Random News: January 13, 2023

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 January 13, 2023, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! I learned the following things and now you will too, if you want…

• Getting the sad shit out of the way…
• Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of legendary singer Elvis Presley, has died at age 54 of cardiac arrest.
• She was seen as recently as Tuesday night at the Golden Globe Awards, which she attended with her mother Priscilla to support the Baz Luhrmann film ‘Elvis’ about her late father.
• It’s probably worth pointing out that both her father and paternal grandmother died from heart attacks at young ages, respectively at 42 and 46.
• Rest in peace. Moving on.
• The Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million – the maximum possible penalty under state law – by a New York judge this morning for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme.
• Two Trump entities, The Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp., were convicted last month of 17 felonies, including tax fraud and falsifying business records.
• The companies can easily afford this fine. This won’t matter at all.
• Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.
• There are major differences between the document cases facing Biden versus the FPOTUS. Most notably, there is no suggestion that Biden purposefully tried to prevent the documents discovered at his home or office from being turned over, or that he was even aware of their presence. 
• Still, things like this aren’t exactly helpful to Biden’s political future.
• Despite Biden having an undeniably successful presidency thus far, if we had two candidates for President in 2024 and neither were named Biden or Trump, I’d personally be okay with that.
• Tornadoes and severe storms are responsible for at least seven deaths in Alabama and Georgia yesterday. As always, stay safe and have emergency plans in place.
• Northern California is seeing more rainstorms today, which is making its way south toward my neck of the woods tomorrow. We’ll all be fine.
• That being said, there remain issues of flooding, sinkholes, and also crop damage that will impact many, including people outside our state.
• And now, The Weather: “Mother” by Bon Point
• The criminal trial against former Trump adviser and human bag of festering goo Steve Bannon over his alleged involvement in charity fraud has been delayed by his refusal to speak to his team of attorneys.
• He is literally ghosting his lawyers. That’s his defense strategy. Genius!
• If you need a reminder, Bannon and his fake nonprofit ‘We Build the Wall’ is charged with defrauding donors who gave money to construct a barrier along the Mexico border. He raised more than $15 million through the scheme and used the proceeds to enrich himself and his friends.
• He faces a maximum of five to 15 years in prison if convicted.
• Capping one of the longest and nastiest legal battles in music business history, John Fogerty has gained worldwide control of the publishing rights to his Creedence Clearwater Revival songs, more than 50 years after the songs were first released.\
• He acquired a majority interest in the global publishing rights to his song catalog for an undisclosed amount.
• About time. Good for you, John.
• Today in history… Nicolas Jean Hugon de Bassville, representative of Revolutionary France, is lynched by a mob in Rome (1793). United States President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority (1833). The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican–American War in California (1847). The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. (1888). The first public radio broadcast takes place; a live performance of the operas Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci is sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York (1910). Henry Ford patents a soybean car, which is 30% lighter than a regular car (1942). An article appears in Pravda accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership (1953). Anti-Muslim riots break out in Calcutta, in response to anti-Hindu riots in East Pakistan (1964). Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member when he is appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1966). Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom State Prison (1968). Space Shuttle Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center (1993). A false emergency alert warning of an impending missile strike in Hawaii causes widespread panic in the state (2018). The Thai Ministry of Public Health confirms the first case of COVID-19 outside China (2020). Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump is impeached for a second time on a charge of incitement of insurrection following the January 6 United States Capitol attack one week prior (2021).
• January 13 is the birthday of painter Jan van Goyen (1596), SCOTUS chief justice Salmon P. Chase (1808), suffragist/abolitionist Ernestine Rose (1810), novelist Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832), singer/actress Sophie Tucker (1886), actor Robert Stack (1919), guitarist/composer Joe Pass (1929), actor Rip Taylor (1931), actor Richard Moll (1943), singer/guitarist Trevor Rabin (1954), actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus (1961), entrepreneur/politician Andrew Yang (1975), actor Orlando Bloom (1977), and NFL player Nick Mangold (1984).

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but over the course of my life, I’ve noted that most days that fall on Friday the 13th have seemed particularly good, or at least not unlucky in any way. Perhaps it’s my cognizance of the superstitious aspect of the day that makes me force myself into a more positive vibe. Regardless, it is a Friday, so I’m going to work and do things and try and get shit wrapped up before the weekend. Enjoy your day.