Random News: November 15, 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 15, 2022, and it’s a Tuesday. Still much happening in the American political and social landscape, and my fingers are flying across the keys to deliver whatever it is I’m about to write…

• For the first time in awhile, let’s lead with something other than the never-ending elections.
• 48,000 graduate students who are employed by the University of California are on strike. These people are teaching assistants, postdocs, researchers and graders.
• The typical compensation for the grad students is less than $24,000/year. There is no possible way to survive on that income in California.
• Their union is asking UC leadership for a minimum salary of $54,000 for all graduate students and a minimum salary of $70,000 for all postdocs. I hope they get it.
• Guess what?
• The human population of our planet is expected to hit a milestone today. We now have eight billion people in this little rock.
• When I was born, that population was less than half of that, at about 3.5 billion. So, welcome to all the new people. Enjoy your time here.
• Back to the shitshow that is our political landscape.
• HUGE congratulations to governor-elect Katie Hobbs of Arizona. She’s defeated the Trump-backed election denier Kari Lake and flipped the state from its former GOP leader.
• There’s a legit concern of some miniature January 6-like action that could happen in Maricopa County, AZ as a result. I’m hoping that the state’s law enforcement is planning for and prepared for such an event.
• You don't need to be a pundit to see what's up: America is sick to death of mean, petty people like Trump and Lake and the rest. Their time is over, and the smart Republicans are hastily kicking the MAGA ideology to the curb.
• It's the only way they'll survive as a party.
• As it stands, Republicans have ironically become who they have always despised… minorities.
• In the elections, you’re already aware that Democrats will hold control of the Senate, and can even add a crucial 51st vote by choosing Raphael Warnock in the run-off election on December 6.
• Side note: Georgia was supposed to start early voting for that election on November 28, but the state decided they couldn’t. Why, you ask? Because it’s the day after the state holiday honoring Robert E. Lee’s birthday.
• Does anyone see the issue here? Jesus lord what the fuck.
• The House race is, as I’ve said many times over, certain to be won by the GOP, albeit by a much smaller margin than had been predicted. Democrats did far better than anyone expected, but a number of factors that primarily involve gerrymandering and redistricting had them lose too many seats in places like New York.
• Regardless, the 2022 Midterms have been a massive and unprecedented success for Democrats, and everyone should be proud of their efforts.
• Thank you for voting and maybe encouraging others to vote, if you did.
• In news beyond the elections, why is the GOP completely fractured and freaked out right now?
• Because they don’t know where to place their loyalty and they’re scared to alienate whomever might end up on top in their party. Here are four new polls from WPA Intel on whom people prefer to be the winner of the 2024 Republican Primary.
• Iowa: DeSantis 48% (+11), Trump 37%
• New Hampshire: DeSantis 52% (+15), Trump 37%
• Georgia: DeSantis 55% (+20), Trump 35%
• Florida: DeSantis 56% (+26), Trump 30%
• Speaking of the FPOTUS, he’s supposed to issue an announcement tonight that he says will, in his actual words, make today one of the “Most Important Days in the History of Our Country!”
• Let’s see. There was the day we declared independence from England, the day the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, the day we were attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, the day an American set foot on the moon… I’m sure this day will be remembered along those same lines, said no one ever.
• "I understand that he's going to run for president and announce that tomorrow. It's like the aging pitcher who keeps losing games. If we want to win, we need a different pitcher on the mound.” - Mitt Romney
• Moving on.
• Let’s talk about women.
• Women like Kathy Hochul, Laura Kelly, Tina Kotek, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Janet Mills, Gretchen Whitmer, Maura Healey, and Katie Hobbs, who are all the chief executives of their respective states.
• Hell, I’ll even throw in Kay Ivey, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kim Reynolds, and Kristi Noem. Between eight Democrats and four Republicans, there are more women who govern states than at any previous time in American history.
• I am going on record: there WILL be a woman elected President of the United States in my lifetime. 
• In really bad news…
• We had a whole bunch of mass shootings over the past couple of days. It’s horrible. There have been 686 mass shootings this year so far in the USA, with 700 dead and and additional 2,704 wounded.
• It doesn’t happen in other countries, so we must like it.
• And now, The Weather: “Defeat” by Macie Stewart
• From the Sports Desk… the previously undefeated Philadelphia Eagles lost in an upset to the Washington Commanders last night.
• Shoutout to Jay Leno, who got badly burned in a fire over the weekend. Apparently there was a gas fire while he was working on one of his many cars. He expects to make a complete recovery.
• I never really liked Leno again after the whole Conan O’Brien/Tonight Show fiasco, but I still don’t want the guy to be on fire.
• Today in history… Francisco Pizarro arrives in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire (1533). After 16 months of debate the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation (1777). Lieutenant Zebulon Pike spots a mountain peak while near the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains (1806). Eduskunta declares itself the supreme state power of Finland, prompting its declaration of independence and secession from Russia (1917). The NBC Radio Network opens with 24 stations (1926). Nazi Germany bans Jewish children from public schools (1938). Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies are to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps” (1943). Craig Breedlove sets a land speed record of 600.601 mph (966.574 km/h) in his car, the Spirit of America, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah (1965). Intel releases the world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004 (1971). A research assistant is injured when a package from the Unabomber addressed to a University of Michigan professor explodes (1985). Microsoft launches the Xbox game console (2001). Sony releases the PlayStation 4 (PS4) game console (2013). 
• November 15 is the birthday of author Madeleine de Scudéry (1607), UK prime minister William Pitt (1708), astronomer/composer William Herschel (1738), astronomer Mary E. Byrd (1849), SCOTUS justice Felix Frankfurter (1882), painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887), animator Bill Melendez (1916), judge Joseph Wapner (1919), actor Ed Asner (1929), singer Petula Clark (1932), actor Yaphet Kotto (1939), actor Sam Waterston (1940), politician Bill Richardson (1947), drummer Tony Thompson (1954), and rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard (1968).

It’s a Tuesday, and I have a bunch of things to do, as usual. I can’t imagine what it would be like waking up without things to do. Seems awful. I am capable of doing nothing… for about three seconds at a time. Then I get antsy. Today’s list includes a bunch of work, some meetings, some grocery shopping, and whatever else happens. Enjoy your day.