Random News: August 10, 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 August 10, 2023, and it’s Thursday for some reason. I’m up and about, so let’s take a drive together down the information superhighway and do some sightseeing…

• Records unsealed yesterday show that Special counsel Jack Smith obtained a search warrant for Donald Trump's Twitter account earlier this year as part of his investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election.
• It’s been reported that in addition to the publicly-available social posts, Smith has access to Trump’s draft posts and direct messages.
• There was a lot of drama behind the scenes in this regard. Elon Musk initially refused to cooperate with the court order for Trump’s criminal evidence, and Twitter was ultimately held in civil contempt and fined $350,000 for twice failing to comply with the warrant.
• The company eventually produced all of the requested information, albeit several days after the deadline.
• I’m sure the information will be of great use in helping to prosecute this criminal. In related news…
• The two accomplices in Trump’s document case are being arraigned this morning in Fort Pierce, FL on new charges brought by the special counsel.
• Carlos De Oliveira, the Florida property manager, and Trump’s footman Walt Nauta have been charged with multiple offenses related to Trump’s allegedly unlawful retention of documents after leaving office, including classified material.
• The charges Nauta and De Oliveira face include making false statements, conspiracy to obstruct justice and corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing documents.
• Moving on…
• Craig Deleeuw Robertson of Utah was not a happy man. An FBI investigation showed he’d been making graphic and credible online threats against a number of government officials, including Joe Biden, Biden’s family, former president Obama and others.
• In a social post dated August 6, Robertson wrote, "I hear Biden is coming to Utah," and that he was "cleaning the dust off his M24 sniper." The complaint showed photos of the suspect with a long-range rifle and a type of camouflage known as a ghillie suit.
• When the FBI attempted to serve arrest and search warrants at a residence in Provo yesterday morning at 6:15AM, Robertson engaged the FBI in a gunfight, and was shot and killed.
• One of these days, I’m going to dedicate a whole batch of bullets on the topic of free speech. The short version is that there are consequences — good and bad — about the things you say and do. I am glad to live in a country were I can (and do) write that Donald Trump is a piece of shit. But I would not expect to threaten to cause harm to that person, or any other, without facing repercussions.
• Moving on…
• Continuing our reporting in regard to Tuesday’s huge voter turnout against a special ballot measure in Ohio that would have made it tougher to protect abortion rights, the GOP is in complete panic mode… and they should be.
• Republican strategists, earning their high pay, are finally acknowledging that abortion will be problem for their party in 2024.
• They’d hoped to win back control of the Senate and keep their House majority, but having to continue support for the immensely unpopular repealing of Roe v Wade and the results on a state level will severely diminish their chances of winning key races in even conservative-leaning states, such as Montana and Ohio, where Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are up for reelection.  
• “Independent college-educated women, even those who lean to the right, are breaking in a way that they never have on the abortion issue. Before the Roe reversal, independent right-leaning women were almost a lock for Republicans but now it’s not so clear,” said a senior Republican official.
• We’re going to make sure going into 2024 that every candidate his his or her opinion clear on women’s reproductive rights. This isn’t only a Blue vs Red situation; a solid number of Republican men and women support a woman’s right to control her own reproductive freedom as well.
• Moving on…
• The remaining two suspects in that crazy brawl at the Alabama boat dock over the weekend were taken into custody last night. Montgomery police confirmed Allen Todd, 23, and Zachery Shipman, 25, were arrested after turning themselves in to police. The third prick, 48-year-old Richard Roberts, turned himself in on Tuesday.
• These guys live in a delusional world where people just accept six white people ganging up and assaulting a Black man. After the assault, they were so sure of themselves that they just hung out on their little boat afterwards, assuming nothing would happen to them.
• Fuck those people.
• Back to the other asshole for a moment. Former president and current accused felon Donald Trump said yesterday that he won't sign a pledge to support the Republican nominee if he loses the GOP presidential primary. That pledge is a supposed requirement for appearing in the first debate later this month.
• “Why would I sign it?" he said on Newsmax. “I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. So right there, there’s a problem.”
• Well, there you have it. I think he was planning on skipping the debate regardless. What’s going to end up happening is that Trump is going to do everything he can to take down the entire Republican party with him as he sinks further into infamy, and the into obscurity.
• In Kenosha, WI, police were looking for a person involved in a hit-and-run accident. They went into an Applebee's off Highway 50, and saw a Black man holding a baby.
• So they jumped on him and beat him. Small problem: the actual suspects were hiding in the bathroom of the restaurant. The man they arrested and struck multiple times is from Illinois and he was there to have a meal and got up to change his baby's diaper.
• An internal investigation is underway. Despite acknowledging that the man was not responsible for the hit-and-run, police said he has been charged with disorderly conduct, resisting, and obstructing an officer.
• Sigh.
• In other news…
• A group of LGBTQ veterans who were dismissed from the U.S. military because of their sexuality are suing the Department of Defense for denying them honorable discharges and listing their sexual orientations on their service records.
• In a class action lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court, the plaintiffs are asking for the department to grant them honorable discharges so they can access all veteran benefits, including health care, college tuition assistance and loan programs.
• I 100% support this. if I could support it more than 100%, I would.
• And now, The Weather: “Shell” by Ethan Tasch
• Again, I’m expressing my thoughts for the people of Hawaii and the horrific wildfires they’re experiencing. In addition to homes and crucial locations, many cultural iconic spots have been incinerated. It’s awful.
• Rest in peace to singer-songwriter/guitarist Robbie Robertson, who led the Canadian-American group the Band to rock prominence in the 1970s and worked extensively with Bob Dylan and Martin Scorsese. He was 80.
• Robbie was universally respected by other music creators such as myself. He is best known for the classic songs he wrote for the Band, including “The Weight,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “The Shape I’m In” and “It Makes No Difference.”
• A little personal note. I’d ordered some coffee via the Peet’s web site, something I’d done many times in the past, but this time it didn’t arrive.
• It was stuck in some UPS hub for a couple of weeks. After I notified Peet’s, within a day not only did they handle the reorder, but they doubled the amount from three bags of coffee to six, and reset my payment to exactly zero.
• That’s above and beyond. Thanks Peet’s!
• From the Sports Desk… hats off to Michael Lorenzen. He threw the 14th no-hitter in Philadelphia Phillies history in only his second start with his new team.
• It was his first home game for the Phils after being traded by the Reds. Lorenzen, 31, struck out five, walked four and his 124 pitches -- a career high -- are the most by any pitcher in a game this season.
• Today in history… Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, defeats the Magyars (955). Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships set sail to circumnavigate the globe (1519). Elizabeth I signs the Treaty of Nonsuch (1585). King Marthanda Varma of Travancore defeats the Dutch East India Company at the Battle of Colachel, effectively bringing about the end of the Dutch colonial rule in India. (1741). Word reaches London of the US Declaration of Independence (1776). Louis XVI is taken into custody and his guards are murdered by the Parisian mob (1792). The Louvre opens (1793). Missouri is admitted as the 24th state (1821). The Smithsonian Institution is chartered after Jane Smithson kicks down $500,000 (1846). Felix Hoffman — who also created heroin — synthesizes acetylsalicylic acid, aka aspirin (1897). ‘Candid Camera’ debuts on television (1948). The Secretary of Defense is placed in charge of the Army, navy, and Air Force, and establishes the Department of Defense (1949). The US Army sprays 20 million gallons of defoliants and herbicides over South Vietnam to deprive the Viet Cong of food and cover (1961). Postal employee David Berkowitz is arrested as the serial killer Son of Sam (1977). Three members of a family are killed in a car accident, leading to the Ford Pinto litigation (1978). The US pays $20,000 to each of the Japanese-Americans who were relocated and interned in WWII (1988). Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the Oklahoma City bombing (1995). 
• August 10 is the birthday of Aragon king James II (1267), organist/composer Hieronymus Praetorius (1560), businessman Henri Nestlé (1814), bass player William Manuel Johnson (1872), US president Herbert Hoover (1874), game designer Charles Darrow (1889), actor Jack Haley (1897), businessman Leo Fender (1909), actor Noah Beery Jr. (1913), singer/businessman Jimmy Dean (1928), singer-songwriter Bobby Hatfield (1940), singer-songwriter Ronnie Spector (1943), singer-songwriter/flautist Ian Anderson (1947), singer Patti Austin (1950), actress Rosanna Arquette (1959), NBA player John Starks (1965), actor Justin Theroux (1971), model/actress Angie Harmon (1972), NFL player Dalvin Cook (1995), personality/businesswomen Kylie Jenner (1997).

Well, that’s a good amount of info. Time for me to go work out. I hate working out but I still do it every day. Enjoy your day.