Random News: January 23, 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 23, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. I’m here to talk about news-like things while I drink coffee and figure our my plans for the day.

• The six registered voters of tiny Dixville Notch in New Hampshire all cast their ballots for Nikki Haley at midnight, giving her a clean sweep over former President and current accused felon Donnie Dump and all the other candidates.
• STOP THE VOTES!
• Just kidding. I’d rather Joe Biden go up against El Dumpo than anyone else in November.
• Today is, in fact, the New Hampshire primary. The only reasons I want Haley to do well is to irritate Dumpy, at least for a little while. My guess is that Dump will win today, and probably every other GOP primary contest over the coming months.
• Joe Biden is not on the New Hampshire primary. This is very purposeful. The brief story as to why this is the case…
• From 1976 to 2020, both parties began their nominating process with a wintertime trek through Iowa and New Hampshire. Iowa had its caucuses, and New Hampshire had its “first in the nation” primaries.
• But are the states really representative of the whole of America? Iowa and New Hampshire, are, between them, about 90% white. Many Democrats wanted a change from this routine, and Biden agreed. 
• So, at Biden’s urging, the DNC shook things up, officially making South Carolina the first state to hold primaries for the Democrats. Along with putting South Carolina at the front of the line, the DNC committee also allowed Nevada, Michigan, and Georgia in the early window.
• Republican officials in Georgia blocked the plan to move up that state’s primary date (because of course they did). But the rest of the changes still meant a massive influx of voters of color into the Democrats’ primary process. Biden and other Democrats believe this more diverse electorate will select presidential candidates with wider appeal and give the party an edge in future races.
• I agree.
• So, in sticking with that principle, no Joe on today’s ballot, though it’s still pretty certain he’ll win anyway in NH via write-in votes. None of it will matter; Biden is the Dem candidate for 2024, and I’m happy to support him.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday the Supreme Court allowed federal immigration agents to remove the razor wire that Texas state officials have set up along some sections of the US-Mexico border.
• A lower court ruling last year had barred the federal government from removing the razor wire that National Guard soldiers deployed by Gov. Greg Abbott assembled on the banks of the Rio Grande, near the Texas border town of Eagle Pass.
• But in a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court suspended that lower court ruling at the request of the Biden administration, which has argued the razor wire obstructs Border Patrol's ability to process migrants who are already on American soil and to help those who may be in distress.
• Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court's three liberals — Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson — in voting to lift the lower court's injunction. Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh would have allowed it to remain in place.
• So fuck Greg Abbott and his fucking cruel bullshit.
• In other news, Florida Gov. and recently failed Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis suggested he would veto GOP-led legislation in his state to use taxpayer funds to help former President El Dumpo pay his legal bills.
• Yes you read it right. They wanted the state to pay Dump’s fucking legal bills with taxpayer money. I would be fucking outraged.
• Moving on.
• In state election news, last night there was a debate among senate hopefuls in my state of California. One of these candidates will succeed the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
• There are three Democrats and one Republican running… Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee (all current US Reps), and former Dodger first baseman/Republican Steve Garvey. 
• Garvey refused to say if he was voting for Dump and avoided answering the question multiple times over the 90-minute affair, which led to a moment of hilarity courtesy of Katie Porter.
• “Well, California, I think what they say is true, ‘once a Dodger, always a Dodger,’” she zinged about the former major league ballplayer. “Ballots go out in six weeks, Mr. Garvey, this is not the minor leagues. Who will you vote for?”
• And in fact, Garvey had trouble providing coherent answers to any question. The leading candidate is still, by far, Adam Schiff.
• Interestingly, much like Garvey claims, I still don’t know who I’m voting for in this contest. I’d be fine with any of the three Dem candidates. I have until early March to decide, when California casts its primary votes on Super Tuesday.
• I do love Katie Porter, but I also have reasons to want her to maintain her Congress seat in Orange County.
• Moving on.
• The popular baby clothing company Kyte Baby is trying to head off a consumer boycott after the family of an employee said she was forced to give up her job to be in the hospital with her premature newborn.
• Marissa Hughes was fired after not returning from maternity leave in order to care for her newly-adopted son. He was premature, weighed 1 pound, and was in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nine hours from their Dallas home.
• Kyte Baby gives two weeks of paid leave. But when that time was up, Hughes' request to work remotely from the NICU was denied. When Hughes' story went viral, the online backlash against the company was swift.
• Can you imagine a worse decision by a company who makes baby clothes?
• And now, The Weather: “Blink” by Rozi Plain
• Again, stay safe from the fucked up winter weather that still plagues much of the nation.
• The nominations for the 96th Academy Awards were announced this morning, with “Oppenheimer” sweeping 13 nods, surprising no one.
• It was followed by “Poor Things” with 11 nominations, while “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Barbie” also picked up several nods.
• Here are the nominees for “Best Picture”: “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers, ” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Past Lives, ” “Poor Things,” “Oppenheimer, ” and “The Zone of Interest.”
• From the Sports Desk… um, nothing.
• Just kidding. Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers became the ninth player in NBA history to score 70 points in a game, and broke Wilt Chamberlain's 76ers franchise record of 68 points in the process.
• Congrats. Embiid is a phenomenal player.
• Today in history… Zhu Yuanzhang ascends the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries (1368). The Royal Exchange opens in London (1571). Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his ‘Lettres provinciales’ (1656). Georgetown College, the first Catholic university in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, MD, now a part of Washington, D.C. (1789). Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, NY, becoming the United States' first female doctor (1849). Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler (1941). American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the “Frisbee" (1957). The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified (1964). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley (1986). Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State (1997). Netscape announces Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source (1998). A very weak signal from Pioneer 10 is detected for the last time, but no usable data can be extracted (2003). 
• January 23 is the birthday of general/politician John Hancock (1737), painter Édouard Manet (1832), weapons designer John Browning (1855), engineer Frank Shuman (1862), actor Randolph Scott (1898), guitarist Django Reinhardt (1910), pianist Marty Paich (1925), actor Rutger Hauer (1944), singer Anita Pointer (1948), actor Richard Dean Anderson (1950), pilot Chesley Sullenberger (1951), singer Robin Zander (1953), and NHL player Brendan Shanahan (1969).

Alrighty. I’m a busy boy, but I’ll make it through. Enjoy your day.