Random News: December 30, 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 December 30, 2023, and it’s a Saturday. I’ll not lie to you; my COVID booster yesterday kicked my ass, so I spent a good portion of the wee hours going through shaking/shivering/body pain madness, but it’s mostly subsided now, and I have ibuprofen and coffee powering me at this stage. Let’s do some news.

• Yesterday, a three-judge panel at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia affirmed a lower court’s ruling that former President and current accused felon Donald John Trump can be sued by U.S. Capitol Police officers seeking to hold Trump financially liable for the Washington riot that took place on January 6, 2021.
• The ruling is the latest loss for El Dumpo, whose lawyers continue to argue in court that presidential immunity shields him from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits.
• Let’s do some very good news…
• Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) vetoed legislation yesterday that would have barred transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care. State lawmakers had passed House Bill 68 just before the holiday break.
• The legislation would have prohibited gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary youth, including hormone blockers, hormone replacement therapy, medical or surgical procedures and some mental health services.
• The bill also sought to prohibit transgender athletes from taking part in female sports.
• About 20 states have passed laws against gender-affirming care for youths, with about 30% of transgender youth between 13 and 17 currently living in states that have such bans.
• In somewhat related news…
• Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher ruled that an Iowa law requiring schools to remove books depicting sex acts and prohibiting instruction about gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through sixth grades cannot be enforced while a legal challenge continues.
• Penalties for violating this shitty law had been scheduled to take effect on Monday January 1.
• So, you know how Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is switching to a new congressional district because she was going to get slaughtered in her current district in the 2024 election?
• One issue: there’s a bunch of Republican competitors already running in the for that seat in 2024 and they’re not happy about BoBo carpetbagging her way into town. The CD4 primary race was already crowded, with six people running.
• Side note: per the Constitution, it’s true: you do not have to live in the congressional district you represent. You only have to reside in the same state. Boebert lives far from her newly-desired district, on the other side of Colorado.
• Let’s do some world news.
• Israeli warplanes struck two urban refugee camps in central Gaza today, as the Biden administration approved a new emergency weapons sale to Israel despite persistent international cease-fire calls over mounting civilian deaths, hunger, and mass displacement.
• Even a brief halt in fighting seems out of reach.
• Israel is clear that it will continue its unprecedented air and ground offensive until it has dismantled Hamas, a goal that is simply not attainable. Israel argues that ending the war now would mean victory for Hamas; the problem there is that the citizens of Palestine will continue paying the biggest price regardless.
• Moving on…
• 122 anglers were rescued from an ice floe that detached from the main ice on a northern Minnesota lake last night. No injuries were reported.
• They’d been stranded when an ice floe broke loose from the main ice sheet on Upper Red Lake about 30 feet from shore and were unable to get back to dry land. Is it just me who doesn’t get the appeal of ice fishing?
• Moving on.
• Every year on January 1, a batch of new laws kick in (unless they’ve been shut down in legal challenge, of course). Here’s a quick look at some new laws I spotted.
• In Illinois, police no longer will be allowed to pull over motorists solely because they have something hanging from the rearview mirror of the windshield, be it air fresheners, parking placards, fuzzy dice, or whatever the fuck.
• Another new Illinois law will allow lawsuits from victims of deepfake pornography, in which videos or images are manipulated without their consent. that’s something we’ve discussed here, and I’m glad to se it.
• In Minnesota, a new law will allow authorities to ask courts for extreme risk protection orders to temporarily take guns from people deemed to be an imminent threat to others or themselves. Good.
• Colorado will become one of a dozen states banning so-called ghost guns. Also good.
• Also in Colorado, new buildings wholly or partly owned by government entities will be required to have at least one public restroom on every floor that does not specify the gender of the users. Cool cool.
• A new Connecticut law requires online dating operators to adopt policies for handling harassment reports by or between users. This, too, is a good idea.
• A North Carolina law will require pornographic website operators to confirm viewers are at least 18 years old by using a commercially available database.
• I understand the intent behind this law, but the whole aspect of proving one’s identity to view porn seems rife for a database hack where people could be blackmailed for their porn history. Just a thought.
• On the downside, January 1 will kick off new bans on access for minors to puberty blockers, hormone therapy and other gender treatment in Idaho, Louisiana, and West Virginia.
• Boo.
• To end this topic on a high note, more than 20 states will raise minimum wages for workers. The federal minimum has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since July 2009.
• Maryland’s minimum wage will be set at $15 an hour. In New Jersey, it will be $15.13 an hour for most employees. In Connecticut, $15.69 per hour. In New York City, $16 an hour, though it will be $15 in most of the rest of the state. California's statewide minimum wage also will rise to $16 per hour. And in Washington, the minimum rate will be $16.28.
• I support all of this.
• Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and they’ve got heightened security measures for the ball drop in Times Square. New York State Police will ramp up staffing and state troopers, and the New York National Guard and other agencies will join in to patrol some areas.
• The FBI and other agencies warned police departments across the country about potential threats to large crowds celebrating the holiday, including from lone actors motivated by the Israel-Hamas war.
• Other places where massive number of people gather for the event, like Las Vegas, are getting ramped up security as well.
• Probably a good idea.
• And now, The Weather: “Paige Machine” by PACKS
• From the Sports Desk… NBA games have been common on Christmas Day for decades. But this year marked the second in a row with three NFL games across three networks.
• The battle for viewers wasn’t even close. Example: the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs game had an average audience of 29.2 million viewers. 
• The NBA’s Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers? 1.3 million viewers. Someone opined the the NFL could air a paint-drying show and it would still get high viewership.
• Today in history… British soldiers burn Buffalo, NY in the War of 1812 (1813). The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the united Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi Indian tribes is proclaimed (1816). The Treaty of St. Louis between the United States and the Shawnee Nation is proclaimed (1825). The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest in the Gadsden Purchase (1853). The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - USSR - is formed (1922). The Flint sit-down strike hits General Motors (1936). Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed (2006).
• December 30 is the birthday of author Rudyard Kipling (1865), Japan prime minister Hideki Tōjō (1884), cricketer Dick Spooner (1919), singer-songwriter/guitarist Bo Diddley (1928), astrophysicist John N. Bahcall (1934), singer-songwriter/guitarist Del Shannon (1934), actor Russ Tamblyn (1934), MLB player Sandy Koufax (1935), singer-songwriter/bass player Felix Pappalardi (1939), director James Burrows (1940), actor/singer-songwriter/guitarist Michael Nesmith (1942), actor/singer-songwriter Davy Jones (1945), singer-songwriter Patti Smith (1946), singer-songwriter/guitarist/producer Jeff Lynne (1947), journalist Matt Lauer (1957), actress/singer Tracey Ullman (1959), bag of dicks Sean Hannity (1961), US secretary of state Mike Pompeo (1963), pimp Heidi Fleiss (1965), singer-songwriter Jay Kay (1969), golfer Tiger Woods (1975), NBA player LeBron James (1984), and NFL player Carson Wentz (1992).

Anyway, I’m much improved now and am going to do various things. Enjoy your day.