Random News: August 20, 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 20, 2023, and it’s a Sunday. It’s raining here and the wind is kicking up a bit, but as I thought, the beach areas won’t get much of this hurricane action. I’m going to try and get this news done quickly just in case we lose power…

• Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson said something on the Sunday news programs this morning that a lot of people have been thinking: that Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021 likely violated the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution and therefore disqualify him from taking the nation’s top office ever again. 
• Law professor Laurence Tribe and J. Michael Luttig, the former federal appellate judge and prominent conservative, published a law review article yesterday saying the same thing: the 14th Amendment disqualifies the former president from returning to the Oval Office.
• The 14th Amendment is one of our most important and consequential ones. It was adopted on July 9, 1868, and was bitterly contested at the time, particularly by the states of the defeated Confederacy, which were forced to ratify it in order to regain representation in Congress. 
• It has several clauses: the Citizenship Clause, Privileges or Immunities Clause, Due Process Clause, and Equal Protection Clause. The very first sentence is perhaps the most important: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
• That gave voting rights to all people of all races. Many other landmark Supreme Court decisions such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954) regarding racial segregation, Roe v. Wade (1973) regarding abortion, Bush v. Gore (2000) regarding the 2000 presidential election, and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) regarding same-sex marriage, referenced the 14th Amendment in their respective outcomes.
• But what does the 14th Amendment say in regard to the presidency? It’s almost the entire content of Section 3…
• “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
• That’s pretty clear, huh? At the time in the late 1860s, it was addressing former Confederate leaders. But it specifically says that if a person engages in an insurrection against the USA, they can not even hold office again.
• I truly do think it’s applicable toward Donald John Trump, the man who orchestrated an attempted coup against the USA.
• Moving on…
• It’s Sunday Gunday here at Zak’s Random News, where we take a quick snapshot of the gun violence that’s occurred in the USA over the past couple of days.
• Two dead and multiple injured in a shooting in South Seattle. One dead, eight wounded at a shooting at a Philadelphia block party. Nine people hurt in a mass shooting in Milwaukee. Three shot in the Hyde Park area of Los Angeles. A guy shot and killed a woman he’d been dating while at a mall in Roseville, CA. A guy shot and killed his roommate in Tempe, AZ. One shot and killed in Omaha, NB. A 15-year-old shot into a crowd at a high school football game in Jacksonville, and was then wounded by cops. Three shootings in Denver left two dead. One shot dead in Indianapolis. Two teens shot in a drive-by at a party in San Antonio. Two dead after a shooting in Manor, TX. 
• So it was a light weekend of gun violence thus far. Do keep in mind that these are just the ones I noted in a fast scan of the news. There are always many more.
• I’ll also remind you that gun violence in the #1 cause of death in American children, and when you vote for candidates who don’t support common sense gun laws, you are partially responsible for their deaths, in case you think your vote doesn’t matter.
• It matters.
• And now, The Weather: “Pocket” by feeble little horse
• Obvious weather news is Hurricane Hilary which is already diminished to Tropical Storm Hilary. I think it’s definitely going to impact the deserts and mountains and other points inland than it will for us near the ocean.
• So far, it’s been a weird hot, sticky rain here all morning. Kinda gross, actually. We’re not used to that shit.
• In a couple of hours at noon, we’re supposed to get some squalls, with some potential lightning and gusty winds. I’m sure we’ll be fine here.
• Thinking good thoughts for my inland/desert friends. Moving on, for now.
• I stumbled across what might be the best album chart in history. It’s August 1971. I am two years old. And there’s not a fucking record in the top 20 that doesn’t become an all-time classic and influence thousands and thousands of other music makers.
• 1. Tapestry (Carole King). 2. Ram (Paul & Linda McCartney). 3. Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon (James Taylor). 4. Jesus Christ Superstar (Various Artists). 5. Carpenters (Carpenters). 6. What's Going On (Marvin Gaye). 7. Aqualung (Jethro Tull). 8. Sticky Fingers (The Rolling Stones). 9. Every Picture Tells A Story (Rod Stewart). 10. B, S & T; 4 (Blood, Sweat & Tears). 11. Stephen Stills 2 (Stephen Stills). 12. Who’s Next (The Who). 13. L.A. Woman (The Doors). 14. 4 Way Street (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). 15. Poems, Prayers & Promises (John Denver). 16. Tarkus (Emerson, Lake & Palmer). 17. At Fillmore East (The Allman Brothers Band). 18. Aretha: Live At Fillmore West (Aretha Franklin). 19. Blue (Joni Mitchell). 20. Tea For The Tillerman (Cat Stevens)
• From the Sports Desk… big congrats to the ladies of Spain. They defeated England 1-0 in winning its first Women’s World Cup title today. The victory made La Roja the first team to hold the under-17, under-20 and senior world titles at the same time.
• Spain is the fifth winner in nine editions of the Women’s World Cup, and joins Germany as the only two nations to win both the men’s and women’s tournament.
• Today in history… Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection (1854). Andrew Johnson declares the Civil War officially over (1866). Tchaikovsky debuts his ‘1812 Overture’ in Moscow (1882). The first commercial radio station, now called WWJ, begins operations in Detroit (1920). The American Professional Football Conference, now called the National Football League, is organized in Canton, OH (1920). Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd grand slam, a record that stood for 75 years (1938). NASA launches the Viking 1 probe toward Mars (1975). Nasa launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft (1977). More than 100,000 people rally at the Soviet parliament building protesting the coup to depose Gorbachev (1991). Joe Biden gives his acceptance speech as the Democratic presidential nominee (2020). 
• August 20 is the birthday of US president Benjamin Harrison (1833), France president Raymond Poincaré (1860), writer H. P. Lovecraft (1890), singer-songwriter/trombonist Jack Teagarden (1905), screenwriter/producer Walter Bernstein (1919), songwriter/pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow (1934), singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes (1942), journalist Connie Chung (1946), singer-songwriter Robert Plant (1948), singer-songwriter/bass player Phil Lynott (1949), singer-songwriter John Hiatt (1952), news anchor Al Roker (1954), rapper KRS-One (1965), guitarist/songwriter Dimebag Darrell Abbott (1966), singer Fred Durst (1970), actress Amy Adams (1974), singer-songwriter Demi Lovato (1992), and NFL player Mitchell Trubisky (1994).

I’m going to get in the shower before my power goes out, if it does. No one wants a cold shower in the dark. Enjoy your day.