Random News: January 1, 2024

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 January 1, 2024, and it’s a Monday. All is quiet on New Year’s Day… usually, but not today, at least for me.

• Rabbit rabbit rabbit.
• 365 days still remain in 2024 after today. Yep. It’s a leap year. You get a whole extra day. Lucky you.
• After just barely staying awake until midnight last night, I started 2024 by waking up shortly after 8am, heading downstairs to my kitchen to put on coffee, and just as I was about to pour my first delicious cup of the year… earthquake.
• Yes, we have earthquakes all the time in the greater Los Angeles region. But if the epicenter is close to you and it’s over a certain threshold of strength, it’s still a good shot of adrenaline.
• This one registered as a 4.3 magnitude by the USGS. It was later downgraded to a 4.1. Still, due to the proximity, I had water sloshing in bottles, cups rattling in cabinets, light fixtures swinging, blinds swaying, several confused cats, and I still hadn’t had my first cup of coffee.
• But it wasn’t bad as far as earthquakes go. Almost exactly 30 years ago, on January 17, 1994, I got to experience a very real, very serious quake when the 6.7 Northridge quake hit at about 4:30am.
• That sucked, I promise you.
• And of course, an actual devastating 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit western Japan today. Tsunami warnings were issued, roads and buildings were horribly damaged, transport and communication services were disrupted, and there were potential power outages for thousands of households.
• The difference between their 7.5 and my 4.1? Per renowned SoCal seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones in reference to my quake: “Japan's M7.5 is 100,000 times bigger than a M4.1."
• So yes. Side note: we no longer specifically use the “Richter scale”, though all earthquake magnitude scales have roughly comparable numeric values and use the same logarithmic character (i.e., a magnitude 3 quake factors 10³ while a magnitude 5 quake has seismometer readings 100 times larger). 
• Anyway, that was my morning so far on the first day of a new year. And I’m now on my second cup of coffee, so let’s see what else is up.
• Following up on a recent story, as early as tomorrow, nearly 200 names connected to the Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking conspiracy could be released by a New York judge. A deadline for objections to the unsealing of name passes at midnight tonight.
• No, the list isn’t just comprised of people who did weird and/or illegal sex things connected to Epstein. They are associates of Epstein that until now have only been known as John and Jane Does in court papers from earlier trials.
• Many on the list will already be publicly known as associates, employees of Epstein and Maxwell, or people who had flown on his planes. It may also name Epstein’s alleged victims who had been taken to homes, including a mansion in New York, a Palm Beach villa, a private island in the US Virgin Islands, and a ranch outside Santa Fe.
• Nothing is going to happen to these folks except some embarrassment followed by flustered denials. Epstein is dead and Maxwell’s in jail and no one is going after anyone else at this point.
• Moving on.
• Denmark's Queen Margrethe II announced during a New Year's Eve address that she plans to abdicate the throne, allowing for her son, Crown Prince Frederik, to take charge.
• She’s stepping down on January 14, the 52nd anniversary of her own accession to the throne in 1972 following the death of her father, King Frederik IX. Denmark has a constitutional monarchy. Margrethe II has been Europe’s current longest serving monarch.
• Okay then. Moving on to other new year’s news.
• Some asshole in New York City tried to escape cops but then struck and injured eight people on a sidewalk in Midtown Manhattan. It was about 1:30am and he ended up crashing his Mercedes into Boris Torres's Peruvian restaurant.
• Good job, dumbass. Slow clap. Happy new year.
• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent out his new years greetings by stating that his military should “thoroughly annihilate” the United States and South Korea if provoked.
• Kim is expected to escalate his rhetoric and weapons tests because he likely believes he can use heightened tensions to wrest U.S. concessions if El Dumpo wins the U.S. presidential election in November.
• Kim said he will launch three more military spy satellites, produce more nuclear materials, and develop attack drones this year to leverage against Dump, if you people are dumb enough to make him president again.
• Do not do it.
• Let’s do some better news about a good guy… Senator John Fetterman (D-PA).
• He did a recent interview where he said he assumed his political career was over after going public with his fight against depression.
• After spending six weeks of treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center, he had no idea what would happen at that point. Pretty brave move for any politician to get treatment and fight it head on.
• But nine months later, Fetterman is still in Congress and doing great. Instead of torpedoing his career, Fetterman’s openness about his mental health struggles has been lauded by medical professionals, other members of Congress and the public.
• “It’s a risk that I wanted to take because I wanted to help people and know that I don’t want them to suffer the way — or put any kinds of despair that I’ve been in. And if that conversation helps, then that’s — I’m going to continue to do that.”
• Good for him. That’s how you do it.
• In world news, Israel’s Supreme Court has struck down a controversial change to the judiciary. They ruled 8-7 that a government amendment to the so-called "reasonableness law" should not stand “because of the severe and unprecedented blow to the core characteristics of the State of Israel as a democratic state.”
• Last summer, Israel had huge protests about this. They feel Netanyahu was pushing it forward because of his own ongoing corruption trial, where he faces charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust.
• Does that sound familiar?
• I am convinced that, much as was clearly stated in ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,’ that anyone who wants to be in power is the last person who should actually be in power. Why are so many world leaders so fucked up?
• No need to answer.
• And now, The Weather: “Consequences” by Kate Davis
• Let’s kick off the new year with a chart. I like those.
• Here are the album charts for this week in 1981. I was in seventh grade and was playing guitar a lot. I liked to bike, skateboard, surf, and roller skate. I can’t remember much else from that time frame.
• 1. Double Fantasy (John Lennon/Yoko Ono). 2. Guilty (Barbra Streisand). 3. Hotter Than July (Stevie Wonder). 4. Back In Black (AC/DC). 5. Crimes of Passion (Pat Benatar). 6. Eagles Live (Eagles). 7. Greatest Hits (Kenny Rogers). 8. Zenyatta Mondatta (The Police). 9. The Jazz Singer (Neil Diamond). 10. Gaucho (Steely Dan). 11. The River (Bruce Springsteen). 12. Foolish Behaviour (Rod Stewart). 13. Greatest Hits/Live (Heart). 14. The Game (Queen). 15. Autoamerican (Blondie). 16. Anne Murray’s Greatest Hits (Anne Murray). 17. Triumph (the Jacksons). 18. Faces (Earth, Wind & Fire). 19. Making Movies (Dire Straits). 20. One Step Closer (The Doobie Brothers).
• From the Sports Desk… as I promised earlier, the NFL playoff picture is a lot closer to final. In fact, as of this moment with one game left to play for all teams, here’s the complete playoff picture.
• AFC: 1. Baltimore Ravens (13-3). 2. Miami Dolphins (11-5). 3. Kansas City Chiefs (10-6). 4. *Jacksonville Jaguars (9-7). 5. Cleveland Browns (11-5). 6. *Buffalo Bills (10-6). 7. *Indianapolis Colts (9-7).
• NFC: 1. San Francisco 49ers (12-4). 2. Dallas Cowboys (11-5). 3. Detroit Lions (11-5). 4. *Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-8). 5. Philadelphia Eagles (11-5). 6. Los Angeles Rams (9-7). 7. *Green Bay Packers (8-8).
• The teams with the asterisks? Yeah, we have to wait until next weekend after the final week of the regular seasons to see what playoff seeds they are, or if they make the playoffs at all. Crazy.
• The Sports Desk also sends congrats to Niners QB Brock Purdy, the last person picked in the 2022 NFL Draft (aka, Mr. Irrelevant). Purdy passed former 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia (4,278 yards) for the most single-season passing yards in franchise history in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s win. 
• Purdy now has 4,280 on the 2023 NFL season with the potential to add to his record if he and other starters play in Week 18 against the Rams.
• The all-time single-season record? That’s Peyton Manning with 5,477 yards in 2013.
• Today in history… For the first time, Roman consuls begin their year in office on January 1 (153 BC). Emperor Honorius issues a historic ban on gladiatorial fights (404). Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral discovers the coast of Brazil (1500). Scotland recognises January 1 as the start of the year, instead of March 25 (1600). The first traveler's cheques, which could be used in 90 European cities, are issued by the London Credit Exchange Company (1772). Norfolk, Virginia is burned by combined Royal Navy and Continental Army action (1776). The first edition of The Times of London is published (1788). Ceres, the largest and first known object in the Asteroid belt, is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi (1801). French rule ends in Haiti, and it becomes the first black-majority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States (1804). The United States bans the importation of slaves (1808). The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect in Confederate territory (1863). Ellis Island begins processing immigrants into the United States (1892). New York, NY annexes land from surrounding counties with four initial boroughs - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx - that are then joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs. The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia (1901). The first American college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl between Michigan and Stanford, is held in Pasadena, CA (1902). The Republic of China is established (1912). Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay becomes a United States federal prison (1934). Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces (1959). Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television (1971). The ARPANET officially changes to using TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol, effectively creating the Internet (1983). Euro currency is introduced in 11 member nations of the European Union, with the exception of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece and Sweden (1999). Croatia officially adopts the Euro, becoming the 20th Eurozone country, and becomes the 27th member of the Schengen Area (2023).
• January 1 is the birthday of politician Lorenzo de' Medici (1449), silversmith/patriot Paul Revere (1735), seamstress Betsy Ross (1752), FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (1895), MLB player Hank Greenberg (1911), boxer Rocky Graziano (1919), author J. D. Salinger (1919), philanthropist/diplomat James Hormel (1933), actor Frank Langella (1938), singer-songwriter/guitarist Country Joe McDonald (1942), comedian Don Novello (1943), politician Bob Menendez (1954), rapper/DJ Grandmaster Flash (1958), actor Verne Troyer (1969), and rapper Ice Spice (2000).

Well, 2024 has been exciting so far, I’d say. I’m going to do various things. Not work, but other things. Enjoy your day.