Random News: October 13, 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 13, 2022, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Whole lot to process today so let’s gooooooooo…

• Today is likely the final public hearing for the January 6 Select Committee. It’s probably gonna be a doozy.
• It starts at 10AM PDT/1PM EDT and should be available to watch live on most news stations and YouTube.
• As if you needed a reminder, the Jan 6 committee is an investigation into the FPOTUS and his influence as he refused to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election, leading to the failed attempted coup at the nation’s capitol.
• Damages were awarded to the second group of families of the students massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut and were ridiculed by talk show host Alex Jones.
• The total monetary penalty to Jones from this trial: $965,000,000. That’s in addition to the $50 million from his previous trial in Texas. Oh, and the number might bo going up with additional punitive damages.
• Fuck Alex Jones. I hope that every moment of every day for the rest of his life is running from debt collectors, paying lawyers for futile appeals, and having all of his assets and all of his resources to spread more hate removed.
• Let’s talk about Ron DeSantis. The current Florida governor will be federally investigated by the Treasury Department for using COVID relief funds to trick Venezuelan refugees into getting on a flight from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, MA for a political stunt.
• They were falsely told they'd be given jobs and housing. What an evil scumbag.
• This is neat. A Trump employee has told federal agents about moving boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago at the specific direction of the former president.
• This happened after Trump advisers received a subpoena in May for any classified documents that remained at Mar-a-Lago, at which time Trump told people to move boxes to his residence at the property.
• There is security-camera footage of this.

• The employee is cooperating with the Justice Department and has been interviewed multiple times by federal agents.
• Yesterday, we found out that the DOJ reclaimed 21,792 pages of documents from the FPOTUS’s golf motel. That’s about ten times less than the 200,000 pages that the Orange Menace’s legal team claimed.
• In other news, Marjorie Taylor Greene called on the Supreme Court to abolish and nullify all gay marriages because of “the Bible”.
• Irony: the Bible does not mention gay marriage. But it condemns adultery many times, which is what she is accused of doing on multiple occasions with a number of men, per the divorce she is currently undergoing.
• Also, we don’t live in a Christian country, nor do we have any other sort of religious-based government, aka a theocracy. Countries that do include Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Vatican City, and Yemen. That’s it.
• Maybe live in one of those countries, Marge.
• Side note: Just like Alex Jones, Greene has previously claimed mass shootings were “false flag” attacks perpetrated to scare Americans into gun reform.
• Some words that no one wants to hear but I’ll say them anyway: be prepared for a major COVID spike this winter.
• At some point this fall, I’ll be getting another booster that will help protect against the more recent variants. I’m also still masking up in public. I haven’t even had a cold since 2019, which is probably the longest period in my entire life.
• Unexpected actual Supreme Court transcript… Justice Clarence Thomas: "Let's say I am a Prince fan, which I was in the ‘80s.” Justice Elena Kagan: "No longer?"
• The case is actually pretty interesting, about a Warhol treatment based on a photograph, and who owns copyright to what. It does have implications for artists and creators.
• And now, The Weather: “Sad Cowboy” by Goat Girl.
• From the Sports Desk… both of the NLDS series (Dodgers/Padres and Phillies/Braves) are tied up at 1-1. ALDS games continue tonight. In the NFL, tonight’s Thursday night game sees the Washington Commanders at the Chicago Bears.
• Today in history… Roman emperor Claudius dies from poisoning under mysterious circumstances and is succeeded by his adoptive son Nero (54). Rinchinbal Khan becomes the Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan dynasty, reigning for only 53 days (1332). Coronation of Henry IV of England (1399). The Continental Congress establishes the Continental Navy, the predecessor of the United States Navy (1775). The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire is publicly proclaimed (1821). Edward Emerson Barnard discovers first comet discovered by photographic means (1892). The Boston Red Sox win the first modern World Series, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the eighth game (1903). Margaret Travers Symons bursts into the UK parliament and becomes the first woman to speak there (1908). The Pacific Northwest experiences a cyclone the equal of a Category 3 hurricane, with winds above 150 mph (1962). The first electron micrograph of an Ebola virus is taken at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Dr. F. A. Murphy (1976). Ameritech Mobile Communications launches the first US cellular network in Chicago (1983). Kenyan Brigid Kosgei sets a new world record for a woman runner with a time of 2:14:04 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon (2019).
• October 13 is the birthday of hunter/businessman Leon Leonwood Bean (1872), pianist Art Tatum (1909), artist Terry Frost (1915), comedian Lenny Bruce (1925), politician Margaret Thatcher (1925), bassist Ray Brown (1926), musician Pharaoh Sanders (1940), music producer/manager Neil Aspinall (1941), singer-songwriter Paul Simon (1941), businessman Jerry Jones (1942), musician Robert Lamm (1944), musician Sammy Hagar (1947), singer Marie Osmond (1959), singer Joey Belladonna (1960), NFL great Jerry Rice (1962), skater Nancy Kerrigan (1969), comedian/actor Sacha Baron Cohen (1971), NBA player Paul Pierce (1977), and politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (1989).

It’s gonna be seriously busy for me today. Large projects, business meetings, and trying to wedge in at least a little time to watch the Jan 6 hearings live. But that’s okay. I don’t like being stupid busy, but I do like to feel like I’m getting shit done, and I usually do. Enjoy your day.