Random News: February 22, 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 February 22, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. As I mentioned previously, I am off to a very early dental appointment that’s going to take a good while to complete, so if my news seems abbreviated, that’s why. Let’s do this.

• Starting with a breaking story from this morning…
• AT&T’s network went down for many of its customers across the United States, leaving customers unable to place calls, text or access the internet.
• Although Verizon and T-Mobile customers reported some network outages, too, they appeared far less widespread. T-Mobile and Verizon said their networks were unaffected by AT&T’s service outage and customers reporting outages may have been unable to reach customers who use AT&T.
• This feels like some kind of targeted attack, but as of now, there are no explanations as to why many of the country’s cellular network services were down. However, it was said that there’s no indication that this morning’s outage was the result of a cyberattack or other malicious activity.
• Shrug. Let’s move on.
• Yesterday, an Arizona prosecutor said she will not extradite the man accused of killing a woman in a New York City hotel because she doesn’t like Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
• Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell told reporters in Arizona that she's ordered her staff not to cooperate in any efforts to send Raad Noan Almansoori, 26, back to New York where he's wanted in connection to the slaying of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, 38.
• Almansoori is being held without bail in Arizona, where he's been accused of stabbing two women.
• In response, the Manhattan DA's Office cited data that shows murders being more common in Phoenix, the largest city in Maricopa County, as compared to New York City.
• “In Manhattan, we are serious about New Yorkers’ safety,” said their rep. “New York’s murder rate is less than half that of Phoenix.”
• Not honoring an extradition within the USA for a murderer? That doesn’t seem legal to me. Guess we’ll see.
• Moving on.
• President Biden and Democrats started off the year with a significant fundraising edge over El Dumpo  and the Republican National Committee, per campaign finance reports filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission. 
• Biden's campaign entered February with $130 million cash on hand across its affiliated committees. Dumpy's political apparatus continued to spend more than it raised in the first month of the year, continuing a trend from 2023, which showed the operation has been bogged down by steep legal bills as Don the Con continues to bounce between the courtroom and the campaign trail. 
• His campaign, along with the Republican National Committee and the political action committees supporting him, had just $65 million cash on hand combined to start February. 
• Ha ha.
• A relevant side note…
• Dump’s original ruling with interest would indicate he will need to secure a bond worth more than $540 million. But it’s unlikely that he’ll be allowed to use his properties as collateral.
• It’s more likely that he’d have to liquidate some assets to secure a bond. The bond company will also charge a fee that could total millions of dollars.
• His lawyer Alina Habba said she expects to post a roughly $400 million bond within a 30-day window to file a notice of appeal, which begins after a court clerk enters Engoron’s final judgment.
• But even his own real estate assets are not liquid, so if El Dumpo loses the appeal, the process of converting them to cash could be difficult — perhaps even more so in a case that was centered around disputes about the actual value of the properties.
• And some breaking news here too… this morning, one of Dumpy’s attorneys asked Judge Arthur Engoron for a 30-day delay in enforcing the ruling in the civil fraud case.
• In response, a special counsel in the New York attorney general's office, Andrew Amer, said in a letter to Engoron today that the defendants don't "provide any basis for staying enforcement of the judgement." Amer said that the defendants "requested such relief in their post-trial brief, which the Court declined to grant."
• Fuck him. Pay up.
• Let’s move on to another scumbag with money trouble… good old Rudy Giuliani.
• A bankruptcy judge ruled this week that to appeal the $148 million ruling in his recent defamation case, Giuliani must acquire third-party funding that’s approved by the court.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane said that Giuliani’s financial situation is so precarious that the fees required to appeal the verdict can’t come from Giuliani’s assets.
• Fuck both of them. Rudy and Donnie alike.
• Let’s do some good news.
• Yesterday, First Lady Jill Biden announced $100 million in federal funding for research and development into women’s health as part of a new White House initiative that she is heading up.
• The $100 million will be used to invest early in “life-changing” work being done by women’s health researchers and startup companies that cannot get private support, she said.
• “We will build a health care system that puts women and their lived experiences at its center. Where no woman or girl has to hear that ‘it’s all in your head,’ or, ‘it’s just stress.’ Where women aren’t just an after-thought, but a first-thought. Where women don’t just survive with chronic conditions, but lead long and healthy lives.”
• Cool. That’s encouraging.
• And now, The Weather: “All My Life” by boerd & Boko Yout
• Here’s a tip: no matter how much you like animals, you probably shouldn’t own one with the word “monster” in its very name.
• Colorado man Christopher Ward, 34, was taken to a hospital shortly after being bitten by one of his two pet Gila monsters on February 12. 
• His girlfriend entered a room to see the Gila monster named Winston latched onto Ward’s hand. Ward immediately began exhibiting symptoms, vomiting several times and eventually passing out and ceasing to breathe. He died a few days later.
• Two things to point out. First, Gila monsters are illegal t own in most places, including Lakewood, CO. But second, the bites of these venomous reptiles can cause intense pain and make their victims pass out, but normally aren’t deadly.
• Either way, try owning a cat, or a hamster, or something else that may hurt you but is less likely to kill you. Just my advice.
• From the Sports Desk… here’s stuff about a sport I know almost nothing about despite having spent five years in my youth playing it in organized leagues.
• Lionel Messi helped set up both goals and Inter Miami survived extended second-half pressure from Real Salt Lake to earn a 2-0 victory in Major League Soccer's season opener on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• Yay! Or… boo! I have no idea. I know Messi is good.
• Today in history… Robert II becomes King of Scotland, beginning the Stuart dynasty (1371). Spain sells Florida to the United States for five million U.S. dollars (1819). The United States Republican Party opens its first national convention in Pittsburgh, PA (1856). The Prohibition Party holds its first national convention in Columbus, Ohio, nominating James Black as its presidential nominee (1872). In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of five-and-dime Woolworth stores (1879). President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states (1889). Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500 (1959). In Lake Placid, NY, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4–3 in a game known as the Miracle on Ice (1980). In Roslin, Midlothian, British scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned (1997). 
• February 22 is the birthday of Hungary king Ladislaus the Posthumous (1440), US president George Washington (1732), philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788), general/Scout Association founder Robert Baden-Powell (1857), actress Marguerite Clark (1883), poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892), actor Robert Young (1907), radio/TV announcer Don Pardo (1918), tallest human Robert Wadlow (1918), actor Paul Dooley (1928), politician Ted Kennedy (1932), MLB player/manager Sparky Anderson (1934), film director Jonathan Demme (1944), drummer Harvey Mason (1947), NBA legend Julius Erving (1950), Kyle MacLachlan (1959), zoologist Steve Irwin (1962), actress Jeri Ryan (1968), actress Drew Barrymore (1975), NBA player Rajon Rondo (1986), and NFL player Khalil Mack (1991).

So yes… I’m leaving in a few minutes, heading back to the dentist for another round of major work this morning. I’m planning on everything going fine. Enjoy your day.