Random News: September 14, 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 September 14, 2023, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. In addition to my usual work stuff, I spent a big portion of yesterday getting my mind blown with revelations from my ancestry. More of that today, but first, the news…

• We can start with some breaking news out of Fulton County, GA, where Judge Scott McAfee has ruled that Donnie Dump and 16 of his co-defendants in the RICO trial will not be tried alongside Ken Chesebro and Sidney Powell starting October 23, 2023.
• The ruling severs Chesebro and Powell’s case from the 17 other defendants who did not request a speedy trial.
• One result of this: Mark Meadows had entered a motion for an emergency stay of the federal district court’s remand order, but now that is null and void since he’ll have plenty of time before his own trial date.
• Orange Man has waived his right to a speedy trial in exchange for his motion to sever his case from that of Chesebro and Powell. He’s trying to figure out how to get to the back of the line.
• Over in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon has finally issued a protective order limiting Trump's access to evidence in the classified documents case while also barring him from publicly discussing sensitive material.
• The order noted that El Dumpo had 3500 pages of classified documents. The number of pages Donnie Boy was legally authorized to have once he left office was, hmm, let’s see… ZERO.
• Moving on.
• A federal judge yesterday declared illegal a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen agreed with Texas and eight other states suing to stop the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.
• However, he declined to order an immediate end to the program and the protections it offers to recipients. The judge's ruling was ultimately expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, sending the program's fate before the high court for a third time.
• Hanen’s order extended the current injunction that had been in place against DACA, which barred the government from approving any new applications, but left the program intact for existing recipients during the ongoing legal review.
• In other news…
• Yesterday in the impeachment trial of Texas AG Ken Paxton, the House rested its case amid a dramatic day that centered around questions of whether the woman with whom the attorney general had an affair would take the stand.
• The trial is resumes this morning with the first defense witnesses.
• As I’d rather easily predicted over the weekend, a federal judge yesterday temporarily halted a 30-day order from New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham suspending the open and concealed carrying of guns in the Albuquerque area that had sparked bipartisan condemnation.
• The executive order had drawn extensive blowback from the state’s elected Republicans for violating gun rights and also some Democrats and gun control advocates who questioned its constitutionality.
• Yep.
• Let’s do some Asshole News. Not, like, actual asshole news. No one wants that. Or if you do, you’ll need to look elsewhere… I’m sure there’s plenty to choose from.
• Remember Kim Davis? She was the Rowan County, KY clerk who drew international attention when she was briefly jailed for contempt fo court in 2015 over her refusal to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple based on her belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
• A federal jury has just awarded $100,000 to that couple. A jury in Ashland, KY awarded David Ermold and David Moore each $50,000 yesterday. The former clerk had argued that a legal doctrine called qualified immunity protected her from being sued for damages by the couples.
• Nope.
• Asshole #2 is none other than U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who was escorted out of a Denver theater on Sunday night after several people seated near her in the audience complained she was creating a disturbance.
• Boebert were seen vaping and using a cell phone to record the performance, against theater rules, as well as being loud and rude to other theater-goers. Theater staff received three different complaints about the behavior, prompting security to issue a warning to BoBo and her pals during intermission. But five minutes into the second act, the staff received a fourth complaint, and mobilized to remove her.
• One of the ushers reported that Boebs resisted leaving. "They told me they would not leave. I told them that they need to leave the theater and if they do not, they will be trespassing. The patrons said they would not leave. I told them I would be going to get Denver Police. They said go get them," the usher in the report.
• Classy.
• On to some very sad news. The husband of Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) has died after a plane crash in her home state.
• ”We are devastated to share that Mary's husband, Eugene Peltola Jr. — 'Buzzy' to all of us who knew and loved him — passed away earlier this morning following a plane accident in Alaska. He was one of those people that was obnoxiously good at everything. He had a delightful sense of humor that lightened the darkest moments. He was definitely the cook in the family. And family was most important to him. He was completely devoted to his parents, kids, siblings, extended family, and friends — and simply adored Mary.”
• Buzzy Peltola was 57. In case you were unaware, travel by small plane is essential in Alaska due to places that are unaccessible by roads. Several well-known politicians have died in Alaska plane crashes. These include House Majority Leader Thomas Hale Boggs Sr., (D-LA), Rep. Nick Begich (A-AK), Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and others.
• And now, The Weather: “Star” by Mitski
• From the Sports Desk… the second NFL week of the season kicks off tonight with the Minnesota Vikings visiting the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly is favored by six points.
• Today in history… George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio ‘Messiah’ (1741). The Papal States lose Avignon to Revolutionary France (1791). President William McKinley dies after being mortally wounded on September 6 by anarchist Leon Czolgosz and is succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt (1901). The Hungarian Army kills 158 Romanian civilians in the Ip Massacre, an act of ethnic cleansing (1940). Maastricht becomes the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces in WWII (1944). The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, aka OPEC, is founded (1960). Joe Kittinger becomes the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean (1984). The Major League Baseball season is canceled because of a strike (1994). Microsoft releases Windows Me (2000). The first observation of gravitational waves is made, announced the following February by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations (2015). 
• September 14 is the birthday of theologian/astrologer/occultist/alchemist Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486), nurse/activist Margaret Sanger (1879), actor Walter Koenig (1936), basketball coach Larry Brown (1940), songwriter/guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith (1949), songwriter/guitarist Paul Kosoff (1950), politician Dmitry Medvedev (1965), rapper Nas (1973), politician Ron DeSantis (1978), singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse (1983), NFL player Michael Crabtree (1987),  and NBA player Jimmy Butler (1989).

I’d love to stay and chat more but I’m fresh out of time. Be good to each other, and to animals, and to trees. Enjoy your day.