Random News: October 31, 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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Ghoul morning (evil cackle, lightning flashes). It’s October 31, 2022, and it’s a Monday. It’s also Halloween, but life happens no matter what else is on the calendar, so here are some things…

• Quick election thought.
• One thing that none of the pollsters are really able to count is the Gen-Z youth vote.
• Trust me, those kids don’t pick up their phones or answer polls for shit. But damn, they are voting. 
• MSNBC reported yesterday that Wisconsin youth turnout is higher than in 2018 or even in 2020, a presidential voting year.
• Through Sunday, about 838,000 Georgians had cast early ballots, most of them in person at advance voting sites. That’s almost 60% higher than advance voting totals at this point in 2018, the last midterm election, per AP.
• Early voting and mail-in ballot totals in New Mexico show Democratic votes outpacing GOP and all other parties combined.
• While all the typical signs point to a Republican takeover of the House and a tight Senate race, the youth turnout, Black turnout, and overall female turnout might cause some very surprising results come November 8.
• A new CBS Poll shows that Democrats are likely to not only take the Senate but also keep the House by ONE seat – if young voters come out in droves to crush MAGA.
• VOTE. In 2016, over 40 million Democrats thought that their “just one vote” wouldn’t matter and didn’t bother voting, and we saw what happened.
• Yesterday’s runoff election in Brazil went to the good guy… barely. Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeated far-right current President (and Trump buddy) Jair Bolsonaro by just over one percentage point.
• Bolsonaro is expected to contest this and all kinds of terrible shit with go down as a result (though he’s been silent thus far), but congrats to Lula and the people of Brazil nonetheless.
• And now, The Weather: “Wasn’t” by Dayydream
• The SCOTUS is at this moment hearing arguments that will allow them to kill affirmative action, the laws that allow more Black and Hispanic students to attend college.
• The legal challenges are aimed at UNC and Harvard.
• Affirmative action has been a target of white supremacist groups for decades. I find it likely that this conservative court will indeed overturn it and more universities will go back to being nearly exclusively white as a result.
• The new owner of Twitter will be forced to pay the three fired Twitter executives nearly $200 million for their early exits pursuant to their contracts.
• Way to “own the libs”, little buddy!
• Speaking of that shithole platform, unconfirmed news is coming out that they intend to charge verified users $20/month. Can you imaging paying a monthly fee for a little blue check mark? Fuck that shit all the way back from whence it came.
• From the Sports Desk… fuck my football team. Seriously. 0-4 on the road? Getting shut out in New Orleans? It’s pathetic.
• Also, fuck Kyrie Irving. “Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody? Did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people?”
• Let’s see, Kyrie… no, yes, yes, and pretty much yes.
• The Sports Desk also notes that game 3 of the World Series is tonight. The Phillies and Astros are tied 1-1.
• Here’s a poll for ya: most popular Halloween candy based on head-to-head matchups (YouGov)...
• M&Ms (original) - 76.%
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup - 74.4%
• Kit Kat - 72.8%
• M&Ms (peanut) - 72.4%
• Butterfinger - 70.9%
• Snickers - 68.5%
• Twix - 68.5%
• Hershey’s Milk Chocolate - 67.2%
• Reese’s Pieces - 67.1%
• What am I doing for Halloween? I’m not doing shit, and it’s rather unlikely that a single costumed person will come to my door. But I will have candy available and I’ll gladly give it out to literally anyone.
• Today in history… Byzantine Empress Irene is deposed and banished to Lesbos (802). Nevada is admitted as the 36th U.S. state (1864). Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile highway across United States (1913). Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy (1922). After 14 years of work, Mount Rushmore is completed (1941). Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two security guards (1984). Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors (1998). Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station (2000). A federal grand jury in Houston, Texas indicts former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow on 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice (2002). The global population of humans reaches seven billion (2011). 
• October 31 is the birthday of Portugal king Ferdinand I (1345), Portugal king Edward (1391), painter Johannes Vermeer (1632), physicist Laura Bassi (1711), Portugal king Luis I (1838), Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low (1860), photographer Helmut Newton (1920), journalist Dan Rather (1931), actress Sally Kirkland (1941), actor David Ogden Stiers (1942), NFL player Brian Piccolo (1943), songwriter Russ Ballard (1945), actor John Candy (1950), journalist Jane Pauley (1950), bass player Bernard Edwards (1952), author Neal Stephenson (1959), director Peter Jackson (1961), drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. (1961), guitarist Johnny Marr (1963), rapper Ad-Rock (1966), rapper Vanilla Ice (1967), songwriter Adam Schlesinger (1967), and singer Willow Smith (2000).

I have a busy morning with an early meeting and a bunch of work to crank out. I’m also still fighting this wonky tooth, though it’s a good deal better than yesterday. I will keep on keeping on, as I do. Meanwhile, I hope you have a fun Halloween or that your kids do or that some kids do or something. Enjoy your day.