Random News: January 19, 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 19, 2023, and it’s a Thursday. Various things have happened, so let’s see what they are and maybe even what they mean…

• Some shocking news on the international front: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today (um, which was yesterday here because New Zealand is in the future) that she will stand aside for a new leader within weeks.
• Ardern says she doesn’t believe she has the energy to seek re-election in the October polls. “I no longer have enough in the tank to do the job justice,” she said.
• Elected in 2017 at just 37 years old, she was commended for her fast and effective response to the COVID pandemic.
• Back in the USA…
• Donald Trump is bigly mad at the evangelicals for their “disloyalty” in lack of support for his 2024 campaign. I think you should get used to him being mad and bitter; it’s going to be happening a lot.
• “Nobody has ever done more for Right to Life than Donald Trump. I put three Supreme Court justices, who all voted, and they got something that they’ve been fighting for 64 years, for many, many years. There’s great disloyalty in the world of politics and that’s a sign of disloyalty.” - Mad Orange Man
• It would seem that the first disastrous maneuver by the GOP-led House will be in regard to the debt ceiling. 
• Congress has the ability to set a limit on how much the US government can borrow to pay for its expenses. This limit is called the debt ceiling, and right now the limit is $31.4 trillion.
• Borrowing money helps the federal government pay for expenses passed in its budgets, like social security and Medicare benefits and the salaries of US military service members.
• If the federal government defaults on its loans, investors could lose faith in the US dollar, causing the US dollar to weaken, stocks to fall and triggering job cuts.
• “Why did the baboon eat my face?” screamed the lady who voted for the Baboons Eat My Face Party.
• Seriously, when your elderly parents lose their benefits and need to move in with you, remember the reason, and keep it firmly in mind next time you vote. Thank you.
• And now, The Weather: “Medicine” by Momma
• That piece of shit antiques dealer in San Francisco who hosed down a homeless woman in cold weather was arrested yesterday and charged with battery.
• Collier Gwin, 71, had his gallery vandalized and was given an online beating after his cruel and heartless act. Good. He was being held on $2,500 bail, according to jail records. No court date has been set.
• From the Sports Desk… the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies have won 11 consecutive games, bringing them into second place in the Western Conference behind the Denver Nuggets. The best record in this year’s NBA season so far, though, is in the Eastern Conference, and it belongs to the Boston Celtics at 33-12
• Today in history… John Wilkes is expelled from the British House of Commons for seditious libel (1764). An army of 5,423 soldiers, led by General José de San Martín, crosses the Andes from Argentina to liberate Chile and then Peru (1817). Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's ‘Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy’ receives its premiere performance (1829). Giuseppe Verdi's opera ‘Il trovatore’ receives its premiere performance in Rome (1853). Georgia joins South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama in declaring secession from the United States (1861). The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, NJ (1883). German zeppelins bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn in the United Kingdom killing at least 20 people, in the first major aerial bombardment of a civilian target (1915). The United States Senate votes against joining the League of Nations (1920). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is founded (1920). Almost 72 percent of all television sets in the United States are tuned into ‘I Love Lucy’ to watch Lucy give birth (1953). The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW's plant in Emden (1978). United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity (1981). The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Computer to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced (1983). 
• January 18 is the birthday of engineer James Watt (1736), economist/sociologist/philosopher Auguste Comte (1798), Confederate loser Robert E. Lee (1807), writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809), painter Paul Cézanne (1839), comedian/musician Ish Kabibble (1908), actress Jean Stapleton (1923), actress/animal rights activist Tippi Hedren (1930), singer-songwriter Phil Everly (1939), singer-songwriter Janis Joplin (1943), actress Shelley Fabares (1944), NFL player/coach Dan Reeves (1944), singer-songwriter/actress Dolly Parton (1946), singer-songwriter Robert Palmer (1949), singer Martha Davis (1951), actor Desi Arnaz, Jr. (1953), actress/singer Katey Sagal (1954), NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy (1962), NBA player Luc Longley (1969), NFL player Junior Seau (1969), actress Jodie Sweetin (1982), and NBA player JaVale McGee (1988).

I have a bunch of personal shit going on. It happens to everyone. Things are rolling along smoothly and then you hit a bump and suddenly you’re careening and everything is going sideways. The secret is to expect those things and not be as shocked when they inevitably happen. A smart dude once told me the simple words that, “You are in control of yourself,” and it’s true. Things will always happen that you can’t control; what you can control is your reaction. And I do. Enjoy your day.