Random News: November 1, 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 November 1, 2022, and it’s a Tuesday. I’ve got a stupidly busy day ahead, so let’s get rolling on this merry-go-round…

• Rabbit rabbit rabbit. Happy November.
• A little follow-up on the MAGA attacker of Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. David DePape was charged with one count of assault of an immediate family member of a United States official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
• That was by the feds. The state of CA has charged him as well with a variety of crimes with sentences ranging from 13 years to life.
• Republicans immediately started a series of jokes about the near-lethal assault of this 82-year-old man, which included having his skull fractured with a hammer. He remains in the ICU as of this writing.
• One of the sons of the former president was particularly gleeful about it. He posted a number of memes on social media with pictures of hammers and underwear, making fun of the elderly man who was attacked.
• The GOP governor candidate in Arizona, a deeply evil person named Kari Lake, did a little comedy routine about it on the campaign trail.
• This is who you associate with by voting Republican. Also, when you or your family members are similarly attacked, they will make those same jokes at your expense.
• This is not who we are as a nation. It’s just a small and shrinking minority. Don’t attach yourself to them.
• A brief aside… after years of dwindling Halloween traffic followed by two years of no trick-or-treaters at all during the pandemic, I got bum-rushed last night by like 30 kids aged 3-6 all at once.
• It was like Sharknado, but instead of sharks, there were children flying through the air and coming at me from every direction for a horrifying minute or so. 
• A criminal trial against the Trump Organization began in New York yesterday. It’s one of three legal cases that Trump and his company face in that state alone.
• They are charged with paying untaxed perks to its executives for 15 years. A former executive who worked with Trump Org for decades pleaded guilty in August and is expected to testify.
• In other news of criminals — oh wait, it’s the same one — the FPOTUS has asked the Supreme Court to intervene and prevent members of Congress from obtaining his past tax returns in an appeal filed Monday.
• Should the court decline, the records are set to be turned over to the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.
• Many of the things going on right now, as important as they are, are merely distractions from the Midterm Elections, which happen on Tuesday November 8, one week from today.
• The Midterm Elections are where women will find out if they still have the ability to make decisions about their own bodies.
• The GOP has already stated that they will enact nationwide abortion regulations if they win the House and Senate.
• They have also said they will start coming after the Social Security that YOU paid for out of your paycheck your whole working life. It’s YOUR money.
• Believe them. Vote Democrat across the board, from your Senator to your Congressional rep to your Governor all the way down to your local city council.
• And now, The Weather: “Grapevine” by Weyes Blood
• A little note on voting, if you’re planning on using a dropbox for your ballot as I do. Several states have determined that it’s legal for “ballot watchers” to observe you.
• If you are in ANY way intimidated or impeded from voting, there are many systems in place to make sure your rights are not violated, like the non-partisan Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
• From the Sports Desk… Game 3 of the World Series was supposed to be last night in Philadelphia, but got re-scheduled for tonight due to rain.
• The Sports Desk is rather pleased to report that after a mostly miserable start followed by a couple of reasonably decent weeks, the Sports Desk is currently in second place out of 19 participants about halfway through the regular season in his annual NFL Pick ‘Em Pool. 
• The Sports Desk was the champion of said pool in 2015, 2018, and 2021.
• The Sports Desk knows what the fuck he is talking about, is what I’m saying.
• On Friday October 28, the day that weird fuck bought Twitter, use of the N-word on the platform skyrocketed by over 500%, per National Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), an independent organization that forecasts and reports possible cyberthreats.
• Today in history… Philip II is crowned as 'King of France’ (1179). The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time (1512). The Strait of Magellan, the passage immediately south of mainland South America connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, is first discovered and navigated by European explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the first recorded circumnavigation voyage (1520). French Huguenots establish the France Antarctique colony in present-day Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1555). William Shakespeare's tragedy ‘Othello’ is performed for the first time (1604). Shakespeare's play ‘The Tempest’ is performed for the first time (1611). The British Crown colony of New York is subdivided into 12 counties (1683). John Adams becomes the first President of the United States to live in the Executive Mansion, later renamed the White House (1800). President Abraham Lincoln appoints George B. McClellan as the commander of the Union Army (1861). A picture showing the bare breasts of a woman appears in National Geographic magazine for the first time (1896). Photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography (1941). 6,500 United States Army soldiers are involuntarily exposed to 'Desert Rock' atomic explosions for training purposes (1951). Leon Jaworski is appointed as the new Watergate Special Prosecutor (1973). Honda becomes the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States with the opening of its factory in Marysville, OH (1982). The Republic of Serbia and Montenegro joins the United Nations (2000).
• November 1 is the birthday of polymath Jan Brożek (1585), UK prime minister Spencer Perceval (1762), UK prime minister F. J. Robinson (1782), doctor/abolitionist Caroline Still Anderson (1848), painter William Merritt Chase (1849), novelist Stephen Crane (1871), sportswriter Grantland Rice (1880), race car driver Ken Miles (1918), golfer Gary Player (1935), publisher Larry Flynt (1942), musician Ric Grech (1946), songwriter Jim Steinman (1947), producer David Foster (1949), computer programmer Mitch Kapor (1950), singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett (1957), businessman Tim Cook (1960), singer Anthony Kiedis (1962), singer Sophie B. Hawkins (1964), NHL player Tie Domi (1969), and actress/anti-vaxxer Jenny McCarthy (1972). 

It’s the first Tuesday of the month, which, for me, means I have a show tonight at Hotel Chelsea in Second Life. Come if you want. Funny note: I am known as a musician by a bunch of people, and known as a slacker political activist by a bunch of other people, but there is also this large subset who know me as both and that’s cool with them. And then there’s a whole big batch of other people who know me as some guy who isn’t even named Zak at all, and yet many of them know me as all three. Totally true. It’s a funny world. Enjoy your day.