Random News: May 2, 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 2, 2023, and it’s a Tuesday. Here are some things that I think that I think, but never know for sure if I know for sure…

• The Biden administration will end COVID vaccination requirements for federal employees and international air travelers on May 11, the White House said yesterday.
• The requirement will be dropped the same day the administration said it would end the public health emergency tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
• So, that’s that, then.
• Shrug.
• Per the WHO COVID-19 dashboard, there have been 764,474,387 confirmed cases (and obviously many more unconfirmed), and in total a known 6,915,286 deaths (with many deaths underreported throughout the pandemic).
• Right now in the USA, per the CDC, we have over 88,000 new cases a week, and a little over 1,000 people per week are dying of COVID-19 here in May 2023. But wait! Under 17% of the population has had updated vaccine booster doses.
• So… welp.
• Moving on…
• We have until June 1 to straighten out this debt ceiling bullshit. That’s when the government could default, per the Treasury Department, who warn that a failure to act — in as few as about four weeks — could tip the fragile U.S. economy into another recession.
• Do your fucking jobs, you pricks. Jesus.
• Biden invited Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other congressional leaders to the White House next week to discuss the matter.
• The debt ceiling — set at about $31 trillion — is the legal maximum the U.S. government can borrow to pay its bills.
• Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned that inaction could cause “severe hardship to American families, harm our global leadership position, and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests. I respectfully urge Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting as soon as possible.”
• Fix this, you fools.
• Moving on…
• As I posted yesterday, RIP to iconic Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. He died at 84. 
• Lightfoot was beloved as a folk-rock artist and songwriter worldwide, but nowhere more than his native Canada where we was nominated for 29 Juno Awards and received 13. 
• Outside of Canada, most people know him for his ‘70s hit songs “If You Could Read My Mind”, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, and “Sundown”.
• Completely coincidentally, I performed “Sundown” at one of my most recent live music shows. It’s not a song I’ve done often.
• Moving on…
• Hospitals in Missouri and Kansas violated federal law last summer when they refused to provide an emergency abortion to a woman who went into premature labor at nearly 18 weeks and risked developing a life-threatening infection.
• The hospital's legal counsel told the doctor not to deliver the fetus prematurely or surgically remove it because it would be 'too risky in this heated political environment to intervene.'"
• Disgusting pigs. This will happen more and more until we codify reproductive rights at a national level.
• Attorneys for Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr filed a lawsuit yesterday in which they asked a court to allow for her return to the House floor after she was silenced and barred for chiding her Republican colleagues over legislation to restrict gender-affirming health care and for encouraging protesters.
• The lawsuit was filed in state district court in Helena on behalf of Zephyr, a transgender Democrat who represents a liberal district in the college town of Missoula, and several constituents who the attorneys said were being denied their right to adequate representation.
• Good. Get their asses, Zooey.
• Speaking of trans issues (which Republicans have made the most important thing in the world in recent months)…
• Missouri’s limits on gender-affirming care for minors and adults in the state will be paused for two weeks, a state judge ruled yesterday. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo’s order means that, for now, some of the nation’s widest-reaching limits on gender-affirming care will be paused as she considers whether to block them for a longer period as a legal challenge plays out.
• The restrictions were set to go into effect last week, but Ribaudo previously temporarily blocked enforcement of them to give herself more time to consider the issue before making a ruling yesterday.
• Good for her. Fuck these bigoted GOP freaks.
• Tou Thao, the former Minneapolis police officer who was involved in the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, has been found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
• “Like the bystanders, Thao could see Floyd’s life slowly ebbing away as the restraint continued. Yet Thao made a conscious decision to actively participate in Floyd’s death: he held back the concerned bystanders and even prevented an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter from rendering the medical aid Floyd so desperately needed.” - Judge Peter Cahill
• Yup.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced yesterday that he will not seek a fourth term in 2024, saying in a statement that “I’m ready to pass the torch.”
• You may recall that Inslee ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
• Inslee is highly regarded in his state for his record on issues such as climate change, childcare, criminal justice reform and gun violence. He’s popular and won his governor’s race by more than 10 points in 2020.
• And now, The Weather: “Perfume” by Pleasure Nature
• Ugh. I don’t usually cover disastrous events because there’s not much that you or I can do to prevent them from happening. But this dust storm that caused dozens of vehicles to crash along I-55 in Illinois seems horrific.
• At least six people were killed as a result of the dust from newly plowed fields that took over the highway. More than 30 people were hospitalized with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening. Those injured in the wrecks ranged in age from 2 to 80 years old.
• Fucking awful.
• US surgeon general Vivek Murthy has issued a warning about the next public health priority: loneliness.
• Today, he released an advisory on loneliness and isolation and urged people and public officials to treat the matter with the same urgency as other serious conditions such as obesity or drug abuse as it continues to surge, affecting approximately half of the people living in the US.
• “Right now, millions of people are telling us through their stories and statistics that their tank is running on empty when it comes to social connection,” he said.
• Lack of meaningful contact with other people has been linked to increased heart attacks, depression, diabetes, crime and premature death.
• I’ll tell you right now, if you need someone to talk to, I’m always down for a chat. Hit me up! I’m also super busy, but I will be there for you… eventually.
• Ohio has a primary election today. It’s their first one with the state’s terrible new strict voter ID laws in place. You will need some form of photo identification will be required to cast a ballot in person.
• Why? Because it’s more likely that minorities and poor people won’t have valid ID and the wealthy white folks can disenfranchise them from voting.
• Any other answer is bullshit.
• Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan got in trouble for having a side gig as a consultant who helped an affiliate of cannabis chain La Mota expand into other states. She’s apologized and ended the other job.
• But then it came out that Oregon pays its statewide officeholders a ridiculously low amount compared to other West Coast states and significantly less than members of local governments including the Portland City Council and the Multnomah County Commission.
• Her annual government salary of $77,000/year is tiny compared to the same gig in neighboring states of California and Washington, who earn $168,000 and $137,000 respectively.
• Yikes! What the fuck, Oregon? I’d be taking a side hustle too.
• From the Sports Desk… the NBA playoff semifinals are in full swing. In the East, the Sixers shocked the Celtics in Boston with a tight 119-115 road win. They lead 1-0. In the West last night, the Nuggets beat the Suns 97-87, and go up 2-0 in that series.
• Tonight’s games have the Heat facing the Knicks in their Game 2. Miami leads 1-0. The Lakers head to SF to meet the Warriors in Game 1.
• Today in history… Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason, and witchcraft (1536). The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker (1611). King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America (1670). Cree and Assiniboine warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion (1885). The Soviet Union announces the fall of Berlin (1945). A De Havilland Comet makes the first jetliner flight with fare-paying passengers, from London to Johannesburg (1952). The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City (1969). The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano in the Falklands War (1982). President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military (2000). Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan (2011). A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction (2012).
• May 2 is the birthday of composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1660), Russian empress Catherine the Great (1729), gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (1885), actress Norma Talmadge (1894), playwright/lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895), pediatrician Benjamin Spock (1903), singer-songwriter/guitarist Link Wray (1929), singer Engelbert Humperdinck (1936), actor Lorenzo Music (1937), singer-songwriter Lesley Gore (1946), singer-songwriter Lou Gramm (1950), fashion designer Donatella Versace (1955), soccer player David Beckham (1975), race car driver Kyle Busch (1985), NFL player Pat McAfee (1987), NBA player Paul George (1990), and British royal Princess Charlotte of Wales (2015).

That’s it for now. For those of you who enjoy Second Life, I’ll be performing tonight at 5PM SLT at Hotel Chelsea. Enjoy your day.