Random News: April 29, 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 29, 2023, and it’s a Saturday. I’m wearing a robe of blue; let’s see what’s up, my nieces and nephews…

• Bad news incoming. There were three huge blows to democracy yesterday in North Carolina.
• The state Supreme Court’s new Republican majority reversed two rulings by the previous, Democratic-leaning court that upheld fair elections.
• They threw out rulings that had rejected gerrymandered election district maps. They reinstated a voter ID law that’s discriminatory against Black voters. They also reversed a lower court ruling that restored the right to vote for those convicted of felonies once they leave prison or jail.
• This doesn’t just impact North Carolinians. The ruling that effectively sanctions extreme partisan gerrymandering may well add to the Republicans’ thin majority in the U.S. House. It affects us all. It’s very bad news for the whole USA.
• What do we do? Keep fighting, like always.
• Moving on… let’s talk about something positive.
• I’m excited. I have a show today at 2PM PST in the online virtual world of Second Life where I’ve done live acoustic music performances since 2006.
• Today’s show is for a great charitable organization. It’s Feed-a-Smile, benefitting Live & Learn in Kenya. I’ve done many shows for them over many years. Always a good time, and always feel good about using my music for a tangible helpful purpose.
• After my first show for Feed-a-Smile in 2011, I described it as my proudest moment as a musician. I’ve done tons of charity benefit shows for everything from fighting cancer and kidney disease to funs for animal shelters and private fundraisers for people in need, but there’s something special about having an immediate and direct impact on the lives of kids.
• Anyway, if you’re a Second Life person, come by today at 2PM SLT and let’s enjoy it together.
• Back to the news…
• A jury in California has convicted a woman of lying to authorities about a couple attempting to kidnap her children at a Bay Area Michaels craft store in 2020.
• Turns out it was all bullshit. Kathleen Sorensen, 31, could serve up to six months in jail after the jury returned a guilty verdict on one count of false report of a crime.
• She made a viral video about it and went on the news.
• The couple she identified, Sadie Martinez and her husband, are Latina. Sorensen is White. “I couldn’t believe it. It’s like we’re literally guilty of being brown while shopping.” said Martinez.
• Welp.
• The Minnesota Senate passed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for adult use. The bill passed 34-33 along party lines late yesterday afternoon. This bill allows people to have up to five pounds of cannabis in their home.
• Jesus, Minnesota. That’s a lot of weed, you betcha.
• Moving on…
• Yesterday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed four major gun measures designed to make it harder to obtain firearms.
• The legislation expands Colorado's existing "red flag" law to allow educators, health care professionals, and district attorneys request the seizure of a person's firearms under an extreme risk protection order. The other measures raise the minimum age to buy firearms from 18 to 21, impose a three-day waiting period on the purchase of guns, and make it easier to sue gun and ammunition manufacturers.
• Hell yes, Colorado! Well done!
• If that had happened in Texas, a family might still be alive this morning.
• A child is among five dead after a mass shooting in San Jacinto County overnight. The gunman, believed to the victims’ next-door neighbor Francisco Oropeza, has not yet been caught.
• San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said deputies were called to a house around 11pm due to a harassment complaint. While en route, 911 calls began coming in about an active shooter at the location.
• Oropeza, 38, had been drinking and shooting his rifle in his yard. A neighbor asked if he could stop because they had a baby that was trying to sleep inside. Instead, he killed four members of the family. The victims are between eight and 40-years-old.
• This is what the NRA and Republican party wants, and they fight to keep it that way every day. Making it easy for everyone to get more and more guns — and more powerful guns with higher ammo capacity and firing rates — so any drunk fucker can kill his next door neighbors.
• When you vote for those people, it’s what you want too.
• Moving on…
• The US army has grounded aviation units for training after 12 soldiers died in helicopter crashes in Alaska and Kentucky in the last month.
• Training for active-duty units is to take place between 1 and 5 May. National guard and reserve units will have until 31 May to complete theirs.
• Probably a good idea.
• Here’s a headline…
• “Biden v Trump: US is unenthused by likely rematch of two old white men”
• Really? Shocking. I’m sure everyone wants old white men to lead them.
• Say other old white men.
• And now, The Weather: “Familiar Face” by Lutalo
• From the Sports Desk… congrats to my 7th seed Los Angeles Lakers, who beat the 2nd seed Memphis Grizzlies 4-2 in the first round of the NBA playoffs last night. LET’S GO LAKERS (clap clap, clap clap clap)!
• Next week in the second round, they will face either the Warriors or Kings after their game 7 matchup on Sunday.
• The rest of the NBA playoff winners: Heat over the Bucks (4-1), Celtics over the Hawks (4-2), 76ers over the Nets (4-0), Knicks over the Cavs (4-1), Nuggets over the T’Wolves (4-1), and Suns over the Clippers (4-1).
• Today in history… Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans (1429). James Cook arrives in Australia at Botany Bay, which he names (1770). Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union (1861). The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public (1910). SOE agent Nancy Wake, a leading figure in the French Resistance and the Gestapo's most wanted person, parachutes back into France to be a liaison between London and the local maquis group (1944). Adolf Hitler marries his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker (1945). The controversial musical ‘Hair’ opens at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway (1968). United States President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the Watergate scandal (1974). Riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King, and over the next three days 63 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are destroyed (1992). 
• April 29 is the birthday of physician/polymath John Arbuthnot (1667), mathematician/physicist Henri Poincaré (1854), publisher William Randolph Hearst (1863), immunologist Michael Heidelberger (1888), pianist/composer Duke Ellington (1899), harmonica player Toots Thielemans (1922), singer-songwriter Lonnie Donegan (1931), singer-songwriter Willie Nelson (1933), singer-songwriter/guitarist Otis Rush (1935), felon Bernie Madoff (1938), politician Debbie Stabenow (1950), race car driver Dale Earnhardt (1951), actor Leslie Jordan (1955, actress Kate Mulgrew (1955), actor Daniel Day-Lewis (1957), actress Michelle Pfeiffer (1958), tennis player Andre Agassi (1970), and actress Uma Thurman (1970).

Okay, so… definitely come to my show today if you’re an SL person. If you’re not… um… don’t? Enjoy your day.