Random News: January 12, 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 12, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! Things are going well over here in Zakland. Busy, but well. Let’s see how everyone else is doing.

• In response to a recent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the vital Red Sea, American and British forces bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen yesterday using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets.
• The U.S. Air Force’s Mideast command said it struck over 60 targets at 16 sites in Yemen, including command-and-control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities and air defense radar systems.
• President Joe Biden said the strikes were meant to demonstrate that the U.S. and its allies will not tolerate the militant group’s ceaseless attacks. He also said they only made the move after attempts at diplomatic negotiations and careful deliberation.
• As one would expect, today, the Houthi rebels vowed fierce retaliation, raising the prospect of a wider conflict in a region already beset by Israel’s war in Gaza.
• Sigh. Could we not?
• Moving on.
• If you want a glimpse into the future of a country living in the aftermath of a Donald Trump reelection, look no further than Ohio. That’s where a woman is expected to be grateful for not having been criminally charged for having had a miscarriage.
• Brittany Watts, 33, of Warren, OH, will not face indictment for “abuse of a corpse” after she miscarried her pregnancy.
• Watts, at 21 weeks and 5 days pregnant, began passing thick blood clots and made her first prenatal visit to a doctor's office in September. The doctor told her that her water had broken prematurely and the baby most likely wouldn't survive.
• She made multiple trips to the hospital before miscarrying. Watts was initially charged with abuse of a corpse on October 4, a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
• The case against Watts, who is Black, set off a firestorm over the treatment of pregnant women, in particular Black women, in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. 
• “I’m proud to have done it.” - Donald Trump on having stacked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
• As long as I’ve mentioned that dipshit…
• In the closing arguments of Dump’s fraud trial in New York, Kevin Wallace of the AG's office said that Dump’s financial statements were “false every year” between 2011 and 2021 by “over a billion dollars.”
• Lawyer Andrew Amer pointed to several examples of what he described as intentional fraud, including Trump valuing his Mar-a-Lago estate as a private residence despite an agreement it could only be used as a social club.
• Did Dump man up and accept responsibility? No, of course not. “We have a situation where I'm an innocent man," he cried. "They should pay me for what I've gone through. This is not consumer fraud. This is no fraud. It is a fraud on me."
• Let’s move on to a story so hideous that I’ll do something I never, ever do, which is suggest that you never make use of a service again, and that service is eBay.
• Online retailer eBay Inc. will pay a $3 million fine to resolve criminal charges over a harassment campaign waged by employees who sent live spiders, cockroaches, a fetal pig, and other disturbing items to the home of a Massachusetts couple.
• The Justice Department charged eBay with stalking, witness tampering and obstruction of justice more than three years after the employees were prosecuted in the extensive scheme to intimidate David and Ina Steiner. The couple produced an online newsletter called EcommerceBytes that upset eBay executives with its coverage.
• eBay accepted responsibility for the employees’ actions and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that could result in the charges against the company being dismissed if it complies with certain conditions.
• I don’t care what the company does to ensure this won’t happen again. I will never, ever use eBay.
• And now, The Weather: “EC” by PACKS
• Speaking of which, every single state in the USA is under weather alerts today.
• In addition to the massive storm slamming the eastern half of the country, multiple weather hazards are impacting the country Friday morning, so the National Weather Service has issued some kind of weather alert for every state… even Alaska and Hawaii.
• I’m rather cold here in the Los Angeles area.
• I’d specifically advise my friends in the Chicago area to stay safe. More than half a foot of snow has already accumulated in some areas.
• From the Sports Desk… the New England Patriots have already replaced Bill Belichick. They’ve chosen Jerod Mayo as his successor and the 15th head coach in franchise history.
• Mayo, 37, will be the youngest coach in the NFL, taking over a title that Sean McVay held since being named Los Angeles Rams coach in 2017; Mayo is a month younger than McVay.
• Today in history… Bayinnaung, who would go on to assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, is crowned King of Burma (1554). The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London (1866). The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to require states to give women the right to vote (1915). Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate (1932). Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission in the Vietnam war, takes place (1962). The New York Jets of the American Football League defeat the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history (1969). An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of American military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait (1991). Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning (1998). Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket (2005). 
• January 12 is the birthday of painter John Singer Sargent (1856), philosopher/politician Bhagwan Das (1869), novelist/journalist Jack London (1876), entertainer/bootlegger Texas Guinan (1884), convicted war criminal Hermann Göring (1893), singer-songwriter/guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell (1904), actor/singer Tex Ritter (1905), engineer Sergei Korolev (1907), singer-songwriter/guitarist Ray Price (1926), NHL player/businessman Tim Horton (1930), singer Glenn Yarbrough (1930), my dad (1941), lawyer/politician Sheila Jackson Lee (1950), actress Kirstie Alley (1951), talk show host Rush Limbaugh (1951), radio host Howard Stern (1954), computer scientist/businessman Jeff Bezos (1964), singer-songwriter/film producer Rob Zombie (1965), singer-songwriter Zack de la Rocha (1970), singer-songwriter Melanie C (1974), and MLB player Dontrelle Willis (1982).

Today will be busy for me, which is fine. I’m just going to do what I can do, and I’m not going to create unrealistic expectations for myself, or others around me. Did I mention it’s cold? It is cold. Enjoy your day.