Random News: July 6, 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 6, 2023, and it’s Thursday for some reason. I believe that there are things I believe, and sometimes they are right and then other times not, but let’s see what has happened and then we can make up our minds…

• Let’s start on a high note.
• Pro-abortion rights advocates delivered more than 700,000 signatures to the Ohio secretary of state's office yesterday in support of putting a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on the ballot in November.
• The groups Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Protects Choice Ohio submitted 710,131 signatures. They needed 413,000 signatures necessary to put the question to voters. 
• The proposed amendment would update the state's constitution with language that provides every individual the "right to make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions" when it comes to abortion, contraception, fertility treatment, continuing a pregnancy and miscarriage care.
• Fuck yes! Go Ohio! I’m so proud of you. Also, if Ohio can get abortion on the ballot this successfully (since the public overwhelmingly supports women’s reproductive freedom), other states can too. LET’S FUCKING GO.
• On the opposite end of that issue, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is calling for a special session in her state to try and jam through new abortion restrictions.
• In 2018, Iowa lawmakers banned most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks into a pregnancy. A lower court judge blocked the law, and the state Supreme Court has refused to reinstate it. The court was split 3-3 in its ruling last month.
• Fuck you, Kim.
• In related news, the Ohio man who raped and impregnated a nine-year-old girl who then had to travel to another state for an abortion has been sentenced to life in prison, not being eligible for parole for at least 25 years. Gerson Fuentes, 28, pleaded guilty.
• Many forced-birth states do not make any exception for rape or incest. They’d have forced that little girl to have her rapist’s baby. Keep that in mind when you vote for candidates who support these laws.
• Moving on…
• Yesterday, the Justice Department disclosed some of the previously blacked-out portions of a warrant application it submitted last year to gain authorization to search Donald John Trump's Florida property for classified documents.
• The newly revealed paragraphs lay out important evidence that prosecutors had gathered well before the search took place, recounting how surveillance footage from inside the property showed dozens of boxes being relocated by a Trump aide in the days before FBI and Justice Department investigators visited the home to collect records.
• Related: Trump footman and co-defendant Walt Nauta is set to be arraigned in federal court in Miami today.
• In other news, sorta…
• Complete piece of shit L. Lin Wood, the election-denier Trump lawyer, has given up his law license in an apparent move to stave off disciplinary proceedings tied to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
• “By permitting (Wood) to transfer to Retired Status and thereby prohibiting (Wood) from practicing law in this state or any other state or jurisdiction, the Office of General Counsel believes that it has achieved the goals of disciplinary action, including protecting the public and the integrity of the judicial system and the legal profession.” - The State Bar of Georgia
• Bye fucker.
• In other news, though it’s not news to me… the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department is under scrutiny after body slamming an older Black woman who is fighting cancer, then pepper spraying her for unknown reasons.
• Why am I nonplussed by this information? Because I’ve also been pointlessly body slammed by the LASD. It was many years ago, but one tends not to forget about such things.
• Unnecessary use of force has been a hallmark of the LASD. I’ve been hopeful that somewhat new Sheriff Robert Luna could affect a cultural shift there. Asked about the footage of the incident, Luna said, “It's disturbing. There's no ifs ands, buts about it.”
• Yup.
• I won’t recount the dozens of news stories of people killed, critically injured, and permanently disfigured by illegal home fireworks fun on Tuesday. I also won’t mention the dozens of houses and structures that burned down as a result, leaving their occupants with nothing.
• Nothing I say about that is going to make people think twice about it, because nothing bad ever happens to you, until it does.
• And now, The Weather: “Everybody's Watching” by dani mack
• Remember how Tuesday was the hottest day on Earth in 125,000 years?
• That record got beat by Wednesday. And the previous record was Monday. A lot of us tried to warn you, and you said something about climate change being a liberal conspiracy. Anyway, enjoy the heat… as if you have a choice.
• Threads, the new Twitter-killer app from Facebook/Instagram owners Meta, is now live. I’m going to check it out. I’ll let you know what I think.
• From the Sports Desk… I’m not going to talk about every detail of the NBA free agency moves… there are just too many of them and many alleged blockbuster trades are still in the works. 
• One player of note is Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers, who could end up on a number of teams who are expressing interest, but so far no one has come up with a viable trade package.
• Today in history… Mindaugas is crowned king of Lithuania (1253). Richard III and Anne Neville are crowned King and Queen of England (1483). In Jackson, MI, the first convention of the United States Republican Party is held (1854). Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies on Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog (1885). Three thousand eight hundred striking steelworkers engage in a day-long battle with Pinkerton agents during the Homestead Strike, leaving ten dead and dozens wounded (1892). The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park, with the American League defeating the National League 4–2 (1933). Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to a court-martial (1944). The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union (1947). John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles (1957). The Georgia Guidestones, a monument in the United States, are heavily damaged in a bombing, and are dismantled later the same day (2022).
• July 6 is the birthday of naval captain John Paul Jones (1747), businessman Harold Stirling Vanderbilt (1884), painter Frida Kahlo (1907), actor Sebastian Cabot (1918), US first lady Nancy Reagan (1921), TV host/producer Merv Griffin (1925), singer-songwriter Bill Haley (1925), actress Janet Leigh (1927), actress/singer Della Reese (1931), actor Ned Beatty (1937), US president George W. Bush (1946), actor Sylvester Stallone (1946), actor Geoffrey Rush (1951), singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith (1953), rapper 50 Cent (1975), comedian Kevin Hart (1979), MLB player Manny Machado (1992), and NBA player Zion Williamson (2000).

I have a normal Thursday planned. Some meetings, some work, yada yada. I’m sure it will go along as planned, and if not, we’ll adjust expectations accordingly. Enjoy your day.