Random News: October 12, 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 October 12, 2023, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I’ve got a fairly busy day ahead, but if I don’t know what’s going on in the world, how am I supposed to make the right decisions that affect my future? Let’s find out some stuff together.

• Yesterday, House Republicans voted behind closed doors to select Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) as their nominee for speaker, paving the way for a floor vote to elect a new speaker after they kicked out Kevin McCarthy and ran him over with a MAGA truck.
• The final vote tally was 113 for Scalise and 99 for Jim Jordan. 
• The vote came after the conference rejected a proposal to raise the threshold required to select a speaker nominee – a proposal that was aimed at preventing a messy public fight for the gavel.
• Will Scalise smoothly glide on into his new role? I’d be very surprised. It’s much more likely that the hardcore holdouts will not sway and we’ll be in for a messy and prolonged choice with Republican versus Republican bickering holding up crucial legislation.
• As a reminder, until a speaker is elected, the House remains effectively paralyzed, an unprecedented situation that has taken on new urgency amid Israel’s war against Hamas. And, the longer it takes Republicans to elect a new speaker, the less time lawmakers will have to try to avert a government shutdown with a funding deadline looming in mid-November.
• The choice of Scalise is yet another a blow to former President and current accused felon Donald John Trump, who highly endorsed Jordan. Slowly but surely, the Republican party is trying to peel itself away from the stink of Trump, but his odiferous malevolence will continue to wreak havoc in many ways for many years.
• Be that as it may, at the moment Scalise seems far below the 217-vote threshold needed to win the speakership in a full vote on the House floor.
• A little reminder about Steve Scalise: he once pitched himself as “David Duke without the baggage.”
• Duke, as you may recall, is a politician, white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, and former grand wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Duke is also a strong supporter of Donald Trump, like most racists are.
• Scalise has voted to cut Veterans benefits by 22 percent, voted against providing healthcare to Veterans with cancer, and famously voted to overturn the 2020 election.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene said she couldn’t support Scalise because he has cancer. No, seriously. Here’s how she framed it…
• “I like Steve Scalise, and I like him so much that I want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position in Congress. We need a Speaker who is able to put their full efforts into defeating the communist democrats and save America.”
• Uh huh. Nice person there, right?
• Let’s move on for now. This is an evolving story, obviously.
• Yesterday, President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Iran to “be careful” around its actions in the region following Hamas’ attack on Israel.
• The US is "surging additional military assistance to the Israeli Defense Force including ammunition, interceptors to replenish the Iron Dome, we moved the US carrier fleet to the eastern Mediterranean and are sending more fighter jets there, to that region, and made it clear, made it clear to the Iranians – be careful.” - Joe
• In other news of the Israel/Hamas war, Israel has formed an emergency government and war management cabinet. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has joined forces with his political opponent, National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz, in the wake of Hamas’ surprise attacks on border communities that killed at least 1,200 people and injured thousands more.
• Gantz, a former defense minister, will join Netanyahu and current defense minister Yoav Gallant in a wartime cabinet.
• Former president and current accused felon Donald John Trump chimed in on the situation, calling the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah “very smart”.
• Both the White House and Ron DeSantis condemned Trump’s remarks.
• “Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart.” - DeSantis
• My only other mention of El Dumpo this morning is that Jack Smith seems to be aware of something the rest of us have yet to learn.
• In a new filing, his team stated they will prove what Dumples’ intentions were in retaining the hundreds of classified documents he stored in the bathroom of his golf motel in Florida.
• Moving on.
• It seems that Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has finally crossed a line where even his Republican colleagues can’t deal with his shit anymore.
• All six of Santos' fellow New York freshmen GOP lawmakers said yesterday that they would support an effort to expel Santos from the House after the superseding indictment with new bombshell accusations that Santos stole the identities of some campaign donors so he could pay his own campaign more.
• The House requires a two-thirds vote to expel a member, and I’m pretty sure they’ve got the votes to do so, or will after they get a Speaker in place, whenever that may be. 
• In other news, my home state of California continues to show how we’re the best in the nation. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several new laws to protect tenants against eviction and high rental costs, including a bill that caps how much people pay upfront in security deposits.
• The bills strengthen California’s already robust tenant protection laws and aim to prevent vulnerable, low-income renters from falling into homelessness and worsening one of the state’s greatest crises.
• The three bills Newsom signed in recent weeks include limiting security deposits, strengthening an anti-eviction law, and a bill to study social housing.
• Gavin is a good guy. You’re going to like him when he’s elected President in 2028.
• Moving on.
• Family Dollar is recalling hundreds of products, including over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and toothpaste sold at outlets in 23 states, that had been stored improperly.
• You can return the recalled products, which were sold between June 1 and October 4, to where they were purchased without a receipt. They’ve posted a full list of brand-name products being recalled — from aspirin and laxatives to ear and eye drops.
• The recalled products were sold at Family Dollar stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. 
• Um… look, I’m not talking shit to people who shop at Family Dollar or Dollar Tree or the $0.99 Store. I have, plenty of times. I would say on a general basis that if you do have the choice to not buy those kinds of products there… maybe don’t.
• Let’s move on.
• Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) really liked to denigrate President Biden about the couple of times he slipped or tripped on something. Tuberville thought that was pretty funny.
• Until yesterday, when Tuberville became Tumbleville when he slid down an entire flight of plane stairs on video. I mean, like, bad. It reminded me of Eddie Murphy’s aunt Bunny, for those of you old enough to remember that bit. Thump thump thump thump thump… thump.
• Airport personnel were seen checking on him at the bottom of the stairs. He seemed to survive.
• And now, The Weather: “Pickup, Don't Pickup” by Honeymoan
• In very local news, a 15-year-old from Redondo Beach dedicated to combating online harassment and abuse was among the 15 "Girls Leading Change" honored at the White House yesterday in celebration of the International Day of the Girl.
• Mona Cho is a member of the Beach Cities Health District's Youth Advisory Council and the district's newly created Youth Health & Safety Committee, where she leads a team of five students in a campaign to spread awareness on how to stay safe on social media, and to prioritize mental health online.
• As part of this work, Mona created a short film that follows real-life stories of the impact of damaged digital footprints. Mona hopes to continue using film as a tool to promote online safety and call for change. Go Mona!
• Got a chart for you. It’s the very bottom of the Billboard Top 200 album list for October 1974. What you’ll note are a) albums that never made it any higher, b) albums that had done well but are on their way down, c) albums that did pretty well but had a slow start in sales, and d) albums that had already fallen off the chart and then re-entered. Oh, and ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, which stayed there on the album charts for 981 weeks (almost 19 straight years), between 1973 and 1992 (true story).
• 181, Shock Treatment (Edgar Winter). 182. American Graffiti (Soundtrack). 183. Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich). 184. Pieces Of Dreams (Stanley Turrentine). 185. Chicago At Carnegie Hall  (Chicago). 186. Mixed Bag II (Richie Havens). 187. Get Your Wings (Aerosmith). 188. I Believe In Music (Mac Davis). 189. The Dark Side Of The Moon (Pink Floyd). 190. Charlie Rich Sings The Songs Of Hank Williams & Others (Charlie Rich). 191. Perry (Perry Como). 192. La La Peace Song (Al Wilson). 193. Very Special Love Songs (Charlie Rich). 194. Song Painter (Mac Davis). 195. I Got A Name (Jim Croce). 196. Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player (Elton John). 197. Poems, Prayers & Promises (John Denver). 198. You Don't Mess Around With Jim (Jim Croce). 199. Unborn Child (Seals & Crofts). 200. Led Zeppelin IV (Led Zeppelin).
• From the Sports Desk… as I’d expected, the LA Dodgers got swept out of the MLB playoffs, losing in three straight games to the Arizona Diamondbacks who will advance to the NLCS. Also in the National League, the Phillies gave a beatdown the the top-seed Braves, winning 10-2 and taking a 2-1 lead in their series.
• The American League is wrapped up, and the ALCS will feature the Texas Rangers taking on the Houston Astros starting Sunday.
• Today in history… the army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire (539 BC). The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Province of Massachusetts Bay Governor William Phips (1692). America's first insane asylum opens (1773). The citizens of Munich hold the first Oktoberfest (1810). The British in India enact the Criminal Tribes Act, naming many local communities "Criminal Tribes” (1871). The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools (1892). President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House (1901). Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor (1945). President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops from Vietnam before Christmas (1970). Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, dies five days after he was beaten outside of Laramie (1998). Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya becomes the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours with a time of 1:59:40 in Vienna (2019). 
• October 12 is the birthday of composer Bernardo Pisano (1490), inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860), activist Kamini Roy (1864), author Ding Ling (1904), animator Art Clokey (1921), singer-songwriter Nappy Brown (1929), actor/civil rights leader Dick Gregory (1932), singer-songwriter Sam Moore (1935), singer Luciano Pavarotti (1935), singer-songwriter/guitarist Rick Parfitt (1948), terrorist Carlos the Jackal (1949), comedian Les Dennis (1953), singer-songwriter Jane Siberry (1955), actor Hugh Jackman (1968), actor/evangelical prick Kirk Cameron (1970), and golfer Christie Kerr (1977).

Okay. That’s plenty of stuff to think about. Enjoy your day.