Random news: May 15, 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.

---

Good morning. It’s May 15, 2023, and it’s a Monday. I used to dislike Mondays but now they’re just another day, which is okay, so let’s see what’s up…

• Turkey’s presidential election is heading for a runoff. 
• The country’s state-run Anadolu news agency's latest figures show Erdogan's lead under 50% and his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, at just over 44%, with Kilicdaroglu’s numbers climbing and Erdogan’s slumping.
• If neither wins a majority of over 50%, they will go to a runoff -- which would be a first for Erdogan.
• Thailand also had elections, and it seems that Thai voters have rejected the military-backed government as two opposition parties appear to be set for coalition talks.
• Initial results show the Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties surging ahead of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Move Forward is led by former tech executive Pita Limjaroenrat, while Paetongtarn Shinawatra - the daughter of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra - is the Pheu Thai candidate.
• With 97% of the vote counted, it seems Move Forward would win the most seats followed by Pheu Thai in second place.
• The times they are a-changin’…
• In other news…
• As mentioned last week, North Carolina governor Roy Cooper vetoed a bill that would ban most abortions in the state after 12 weeks, a move that now faces an override from Republicans in the state legislature.
• The state currently bans abortions after 20 weeks.
• Cooper vetoed the bill in front of a crowd of supporters in Raleigh on Saturday, blocking the measure that passed the state legislature along party lines last week. Cooper called on the crowd to pressure Republicans in the statehouse to let his veto stand.
• If just one NC Republican chooses to vote to support women’s health care instead of forced birth, the override will not pass and the veto will stand.
• Don’t count on that happening, but it would be great if it did.
• Also, if the veto is overridden, follow the advice that Obama gave us awhile back. Don’t boo; vote. Every single Republican who wants to control women’s bodies can be voted out of office at the earliest opportunity.
• Let’s head south to Florida for our next story, where fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee appears to have gotten caught up in the middle of the ongoing feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis and Walt Disney.
• She showed her students the movie “Strange World,” a Disney comedy adventure. But wait! The Hernando County school board members alleged that since the movie features a gay character, it was in violation of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act.
• That’s right. No gay characters allowed in movies, nor in books. Florida has put the proverbial car in reverse, hit the accelerator, and is careening off a cliff backwards.
• Moving on…
• As we’re aware, the public health emergency of COVID officials ended last week. Was that the only public health emergency going on? Nope.
• The opioid crisis was determined to be a public health emergency in October 2017, during the Trump administration. The declaration has been renewed for more than five years, most recently at the end of March.
• The opioid epidemic started in 1999 with a rise in prescription opioid overdose deaths. Deaths started to increase precipitously as synthetic opioids – particularly fentanyl – started to take over in 2013.
• In 2021, overdose deaths reached record levels in the US, and about three-quarters — more than 80,000 deaths — involved opioids.
• People tend to think of opioid addiction and imagine some poor heroin junkie shooting up in an alley. In reality, it’s much more likely someone’s aunt who got addicted while recovering from a knee surgery, or your dad who used oxycodone for his bad back.
• My personal take, which isn’t always right: I avoid all medications as much as possible. Even innocuous things like ibuprofen. When I do need them, I use them minimally and stop as soon as possible.
• And now, The Weather: “limewire” by untitled (halo)
• Keep your eye on Helen Gym… in a good way.
• She is a strong contender for the next mayor of Philadelphia, and has a decadeslong history of progressive activism and successes grinding through legislation as a city council member.
• Victory for Gym in Tuesday’s Democratic primary would put her on a path to becoming the city’s 100th mayor – and the first woman and Asian American to hold the office. It would also be another success for progressive candidates who are on a remarkable winning streak in municipal elections.
• From the Sports Desk… the 76ers and Celtics were keeping it close in Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, but then Boston went on a 28-3 run in the 3rd quarter and that was that. Final score was 112-88; the Celtics will host the Miami Heat for game 1 of the Eastern finals on Wednesday night.
• Game 1 of the Western Conference finals is tomorrow night, when the Lakers visit the Nuggets.
• Today in history… Cape Cod is sighted by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold (1602). Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (1618). Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason, now known as Friends Hospital, Philadelphia, PA (1817). The city of Las Vegas is founded in Nevada, United States (1905). In Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up (1911). The Winnipeg general strike begins and by 11:00, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg had walked off the job (1919). Richard and Maurice McDonald open the first McDonald's restaurant (1940). Gordon Cooper becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone (1963). President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army generals (1970). Édith Cresson becomes France's first female Prime Minister (1991). California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state's own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional (2008).
• May 15 is the birthday of novelist L. Frank Baum (1856), physicist Pierre Curie (1859), banker/politician Prescott Bush (1895), politician Richard J. Daley (1902), photographer Richard Avedon (1923), painter Jasper Johns (1930), painter Ralph Steadman (1936), US secretary of state Madeleine Albright (1937), singer/guitarist Trini Lopez (1937), songwriter/producer Brian Eno (1948), songwriter/producer Mike Oldfield (1953), MLB player John Smoltz (1967), NFL player Emmitt Smith (1969), NFL player Ray Lewis (1975), and actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler (1981).

That’s all I’ve got for now. Don’t let Monday get you down. Enjoy your day.