Random News: December 12, 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 December 12, 2022, and it’s a Monday. Busy days ahead moving into the holidays, so let’s dispense with the pleasantries and get down to whatever we do here…

• Let’s start with something that could change everything for every one of us.
• The US department of energy has said energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and under-secretary for nuclear security Jill Hruby will announce “a major scientific breakthrough” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Tuesday.
• That breakthrough, reportedly, is that government scientists might have achieved limitless, zero-carbon power by achieving a net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time.
• Fusion energy. When that happens, the entire world will change drastically in ways you can’t even conceive. Imagine having no dependency on fossil fuels. Having energy with essentially no limits at basically no cost.
• I’ll excitedly await Tuesday’s announcement.
• Karen Bass was sworn in yesterday by vice-president Kamala Harris as the first female mayor of Los Angeles.
• Bass stated that her first act as mayor will be to declare a state of emergency on homelessness. The City of LA currently has some 40,000 people living on the streets.
• The four largest cities in the US now all have Black mayors: Eric Adams of New York City, Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, and Sylvester Turner of Houston.
• And now, The Weather: “Ochre” by Goon
• I mentioned yesterday that California had a bunch of wintery weather over the weekend. The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported Sunday morning that more than 43 inches had fallen in a 48-hour span. There were wind gusts on Sunday over 100 mph on Sierra Nevada ridgetops.
• We had a delightful rain down here which has continued through to this morning. 
• Marjorie Taylor Greene, the conservative Christian congresswoman in the midst of a divorce for having had multiple sexual affairs while married, spoke at a Young Republican event over the weekend.
• Her alibi for not having helped plan the January 6 failed coup attempt? "And I will tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would've been armed.”
• So keep that in mind. These people are out to destroy our country by force. How long do we sit back while they tell us their plans to do so?
• A little personal reminder: yesterday I posted my “22 for 2022” list of best new music of the year, mostly focused on the world of indie rock/folk/pop that I enjoy. I’ll put a link in the comments if you’d like to check it out.
• One thing I enjoy about focusing on artists who in a few cases are no more well known than me is that they actually appreciate it. I got a batch of responses on Twitter when I tagged the bands and artists who made my list.
• Today in history… Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd state to ratify the US Constitution (1787). The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins (1939). Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery (1941). The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore (2000). The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted (2015). 
• December 12 is the birthday of businessman Henry Wells (1805), novelist Gustave Flaubert (1821), painter Edvard Munch (1863), actor Edward G. Robinson (1893), singer Frank Sinatra (1915), TV host Bob Barker (1923), politician Ed Koch (1924), painter Helen Frankenthaler (1928), singer Dionne Warwick (1940), musician Grover Washington, Jr. (1943), drummer Tony Williams (1945), actor Bill Nighy (1949), gymnast Cathy Rigby (1952), tennis player Tracy Austin (1962), NFL player/radio host Mike Golic (1962), and actress/neuroscientist Mayim Bialik (1975).

As I said, it’s raining and my plans for work and such make it a typical Monday. I’m a little pissed off because all signs point to a box of Christmas presents that was supposedly delivered on Friday night to have been stolen off my porch, but I’m not going to let it ruin my day. Life’s too short to walk around angry all the time. Enjoy your day.