Random News: May 19, 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 19, 2023, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! I’m feeling good about a weekend approaching, so let’s get through today with a batch of info heading your way…

• Disney is not playing softball with Ron DeSantis.
• They’ve pulled the plug on a $1 billion development in Florida as a result of DeSantis’s ridiculous feud with the company. 
• A new office complex, and relocation of a division from California, would have created more than 2,000 jobs and the relocation of more than 1,000 Disney employees from Southern California, but it has now been scuttled due to the targeted campaign of government retaliation.

• “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” - Disney CEO Bob Iger
• The timing couldn’t be worse for DeSantis, who may announce his candidacy for president next week.
• Can you imagine a country where every business that is labeled as “woke” was sanctioned by the government? The US and global economies would fall apart within months. DeSantis has no chance and Florida is already paying a huge price for his inept leadership. Ron will soon discover that being anti-business is not the American way.
• Moving on…
• Yesterday, the Supreme Court unanimously sided with Google and Twitter in a pair of cases that had alleged social media liability in terror attacks overseas.
• Justice Clarence Thomas in an opinion for the Twitter case said that families of victims of a 2017 ISIS attack did not adequately show that the online platforms had "aided and abetted" the terrorists in violation of federal law.
• The Court was also asked to rollback sweeping legal immunity internet companies enjoy under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for content posted by third-party users, like messages, images, and videos. But the court declined to address the scope of that landmark law, sidestepping the issue.
• What’s my opinion on Section 230? It’s mixed. First, if you get mad something I write here and go blow something up, it’s your own damn fault… not mine and not Facebook’s.
• But when the algorithm of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and so on serve you tons of suggested content that ends up radicalizing you to do antisocial acts, it would seem like they carry at least some of the blame.
• Moving on…
• A lot of people don’t understand how difficult it is for those of us who have complete respect for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to also acknowledge the indisputable fact that she’s no longer capable of doing the job she’s done so well for so long.
• Feinstein, 89, returned to Washington last week after having suffered more severe health complications from her shingles diagnosis than were previously disclosed. Her shingles triggered encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain, as well as Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which causes facial paralysis.
• But much more concerning is her mental state. This week, she sounded confused in responding to one group of reporters about her weeks-long absence, saying “I’ve been here” and that she hasn’t been gone. Yesterday, she denied she had been diagnosed with encephalitis, characterizing it as a “really bad flu,” in a brief hallway interview.
• She’s been away for months. Her office is saying she “misspoke”. It’s hard to see capable people whom we genuinely like go through any kind of decline. I wish her nothing but the best, but she’s got to retire for the sake of the country.
• A Metropolitan D.C. Police Department lieutenant was indicted this week for tipping off former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio about a pending warrant for his arrest just ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
• Shane Lamond, 47, was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements.
• Tarrio was recently found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the failed coup attempt at the Capitol.
• In other news, a recent geological study that found New York City is slowly sinking under the weight of the skyscrapers.
• There’s no way to stop it, and combined with rising sea levels, NYC and other major coastal cities will have major challenges in the coming century.
• Moving on. Sort of…
• The US Census Bureau has released a list of the fastest growing big cities: 1. Seattle, WA, 2. Fort Worth, TX, 3. Charlotte , NC, 4. Miami, FL, and 5. Jacksonville, FL.
• Want the fastest growing cities overall? Sure. 1. Georgetown, TX, 2. Santa Cruz, CA, 3. Kyle, TX, 4. Leander, TX, and 5. Little Elm, TX.
• A note on Texas… the state is now home to four of the nation’s largest cities, with Austin finally joining Houston, San Antonio and Dallas on the list of top 10 most populous cities.
• Fort Worth gained the highest sheer number of new residents of any city in the country in 2022, with an increase of 19,170. Its total population hit 956,709 last year.
• But here’s the interesting part: people of color have fueled 95% of Texas's growth from 2010 to 2020. Latinos powered nearly half of that overall growth of roughly 4 million residents. The Census Bureau indicated that Texas may have passed another demographic milestone: the point at which Hispanic residents make up more of the state’s population than white residents.
• And now, The Weather: “Own” by Far Caspian
• An 18-year-old guy in Wisconsin is in some serious trouble. I mention this to alert all the parents of teens and young adults who don’t know what their kid might be doing (which, frankly, is every parent).
• Joseph Garrison surrendered yesterday in New York City. A six-count criminal complaint has been unsealed against him as he was allegedly part of a plot to hack user accounts on a fantasy sports and betting website and sell access to the hacked accounts in order to steal from them. 
• He's has been charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, unauthorized access to a protected computer, unauthorized access to a protected computer to further intended fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The wire fraud charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the first three charges carry maximum sentences of five years apiece. The identity theft charge has a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison.
• Garrison accessed 60,000 accounts on the unnamed betting site in November 2022. Garrison and his pals stole about $600,000 from 1,600 accounts. 
• RIP to Smiths bassist Andy Rourke. He died of pancreatic cancer at age 59.
• Great bass player, and hugely influential to the world of indie-pop and alt-rock.
• The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday to legalize the use of recreational marijuana for adults. The bill passed 73-57, with six Republicans joining Democrats.
• Minnesotans 21 and over can now legally posses up to two ounces of cannabis flower in public or up to 2 pounds at home (holy fucking shit, that’s a lot of fucking weed!).
• A guy tried to rent a pre-paid car from Hertz at the New Orleans airport. The employee there refused to rent the vehicle because the man’s driver’s license was from Puerto Rico and they insisted the guy’s license wasn’t valid and he needed a passport.
• She called the cops on him and told him he’d never be allowed to rent from Hertz again.
• Note: Puerto Rico is a US territory and all Puerto Ricans are US citizens.
• Hertz apologized. Had the employee paid attention in high school, this whole thing could have been averted. The More You Know™…
• From the Sports Desk… the Nuggets have taken a 2-0 lead over the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, and frankly things aren’t looking great for my dudes in purple and gold.
• In the NHL playoffs, the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in a grueling four overtime game last night. They lead the series 1-0.
• Today in history… Catherine of Aragon — age 13 — is married by proxy to Arthur, Prince of Wales — age 12 (1499). French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two kidnapped sons (1535). Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery, treason, and incest (1536). Jean-Pierre Christin developed the centigrade temperature scale (1743). U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States (1828). Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the Mexican-American war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for $15 million USD (1848). The United States Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act establishing national quotas on immigration to limit the number of “undesirable” Italian and Eastern European immigrants (1921). Egypt announces that the Suez Canal is closed to Israeli ships and commerce (1950). Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly by another planet by passing Venus, though the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data (1961). Marilyn Monroe's sings "Happy Birthday” to U.S. President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, New York City (1962). The Firearm Owners Protection Act is signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1986). The Refugio oil spill deposited 142,800 U.S. gallons of crude oil onto an area in California considered one of the most biologically diverse coastlines of the west coast (2015). The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, with an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion (2018).
• May 19 is the birthday of businessman/philanthropist Johns Hopkins (1795), painter Walter Russell (1871), politician Ho Chi Minh (1800), activist Yuri Kochiyama (1921), murderous dictator Pol Pot (1925), activist Malcolm X (1925), NBA player Dolph Schayes (1928), journalist Jim Lehrer (1934), film director/producer Nora Ephron (1941), actor Peter Mayhew (1944), singer-songwriter/guitarist Pete Townshend (1945), wrestler/actor André the Giant (1946), singer-songwriter Grace Jones (1948), bass player Dusty Hill (1949), singer-songwriter Joey Ramone (1951), drummer Phil Rudd (1954), keyboardist Martyn Ware (1956), NBA player Bill Laimbeer (1957), race car driver Dario Franchitti (1973), NBA player Kevin Garnett (1976), singer-songwriter Shooter Jennings (1979), comedian Michael Che (1983), singer-songwriter Sam Smith (1992), and YouTube personality Jojo Siwa (2003).

That’s all the news I have time to give you now. I can’t wait for lunch. My Friday sushi is one of the highlights of my week. I’d tell you the other highlights but they’d probably offend a good portion of you. Enjoy your day.