Random News: October 24, 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 24, 2022, and it’s a Monday. Here are some things that I’ve seen…

• Apparently AG Merrick Garland, DAG Lisa Monaco, FBI Director Christopher Wray and NatSec AAG Matthew Olsen will host a press conference at 1:30pm ET discussing alleged criminal activity by a nation-state actor in the US.
• Wow. Well, I’ll be watching.
• It’s rather chilly this morning in many places across the USA. Last week we had one of those weird mini heat waves in LA, with temps shooting into the 90s. This morning it was 55 and I’m in a flannel and jeans, the shorts having been retired for awhile.
• It’s looking like Britain’s former finance minister Rishi Sunak has emerged as the front-runner to be the country’s next prime minister… their third in seven weeks.
• I don’t really have an opinion on this because it’s not my country. I do know Sunak is part of the same Conservative party as the past few PMs, and that he’s extraordinarily wealthy.
• Shrug.
• Back in the USA, troubling news has come out regarding the effect of the pandemic on learning.
• Among standard tests for 4th and 8th graders, math scores plummeted in every single state. Readings scores dipped as well. The last time the test was given was 2019, for obvious reasons.
• Los Angeles can claim one of the few bright spots in the results. The nation’s second-largest school district saw eighth-grade reading scores increase by 9 points, the only significant uptick in any district in the country.
• Senator Lindsay Graham is still desperately trying to get out of testifying in the Fulton County, GA election case. He’s now appealed to the Supreme Court after exhausting every other court on the way.
• You have to wonder what could be so horrible that the FPOTUS knows about Graham that is stopping him from legally testifying in the case, which is about FPOTUS’s illegal interference in the 2020 presidential race.
• What the former guy doing today? Who gives a shit?
• But if you’re interested, the Trump Org’s criminal defense activity of the day is in New York, where his company is on trial for allegedly helping some top executives avoid income taxes on the compensation they got in addition to their salaries, like rent-free apartments and luxury cars.
• Jury selection starts today. The star witness for the prosecution is expected to be Allen Weisselberg, one of Trump’s most trusted senior executives.
• Because the criminal trial involves charges against the corporate entity, not any individuals, the Trumps won’t be held personally liable if a jury returns a guilty verdict.
• This is a separate trial from the civil case for fraud being handled by NYAG Letitia James. 
• And now, The Weather: “Fast N All” by Enumclaw
• From the Sports Desk… congrats to the Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros. They are heading to the World Series, which starts on Friday October 28.
• The Sports Desk is still pretty unforgiving about the Astros having been caught cheating to win the World Series a few years back, with little repercussions. Go Phillies!
• The Sports Desk also wants to mention that seven weeks into the season, the leaders in the NFL are not always those who were predicted before the season started. The Jets at 5-2? The Eagles at 6-0? The Giants at 6-1?
• And while they’re not on top of the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks were predicted to be one of the worst teams in football, and instead are currently leading the NFC West over teams like the Rams, Niners, and Cardinals.
• Couple of polls. Again, polls are often wrong and skewed by the types of questions. Polls don’t mean shit; votes do.
• Ohio Senate: Vance (R) 46% (+1), Ryan (D) 45% (Marist)
• Michigan Governor: Whitmer (D-inc) 48%, Dixon (R) 48% (Trafalgar)
• Texas Governor: Greg Abbott (R-inc) 48% (+3), Beto O'Rourke (D) 45% (Beacon)
• Nevada Senate: Adam Laxalt (R) 48% (+2), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-inc) 46% (Insider)
• Nevada Governor: Joe Lombardo (R) 49% (+6), Steve Sisolak (D-inc) 43% (Insider)
• Georgia Senate: Warnock (D-inc) 48% (+1), Walker (R) 47% (Data Progress)
• North Carolina Senate: Ted Budd (R) 49% (+5), Cheri Beasley (D) 44% (Wick)
• Arizona Senate: Mark Kelly (D-inc) 49% (+3), Blake Masters (R) 46% (Wick)
• Arizona Governor: Katie Hobbs (D) 48% (+1), Kari Lake (R) 47% (Wick)
• Please vote. The current and future United States thanks you.
• Today in history… William Lassell discovers the moons Umbriel and Ariel orbiting Uranus (1851). Sheffield F.C., the world's oldest association football club still in operation, is founded in England (1857). U.S. Government announces plans to buy Danish West Indies for $7 million (1900). Harry Houdini's last performance takes place at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit (1926). "Black Thursday" on the New York Stock Exchange (1929). The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic over the Hudson River (1931). A camera on board the V-2 No. 13 rocket takes the first photograph of earth from outer space (1946). President Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam (1954). In Iceland, 90% of women take part in a national strike, refusing to work in protest of gender inequality (1975). The Toronto Blue Jays become the first Major League Baseball team based outside the United States to win the World Series (1992). "Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history (2008). 
• October 24 is the birthday of author/activist Sarah Josepha Hale (1788), NFL player Y. A. Tittle (1926), singer The Big Bopper (1930), bass player Bill Wyman (1936), actor F. Murray Abraham (1939), singer-songwriter Laura Viers (1973), singer/rapper Monica (1980), model Tila Tequila (1981), and YouTube PewDiePie (1989).

Alrighty, well… yup, gonna launch this Monday with some exercise and then some work and then who the hell even knows? Anything can and will happen. I’m gonna do what I do, and so will you. Enjoy your day.