Random News: March 30, 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 30, 2024, and it’s a Saturday. I’m actually up and showered and dressed for a change. It’s pouring-ass rain here in the LA area and the robe wasn’t cutting it. Let’s see what’s happening.

• Tomorrow is an important day. Sunday, March 31 is International Transgender Day of Visibility
• What, did you think I was going to say Easter? I am always happy to acknowledge various cultures and their religious or historical holidays and events.
• But I don’t think I have to remind those of you who celebrate that big Christian holiday that it exists, while probably 95% of you don’t know about Trans Day.
• I’m here to inform.
• Transgender Day of Visibility is observed around the world to bring attention to a population that’s often ignored, disparaged, or victimized.
• Scheduled events were include panels and speakers in Cincinnati and Atlanta, marches in Melbourne, Florida, and Philadelphia, and a roller derby game on Long Island.
• Perhaps the highest profile U.S. event is a rally scheduled for tomorrow on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
• Major buildings and landmarks across the U.S. will be lit up in pink, white and light blue to mark the day.
• I remember when I was younger, transgender people were often the object of public ridicule. Today, they’ve become more visible in public life in the U.S. and elsewhere, which I consider a good sign.
• And, of course, this comes at a time when at least 11 states have adopted policies barring people from using the bathrooms aligning with their gender in schools or other public buildings.
• 25 states have bans on transgender women and/or girls competing in sports for women or girls. More than 20 have adopted bans on gender-affirming health care for minors.
• Anyway, shoutout to my trans friends. I see you and respect your decision to be true to your selves!
• Moving on.
• No, you know what? Let’s not move on yet. We have some good news on this topic.
• Yesterday, an appeals court in Texas upheld a lower court’s injunction blocking the state from investigating parents who allow their kids to receive gender-affirming care.
• Yes, to be clear: Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies in 2022 to open probes into the parents of transgender minors after Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion claiming gender-affirming medical care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, classify as child abuse.
• Thankfully, a district court judge immediately imposed a statewide temporary injunction on the investigations, saying they endangered the children and their families.
• The injunction was upheld yesterday. It had been fought by LGTBQ groups, medical professionals, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others.
• When you fight these fuckers and you’re in the right, you won’t always win, but more often than not you will.
• And we’re gonna fight them over every fucking inch of freedom they want to take and injustice they want to enact. Bring it on, bitches.
• Okay, now we can move on.
• When the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed early Tuesday, you might have assumed one factor was that it was poorly maintained.
• The reality is that it was better off than thousands of other bridges in the USA. 
• Over 42,000 U.S. bridges are in poor condition, yet they carry about 167 million vehicles each day. One out of every 13 bridges in the country rate a “poor” condition.
• Most Presidents say they’re going to address infrastructure, but then rarely seem to follow through. A massive infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 directed $40 billion to bridges over five years — the largest dedicated bridge investment since construction of the interstate highway system, which began nearly 70 years ago.
• Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that law already is funding over 7,800 bridge projects, but even this will hardly be a dent in the real need for repairing or replacing all the bridges that need it.
• The states with the worst bridges in the most need of addressing? Iowa has the most bridges tanked “poor” by far, followed by Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Missouri. 
• Let’s move on.
• Some folks — I mean, a lot of them — aren’t exactly excited about another term for president Biden. And look, I always found Joe to be too much of a centrist for my personal political tastes, especially previous to his presidency.
• But if you can get past your own prejudices and look objectively at what the guy has done since being sworn in on January 20, 2021, it’s actually pretty amazing.
• Biden established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. In 2023, schools were awarded $286 million in federal dollars to support student wellness and school mental health professionals.
• Biden lived up to his word in regard to prioritizing climate change and job creation via the expansion of a clean energy economy. Renewable power is the No. 2 source of electricity in the U.S., and climbing.
• Biden is expanding overtime pay guarantees for millions of workers. His Department of Labor is proposing a rule at the end of August that would push up the cutoff to people making up to $55,000/year.
• Biden’s team greenlit the country’s first over-the-counter birth control pill, which will be available at places like CVS and Walgreen’s, and will help make birth control access more equitable by reaching people who can’t afford or easily visit a health care provider for a prescription.
• Biden is taking huge strides in eliminating junk fees — the hidden charges that often come as a surprise to customers of airlines, cable companies, concert ticket-sellers, and hotels — and overdraft charges.
• I mean, he did all that while the country and the world were still at the start of a massive pandemic. I’ll remind you that as distant as it seemed, almost none of us had even received one dose of COVOD vaccine when Joe took office.
• The world was fucking awful, and this guy still picked up the ball and ran for touchdowns.
• I don’t want to hear she about him being old. He’s got a lot of energy. And frankly, not to be an insensitive prick about it, but if he were to become disabled or die, vice president Harris seems very capable and competent to me to take over the job.
• In other news…
• Starting Monday, California fast-food workers will start making a minimum wage of $20 an hour. For many, this means a life-altering 25% raise.
• My state’s new minimum uniquely focuses on fast food, affecting some of the country's biggest chains, including McDonald's, Starbucks, Subway, and Pizza Hut.
• Those folks — cooks, cashiers and other fast-food workers — have some of the lowest-paid jobs in the country.
• California is one of the country's most expensive states; about half a million people are estimated to work in fast food here, mostly women, immigrants, and people of color. Many live below the poverty line.
• I’m happy about this.
• Note that the new wage law applies to fast-food chains with at least 60 locations nationwide, with exemptions for some bakeries and smaller fast-food outposts inside grocery stores, airports, and other venues.
• And now, The Weather: “every day is a game” by Night Tapes
• Let’s do a chart. It’s exactly 52 years ago, at the end of March 1972, and this is the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles. I’m rather small, going on three years old. I think we live in Detroit.
• 1. Heart Of Gold (Neil Young). 2. A Horse With No Name (America). 3. The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Robert John). 4. Without You (Nilsson). 5. Everything I Own (Bread). 6. Mother And Child Reunion (Paul Simon). 7. Precious And Few (Climax). 8. The Way Of Love (Cher). 9. Puppy Love  (Donny Osmond). 10. Down By The Lazy River (The Osmonds). 11. Jungle Fever (The Chakachas). 12. Hurting Each Other (Carpenters). 13. Bang A Gong (Get It On) (T. Rex). 14. I Gotcha (Joe Tex). 15. Joy (Apollo featuring Tom Parker). 16. Sweet Seasons (Carole King). 17. In The Rain (The Dramatics). 18. Rock And Roll Lullaby (B.J. Thomas). 19. Don't Say You Don't Remember (Beverly Bremers). 20. American Pie (Parts I & II) (Don McLean)
• From the Sports Desk… we’re down to the Elite 8 in the Men’s NCAA tournament.
• 1-seed UConn vs. 3-seed Illinois. 4-seed Duke vs. 11-seed NC State. 4-seed Alabama vs. 6-seed Clemson. 1-seed Purdue vs. 2-seed Tennessee.
• We’ll know the Women’s Elite 8 teams tomorrow.
• Today in history… The Florida Territory is created in the United States (1822). Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long (1842). Sir William Crookes announces his discovery of the element thallium (1861). Danish prince Wilhelm Georg is chosen as King George of Greece (1863). Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward (1867). Texas is readmitted to the United States Congress following Reconstruction (1870). The Heinkel He 100 fighter sets a world airspeed record of 463 mph (1939). A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík when Iceland joins NATO (1949). U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.; three others are wounded in the same incident (1981). SpaceX conducts the world's first reflight of an orbital class rocket (2017). Donald Trump becomes the first former United States president to be indicted by a grand jury (2023).
• March 30 is the birthday of painter/sculptor Francisco Goya (1746), author Anna Sewell (1820), poet Paul Verlaine (1844), painter Vincent van Gogh (1853), writer/philosopher/monk Chunseong (1891), animator Marc Davis (1913), singer-songwriter/harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson (1914), actor Richard Dysart (1929), singer-songwriter Rolf Harris (1930), actor Warren Beatty (1937), NBA player Jerry Lucas (1940), singer-songwriter/guitarist Eric Clapton (1945), model Naomi Sims (1949), actor Robbie Coltrane (1950), actor Paul Reiser (1956), rapper MC Hammer (1962), singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman (1964), singer-songwriter Celine Dion (1968), singer-songwriter/pianist Norah Jones (1979), and NFL player Richard Sherman (1988).

I may actually work on some music stuff today. It seems like a good day for it. Enjoy your day.