Random News: September 6, 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 6, 2023, and it’s a Wednesday. I’m waking up to a busier-than-usual household, with my significant other heading out on some travels, so I’ll kick out some news and then get back to the hustle and bustle.

• Pop quiz: what happens after you fuck around?
• Answer: you find out, as did Enrique Tarrio, former chairman of the far-right band of thugs called the Proud Boys. He was sentenced yesterday to 22 years in federal prison for seditious conspiracy and leading a failed plot to prevent the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
• The sentence from District Judge Timothy Kelly is the longest given to anyone in relation to the January 6, 2021 failed coup attempt at the US Capitol.
• Judge Kelly, who was appointed by Donald Trump in 2017, said, “The jury didn’t convict anyone for engaging in politics, they convicted Mr. Tarrio and others of engaging in seditious conspiracy. I don’t have any indication that he is remorseful for the actual things he is convicted of, which is seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct the counting of electoral votes. Mr. Tarrio was the ultimate leader of that conspiracy. I don’t really think this is super debatable. I do think the evidence supports the inference that Mr. Tarrio was the ultimate leader, the ultimate person who organized, who was motivated by revolutionary zeal.”
• I agree.
• What’s that? You want more good news? Let’s fucking go…
• Yesterday, a federal court blocked a newly drawn Alabama congressional map because it didn’t create a second majority-Black district as the Supreme Court had ordered earlier this year.
• In a unanimous decision from a three-judge panel, which had overseen the case before it reached the Supreme Court, the judges wrote that they were “disturbed” by Alabama’s actions in the case.
• Alabama had snubbed the Supreme Court’s order that the maps should be redrawn. White voters currently make up the majority in six of the state’s seven congressional districts, although 27% of the state’s population is Black.
• Good. Alabama is going to be forced to represent the people who live in the state… what a novel concept.
• Moving on.
• Not much to report on the first day of the impeachment trial for Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, which began yesterday. He pleaded not guilty to 16 articles of impeachment relating to allegations of bribery, dereliction of duty and disregard of official duty.
• Yesterday morning, the GOP-controlled Texas Senate rejected all of Paxton's motions to dismiss, although Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is presiding over the trial, ruled he could not be compelled to testify.
• Paxton's wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, is not allowed to vote for obvious reasons. She is sitting for the trial, however, but will not be serving as a juror. 
• His trial continues today.
• In other news…
• President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to Capt. Larry Taylor yesterday, honoring the Army pilot who risked his life during the Vietnam War by flying into heavy enemy fire to save four members of a reconnaissance team from almost certain death as they were about to be overrun.
• Taylor’s story is phenomenal. On the night of June 18, 1968, then-1st Lt. Taylor flew his Cobra attack helicopter to rescue the men after they had become surrounded by the enemy. He had been ordered to return to base, but refused when he learned that the team's escape route was a death trap and there was no other rescue helicopter being sent.
• Only 3,515 US military personnel have received the Medal of Honor, out of 40 million who have served since the Civil War.
• And as long as we’re on the topic of the US military, it’s time to get aggressive about the man who may be weakening America’s military might more than any other single individual: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). 
• The three US military service secretaries went on the offensive about Tuberville’s ongoing hold on senior military nominations, saying he is aiding communist and autocratic regimes, and being used by adversaries like China against the US.
• Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth all stated that adversaries to the US are paying attention to Tuberville’s attempts to undermine our combat readiness.
• The guy has got to go. No one person can ever again be in a position to put our entire country’s national security at risk. I’d also opine that were something to happen that resulted from Tuberville’s antics, he should be considered liable.
• Want some Don the Con news?
• Special counsel Jack Smith is now looking at how money raised off baseless claims of voter fraud was used to fund attempts to breach voting equipment in several states won by President Joe Biden.
• Yesterday, Smith additionally made a new court filing the accuses Donnie Dump of making daily statements that threatened to prejudice the jury pool in Washington.
• As has been stated many times in many ways, El Dumpo’s stream of threats would have long ago been enough to have him remanded to jail in advance of his trial. For any other defendant, that would be true. There are constant signs of proof that some people are indeed above the law.
• Do you like that? Knowing someone has more rights than you, even though you’re both citizens of the same country where the Constitution itself requires all people to be treated equally?
• Neither do I. 
• And some breaking news about the Dumpinator: this morning, he lost his SECOND defamation trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, whom he raped in the 1990s.
• Judge Lewis Kaplan said the upcoming trial for Carroll’s civil lawsuit against Trump will only deal with the question of how much the former president should pay her in monetary damages.
• And now, The Weather: “Any Day Now” by Laura Groves
• Hopefully your weather is getting better, as it seems to be for much of the country as these heat waves finally begin to diminish.
• A brief aside on “Internet challenges”. They’ve been popular for a couple of decades, mostly among young people. Some have been fun and pretty harmless, like the ice bucket challenge that raised funds and awareness for ALS going back to the 2000s.
• But most of them are stupid and dangerous. A Massachusetts teenager died Friday after he took part in a viral social media trend known as the "One Chip Challenge," which the teen's family believes contributed to his untimely death.
• 14-year-old Harris Wolobah did the “one chip challenge”, eating an extremely spicy Paqui chip at school. He got sick afterward and taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
• Talk to your kids and explain to them how participating in some company’s efforts for viral marketing just makes them a sucker.
• Maybe the actual challenge is being smart enough not to take the challenge.
• Let’s do a different kind of chart… the worst of the best. It’s the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100 from 40 years ago this week, in September 1983. Many of them are songs that had already peaked and are on their way down. Others are songs that were lucky to ever hit the charts at all and never made it further up. A couple of them — like “Heart & Soul” and “Rockit” — were new entries that week that ended up being huge.
• 81. All I Need To Know (Bette Midler). 82. Blame It On Love (Smokey Robinson & Barbara Mitchell). 83. Heart And Soul (Huey Lewis & The News). 84. Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel). 85. Spice Of Life (The Manhattan Transfer). 86. Rockit (Herbie Hancock). 87. What's She Got (Liquid Gold). 88. Baby, What About You (Crystal Gayle). 89. Trouble In Paradise (Jarreau). 90. You Put The Beat In My Heart (Eddie Rabbitt). 91.Take Away (Big Ric). 92. Change (Tears For Fears). 93. Just Got Lucky (Joboxers). 94. Electric Avenue (Eddy Grant). 95. 1999 (Prince). 96. Garden Party (Herb Alpert). 97. Our House (Madness). 98. Fake Friends (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts). 99. Cuts Like A Knife (Bryan Adams). 100. Midnight Blue (Louise Tucker).
• A quick note about my show last night that will be covered in more detail in my other blog. I ended my set with my original song “Pickles”, a tune about a neighborhood cat that I wrote and recorded in exactly five minutes back in 2019 or so.
• The last time I performed “Pickles” was on September 7, 2020, almost exactly three years ago to the day. I’d forgotten how much I liked that stupid-ass song.
• From the Sports Desk… congrats to 19-year-old American Coco Gauff, who overcame the heat, humidity, and a tough opponent to reach the US Open semifinals for the first time. She beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-2 yesterday.
• Coco is the first American teenager to reach the final four at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams was the runner-up to her older sister Venus in 2001.
• Today in history… Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time (1492). The Pilgrims sail from Plymouth, England on the Mayflower to settle in North America (1620). Louisa Ann Swain of Laramie, Wyoming becomes the first woman in the United States to cast a vote legally after 1807 (1870). Anarchist Leon Czolgosz shoots and fatally wounds US President William McKinley in Buffalo, New York (1901). The Monterrey Institute of Technology is founded in Monterrey, Mexico as one of the largest and most influential private universities in Latin America (1943). Tawny Elaine Godin, an eighteen year old pianist from Yonkers, was crowned Miss America (1976). Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking a record that had stood for 56 years (1995). Princess Diana’s funeral is attended by over a million people lining the streets and 2.5 billion watching on television (1997).
• September 6 is the birthday of educator/activist Catharine Beecher (1800), soldier/diplomat William Rosecrans (1819), sociologist/activist Jane Addams (1860), businessman/diplomat Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (1888), singer-songwriter/guitarist Jimmy Reed (1925), singer-songwriter/guitarist David Allan Coe (1939), songwriter/bassist Roger Waters (1943), actress Swoosie Kurtz (1944), actress Jane Curtain (1947), businesswoman Carly Fiorina (1954), bassist/composer Patrick O’Hearn (1954), comedian Jeff Foxworthy (1958), actress Rosie Perez (1964), singer-songwriter Macy Gray (1967), singer-songwriter CeCe Peniston (1969), singer-songwriter Dolores O’Riordan (1971), actor Idris Elba (1972), and NBA player John Wall (1990).

Okay. As I said, it’s sort of a busy day here as final travel prep is being made and such. I’ll be dropping off her and her mom, who is traveling with her, at LAX later today. Side note: I’m not going anywhere. I barely tolerate going across the street to the grocery store. Side note to my side note: I don’t have any specific personal issue with being out of the house or traveling… no agoraphobia or anything of that nature. I just like being home. Enjoy your day.