival is held, having been delayed seven years due to World War II (1946). James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi (1962). Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome (1973). Singer Jim Croce, songwriter and musician Maury Muehleisen and four others die when their light aircraft crashes on takeoff at Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana (1973). American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike (1982). In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "War on Terror” (2001). The United States military ends its "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time (2011). Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, US$90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis (2017).
• September 20 is the birthday of inventor Frederick Ellsworth Sickels (1819), publisher Herbert Putnam (1861), novelist Upton Sinclair (1878), actor Kenneth More (1914), animator Jay Ward (1920), actress Anne Meara (1929), actress Sophia Loren (1934), guitarist Eric Gale (1938), businessman and failed politician Pete Coors (1946), novelist George R. R. Martin (1948), musicians Chuck and John Panozzo (1948), NHL great Guy Lafleur (1951), musician Alannah Currie (1957), guitarist Nuno Bettencourt (1966), musicians Gunnar and Matthew Nelson (1967),  and musician Ben Shepherd (1969).

Well, I have a pretty normal Tuesday ahead. Work, meetings, groceries. What I don’t yet have is jury duty. I checked in last night, and I’ll check in again tonight and for the next two nights as well. Still keeping my fingers crossed. If I have to go, I will. If I don’t have to, I will celebrate. Enjoy your day.