Random News: October 12, 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 October 12, 2022, and it’s a Wednesday. Some things that I think are maybe important and maybe not or whatever…

• Little education for ya. Let me tell you about the Logan Act.
• It’s a pretty old law as far as the USA goes, having been enacted in 1799. It’s a federal law that criminalizes actions of U.S. citizens to engage in unauthorized foreign diplomacy, including to "influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government" or to "defeat the measures of the United States."
• Well, our pal Elon Musk allegedly spoke directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin before tweeting a proposal to end the war in Ukraine that would have seen territory permanently ceded to Russia. 
• Lock him up. Ha! Like many laws, the Logan Act is never used. But Musk has a number of federal government contracts, as well as controlling interests in significant U.S. companies, and seems to be acting as an unauthorized foreign agent.
• We elect people to represent us… and it’s not based on them being wealthy.
• I’ll note as the responsible non-journalist that I am… Elon denies having spoken to Putin, but other sources refute his denial.
• Moving on.
• President Biden had a long-overdue message to Saudi Arabia: the relationship between their country and the USA needs to be reevaluated.
• OPEC+, a group of oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, announced last week it would significantly slash production in order to boost oil prices.
• Senator Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, took it a step further, calling on the U.S. to "immediately freeze all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including any arms sales and security cooperation beyond what is absolutely necessary to defend U.S. personnel and interests."
• It’s pretty simple: if they’re going to purposefully screw us with higher oil/gas prices, why would we want to help them?
• More on this story undoubtedly coming soon.
• Another note on the ongoing controversy with Los Angeles’ racist city council members Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo, and Kevin de León. They’ve issued apologies; Martinez stepped down from her role as president of the council.
• That is not enough at all. Yesterday, President Biden stated that he believes all three council members should give up their seats. Everyone from our state Senators to both of the candidates for LA mayor have told them to step down. The city council meeting yesterday was packed with protestors demanding the three racists’ immediate resignation.
• One thing you’ll note about Democrats: we don’t care about the political affiliation of people who do awful things. They’ve got to go.
• Speaking of people who do awful things, the jury has begun deliberations for Parkland, FL mass murderer Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in 2018. The jury is deciding whether Cruz will get life in prison or the death penalty. He pled guilty to the crime last year. 
• Dame Angela Lansbury has passed away. She was one of the most highly-admired stars of the stage, being the recipient of five Tony Awards, and of course was well known for her series ‘Murder, She Wrote’. She was just five days short of her 97th birthday.
• From the Good News Department… NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) worked. The analysis shows that the spacecraft's impact with its target asteroid successfully altered the asteroid’s orbit.
• Why is this a big deal? Because we’re sitting ducks here if a random space rock of a large enough size smashed into our planet, as has happened in the distant past.
• DART was humanity’s first time purposely changing the motion of a celestial object, and the first proof that we have a possible defense against an asteroid that could otherwise kill us all.
• See? That’s good. Not going extinct is always good.
• And now, The Weather: “Jim Jam Jum” by Oro Swimming Hour.
• Check your mailboxes. I received my ballot yesterday for the 2022 Midterm Elections. I will likely fill out my ballot this coming weekend and drop it off at a convenient dropbox. Depending on where you live, it’s likely you can also mail in your ballot. If you really want to, you can vote in person on November 8.
• Thank you in advance for voting!
• From the Sports Desk… the MLB playoffs continue. In the ALDS, the Yankees have a 1-0 lead on the Guardians while the Astros won a close one over the Mariners. In the NLDS, the Phillies upset the Braves, while the Dodgers lead the Padres in their series. All four series continue with game two tonight and Thursday.
• Today in history… the army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire (539 BC). The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Province of Massachusetts Bay Governor William Phips (1692). America's first insane asylum opens (1773). The citizens of Munich hold the first Oktoberfest (1810). The British in India enact the Criminal Tribes Act, naming many local communities "Criminal Tribes” (1871). The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools (1892). President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House (1901). Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor (1945). President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops from Vietnam before Christmas (1970). Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, dies five days after he was beaten outside of Laramie (1998). Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya becomes the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours with a time of 1:59:40 in Vienna (2019). 
• October 12 is the birthday of composer Bernardo Pisano (1490), inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860), activist Kamini Roy (1864), author Ding Ling (1904), animator Art Clokey (1921), singer Nappy Brown (1929), actor/civil rights leader Dick Gregory (1932), singer Sam Moore (1935), singer Luciano Pavarotti (1935), musician Rick Parfitt (1948), terrorist Carlos the Jackal (1949), comedian Les Dennis (1953), singer Jane Siberry (1955), actor Hugh Jackman (1968), actor/evangelical prick Kirk Cameron (1970), and golfer Christie Kerr (1977). 

I guess that’s all for now. I have a pretty typical day planned… got a couple of meetings, got some stuff to write, stuff to design, stuff to publicize in various ways. That’s what I do for work. It’s not a bad way to earn money. I like being creative, and my clients are appreciative of my efforts probably 95% of the time. No complaints here. Enjoy your day.