Random News: July 4, 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 4, 2023, and it’s a Tuesday. It’s also a big federal holiday here in the ol’ USA, and yeah, I’ll be talking about that in some kinda way…

• Happy Independence Day.
• The United States of America is now 247 years old.
• Pretty old, huh? No.
• Several European countries, like Iceland, England, and Sweden, are over 1,000 years old. Then you have countries like India, which (while its current government was established in 1950) has had a continuous culture in the region that’s well over 4,000 years old.
• People have lived in the area we now call the USA for at least 12,000 years. If anyone “discovered” America, it was those adventurous Indigenous people who crossed the Bering land bridge back then.
• And then European colonizers and slave traders came in, yada yada, and here we are.
• Anyway, the USA consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations.
• The United States is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area, It is also the third most populous country in the world, though it’s far behind India and China in that regard.
• By 1900, the United States had established itself as a great power, becoming the world's largest economy and remaining so ever since by most standards (though I should note that China is ahead of us by some economic measures).
• It’s not un-American to be critical of America. In fact, wanting this country to provide a better life for all of its residents is about the most American thing possible.
• “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” - James Baldwin
• The Declaration of Independence said something important. I don’t want to gloss over it.
• “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
• Have you done everything you could to ensure equality for all people in this country? Have you supported their pursuit of happiness? If not, maybe you need to look into how to be a better American.
• Little side note: we declared independence from Great Britain in 1776. But I believe we didn’t become an actual country until the Constitution went into force 13 years later in 1789. It had been a loose confederation of very independent states before that.
• And then, of course, in 1861, we broke up and had a war against ourselves for four years. And then we got back together and everything was fine. Oh wait, no it wasn’t, and plenty of people in the former Confederate states some 158 years later are still resentful about the whole thing.
• We’ve gotten better at some things. Racism isn’t as openly tolerated as it once was. Public attitudes about topics like workers’ rights, gender equality, LGBT relationships, and more have steadily shifted to the positive over the generations (even with setbacks now and then).
• Some things have gotten inarguably worse, like income and wealth disparity, the erosion of the middle class, and the diminishing of a swath of basic freedoms.
• I think that the USA still has a long way to go to become the vision of its founders. But little by little, it is getting there.
• In Dumb News, when 1,000 US citizens were asked why we celebrate the Fourth of July, only 59 percent of people gave the correct answer — “The signing of the Declaration of Independence.” The other 41 percent had no idea.
• Sigh.
• Let’s do some news…
• Yesterday, a federal judge blocked Ron DeSantis’s new Florida election law that puts restrictions on voter registration groups, calling it “Florida’s latest assault on the right to vote.”
• U.S. Chief District Judge Mark Walker granted a preliminary injunction against the law just days after it went into effect. The law included a provision that cleared the way for DeSantis to run for president without having to resign his current position.
• Most of the law was designed to silence Black and Hispanic voters in the state. Fuck off with that shit, Ron.
• Here’s an interesting July 4 item, I guess…
• People began lining the streets of Bristol, RI early this morning to get a good spot for the Fourth of July parade. At year 238, it is considered America’s oldest continuous Fourth of July celebration. That’s pretty crazy, but good for them.
• And now a horrifying July 4 item…
• A 43-year-old woman in west Michigan is dead after a fireworks explosion took place last night.
• Ottawa County Sheriff's deputies arrived to the 1700 block of Main Street in Park Township, MI. Police identified 10 individuals injured (some critically) in the explosion.
• Please stop doing this. Also, please stop doing this as well…
• This weekend, a 57-year-old woman died while on an eight-mile hike in triple-digit heat at Grand Canyon National Park. Can I just tell you… heat will fucking kill you.
• I don’t give a shit if you’re in the best shape of your life and you’ve been waiting to go to the Grand Canyon your whole life. If it’s over 100 degrees, escape that heat… do not exacerbate it.
• Jesus. Please let me find some good news. Okay, here we go…
• Three groups filed a civil rights complaint against Harvard University yesterday. They allege that the University’s consideration of legacy and donor preferences in the admissions process violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• I agree.
• “Harvard admits predominantly white students using Donor and Legacy Preferences, and, as a direct result, excludes non-white applicants,” the complaint states.
• So, fuck around with Affirmative Action, and find out that the consequences may go further than expected.
• Here’s some advice you really shouldn’t need…
• Fireworks scare pets. Many people lose dogs and cats forever in this day. Secure your animal friends and give them a place to go if they become frightened at the noise.
• That’s it.
• Some mass shootings happened last night in Philly (five dead, two injured) and Fort Worth (three dead, eight injured). That’s pretty American, so well done, gun fetishists.
• Moving on…
• Elmo has fucked up Twitter so badly that its former loyal user base is ripe for the picking.
• So no surprise that Meta — the company who owns Facebook and Instagram — has teased an alternative app, Threads, due to be released Thursday.
• Threads is billing itself as “Instagram’s text-based conversation app,” and it appeared on Apple’s App Store with no accompanying details other than a simple countdown website in its name.
• Other apps like Bluesky Social and Spoutible are gaining users so quickly they can’t accommodate them all yet. 
• And now, The Weather: “Darkeve Duet” by Lutalo & Lomelda
• Severe weather continues in many areas across the USA. Stay safe please.
• A suspicious substance that prompted a brief evacuation of the White House on Sunday was tested and found to be cocaine. 
• Donald Trump Jr. has no comment.
• A couple in Knoxville, TN are looking for a heroic man who pulled their daughter out of a burning car after she was hit by a wrong-way driver last week.
• The young woman suffered many broken bones and lacerations, but is alive only due to the selfless actions of this mystery man, who stayed with her until the ambulance arrived, talking with her, and said he is former military and had a daughter her age.
• Nicely done.
• Let’s go to July 4, 1982. I’ve graduated from intermediate school and am playing on the summer league basketball team for my high school. While not doing that, I am either playing guitar, watching MTV, going surfing, or whatever. But these were the hits…
• 1. Don’t You Want Me (The Human League). 2. Roseanna (Toto). 3. Ebony & Ivory (Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder). 4. Heat of the Moment (Asia). 5. Hurts So Good (John Cougar). 6. Always On My Mind (Willie Nelson). 7. Let It Whip (Dazz Band). 8. Love’s Been a Little Bit Hard on Me (Juice Newton). 9. Eye of the Tiger (Survivor). 10. Caught Up In You (.38 Special). 11. Tainted Love (Soft Cell). 12. Crimson and Clover (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts). 13. Only the Lonely (The Motels). 14. The Other Woman (Ray Parker Jr.). 15. Any Day Now (Ronnie Milsap). 16. Do I Do (Stevie Wonder). 17. Play The Game Tonight (Kansas). 18. Take Me Down (Alabama). 19. Abracadabra (The Steve Miller Band). 20. Keep The Fire Burnin’ (REO Speedwagon).
• From the Sports Desk… Venus Williams, 43, got a well-deserved standing ovation as she limped off Wimbledon's Centre Court yesterday, likely for the final time, following her 6-4, 6-3 loss to Elina Svitolina. 
• The five-time champion was playing as a wild card in a record-setting 24th main draw appearance at Wimbledon, which breaks a tie with Martina Navratilova for the most in the Open era. 
• Another American took an early Wimbledon exit. Coco Gauff was beaten down once again by Sofia Kenin, falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the first round. But fellow American and world No. 4 Jessica Pegula advanced by beating Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-3.
• And now, no one can claim that the Sports Desk ignores Wimbledon while neurotically awaiting the return of pre-season NFL football in (checks calendar) 37 days.
• Today in history… A supernova, called SN 1054, is seen by Chinese Song dynasty as well as Arab and possibly Amerindian observers, and for several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day, with its remnants forming the Crab Nebula (1054). The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois cede lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, was signed in Lancaster, PA (1744). The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress (1776). At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opens (1802). The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people (1803). John Adams and Thomas Jefferson die on the same day (1826). Slavery is abolished in the State of New York (1827). John Neal delivers the first public lecture in the US to advocate the rights of women (1832). The Iowa Territory is organized (1838). Henry David Thoreau moves into a small cabin on Walden Pond in Concord, MA (1845). Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels (1862). Vicksburg, MS surrenders to U.S. forces under Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege (1863). The Army of Northern Virginia withdraws from the battlefield after losing the Battle of Gettysburg, signaling an end to the Confederate invasion of U.S. territory (1863). Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth,” then announces his retirement from major league baseball (1939). After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States (1946). U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law (1966). The U.S. celebrates its Bicentennial (1976). NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars (1997). The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1 (2005). The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN (2012).
• July 4 is the birthday of geographer/surveyor George Everest (1790), novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804), songwriter Stephen Foster (1826), US president Calvin Coolidge (1872), sculptor/cartoonist Rube Goldberg (1883), gangster Meyer Lansky (1902), businesswoman Leona Helmsley (1920), actress Eva Marie Saint (1924), actress Gina Lollobrigida (1927), playwright Neil Simon (1927), AFL/NFL executive Al Davis (1929), singer-songwriter Bill Withers (1938), journalist Geraldo Rivera (1943), activist Ron Kovic (1946), drummer Ralph Johnson (1951), singer-songwriter John Waite (1952), NBA player Horace Grant (1965), and rapper Post Malone (1995).

Okay, that’s it. I’m going to figure out what I’m doing. I mean, for now. I never know what I’m actually doing. Enjoy your day.