Random News: October 16, 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 16, 2022, and it’s a Sunday. As usual on these weekend updates, I’m having coffee in a bathrobe, so try not to let that color whatever I’m about to write…

• I voted yesterday in two different elections through two different means. Allow me to elucidate.
• October 19 (this coming Tuesday) is a local election here in lovely Redondo Beach, CA. It is a one-topic election that is vote-by-mail only. Measure E repeals our local ban on commercial marijuana retailers, allowing for up to three store locations.
• I voted yes. Frankly, if you’re a city that doesn’t allow for legal cannabis sales, you should also close down the sale of legal alcohol (and there are dozens of liquor stores in this city).
• Recreational marijuana sales and use has been legal in California for six years. Measure E was endorsed by the L.A. County Democratic Party and many others.
• I also voted in a somewhat larger and more important election… the United States General Elections.
• Later today, I will be publishing a separate post of all my endorsed candidates. But what I want to tell you about is how as far as I know, California has the best, easiest, most flexible, and most trustworthy voting system in the country.
• If you’re a registered voter in CA, you are sent a ballot and a voting guide. You then have three options for submitting your ballot: by mail, in a designated dropbox, or in person on election day.
• Their tracking system, called BallotTrax, is outstanding. Once you sign up, they will text or email you when your ballot is sent to you, and then send you another text or email to confirm that it’s been received. 
• All the bullshit that people in many other states go through, from having to request an absentee ballot to being forced to stand in long lines on election day, is negated here.
• California wants people to vote. In other states, it’s in their own interest to make it as difficult as possible. Take what you will from that.
• Anyway, I have three voters in my household including myself, Kat, and my adult son. We make it a point to research everything. Each political candidate. Each measure/initiative. Each judicial candidate. It takes a little while, but it’s worth it.
• Yesterday, after doing the research and filling out the ballots, we took a short stroll to Dominguez Park which is a half block away from our house, and dropped off the national election ballot at a dropbox there.
• And on our way back, the mail carrier just happened to be in his truck on our street, so I handed off the local ballot to him, and… done. That was it. I voted in two elections. Didn’t have to get in a car. Didn’t have to stand in a line. Nothing.
• Voting should be that way across the entire country.
• And now, The Weather: “Love Park” by Sofie Royer.
• A couple of other things.
• The FPOTUS, who is getting more and more insane each passing day, made a direct threat to Jews in America, saying that, “U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!”
• He was complaining that Evangelicals send him more money than Jews. Tough shit pal. Trump and every one of his supporters can suck my ethnically Jewish dick.
• Antisemitism and fascist authoritarianism have always been connected, and that goes back centuries before Trump or Hitler.
• Trump was right about one thing: Jews in the USA must increase their vigilance and make sure to vote for candidates who don’t encourage violence and hatred toward them.
• Today in history… Empress Wu Zetian proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire (690). Prince Gesualdo of Venosa murders his wife and her lover (1590). Queen Marie Antoinette is executed (1793). Simón Bolívar sentences Manuel Piar to death for challenging the racial-caste in Venezuela (1817). William T. G. Morton administers ether anesthesia during a surgical operation (1846). The novel ‘Jane Eyre’ is published (1847). Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah (1875). Margaret Sanger opens the first family planning clinic in the United States (1916). The Walt Disney Company is founded (1923). Ten Nazi defendants found guilty by the International Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg trials are executed by hanging (1946). The Cuban Missile Crisis begins (1962). Leonid Brezhnev becomes leader of the Soviet Communist Party (1964). Tommie Smith and John Carlos are ejected from the US Olympic team for participating in the Olympics Black Power salute (1968). Pope John Paul II becomes the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523 (1978). 
• October 16 is the birthday of lexicographer Noah Webster (1758), activist Lucy Stanton (1831), playwright Oscar Wilde (1854), playwright Eugene O’Neill (1888), politician Michael Collins (1890), singer-songwriter Big Joe Williams (1903), actress Angela Lansbury (1925), singer Nico (1938), actress Suzanna Somers (1946), musician Bob Weir (1947), actor Tim Robbins (1958), singer-songwriter Bob Mould (1960), bass god Flea (1962), NBA player Manute Bol (1962), musician John Mayer (1977), WNBA player Sue Bird (1980), and tennis player Naomi Osaka (1997).

As I mentioned above, I have a big-ass voting guide being prepared that covers not only the candidates I actually voted for here in Redondo Beach/Los Angeles County/California, but also my endorsements for candidates at several levels across the USA. First, I’m going to shower and dress myself in human clothing, but look for that soon. Enjoy your day.