Random News: February 27, 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 27, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. Tons of stuff going on, so let’s jump right in.

• President Joe Biden said yesterday that he hopes a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that would pause hostilities and allow for remaining hostages to be released can take effect by early next week.
• Negotiations are underway for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of hostages being held in Gaza by the militant group in return for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
• The proposed six-week pause in fighting would also include allowing hundreds of trucks to deliver desperately needed aid into Gaza every day.
• Let’s hope they can get this done before the start of Ramadan around March 10.
• And for those of you voting in Michigan’s primary today, please view this as a genuine sign that Biden is truly working toward peace in the Middle East and getting to a point of better lives for the besieged Palestinian people.
• Back in the USA…
• Let’s talk about the Republicans and their Life at Conception Act. It was introduced in January 2023 by Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) and has 125 total Republican sponsors in the House, including House Speaker Mike Johnson.
• The legislation defines the term “human being” to include “all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.”
• After the Alabama Supreme Court decided frozen embryos used in IVF are children and those who destroy them can be held liable for wrongful death, a number of Republicans raced to distance themselves from the ruling.
• But under the Life at Conception Act, equal protections under the 14th Amendment would be granted at the moment of “fertilization” — regardless of whether the union of sperm and egg occurs inside the body, which is what happens in a traditional pregnancy, or outside the body, which is the case with IVF.
• Do not believe their bullshit. Republicans want to control every aspect of the sexuality and reproductive freedom of women in every possible way. Vote accordingly. 
• Let’s move on.
• A federal judge ruled yesterday that the FBI informant indicted earlier this month for making false statements about President Biden and his son will remain jailed.
• After having been initially released, Alexander Smirnov was planning to flee the USA. Good thing he was caught in time. Smirnov had been receiving information from Russian intelligence.
• As to whether the House GOP now drops their investigation or not remains to be seen.
• Let’s do some other news.
• Yesterday in Tennessee, a bill was passed that would largely ban displaying pride flags in public school classrooms. The 70-24 vote sends the legislation to the Senate, where a final vote could happen as early as this week.
• At least two people against the bill were kicked out of the gallery due to talking over the proceedings as Democrats and other opponents blasted the legislation as unfairly limiting a major symbol of the LGBTQ+ community in schools.
• Republican Rep. Gino Bulso, the bill sponsor, said parents reached out to him with complaints about “political flags” in classrooms. When pressed about whether the bill would allow the Confederate flag to be on display in classrooms, Bulso said the bill would not change the current law about when such a symbol could be shown.
• Uh huh. Sigh. Moving on.
• As promised, I want to follow up on yesterday’s Supreme Court activity, where they wrangled with a pair of cases that could help define the future of the Internet.
• Legal experts say they're the most important First Amendment cases in a generation. The question is whether states like Florida and Texas can force big social media platforms to carry content the platforms find hateful or objectionable.
• Most of the justices — including Chief Justice Roberts — seemed to side with a key argument from the social media platforms: that decades of free speech jurisprudence mean government officials cannot compel people or businesses, including social media giants, to speak.
• I agree.
• This is based on what happened after January 6, 2021, when big social media sites booted Don the Con from their platforms, fearing his posts could provoke more unrest.
• Home-grown extremists like the Proud Boys and foreign groups like the Islamic State have deployed social media to attract converts and broadcast violence.
• If the laws in Texas ad Florida stand, social media companies wouldn’t be allowed to moderate content on their own platform. 
• Places like Facebook and Twitter would be filled with hate speech, porn, and violent threats, and there would be nothing you could do about it.
• I’ll keep you updated on their decision.
• Here’s another follow-up from yesterday.
• Donnie Dump’s attorneys did file a notice of appeal of the ruling in his New York civil business fraud case… but as I suspected, the notice did not mention the bond he would need to post for an appeal.
• That notice is meaningless until he puts up the cash. That didn’t stop a bunch of media assholes from writing “TRUMP APPEALS VERDICT” headlines yesterday morning. He’s done no such thing.
• Here’s the thing: if we was going to put up the half-billion dollars he needs to start the appeal, he would have wanted to do it as fast as possible. Putting up the bond would stop collections of his assets (which start in under 30 days) and would stop the more than $111,000 of interest per day.
• But he hasn’t done shit yet except formally announce that he intends to appeal.
• Let’s move on to some outstanding world news.
• Hungary's parliament voted yesterday to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO, bringing an end to more than 18 months of delays that have frustrated the alliance as it seeks to expand in response to Russia's war in Ukraine.
• The vote passed overwhelmingly with 188 votes for and six against. Unanimous support among NATO members is required to admit new countries, and Hungary is the last of the alliance's 31 members to give its backing since Turkey ratified the request last month.
• Hell yes. Let’s go Team NATO! Welcome to the party, Sweden.
• And now back to the USA again.
• Yesterday, New York state lawmakers voted to reject new congressional districts proposed by a bipartisan commission. Their state Senate voted 40-17 to reject a set of congressional lines offered by the Independent Redistricting Commission while the state Assembly voted 99-47 to reject the map. 
• The new House map was introduced after Democrats won a lawsuit to allow the IRC a second opportunity to offer a set of congressional lines after they deadlocked last time.
• Fuck all the gerrymandering bullshit.
• And now a headline that writes its own punchline…
• Donnie Dump Jr. received a letter containing a white powdery substance at his Florida home yesterday afternoon. 
• Put away that rolled up dollar bill, Junior. Anyway, early results indicated the substance was not deadly, though tests were inconclusive as to what the actual substance was.
• And now, The Weather: “Butterfly Net” by Caroline Polachek & Weyes Blood
• From the Sports Desk… here are the leaders in rebounds per game in the NBA.
• 1. Domantas Sabonis (SAC): 13.2. 2. Rudy Gobert (MIN). 3 (tie). Nikola Jokic (DEN): 12.3. 3 (tie). Anthony Davis (LAL): 12.3. 5. Jalen Duren (DET): 12.1.
• Today in history… Henry IV is crowned King of France (1594). The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America (1782). The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti (1844). The British Labour Party is founded (1900). A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett (1922). Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14 (1940). In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest (1943). The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified (1951). The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government (1973). 
• February 27 is the birthday of Roman emperor Constantine the Great (272), poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807), sociologist/philosopher George Herbert Mead (1863), SCOTUS justice Hugo Black (1886), physiologist Charles Herbert Best (1899), author John Steinbeck (1902), actress Joanne Woodward (1930), actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932), activist/politician Ralph Nader (1934), actor Howard Hesseman (1940), political strategist Lee Atwater (1951), guitarist Neal Schon (1954), politician Maggie Hassan (1958), NBA player James Worthy (1961), NFL player Tony Gonzalez (1976), singer-songwriter Josh Groban (1981), NBA player Devin Harris (1983), and NFL player Chandler Jones (1990).

That’s a lot of news. I’m going to go work out and then do work and then work on other work things. Enjoy your day.