Random News: January 15, 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 15, 2023, and it’s a Sunday. I’m your newsman in a bathrobe, so let’s see what there is to see…

• New COVID hospital admissions are now at the fourth-highest rate of the pandemic, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• The majority of current COVID hospitalizations are among those 65 and older, although the share for children under four roughly doubled in 2022.
• In the past week, COVID deaths rose by 44%, from 2,705 in the week ending January 4 to 3,907 in the week ending January 11.
• No one gives a shit. Humans are fucking terrible at sticking to anything longterm.
• Only 15.4% of Americans over the age of five have received the new boosters.
• I got the bivalent booster in November and I still mask up in public. I’ve never gotten the disease even once.
• There’s accumulating data that repeated COVID accumulates risk for short- and long-term complications, including cardiovascular, mental health and other problems.
• As I have eloquently stated previously, I don’t give two shits what you choose to do in this regard. Die, or get sick, or don’t. I’m no longer interested in anyone but myself and my close family and friends.
• Moving on.
• It rained like hell all day here in SoCal yesterday. I think we have one more storm arriving tonight and lasting through much of tomorrow. Then we’re back to sunny days as usual.
• And now, The Weather: “Palmveo” by TOBACCO
• I mentioned that tomorrow is MLK Day here in the USA. Many people have a three-day weekend as a result. I’ll talk more about Dr. King tomorrow.
• I have a “kinda day off” but I’ll be working. I own a business; I’m working even when I’m asleep most nights.
• Don’t ever think that being your own boss is easier than working for someone else. It’s not. It’s harder by far.
• From the Sports Desk… let’s start with the amazing news that Damar Hamlin, who came within seconds of dying on a football field less than two weeks ago, had recovered enough to go visit with his teammates in their team facility in Buffalo.
• I’m going to point out that Hamlin is a 24-year-old athlete in perhaps the top 0.001% of physical fitness of anyone on the planet. If that happened to me or you… well, we’d just be dead. End of story.
• Anyway, hats off to him and his friends and family. It’s simply incredible that he’s a) alive and b) recovering as quickly as he is. That dude may well play pro football again. We’ll see.
• I don’t know why everyone is freaking out about the Jacksonville Jaguars upsetting the Los Angeles Chargers in they AFC Wild Card playoff game yesterday. First, it was predicted as an even match with the Chargers only favored by -1.5 points.
• Second, the Jags won their last six straight games of the regular season, and were on fire momentum-wise going into this game. I’m happy for them, but I’m not shocked.
• What was obviously exciting: the Jags were down 27-0 and still came back to win 31-30, the third-highest comeback in NFL playoff history. I think they will face the Chiefs in the divisional round next weekend and get slaughtered, but you never know.
• In the NFC, the Niners killed the Seahawks. I was impressed that Seattle kept it close in the first half, leading 17-16 at the end of the 2nd quarter… only to get hammered 41-23 at the end. SF has too may weapons. They could definitely win the Super Bowl.
• Today in history… Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England and Ireland in Westminster Abbey, London (1559). New Connecticut (present-day Vermont) declares its independence (1777). Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris addresses the U.S. Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage (1782). Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to the Union in the US Civil War, thus cutting off the last major seaport of the Confederacy (1865). The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta (1889). James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball (1892). A wave of molasses released from an exploding storage tank sweeps through Boston, Massachusetts, killing 21 and injuring 150 (1919). The Pentagon is dedicated in Arlington County, VA (1943). The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles, where the Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10 (1967). The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm (1991). Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, goes online (2001). US Airways Flight 1549, captained by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, ditches safely in the Hudson River after the plane collides with birds less than two minutes after take-off (2009). 
• January 15 is the birthday of actor/playwright Molière (1622), animal rights activist Richard Martin (1754), singer-songwriter Ivor Novello (1893), drummer Gene Krupa (1909), actor Lloyd Bridges (1913), minister/activist Martin Luther King Jr. (1929), singer-songwriter Captain Beefheart (1941), singer-songwriter Ronnie Van Zant (1948), actor Mario Van Peebles (1957), actress Regina King (1971), NFL player Drew Brees (1979), rapper Pitbull (1981), music producer Skrillex (1988), and NFL player Deebo Samuel (1996). 

Alrighty. I have many things to do today that can’t be done during the work week, so I’m off to shower and dress and then be a productive human. Enjoy your day.