Random News: December 4, 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 4, 2023, and it’s a Monday. It’s gonna be a super busy work day, but I’m a man with a plan and I’ll do all I can. In the meantime, let’s take a glimpse at what’s shaking in this weird and wonderful world.

• Let’s start with the Israel-Hamas war. I’d really love to not have to cover this every fucking day.
• Israel announced it was expanding its ground assault against Hamas to all of the Gaza Strip. The truce deal was good while it lasted, with more than 100 hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners freed.
• Now Israel is pushing into southern Gaza, where millions of civilians are located after fleeing bombardment and battles in the north. Israel is warning residents to evacuate specific neighborhoods, but Gazans say there is no guaranteed safe place to go.
• If Israel isn’t careful about this, they’re going to lose the support of their allies.
• Moving on.
• There were four attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea that were launched by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, as well as three drones shot down by an American warship responding to the strikes.
• Sigh.
• In other news…
• Opioid maker Purdue Pharma might not be off the hook as easily as they’d have liked. As you’re likely aware, the company’s tactics in marketing OxyContin caused thousands to die from opioid overdoses. Until 2019, the company was owned by the Sackler family.
• The Supreme Court has decided to examine the Biden administration’s objection to Purdue's bankruptcy reorganization, which includes a provision that protects the Sackler family from future lawsuits. The family had agreed to pay around $6 billion to settle opioid-related claims, but only in return for a release from liability in any future cases against them.
• The profits that Purdue made from their drug dealing is far higher than the proposed settlement.
• Moving on to some business news.
• Alaska Airlines has reached a deal to buy Hawaiian Airlines. Alaska will pay $18 a share — a transaction value of approximately $1.9 billion — for Hawaiian.
• The deal is expected to close in 12-18 months, and the combined organization will be based in Seattle. It makes sense; both airlines serve destinations outside the boundaries of the contiguous states.
• In other business news that I find fascinating…
• Music streaming service Spotify is laying off 17% of its workforce worldwide. CEO Daniel Ek said that the company took on too many employees over the years 2020 and 2021.
• The latest round of cuts equates to roughly 1,500 jobs. So let me ask you: Spotify, who is already notorious for paying a ridiculously unfair amount to the actual musicians who create their product, now also can’t afford to pay their employees?
• Something is drastically wrong with that entire platform. How much does Daniel Ek make per year?
• Following up on something I mentioned recently: deepfake porn is becoming a bigger and bigger problem in the US and around the world.
• Cheap and easily-obtainable software uses AI and other image-processing tools to transpose a face onto other bodies, or to generate nude and lewd images from scratch.
• The big problem: since the images are faked, there’s nothing in the laws of most countries (including the US) that allow them to be investigated as revenge porn.
• And more disturbing is that minors are also subjected to this. Porn makes up 98 per cent of all deepfakes, and while this started out focusing on celebrities — Emma Watson and Jennifer Lawrence were both early victims — it’s now spread to include anyone.
• So, a piece of shit can take a smiling vacation photo they see on your Facebook or Instagram, or a video from TikTok or the like, and then place that face into an explicit or even violent porn scene, and post it.
• That has to be addressed.
• In one more story of disgusting people, one of El Dumpo’s co-defendants in the Georgia election fraud case seems to have violated her bond by threatening a witness in the case.
• Trevian Kutti, a former publicist of Kayne West, said on a video post that she will "fuck up” the life of a witness — referring to election worker Ruby Freeman — when the case is over.
• “There's a woman sitting somewhere who knows that I'm going to fuckk her whole life up when this is done,” Kutti stated in an Instagram Live video.
• Her bond prohibits Kutti from intimidating acts or posting about the case on social media. LOCK HER UP.
• And now, The Weather: “BABY TAPES = GONE” by bifff
• Saturday night marked the supposed final concert ever by Kiss after a four-year-long supposed farewell tour. I know a lot of you enjoyed Kiss at some point. I am not one of you.
• I always thought that it was a bullshit band with mediocre music, and found their entire schtick annoying and inauthentic. Also, I will tell you that with no uncertainty, if you write a big enough check, Gene Simmons and whoever he can make join him will gladly play more Kiss shows.
• There’s only one Kiss song that ever did anything for me: “Detroit Rock City” was alright.
• From the Sports Desk… a couple of surprising results in the NFL this weekend, but perhaps none more so than the Green Bay Packers (6-6) giving a heavy beating to the supposedly unstoppable Kansas City Chiefs (8-4) by a score of 27-19.
• Quarterback Jordan Love is better than people give him credit for.
• Today in history… Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne — my 39th great-grandfather — as sole king of the Frankish Kingdom (771). Kings Louis IX of France — my 25th great-grandfather — and Henry III of England — my 24th great-grandfather — agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels (1259). At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers (1783). The 109 Electors of the several states of the Confederate States of America unanimously elect Jefferson Davis as President and Alexander H. Stephens as Vice President (1861). North Carolina ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed soon by Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks (1865). The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published (1881). Alpha Phi Alpha the first black intercollegiate Greek lettered fraternity was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (1906). The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association (1909). U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office (1918). By a vote of 65–7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (1945). During a concert of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Montreux Casino, an audience member fires a flare gun into the venue's ceiling, causing a fire that destroys the venue and is  immortalized in the Deep Purple song, "Smoke on the Water” (1971). Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor (1978). Pan American World Airways ceases its operations after 64 years (1991). Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage (2005). 
• December 4 is the birthday of bacteriologist Alfred Hershey (1908), financier/criminal Charles Keating (1923), game show host Wink Martindale (1933), actor Max Baer, Jr. (1937), murderer Gary Gilmore (1940), singer-songwriter/guitarist Chris Hillman (1944), singer/drummer Dennis Wilson (1944), actor Jeff Bridges (1949), guitarist Gary Rossington (1951), singer-songwriter Cassandra Wilson (1955), NFL player/coach Frank Reich (1961), actress Marissa Tomei (1964), actor/musician Fred Armisen (1966), rapper/businessman Jay-Z (1969), model Tyra Banks (1973), and intelligence specialist/criminal Reality Winner (1991).

Okay, time to go. Enjoy your day.