Random News: January 25, 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 25, 2023, and it’s a Wednesday. I'm having some delicious coffee and finding out what’s been happening, so I’ll share with you as I do…

• Hot tip: check your garage for classified documents. Apparently everyone has some laying around.
• A lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI.
• The FBI and DOJ’s National Security Division have launched a review of the documents and how they ended up in Pence’s house.
• The discovery comes after Pence has repeatedly said he did not have any classified documents in his possession. It is not yet clear what the documents are related to or their level of sensitivity or classification.
• Here’s what I think: I think Biden and Pence did not know about the documents. I think neither of them tried to obstruct their possession of the documents.
• However, I think Trump was a) well aware of what was in his possession, and b) refused to return the documents despite being subpoenaed to do so, and c) obstructed the return of the documents in every way imaginable.
• So that’s the difference here, and that will almost certainly be a major aspect of the investigations and eventual indictment of Trump to that end.
• Moving on.
• In local news, we apparently had a mildly sizable earthquake here overnight. A 4.2 quake struck a few miles off the coast between here and Malibu.
• It was at 2:00am. I had no idea about it until this morning when someone asked if I’d felt it. I hadn’t.
• I am very good at sleeping. I could win awards.
• The DOJ and eight states sued Google yesterday, accusing the company of harming competition with its dominance in the online advertising market.
• It’s the Biden administration’s first blockbuster antitrust case against a Big Tech company. The eight states joining the suit include California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia.
• Per the complaint, Google gobbled up rivals through anticompetitive mergers and bullied publishers and advertisers into using the company’s proprietary ad technology products.
• As part of the lawsuit, the US government called for Google to be broken up.
• Interesting!
• Since I get great personal pleasure on covering the convictions of insurrectionist pieces of shit who attacked our Capitol building on January 6, 2021, meet Pauline Bauer, a 55-year-old resident of Kane, PA.
• She was convicted yesterday of nearly half a dozen charges for her role in the failed coup attempt, including obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building, and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building. 
• She could face up to 20 years in prison and financial penalties for the obstruction of an official proceeding charge, which is a felony. The other charges, which are misdemeanors, carry a maximum of three years imprisonment in total and financial penalties. 
• And now, The Weather: “Under the Light” by Modern Bodies
• The latest news about serial liar and national joke fodder Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is that he’d previously been claiming he lent his campaign more than $700,000 to find his election.
• That seemed pretty odd for someone who was earning $55,000/year.
• But in two new filings with the Federal Election Commission, Santos indicated that loans of $500,000 and $125,000 had come from elsewhere.
• It is illegal to accept a six-figure contribution from another person. It also is against the law for a corporation to donate a sum of any size directly to a congressional candidate.
• Let’s see him lie his way out of this.
• In other news, I was hoping a day would go by that I didn’t have to mention a mass shooting.
• But then some 21-year-old piece of shit in Yakima, WA named Jarid Haddock randomly killed three people at a couple of convenience stores before shooting himself in the head.
• There was no conflict with the people. He just killed them because they were there.
• But make sure guns are easy to get for everyone, with few background checks and make their purchase essentially untraceable because AMERICA.
• From the Sports Desk… the NFL Conference Championships this coming weekend have all the markings of great games. One clue… Vegas odds have both games at nearly even odds.
• The Philadelphia Eagles are only a -2.5 favorite over the San Francisco 49ers. The Cincinnati Bengals are a surprising -1 favorite over the Kansas City Chiefs, probably due mostly to Patrick Mahomes’ recent high ankle sprain.
• Anyway, both games are on Sunday, and I’m looking forward to them. The winners, of course, face off in the Super Bowl two weeks later on Sunday, February 11.
• Today in history… Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn (1533). São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests (1554). University of Virginia chartered by Commonwealth of Virginia, with Thomas Jefferson one of its founders (1819). The ‘Wedding March’ by Felix Mendelssohn is played at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, and becomes a popular wedding processional (1858). Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company (1881). Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco (1915). The Ukrainian People's Republic declares independence from Soviet Russia (1918). The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games (1924). ‘The Guiding Light’ debuts on NBC radio from Chicago (1937). Thomas Goldsmith Jr. files a patent for a "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device", the first ever electronic game (1947). The first Emmy Awards are presented in the United States (1949). The National Association of Broadcasters in the United States reacts to the "payola" scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accept money for playing particular records (1960). Blue Ribbon Sports, which would later become Nike, is founded by University of Oregon track and field athletes (1964). Charles Manson and four "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders (1971). The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins throughout the country, marked by street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes (2011). 
• January 25 is the birthday of chemist/physicist Robert Boyle (1627), poet Robert Burns (1759), businessman William Colgate (1783), abolitionist/activist/educator Anna Gardner (1816),  writer W. Somerset Maugham (1874), writer Virginia Woolf (1882), conductor/composer Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886), singer-songwriter Sleepy John Estes (1899), politician Corazon Aquino (1933), singer Etta James (1938), director Tobe Hooper (1943), runner Steve Prefontaine (1951), NHL player Chris Chelios (1962), NFL player Mark Schlereth (1966), singer-songwriter Emily Haines (1974), politician Volodymyr Zelenskyy (1978), and singer-songwriter Alicia Keys (1981).

I have no specific plans today, beyond work. I’m editing an interview video right now, which is the most tedious task I do on a regular basis. I’m also getting my clients ready for upcoming trade shows and events. I’m very lucky that I get to use my creative skills to earn a living, but trust me… there are no easy jobs, especially if you take any pride in your work. I guess it would be easier if I did it half-assed, but for whatever reason, I just refuse to represent myself via shitty work. Enjoy your day.