Random News: January 31, 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 31, 2023, and it's a Tuesday. Lots to talk about…

• Two more Memphis police officers and three EMTs/fire department employees were fired in the wake of the Tyre Nichols murder. 
• It’s almost pathetically predictable that while the first five officers who are Black were nearly immediately fired and charged with crimes, the sixth officer, identified as Preston Hemphill, is white, and therefore was not fired but just suspended with pay pending a hearing.
• The seventh officer has not been identified.
• Will there be nationwide police reform? I seriously doubt it.
• President Joe Biden intends to end the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the White House stated yesterday.
• This comes in response to some House measures to officially end the emergency which the Biden admin said are unnecessary because it intends to end the emergencies anyway.
• The reason is wait until May 11 is simple: it ensures an orderly wind-down of authorities that states, health care providers, and patients have relied on throughout the pandemic.
• Obviously this had to happen at some point. Hopefully it doesn’t negatively impact the continuing fight against COVID or the longterm treatment of people who continue to suffer from its effects (he said, knowing that of course it will).
• Got some breaking news about a man who lies so much, he makes other politicians look honest by comparison. That’s right, it’s Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
• After a meeting with Kevin McCarthy yesterday, Santos has “volunteered” to step down from his Congressional committee assignments until the House ethics committee clears him of wrongdoing.
• According to a poll this morning, 78% of the voters in his district want Santos to resign. That includes 89% of Democrats, 72% of independents/others, and 71% of Republicans.
• Actress Cindy Williams has died after a short illness. She was 75. 
• Most people in my age range were huge fans of the show “Laverne & Shirley” which ran from 1976-1983, and was a spin-off from “Happy Days”. Her Shirley Feeney character was always lovable.
• Rest in peace.
• And now, The Weather: “Painted The Room” by Rozi Plain
• Another important figure in music has also passed away. Barrett Strong was a founder of Motown, and sang on and co-wrote some of the label’s most well-known hits including “Money (That’s What I Want)”, “War,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”. He was 81.
• I’m not going to talk about the Trump/Stormy Daniels grand jury payment evidence because Trump is completely irrelevant to any aspect of life today or in the future.
• Florida is on track to entirely eliminate concealed weapons permits.
• They say it is their God-given right to carry concealed guns. Well, many more of them will be meeting God as a result, and they can talk to him about it when they get there.
• Governor Ron DeSantis has expressed support for the idea, so the bill should not have a problem passing in a legislature with a GOP a super-majority.
• It’s probably something he’d like to enact nationwide if elected president. If you want your children being around people hiding guns, vote for him in 2024.
• From the Sports Desk… as the media will undoubtedly be covering way more than is necessary, Super Bowl LVII will have a first. Eagles center Jason Kelce and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will make history as the first pair of brothers to oppose each other in the Super Bowl.
• Both are great players and likely future Hall of Famers.
• Second up in sports news, RIP to the great Bobby Hull. Hull is one of those people whom you can choose to greatly respect as an athlete (a hall of Fame player who still leads the Blackhawks after all these decades in goals and hat tracks), and detest as a terrible person (a multiple domestic abuser who spoke out in support of Hitler).
• Today in history… Four of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering (1606). The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital (1747). The United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee (1846). The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery, and submits it to the states for ratification (1865). US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War (1945). President Truman orders the development of thermonuclear weapons (1950). Doug Williams becomes the first African-American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl and leads the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII (1988). Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur (2018). The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state (2020).
• January 31 is the birthday of composer Franz Schubert (1797), chemist Theodore William Richards (1868), singer-songwriter/actor Eddie Cantor (1892), actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902), musicologist Alan Lomax (1915), MLB legend Jackie Robinson (1919), actress Carol Channing (1921), novelist/playwright/journalist Norman Mailer (1923), actress Suzanne Pleshette (1937), politician Dick Gephardt (1941), guitarist Terry Kath (1946), MLB legend Nolan Ryan (1947), singer-songwriter Harry Wayne Casey (1951), guitarist Adrian Vandenberg (1954), singer-songwriter John Lydon (1956), bass player Fat Mike (1967), businessman Dov Charney (1969), actress Minnie Driver (1970), actress Portia de Rossi (1973), and singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake (1981).

As some of my friends are already aware, I’m dealing with a parent at the end stage of their life. It’s a hard thing that nearly everyone goes through eventually. There’s very little I can do except offer support as best I can to the other people affect by their imminent passing. The shitty thing is, of course, the necessity to keep carrying on with the other more mundane elements of life while that is transpiring. I will be okay. It’s not easy, but I’m a pretty tough dude and I’ve been through shit before and made it out the other side. I’ll keep on keeping on. Enjoy your day.