Random News: September 18, 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 18, 2023, and it’s a Monday. I spent a good chunk of the weekend on a journey through the past, so what better to bring my brain back to the present than a fresh helping of news?

• Let’s talk a bit about one of the reasons behind the various unions’ strikes lately: the wealth gap between workers and the top bosses.
• The United Auto Workers feel that if Detroit’s three automakers raised CEO pay by 40% over the past four years, workers should get similar raises.
• UAW President Shawn Fain has repeatedly cited the figure, contrasting it with the 6% pay raises autoworkers have received since their last contract in 2019.
• In June, Netflix shareholders rejected executive pay packages in a nonbinding vote, just days after the Writers Guild of America wrote letters urging investors to vote against the pay proposals, saying it would be inappropriate amid Hollywood’s ongoing strike by writers. The WGA wrote similar letters targeting the executive pay at Comcast and NBCUniversal.
• Executive pay is notoriously complicated to calculate because so much of it comes in the form of stock grants or stock options.
• General Motors CEO Mary Barra has held the role since 2019, and is the highest paid, with a compensation package of worth $28.98 million in 2022. The single biggest component was $14.62 million in stock grants. Her pay has increased 34% since 2019.
• Ford CEO James Farley received nearly $21 million in total compensation in 2022, a 21% increase over the $17.4 million then-CEO Jim Hackett received in 2019.
• So while 40% may be a little optimistic, there’s no argument that the wealth gap is widening and the few are benefitting tremendously at the expense of the many.
• Let’s move on.
• In Trump Criminal Enterprise news, a federal judge who rejected efforts by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his charges in the Georgia election subversion case to federal court is set to hear arguments today from former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark on the same issue.
• Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has accused Clark and Meadows, along with Dumpster and 16 others, of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory and keep Dumpy in power. The 41-count indictment includes charges under the state’s anti-racketeering law. All 19 defendants have pleaded not guilty.
• I saw an article that was fact-checking El Dumpo’s ‘Meet the Press’ interview from yesterday, but basically it was just a transcript of everything he said with the word “Lie” stamped over it.
• He blamed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the violence on January 6, 2021. FALSE.
• He said that Biden directed the Justice Department to indict him. FALSE.
• He repeatedly argued that the 2020 election was “rigged” against him, and he claimed that “there’s no questions about it.” FALSE.
• Remember, Dumpty Dump has had many opportunities to prove these claims in court, and either has had no tangible evidence or lost every attempt and every appeal.
• Another little self-own in Dumb Don’s interview: he said that he didn’t respect lawyers and members of his campaign who told him he lost the 2020 presidential election, and that it was his decision to buy into the theory that the election was rigged.
• That blows apart one of his defense arguments in his federal case in regard to January 6. He can no longer say he was just taking the advice of others in his role in the insurrection.
• And then yesterday, to mark Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, Donald Trump post the following on his social network…
• “Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! Let's hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”
• Are you going to vote for this piece of shit anti-Semite? Because if you do, consider yourself an enemy of this liberal Jew, and you will be dealt with accordingly.
• In other news…
• Two pilots were killed yesterday after their planes collided while landing at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, NV. The pilots were identified as Nick Macy and Chris Rushing.
• In similar news, sorta, officials with the Joint Base Charleston air base say a pilot ejected safely from a F-35 combat jet during a "mishap."
• If you happen to see an F-35 laying around somewhere (I’m not kidding), call the Base Defense Operations Center at 843-963-3600.
• I’ve been noting a series of cyberattacks in recent weeks. The latest has hit Clorox, and is causing wide-scale disruption of the company’s operations, hampering its ability to make its cleaning materials.
• The company revealed today in a regulatory filing that it detected unauthorized activity in some of its information technology systems in August. Clorox said it immediately took action to stop the attack, including reducing its operations. It now believes the attack has been contained.
• But Clorox has not been able to get its manufacturing operations back up to full speed. The company said it is fulfilling and processing orders manually.
• A quick note on women’s reproductive rights.
• Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has sued the state’s largest hospital system, claiming it violated patient privacy laws when a doctor publicly shared the story of an Ohio girl who traveled to Indiana for an abortion.
• This was a 10-year-old rape victim who was impregnated by her rapist and had to leave her state to get medical case.
• What’s really going on is that Indiana, like most forced-birth states, don’t want people being aware of these stories that show how draconian the states are in their enforcement of brutal anti-women laws.
• Illinois today becomes the first US state to eliminate cash bail. I couldn’t be happier. Here in Los Angeles County, CA, we’re doing the same thing starting next month.
• Cash bail is extraordinarily discriminatory. If you need an explanation why that’s the case, I’ll be glad to tell you.
• Moving on with some sad news.
• Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) announced this morning she will finish out her term in Congress but will not seek reelection. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few months ago, but her statement today said that her doctor had “modified my diagnosis to Supra-nuclear Palsy – a kind of ‘Parkison’s on Steroids.’”
• Wishing her the best of luck in her fight.
• And now, The Weather: “Strange Folk” by Lutalo
• You might need to make plans for Nigel. The tropical storm strengthened into a hurricane overnight, becoming the 14th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.Nigel is expected to rapidly strengthen by Tuesday. The storm is currently located about 935 miles east-southeast of Bermuda.
• My current weather here in Redondo Beach, CA is perfect. Daily highs of 72-73 and overcast. I might even abandon my shorts for some jeans if this keeps up.
• Here’s a super weird story.
• Birmingham, AL cops tased and forcibly arrested Minor High School's band director this week for not stopping his students from performing.
• It happened after a football game between Minor and Jackson-Olin High School. Police wanted to clear out the stadium quickly, but Minor’s band kept playing, which is apparently a use of force situation. The director is charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest.
• Wow.
• Do we do some Florida Man news? Sure, shy not?
• Volusia County deputies said one person was killed in a DeLeon Springs shooting last night. 42-year-old Brian Ford was shot by his neighbor while he was trimming trees near his property line.
• Investigators are currently questioning the neighbor accused of firing the shot, who was identified as 78-year-old Edward Druzolowski, who is charged with second-degree murder. He confronted Ford about allegedly being on his property, and when Ford didn't leave, he shot and killed him.
• Sigh. Let’s do a chart. This is from September 1989. I was 20 and I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing with my life. I still don’t, but now I can also pay my rent and bills. The music is a mish-mosh of pretty bad pop, hair metal, rap/R&B, and a couple of interesting alternative albums too.
• 1. Repeat Offender (Richard Marx). 2. Hangin' Tough (New Kids On The Block). 3. Batman (Soundtrack) (Prince). 4. Forever Your Girl (Paula Abdul). 5. Girl You Know It's True (Milli Vanilli). 6. Full Moon Fever (Tom Petty). 7. Skid Row (Skid Row). 8. The Raw & The Cooked (Fine Young Cannibals). 9. Cuts Both Ways (Gloria Estefan). 10. The End Of The Innocence (Don Henley). 11. Don't Be Cruel (Bobby Brown). 12. Twice Shy (Great White). 13. Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich (Warrant). 14. Paul's Boutique (Beastie Boys). 15. Walking With A Panther (LL Cool J). 16. Keep On Movin' (Soul II Soul). 17. Like A Prayer (Madonna). 18. Blind Man's Zoo (10,000 Maniacs). 19. Martika (Martika). 20. Love And Rockets (Love And Rockets)
• From the Sports Desk: here are the NFL teams that are now 0-2…
• Bengals, Patriots, Vikings, Chargers, Cardinals, Texans, Bears, and Broncos. There are two Monday Night Football games tonight (new Orleans and Carolina and Cleveland at Pittsburgh), so it’s possible that the Steelers and Panthers could be added to this list tonight.
• Today in history… Nerva is proclaimed Roman emperor after Domitian is assassinated (96). Norwegian king Harald Hardrada lands with Tostig Godwinson at the mouth of the Humber River and begins his invasion of England (1066). The first cornerstone of the United States Capitol is laid by George Washington (1793). Tiffany & Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City (1837). First publication of The New-York Daily Times, which later becomes The New York Times (1851). Fritz Pollard becomes the first African American to play professional football for a major team, the Akron Pros (1919). The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) goes on the air (1927). General Douglas MacArthur moves his general headquarters from Manila to Tokyo (1945). Fidel Castro arrives in New York City as the head of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations (1960). Voyager I takes the first distant photograph of the Earth and the Moon together (1977). First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks (2001). Scotland votes against independence from the United Kingdom, by 55% to 45% (2014). 
• September 18 is the birthday of Roman emperor Trajan (53), singer-songwriter/lute player Francesca Caccini (1587), lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709), actress Greta Garbo (1905), actor Jack Warden (1920), director/producer Bud Greenspan (1926), actor Robert Blake (1933), actor Fred Willard (1933), singer Frankie Avalon (1940), singer-songwriter Michael Franks (1944), computer businessman John McAfee (1945), guitarist/songwriter Kerry Livgren (1949), singer-songwriter/bass player Dee Dee Ramone (1951), basketball coach Rick Pitino (1952), football coach/politician Tommy Tuberville (1954), actor James Gandolfini (1961), NBA player Toni Kukoč (1968), actress Jada Pinkett Smith (1971), cyclist Lance Armstrong (1971), rapper Xzibit (1974), and soccer player Ronaldo (1976).

Well, it’s time to start my day for real. I know I keep teasing info about the amazing shit I’m finding in my family tree. One reason I haven’t spoken about it here is that I feel obligated to tell the rest of my family, to whom it directly pertains, that news first. That process is underway. Enjoy your day.