Monday, November 21, 2022

Random News: November 21, 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.



Good morning. It's November 21, 2022, and it's a Monday. I’m a guy with a hurt lower back and, as a result, a shitty attitude. Let’s see what’s worth talking about…


  • Wouldn’t it be weird if there was nothing to talk about?
  • Like, I woke up one morning, and literally nothing had happened other than the sun having gone down and back up again?
  • There are days I feel like that… not because nothing has happened, obviously, but that the same things happen over and over so often for so long that it’s impossible to distinguish one set of events from any other.
  • Like mass shootings.
  • Allegedly, the piece of shit who shot up the gay nightclub in Colorado Springs is the grandson of MAGA Republican representative Randy Voepel, who supported the January 6 insurrection and compared it to the Revolutionary War. 
  • Bigotry, racism, and extreme right-wing nationalism does run in families. I’ve seen it on many occasions.
  • Another note on that topic: the shooter, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, was taken down by one of the club’s patrons, which tells you the best way to fight a bad guy with a gun is a gay guy without a gun.
  • Contrast this with the Uvalde shooting massacre, where dozens of heavily armed and armored cops waited outside a school while one guy killed dozens of kids. Then ask yourself about your perceptions of bravery.
  • In other gun news, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy from Vermont was shot multiple times by police in New York after he was involved in a gunfight with another group of people early Sunday morning.
  • But no, the guns aren’t the problem.
  • And now, The Weather: “Light on the Corner” by Dani Mack
  • It’s Thanksgiving week, which means many of you are planning to travel. Whether you’re going across town or across the country, be safe, be patient, and give yourself plenty of time to get wherever you’re going.
  • I’m not going anywhere except to my kitchen.
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee is investigating another potential leak out of the Supreme Court, following a New York Times report that said anti-abortion leaders knew about the 2014 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision before it was official.
  • The alleged leaker was SCOTUS justice Samuel Alito.
  • If the Hobby Lobby leak is authenticated, it will be the second known leak from the Supreme Court. This summer, a draft opinion was leaked in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case that overturned abortion protections provided by Roe v. Wade.
  • Both decisions were authored by Alito.
  • I hope they throw his ass off the Court, and frankly chief justice Roberts, who’s been aware of the Hobby Lobby leak for months and did nothing, should go with him.
  • From the Sports Desk… after the Sports Desk predicted his Las Vegas Raiders would lose every game for the remainder of the season and then bet against them… they won a game. Granted, it was against the even sadder Denver Broncos.
  • The Sports Desk had to laugh at the optimism of the Raiders fan base. They went from being 2-7 to, “We’re going to win out the rest of the seasons, go 10-7 and make the playoffs!”
  • That will NOT happen, but it’s cute to see people enjoying this silly idea.
  • In personal news…
  • So yes, my back is fucked up, but it’s not as fucked up as it has been in the past, so while I’m in pain, I’m not in horrifying pain.
  • Perspective is everything.
  • About the only other thing I’ll add is my ultra-traditional menu for the feast this week.
  • Turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, bread rolls, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin and pecan pies.
  • I’m buying the pies. That’s way too much shit to cook in one day.
  • Today in history… Judas Maccabeus restores the Temple in Jerusalem, and this event is commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah (164 BCE). Danish astronomer Ole Rømer presents the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light (1676). North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and is admitted as the 12th U.S. state (1789). Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record and play sound (1877). Claude Monet's paintings shown at Gallery Durand-Ruel in Paris (1900). The Philadelphia Football Athletics defeat the Kanaweola Athletic Club of Elmira, New York, 39–0, in the first-ever professional American football night game (1902). Albert Einstein's paper that leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc², is published in the journal Annalen der Physik (1905). Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator (1922). American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, is fired from WABC radio over allegations he had participated in the payola scandal (1959). The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI (1969). National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the Iran–Contra affair (1986). 
  • November 21 is the birthday of writer/philosopher Voltaire (1694), businessman Samuel Cunard (1787), painter René Magritte (1898), songwriter/producer Buck Ram (1907), NFL player Sid Luckman (1916), MLB player Stan Musial (1920), author Christopher Tolkien (1924), actor Laurence Luckinbill (1934), actress/activist Marlo Thomas (1937), politician Dick Durbin (1944), actor/writer Harold Ramis (1944), actress Goldie Hawn (1945), singer-songwriter Björk (1965), NFL player Troy Aikman (1966), MLB player Ken Griffey Jr. (1969), and NFL player/TV host Michael Strahan (1971).


Okay. Time to be Mister Monday. My regular Monday meeting this morning was canceled, so I’m super happy about that. I need to map out what can and can’t be done in this shortened work week, so I’ll do that, and then do some actual work. Enjoy your day.

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