Random News: May 31, 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 May 31, 2023, and it’s a Wednesday. I have a veritable shit-ton of things to mention today, and I think some of them are pretty important to various people in various ways, so let’s jump into the deep end of the wackiness…

• Yesterday, impeached Texas AG Ken Paxton was on the podcast of Steve Bannon.
• Allow me to interrupt myself to note that both of these men are under indictment for fraud, which is more than a coincidence.
• Anyway, Paxton told Bannon that if he had not intervened, former President Donald Trump would have lost in Texas during the 2020 election.
• "If we'd lost Harris County—Trump won by 620,000 votes in Texas. Harris County mail-in ballots that they wanted to send out were 2.5 million, those were all illegal and we were able to stop every one of them," said Paxton.
• This in itself is total bullshit. The truth is that Harris County had planned to mail out applications for mail-in ballots to all registered voters due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as they do in most civilized states. Paxton's office successfully blocked this initiative through litigation.
• So to be clear, if Texas had a fair voting system, not only would Biden have likely won that state in 2020, but I also think it’s likely that Beto O’Rourke would be governor of Texas today as well.
• Pieces of shit. Moving on…
• Legendary humanitarian (ha!) Donald Trump said yesterday that if elected president again in 2024, he will end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to immigrants in the country illegally.
• Little problem with that, Trumpalumpagus: it’s in direct conflict to a little thing called the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution.
• Dumbass Don said that he would issue an executive order instructing federal agencies to stop what is known as birthright citizenship. Any such action by Trump would be certain to draw a legal challenge and would lose immediately. Losing is something that the Orange Goblin is good at, possibly the only thing.
• As long as we’re covering assholes, let’s do a Jan 6 defendant.
• Pauline Bauer, a 55-year-old Pennsylvania woman who said she wanted to "hang" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the failed coup attempt, was sentenced to 27 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release and fined $2,000 for her conviction on charges including obstructing an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building. 
• Enjoy prison. Oh, and speaking of which…
• Ten years ago, Elizabeth Holmes’ biotech startup, Theranos, was valued to be worth $10 billion. Five years ago, she was indicted for wire fraud. Yesterday, Holmes reported to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, TX to begin serving her sentence of 11 years and 3 months.
• It’s a minimum security prison for white-collar criminals, but it won’t be glamorous. Every new person arriving at Bryan gets cleared by medical and they have to go work in the kitchen for 90 days.
• Holmes will be living in dormitory-style rooming with a four-bunk cubicle and communal bath facilities with no privacy. She’ll be required to maintain a job assignment with hourly wages ranging from $0.12 to $1.15. 
• Welp. Don’t defraud people, and this stuff won’t happen. Moving on…
• Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro will stand trial in September on contempt of Congress charges filed after he refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta set a September. 5 trial date.
• I’ll enjoy that.
• Here’s some totally bonkers news…
• Does the name Tara Reade ring any bells? Back in 2020, the MAGA contingent put her on a pedestal for her claim that in 1993 as a former Senate staffer, Joe Biden pushed her against a wall and assaulted her, an accusation that Biden has repeatedly denied.
• Media outlets have consistently found inconsistencies in her and witnesses' accounts of the allegations, which were made public in March 2020.
• Then yesterday, out of the blue, where does Tara pop up? In Russia, where she has defected. She did a press junket alongside Maria Butina, a convicted Russian spy who was jailed in the US but now a member of parliament in Russia.
• She is expressing support for Putin and apologizing via the Russian state media about America’s support for defending Ukraine. Amazing. Why do I keep being surprised by the depths to which the MAGA world will sink?
• I suppose I should mention the debt ceiling yada yada.
• Yesterday the debt ceiling bill cleared the powerful House Rules Committee with a vote of 7-6.  That means the bill will come to floor today for debate and a final passage vote before it goes to the Senate. 
• The Rules Committee vote had been highly anticipated due to the fact that some of the loudest conservative critics of the bill are members of the panel.
• The buzz around the water cooler says there are approximately 150 Republicans who have indicated they will support the measure. It’s also said that Democrats have at least 100 votes. That should be more than enough to pass it, for good or bad.
• What’s making this shitshow more exciting? The extremist assholes like Matt Gaetz, who said yesterday that if McCarthy tries to pass the debt ceiling bill with Democrats and a minority of Republicans, that would violate his deal with the Freedom Caucus when he became Speaker, and would trigger an immediate Motion to Vacate him from the Speaker’s chair.
• Snort. Moving on…
• The family of Aderrien Murry, the 11-year-old boy who was shot by a Mississippi police officer after he called 911 for help, filed a $5 million federal civil rights lawsuit yesterday.
• Officer Greg Capers arrived "with his firearm drawn at the front and asked everyone inside of the residence to come outside”. Police were told that three children were in the residence.
• As Aderrien was coming around the corner with his hands raised, "he was instantly shot by Defendant Officer Capers," according to the suit. The child suffered a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver and fractured ribs.
• Aderrien said the moment he was struck by the bullet felt like "a big punch to the chest.” No charges have been filed, and Capers remains on paid administrative leave.
• Trying not to boil over with rage about this. Calming down. Moving on…
• A little good news.
• Nevada’s Joe Lombardo became one of the first Republican governors to enshrine protections for out-of-state abortion patients and in-state providers, adding the western swing state to the list of those passing new laws to solidify their status as safe havens for abortion patients.
• Nevada is not a very conservative state, and Lombardo, despite describing himself as “pro-life”, knows it would be his political death knell to do otherwise.
• Only three Republican governors — Lombardo, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, and former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker — have signed laws enshrining protections for abortion, ostensibly for the same reason (that they’d have their asses handed to them in those states had they not).
• Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) is resigning his seat to focus on his wife’s health. He could resign as soon as this week.
• Stewart’s departure would reduce the GOP’s already-slim majority in the House — 222 seats to the Democrats’ 213. Currently, if Democrats oppose a piece of legislation, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) can afford to lose only four votes from his caucus.
• Could be interesting.
• Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to announce his 2024 Republican candidacy for president next week. Christie, 60, is a former close Trump ally who now calls the former president a "coward" and "puppet of Putin."
• I can’t imagine why this guy with zero shot of winning is running, but that’s his call, I guess.
• And now, The Weather: “Cellar” by Sea Lemon
• Speaking of the weather… we are having the heaviest marine layer in recent memory here at the beach. Every day for like a month, it’s been overcast with a high of 66. This is why we have local terms like May Gray, June Gloom, and No-Sky July.
• I generally like it, but I would also enjoy seeing the sky like, once in a while.
• Sad to report that 95-year-old former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia. As you’re aware, her husband Jimmy Carter, 98, has been in hospice care for several months.
• They’re both the best sorts of people.
• From the comedy department… guess which company is the latest to gain the ire of the far right for having “gone woke”? Just guess. I’ll give you a thousand guesses.
• Wrong! It’s Chick-fil-A. Yes, the devoutly Christian-run highly conservative chicken sandwich place that closes on Sundays for the sabbath and formerly provided prolific monetary support to organizations with anti-LGBTQ views. They’re the woke ones now.
• It started with a Monday post from some podcaster named Joey Mannarino. “We have a problem,” he tweeted, “Chick-Fil-A just hired a VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This is bad. Very bad. I don’t want to have to boycott.”
• “Chick-fil-A goes WOKE, commits to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion agenda,” tweeted Charlie Kirk, founder of the far-right Turning Point USA.
• These kinds of people always destroy themselves from within eventually.
• From the Sports Desk… um. Okay, here’s something.
• The 2023 Women's College World Series softball field is set, and I watched snippets of some of the game last weekend. These women are impressive,
• The series starts Thursday with four games: No. 5 Alabama vs No. 4 Tennessee; No. 9 Stanford vs. No. 1 Oklahoma; No. 6 Oklahoma State vs. No. 3 Florida State; and No. 15 Utah vs. No. 7 Washington. Oklahoma, unsurprisingly, are the reigning champs.
• Today in history… Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome (455). King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge of Paris, France (1578). Citing poor eyesight as a reason, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary (1669). The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790 (1790). The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time (1859). Gilmore's Garden in New York City is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue (1879). The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, convenes for the first time (1909). The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland (1911). The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300 (1921). The U.S. Supreme Court expands on its Brown v. Board of Education decision by ordering district courts and school districts to enforce educational desegregation "at all deliberate speed.” (1955). The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed (1977). Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal 9.72 seconds (2008). 
• May 31 is the birthday of poet/journalist Walt Whitman (1819), entrepreneur John Ringling (1866), actor Don Ameche (1908), Monaco prince Rainier III (1923), actor/director Clint Eastwood (1930), singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow (1938), actress Sharon Gless (1943), NFL player Joe Namath (1943), singer-songwriter Jimmy Cliff (1946), drummer John Bonham (1948), actor Tom Berenger (1949), guitarist Tommy Emmanuel (1955), actress Lea Thompson (1961), Hungary prime minister Viktor Orbán (1963), rapper Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels (1964), model/actress Brooke Shields (1965), actor Colin Farrell (1976), NBA player Nate Robinson (1984), NFL player Jordy Nelson (1985), and rapper Azealia Banks (1991).

So yes, that’s a lot of stuff. Something you may not know: I often purposefully curtail the amount of news I throw into this schizz because when you’re thrown too much info at once, everything gets watered down, and I don’t want that to happen. I also don’t have time to tell you everything in the world that you might want or need to know. Anyway, that’s it for now. Enjoy your day.

Random News: May 30, 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 May 30, 2023, and it’s a Tuesday. It’s time to get back to work, and I’m not looking forward to it, but having three whole days off in a row is extremely rare for me, so I’ll just appreciate that instead of whining about this. Let’s see what’s up…

• Should we bother talking about the actual details of the tentative debt ceiling deal that Biden and McCarthy worked out?
• It’s hilarious listening to the wide range of reactions of the various Republican factions.
• “This is a historic Republican victory. It will cut spending year-over-year.” - Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
• “This “deal” is insanity. A $4T debt ceiling increase with virtually no cuts is not what we agreed to. Not gonna vote to bankrupt our country.” - Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC)
• "Conservatives have been sold out once again!" - Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
• “Oh, this thing will absolutely pass. There’s no question about that. I’ve talked to dozens of members — and listen, not every single member is on board. But when was the last time that every single member of Congress agreed on anything?” - Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD)
• “I will use all powers available to me in the Senate to have amendment votes to undo this catastrophe for defense.” - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
• Are conservatives the only ones disappointed in this budget? No, of course not.
• Progressive liberals have serious problems with Biden having acquiesced to things like SNAP work requirements and more.
• Much like their far-right counterparts, politicians like Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chairwoman of the House Progressive Caucus, have indicated the White House and congressional Democrats should have worries that her group won’t support the debt ceiling deal.
• My take? I think it will pass via the centrist factions of both parties in both the House and Senate, and they’ll get it done before the June 5 deadline. 
• In Florida, the new laws say that anyone over 21 can carry a concealed weapon with no kind of permit required. I guess we’ll be seeing more of what happened yesterday near Miami.
• Nine people, including four minors, were transported to area hospitals following a mass shooting at the Hollywood Broadwalk yesterday afternoon. The minors shot were age 1-17, while the adults range from 25-65. One is in surgery and the others were in stable condition.
• At least 16 people were killed and dozens more injured via gun violence over the holiday weekend.
• Happy Memorial Day, y’all.
• Some reasonably good news in regard to this past holiday weekend: holiday travel is back up to pre-pandemic levels. I guess that’s a positive step in this long haul back toward whatever normalcy is.
• Per the TSA, a total of 12.4 million people were screened at airports between Thursday and Monday. The busiest day was Friday when the agency screened 2.72 million travelers – levels not seen since before COVID.
• Authorities are also expecting the trend of travel to be high this entire summer. Plan accordingly.
• In other news…
• The USA and a number of other countries are considering restricting visas for some Ugandan officials after the country adopted the most draconian anti-LGBTQ laws in history.
• The European Union, United Kingdom, UNAIDS, the Global Fund, human rights groups and LGBTQ organizations also expressed their shock at the adoption of the law.
• As I mentioned previously, while same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, the new law imposes capital punishment for some behaviors including “aggravated homosexuality”, and 20 years in prison for “promoting” homosexuality.
• Uganda currently receives billions of dollars in foreign aid each year. They may want to rethink this.
• In related news, Texas passed two “anti-woke” laws. One of the bills, Senate Bill 12, bans minors from attending drag shows. The other, Senate Bill 17, bans offices and programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion at publicly funded colleges and universities.
• Make Texas Uganda!
• Moving on…
• China launched its Shenzhou-16 spacecraft crewed by three astronauts today. The spacecraft is heading to China’s space station and will relieve the crew of Shenzhou-15, who have been living there since November.
• The launch marks China’s fifth crewed mission to its space station since it first sent astronauts in 2021. China aims to launch a crewed mission to the moon by 2030.
• Cool. Good luck, China.
• And now, The Weather: “Prophecy of The Dragon” by The Voidz
• From the Sports Desk… we finally have an NBA Finals matchup. The Miami Heat were too much for the Bottom Celtics in game 7, winning handily by a score of 103-84. The NBA Finals start Thursday June 1, with the Heat traveling to face the Nuggets in Denver.
• In the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights completely dominated the Dallas Stars in their game, winning 6-0 and winning the Western Conference 4 games to 2. They go on to face the Eastern conference champion Florida Panthers in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, with game 1 on Saturday June 3 in Las Vegas.
• Today in history… Beginning of the Peasants' Revolt in England (1381). In Rouen, France, the 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal (1431). Johann Sebastian Bach assumed the office of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, presenting his first new cantata, ‘Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75’ (1723). The Kansas–Nebraska Act becomes law establishing the U.S. territories of Kansas and Nebraska (1854). Decoration Day — the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day” — is observed in the United States for the first time (1868). At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race (1911). The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. (1922). Chicago police shoot and kill ten labor demonstrators (1937). Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars (1971). Spain joins NATO (1982). Nigeria passes a law banning same-sex marriage (2013).
• May 30 is the birthday of mathematician Grace Andrews (1869), film director Howard Hawks (1986), voice actor Mel Blanc (1908), clarinetist/bandleader Benny Goodman (1909), NFL player Gale Sayers (1943), actor Colm Meany (1953), drummer Topper Headon (1955), actor Ted McGinley (1958), singer-songwriter Wynona Judd (1964), songwriter/guitarist Tom Morello (1964), singer-songwriter Stephen Malkmus (1966), singer-songwriter Idina Menzel (1971), MLB player Manny Ramirez (1972), and singer CeeLo Green (1974).

I have a bunch of work projects to keep rolling today, but that’s fine. I prefer knowing what I’m going to do work-wise than waiting for some mystery bomb to drop. My schedule is pretty full as-is. Enjoy your day.

Random News: May 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 May 29, 2023, and it’s a Monday. It’s also Memorial Day, a holiday here the good ol’ USA. I’m mostly chilling today, still in my robe for the time being, but let’s see what’s shakin’…

• Memorial Day is a US holiday that specifically honors the military personnel who died in duty. It’s not Veterans Day, which is a general holiday that salutes anyone who ever served.
• You’re always welcome to thank a veteran for their service regardless of what holiday it is, or isn’t, but today is for the ones who died, to be clear.
• It seems like it would be obvious, but frankly most Americans think of it as a day off work in weather that’s good for barbecuing and drinking beer.
• One thing I find fascinating about Memorial Day… many of the people who seem to support it with giant American flags waving in their yards are those who are most against the causes that these soldiers, sailors, and Marines died for: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and fighting the scourge of fascism, authoritarianism, antisemitism and other forms of hatred.
• Let’s do some news…
• Here’s a preview of how America would be under the laws currently supported in places like Florida and other Republican-led states.
• Uganda’s president signed into law a wide-ranging anti-LGBTQ bill today. It imposes life imprisonment for same-sex activity and the death penalty in some cases.
• The Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 punishes those found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality” with death. The new law also imposes life imprisonment as punishment for anyone found to have performed a sexual act with a person of the same gender, and up to seven years in prison for “an attempt to commit the offense of homosexuality.”
• You may think of what’s happening in places like Florida as not a big deal. But one look at Twitter, with immediate calls to boycott any company or brand that shows support for LGBTQ+ people — from Bud Light to Target to Kohl’s to many more — and you’ll see, the Uganda law is exactly what these folks support.
• Hey, maybe Ron DeSantis can use “Make America Uganda” is his new slogan.
• In other international news… in as much as I was hoping for a different result, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been elected to a third term to lead Turkey after winning the country's presidential runoff election yesterday.
• Erdogan received 27,513,587 votes, or 52.14% of the votes cast, beating challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu who had 25,260,109 votes, or 47.86%.
• Moving on…
• This week, the Biden administration announced the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism to protect Jewish communities across the US.
• He released a video about the new strategy, saying hate has been "given too much oxygen" in recent years and has fuelled a "record rise in antisemitism."
• At least one Republican felt threatened by Biden’s plan: Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
• Responding to Biden’s statement about antisemitism, Boebert tweeted, “When they say stuff like this, they mean they want to go after conservatives.”
• White House press secretary Andrew Bates correctly responded, “Congresswoman Boebert is mistaken; antisemitism is not 'conservative' — it is evil. If anyone finds opposition to hate threatening, they need to look inward. Congresswoman Boebert should also Google the Soviet Union's long, repulsive history of antisemitism.”
• The Anti-Defamation League counted 3,697 antisemitic incidents last year, a 36 percent increase from the previous year and the highest figure since it began keeping records in 1979.
• Who would have thought that after all the progress the USA made — from fighting a whole-ass war to eliminate slavery in the 1800s to allowing voting for women in the early 20th century to the civil rights battles of the 1960s — that we’d end up in 2023 with a whole faction of politicians built on open hatred toward gays and Jews?
• I’ve mentioned this many times, but they won’t stop at gays or Jews. They will not stop until everyone who deviates from their white nationalism and Christian fascism is subdued or eliminated.
• Moving on…
• Russia’s Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant today for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) following his comments related to the fighting in Ukraine.
• In a video of his meeting on Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Graham noted that “the Russians are dying” and described the U.S. military assistance to Ukraine as “the best money we’ve ever spent.”
• Please don’t put me in a position to defend Lindsey Graham, Russia.
• Let’s move on…
• Now that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been impeached and is currently removed form duty pending his trial by the Texas Senate, he’s been replaced by his assistant Brent Webster.
• Is Webster a better guy? No, no, no, no, no.
• Webster took over for Jeff Mateer, who resigned after reporting Paxton’s alleged criminal behavior to law enforcement agencies along with seven other top Paxton aides.
• Webster faced a professional misconduct case brought by the State Bar of Texas for helping Paxton file a long-shot federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in four battleground states.
• So he’s definitely another piece of shit. And don’t worry; there’s a line of pieces of shit behind him as well.
• And now, The Weather: “Horsey Girl Rider” by bar italia
• How about this crazy shit?
• A bus driver and passenger opened fire on each other on a moving Charlotte, NC transit bus earlier this month. The incident started when a passenger identified as Omarri Shariff Tobias got up while the bus was in motion and asked the driver to let him off between designated bus stops.
• The driver, David Fullard, told Tobias he would have to wait until the next approved stop. After about a two-minute exchange, Tobias pulled out a gun and pointed it at Fullard. Then Fullard pulled out his own firearm. Both men shot. Fullard was struck in the arm and Tobias was struck in the abdomen.
• THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE ON THAT BUS. These two fools are spraying bullets. Does this fit the “good guy with a gun” narrative?
• Aaaaand moving on…
• I very rarely write things that would be called “opinion” here, though I obviously express my opinion all over most bullet points.
• But here’s a speculative opinion regarding the 2024 Republican primaries. Why is there a crowded GOP field when Trump’s cult and his poll numbers make him that obvious candidate? Two things.
• First is the distinct possibility that Trump, for a plethora of legal reasons, might not actually be available to be the president by the time the general election comes around. In that circumstance, whomever was in second place, no matter how distant, becomes the presumed candidate.
• Second is that all these people, from DeSantis to Scott to the rest, are using the 2024 election cycle as a big advertisement for themselves to get public awareness and recognition in advance of the 2028 election. It’s not rocket science.
• That’s all. Just some speculation from me.
• Hey, you know that respiratory virus that’s sending people to the hospital?
• No, not COVID. Cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, spiked this spring. It filled hospital intensive care units with young children and seniors who are the most vulnerable to these infections. At its peak in mid-March, nearly 11% of tested specimens were positive for HMPV, a number that’s about 36% higher than the average, pre-pandemic seasonal peak of 7% test positivity.
• Unlike COVID-19 and the flu, there’s no vaccine for HMPV or antiviral drugs to treat it. Doctors care for seriously ill people by tending to their symptoms.
• One study of patient samples collected over 25 years found that it was the second most common cause of respiratory infections in kids behind RSV. A study in New York conducted over four winters found that it was as common in hospitalized seniors as RSV and the flu.
• When you see me wearing a mask in the grocery store, be aware that i’ve gone since 2019 without getting even a little cold. I like this whole “not being sick” thing, and I don’t give a fuck if you miss seeing my face.
• Yes, I did get COVID in February… by being in a high-risk environment and removing my mask. Not gonna make that mistake again.
• From the Sports Desk… tonight’s the night for game 7 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals between the Celtics and Heat. May the best team win. A reminder: no NBA playoff team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit, so if Boston does it tonight, it will be a historical moment in sports.
• Today in history… Charles II is restored to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland (1660). Rhode Island becomes the last of North America's original Thirteen Colonies to ratify the Constitution and become one of the United States (1790). Wisconsin is admitted as the 30th U.S. state (1848). The pharmacist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, which appeared in The Atlanta Journal (1886). Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, France, provoking a riot (1913). Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity is tested and later confirmed by Arthur Eddington and Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin (1919). Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest (1953). Tom Bradley is elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles, CA (1973). Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station (1999).
• May 29 is the birthday of English king Charles II (1630), poet/playwright G. K. Chesterton (1874), actor/singer Bob Hope (1903), US president John F. Kennedy (1917), race car driver Al Unser (1939), failed assassin John Hinckley Jr. (1955), singer LaToya Jackson (1956), actress Annette Bening (1958), musician/activist Melissa Etheridge (1961), singer-songwriter Noel Gallagher (1967), actress/activist Laverne Cox (1972), Spice Girl Mel B (1975), comedian Daniel Tosh (1975), NBA player Carmelo Anthony (1984), and NBA player Austin Reaves (1998).

Time to take off this robe (woo woo) and take a shower and be a person who does things. Enjoy your day.

Random News: May 28, 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 May 28, 2023, and it’s a Sunday. It’s day two of a three-day weekend. I’m in a bathrobe and drinking coffee, so what better time to see what has transpired since we last met? Let’s find out together…

• President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have reached a tentative agreement on legislation to increase the nation’s borrowing authority and avoid a federal default.
• The House will vote on the legislation on Wednesday, giving the Senate time to consider it before the June 5 deadline.
• Full details about the deal are unknown, but I’ve seen a lot more angry conservatives than liberals talking about what they think they know. Here’s what’s known thus far…
• It keeps nondefense spending roughly flat in the 2024 fiscal year and increase it by 1% the following year, as well as provide for a two-year debt-limit increase — past the next presidential election in 2024, which is definitely a Biden win.
• The agreement fully funds medical care for veterans per Biden’s proposed 2024 budget blueprint, including for a fund dedicated to veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances or environmental hazards. That’s absolutely a Biden win.
• House Republicans had passed legislation that would create new work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, but that was left out of the final agreement. That’s certainly a Biden win.
• But the agreement would also expand some work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The agreement would raise the age for existing work requirements from 49 to 54, similar to the Republican proposal. That’s a… reasonable compromise, I guess. 
• Another unknown: student loan debt relief. The budget agreement keeps Biden’s plan in place, though the Supreme Court will have the ultimate say on the matter.
• Before you celebrate, be aware that both sides are still posturing, and loud complaints are being stated from both Republican and Democrat leaders. But I think they’ll work it out. The details should be released today.
• Anyway, that’s closer to being settled, and it seems that in the big picture, few of the hard line right wing budget requirements were allowed. The debut ceiling is being raised, as it always has. Moreover it seems that catastrophic Republican plan to default is close to being averted. Big thanks to Joe Biden for standing up for the American people… all of us.
• Moving on…
• The Texas House of Representatives voted yesterday to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. The vote was 121-23, with two members voting “present.”
• The third-term Republican is accused of a yearslong pattern of corruption, with an impeachment indictment of 20 counts including abusing his office’s powers, retaliating against whistleblowers and obstructing justice.
• Paxton is now temporarily suspended from his duties as attorney general and will await a Senate trial.
• Paxton is an ally of former president Trump. All in all, I couldn’t be happier.
• Moving on…
• I know that if you’re like me, you’re disgusted by the idea that the January 6 defendants are raising funds and profiting off their attempts to overthrow the election process.
• Well, here’s some good news: the Justice Department now wants these people to give up the money they raised — a clawback effort so that these criminals can’t personally profit from participating in the failed coup attempt.
• A review of court records shows that prosecutors in the more than 1,000 criminal cases from Jan. 6, 2021, are increasingly asking judges to impose fines on top of prison sentences to offset donations from supporters of the Capitol rioters.
• Of note: there's nothing illegal about defendants asking for help for attorney expenses. But the Justice Department has questioned where the money is really going because many of those charged have had government-funded legal representation.
• Yup. These fucking grifters.
• The really funny thing? Most of the fundraising efforts appear on GiveSendGo, which bills itself as “The #1 Free Christian Fundraising Site”, since defendants have been barred from using mainstream crowdfunding sites, including GoFundMe.
• They proclaim their innocence and portray themselves as victims of government oppression, even as they cut deals to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.
• So far this year, prosecutors have sought more than $390,000 in fines against at least 21 Jan. 6 defendants, in amounts ranging from $450 to more than $71,000.
• Good. Get that money back.
• As has been the case in the downward spiral of other red states, Iowa is now restricting education about gender identity and sexual orientation, banning books with certain sexual content from school libraries, and requiring schools to notify parents if their child asks to use a new name or pronoun.
• Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a sweeping bill into law yesterday making all of these state law.
• There were more book bans across the country during the fall 2022 semester than in each of the prior two semesters. The bans were most prevalent in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah and South Carolina.
• About one-third of the titles banned are books about race or racism or feature characters of color. About 26% of the titles have LGBTQ+ characters or themes.
• It’s a dangerous path for the kids in these states, and leads to a continuation of ignorance in places that need an educated populace the most.
• Moving on…
• I often talk about gun violence on Sundays, but I honestly don’t have it in me today to go through all the various shootings thus far this holiday weekend. I will mention a notable one.
• The 41st annual Red River Memorial Motorcycle Rally is this weekend in a small New Mexico resort town. They’d expected some 30,000 bikers; what could go wrong?
• At least three people were killed and multiple others were injured in a shooting there yesterday evening. The shooters have been apprehended in the incident.
• Important side note: I’ve known some decent people with very strong ethical outlooks who were also serious bikers. But in a situation these days where there are too many guns combined with too many people and too much partying, welp…
• Sad side note: there were dozens of other shootings yesterday. I’m just not listing them.
• And now, The Weather: “Anthropocene” by Mega Bog
• From the Sports Desk… some total insanity in both the NBA and NHL playoffs yesterday.
• The Boston Celtics won a literal last-second victory over the Miami Heat in game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals with a score of 104-103. No team has ever, in history, come back from a 3-0 deficit to win, but the Celtics have the chance to do just that as the series returns to Boston tomorrow night.
• Over in the NHL, the Dallas Stars, who had also been down 3-0 the the Vegas Golden Knights, have won two straight and are now down 3-2, having own 4-2 in game 5. Game 6 of that series is also tomorrow night.
• Today in history… A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales (585 BC). In the first engagement of the French and Indian war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania (1754). U.S. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which denies Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocates them (1830). In San Francisco, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club (1892). Alan Turing submits ‘On Computable Numbers’ for publication (1936). Volkswagen, the German automobile manufacturer, is founded (1937). Peter Benenson's article ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’ is published in several internationally read newspapers, later thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International (1961). The Palestine Liberation Organization is founded, with Yasser Arafat elected as its first leader (1964). U.S. President Bill Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud (1996). The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site (2002). 
• May 28 is the birthday of UK prime minister William Pitt the Younger (1759), inventor Carl Richard Nyberg (1858), athlete Jim Thorpe (1888), author Ian Fleming (1908), singer-songwriter/guitarist T-Bone Walker (1910), actress/activist Zelda Rubinstein (1933), NBA player/executive Jerry West (1938), lawyer/politician/national joke Rudy Giuliani (1944), singer-songwriter Gladys Knight (1944), physician Patch Adams (1945), singer-songwriter John Fogerty (1945), bass player Leland Sklar (1947), singer-songwriter Wendy O. Williams (1949), guitarst Jerry Douglas (1956), MLB player Kirk Gibson (1957), politician Marco Rubio (1971), and NFL player Percy Harvin (1988).

Okay then. It’s time for me to get my ass in the shower and start doing something productive and not being a blob. Enjoy your day.

Random News: May 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 May 27, 2023, and it’s a Saturday. It’s the start of a three-day weekend, so I’m even more chill than usual in my blue bathrobe. While my delicious coffee is hot, let’s see what’s going on…

• Some probably momentary good news…
• A South Carolina judge has temporarily blocked the state’s new abortion restrictions from going into effect, just one day after Gov. Henry McMaster signed them into law.
• Moments after it went into effect immediately, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, along with the Greenville Women’s Clinic and two physician plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit in state court to try to stop it.
• All the thanks going out to the fighters for bodily autonomy.
• For now, abortions in SC remain legal up until around 20 weeks until the Supreme Court makes a decision or takes other action to allow implementation of the law.
• Here’s some follow-up from a recent story…
• Today, the GOP-led Texas House of Representatives will take up a resolution to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. Debate on the impeachment resolution will begin at 2pm ET
• Impeaching that asshole requires a simple majority of House members. Republicans hold an 85-64 majority in the House. So they need 75 to impeach. And since this is being brought against Paxton by fellow Republicans, I actually think it’s going to happen.
• We’ll see later today.
• They have 20 articles of impeachment lined up against Paxton, which included bribery, obstruction of justice and abuse of the public trust. Paxton has been under FBI investigation for years over accusations that he used his office to help a donor and was separately indicted on securities fraud charges in 2015. 
• Paxton, who is supported by Donald Trump, is asking people to “peacefully protest” at the Texas capitol… a place where trans protestors were harassed and arrested weeks ago for the same thing. I’m sure Paxton is hoping for some mini-January 6 event. It won’t happen.
• Moving on…
• I’m really not going to mention the Republican debt ceiling fiasco until there’s something tangible to talk about. As you’re likely aware, yesterday Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that if the GOP-led Congress does not address the debt ceiling by June 5, the US Treasury Department will not have enough funds to pay all of the nation’s obligations in full and on time.
• Treasury will be able to send out more than $130 billion in payments in the first two days of June, including ones to veterans and Social Security and Medicare recipients, but it projects that it will not have the resources to meet these obligations after June 5.
• Best of luck to those of you who voted for Republican representative and now won’t receive the aid you require to have housing and medical care. I genuinely feel sorry for you.
• Final reminder: the USA has never once, in its 247-year history, defaulted on its debt. We’re in uncharted waters here and you may personally feel this in ways you don’t currently understand.
• In other news…
• Here’s something I’ve been thinking about, and I know I’m not the only one.
• States like Florida that have anti-drag show laws might need to take a closer look at other sanctioned activities. Florida’s SB 1438 defines “adult live performances” as any show, exhibition or other presentation in front of a live audience that depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or specific sexual activities.
• Have you ever seen the cheerleaders at a National Football League game? They are performing in front of children in very revealing outfits. They are pumping their hips and making moves that are clearly sexual in intent.
• So with this law in place, why can the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Jacksonville Jaguars have these sexualized shows in front of the kids who come to the games?
• I think someone needs to pursue this legally.
• Moving on…
• New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed legislation yesterday that will ban discrimination based on body size by adding weight and height to the list of protected categories such as race, sex and religion.
• Exemptions under the ordinance include cases in which an individual’s height or weight could prevent them from performing essential functions of a job. Makes sense, I suppose.
• In the bizarro world, Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law yesterday that rolls back child labor protections by extending the hours that teens can work and the establishments where they can be employed.
• Democrats argued that loosening protections would endanger children and distract them from school and extracurricular activities.
• Trust me, Iowa doesn’t care about education.
• Under the newly signed law, 14- and 15-year-olds are allowed to work until 9pm during most of the year and until 11pm from June 1 to Labor Day. 16- and 17-year-olds are now permitted to work the same hours as an adult.
• The law also allows teens as young as 16 to serve alcohol in restaurants if their employer has written permission from their parent or guardian.
• So 16-year-old girls in Iowa can now serve booze to drunk old men. I’m sure that will be fine and no problems will result, said no one.
• Sigh… moving on…
• I’ve continued to report news about the repercussions faced by those who were involved in the January 6, 2021 failed coup attempt. The most recent is Oath Keepers defendant Jessica Watkins — a military veteran from Ohio who founded a militia in the area.
• Watkins was sentenced yesterday to 8-1/2 years in prison for numerous felony counts including obstructing Congress and interfering with police, but she was acquitted of the most severe seditious conspiracy count after she admitted to much of her actions during the riot. 
• She told Judge Amit Mehta that she was sorry for her actions on Jan. 6. “My actions and my behaviors that fateful day were wrong and as I now understand, criminal.”
• Yup.
• Kenneth Harrelson of Titusville, FL was sentenced to four years in prison. He had a lesser role compared to his other Oath Keeper pals, and claims to have been working a security job, and to have never voted in his life.
• Maybe pick better friends.
• And now, The Weather: “Show Me How” by Foo Fighters
• A brief note on today’s Weather song, something I rarely do.
• This new Foo Fighters song features, as usual, Dave Grohl on lead vocals… but here he’s joined by his daughter Violet Grohl. I thought you might like it. All of my Weather songs are new, but I usually focus on more indie bands rather than huge globally-known pop/rock bands like the Foos. But it was cool to hear the dad/daughter duo, and the song is quite nice too.
• Here’s something else…
• Röbynn Europe, a Black woman, was hired by the high-end Equinox gym in 2018 and was quickly promoted to oversee a group of 15 employees. Less than a year layer, she was fired because Equinox retaliated against her for calling out racism and sexism at the club.
• A jury agreed with Europe, awarding her $11.25 million in damages, a verdict that includes $10 million in punitive damages against the gym.
• Fuck racism and sexism. Don’t be an asshole to anyone. Why is that so difficult?
• From the Sports Desk… as mentioned previously two big games in two different sports today. In the NBA, the Celtics try to stay alive versus the Heat. In the NHL, the Dallas Stars try to do the same again the Vegas Golden Knights.
• Good luck to the team you like. I don’t have a horse in either race anymore, so I don’t care.
• Today in history… Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg (1703). First Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson (1863). The 1,046 feet Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public (1930). The U.S. Federal Securities Act is signed into law requiring the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission (1933). The Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, CA (1937). U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an "unlimited national emergency” to deal with WWII (1941). Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census (1967). Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets with Chechnyan rebels for the first time and negotiates a cease-fire (1996). Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot that led to the Oklahoma City bombing (1998). 
• May 27 is the birthday of business,am/philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794), journalist/activist Amelia Bloomer (1818), businessman Jay Gould (1836), police officer Wild Bill Hickok (1837), biologist/environmentalist Rachel Carson (1907), US vice president Hubert Humphrey (1911), actor Vincent Price (1911), actor Christopher Lee (1922), politician Henry Kissinger (1923), businessman/philanthropist Sumner Redstone (1923), author/screenwriter Harlan Ellison (1934), model/actress Lee Meriwether (1935), actor Louis Gossett Jr. (1936), singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn (1945), bass player Pete Sears (1948), singer-songwriter Neil Finn (1958), actress Peri Gilpin (1961), actor Adam Carolla (1964), MLB player Jeff Bagwell (1968), actor Paul Bettany (1971), rapper Lisa Lopes (1971), rapper André 3000 (1975), and NFL player Daniel Jones (1997).

It’s the start of a three-day weekend here in the USA, and I am going to enjoy a whole lot of nothing. Might do some music stuff. We’ll see. First, breakfast and showers and so on. Enjoy your day.

Random News: May 26, 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 May 26, 2023, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! It’s also the Friday before a three-day weekend here in the USA, so motivating myself to work or (even harder) motivating others will be a challenge, so let’s do this for awhile instead…

• Starting with some outstanding news: Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers, has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison in connection with the Jan. 6 failed coup attempt on the Capitol, following his conviction on seditious conspiracy.
• Rhodes’ sentence is the longest imposed on a Jan. 6 defendant to date. The prick had the nerve to call himself a "political prisoner” in court.
• The judge disagreed that Rhodes had been locked up for politics, saying it was his actions that led to his criminal convictions.
• “You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country and to the republic and to the very fabric of this democracy.” - Judge Amit Mehta
• Kelly Meggs, a fellow Oath Keepers member, was also sentenced by Judge Mehta yesterday, to 12 years in federal prison. Mehta said Meggs did not pose the same continuing threat as Rhodes and a shorter sentence was more appropriate. The 12-year sentence for Meggs is the third longest handed down for a Jan. 6 defendant.
• Fuck around, find out. As I’ve stated many times before, justice will not be complete until every person who planned, participated in, or abetted the January 6 insurrection is prosecuted appropriately.
• I told you some weird shit was going on with some kind of internal Republican civil was in Texas. Welp…
• Yesterday, a Texas House committee unanimously voted to recommend that state Attorney General Ken Paxton be impeached and removed from office.
• And the state House of Representatives could vote on the recommendation as early as today. Crazy!
• The House General Investigating committee told the panel there was evidence that Paxton had repeatedly broken state laws, including misuse of official information, abuse of official capacity, and retaliation. Some of the allegations against Paxton date back years.
• Haha, you fuckers. I’ll be over here while you eat each other alive.
• Moving on… to some shitty news.
• The type of wetland that gets protection under federal law was reset by a sweeping ruling yesterday from the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Nearly two decades ago, the court ruled that wetlands are protected by the Clean Water Act if they have a “significant nexus” to regulated waters. But this current hyper-conservative Supreme Court decided that rule no longer applies and said the Environmental Protection Agency’s interpretation of its powers went too far.
• Justice Alito ruled that the Clean Water Act extends only to “those wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are ‘waters of the United States’ in their own right, so that they are ‘indistinguishable’ from those waters.” He was joined by Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Coney Barrett.
• In fact, all nine justices agreed that the land in the case brought before them should not have been subject to regulation. but only five of them want to curtail the EPA’s ability to help the environment. Oddly, you might note a missing name on that list: Kavanaugh. He sided with the liberal wing, saying the majority was ignoring precedent and jeopardizing water quality in the US.
• Environmental groups and legal experts estimate that the decision will remove federal protection from half of all wetlands in the continental United States.
• Fucking assholes. Moving on…
• Do I waste time talking about the criminal who once called himself President? If I must…
• Two of Donald Trump’s employees moved boxes of papers the day before an early June visit by FBI agents and a prosecutor to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve classified documents in response to a subpoena.
• Investigators are suspicious about the timing of this — ya think? — and have come to view it as an indication of possible obstruction.
• But wait.
• Trump and his aides also allegedly carried out a “dress rehearsal” for moving sensitive papers even before his office received the May 2022 subpoena.
• Jesus. Okay, enough of that.
• This little 11-year-old kid who got shot by the cops responding to his own 9-1-1 call just boils my blood.
• Aderrien Murry is recovering after an Indianola, MS police officer shot him in the chest. The child’s mother said an officer arrived with “his gun drawn at the front door and asked those inside the home to come outside.”
• The kid obeyed the order and walked out with his hands up where he was shot. “His words were, ‘Why did he shoot me? What did I do?’” his mom said.
• Body-cam footage apparently exists but the police refuse to release it or even show it to the family due to the “ongoing investigation”. The cop is on paid administrative leave, but remains an employee of the Indianola Police Department.
• Let’s get back to some good news.
• President Joe Biden announced his nomination of Air Force chief of staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday.
• If confirmed, it would be the first time in US history that both of the Defense Department’s top leaders – the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs – are African American.
• The Joint Chiefs chairman is the country’s most senior ranking military officer, who serves as the principal military adviser to the president of the United States, secretary of defense and National Security Council.
• Brown, who goes by CQ, started his military service as a fighter pilot, logging 3,000-plus flying hours and 130 combat hours. He was confirmed as chief of the Air Force in a 98-0 vote. He would be the second Black man to serve as the Joint Chiefs chairman, following Gen. Colin Powell who served from 1989 to 1993.
• Cool. Back in 2020, Brown made a video in support of the people upset at George Floyd’s murder. Seems like a good guy.
• And now, The Weather: “Constant Repeat” by Kurt Vile
• Planning on traveling for Memorial Day weekend? Airports in every city in the USA are expecting record surges of travelers today. I advise a lot of patience and giving yourself a ton of extra time to get to the airport, through security. to your gate and so on.
• If you’re driving, here’s some good news: the cost of a gallon of gasoline averages $3.65 nationwide right now, a 12-cent decline from a month ago – but over a dollar less compared to this time last year, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. 
• Thanks Joe Biden!
• Just kidding. The president doesn’t control prices of things, be they up or down. Jesus Christ, people.
• There was a good news story out of the SCOTUS this week.
• Yesterday they ruled unanimously in favor of a 94-year-old Minneapolis woman after her county kept the entire $40,000 when it sold her condominium over an unpaid tax bill of $2,300.
• The justices ruled that Hennepin County in Minnesota violated the constitutional rights of the woman, Geraldine Tyler, by taking her property without paying "just compensation."
• This is good too…
• U.S. Marshals announced this week that they found or recovered 225 endangered missing children during a coordinated 10-week effort with multiple law enforcement agencies.
• “Operation We Will Find You” included the US Marshals Service, along with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and state and local agencies in 16 federal judicial districts and 15 geographical locations across the U.S.
• A bear broke into a Connecticut bakery on Wednesday, ate 60 cupcakes, and destroyed a coconut cake. Sounds like a pretty good Wednesday to me.
• From the Sports Desk… these conference finals are going somewhat longer than expected.
• In the NBA, the Boston Celtics, who were down 3-0 to the Miami Heat, won two consecutive games to stay alive and are now down 3-2 going into game 6. They won game 5 last night 110-97. It’s extremely rare for this to happen. Out of 150 situations an NBA playoff team was down 3-0, only 15 of them made it to game 6, only 3 of them made it to game 7, and none of them have ever won the series.
• Similarly in the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights came very close to sweeping the Dallas Stars, but lost to them in Game 4 by a score of 3-2 in overtime. That series stands at 3-1 now.
• Today in history… Geneva expels John Calvin and his followers from the city (1538). Montana is organized as a United States territory (1864). The Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, is the last full general of the Confederate Army to surrender, at Galveston, TX (1865). The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson ends with his acquittal by one vote (1868). Charles Dow publishes the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (1896). The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles (1927). In the United States, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its first session (1938). In northern France, Allied forces begin a massive evacuation from Dunkirk (1940). The Beatles' ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ is released (1967). Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first crewed moon landing (1969). The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (1972). The European Community adopts the European flag (1986). United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing (2004). Protests triggered by the murder of George Floyd erupt in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, before becoming widespread across the United States and around the world (2020). 
• May 26 is the birthday of singer/actress/musician Mamie Smith (1883), singer/actor Al Jolson (1886), photographer Dorothea Lange (1895), actor John Wayne (1907), actor Peter Cushing (1913), singer-songwriter Peggy Lee (1920), trumpet player/composer Miles Davis (1926), pathologist Jack Kevorkian (1928), singer-songwriter/drummer/actor Levon Helm (1940), guitarist/songwriter/producer Mick Ronson (1946), singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks (1948), actress Pam Grier (1949), physicist/astronaut Sally Ride (1951), actor Bobcat Goldthwait (1962), singer-songwriter Lenny Kravitz (1964), actress Helena Bonham Carter (1966), animator Matt Stone (1971), singer-songwriter Lauryn Hill (1975), singer-songwriter Phil Elvrum (1978), and NHL player Jimmy Vesey (1993).

I suppose that’s plenty of stuff. I’m going to try and not stress today. It’s generally not worth it, not that I’m always in control of my ability to stay cool and calm regardless of the circumstances. But I do try and keep in mind that the stress only makes things worse. I’ll do what I can and that’s good enough. Enjoy your day.

Random News: May 25, 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 May 25, 2023, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I have work to do and people to see and places to go. Wait, I don’t have places to go, but the other things were true. Anyway, let’s do this…

• I almost never lead with RIP notices, but we’re talking about Tina Turner here.
• The Queen of Rock and Roll was 83. I think her most important contribution to the world was not her tremendous ability to own the renditions of the songs she sang, nor her tremendous vocal and stage performance prowess.
• Instead, it was the inspiration she gave that empowered women around the world to not accept abuse and instead to carve their own independent path in life that allowed them to have choices.
• Tina Turner won 12 Grammys, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, and sold over 100 million records, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.
• One little side note… when asked who her favorite singer was, Janis Joplin didn’t hesitate for a second to answer that it was Tina.
• One other little side note… I never met Tina, but I did meet Ike once. I was at an event and he was being honored for his musical achievements, and damn near every woman in that room got up and left when he came to the stage. I enjoyed that.
• And one final, final side note. Many years back, my dad, who was born in 1941, got in a disagreement with me when I told him that “Proud Mary” was a Creedence Clearwater Revival song written by John Fogerty. He insisted it was originally by Tina, and declared that the CCR vision was an anemic cover. That kind of shows how impactful Tina’s performance was.
• Side note to that side note: I was right, obviously. CCR’s version came out in March 1969 and  peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ike and Tina’s version came out in January 1971 and reached No. 4. But I let my dad believe his version of things, because you should be nice to your dad if you can, even when he doubles down in his wrongness.
• Moving on…
• I suppose Ron DeSantis’s launch of his presidential campaign could have gone worse, but I’m not sure how.
• For some ill-advised reason, he made the campaign launch via Twitter in an online conversation with Elon Musk. The plan backfired horrendously. The audio stream crashed repeatedly and there were glitches and echoes, making it impossible for most users to hear the new presidential candidate in real time.
• Seems about right. Failure from day one.
• Another news item…
• Richard “Bigo” Barnett, an Arkansas man who propped his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the failed coup attempt on January 6, 2021, was sentenced yesterday to more than four years in prison.
• Barnett was convicted in January of eight charges, including obstructing an official proceeding and entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon. The most serious of the charges carried a maximum 20-year sentence. He was lucky to get just 54 months.
• The defense asked for 12 months… hahahahaha.
• In related news, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes faces up to 25 years in prison at sentencing today. This is the first punishment to be handed down for seditious conspiracy in regard to Jan. 6, 2021. I’ll let you know how that went tomorrow.
• Let’s see what else is up…
• Today is the three-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
• After everything that happened as a result — the BLM protests, the conviction and sentencing of Derek Chauvin and his accomplices, and so on — very little (if any) progress has been made to address racism in policing.
• We who have called for federal action like banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants, and changing the so-called qualified immunity protections for law enforcement have received no results.
• Until you address a problem directly and make those changes, the same situations will create the same results. 
• Moving on (for now… I have a feeling there will be some mighty rallies and protests on a. multitude of topics this coming summer)…
• The nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group issued a travel advisory against the state of Florida following newly passed laws and policies that may be harmful to people in those communities.
• The Human Rights Campaign issued an updated travel notice outlining potential impacts of six bills that were recently passed and signed by DeSantis.
• “While not a blanket recommendation against travel nor a call for boycott, the travel advisory outlines the devastating impacts of laws that are hostile to the LGBTQ community,” they said.
• A man with an AK-47, a pistol, and ammunition magazines in his vehicle who said he was headed to the CIA has been charged with felony possession of a firearm on school property.
• Florida man Eric Sandow, 32, was arrested Tuesday at Dolley Madison Preschool in McLean, VA after police said he trespassed on school grounds around 11am. The preschool is less than 1.5 miles from CIA headquarters.
• In more insane Florida-based news (which, let’s face it, could be an entire daily column), a Miami-Dade elementary school has removed Amanda Gorman’s presidential inauguration poem, “The Hill We Climb”, from circulation after a parent complained that it contained indirect “hate messages.”
• The same parent complained about four other books: “The ABCs of Black History”, “Cuban Kids”, “Countries in the News: Cuba”, and “Love to Langston”, citing “indoctrination” and “CRT.” The complaint also misidentified Oprah Winfrey as the author of “The Hill We Climb”.
• Gorman herself noted on Twitter yesterday that “One parent could get my poetry banned from classrooms. And yet one country can't ban assault rifles from massacring them.” 
• Side note: that “one parent”, a woman named Daily Salinas, has ties to the Proud Boys, has shared anti-Semitic posts on Facebook, and worked as a volunteer on Ron DeSantis’s “Education Agenda Tour” in August 2022.
• Go read Gorman’s poem right now. Read it out loud. Read it to your kids. Post it everywhere. See if you feel indoctrinated.
• These pieces of shit. Moving on…
• Fetty Wap, the New Jersey rapper who shot to fame with his hit “Trap Queen”, was sentenced to six years in federal prison yesterday for trafficking narcotics across the country.
• On a FaceTime call, Fetty displayed a firearm and threatened to kill someone. He subsequently pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
• You fucked up, Fetty.
• And now, The Weather: “Daydream” by Being Dead
• Guam got seriously fucked up by Typhoon Mawar in the past couple of days. As of Thursday evening local time, the storm was packing sustained winds of 165 mph and gusts up to 200 mph.
• No deaths recorded, but the island’s roadways and housing and other infrastructure got seriously battered, and between 50-70% of Guam’s vegetation could experience defoliation.
• President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the island on Tuesday. Guam is, of course, a US territory. People from Guam are American citizens (though they can’t vote, which is suspect to me).
• In today’s gun news, a Louisville man is facing criminal charges after shooting his roommate during a dispute over a Hot Pocket. Clifton Williams, 64, was arrested on assault charges Sunday after he accused his roommate of eating their last Hot Pocket and then shot him in the ass.
• Sigh.
• From the Sports Desk… the Florida Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL Eastern Conference Finals, winning game 4 by a score of 4-3. They will likely face the Vegas Golden Knights, who could complete their own sweep of the Dallas Stars tonight.
• Meanwhile in the NBA, the Miami Heat could eliminate the Boston Celtics tonight, which would see them heading to the finals against the Denver Nuggets.
• Today in history… The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw (1521). A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners (1738). Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ opens at the Opera Comique in London (1878). Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison (1895). John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching human evolution in Tennessee (1925). The Walt Disney Company cartoon Three Little Pigs premieres at Radio City Music Hall, featuring the hit song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” (1933). At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test (1953). The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston (1953). U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces, before a special joint session of the U.S. Congress, his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the Moon" before the end of the decade (1961). The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated (1968). Star Wars is released in theaters (1977). The Hands Across America event takes place (1986). Oprah Winfrey airs her last show, ending her 25-year run of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ (2011). Ireland votes to repeal the Eighth Amendment of their constitution that prohibits abortion in all but a few cases (2018).
• May 26 is the birthday of US speaker of the house/SCOTUS justice Philip P. Barbour (1783), poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803), actress Marie Doro (1882), aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky (1889), Burma prime minister U Nu (1907), songwriter Hal David (1921), actor Claude Akins (1926), NBA player Bill Sharman (1926), soprano Beverly Sills (1929), NBA player K. C. Jones (1932), actor Ian McKellen (1939), puppeteer/actor/director Frank Oz (1944), singer-songwriter Klaus Meine (1948), singer-songwriter Paul Weller (1958), politician Amy Klobuchar (1960), actor Mike Myers (1963), actress Anne Heche (1969), and NFL player Brian Urlacher (1978).

I have nothing on tap today except normal work things, and that’s fine. I’ve had a rather productive week thus far. Maybe this is just me, but i’m generally in a better mood when cranking out work. It’s not that I like working itself per se; it’s that I like seeing things through to a conclusion. It’s a trait that’s been helpful to me in several ways. Enjoy your day.

Random News: May 24, 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 May 24, 2023, and it’s a Wednesday. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than I’ll ever have time to tell you, but let’s talk about a few of them…

• It was one year ago today, on May 24, 2022, that a horrible human being slaughtered dozens of kids for no reason at all at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX.
• It wasn’t until later that we learned about the botched police response and the cowardly inaction of law enforcement who ended up facing little or no consequences.
• All I’ll say is this: had the evil perpetrator had a weapon that didn’t allow for semi-automatic firing and didn’t provide such a large ammunition capacity, less of those kids would be dead today. They’d be living normal lives with their families like I hope your kids have with you.
• If he didn’t have a gun at all, many all of them would be alive and well, getting ready for summertime like the kids in your family and around your neighborhood are today.
• We have a huge mental health problem in this country and probably around the world. But here in the USA, we neither care for our unhealthy nor take action to subdue their access to weapons of death.
• So what happened in Uvalde will continue to happen, over and over, until we find some way to address these sicknesses that afflict the USA far, far more than anywhere else in the world.
• Moving on…
• The South Carolina Senate approved a bill yesterday that would ban most abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy -- before most people know they are pregnant – and sent it to the governor who has promised to sign it.
• Abortion is now banned or severely restricted in much of the South, including bans throughout pregnancy in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. In Georgia, it’s allowed only in the first six weeks.
• “At some point in time, the right of the state to see the unborn child born does take precedent over the woman’s right to her body.” SC State Sen. Tom Davis (R)
• I’ll repeat this: this Republican representative of the government says you, as a woman, do NOT have a right to have control over your own body.
• When you vote Republican, you are signing a contract that says you will be forced to give birth and become a simple mindless incubation chamber. Sorry, but that’s what they think, and that’s what you sign up for when you put them in power.
• In other news, the 19-year-old Missouri man accused of deliberately driving a rented box truck into a White House barrier told authorities that he admires Nazis and wanted to "seize power" and "kill the president," court documents released yesterday show.
• Sai Varshith Kandula, who had a Nazi swastika flag with him, stated his goal was to “get into the White House, seize power, and be put in charge of the nation”. When asked how he would seize power, he stated he would “Kill the President if that's what I have to do and would hurt anyone that would stand in my way."
• That kid is a psycho.
• Do you still participate in organized religion? I don’t have judgement on you whether you do or not.
• But more than 450 adult Catholic clergymen abused nearly 2,000 children in the state of Illinois over a period of almost 90 years, according to a report released yesterday from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
• The investigation identified 275 allegedly abusive clerics and religious brothers in the Archdiocese of Chicago, 43 in the Diocese of Belleville, 69 in Joliet, 51 in Peoria, 24 in Rockford and 32 in Springfield.
• Anyway, no matter what church you go to, if I was you, I’d keep a close eye on your kids and never allow them to be alone with any member of a clergy, a youth pastor, a priest, a minister, and so on.
• Moving on…
• In news that will not matter in any way today or in the future, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will announce he is running for president tonight… and he’s doing it with Elon Musk on Twitter.
• And I swear to you, I thought this next part was parody, but I think it’s actual reality… DeSantis’s campaign slogan is apparently “Make America Florida”.
• Can you imagine volunteering to be MORE like Florida?
• The only thing that interests me about this in any way is watching the die-hard Trump contingent of Twitter realize that Elon is betraying their lord and savior with his strong endorsement of DeSantis to beat Trump in the GOP primary.
• MAGA heads exploding. Speaking of which, psycho right-wingnut Laura Loomer is organizing a protest at the Miami Four Seasons where DeSantis’s launch event is being held. She’s telling people to bring their Trump signs.
• Getting my popcorn.
• And now, The Weather: “Ballroom” by waveform*
• There’s some weird shit going on between Texas AG Ken Paxton (R) and the state’s House speaker Dade Phelan (R).
• Paxton has called for the resignation of House Speaker Dade Phelan after he presided over the house “in an obviously intoxicated state.”
• However, it might be in retaliation for the Texas House lawmakers investigating Paxton’s legal settlement with whistleblowers. Paxton requested the legislature approve $3.3 million of state money so his office could pay a settlement to employees that were terminated after they raised ethical concerns about Paxton’s conduct.
• Jesus. WTF?
• And speaking of “what the fuck”, a lip balm used by US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R) was auctioned off as part of a 15-minute GOP fundraising auction held yesterday — and sold to Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) for $100,000.
• She bought his used Chapstick. I’m serious. What’s the next item on this bidding block… Lauren Boebert’s panties?
• Aren’t these people supposed to be figuring out how the USA can pay its bills with the Republican debt ceiling fiasco still ongoing? These people are nuts.
• In other news, Trump has asked for a meeting with AG Merrick Garland as Jack Smith is wrapping up the investigation that will have Trump indicted for major felonies that could land him in custody for the remainder of his life.
• From the Sports Desk… the Boston Celtics managed to hang on and win a game in their Eastern Conference NBA playoff series against the Miami Heat, winning 116-99. They’re behind 3-1 in the series.
• In the NHL, the Florida Panthers have a 3-0 led over the Carolina Hurricanes in the East, and in the West, the Vegas Golden Knights have a 3-0 lead over the Dallas Stars. Both series have a game 4 tonight and tomorrow.
• Today in history… Peter Minuit buys Manhattan (1626). South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (1813). Samuel Morse sends the message "What hath God wrought” from a committee room in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, MD, to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C. (1844). The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction (1883). The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field (1935). Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight (1940). The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland (1956). United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service (1958). Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, MS, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus (1961). Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel (1991). Four men are convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993; each one is sentenced to 240 years in prison (1994). Under pressure over her handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party (2019). A mass shooting occurs at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, resulting in the deaths of 21 people, including 19 children (2022).
• May 24 is the birthday of Roman general Germanicus (15 BC), physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686), UK queen Victoria (1819), SCOTUS Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870), candy maker H. B. Reese (1879), actress Lilli Palmer (1914), politician Jane Byrne (1933), actor Tommy Chong (1938), singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (1941), actor Gary Burghoff (1943), singer-songwriter Patti LaBelle (1944), actress Priscilla Presley (1945), drummer Albert Bouchard (1947), guitarist Waddy Wachtel (1947), singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash (1955), singer-songwriter Larry Blackmon (1956), actress Kristin Scott Thomas (1960), boxer Héctor Camacho (1962), NBA player Joe Dumars (1963), actor John C. Reilly (1965), MLB player Bartolo Colón (1973), and NBA player Tracy McGrady (1979).

Well, that’s it. That’s all I’ve got. Time for me to go delicately work out despite my back and foot issues. I refuse to give in to that shit and be a lump. I’m no lump. Enjoy your day.