Random News: January 5, 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 5, 2023, and it’s a Thursday. I’m in the midst of a bomb cyclone, so let’s write things and ignore the apocalyptic weather outside the window…

• We had a good amount of fun yesterday watching Kevin McCarthy lose his bid for Speaker of the House for the fourth, fifth, and sixth sessions of balloting.
• An update for those who haven’t been following the clown show…
• As the GOP leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy had assumed for years that he was the presumptive choice for the Speaker of the House role once Republicans gained a majority.
• He even moved into the Speaker’s official offices.
• However, that majority is so narrow, and Kevin is so disliked within his own party, that a cadre of reps formed against him and now he cannot get the required 218 votes.
• The last time something like this happened was 1923, exactly 100 years ago.
• In case you’re wondering what happened then, it’s freakishly identical to this situation, where a faction of the Republicans refused to vote for a mainstream Speaker candidate.
• Frederick H. Gillett (R-MA) did end up getting reelected as Speaker after nine ballots, when many of his opponent’s backers simply voted "present."
• That may happen today with McCarthy. It’s impossible to know.
• One item of note, lest we get caught up in the entertainment: the House can do absolutely nothing until this is resolved one way or the other. They can’t swear in new members or adopt House rules. This is spelled out in Article 1 of the US Constitution.
• Until someone is Speaker, the House is not allowed to conduct any additional business.
• We’re stuck doing nothing for now. Good times.
• Side note: don’t be shocked if someone nominates Donald J. Trump to be the Speaker of the House today. Then the rest of the Republicans would be put in a position of voting for or against him, and neither choice is advantageous for them.
• Side note 2: the Speaker does not have to be a) a member of Congress or b) from the majority party. True facts.
• Moving on.
• Special counsel Jack Smith has received a trove of new documents from local election officials in Wisconsin and Nevada who were subpoenaed as part of the ongoing criminal investigation by the Justice Department into the FPOTUS’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
• They include communications with lawyers working on Donald Trump’s behalf.
• Ha. May Jack Smith have mercy on your soul. Just kidding. No mercy.
• And now, The Weather: “Abalone” by Packs
• I want to be clear that our weather in my city of Redondo Beach, CA, a coastal suburb of Los Angeles, is stormy but we’re not facing the more deadly aspects of the bomb cyclone that nailed Northern California in the past day.
• I’m perfectly fine. The worst could likely happen here is that my garage floods a bit. Being on a hill, topography is my friend in times like these.
• That being said, we have 33 million residents of our fine state under flood watch and many thousands with no power after wind gusts of over 50 miles per hour last night, so give them some positive mojo, please.
• Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, understandably.
• Here in SoCal, I definitely feel for anyone who has to commute into work this morning. In addition to floods and freeway closures, drivers are urged to be on the lookout for downed trees, rocks and debris on the road.
• I’m not going anywhere. I’ve worked from home since 2003. Today is definitely no exception. Still making sure all my stuff is charged in case we lose power, which in rain like this could easily happen.
• Scientists are saying that the COVID variant XBB.1.5 may be the most transmissible subvariant of Omicron to date. I was sort of glad to see more people masked up when I went grocery shopping on Tuesday afternoon.
• I have not gotten COVID. I’m not planning on getting COVID. I am fully vaccinated and boosted with the latest bivalent shot. I wear masks in public, and I give exactly zero fucks about anyone’s opinion about my choices.
• I haven’t even had a cold since 2019.
• From the Sports Desk… no real updates on the condition of stricken Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. It was said he is showing signs of improvement, but he remains sedated and on a ventilator. The challenge, as many of you know, if that when the brain is deprived of oxygen for even a small amount of time, it’s very difficult to come back.
• Keep sending him positive vibes.
• No other sports news.
• Today in history… Robert-François Damiens becomes the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering after attempting to assassinate Louis XV (1757). Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold (1781). The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5 in salary plus bonuses (1914). The German Workers' Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded in Munich (1919). Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay (1933). The play ‘Waiting for Godot’ by Samuel Beckett receives its première in Paris (1953). US President Richard Nixon announces the Space Shuttle program (1972). The United States Embassy to Somalia in Mogadishu is evacuated by helicopter airlift days after the outbreak of violence in Mogadishu (1991). The dwarf planet Eris is discovered by Palomar Observatory-based astronomers, later motivating the International Astronomical Union to define the term planet for the first time (2005).
• January 5 is the birthday of explorer Xu Xiake (1587), businessman King Camp Gillette (1855), actor George Reeves (1914), actress Jane Wyman (1917), music producer Sam Phillips (1923), US vice president Walter Mondale (1928), actor Robert Duvall (1931), music producer Phil Ramone (1934), journalist Charlie Rose (1942), actress Diane Keaton (1946), actor Ted Lange (1948), actor Clancy Brown (1959), singer-songwriter Marilyn Manson (1969), actor Bradley Cooper (1975), and musician Deadmau5 (1981).

Well, I have a bunch of meetings today. This post-holiday week thus far has been jam-packed with work. It’s pretty typical at the start of a new year, with all those projects that were “we’ll tackle that after the holidays” suddenly in my face. That’s okay; I’ve told you before, I don’t mind being busy to a certain point when it gets stupid. Enjoy your day.