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.
Good morning. It’s January 31, 2024, and it’s a Wednesday. Every year I do this trade show, I lie to myself that after it’s done will be a time to relax, but no… this week has been very much on the busy side as I continue with follow-up actions. No worries; the days go by quickly, getting me that much closer to an actual weekend. For now, let’s do some news.
- This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee is grilling the chief executives of five big tech companies — Jason Citron (CEO of Discord), Shou Zi Chew (CEO of TikTok), Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Meta), Linda Yaccarino (CEO of X), and Evan Spiegel (CEO of Snap) — about potential harms from their products on teens.
- This is a topic we cover often here at Zak’s Random News. Until now, the social platforms have largely held that their products are safe and that they empower kids and parents to decide for themselves how to responsibly use them.
- But growing claims that social media can hurt young users, including worries that it risks driving them to depression or even suicide, indicate that the social media response falls far short.
- I’ll let you know how it goes. But this is a serious problem that affects teens around the world.
- Relevant side note: Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta (aka Facebook, Instagram, and other tech properties) spent $20 million on lobbying last year to try and defeat these commonsense reforms. They hired one lobbyist for every eight members of Congress. Elon Musk’s X spent $900,000 on lobbying for the same purpose last year.
- Moving on for now.
- Today, we may see the size and scale of the penalty against Donnie Dump from his civil fraud trial. Judge Arthur Engoron has previously indicated that he hopes to come to a decision by today (Wednesday, January 31).
- El Dumpo is accused of filing fraudulent financial statements for years, which inflated the value of his properties and assets in order to obtain perks such as improved loans or tax breaks.
- Ahead of the start of the civil trial in New York, Engoron ruled that Trump had committed fraud in his financial statements and that the proceedings were mainly to determine the size of the penalty, as well as six other claims, including conspiracy, falsifying business records and insurance fraud which feature in James' lawsuit.
- AG Letitia James argued that Dumpy, his co-accused, and the company should pay $370 million in penalties over claims that Dump’s financial statements overvalued his net worth by billions of dollars down the years.
- Guess we’ll see.
- House Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee voted early today to advance two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over failure to enforce U.S. immigration policies at the border.
- Except there’s one small problem: Republicans have not yet offered any evidence that Mayorkas committed any high crimes or misdemeanors, and they held two public impeachment hearings over the past month without Mayorkas’s in-person testimony or testimony from any fact witnesses.
- Voting to convict Mayorkas would open Republicans to charges that they’re weaponizing the impeachment process to score political points… which is precisely what they’re doing.
- GOP senators have warned their House Republican counterparts about cheapening the impeachment process and deploying it in the absence of clear allegations of criminal wrongdoing. Probably a bad idea, but that never stopped them before.
- Let’s move on.
- Yesterday, a Delaware judge ruled that Elon Musk’s generous 2018 compensation package, which helped make the tech entrepreneur the world’s richest person, was unfair and should be undone.
- Ha ha.
- The $56 billion package entitled Musk to stock options in the company as it hit specific performance targets. Shareholders sued Musk, alleging the process that led to the package was improper.
- Musk has asked for 25 percent control over the company — which went on to become the world’s most valuable automaker after the pay package was implemented — after he sold off billions worth of stock to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
- Meanwhile, Tesla reported disappointing quarterly financial results last week. One analyst described their recent investor call as a “train wreck.”
- In her written opinion, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick said that plaintiff Richard Tornetta was entitled to “rescission,” meaning that Musk’s package should be undone. Hee hee.
- Let’s do some good news.
- Aimenn D. Penny, 20, of Alliance, OH, who is a member of the pro-Nazi group White Lives Matter, has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for firebombing an Ohio church that had been planning to host two drag events.
- Good. Fuck that guy.
- More good news? Sure.
- Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s injunction blocking enforcement of an Idaho law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under 18.
- This is a major victory for trans youth and their families. And fuck you, Idaho.
- And now, The Weather: “Big Sigh” by Marika Hackman
- Rest in peace to Broadway star Chita Rivera, who died yesterday at 91. She dazzled audiences for nearly six decades, most memorably starring as Anita in “West Side Story” and Velma Kelly in “Chicago.”
- I saw her in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” in the ‘90s at what was then the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion (now Disney Hall).
- In weird notable dates, January 31 is International Zebra Day. This is my contribution to raise awareness of zebra conservation.
- I’ve been told that zebras are assholes, but I will likely never have the opportunity to ascertain this for myself.
- From the Sports Desk… not sports. Instead, a singer-songwriter.
- Conservative social media is currently aflame with a Taylor Swift conspiracy theory centered on the idea that the NFL is rigging games to ensure the pop superstar’s boyfriend’s team wins the Super Bowl — just in time to give a nod to President Biden in the presidential election.
- Yeah, because that’s a solid plan. These fucking people. Jesus.
- Today in history… Four of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering (1606). The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital (1747). The United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee (1846). The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery, and submits it to the states for ratification (1865). US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War (1945). President Truman orders the development of thermonuclear weapons (1950). Doug Williams becomes the first African-American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl and leads the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII (1988). Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur (2018). The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state (2020). The FDA grants full approval to Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for those ages 18 and older (2022).
- January 31 is the birthday of composer Franz Schubert (1797), chemist Theodore William Richards (1868), singer-songwriter/actor Eddie Cantor (1892), actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902), musicologist Alan Lomax (1915), MLB legend Jackie Robinson (1919), actress Carol Channing (1921), novelist/playwright/journalist Norman Mailer (1923), actress Suzanne Pleshette (1937), politician Dick Gephardt (1941), guitarist Terry Kath (1946), MLB legend Nolan Ryan (1947), singer-songwriter Harry Wayne Casey (1951), guitarist Adrian Vandenberg (1954), singer-songwriter John Lydon (1956), bass player Fat Mike (1967), businessman Dov Charney (1969), actress Minnie Driver (1970), actress Portia de Rossi (1973), singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake (1981), and film producer Megan Ellison (1986).
Okay, that’s plenty for now. Things are going to be very interesting soon. I’ll have more news for you as it happens. Enjoy your day.
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