Random News: October 3, 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 3, 2022, and it’s a Monday. God only knows what I’m about to write, because I certainly don’t…

• I am an American, and people in America tend to assume that the things that happen to them are completely unique to them, and that everything that happens here is under our own control.
• Nope.
• Case in point: inflation. Turkey’s inflation rate has now hit 83%. All of Europe and much of the Middle East and Asia are experiencing it as well. If anything, it’s been better in the USA than most other places.
• Here’s a list of people who don’t control this global economic inflation: President Biden and former president Trump, or any other goddamn individual person from anywhere.
• Instead, what does cause it is greed. The minute the rumblings of inflation news starts hitting, CEOs around the world use it as an excuse to jack up prices without changing anything about worker compensation.
• The wage gap between CEOs and median worker pay is now at an all-time high of 670-to-1.
• A report on the 300 top US companies found CEOs making an average of $10.6m, with the median worker getting $23,968. 
• Here’s an example. 
• Home improvement chain Lowe’s spent $13 billion on share repurchases. That money could have given every single one of its 325,000 employees a $40,000 raise. Instead, median pay at the company fell 7.6% to $22,697.
• And then they greatly boosted executive pay. Nice, huh?
• The middle class, formerly the largest group of people in the USA, has continued to shrink, with the grand majority of them falling in economic status.
• It’s not a system that can sustain itself forever. Eliminating the middle class means that there’s no money left to throw at the endless hunger of these ravenous CEOs, and then the whole fucking thing collapses and we’re all fucked.
• Anyway.
• I mentioned yesterday about Brazil’s presidential elections. Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva got more votes than right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro, but that country requires a wining candidate to get more than a 50% threshold of votes, which neither did. So they’ll be doing a round two of runoff voting.
• Good luck, Brazil.
• I watched clips from the season opener of Saturday Night Live this weekend. Show runner Lorne Michaels is calling it a “transition year”, with many former cast members gone and a bunch of new ones making their debut. That being said, most of it was pretty good and some of the new cast seem like they’ll work out.
• In other entertainment news, the gay romcom “Bros” had a miserable opening weekend. It’s a Judd Apetow-produced film (‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’, ‘Anchorman’, ‘Bridesmaids”, etc.) and stars and was co-written by Billy Eichner, a super funny guy.
• My feeling is twofold: first, a whole lot of people still aren’t comfortable going to movie theaters. Second, a huge portion of people have some degree of homophobia and can’t deal with romantic and sexual contact between men.
• It is what it is.
• And now, The Weather: “Billie Toppy” by Men I Trust.
• As is often the case, people are trying to find blame for how the government planned for and reacted to a major storm. The devastation of Hurricane Ian is still being sorted through, and officials are facing questions about things like late evacuation orders.
• Wishing the best for my friends who are still dealing with the aftermath. 
• Some polls. We are just 36 days away from the Midterm elections. Every vote matters a lot.
• Nevada Senate: Adam Laxalt (R) 45% (+2), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-inc) 43% (OH Predictive)
• Nevada Governor: Joe Lombardo (R) 45% (+3), Steve Sisolak (D-inc) 42% (OH Predictive)
• Texas Governor: Greg Abbott (R-Inc) 50% (+5), Beto O'Rourke (D) 45% (Data Progress)
• Oregon Governor: Drazan (R) 33% (+1), Kotek (D) 32%, Johnson (I) 19% (Nelson Research)
• North Carolina Senate: Cheri Beasley (D) 46%, Ted Budd (R) 46% (GSG)
• Michigan Governor: Whitmer (D-inc) 51% (+6), Dixon (R) 45% (Trafalgar)
• Wisconsin Senate: Ron Johnson (R-inc) 50% (+2), Mandela Barnes (D) 48% (Data Progress)
• Wisconsin Governor: Tim Michels (R) 48% (+1), Tony Evers (D-inc) 47% (Data Progress)
• Minnesota Governor: Walz (D-Inc) 48% (+4), Jensen (R) 44% (Cygnal)
• Arizona Senate: Mark Kelly (D-inc) 46% (+6), Blake Masters (R) 40% (Fox News)
• Arizona Governor: Katie Hobbs (D) 44% (+1), Kari Lake (R) 43% (Fox News)
• Pennsylvania Senate: Fetterman (D) 45% (+2), Oz (R) 43% (Emerson)
• Oklahoma Governor: Stitt (R-inc) 47% (+3), Hofmeister (D) 44% (Amber)
• Georgia Governor: Kemp (R-inc) 50% (+7), Abrams (D) 43% (Fox News)
• Georgia Senate: Warnock (D-inc) 46% (+5), Walker (R) 41% (Fox News)
• Whether you like or dislike the polling info above, none of it means anything unless you vote.
• Please vote.
• From the Sports Desk… Albert Pujols not only hit his career home run #702 yesterday, but also tied Babe Ruth for second place in the all-time runs batted in stat with 2,213. First place is Hammerin’ Hank Aaron with 2,297.
• The Sports Desk would also like to acknowledge that his stupid Las Vegas Raiders managed to get their first victory of the season this week, beating the Denver Broncos 32-23.
• Today in history… Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrenders to the Romans under Julius Caesar (52 BC). George Washington proclaims a Thanksgiving Day for that year (1789). The last Thursday in November is declared as Thanksgiving Day by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1863). Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Latin American player to appear in a World Series (1919). The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Yugoslavia by King Alexander I (1929). The Kingdom of Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom (1932). WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta (1949). The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon in Australia to become the world's third nuclear power (1952). The California State Superior Court rules that the book ‘Howl and Other Poems’ is not obscene (1957). The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight (1985). The German Democratic Republic is abolished and becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany (1990). O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman (1995). 
• October 3 is the birthday of tribal chief John Ross (1790), novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900), novelist Gore Vidal (1925), composer Steve Reich (1936), rocker Eddie Cochran (1938), singer Chubby Checker (1941), poet/songwriter/activist John Perry Barlow (1947), musician Lindsey Buckingham (1949), musician Ronnie Laws (1950), musician Keb’ Mo’ (1951), astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan (1951), baseball player Dave Winfield (1951), baseball player Dennis Eckersley (1954), minister/activist Al Sharpton (1954), guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn (1954), bass player Allen Woody (1955), golfer Are Couples (1959), comedian Greg Proops (1959), actor Clive Owen (1964), filmmaker Denis Villeneuve (1967), singer Gwen Stefani (1969), actress Neve Campbell (1973), singer India Arie (1975), guitarist Josh Klinghoffer (1979), and singer Ashlee Simpson (1984).

Alrighty. I’ve got a super busy day ahead. That’s fine. I know exactly what I have to do. Now I just need to do it. A lot of times, I need to figure out what I’m doing, and that takes up a chunk of precious time. Today, I have a list of like ten things ready and waiting for me, so here I go. Enjoy your day.