Random News: August 7, 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 7, 2023, and it’s a Monday. I am happy to say that unlike yesterday, no hoards of ants greeted me first thing n the morning, so it’s already going better than it was then. Let’s do some news…

• Former vice president Mike Pence, who was once a loaf of Wonder Bread that magically transformed into a real boy, said on new programs yesterday that Trump's lawyers said on January 5, 2021, the day before the failed coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol: "We want you to reject votes outright.'"
• "They were asking me to overturn the election. I had no right to overturn the election," added Pence, who is challenging front-runner Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
• ”I don't know what was in his heart, I don't know what his intentions were, but I do know what he and his lawyers asked me to do. And it's what no vice president in American history had ever done before, and frankly what no vice president or any one person in Washington should ever do again."
• Meanwhile, Trump has a deadline today. Special counsel Jack Smith wants a protective order to limit what former President Donald Trump can disclose about the January 6 case against him. Trump's team has until 5PM ET today to respond.
• Moving on, kinda, to poor Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). It’s weird to feel sympathy for that evil fucker, but here we are.
• McConnell was met with jeers from the crowd on Saturday while delivering remarks in his home state at the annual “Fancy Farm Picnic”.
• In widely-circulated video clips on social media, the crowd is heard chanting boos,” “retire” and “lost the Senate”. His pal Donald “78 Felonies” Trump chimed in yesterday.
• “I AGREE!," wrote the Republican presidential candidate. “BOOOOO—RETIRE, RETIRE, RETIRE—BOOOOO!!!”
• He’s always the worst to those who supported him. Oh, I almost forgot. Trump had another message yesterday, this time for our countries women’s national soccer team. He attacked them for having lost at the world cup.
• President Biden told them that they make our country proud.
• Trump also completely freaked out on House Speaker emeritus Nancy Pelosi, writing, “She is a Wicked Witch whose husbands journey from hell starts and finishes with her. She is a sick & demented psycho who will someday live in HELL!”
• Nice presidential speech, Donnie. Shut the fuck up.
• Moving on… but not entirely.
• Yesterday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rejected Donald Trump's claim that he was the true winner of the 2020 presidential election.
• ”Whoever puts their hand on the Bible on Jan. 20 every four years is the winner," DeSantis said, trying to weasel out of being straightforward on the topic. But when pressed on it, De Santis actually said the truth.
• ”No, of course he lost," DeSantis said, adding, "Joe Biden’s the president."
• I shouldn’t be impressed by a Republican admitting who the President of the United States is.
• In other news, here’s a reminder to all Ohioans to vote NO on ISSUE 1 at the polls tomorrow. Keep your voice strong and keep your rules as they’ve been with a 50% threshold for making constitutional changes. Again, go to the polls and vote NO on ISSUE 1.
• It’s important.
• Let’s do some law stuff.
• Mary MacCarthy and her then 10-year-old daughter Moira flew from California to Colorado on October 22, 2021 for a funeral after the sudden death of MacCarthy's older brother.
• After landing at the airport, they were greeted by two armed officers from the Denver Police Department.
• The officers informed them that they wanted to question MacCarthy and her daughter because a Southwest Airlines employee had reported them as suspicious and MacCarthy as a potential human trafficker.
• The daughter, you see, is biracial. MacCarthy is white. As the officers spoke with MacCarthy, the daughter began to sob, fearing that she and/or her mother were in legal trouble for some reason.
• They are suing Southwest, seeking economic damages and compensatory damages, as well as punitive and exemplary damages.
• "Just as the police are constitutionally not permitted to stop-and-frisk young men of color based upon their race, corporate America is similarly not permitted to resort to such profiling in using law enforcement to stop and question racially diverse families simply based upon their divergent races, which is what Southwest did.” - Her lawyer
• I agree. Hard to argue against that.
• Let’s do another lawsuit.
• Porcha Woodruff, 32, was getting her two children ready for school on the morning of February 16 when six police officers showed up at her doorstep and presented her with an arrest warrant alleging robbery and carjacking.
• Woodruff initially believed the officers were joking, given that she was eight months pregnant and visibly incapable of pulling a carjacking. She was arrested anyway.
• It turns out she’d been falsely accused by Detective LaShauntia Oliver, who used facial technology on a crime scene video to identify Woodruff. The carjacking victim was then shown an eight-year-old picture of Woodruff for identification, despite Oliver having access to Woodruff’s current driver's license photo.
• Woodruff was charged with robbery and carjacking and released from the Detroit Detention Center on $100,000 personal bond. She needed to be transported to a medical center where she was diagnosed with a low heart rate due to dehydration and was told she was having contractions from stress related to the incident.
• On March 6, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office dropped the case for "insufficient evidence.” On Thursday, Woodruff filed her lawsuit against Oliver and the city of Detroit in U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan.
• Sigh.
• And now, The Weather: “Her Warmth” by CjayQ
• Record-breaking river flooding has destroyed at least two structures in Juneau, AK, and prompted local evacuations after a sudden outburst from a glacier-dammed lake inundated the region.
• Global climate change takes many forms.
• And for those who haven’t listened to me about overexerting yourself in extreme heat, please don’t end up like 34-year-old Jessica Lindstrom. The mother of four from Oregon was visiting friends in Arizona, and went on a hike. She died a few hours later from heat-related causes.
• It’s fucking awful. Please do not mess with extreme heat.
• Let’s do something happier.
• "Barbie" has joined the billion-dollar club. Yesterday, the Greta Gerwig-directed movie reached $1,031,481,000 at the box office.
• Gerwig is now the first solo female director to cross the $1 billion mark. "Wonder Woman," which was directed by Patty Jenkins, came close in 2017 with a total of $817.7 million worldwide at the box office.
• From the Sports Desk… NFL preseason is back! This Thursday August 10 has the Houston Texans at the New England Patriots, and the Minnesota Vikings at the Seattle Seahawks.
• I neglected to mention last Thursday’s opening “Hall of Fame Game” where the New York Jets lost to the Cleveland Browns 21-16.
• Preseason is meaningless, but it’s good to see NFL football getting back.
• Today in history… coronation of King Otto I of Germany (936). George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit, later renamed the Purple Heart (1782). The US Department of War is created (1789). The first women do a road trip from New York to San Francisco (1909). The WWII Battle of Guadalcanal begins (1942). Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency over toxic waste at Love Canal (1978). The first American soldiers arrive in Saudi Arabia in the Gulf War (1990). Space Shuttle Discovery STS-85 launches (1997). Barry Bonds breaks the all-time home run record (2007). 
• August 7 is the birthday of Hungarian aristocrat/serial killer Elizabeth Báthory (1560), activist/labor leader Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890), paleontologist Louis Leakey (1903), MLB player Don Larsen (1929), saxophonist/composer Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1935), humorist Garrison Keillor (1942), singer-songwriter B. J. Thomas (1942), singer-songwriter Bruce Dickinson (1958), actor David Duchovny (1960), entrepreneur Jimmy Wales (1966), MLB player Édgar Rentería (1975), actress Charlize Theron (1975), NFL player Shane Lechler (1976), actress Abbie Cornish, (1982), and MLB player Mike Trout (1991).

I feel pretty good so far, so now I’ll go work out and not feel exactly better, but long-term stop myself from feeling worse. How’s that for logic? Enjoy your day.