Random News: January 14, 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 14, 2024, and it’s a Sunday. I’m in a bathrobe and I’ve got a cup of Peet’s coffee warming me up from the inside, so let’s check out some news.

• Starting with a horrifying story out of Texas, where a woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande on Friday while trying to enter the U.S. near a section of the southern border.
• When US Border Patrol agents attempted to rescue the dying woman and her kids, National Guard soldiers deployed by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stopped them. The small family died while Abbott’s gestapo watched.
• Mexican officials recovered their three lifeless bodies yesterday. "This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility," said Henry Cuellar, the U.S. representative for Texas's 28th congressional district.
• What kind of person watches while women and children die needlessly? Apparently Texas Republicans. The National Guardsmen,, who are being referred to as the Texas Military Department, were clear that they were operating under direct orders from Greg Abbott.
• It was a disgusting and un-American act. I doubt anyone will face any consequences for it, either.
• Let’s move on.
• Here’s an interesting stat form this morning: almost half of likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers who support Nikki Haley indicated that they would make a crossover to the Democratic party, and would rather vote for President Biden over former President Trump.
• 43 percent of Haley backers in the state said they would vote for Biden if Trump is the GOP nominee while 23 percent say they would vote for the former president. Nineteen percent said they would vote for Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
• The same poll also showed that 74 percent of Iowa GOP voters feel Trump can win a general election despite his legal challenges, while 23 percent said it’s nearly impossible for him to win against Biden. Among Haley’s supporters, 54 percent said the former president wouldn’t be able to win, while 42 percent said he they believe he could.
• Guess we’ll see.
• Today is Sunday Gunday here at Zak’s Random News, where we take a short scroll through news stories of gun violence resulting in injury or death.
• Five people shot and killed including a child during a domestic violence incident in Richmond, TX. Two men shot dead, four others injured at a house in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. Two people dead, multiple people injured in two shootings in West Point, MS. One dead and one injured in a targeted shooting outside a restaurant in Memphis, TN. A woman shot dead and a man injured in Uptown New Orleans, LA. One dead, one injured in a shooting in Lauderhill, FL. A 4-year-old shot dead in the Chickasaw neighborhood of Louisville, KY. A 13-year-old boy shot dead in a home in Miami Gardens, FL. A 17-year-old shot dead in Goldsboro, NC. An 18-year-old shot and killed at an apartment complex in southwest Atlanta, GA. One shot and killed at a McDonald’s in Lenexa, KS. One shot and killed at Hibachi Sushi Supreme Buffet in Brockton, MA. One shot dead on a sidewalk in Salt Lake City, UT. One shot and killed in the Logan neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. One shot dead while driving his car on the South Side of Chicago, IL. One shot dead in Lake Worth Beach, FL. One shot dead in Columbia County, AR. One shot and killed while pumping gas on the south side of Houston, TX. Three shot, one with critical injuries, in Gulfport, MS. Two men shot at a bar in Orange, CA. Two men shot in Raleigh, NC. Two children shot in the backseat of a car traveling on I-880 in San Lorenzo, CA. Two people shot multiple times near a gas station in Columbus, GA. One shot and critically injured in southeast Charlotte, NC. One shot in Lexington, KY. One shot in San Antonio, TX.
• As usual, I’ll remind you: these are not all the instances of gun violence… just some I found with a quick scroll, and only over the past two days.
• Gun violence is the number-one killer of children in the USA, over accidents, cancer, other diseases, and any other method of death. This doesn’t happen in other countries where guns aren’t worshipped.
• If this bothers you, do something about it: elect candidates who support common-sense gun control measures. Thank you.
• Moving on.
• Congressional leaders are preparing a stopgap bill to keep the federal government running into March and avoid a partial shutdown next week.
• The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies whose approved funds are set to run out this coming Friday, and extend the remainder of government operations to March 8.
• The stopgap bill, expected to be released today, would come as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has been under pressure from his hard-right flank in recent days to jettison a recent bipartisan spending deal with Senate Democrats.
• As has been the case this entire past year, the bill would need Democratic support to pass the narrowly divided House.
• And now, The Weather: “Wish” by Waves Crashing
• Subfreezing temperatures across much of the US have millions of Americans facing potentially dangerous cold today. The National Weather Service warned that windy, subfreezing conditions in Montana and the Dakotas could push wind chills as low as -70F (-56C).
• Fuck.
• Again, I’ll remind you: weather can and will kill you. Be prepared for all manner of freezing temps and storm activity, especially while traveling anywhere.
• From the Sports Desk… the NFL playoffs are on! Yesterday’s Wild Card round games included the Texans giving an old fashioned ass whooping to the Browns, 45-14. The second game, played in a frozen Kansas City, had the Chiefs beating the Dolphins 26-7. It was the coldest NFL game ever played in KC (and the fourth coldest game in NFL history), where temps at kickoff were -4, and wind chill took it down to -30.
• Today’s games include the Packers (9-8) at the Cowboys (12-5), and the Rams (10-7) at the Lions (12-5). Monday has the rescheduled Steelers (10-7) at Bills (11-5) game, as well as the Eagles (11-6) at the Bucs (9-8).
• Today in history… King Henry III of England — my 24th great grandfather — marries Eleanor of Provence — my 24th great-grandmother (1236). The "Fundamental Orders", the first written constitution that created a government in the USA, is adopted in Connecticut (1639). Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain (1784). Giacomo Puccini's Tosca opens in Rome (1900). NBC's long-running morning news program ‘Today’ debuts, with host Dave Garroway (1952). Josip Broz Tito is elected the first President of Yugoslavia (1953). The Hudson Motor Car Company merges with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation (1954). The Human Be-In takes place in San Francisco, CA's Golden Gate Park, launching the Summer of Love (1967).  Queen Margrethe II of Denmark ascends the throne, the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513 (1972). Elvis Presley's concert Aloha from Hawaii is broadcast live via satellite, and sets the record as the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history (1973).
• January 14 is the birthday of politician Mark Antony (83 BC), queen Joan I of Navarre — my 23rd great-grandmother (1273), instrument maker Gottfried Silbermann (1683), military defector Benedict Arnold (1741), physician/phhilosopher/polymath Albert Schweitzer (1875), actor/director/producer Hal Roach (1892), novelist John Dos Passos (1896), television personality Andy Rooney (1919), singer-songwriter/pianist Allen Toussaint (1938), actress Faye Dunaway (1941), journalist Nina Totenberg (1944), singer-songwriter/guitarist/producer T Bone Burnett (1948), NFL player/actor Carl Weathers (1948), journalist Maureen Dowd (1952), singer Geoff Tate (1959), guitarist/songwriter Zakk Wylde (1967), rapper/actor LL Cool J (1968), actor Jason Bateman (1969), and singer-songwriter/musician Dave Grohl (1969).

Time to shower and dress myself and do various things. Enjoy your day.