Random News: February 27, 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 February 27, 2023, and it’s a Monday. I shall commence to inform you of things that might be true…

• Let’s start today’s news south of the border.
• Tens of thousands of people filled Mexico City's vast main plaza Sunday to protest President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's electoral law changes they say threaten democracy and could mark a return to the past.
• Mexico’s president denies the reforms are a threat to democracy and says criticism is elitist, arguing the institute spends too much money. He says the funds should be spent on the poor.
• I didn’t know this, but elections in Mexico are expensive by international standards, in part because almost all legal campaign financing is, by law, supplied by the government.
• López Obrador remains highly popular in Mexico, with approval ratings of around 60%.
• Back in the USA, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) is entering the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). The announcement makes Slotkin the first Democrat to officially declare a bid in what is likely to be among the most competitive and expensive Senate contests in 2024.
• I’m not a Michigander — and we have our own upcoming Senate seat to fill in CA — but Slotkin is good and would get my endorsement.
• And now something that is far too predictable.
• Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee’s chairperson, has said that all GOP primary candidates should sign a pledge promising to support the eventual party nominee if they wish to participate in the presidential debates.
• We know who this is aimed at.
• “I think they’re all going to sign,” she said. “I really do. I think President Trump would like to be on the debate stage.”
• Of course he’ll sign. No pledge or oath means anything to him.
• Twitter owner Elon Musk is another guy who will stab those closest to him without thinking twice about it.
• He just fired Esther Crawford, a product director at Twitter who had been in charge of Twitter’s relaunched “Twitter Blue” subscription product. She was laid off along with dozens of engineers, product managers, data scientists and managers over the weekend.
• Crawford was known as being a Musk loyalist, often parroting his talking points. Twitter’s revenue is still in a steep slide — down 40% year-over-year as of early January.
• The company owes approximately $1.2 billion in annual interest payments related to Musk’s $44 billion leveraged buyout.
• And now, The Weather: “A&W” by Lana Del Rey
• The storm that gave the West Coast freakish weather continued east over the nation, creating some massive windstorms in the middle of country. 
• At least seven tornadoes impacted Oklahoma and Kansas yesterday. Storms and temperatures will continue to be more extreme every year. 
• Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, something that will impact tens of millions of Americans. Due to conservative majority of the Supreme Court, experts say the relief plan faces tough odds.
• A recent Gallup poll shows that just 25% of Americans have confidence in the highest court.
• I’m surprised it’s that high.
• From the Sports Desk… YouTuber turned pro fighter Jake Paul has a new title… loser.
• Tommy Fury handed Paul his first loss via split decision (74-75, 76-73, 76-73) Sunday in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
• Today in history… Henry IV is crowned King of France (1594). The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America (1782). The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti (1844). The British Labour Party is founded (1900). A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett (1922). Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14 (1940). In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest (1943). The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified (1951). The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government (1973). 
• February 27 is the birthday of Roman emperor Constantine the Great (272), poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807), sociologist/philosopher George Herbert Mead (1863), SCOTUS justice Hugo Black (1886), physiologist Charles Herbert Best (1899), author John Steinbeck (1902), actress Joanne Woodward (1930), actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932), activist/politician Ralph Nader (1934), actor Howard Hesseman (1940), political strategist Lee Atwater (1951), guitarist Neal Schon (1954), politician Maggie Hassan (1958), NBA player James Worthy (1961), NFL player Tony Gonzalez (1976), singer-songwriter Josh Groban (1981), and NFL player Chandler Jones (1990).

Welp, it’s Monday. Gonna try and have a normal productive day, but I’m still recovering from the damn COVID. I’m mostly better but there’s a leftover cough and stuffy nose that is highly fucking annoying. Breathing normally is one thing you really should appreciate. I highly recommend it. Enjoy your day.