Random News: January 30, 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 30, 2023, and it’s a Monday. What follows are items of information that happen to be based on current events and observations…

• The definition of optimism is thinking that one of these police-related deaths will be the one that causes systemic change and that it won’t happen again.
• As skeptical as I am of that occurring, I’m still glad to see the nationwide protests over the murder of Tyre Nichols. As long as people care and make it loudly known, there’s less ability to shove it under a rug and pretend it doesn’t happen.
• It’s been brought up by many of you that the swift justice for the five Memphis cops seems starkly different than in cases where the cops were white. I have no way to argue against that.
• Moving on…
• Joe Biden will be hosting Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Wednesday to hash out a deal on this debt ceiling fiasco.
• While McCarthy says he wants to address spending cuts along with raising the debt limit, the White House has ruled out linking those two issues together.
• The speaker claims that cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be off the table. Remember that when they carry out their stated plan to do exactly that.
• A statement from the White House says, ”The President will ask Speaker McCarthy if he intends to meet his Constitutional obligation to prevent a national default, as every other House and Senate leader in U.S. history has done.”
• Perhaps McCarthy is looking to cut defense spending instead? Guess we’ll see.
• And now, The Weather: “Fractals” by Beth Orton
• Speaking of the weather, lots of wintry stuff going on in various areas of the US this morning, especially in the Midwest, mountain states, and Texas. We’ve got a good rain going on right now here at the beach.
• In shitty world news, at least 46 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a suicide bombing carried out by the Pakistan Taliban at a mosque in the city of Peshawar.
• Sigh. Pakistan isn’t doing so great in recent times, if you were unaware.
• Here’s a word salad from the former president, talking about his assumed 2024 challenger Ron DeSantis: "So then when I hear he might run, you know, I consider that very disloyal. But, it's not about loyalty — to me it is, it's always about loyalty. But for a lot of people, it's not about that."
• A little happy follow-up… the City of Alhambra, CA honored the man who has been hailed a hero for disarming the Monterey Park shooting suspect at a second dance studio during Lunar New Year celebrations last weekend.
• Brandon Tsay, 26, was awarded a medal of courage from the Alhambra Police Department during a ceremony yesterday. It’s well deserved.
• I only keep covering George Santos (R-NY) for the comedy. The latest?
• Campaign donors identified as Victoria and Jonathan Regor purportedly each contributed the maximum amount allowed.
• One problem: no one named Victoria or Jonathan Regor could be located anywhere in the U.S., and their address on the donation form — 45 New Mexico Street, Jackson Township, New Jersey — does not exist.
• Fucking Santos.
• From the Sports Desk… we have a Super Bowl matchup. The AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs will go up against the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, February 12.
• Both teams were the No. 1 seed in their respective conferences. Both had great records in the regular season. It’s no surprise to see them facing off in the big game.
• Early betting lines have the Eagles as a very slim -1.5 point favorite. That means anything could happen. Hopefully a good game.
• And guacamole.
• Today in history… Charles I of England is executed in Whitehall, London (1649). Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed (1661). The Forty-seven rōnin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master, by killing Kira Yoshinaka (1703). In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself (1835). Yerba Buena, CA is renamed San Francisco, CA (1847). Japanese carmaker Mazda is founded, initially as a cork-producing company (1920). Adolf Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany (1933). Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott (1956). Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies (1968). The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London (1969). The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (2020). 
• January 30 is the birthday of statesman/poet George Villiers (1628), lawyer/politician John Lansing, Jr. (1754), nun/saint Angela of the Cross (1846), US president Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882), actor Gene Hackman (1930), actress Vanessa Redgrave (1937), US vice president Dick Cheney (1941), singer-songwriter Marty Balin (1942), singer-songwriter Steve Marriott (1947), singer-songwriter/drummer Phil Collins (1951), golfer Payne Stewart (1957), singer Jody Watley (1959), NBA player Jalen Rose (1973), actor Christian Bale (1974), actress Olivia Colman (1974), and actor Wilmer Valderrama (1980).

I didn’t have the most relaxing weekend, but that’s okay. I’m more peeved about not having had time to finish my laundry last night, and I’m starting the week in my least favorite clothing. But this too shall pass. In fact, while I’m working out, I’ll be running the dryer and hopefully before my first meeting at 10am, I’ll be wearing clothes that aren’t the things I shove to the back of the drawer for emergency use. Enjoy your day.