Random News: November 7, 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 7, 2022, it’s a Monday. It’s the day before things might get super insane for awhile because AMERICA, so here are a few thoughts about pertinent stuff…

• Exactly six years ago in November 2016, 40 million registered Democrats assumed that their one vote wouldn’t matter and there was no way a man like Donald Trump could be elected.
• 40 million Dems stayed home, assuming someone else would do the heavy lifting for them.
• We know what happened.
• The election is tomorrow, Tuesday November 8.
• You will have the opportunity to change the future in ways that are profound and crucial to the continuation of our country as we’ve known it.
• Vote. And while you’re doing it…
• Never tell someone you love them, and then vote in a way that will hurt them.
• Your grandma who needs her Social Security.
• Your gay cousin. Your transgendered nephew.
• Your immigrant coworker friend. The person of color at the grocery store.
• Your wife or daughter who may require medical care for a non-viable pregnancy, or an ectopic pregnancy, or who has been impregnated via rape.
• All those things we take for granted will be impacted unless you vote Blue tomorrow.
• Look beyond yourself. Imagine what it’s like to be someone who is in more danger than yourself, who is less privileged than yourself, or is more likely to face bigotry and prejudice.
• And now, The Weather: “Burn” by Indigo Sparke
• Rest in peace to Mimi Parker of the influential slowcore indie band Low. She died at age 55 after a two-year fight against ovarian cancer. The band, from Minnesota, formed in 1993.
• Brief side note for no reason… the owner of Twitter freaked out yesterday and stated that “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended.”
• One week ago, said person wrote, “Comedy is now legal on Twitter.”
• I guess it’s funny until it’s you.
• From the Sports Desk… nah. I can’t. Um, wait, go Jets, I guess?
• Today in history… The London Gazette, the oldest surviving journal, is first published (1665). The Battle of Tippecanoe is fought near present-day Battle Ground, Indiana, United States (1811). Abolitionist printer Elijah P. Lovejoy is shot dead by a mob while attempting to protect his printing shop (1837). A cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly, is considered the first important use of an elephant as a symbol for the United States Republican Party (1874). Women in the U.S. state of Colorado are granted the right to vote, the second state to do so (1893). Jesús García saves the entire town of Nacozari de García by driving a burning train full of dynamite six kilometres (3.7 miles) away before it could explode (1907). Jeannette Rankin is the first woman elected to the United States Congress (1916). Woodrow Wilson is reelected as President of the United States (1916). In New York City, the Museum of Modern Art opens to the public (1929). Fiorello H. La Guardia is elected the 99th mayor of New York City (1933). Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected for a record fourth term as President of the United States (1944). US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (1967). U.S. President Richard Nixon is re-elected in the largest landslide victory at the time (1972). A bomb explodes inside the United States Capitol causing an estimated $250,000 in damage (1983). Magic Johnson announces that he is HIV-positive and retires from the NBA (1991). The controversial US presidential election is later resolved in the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case, electing George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States (2000). 
• November 7 is the birthday of captain James Cook (1728), chemist Marie Curie (1867), political theorist Leon Trotsky (1879), philosopher Albert Camus (1913), televangelist Billy Graham (1918), trumpet player Al Hirt (1922), musician Johnny Rivers (1942), legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell (1943), actress Dana Plato (1964), and DJ David Guetta (1967).

Well, it’s a Monday. We’re supposed to get some rain here in SoCal over the next couple of days, which is nice. We always desperately need it. I’ve got plenty of things to keep me busy. I’m not worried about the election tomorrow because a) I’ve done what I could (which is mostly having voted) and b) when I can’t control something, it’s pointless to worry about it. I just have faith that there are still more good people in the world than bad, as silly as that seems sometimes. Enjoy your day.