Random News: April 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 April 27, 2023, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Here are various things I’ve seen that may or may not impact your life right now, but you never know…

• I’ll start with a little breaking news: RIP to Jerry Springer. The one-time mayor of Cincinnati and king of trashy tabloid TV has passed away at age 79.
• Moving on…
• Mickey Mouse is about to bite Ron DeSantis in the ass. 
• Yesterday, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked oversight board, accusing him weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its free speech rights.
• It says DeSantis’ retaliation “now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”
• In a move that’s sure to be popular with Floridians, Martin Garcia, chairman of the DeSantis-picked Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board of supervisors, said the board would seek to raise taxes to pay for its legal fees in evaluating and combatting their fight against Disney.
• “Because that’s going to cost us money, we’re going to have to raise taxes to pay for that,” Garcia said.
• Whoo boy.
• In other news…
• The House voted yesterday to pass Kevin McCarthy’s silly bill raising the nation’s debt ceiling, after days of wrangling Republican lawmakers to unify behind the package.
• The final vote was 217-215, with four Republicans – Ken Buck of Colorado, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Matt Gaetz of Florida – voting against the bill. McCarthy could only lose four votes and prevail on the vote.
• Why is it silly? Because the Senate — even Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — has already called the bill “dead on arrival” as soon as it reaches the upper chamber who would have to sign-off. All of McCarthy’s alleged work on this has been for nothing but political posturing.
• Moving on…
• The co-founder of a fundraising group linked to Steve Bannon that promised to help Donald Trump construct a wall along the southern U.S. border was sentenced to four years and three months in prison yesterday for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors.
• Brian Kolfage, a decorated Air Force veteran, previously pleaded guilty for his role in siphoning donations from the We Build the Wall campaign. A co-defendant, financier Andrew Badolato, was also sentenced to three years for aiding the effort.
• Kolfage and Badolato were also ordered to pay $25 million in restitution to the victims.
• Why isn’t Bannon being sentenced? He was initially arrested aboard a luxury yacht and faced federal fraud charges along with the other men, but Trump pardoned him during his final hours in office.
• Remember that when you vote in 2024.
• However, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought new state charges against Bannon last year. He is awaiting trial on that. Presidential pardons apply only to federal crimes, not state offenses.
• Elsewhere…
• The Montana House voted yesterday to censure the state's first openly transgender legislator Zooey Zephyr, who called for her colleagues to vote against a gender-affirming care ban for transgender youth.
• The House voted 68-32 to censure Zephyr, who is barred from participating from the House floor. Zephyr said that she would continue to stand behind her beliefs after the censure.
• Assholes.
• Speaking of which…
• “I'm here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn't happen. He shattered my reputation.” - author E. Jean Carroll, testifying yesterday at the trial stemming from her defamation and battery lawsuit against Donald Trump.
• “He immediately shut the door and shoved me against the wall,” Carroll said. She then said in the next few moments, Trump pulled down her tights and penetrated her with his hand and genitals.
• Wednesday's hearing began with a reprimand from the judge after Trump called the civil case a "made-up scam" on his social media site.
• In other Trump crime news (there’s always a lot), he lost an emergency attempt to block former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying about their direct conversations.
• That Orange guy is going to go through some stuff for the rest of his life.
• Here’s a weird one…
• Rapper Pras Michél from the Fugees was found guilty in federal court in Washington yesterday of 10 criminal counts related to an international conspiracy reaching the highest levels of the US government.
• Um, what?
• It was over a failed conspiracy to help Malaysian businessman Jho Low and the Chinese government gain access to US officials, including former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Michel was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the US, witness tampering and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
• Lordy.
• Independent Senator and previous presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has endorsed President Biden’s re-election, closing the door on mounting a third consecutive insurgent White House bid in 2024.
• “The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a woman’s right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia. So, I’m in to do what I can to make sure that the president is re-elected.”
• Preach Bernie!
• I can tell you with certainty now: based on the current state of things, there will be no legitimate Democrat who will pose any challenge to Biden for the 2024 election. I’m fine with that.
• Is Biden too old for four more years? Yeah, probably. But he seems physically and mentally sound for a man his age, and I think he’ll continue doing a great job as he has been. I’m in. Let’s go Joe.
• Five Republicans have already launched campaigns for the 2024 nomination: former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, and Donnie T. There will be more soon enough. The GOP primaries will be a shit show, though Trump has already said he won’t be participating.
• Moving on…
• A new bipartisan federal bill unveiled yesterday would establish a national minimum age for social media use and require tech companies to get parents’ consent before creating accounts for teens.
• Under the bill, known as the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, social media platforms would be barred from letting kids below the age of 13 create accounts or interact with other users, though children would still be permitted to view content without logging into an account.
• I am normally against government interference in matters that could and probably should be handled by families, but having seen the devastating results of young kids being exposed to social media far too early, I am not against this measure.
• Some momentary good news…
• Yesterday, a Missouri judge temporarily blocked a first-of-its-kind rule restricting access to gender-affirming health care for transgender kids and adults, just hours before it was set to take effect.
• Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo ruled against Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey's emergency rule on transgender health care, putting it on hold until at least Monday.
• Transgender Missourians and health care providers sued to stop it from taking effect as scheduled Thursday. They argued that Bailey sidestepped the GOP-led Legislature and acted beyond his authority in attempting to regulate gender-affirming health care under the state's consumer-protection laws.
• The rule would "essentially outlaw, on less than two weeks' notice, virtually all medically-necessary treatment for gender dysphoria in Missouri, treatment that is supported by every major medical association in the United States," attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in court filings.
• And now, The Weather: “Back to the Start” by Mazey Haze
• Speaking of weather, it’s been pretty gnarly in various places. Texas was getting pounded with baseball-sized hail that fucked up a bunch of things. The Gulf Coast and Florida are getting hammered with severe storms and flooding.
• Global climate change will continue to increase the severity and frequency of deadly weather events. Plan ahead.
• And please stay safe out there.
• At a fancy state dinner at the White House last night, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol grabbed a microphone and sang a verse of “American Pie” in front of President Biden and an oil portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
• That was not expected. I think more people should just start spontaneously start jamming songs at various moments. That would make life more fun for everyone.
• “I had no damn idea you could sing.” - President Joe Biden
• From the Sports Desk… today is the start of the NFL draft. Here is the whole first round in order as it stands now: 1) Carolina Panthers (from Chicago), 2) Houston Texans, 3) Arizona Cardinals, 4) Indianapolis Colts, 5) Seattle Seahawks (from Denver), 6) Detroit Lions (from L.A. Rams), 7) Las Vegas Raiders, 8) Atlanta Falcons, 9) Chicago Bears (from Carolina), 10) Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans), 11) Tennessee Titans, 12) Houston Texans (from Cleveland), 13) Green Bay Packers (from N.Y. Jets), 14) New England Patriots, 15) New York Jets (from Green Bay), 16) Washington Commanders, 17) Pittsburgh Steelers, 18) Detroit Lions, 19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 20) Seattle Seahawks, 21) Los Angeles Chargers, 22) Baltimore Ravens, 23) Minnesota Vikings, 24) Jacksonville Jaguars, 25) New York Giants, 26) Dallas Cowboys, 27) Buffalo Bills, 28) Cincinnati Bengals, 29) New Orleans Saints (from San Francisco through Miami and Denver), 30) Philadelphia Eagles, and 31) Kansas City Chiefs.
• Quarterback Bryce Young of Alabama is expected to be the first pick. Pre-draft controversy: he’s only 5’10”, which is pretty normal fora. typical human being and rather tiny for an NFL QB.
• In other sports news, the Kicks beat the Cavs 4-1 in the NBA playoffs and will be moving to the next round. In the NHL playoffs, no team has yet to finish their first round series.
• Today in history… Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines led by chief Lapulapu (1521). John Milton sells Paradise Lost to a printer for £10, so that it could be entered into the Stationers' Register (1667). American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus (1861). The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor (1936). Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier (1945). John Ehrlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, is released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Safford, AZ, after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes (1978). Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse (1981). The April 27 demonstrations, student-led protests responding to the April 26 Editorial, during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 (1989). The first democratic general election in South Africa in which black citizens could vote (1994). Airbus A380 aircraft has its maiden test flight (2005). Two hundred five tornadoes touched down in the Southeast USA, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more (2011).
• April 27 is the birthday of Mughal empress Mumtaz Mahal (1593), feminist philosopher/writer Mary Wollstonecraft (1759), inventor Samuel Morse (1791), US president Ulysses S. Grant (1822), MLB player Rogers Hornsby (1896), poet Cecil Day-Lewis (1904), actor Jack Klugman (1922), activist Coretta Scott King (1927), radio host/voice actor Casey Kasem (1932), drummer Jim Keltner (1942), singer-songwriter/guitarist Pete Ham (1947), singer-songwriter Kate Pierson (1948), guitarist Ace Frehley (1951), NBA player George Gervin (1952), politician Cory Booker (1969), singer Lizzo (1988). 

Well, I have only mundane plans for the day, and that’s fine. I always have plenty to do, and don’t mind — to a point — being busy. Enjoy your day.