Random News: March 7, 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 March 7, 2023, and it’s a Tuesday. I’m going on a romp through the magical forest of information, and I’ll share my bounty…

• Do you make over $400,000 a year? If so, congrats on your success.
• Also, your payroll tax will go up to help pay for Medicare.
• “The budget I am releasing this week will make the Medicare trust fund solvent beyond 2050 without cutting a penny in benefits. In fact, we can get better value, making sure Americans receive better care for the money they pay into Medicare.” - Joe Biden
• A scary situation in Mexico. Four Americans were shot at by gunmen and kidnapped shortly after crossing the border last week
• Officials say a woman in the group had been seeking a cosmetic medical procedure. The official said cartel gunmen had targeted the group in a case of mistaken identity.
• Yikes.
• Mexico is a little over a two-hour drive south of here. I have a rule about Mexico. I don’t go there. That’s my rule.
• Speaking of dangerous situations with other countries, Beijing’s new foreign minister Qin Gang warned yesterday that the United States and China are hurtling toward inevitable “confrontation and conflict”.
• I don’t like the sound of that. How about we do peaceful shit and take bonghits instead?
• In psycho news, a man was arrested Sunday in Massachusetts for allegedly attempting to stab a flight attendant with a spoon after trying to open the emergency exit on a trip from LA to Boston.
• Francisco Severo Torres, 33, is being charged with one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon. Torres's charges can carry up to life in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
• It’s almost silly talking about George Santos (R-NY) at this point. I almost want him to stay in Congress to be a continual embarrassment to Republicans. However…
• The Republican who represents Long Island's North Shore and a sliver of Queens is getting a special subcommittee dedicated just to him. The House ethics committee announced last week that it would establish a subcommittee to investigate whether Santos “engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office.”
• Ha ha.
• A couple of election things happening today.
• In a local ballot here in lovely Redondo Beach, CA, we are voting for a new city councilperson for my own District 3 area. We’re also voting on ranked choice voting, taxing weed stores, and a couple of other budget and administrative things.
• I already voted, because that’s how I roll.
• I won’t tell you for whom I voted because local politics are nasty as fuck!
• Today in Oklahoma, they are voting to make recreational marijuana legal, or not. People seem to like weed, so it will probably pass.
• Two-thirds of Americans were opposed to legalization two decades ago. That has now reversed with 69% of Americans surveyed being in favor of legalized ganja. That includes most Republicans… both red and blue seem to support green.
• Weed sales in OK would be subject to a 15% excise tax on top of the standard state sales tax. The revenue would help fund local municipalities, the court system, public schools, substance abuse treatment centers and the state's general revenue fund. 
• Sounds good to me.
• Five women who say they were denied abortions despite grave risks to their lives or their fetuses sued the state of Texas yesterday.
• This is the first time that pregnant women themselves have taken legal action against the bans that have shut down access to abortion across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
• Get ‘em, ladies.
• And now, The Weather: “Coronation” by Rare Monk
• This just pisses me off.
• New York City Mayor Eric Adams is telling shopkeepers to bar customers who refuse to lower their masks when they enter stores.
• “We are putting out a clear call to all of our shops, do not allow people to enter the store without taking off their face mask. And then once they’re inside, they can continue to wear it if they so desire to do so.”
• Apparently, this is a “suggestion”, per the mayor’s office, done to help fight crime. 
• So, tell that to a person with an autoimmune disease. Tell a grandma fighting cancer to drop her mask so the poor storekeeper knows she’s not there to rob the place.
• Some better news…
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state will not do business with pharmacy chain Walgreens after its recent announcement that it will not distribute abortion pills in some states where abortion is legal, as drugstores become the latest battleground for abortion rights in the United States.
• “California won’t be doing business with @walgreens — or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk.” - Gavin Newsom
• From the Sports Desk… about 10 seconds after I posted yesterday’s news, a story broke that former Raiders QB Derek Carr had accepted an offer from the New Orleans Saints.
• He’s signed a four-year deal that’s potentially be worth up to $150 million and includes up to $100 million in guarantees.
• Happy for him. Hope he does well there. As far as the Raiders are concerned, I’m starting to get more hints that we’ll end up with Jimmy G.
• In other NFL QB news, the Seattle Seahawks have signed Geno Smith to a three-year deal. Good decision.
• Today in history… Senator Daniel Webster gives his "Seventh of March" speech endorsing the Compromise of 1850 in order to prevent a possible civil war (1850). Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the “telephone" (1876). A group of 600 civil rights marchers is brutally attacked by state and local police in Selma, AL (1965). 
• March 7 is the birthday of artist Piet Mondrian (1872), composer Maurice Ravel (1875), philanthropist/activist Dorothy de Rothschild (1895), race car driver Janet Guthrie (1938), actor Daniel J. Travanti (1940), businessman Michael Eisner (1942), singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt (1944), singer-songwriter Arthur Lee (1945), actor John Heard (1946), NFL player Franco Harris (1950), actor Bryan Cranston (1956), tennis player Ivan Lendl (1960), singer-songwriter Taylor Dayne (1962), comedian Wanda Sykes (1964), actress Rachel Weisz (1970), actress Jenna Fischer (1974), actress Laura Prepon (1980), and poet Amanda Gorman (1998).

I’m feeling better and my throat is less hurting. That being said, I’m still in no condition to sing for people’s entertainment. It sucks because I’ll be unable to do my scheduled show tonight. I was looking forward to that. It’s been months since my last show in early January. But this, too, shall pass. Enjoy your day.