Random News: April 2, 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 April 2, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. I have a cup of Peet’s Brazil and am ready to give you smatterings of information in bullet point form, as I do.

• Seven aid workers for the World Central Kitchen were killed yesterday in an Israeli military strike as they were delivering food to starving civilians in Gaza.
• If you’re not familiar with WCK, the Washington-based charity founded by chef and restaurateur José Andrés, they provide meals to disaster-struck regions and communities around the world.
• WCK is one of the few aid organizations delivering desperately needed food in Gaza where 2.2 million people do not have enough to eat, and where aid agencies warn half of the population is on the brink of starvation and famine due to Israel’s throttling of aid and widespread destruction.
• Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday acknowledged that the aid workers had been “unintentionally” targeted. World Central Kitchen said it was pausing its operations following the deadly strike and assessing the future of its operations in Gaza.
• I’m just going to say it… the IDF is incompetent and kills indiscriminately. If they call in air strikes on aid workers from the US, Australia, and Europe, how do you think they’re differentiating between Palestinian civilians versus supposed Hamas terrorists?
• Answer: they’re not. They just kill anyone in the region. Something has to be done to stop their madness.
• Let’s move on.
• In Florida, the state’s ultra-conservative Supreme Court ruled yesterday that their constitution does not protect abortion rights, allowing one of the country’s strictest and most far-reaching abortion bans to take effect on May 1.
• So that’s obviously terrible news. But there’s a silver lining.
• In a separate decision, the high court also ruled that an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution can go on the November ballot. That vote that could undo the new strict abortion ban in a matter of months.
• Last year, more than 82,000 people got abortions in Florida, more than almost any other state, and far more than were previously reported in any of the 17 states that have now banned all or most abortions.
• Florida voters in November will now have a chance to decide if they want women to be able to continue to access reproductive health care. The Floridians Protecting Freedom coalition gathered more than 1.5 million signatures in less than nine months to put the proposal on the ballot — far more than the 891,523 needed.
• The proposed Amendment 4 states: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.”
• A 60 percent supermajority would need to vote in favor of the amendment to add it to the constitution.
• What I think may happen as a result is that a lot of Florida women and the men who support their rights, knowing what’s at stake, will head to the polls in November… many more than otherwise would have been the case.
• And they won’t be eager to vote for the Republican leaders who want to remove their reproductive rights… including the former guy who’s trying to get his job back.
• That guy, Donnie Dump, has taken credit for having stacked the Supreme Court for the purpose of overturning Roe v. Wade, the case that offered protection for women’s health care for nearly 50 years until being reversed in 2022.
• Side note: Floridians will also vote on recreational marijuana in November after the Florida Supreme Court signed off Monday on ballot language for a proposed constitutional amendment.
• The amendment would permit nonmedical marijuana use and would remove criminal or civil penalties for adults over 21 who possess and use up to 3 ounces of pot for personal use. At least 60% of Floridians must approve it to become law.
• Florida voters passed the state’s medical marijuana statute with 71% of the vote in 2016.
• I anticipate a really big voter turnout in November.
• Moving on.
• Late yesterday, Judge Juan Merchan expanded a gag order on the Tangerine Twat ahead of his hush money trial, which begins on April 15. Dump, making the huge mistake of thinking this was his best tact, has been making disparaging public statement against the case, prosecutors, the legal system, and even the judge’s daughter.
• It’s another piece of evidence that Dump thinks himself better than every other American who has rules and laws that govern their behavior and actions.
• No one is above the law. Not you, not me, and definitely not that piece of shit. And he’s going to find out.
• Let’s do some other news.
• The Great North American Eclipse is less than a week away, on Monday April 8.
• Once again, I’m telling you what an eclipse is or why it happens. If you don’t know, there’s a whole-ass Internet for you to learn things.
• One thing I do want to mention is that animals don’t know much about astronomy. Some of them might be confused.
• Cats and dogs that live in your house? Probably no need to worry, as they’ve become so accustomed to artificial light that they’re not as affected as some of the wildlife might be.
• But both for outdoor animals that are active in daytime and the nocturnal animals who may think it’s night all of a sudden, keep a lookout for them. Take care while driving.
• Horses or cattle or other creatures might need some extra reassurance that everything is fine.
• Go tell a cow that everything will be fine.
• In a fascinating side story about the eclipse, inmates in New York are suing the state corrections department over the decision to lock down prisons during the event.
• The suit filed Friday in federal court in upstate New York argues that the April 8 lockdown violates inmates’ constitutional rights to practice their faiths by preventing them from taking part in a religiously significant event.
• Interesting. I have to say, I think this is legitimate and I support them in this effort.
• Moving on.
• I’m always very hesitant to talk about any stock performance. This weird time in which we live, when being a meme can artificially drive up the price of a stock that would typically have no value, makes things even more bizarre and unpredictable than before.
• But shares of Donnie Dump’s Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Trump’s Truth Social platform, tanked by 24 percent yesterday. The price of a share was down from over $79 on its first day of trading to about $47 today. Brutal.
• Dumpy, the company’s majority shareholder, saw his net worth tumble by more than $1 billion yesterday as a result.
• Ha ha!
• The losses disclosed yesterday are so severe that Trump Media’s accountants warned they “raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern,” which is Wall Street for, “We may not be able to stay in business.”
• What happened? Well, due to required regulatory filings, yesterday it was revealed that his Truth Social operated last year in 2023 at a $58 million loss.
• Worst. Businessman. Ever.
• They made just $4.1 million in revenue in 2023, compared to $16 million spent on operating expenses and $39.4 million on interest expenses, per their own SEC filing.
• The deal to go public last week did bring in approximately $300 million in cash. The company can now use those funds to pay down debt, or, ya know, for whatever Dumpy ends up spending it on.
• Lawyers and bail money is my guess.
• Important note: in terms of the actual value for Dump, he cannot sell his shares or use them as collateral for a loan for six months because of a provision in the company’s merger agreement, known as a lockup.
• Because you know Dumpy would tank the company immediately if he though he could cash out today and make the stock valueless.
• No matter how I felt about him, I’d be pretty wary of giving that guy money for anything that’s attached to him at this stage.
• Voters in four states will weigh in today on their parties' presidential nominees, a largely symbolic vote now that both President Joe Biden and Dumpy Dump have locked up the Democratic and Republican nominations.
• Biden and Trump will easily win primaries in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. But as is the case in each primary, the decisions will still offer clues about enthusiasm among base voters for the upcoming rematch.
• Wisconsin will be an important state to watch tonight. It will give hints about the share of Republicans who still aren't on board with Dump, and how many Democrats are supportive of Biden.
• One in five Wisconsin Democrats have said that the Gaza War will impact their primary vote. Until they get that shit under control, it’s going to have an effect on our elections this fall.
• And now, The Weather: “Someone To Follow” by Aoife O'Donovan
• I probably don’t have to tell you… there are severe weather alerts all over the damn country today. Possible tornadoes, hail, wind, rain, and snow will impact people from Ohio down to Alabama.
• Be safe, peoples.
• RIP to Lou Conter. Lou was the last living survivor of the sinking of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He died yesterday at 102 years old.
• Conter saved several lives during the attack, pulling sailors out of the water into his lifeboat before rowing to shore. He spent weeks afterwards helping to put out fires and recovering the bodies of the fallen. In the war, he was shot down twice over the Pacific.
• Conter stayed in the Navy after the war, and retired in 1967 with the rank of lieutenant commander. Rest in peace, sir.
• Let’s do a chart. It’s 10 years ago today, in early April 2014, and these songs are topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
• In 2014, I was super immersed in the world of indie rock, and while I’m familiar with some of these big pop hits, they represent the music that is the antithesis of what I was personally into at the time.
• 1. Happy (Pharrell Williams). 2. All Of Me (John Legend). 3. Dark Horse (Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J). 4. Talk Dirty (Jason Derulo Featuring 2 Chainz). 5. Let It Go (Idina Menzel). 6. Pompeii (Bastille). 7. Team (Lorde). 8. Counting Stars (OneRepublic). 9. The Man (Aloe Blacc). 10. Drunk In Love (Beyonce Featuring Jay Z). 11. Timber (Pitbull Featuring Ke$ha). 12. Best Day Of My Life (American Authors). 13. Show Me (Kid Ink Featuring Chris Brown). 14. Story Of My Life (One Direction). 15. Turn Down For What (DJ Snake & Lil Jon). 16. #SELFIE (The Chainsmokers). 17. Say Something (A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera). 18. Let Her Go (Passenger). 19. Hey Brother (Avicii). 20. Burn (Ellie Goulding).
• By comparison, here were some of my favorite new songs in 2014…
• Autograph (Syd Arthur). Here I Land (Nicholas Stevenson). Long Deep Breath (Fatso Jetson). Low Key (Tweedy). Still Don't Seem To Care (Talk In Tongues). Tie Up The Tides (Quilt). Waking Light (Beck). Animals (The GOASTT). 
• I’m not saying one list is better than the other, and I am sure that the people on the top list made a lot more money off their music than the ones below.
• If that’s your measuring stick, then so be it… though I will say that hearing Lil Jon yell, “Turn down for what?” is still enjoyable to this day. Side note: that rather insane music video now has 1.1 billion views, so I’m not the only one who likes it.
• From the Sports Desk… we have a Final 4 for the Women’s NCAA tournament.
• 1-seed South Carolina vs. 3-seed NC State. 1-seed Iowa vs. 3-seed UConn.
• Both games are this Friday, April 5.
• Today in history… Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida (1513). The Coinage Act is passed by Congress, establishing the United States Mint (1792). Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna (1800). "Electric Theatre", the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles (1902). After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia (1930). Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service (1973). Argentina invades the Falkland Islands (1982). Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm as Premier of British Columbia (1991). The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reach one million (2020). 
• April 2 is the birthday of Frankish king — and my 39th great-grandfather — Charlemagne (747), novelist Hans Christian Andersen (1805), novelist Émile Zola (1840), businessman Walter Chrysler (1875), painter/sculptor Max Ernst (1891), actor Buddy Ebsen (1908), actor Alec Guinness (1914), actor/producer Jack Webb (1920), singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye (1939), radio host Dr. Demento (1941), singer-songwriter/pianist Leon Russell (1942), guitarist Larry Coryell (1943), MLB player Don Sutton (1945), singer-songwriter/guitarist Emmylou Harris (1947), actor Christopher Meloni (1961), police brutality victim Rodney King (1965), actor Pedro Pascal (1975), and actor Michael Fassbender (1977).

Time for me to go work out. In addition to my daily yoga, strength training, and aerobics, I’ve been hitting the free weights a bit more in recent times. I have a fear of being old and weak as opposed to old and weird. Enjoy your day.