Random News: June 3, 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 3, 2023, and it’s a Saturday. I’m living the robe life in my robe, so while I’m robing about the place, let’s look at some information together…

• Here’s my Pride factoid of the day.
• Roughly 15 percent of all appointees in the Biden administration identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. That’s pretty good. That’s right around the estimated percentage of Americans who identify as such.
• Who are they?
• Well, there’s United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, of course.
• There’s also Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, who works alongside White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt.
• There’s Admiral Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 
• Chantale Wong is the United States Director of the Asian Development Bank, with the rank of ambassador. Shawn Skelly is the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness. 
• And then in terms of federal judges Biden has nominated and had confirmed, there’s Beth Robinson of Vermont and Alison Nathan of New York, both of whom both serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. There’s Judge Charlotte Sweeney, serving the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Judge Ana Reyes is a district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Gina Méndez-Miró is a federal district court judge in Puerto Rico. Judge Jamar Walker is an Article III judge in Virginia, and Judge Daniel Calabretta serves on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
• Our government should represent all of America, and that can’t be done without LGBTQIA+ perspectives within that representation.
• Now, some news.
• In a 70-page ruling handed down late last night, U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker said Tennessee's first-in-the-nation law designed to place strict limits on drag shows is unconstitutional.
• He wrote that the law was both "unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad." He also added that the statute encouraged "discriminatory enforcement.” Side note: Parker was appointed by Trump.
• ”There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. But there is a difference between material that is 'obscene' in the vernacular, and material that is 'obscene' under the law. Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech."
• Hell fucking yes. The First Amendment wins again. You have no idea how much of your daily life is protected by that First Amendment. It’s one of the best Amendments, in my opinion.
• Moving on… to another First Amendment story in a less happy path…
• Yesterday, YouTube (which is owned by Google) said it will no longer remove content featuring false claims that the 2020 US presidential election was stolen, reversing a policy instituted two years ago amid a wave of misinformation about the election.
• “In the current environment, we find that while removing this content does curb some misinformation, it could also have the unintended effect of curtailing political speech without meaningfully reducing the risk of violence or other real-world harm,” YouTube said.
• You take the good with the bad with the whole free speech thing.
• The investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine Georgia’s 2020 election results is expanding to include Washington, D.C., and various other states. 
• The expansion of the Georgia DA’s probe into Trump’s activities outside of the state boosts theories that Willis will likely include racketeering charges in an indictment under RICO laws, which is expected in August.
• Get his ass. Speaking of that dipshit…
• Attorneys for the former guy have informed the Justice Department that they have been unable to locate a classified document related to Iran sought by investigators that was discussed during a recorded meeting. 
• Where could it be? Maybe in Iran? Saudi Arabia? No one knows.
• The classified document in question came to the Justice Department's attention through an audio file it obtained in the course of special counsel Jack Smith's probe into Trump's illegal retention of sensitive records and alleged obstruction of the investigation.
• In other news…
• Four more Oath Keepers who were convicted of seditious conspiracy in a second trial following the conviction of leader Stewart Rhodes were sentenced to jail terms.
• Tattoo artist Roberto Minuta, 38; chiropractor Joseph Hackett, 52; neurophysiologist David Moerschel, 45, and Army veteran Edward Vallejo, 64, were convicted in January of multiple additional felony counts including conspiring to obstruct Congress’s confirmation of the 2020 election results and actually obstructing the proceeding during the failed coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021.
• All of them received relatively light sentences of 3 to 4-1/2 years, far below the government’s recommendation of 10- to 17-year terms.
• They got off easy, but that’s how things go. In 31 sentencings, including 14 felonies, Judge Amit P. Mehta has gone below the government request every time.
• Moving on…
• A group of public libraries and book publishers in Arkansas is pushing back against a growing movement to restrict what children are allowed to read.
• Arkansas is one of four states that recently passed laws that make it easier to prosecute librarians over sexually explicit books, a designation conservatives often use to target books with descriptions of gender identity and sexuality.
• Yesterday, a coalition led by the Central Arkansas Library System filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ book ban law in hopes that it will set a precedent about the constitutionality of such laws.
• Again, this is the First Amendment to the rescue. Reading materials that might not be appropriate for a seven-year-old are also being held back from a 17-year-old under Huckabee’s overly-broad law.
• And speaking of book bans…
• The Bible has been removed from libraries in a Utah school district after being challenged by a person making a jab at book bans.
• After a state law allowing school districts to pull “pornographic or indecent” books from schools was passed last year, someone in the Davis School District submitted a complaint about the King James Bible, arguing the text was “pornographic by our new definition.”
• A copy of the complaint obtained shows that the parent noted the Bible contains instances of incest, prostitution and rape. Fact check: true.
• A school district committee subsequently determined that the Bible was not age-appropriate for elementary and middle-schoolers.
• That’s what you get, assholes.
• And now, The Weather: “Loser at Best” by Wallice
• Let’s do some health and environment news.
• Maine recently joined a growing list of states — which now includes New Mexico, Maryland, and Rhode Island — in filing litigation against several chemical manufacturers like 3M and Dupont, claiming they have caused significant harm to the state’s residents and natural resources.
• More than 12,000 substances are known collectively as PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Also known as “forever chemicals” because that’s pretty much how long they linger in the environment, PFAS are used in thousands of products from textiles to nonstick pans to cosmetics to fire-fighting foam to food packaging, and more.
• The chemicals have been linked to a host of physical ills, including decreased fertility, high blood pressure in pregnant people, increased risk of certain cancers, developmental delays and low birthweight in children, hormonal disruption, high cholesterol, and reduced effectiveness of the immune system.
• More than a dozen other states — including Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin — have also filed litigation against PFAS manufacturers over the years.
• PFAS is also in our drinking water. Just yesterday, three U.S. chemical companies say they have reached a $1.185 billion settlement deal over complaints about these toxic pollutants in drinking water systems.
• Moving on…
• In somewhat local news, a fight erupted yesterday morning outside a North Hollywood elementary school as more than 100 parents rallied against a Pride Day assembly.
• Assholes who said they were protesting against teaching elementary school children about LGBTQ+ people held up signs outside Saticoy Elementary School with messages that included “No pride in grooming,” “Parental choice matters” and “Leave our kids alone.”
• Across the street, about 100 counterprotesters (including a few of my friends) gathered in support of LGBTQ+ rights and education. Shortly before noon, violence broke out.
• Way to show your kids how to behave through your example, you pricks.
• From the Sports Desk… the NHL Stanley Cup Finals start tonight, with the Vegas Golden Knights hosting the Florida Panthers in Las Vegas. The leading scorers on each respective team include Golden Knights center Jack Eiche and right wing Jonathan Marchessault, and Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk and center Carter Verhaeghe.
• Today in history… After a five-month siege during the First Crusade, the Crusaders seize Antioch, today’s Turkey (1098). Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain (1539). The Dutch West India Company receives a charter for New Netherland (1621). Jack Jouett begins his midnight ride to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of an impending raid by Banastre Tarleton (1781). In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kilograms of opium confiscated from British merchants, providing Britain with a casus belli to open hostilities, resulting in the First Opium War (1839). Union forces rout Confederate troops in Barbour County, VA, now West Virginia (1861). The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, OR (1889). In Los Angeles, CA, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines attack Latino youths in the five-day Zoot Suit Riots (1943). Ed White, a crew member of the Gemini 4 mission, performs the first American spacewalk (1965). A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded (1979). The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence (2006). The trial of United States Army private Chelsea Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, MD (2013).
• June 3 is the birthday of mathematician/astronomer David Gregory (1659), Confederate president Jefferson Davis (1808), businessman Ransom E. Olds (1864), UK king George V (1865), singer-songwriter Memphis Minnie (1897), physician Charles R. Drew (1904), actress/singer/resistance operative Josephine Baker (1906), burlesque dancer Lili St. Cyr (1918), actor Tony Curtis (1925), poet Allen Ginsberg (1926), TV host/producer Chuck Barris (1929), businessman Joe Coulombe (1930), novelist Larry McMurtry (1936), singer-songwriter Ian Hunter (1940), singer-songwriter Curtis Mayfield (1942), drummer Michael Clarke (1946), singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro (1950), US first lady Jill Biden (1951), singer-songwriter Dan Hill (1954), guitarist/composer Kerry King (1964), journalist Anderson Cooper (1967), NBA player Al Horford (1986), and tennis player Rafael Nadal (1986).

Okay, that’s all I’ve got. I’m gonna take a shower and do things, I guess. Enjoy your day.