Random News: October 26, 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 26, 2023, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Things keep happening in the world, good and bad, small and large, and the more you know, the more prepared you are to deal with them.

• Before we can get into any political or fun or silly news stuff, we have to address our least-favorite topic: another terrible mass shooting happened yesterday evening in Lewiston, ME. 
• At least 16 people are dead — some outlets are reporting 22 or more — and dozens more are injured following two shootings last night at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston. Some reports had 50-60 people having been shot, though it’s an evolving story and not all the facts are confirmed.
• Robert Card, 40, is a person of interest and should be considered armed and dangerous. He’s still at large as of this morning.
• In other circumstances, Card — a white male — would be your prototypical “good guy with a gun”. He’s a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army Reserve.
• But Card had also recently reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, and made threats to carry out a shooting at a National Guard facility. In some states, those facts would have made it possible for authorities to make sure that Card didn’t have access to weapons of war.
• Maine isn’t one of them. Maine has a longstanding culture of gun ownership that is tied to its traditions of hunting and sport shooting, and has some of the most lax laws in the country in regard to firearms.
• The state passed a reckless permitless carry law in 2015 that allows residents to carry loaded, concealed handguns in public without any sort of permit or any background check at all.
• Maine does not have any red flag laws that would legally stop Card from doing what he did before he did it.
• Since Card (assuming it’s him) is an expert marksman, and was carrying an AR-15-style rifle with a scope and a large ammunition magazine, the amount of carnage he is capable of undertaking is sickening to consider.
• Not-Fun Fact: despite being the second most populous city in Maine, Lewiston is tiny and quaint compared to most cities, with its population of 39,000 people (my little Southern California beach city has about 70,000 by comparison). It’s an idyllic, beautiful New England town that’s ironically known for its extremely low violent crime rate.
• Lewiston is also a small city that in no way had the resources to handle mass casualties in its limited medical treatment facilities.
• This horrible incidence of violence is the 565th mass shootings reported across the United States this year. Between homicide and suicide, 1 in 5 Americans now know someone killed via guns. It’s not like that in any other country in the world.
• I have nothing more to add for now. I’m sorry for the victims. I hope they catch the guy.
• Moving on to another very important bit of news.
• We have a new Speaker of the House. It’s GOP Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
• What kind of a person is he?
• Well, he introduced a nationwide “Don’t Say Gay” bill. He supports a national ban on abortion. He wants to end Social Security and Medicare. He believed COVID was a hoax. And he voted to overturn the 2020 election in an attempt to subvert the will of the voters to make Donald Trump president.
• And Mike Johnson opposed all legislation on gun safety. Opposed every background check measure. Was vociferously against any and all effort to protect victims of gun violence. He is a great friend of the gun lobby and the NRA.
• Mike Johnson’s mission goes far beyond social issues. One of his key political points has been cutting back Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, or even eliminating them entirely.
• You’ve paid your own money into those programs, as have your parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents, all their working lives. This guy wants to steal that money from you. He also wants to raise retirement age to 70 so you’re more likely to die before getting any of that money back.
• Want some quotes from your new Speaker?
• “Every American woman has a duty to birth at least one able-bodied worker.” - Mike Johnson
• “Your race, creed, and sex are what you are, while homosexuality and cross-dressing are things you do.” - Mike Johnson
• “Homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural and, the studies clearly show, are ultimately harmful and costly for everyone If we change marriage for this tiny, modern minority, we will have to do it for every deviant group. Polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line to claim equal protection. They already are. There will be no legal basis to deny a bisexual the right to marry a partner of each sex, or a person to marry his pet.” - Mike Johnson
• I clearly told you all that one way or another, a Republican-majority House would elect a Republican. This has never not been the case, for either majority party. There is nothing surprising about this, and frankly every Republican in Congress is a MAGA… it’s just a matter to what degree.
• Not one Republican, knowing exactly who Mike Johnson is, voted against him. That means that 100% of the GOP members of the House believe in and support his policies and opinions.
• Joe Biden, the President of the United States, was classy as expected in his response to Johnson’s election.
• “Jill and I congratulate Speaker Johnson on his election. As I said when this process began, whoever the Speaker is, I will seek to work with them in good faith on behalf of the American people. That’s a principle I have always held to, and that I’ve acted on – delivering major bipartisan legislation on infrastructure, outcompeting China, gun reform, and veterans care.”
• “Even though we have real disagreements about important issues, there should be mutual effort to find common ground wherever we can. This is a time for all of us to act responsibly, and to put the good of the American people and the everyday priorities of American families above any partisanship.”
• Well said, Joe. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries also gave a remarkable speech after Johnson’s election. Jeffries is the kind of person you want at the top… he inspires, teaches, and maintains a positive vibe that reverberates to those around him.
• So now we have a mission for 2024, which is to do everything in our collective power to ensure the House flips to blue, and Hakeem Jeffries gets the Speaker role in January 2025.
• Mike Johnson’s election will galvanize the Democratic voting bloc, and will be the key turning point for us to take the country back.
• We will be starting our focus on 18 districts where Joe Biden won but have a GOP House rep. Flipping those will be the top priority. But frankly, my personal goal of greatness for 2024 is to flip 30-40 House seats from red to blue for an overwhelming Democratic majority next fall.
• We will be identifying each vulnerable congressional district. We will make sure these folks know what will happen to themselves, their parents, and their children should Republicans continue to keep a fist around the neck of the House.
• For the time being, the House can at least get back to work (he said, knowing one of their primary goals is to cause chaos, shut down the government, stop funding for critical programs, and to talk about Hunter Biden’s laptop instead of helping hard working Americans).
• Moving on… to a bitchslap for Don the Con.
• Last week, during El Dumpo’s civil fraud trial in New York, he was fined $5,000 after Judge Engoron learned that a Truth Social post attacking his law clerk remained on Dumpy’s campaign site, despite an order to remove the post earlier this month.
• Yesterday, he got dinged for another $10,000, and had a surprise appearance on the witness stand when Engoron unexpectedly called Dumpy up to explain, under oath, a comment he made outside the courtroom earlier in the day.
• What Dumpinator said was,"This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who is very partisan sitting alongside him — perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”
• Dump had been told not to talk shit about the law clerk. He tried to weasel out of it while he squirmed nervously on the witness stand. The judge did not believe him. 
• $10,000 isn’t a big deal to a guy who says he’s worth billions of dollars. But he is still appealing the fine.
• Let’s go down to Fulton County, GA, where news is hitting that at least six people were offered or discussed plea deals in the sprawling RICO indictment concerning Dumples and his Crime Fam.
• The details of the plea deals were not disclosed, but sources say that in addition to the four who accepted them and pleaded guilty — Georgia attorney Kenneth Chesebro; ex-Trump attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell; and bail bondsman Scott Hall — others include pro-Trump lawyer Robert Cheeley, former county elections supervisor Misty Hampton, and former White House aide Micahel Roman.
• You know who’s missing from that list? One Rudy Giuliani. And of course, Dumpy himself.
• Those fish are going to fry.
• One final piece of news from the piece of shit who was president for awhile.
• A Colorado judge yesterday denied the latest attempt by Dumpy to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to remove him from the state’s 2024 ballot because of his role in the January 6, 2021 failed coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol.
• The lawsuit, filed on behalf of six voters in Denver district court last month, says Dump should be disqualified from running in future elections under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states no person shall hold any office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after having taken an oath to support the Constitution. It argues that Trump violated his oath as president through his connection to the Capitol attack.
• I agree.
• And now, The Weather: “Middle of Winter” by A Beacon School
• From the Sports Desk… um… well, the NBA and NHL seasons have started, the World Series starts Friday, the NFL is in its eighth week, and if you like sports — and I do — it’s a good time to be alive.
• Today in history… The First Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia (1774). Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday participate in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona (1881). The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation (1936). The Battle of Leyte Gulf in WWII ends with an overwhelming American victory (1944). Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris (1958). The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aboriginals (1985). The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law (2001). 
• October 26 is the birthday of composer Hans Buchner (1483), composer Domenico Scarlatti (1685), businessman C. W. Post (1854), businessman Benjamin Guggenheim (1865), philanthropist/MoMA founder Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (1874), politician François Mitterrand (1916), actor Bob Hoskins (1942), politician Hillary Clinton (1947), singer-songwriter/bass player Bootsy Collins (1951), singer-songwriter/producer David Was (1952), guitarist/songwriter Keith Strickland (1953), actress Rita Wilson (1956), actor Dylan McDermott (1961), actor Cary Elwes (1962), singer-songwriter/pianist Natalie Merchant (1963), actor/producer Seth MacFarlane (1973), wrestler CM Punk (1978), actor Sam Brown (1981), and figure skater Greg Zuerlein (1988).

Okay. I’m sure plenty of other things have happened, but these are the things I thought you should know about. Starting soon, we’re going to be doing a deep dive into the specific House and Senate races for 2024 that we can use to ensure our country continues on a path of fairness and justice for all. Enjoy your day.