Random News: July 1, 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 July 1, 2023, and it’s a Saturday. I’m awake — one might even say “woke” — and I have coffee and am in a blue bathrobe, which is the perfect time to see what’s been happening around the world…

• Rabbit rabbit rabbit.
• Happy July to you. I don’t have any particular feelings about July these days. As a young kid, I loved July because you’d basically forgotten the previous school year by then, and still had months to go until the next one kicked off.
• July, I should add, was named by the Roman Senate in 44 BC in honor of Roman general Julius Caesar, it being the month of his birth.
• July is National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, and Disability Pride Month.
• Also, since July 4 (aka Independence Day in the USA, a major holiday) falls on Tuesday, I know a buttload of people who are getting a four-day weekend, which is nice. I am not one of those people, but that’s okay.
• Let’s do some news.
• As usual at the very end of June, the US Supreme Court puked out another series of unpopular and dangerous decisions.
• We mentioned them in the past couple of days. The end of Affirmative Action in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The disgusting and openly discriminatory ruling about banning business with LGBT people in 303 Creative v. Elenis. And the striking down of the student loan debt forgiveness program in Biden v. Nebraska.
• Brief side note: how many cases did the Supreme Court decide for this 2022 term?
• 58.
• Is that a lot? No, not at all. In the previous term they issued 66 rulings. They did 68 in 2020, 63 in 2019, and 73 in 2018.
• The Supreme Court is asked to review more than 7,000 cases per year, and they agree to hear about 100-150 of them, and some two-thirds of those seem to get rulings.
• In many cases — with the absolute exception of the overturn of Roe v. Wade last year — I am pragmatic enough to at least see both sides, even when I vehemently disagree with the outcome.
• Let’s look at Lorie Smith, the idiot web designer in Colorado who wanted to post a notice on her business website to notify users of her unwillingness to create websites announcing same-sex marriages.
• And no, no one ever asked her to design a same-sex wedding website. This is all based on her fever dream that it could possibly happen someday.
• So obviously this is outright wanton discrimination, and it’s fucking wrong. But at the same time, the justification for the decision was that since the site would be an expression of Smith’s creative work, and thus was protected by the First Amendment.
• So, if you want to really play devil’s advocate, that same First Amendment reference would also allow my own business — which like Smith’s does web design and other creative output — to refuse to provide services for Nazi and MAGA customers.
• But does that justify the real possibility that businesses run by evil people will now feel emboldened to hang other signs, refusing to do business with people of color and those of religions they hate?
• The upside and downside with any Constitutional right is that everyone gets to benefit from it. That means for every Pride parade, there’s also a batch of assholes standing in front of Disney World waving swastikas. For every march against racism, there’s a Westboro Baptist Church holding up signs at a kid’s funeral.
• Let’s also mention Affirmative Action in college admissions, which was, by definition, discriminatory toward people whose races didn’t allow them to benefit from it.
• Fine. I get it. The court ruled that these programs in college admissions processes violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
• That clause is very important. 
• “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
• It was the basis for Brown v. Board of Education that helped to dismantle racial segregation. It was the basis for Obergefell v. Hodges which legalized same-sex marriages, along with many other decisions rejecting discrimination against, and bigotry towards, people belonging to various groups.
• Can you have equal protection of the laws and still give opportunities to disadvantaged people to better their lives? I’d like to think so.
• But the hypocrisy alone is beyond vile. In 1971, Justice Clarence Thomas was admitted to Yale's Law School as part of the affirmative action practice. In 2023, Thomas not only rejected the same program that allowed him to become a SCOTUS justice in the first place; he wrote his own concurring opinion and joined yet a third.
• Enough on all this. Part of living in this country means you have to take the good with the bad and keep fighting for what you know is right. How and when and where we do that is something we’ll need to figure out as we go along.
• But do vote, and do encourage other people to register and vote.
• Oh, one more SCOTUS note.
• They agreed yesterday to decide whether the government may ban domestic abusers from owning a gun. The justices are likely to hear arguments in the fall and hand down a decision next year.
• Guess which side they’ll vote for?
• Moving on…
• Fox News is going to settle with former producer Abby Grossberg for $12 million over a pair of major lawsuits, per her announcement yesterday.
• Grossberg had accused Fox News of pressuring her into giving false testimony in Dominion Voting Systems’ historic defamation case against the network, and of fostering a deeply misogynist workplace.
• You can only hope that repeated suits against organizations like Fox will result in their being more cautious about what they do in the future.
• Moving on with some at least momentary good news…
• Yesterday, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA) blocked a package of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation from becoming law in his state, including Louisiana’s version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and a ban on gender-affirming medical care for young transgender people.
• However, as you’d expect, multiple Republican state lawmakers say they anticipate convening for a veto session mid-July in an attempt to override the governor’s decision.
• This year alone, more than 525 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in 41 states, per the Human Rights Campaign.
• Moving on…
• Prosecutors said they have more than 80,000 pages of evidence against U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) during a court hearing yesterday.
• Santos appeared in court for the first time since pleading not guilty last month to charges that he duped donors, stole from his campaign, collected fraudulent unemployment benefits, and lied to Congress about being a millionaire. Santos' next status hearing will was set for September 7.
• Whatever. Let’s see what else is up.
• As of today, Maryland became the 21st state where recreational cannabis sales are legal. Weed aficionados in the state camped out in the Green Ridge State Forest at a music festival that marked the occasion with a countdown to a midnight “bong drop.”
• Dispensaries have DJs and food trucks lined up for the first day of recreational sales, where customers 21 and older with a driver’s license or other government-issued ID can now buy dried flower, pre-rolled joints, vape cartridges containing THC and edibles at licensed dispensaries.
• Speaking from the perspective of a Californian who’s had access to legal weed for years: it’s not that big of a deal. Really, the novelty wears off and you think of weed like people in cannabis prohibition states think of beer and wine.
• In yet other news…
• Former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges was sentenced yesterday to five years in federal prison in connection with the a political corruption scandal that engulfed OH state politics for years.
• Borges, 51, worked as a lobbyist for FirstEnergy Solutions and scuttled opposition to a law that gave FirstEnergy a $1 billion bailout for two aging nuclear power plants iin exchange for $60 million in bribes.
• Piece of shit. Enjoy jail, asshole.
• And now, The Weather: “Self Service” by May Rio
• The real weather is still fucked in many places. Wildfire smoke, high temps, severe storms. Be safe, my people.
• RIP to Alan Arkin. The first time I became aware of him, I was a kid and an old movie called ‘Wait Until Dark’ was on TV. My dad was like, “Ooh, this is a good one,” so I watched and Arkin played a sadistic killer and he scared the shit out of me. He was great in everything he ever did.
• In late June 1999, I had just become a father and I was trying to get used to that. It wasn’t that hard to figure out. Here were the top Modern Rock songs for that week ending June 30, 1999. Like almost any list of hits, some of them suck, and some do not.
• 1. Scar Tissue (Red Hot Chili Peppers). 2. Last Kiss (Pearl Jam). 3. My Own Worst Enemy (Lit). 4. All Star (Smash Mouth). 5. What’s My Age Again? (Blink 182). 6. Freak on a Leash (Korn). 7. Ends (Everest). 8. Praise You (Fatboy Slim). 9. Battle Flag (Lo Fidelity Allstars). 10. Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out) (Citizen King). 11. American Woman (Lenny Kravitz). 12. Get Born Again (Alice In Chains). 13. Heavy (Collective Soul). 14. One (Creed). 15. Bawitdaba (Kid Rock). 16. Nookie (Limp Bizkit). 17. The Kids Aren’t Alright (The Offspring). 18. Awful (Hole). 19. Blue Monday (Orgy). 20. Whatever (Godsmack).
• From the Sports Desk… lots of moves happening in NBA free agency. I’ll cover some of the more interesting ones at a later date.
• Today in history… Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan after nightfall (1520). Lexell's Comet is seen closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 astronomical units (1770). Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society of London (1858). The Battle of Gettysburg begins (1863). The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence (1870). The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States (1881). Canada and Bermuda are linked by telegraph cable (1890). SOS is adopted as the international distress signal (1908). On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded (1916). The Parliament of Canada suspends all Chinese immigration (1923). United Airlines begins service as Boeing Transport (1931). Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, was formed (1932). ZIP codes are introduced for United States mail (1963). The first Gay Pride march in England takes place (1972). Sony introduces the Walkman (1979). "O Canada" officially becomes the national anthem of Canada (1980). The PG-13 rating is introduced by the MPAA (1984). 
• July 1 is the birthday of author George Sand (1804), politician/educator Thomas Green Clemson (1807), author/educator William Strunk Jr. (1869), businesswoman Estée Lauder (1906), singer-songwriter Willie Dixon (1915), pimp Scotty Bowers (1923), actor Jamie Farr (1934), actor/director Sydney Pollack (1934), actor David Prowse (1935), singer-songwriter/guitarist Delaney Bramlett (1939), dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp (1941), singer-songwriter Debbie Harry (1945), singer-songwriter Fred Schneider (1951), actor Dan Ackroyd (1952), track and field athlete Carl Lewis (1961), UK princess Diana (1961), actress Pamela Anderson (1967), rapper Missy Elliott (1971), singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens (1975), and actress Liv Tyler (1977).

Alright. I’m now having some eggs Benedict, so no complaints other than everything above. Enjoy your day.