Random News: March 12, 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 March 12, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. It’s the second day of waking up in total darkness and cursing the person responsible for having invented Daylight Saving Time. I’ll get used to it eventually… but not today! Anyway, we have a ton of news, so we’d best get on it.

• Donnie Dump is trying to delay the inevitable: the start of his first criminal trial, which is scheduled to begin in less than two weeks.
• In a motion filed March 7 and made public yesterday, Dump's attorneys asked Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan to delay the trial, which is currently set for March 25, until after the Supreme Court rules on whether Dump is shielded from criminal prosecution by "presidential immunity" in another one of his criminal cases.
• Let’s start with the most hilarious part about this and then work our way backwards. Ready?
• The crime El Dumpo is accused of in this case stems from a hush money payment made by an attorney for Dump to adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in the days before the 2016 election.
• Stop right there. He’s asking the court to hold back his trial based on something that already doesn’t exist: “presidential immunity”.
• But the best part is that the crime he is accused of happened in 2016, BEFORE he became president. Dumpster was sworn in on January 20, 2017. he was NOT president at that time and even if the world turned upside down and US presidents were immune from all criminal punishment, he simply was not president then. End of story.
• Back to the main topic, though: lower federal courts have already determined that no such immunity exists. It didn’t exist for any other president, and Dumpster is no exception to the rule.
• The Supreme Court will be hearing his claims of immunity for his many crimes on April 25.
• In the Stormy Daniels case, Dump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records tied to payments reimbursing the attorney, Michael Cohen, in 2017. Dump has pleaded not guilty and denies all wrongdoing.
• Moving on.
• We should talk about Haiti, the poorest and most strife-ridden nation in the Americas.
• Yesterday, Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry has agreed to resign following weeks of mounting pressure and increasing violence in the impoverished country.
• It is currently a lawless nation, controlled by heavily armed gangs who have tightened their grip on the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince, and attacked the main prison to help thousands of inmates escape.
• Henry — an unelected official — had led the country supposedly on an interim basis since July 2021 following former President Jovenel Moïse's assassination, but he’s repeatedly postponed elections, saying security must be restored first.
• Their last election was held in 2016. So that’s not good at all. I’m not sure if anything can truly fix Haiti, though.
• Moving back to the USA.
• The moment they took control, the new leadership team at the Republican National Committee — handpicked by Donnie Dumperino — started firing dozens of employees.
• About 60 people were told they were no longer employed.
• This is, of course, all part of the plan for MAGA to wrap up its total takeover of the former Republican party, diverting all contributions and donations to Dump’s personal use for his legal bills and other grifting needs.
• I would be SO angry if I was a traditional Republican, whom the party has not only abandoned but has clearly been told they are no longer welcome.
• Let’s move on.
• You know how I’ve been telling you that Republicans have their sights set on your Social Security?
• Yesterday, Dumpy said the quiet part out loud in an interview. He was pressed on how he plans to resolve the long-term solvency problems of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. His response?
• “So first of all, there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting. And in terms of, also, the theft and the bad management of entitlements — tremendous bad management of entitlements — there’s tremendous amounts of things and numbers of things you can do.”
• The Biden campaign quickly jumped on Dump’s admission and posted the video to various social nets with the caption, “Not on my watch.”
• If you need a reminder: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are funded by your money that you’ve been paying into at every job you ever had. Stopping any program like that would be straight up stealing from you.
• It’s not their money. It’s yours. Don’t let the Republicans fuck you out of it.
• In other news…
• As we’d mentioned previously, it’s another big voting day in many states. Perhaps the main state to keep an eye on is Georgia, a swing state that helped usher in Joe Biden’s presidency in 2020.
• Donnie Dump will likely get enough Republican delegates to officially be their nominee after today. Based on the states holding primaries and caucuses, President Biden may receive the official party nomination today or may have to await next Tuesday’s round of votes.
• Here in my state, we had just one ballot initiative while voting on March 5, aka Super Tuesday: California’s Proposition 1.
• Its main purpose is to issue $6.38 billion in bonds to fund housing for homeless individuals and veterans, including up to $4.4 billion for mental health care and drug or alcohol treatment facilities and $2.0 billion for housing for homeless persons.
• Sounds good, huh? I voted Yes.
• But as they slowly continue the vote count from my state with about 40,000,000 residents, a full week later it’s still unclear as to whether this will pass or not. With 76% of the precincts reporting as of this morning, the vote stands at Yes with a very narrow lead of 2,921,235 votes (50.30%) to No at 2,887,648 (49.70%).
• Still impossible to know if it will pass or not.
• In other news, if you were hoping for some kind of exhibitionist thrill the next time you stay in an Airbnb, they seem to be finally curtailing their voyeuristic policies.
• Airbnb is banning the use of indoor security cameras in listings globally, the short-term rental platform announced yesterday.
• Previously, Airbnb allowed hosts to have indoor security cameras in common areas as long as the devices were clearly disclosed on the listing page and placed in visible spots in the home. 
• However, hundreds of instances of guests finding cameras all over these properties have been documented, even though indoor security cameras were never allowed in spaces like sleeping areas and bathrooms.
• Hosts who do currently have indoor security cameras have until April 30 to remove them. After this date, a host who violates the new policy could face consequences including listing or account removal on the platform.
• Now ask yourself how the company can possibly police this action? I still say to assume that some perv is watching you at all times in every Airbnb.
• Let’s move on.
• You know Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law that went into effect in March 2022? Yeah, that’s not legal.
• Florida education officials and a group of LGBTQ advocates and families have reached a legal settlement that clarifies the scope of the statute, spelling out that students and teachers are allowed to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, as long as it is not part of formal instruction.
• The plaintiffs, which included civil rights organizations, parents, students and teachers – sued over the statute just days after Ron DeSantis (R) signed it into law.
• So yes, you can say gay in Florida. All of that bullshit by the right-wing weirdos was for nothing.
• But as long as we’re discussing Florida…
• Yesterday, the NAACP made an official announcement to Black student-athletes, telling them to reconsider attending public colleges and universities in Florida.
• The letter was in response to the University of Florida and other state schools that have eliminated their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. It was also addressed to current and prospective student-athletes.
• Last year, DeSantis signed a bill prohibiting the use of state funds for any DEI programs. The University of Florida responded this month by closing the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, eliminating 13 full-time DEI positions and 15 administrative appointments, and ending DEI-focused contracts with outside vendors.
• Hey, I’m sure they’ll do fine with white-only athletes.
• Hahahahahahahahahaha… oh man, that’s funny.
• Moving on.
• This week marked the start of Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar. In 2024, it runs from March 10 to April 19.
• How many people on Earth observe this religious event? Oh, only about a quarter of the entire population of the planet, comprising Muslims in every country including some 3.5 million Americans. And those people are fasting from sunup to sundown, every day, for a whole fucking month.
• It’s not just fasting in the way you might be picturing it. They can’t even drink anything, including water.
• No fucking way I could do that. I constantly consume things. I rarely go a full hour without eating or drinking something. I would be a terrible Muslim. I’m barely good at being an atheist.
• Here’s a tip on supporting your Muslim friends (or at least not being insensitive to them) during this time…
• You can feel free to eat in front of them. They get it. But don’t insist they join you at a business lunch or other mid-day event where food is served to everyone but them. That’s shitty.
• Also, don’t compare what they’re doing to some fad weight-loss diet you’re on. That’s not the point of it.
• You can say “Ramadan Mubarak” to your Muslim friends, which means “Happy Ramadan”. No one will take offense, except maybe some white nationalist MAGA guy who overhears you being kind to another human being.
• And now, The Weather: “To Remember Yourself” by Darvid Thor
• Rest in peace to Karl Wallinger, the frontman of World Party and early member of the Waterboys. He died Sunday at 66.
• You may recall their 1987 hit “Ship of Fools.” Wallinger always worked with his friend Sinead O’Connor’s on her debut album ‘The Lion and the Cobra’ and O’Connor in turn sang backing vocals on the first two World Party albums. He was also the musical director for the Gen-X-defining 1994 film “Reality Bites.” RIP.
• And another RIP in the music realm goes goes out to singer-songwriter Eric Carmen, who became an icon of power pop as the frontman of the Raspberries before achieving even bigger hits as a solo artist in the 1970s and ’80s. He died at age 74.
• If you don’t know Carmen from the Raspberries’ breakout hit, “Go All the Way” in the early ‘70s, you probably know his solo songs like “All by Myself,” “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again,” and “Hungry Eyes.” Rest in peace.
• I mentioned yesterday that I suddenly had some pain above my knee when straightening my leg, like getting up from sitting. I am not a doctor, but this diagnosis is fairly obvious: it’s quadriceps tendinitis.
• Pretty common for athletes, and it’s likely that some of the repetitive motions I do every morning while working out for the past 12 years have come back to haunt me.
• It should get better on its own in maybe 4-6 weeks. I’ve had instances of tendinitis before. never fun, but I get past it eventually.
• Meanwhile, I need to figure out some other form of cardio that doesn’t involve me using that set of muscles. I’ll live.
• From the Sports Desk… more surprises from the NFL’s free agency turntable. Some highlights…
• Vikings QB Kirk Cousins to the Falcons. 49ers QB Sam Darnold to the Vikings. Colts QB Gardner Minshew to the Raiders. Giants QB Tyrod Taylor tot he Jets. Giants RB Saquon Barkley to the Eagles. Raiders RB Josh Jacobs to the Packers. Dolphins DT Christian Wilkins to the Raiders. 
• I mean, that’s just a few of hundreds of moves. You probably won’t have any idea who’s on your team when preseason starts in August.
• Today in history… The Girl Guides — later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA — are founded in the United States (1912). Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for most of the period since 1713 (1918). Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States, the first of his "fireside chats” (1933). Sir Tim Berners-Lee submits his proposal to CERN for an information management system, which subsequently develops into the World Wide Web (1989). Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO (1999). Financier Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street's history (2009). A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (2011). The United States suspends travel from Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic (2020).
• March 12 is the birthday of composer Thomas Arne, E (1710), US first lady Jane Pierce (1806), farmer Charles Boycott (1832), author Jack Kerouac (1922), astronaut Wally Schirra (1923), playwright Edward Albee (1928), actress Barbara Feldon (1933), singer Al Jarreau (1940), actress/singer Liza Minnelli (1946), politician Mitt Romney (1947), singer-songwriter James Taylor (1948), songwriter/bass player Steve Harris (1956), MLB player Darryl Strawberry (1962), colonel/politician Tammy Duckworth (1968), and journalist Jake Tapper (1969).

Welp, that’s a lot of everything. There’s more, but I’m out of time. Enjoy your day.