Random News: June 17, 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 17, 2023, and it’s a Saturday. I’m enjoying the lackadaisical pace of a weekend morning, relaxing in my robe and sipping coffee while taking a look-see around the hills and valleys of information that I might pass along to you…

• But first, today’s Pride note which is on the topic of lesbians.
• Lesbians are fucking awesome. I should just end it right there.
• I don’t really have to define this word. A lesbian is a woman whose sexual and romantic focus is toward other women.
• What can I say about lesbians? I have a ton of them as good friends and have for a long time. Many of them are funny, witty, interesting people with fascinating life tales.
• I think that like most LGBTQIA+ people, lesbians tend to be stereotyped. Not all lesbians are more masculine than typical heterosexual women, in body type or clothing styles or behavior. 
• As long as we’re on the topic of overgeneralizing, compared to gay men, lesbian relationships lean more toward the side of emotional, mental, and ideological connections than purely sexual, though the sexual part is not unimportant.
• And hey, like relationships of any types of identity or orientation, there’s no one definition that fits all here. And not everyone likes being categorized for other people’s benefit. I’ll leave it there.
• Some of my personal favorite well-known lesbians include actresses Kate McKinnon, Jodie Foster, and Lily Tomlin; musicians Brandi Carlile, Julien Baker, k.d. lang, Tracy Chapman, Queen Latifah, Indigo Girls, Arlo Parks, and Lesley Gore; athletes Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird (who happen to be a couple), Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, and Brittney Griner; comedians Tig Notaro and Wanda Sykes; journalist Rachel Maddow; and writer Lauren Hough.
• This list is silly, I realized after starting it. There are easily thousands of lesbians who’ve had a great positive impact on the world. I’ll never list them all in five minutes of consideration.
• I should add that I like these people not because they are lesbians. They happen to be lesbians and also are very talented at what they do.
• Anyway, salute to the lesbians. You make life better for everyone. And now the news…
• A report released yesterday after a two-year-long DOJ investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department found a pattern of “excessive force, including unjustified deadly force,” racial discrimination and civil rights violations, all of which created the conditions that led to George Floyd’s murder.
• The federal probe found “systemic problems” in the department, including the use of “unjustified deadly force” and unlawful discrimination against Black and Native American people.
• I hope that gets addressed.
• Millions of people in Louisiana and Oregon have had their data compromised in the sprawling cyberattack that has also hit the US federal government.
• The breach has affected 3.5 million Oregonians with driver’s licenses or state ID cards, and anyone with that documentation in Louisiana, authorities said. Government reps in Louisiana said yesterday that more than 6 million records were compromised.
• The states did not blame anyone in particular for the hack, but federal officials have attributed a broader hacking campaign using the same vulnerability to a Russian ransomware gang.
• Sigh.
• Let’s do some good news.
• Iowa’s six-week abortion ban will remain permanently unenforceable after the state Supreme Court deadlocked on whether it should be revived.
• Gov. Kim Reynolds had asked the court to reinstate the so-called fetal heartbeat law, which never took effect after it was passed in 2018, in the wake of major decisions last year limiting abortion protections under the Iowa and U.S. constitutions.
• A district court declined to reinstate the law in December, and Reynolds appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. Yesterday the court issued a 3-3 deadlock, means the district court's order is the final say on the matter, and the law will remain permanently blocked.
• Good.
• But wait, there’s more.
• A federal judge has temporarily blocked a large portion of Indiana's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which was set to take effect July 1.
• Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued the preliminary injunction yesterday, blocking the part of the law that would prohibit puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors.
• He also blocked the portion of the law that would prohibit doctors from communicating with physicians in other states about gender-affirming care for patients who are minors.
• Excellent. 
• Moving on…
• President Joe Biden intends to appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• “Dr. Cohen is one of the nation’s top physicians and health leaders with experience leading large and complex organizations, and a proven track-record protecting Americans’ health and safety,” said Biden. Cohen takes on what’s become an increasingly politicized role at the CDC.
• Speaking of Biden, as he finished his speech yesterday at the National Safer Communities Summit in West Hartford, CT, he wrapped up by saying, “God save the Queen, man.”
• Yes, that sounds kinda loopy. But it’s just a phrase Joe tends to throw out for no reason now and then. He’s used it many times before.
• Moving on…
• In other news, a Chicago police sergeant has been fired for his role in a botched 2019 raid at the home of a Black woman who was handcuffed while naked after police officers were sent to the wrong address.
• Jesus.
• She later sued the city over the raid, resulting in the Chicago City Council voting unanimously in December 2021 to pay her $2.9 million to settle her lawsuit.
• Good.
• You know how sometimes you see little social media ads from groups with innocuous names like “Independent Women’s Voice”? For example, in the months leading up to the 2022 midterm elections, hundreds of thousands of Facebook users in swing states were targeted with advertisements asking them to sign the so-called Women’s Bill of Rights.
• One version featured a woman looking down at a cityscape and flexing her biceps. “We know what a woman is,” proclaimed another, its text hovering over a closeup of the Statue of Liberty.
• But the “Independent Women’s Voice” is actually an extremist conservative non-profit who lobbies against the equal rights amendment, criticizes public school curriculum, and opposes government-funded parental leave.
• Recently, they have turned their focus toward fighting transgender rights. IWV budgeted nearly $6 million to promote anti-trans messaging in 10 swing states before the midterms.
• Be careful what you click on and make sure you understand what a thing really is before offering your support, even by sharing their messaging.
• And now, The Weather: “Build a Bridge” by Deeper
• I’ll be talking tomorrow about Juneteenth, which is celebrated as a federal holiday on Monday. I’m only mentioning it now so you know I’m not skipping its discussion. It’s coming.
• Nusrat Chowdhury, a civil rights lawyer, has been confirmed by the Senate as the first Muslim female federal judge in U.S. history.
• She will assume her lifetime appointment in Brooklyn federal court in New York after a 50-49 vote on Thursday along party lines.
• 50-49! Every election matters!
• A little reminder: tomorrow is Father’s Day in the USA.
• I lost my dad in 2017 and still miss him a lot. I have a number of friends whose dads passed away this year.
• I know that not everyone has a great relationship with their father, biological or otherwise. But do keep in mind, he’s not going to be around forever. Hopefully you can use tomorrow to make sure he knows that you care about him.
• From the Sports Desk… Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant has been suspended for 25 games without pay, the NBA announced yesterday. The suspension comes after Morant was seen with a gun on social media twice this year.
• NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Morant's behavior "destructive" as well as "alarming and disconcerting."
• I call Ja Morant an immature idiot and a huge disappointment. his career will never recover from this shit.
• Today in history… Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople due to his opposition to monothelitism (653). Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion — modern California — for England (1579). Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth, and her husband spends the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal (1631). Samuel Wallis, a British sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island (1767). American colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775). One thousand five hundred Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory (1876). The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor (1885). The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT (1901). Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic (1944). The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools (1963). Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process (1972). Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman (1994). Juneteenth National Independence Day, was signed into law by President Joe Biden to become the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983 (2021).
• June 17 is the birthday of English king Edward I (1239), painter/architect Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691), pianist/composer Igor Stravinsky (1882), illustrator M. C. Escher (1898), actor Ralph Bellamy (1904), guitarist Cliff Gallup (1930), bassist Chuck Rainey (1940), politician Newt Gingrich (1943), singer-songwriter Barry Manilow (1943), singer-songwriter/keyboardist Gregg Rolie (1947), singer-songwriter Paul Young (1947), comedian Joe Piscopo (1951), singer-songwriter Jello Biafra (1958), actor/TV host Greg Kinnear (1963), tennis player Venus Williams (1980), rapper Kendrick Lamar (1987), and NFL player Amari Cooper (1994).

Okay, I really need to get out of this robe and into a shower and on with the things that need doing and so on. Enjoy your day.