Random News: June 14, 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 June 14, 2023, and it’s a Wednesday. Various things have happened, and since I prefer to be acquainted with people who are knowledgeable about the current goings-on in the world, I am glad to share them with you…

• But first…
• For today’s Pride note, I’m going to talk about the sexual orientation/identity with which I personally identify the least: asexuality. They’re the “A” in LGBTQIA+.
• Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity. It’s distinct from aromanticism, which, like it sounds, is characterized by people who experience little to no romantic attraction.
• Keep in mind that while they often seem intertwined, sex and romance are separate things. A person can be sexually attracted to another while experiencing no feeling of romance. Another person can be romantically attracted to someone but not desire sex with them, or any person.
• Asexuality is completely different from abstention from sexual activity, and also from celibacy, which are behavioral and generally motivated by factors such as an individual's personal, social, or religious beliefs.
• Asexual people may enjoy romantic relationships minus the sex. They may seek relationships without romantic or sexual activity, known as "queerplatonic relationships”. Asexuals may still identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, or bisexual regarding romantic or emotional aspects of sexual orientation despite not being interested in sex.
• Asexuality is rare, constituting 1% or less of the population. And, as mentioned above, it’s a concept that I personally find very foreign, and yet offer my respect for all people who are proud to be who they are.
• Let’s do the news…
• Yesterday afternoon, former president and current accused felon Donald John Trump turned himself in, was arrested, and then arraigned at a federal courthouse in Miami, FL.
• He answered to 37 felony counts that accuse him of willfully retaining classified records that prosecutors say could have jeopardized national security if exposed, and then trying to hide them from investigators who demanded them back.
• As I could (and probably should have) have told you beforehand, an arraignment is a purely administrative activity. It’s when you formally are notified of charges against you and you enter a plea. In this case, Trump’s lawyers entered a “not guilty” plea.
• The whole thing took under an hour. Trump did not speak at all.
• The only mild drama in the court was in regard to a disagreement over whether Trump should be restricted from talking to certain witnesses in the case. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman raised the concern himself about Trump’s contact with witnesses. He suggested that prosecutors put together a list of witnesses and victims in the case, and that Trump avoid communicating with them as the case moved forward.
• The judge also limited Trump’s contact with his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, but said it would only apply to communications about the case, noting that Nauta still works for Trump and is with him nearly every day.
• Pfffft. Yeah, I’m sure they’ll never discuss the case.
• Special counsel Jack Smith was physically present in the courtroom. Smith looked at Trump throughout much of the arraignment; Trump did not once look at Smith.
• Trump is frightened to death of Smith.
• There was much chatter before the arraignment date of “patriots” who were going to flock to Florida and defend their cult leader. That did not happen. There was a small number of protestors, surrounded by more media than anyone else.
• There were no arrests and no major security incidents. The small pro-Trump crowd didn’t seem very enthusiastic.
• There were a few counterprotestors, including one guy in a striped prisoner costume who jumped out in front of Trump’s motorcade as it departed after the arraignment. He was quickly shuffled away by a Secret Service member.
• As I did tell you previously, Trump is not being held in jail pending his trial. The prosecution said they do not consider him a flight risk. They did not take away his passport or restrict his domestic or international travel.
• As I’ve also mentioned, even if he’s found guilty of all charges in a manner that would land any normal person in jail for life (or worse), I seriously doubt Trump will ever see prison time no matter what.
• Anyway, that part’s done. Trump will do everything he can to delay his federal criminal trial, so we’ll talk more about this when there’s something worth discussing. I still highly recommend you read the entire 37-count indictment if you have yet to do so.
• P.S. Keep in mind, this one, as big as it is, is specifically about the stolen and poorly-hidden documents. He also will likely face more charges for different crimes in coming months.
• Let’s move on…
• Yesterday, the US Army announced it will officially rename Louisiana’s Fort Polk military base as Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Johnson in honor of Sgt. William Henry Johnson, a Black US soldier during World War I who fought off about two dozen Germans alone, killing at least four.
• The base had previously been named after Confederate commander Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk.
• In case you hadn’t heard, one of the common Republican talking points is that as soon a they’re elected, they’ll change the names of these bases back to the original pro-slavery names.
• Some small good news…
• The Mississippi police officer who shot and wounded an 11-year-old last month after the boy called 911 for help has been suspended without pay.
• As you may recall, Indianola Police Sgt. Greg Capers shot Aderrien Murry in the chest on May 20 after the boy called for help with a domestic disturbance.
• Aderrien’s family is still demanding that Capers be terminated from his job and not be allowed to serve as a law enforcement officer again.
• I concur.
• When I had COVID in February, once of the most bizarre things was my loss of sense of taste and smell. A cup of delicious coffee gave me the same stimuli as a cup of warm water. It only lasted about three days, but it really bothered me.
• Horrifyingly, a new study says that about 25% of Americans who had COVID-19 reported only partial or no recovery of taste or smell.
• That would be just devastating for me.
• In “Canada Has Assholes Too” news, a children's track-and-field meet in Kelowna, British Columbia, was interrupted last week when a man named Josef Tesar allegedly accused a 9-year-old girl of being transgender.
• She was taking her turn in the shot put event when the accused started badgering her, “yelling to get that boy off the field.”
• Tesar was demanding proof that her daughter was born female, and his wife called her and the girl's other mother "genital mutilators", "groomers" and "pedophiles."
• “My daughter is a girl, was born female, and uses she/her pronouns. She has a pixie cut,” explained the girl’s other mother, Heidi Starr. “He proceeded to say that if my daughter was not a boy, then she was definitely trans and should be disqualified from competing.”
• I hope they sue his ass off.
• Back in the USA, school officials in Burlington, MA are working to respond to a clash at a middle school where some students tore down rainbow decorations and chanted “my pronouns are USA,” as the school’s LGBTQ+ student group celebrated the beginning of Pride Month.
• Wonder where those kids learned to hate? Oh yeah, from their hateful parents.
• And now, The Weather: “Adelaide” by Juleser
• RIP to Cormac McCarthy, who died at age 89. He was among America’s greatest authors of all time, with a string of award-winning novels including “Blood Meridian,” “The Road” and “All the Pretty Horses,” and “No Country for Old Men.”
• I’d recommend reading anything he ever wrote.
• Also RIP to actor Treat Williams, who was killed Monday in a motorcycle accident at age 71. 
• Williams was highly respected in his craft. he’s known for roles in the movies ‘Hair”, ‘Once Upon a Time in America’, ‘The Devil's Own’ and many more. He was also on the TV series ‘Everwood’, played Danny Zuko in the original Broadway run of ‘Grease’, and was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globes, a Primetime Emmy, two Satellite Awards, and an Independent Spirit Award.
• Here’s a super weird story.
• At the S&S Activewear warehouse facility in Reno, NV, employees kept hip-hop music cranked at high volume. The music being played lyrically depicted the rape and murder of women.
• When people complained, they were told they were being too sensitive. When they sued, the case was tossed out by a court which argued that since the music offended both men and women, it “did not constitute discrimination because of sex.”
• Um, what?
• Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected that notion — ruling that “an employer cannot find safe haven by embracing intolerable, harassing conduct that pervades the workplace.” Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote in a court opinion.
• Extra side note: male employees at the business allegedly shared pornographic videos, made sexual remarks, yelled obscenities and pantomimed sexual intercourse while the songs played.
• Even more extra side note: this isn’t about hip-hop. I don’t give a shit if it was country or butt rock or jazz. You don’t force people to listen to shit at their job that falls under the definition of harassment. Why would this even be considered to be okay?
• I’m sick to death of talking about that Orange Blob who was a one-tern president when we have so many more relevant things to discuss. But…
• A federal judge on Tuesday said E. Jean Carroll, the New York writer who last month won a $5 million jury verdict against Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation, can pursue a related $10 million defamation case against the former U.S. president.
• Reason? Trump keeps doing the same thing he did, publicly defaming Carroll. Some people learn from their mistakes. Other people are idiots who keep paying to make the same mistake over and over. And those people are often named Trump.
• From the Sports Desk… congrats to the Vegas Golden Knights, who defeated the Florida Panthers by a crazy score of 9-3 last night in Game 5 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, winning the series 4-1 and taking the championship. 
• The Golden Knights were an expansion team to the NHL in 2017 and were the first major sports franchise to represent the city of Las Vegas. This is their first NHL championship.
• Today in history… Kublai Khan defeats the force of Nayan and other traditionalist Borjigin princes in East Mongolia and Manchuria (1287). The Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Armed Forces (1775). The Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777 adopting the Stars and Stripes as the Flag of the United States (1777). Trade unions are legalized in Canada (1872). Hawaii becomes a United States territory (1900). U.S. House of Representatives passes the Marihuana Tax Act (1937). Albert II, a rhesus monkey, rides a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 83 miles, thereby becoming the first mammal and first monkey in space (1949). U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words "under God" into the United States Pledge of Allegiance (1954). Disneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, CA (1959). Mariner 5 is launched towards Venus (1967). The 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot occurs after the New York Rangers defeat the Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup, causing an estimated C$1.1 million, leading to 200 arrests and injuries (1994). Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles, about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon (2002). US Republican House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and three others, are shot and wounded by a terrorist while practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game (2017). 
• June 14 is the birthday of author/activist Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811), psychiatrist/neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer (1864), singer Burl Ives (1909), journalist/politician Pierre Salinger (1925), guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928), actress Marla Gibbs (1931), saxophonist Junior Walker (1931), politician Steny Hoyer (1939), keyboardist Rod Argent (1945), businessman/politician Donald Trump (1946), drummer Alan White (1949), bass player/composer Marcus Miller (1959), singer-songwriter Boy George (1961), NBA player Sam Perkins (1961), and tennis player Steffi Graf (1969).

Well, that’s plenty for now. I have a typical Wednesday on tap… things to write, things to draw, news to spread around. Enjoy your day.