Random News: December 8, 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 8, 2022, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Here are some scraps of thoughts and bits of things…

• Let’s start with the great news of WNBA player Britney Griner having been released from a Russian penal colony, and is at this moment on a plane back to the USA.
• She was exchanged for infamous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. If you saw the 2005 Nicolas Cage film ‘Lord of War’, the main character was based on Bout.
• He’s not a good dude, but using him as the payment for this prisoner swap was the right thing to do.
• So that’s good.
• I think the 2022 Midterms may have been the last national election where Republicans criticize mail-in voting and other forms of early voting pre-election day.
• I think most of them will encourage it in future elections.
• Most of them. But the former President continues to trash the process, and his influence remains high, so it’s hard to tell what will actually happen in 2024 and beyond.
• Moving on…
• Arguments were presented yesterday in the historic Supreme Court case of Moore v. Harper, which could drastically change election rules in the USA.
• The case was brought by the North Carolina GOP legislature, which argues that state constitutions and state courts have little or no authority to impose limits on how state legislatures craft their rules for federal elections.
• It’s hard to say how it will play out, but it appears the SCOTUS was skeptical and they seem to be short of five votes it would need to get a ruling that adopted the most aggressive version of their arguments.
• A narrow ruling in the NC GOP legislature’s favor still possible, and it still wouldn’t be good.
• In “nothing surprises me anymore” news, lawyers for former President Donald Trump recently hired a team to search four of his properties for any potentially remaining classified materials.
• They reportedly searched Trump Tower in New York, the Bedminster golf club and two other properties amid lingering concerns from the Justice Department that not all documents had been returned to the federal government.
• They found two more classified docs in a storage facility near Mar-a-Lago and turned them over to the FBI.
• Okay then.
• Recreational marijuana use is legal in Missouri as of today, but there’s nowhere to legally buy weed yet in the state.
• That’s normal. It was a similar process in other legal states such as California and 21 other states and US territories.
• COVID cases are soaring here in my home area of Los Angeles County. If it continues at the current pace, public mask mandates will be back in place by January.
• And now, The Weather: “L.I.F.” by Silver Liz
• Speaking of my daily song recommendation, this coming weekend I’m planning on posting my annual best-of music list for the year. More on that later.
• Joe Harding, the Florida lawmaker who sponsored the state’s ridiculous “Don't Say Gay” law, has been indicted on charges of defrauding a federal coronavirus loan program. He allegedly illegally obtained or tried to obtain more than $150,000 from the Small Business Administration in pandemic aid loans.
• He is being charged with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and two counts of making false statements.
• Haha. Fuck that guy.
• Personal note for no reason: December 8 has often been a significant date for me. Not always, but quite often, over my whole life.
• Example…
• On December 8, 1980, I was 11 years old and was doing my first big public recital as a guitarist/singer. I did “Spooky” by Atlanta Rhythm Section and “Honesty” by Billy Joel. Both went very well for a young musician.
• And I was on the way back from that performance in my dad’s Volvo when the news cut in on the radio that John Lennon had been killed.
• So that’s what I mean. It’s not always been good things or bad things. Just impactful things.
• To be clear, I’m in no way superstitious or have beliefs that would allow me to consider a random date on the calendar as being more important or fateful than any other. I'm mostly logic driven.
• But on many years, I can’t deny that bizarre things seem to happen on that day, and often involve me personally.
• Moving on…
• In a crazy flurry of actions, Peru’s president was impeached and immediately arrested yesterday.
• Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress and install an emergency government, ahead of a looming impeachment vote by lawmakers.
• Instead, they fired his ass and moments later, former VP Dina Boluarte became Peru’s first female President.
• Wow.
• From the Sports Desk… nah. Lots of baseball players being given massive amounts of money, I guess. I was going to talk about that but find I don’t give a shit. Oh, and the Raiders face the Rams tonight in Los Angeles.
• Like many cities, the stadium where the Los Angeles Rams (and Chargers) play is not actually in Los Angeles. It’s in Inglewood. It’s about 15 minutes north of me. I have yet to go there. Looks nice though.
• Today in history… Louis the Stammerer, son of Charles the Bald, is crowned king of the West Frankish Kingdom (877). A woman — either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall — appears on an English public stage for the first time, in the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello (1660). A squadron of Britain's Royal Navy defeats the Imperial German East Asia Squadron in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic (1914). U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares December 7 to be "a date which will live in infamy", after which the U.S. declares war on Japan (1941). U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his "Atoms for Peace" speech, which leads to an American program to supply equipment and information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world (1953). John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City (1980). The leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States (1991). Nathan Gale opens fire at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, killing former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell and three others before being shot dead by a police officer (2004). Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first band to perform on all seven continents (2013). First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China (2019).
• December 8 is the birthday of poet Horace (65 BC), Mary Queen of Scots (1542), engineer Eli Whitney (1765), businessman William C. Durant (1861), composer Jean Sibelius (1865), cartoonist E. C. Segar (1894), humorist James Thurber (1894), opera singer Zelma Watson George (1903), actor/singer Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925), organist Jimmy Smith (1925), actor Maximilian Schell (1930), actor Flip Wilson (1933), actor David Carradine (1936), singer-songwriter Jim Morrison (1943), musician Gregg Allman (1947), actress Kim Basinger (1953), comedian Sam Kinison (1953), guitarist Warren Cuccurullo (1956), guitarist Phil Collen (1957), actress Teri Hatcher (1964), singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor (1966), singer-songwriter Corey Taylor (1973), rapper Nicki Minaj (1982), NBA player Dwight Howard (1985), and NHL player Drew Doughty (1989). 

Well, I have a bunch of work and meeting today. Also, for being at the beach in Southern California, it’s fucking cold this morning. 43 when I got up, warmed up to 45 now at 7:45. I know that’s not cold where you live. I don’t give a fuck. I’m cold. And I haven’t turned on the heat in my house yet, so I’m probably colder than you regardless. I’ll live. Enjoy your day.