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 7, 2023, and it’s a Sunday. While I wear my robe of blues, let’s see what's in the newsy news…
- I hate the broken record of mentioning mass shootings in the USA damn near every day. I almost don’t want to mention them anymore to avoid us all becoming so numb to it that we think it’s normal.
- It’s not normal. Not in any other country.
- As you’re likely aware, eight victims are dead and at least seven more are wounded after a shooting at a busy suburban Dallas mall. The shooter is also dead.
- Don’t ask me what sort of weapon was used in the slaughter; you already know.
- Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen, TX where the shooting took place is about 25 miles northeast of Dallas.
- Children are among the dead and wounded.
- Texas leaders including Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), and Sens. Ted Cruz (R) and John Cornyn (R) offered prayers as a solution. Abbott also mentioned that we need to offer more mental health support (true). Marjorie Taylor Greene said the solution is to make sure that there are more and more guns available (false).
- I’ll point out once again that all countries have a percentage of their populace with mental health issues. I’ll also point out that none have close to the number of gun-related deaths compared to the USA. So what’s the difference? It’s the guns.
- None of the right-wing politicians are supportive of any measure of gun control, and in fact under the current leadership, Texas has loosened restrictions on gun ownership in recent years. In 2021, legislation went into effect allowing most Texans who legally own a firearm to carry it openly in public without obtaining a permit or training.
- I can already hear you there, asking, “But what can we do?”
- It’s very simple. You can vote for and support candidates who make gun control a priority. As a voter you and only you have the power to curtail this bloodbath.
- And here’s the thing: if it was your kid who was laying in a pool of blood, you’d do anything to prevent it from having happened. Anything. And yet I’m offering you a solution right now that can stop the inevitable future mass shootings. Vote. Organize. Support. Raise awareness.
- We can have a Second Amendment without this insanity. Reasonable gun control laws will prevent a huge percentage of these mass murders. Not all of them. But many less than we currently have. Isn’t that a good thing?
- Background checks. Waiting periods. Red flag laws. Restriction of weapons with high ammo capacity and firing rate. Most Americans broadly support these concepts.
- Was the the only shooting over the weekend? No, of course not. One dead and five injured, victims all aged 17-21, at a shooting at a large party in Chico, CA. One dead and six injured at a mass shooting at a restaurant in Ocean Springs, MS. Two killed one wounded in Philadelphia, PA. Two shot in Portland, OR. A 16-year-old shot and killed at a post-prom party in Houston, TX. A women shot by a Popeye’s Chicken employee in Memphis, TN. Two teens shot in Kalamazoo, MI. Another one in Columbus, GA.
- That’s not even all of them, but I can’t just focus on a problem that few seem to be willing to do anything about. If you cared, you’d have already been electing government reps who stand up for sensible gun control laws and who aren’t on the payroll of the NRA.
- When that happens, I’ll know people give a shit. Until then? Shrug.
- And now, The Weather: “Dust Bunny” by Crumb
- We had a meeting yesterday afternoon with my band They Stole My Crayon, going over more detailed plans for finishing up the songs for our next album. It was fun. They always are.
- I might be spending some time today working on guitar parts for a song or two.
- Actor Richard Dreyfuss proved himself to be an asshole once again with a recent interview. He said that the minimum requirements films will have to meet related to representation and inclusion to be eligible for the best picture Oscar “make me vomit.”
- Dreyfuss brought up Laurence Olivier’s performance in the 1965 film ‘Othello’, in which Olivier played the Shakespeare lead role in blackface.
- “Am I being told that I will never have a chance to play a black man? Is someone else being told that if they’re not Jewish, they shouldn’t play the Merchant of Venice? Are we crazy? Do we not know that art is art?”
- Or maybe, just maybe, we should prioritize giving those roles to the actors whose races and ethnicities and nationalities are represented in the actual fucking story? I swear, it’s embarrassing as a middle-aged person to watch these old people spout their fucking nonsense.
- From the Sports Desk… what the hell is going on with the Kentucky Derby? Another two horses died in the hours before the event yesterday, bringing the total to seven dead horses in one race. That really strikes me as something being fucked up in that sport.
- 15-1 shot Mage ended up winning the 149th run of the Kentucky Derby.
- In other sports news, the 8-seed Miami Suns beat the New York Knicks 105-86, and they now lead 2-1 in the series. Likewise, the 7-seed LA Lakers but a beatdown on the Golden State Warriors, winning 127-97 and taking a 2-1 lead in their series. Underdogs for the win!
- Let’s Go Lakers (clap clap, clap clap clap)!
- Also… Oakland Athletics announcer Glen Kuiper has been suspended indefinitely after using a racial slur during the team’s pre-game show prior to the A’s road game against Kansas City Royals on Friday.
- It was very, very bad. Did he say the n-word live on the air on purpose? No, I think it was a huge accidental speaking mistake. But is it acceptable regardless? No, sorry.
- Today in history… State funeral of James VI and I is held at Westminster Abbey (1625). World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria (1824). During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Imperial Japanese Navy light aircraft carrier Shōhō; the battle marks the first time in naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships (1942). Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering is founded and is later renamed Sony (1946). The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey Dummer (1952). Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law (1992). Edvard Munch's painting ‘The Scream’ is recovered undamaged after being stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February (1994). Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for US$40 billion and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history (1998). Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as president of Russia (2000).
- May 7 is the birthday of politician Stephanus Van Cortlandt (1643), composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840), politician Josip Broz Tito (1892), actor Gary Cooper (1901), NFL player Johnny Unitas (1933), singer Jimmy Ruffin (1936), singer Thelma Houston (1946), drummer Bill Kreutzmann (1946), journalist Tim Russert (1950), actress Traci Lords (1968), singer-songwriter Eagle-Eye Cherry (1969), NBA player Shawn Marion (1978), NFL player Alex Smith (1984), and actress Aidy Bryant (1987).
I suppose that’s all for now. It’s been a quiet morning thus far today. I should probably shower and put on clothing and such things. Enjoy your day.
No comments:
Post a Comment