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.