Random News: September 21, 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 September 21, and it’s a Wednesday. Here are some interesting things of interest…

• Ba-dee-ya, never was a cloudy day. Yup, it’s the 21st day of September. You know what I’m saying here.
• If you don’t, you are not funky enough.
• Raymond J. Dearie, the Special Master selected by Trump and his legal team for the criminal investigation over his stolen documents, wanted evidence that the FPOTUS had declassified the documents per his claims.
• Why won't FPOTUS’s lawyers confirm that Trump declassified the docs?
• Because the documents were never declassified, and because lawyers who knowingly lie get disbarred, and because per 18 U.S. Code § 1001, their client would get an additional criminal false statement charge.
• Attorney Jonathan Turley says it well… “The court's request for support of the declassification was highly predictable and the absence of support at this stage is a striking. Even if Trump is claiming an oral order, they could have offered a declaration from Trump or a staff member on such an order.”
• They have no defense.
• The latest MAGA talking point in this regard is that “there were no classified documents!” and I don’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for those pitiful fools.
• Moving on.
• The 50 migrants who were tricked and flown to Massachusetts have filed a class action lawsuit against Ron DeSantis and other Florida officials in federal court.
• They got flown to fucking Martha’s Vineyard, aka Lawyer Island. What did you think was gonna happen, Ron?
• Our Assholes of the Day are the 47 people accused of carrying out the biggest Covid fraud scheme to date. Federal prosecutors announced charges based on their theft of $250 million via exploiting a federal program designed to feed needy children in Minnesota. 
• These fuckers, led by a woman named Aimee Bock, are charged not only with fraud but with bribery (the charities took kickbacks from the food sites in exchange for steering them federal grants) and money laundering for moving stolen funds through shell corporations. So far, the Justice Department has seized property, vehicles and bank accounts worth $50 million.
• You pieces of shit.
• In much better news, new voter registration is surging in many states, with young women being the largest percentage of new voters since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe. Some of the highest percentages are in states that have just enacted draconian abortion laws, or those that are about to.
• Get their ass!
• As if you needed any more reasons to be disgusted by the proposed national abortion ban from Lindsay Graham (R-SC), women who claimed to be under 15-weeks pregnant would be forced to undergo invasive transvaginal ultrasounds before terminating pregnancies.
• Is that what you want? No?
• Vote please.
• Vladimir Putin has ordered a partial mobilization of the Russian military for the Ukraine war. They’re calling up 300,000 reservists.
• Keep in mind, this was supposed to be a three-day operation for Russia… in February, seven months ago. Slava Ukraini!
• In related news, Putin may have threatened some kind of nuclear retaliation, so if we all die, it’s been an honor knowing you.
• From the Sports Desk… RIP to Dodgers great Maury Wills. He played on three championship teams, was the National League MVP in 1962, led the NL in stolen bases 1960-65, was a seven-time All-Star selection, and won Gold Glove Awards in 1961 and 1962. He passed away yesterday at age 89.
• And now, The Weather: “Apogee” by Herbal Tea.
• Some polls. One quick note: a lot of polls don’t take into account people who never pick up their phones, aka anyone under 30.
• Florida Senate: Rubio (R-Inc) 45% (+4), Demings (D) 41% (Suffolk)
• Georgia Senate: Warnock (D-inc) 51% (+2), Walker (R) 49% (YouGov)
• Georgia Governor: Kemp (R-inc) 52% (+6), Abrams (D) 46% (YouGov)
• Ohio Senate: Vance (R) 46% (+1), Ryan (D) 45% (Marist)
• Minnesota Governor: Walz (D-Inc) 48% (+3), Jensen (R) 45% (Trafalgar)
• Wisconsin Governor: Tony Evers (D-inc) 45% (+2), Tim Michels (R) 43% (Emerson)
• Wisconsin Senate: Ron Johnson (R-inc) 48% (+4), Mandela Barnes (D) 44% (Emerson)
• North Carolina Senate: Ted Budd (R) 46% (+3), Cheri Beasley (D) 43% (Emerson)
• Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 46%, Democrats 46% (NBC News)
• I don’t know of any way to make it more clear that EVERY SINGLE VOTE matters a lot. Do not sit this one out. Your vote is going to affect a lot more than yourself. Your grandkids who may not exist yet (and their grandkids who definitely don’t) are counting on you.
• Today in history… The Kingdom of Dublin falls to Norman invaders (1170). A Hanoverian army is defeated in ten minutes by the Jacobite forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1745). Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point (1780). France’s National Convention abolishes the monarchy (1792). Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China (1898). Salvador Lutteroth establishes Mexican professional wrestling (1933). In Dunaivtsi, Ukraine, Nazis murder 2,588 Jews (1942). Malta gains independence from the United Kingdom (1964). Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations (1971). Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice (1981). The Defense of Marriage Act is passed by the United States Congress (1996). The Galileo spacecraft is terminated by sending it into Jupiter's atmosphere (2003). 
• September 21 is the birthday of painter Barbara Longhi (1552), actor Maurice Barrymore (1849), actor John Bunny (1863), novelist H. G. Wells (1866), US Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson (1867), composer Gustav Holst (1874), publisher Allen Lane (1902), animator Chuck Jones (1912), physicist Donald A. Glaser (1926), actor Larry Hagman (1931), singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934), producer Jerry Bruckheimer (1943), guitarist Don Felder (1947), author Stephen King (1947), actor Bill Murray (1950), musician Dave Gregory (1952), prime minister of Japan Shinzo Abe (1954), musician Phil Taylor (1954), actor Dave Coulier (1959), actress Cheryl Hines (1965), singer Faith Hill (1967), talk show host Ricki Lake (1968), actor Luke Wilson (1971), and musician Liam Gallagher (1972).

Well, I’ve been on a good luck streak lately. Do you ever take a moment to appreciate that you are very fortunate? Years ago, I used to tell my son while I was driving him to school, “Look around. You see any bombs dropping? Do you have a nice home and food to eat and clothes to wear? Many people around the world never get to experience the wonderful life we lead every day and take for granted,” and it’s still true. Every moment you have freedom, every moment you’re not seriously ill or injured… I know it’s hard to see what’s not there, but I truly try to be grateful for just being alive and mostly well and living a normal existence. Enjoy your day.