Random News: April 28, 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 28, 2024, and it’s a Sunday. I’m trying to get my brain working enough to look through the news, but I need several more sips of this Peet’s coffee first. Sip. Sip. Sip. Okay, let’s do this.

• The big story in the USA continues to be the coast-to-coast demonstrations at college campuses, with students protesting the Israel-Hamas war. I suppose we should take the opportunity on a Sunday morning for a deeper dive.
• As you’re well aware, the hostilities began as a result of the actions of terrorist organization Hamas, who launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages.
• Israel vowed to stamp out Hamas once and for all, and launched an offensive in Gaza. Since then, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with the majority of them being women and children who are not part of any terror organization.
• Israel’s indiscriminate killing of civilians has been perceived by some as actions that could be seen as genocidal.
• The students therefore are protesting the war by demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies accused of enabling the conflict.
• Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while critics of Israel say it uses such allegations to silence opponents.
• There have been instances caught on camera of people making antisemitic remarks or violent threats. But organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
• It’s not just students. As has often been the case, school faculty members have joined the students in their protests.
• At universities in California, Georgia, and Texas, faculty have initiated or passed votes of no confidence in their leadership.
• The protests themselves are being done occupy-style, meaning that at many schools, the students and organizers have set up encampments in common spaces and buildings.
• From what I can tell, the protests — while inconvenient for people trying to just attend class and such — are mostly peaceful.
• Until the cops arrive. Then they tend to get ugly.
• As I mentioned yesterday, most of these people interacting with law enforcement seem shocked about their due process rights being violated and such.
• Well… welcome to the real world, kids.
• There have been hundreds of arrests nationwide, especially in the past few days. Some schools have cancelled graduation ceremonies; others have gone fully online for the rest of the semester.
• Anti-war protests at colleges have been around for generations. And so have clashes between authority groups and protestors.
• One might harken back to May 4, 1970, when four unarmed students were shot and killed (and nine more wounded) by the Ohio National Guard on the Kent State University campus. 
• They’d been peacefully protesting the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces, and then protesting the presence of National Guard troops on their campus.
• So they were shot.
• I will, just for the sake of being a good American, remind you about the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
• “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
• Assembling is legal. Protest is legal. We are guaranteed that right as Americans.
• Every protest I’ve ever done has been inspiring and invigorating. If you’ve never protested for or against something that was meaningful to you, I highly recommend it.
• Anyway, that pretty much brings you up to speed. If anything, the protests are still expanding. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t turn into a Kent State-type situation anywhere.
• Moving on.
• Once each week, we do our Sunday Gunday report, listing just some of the gun-related violence in the USA over the previous 24 hours.
• We started Sunday Gunday when a person I don’t know questioned whether my reports of gun violence incidents were based on fact. What better way to be specific than to actually list them?
• Three shot dead in a car outside a party in Escambia County, FL. Two dead, four injured in a shooting at the Market Square Fiesta event in San Antonio, TX. One woman dead, three others injured in a shooting at a house party in Tucson, AZ. One woman dead and two men injured (one self-inflicted) in a murder-suicide attempt at the Merchants Walk shopping plaza in Lilburn, GA. One woman dead and another wounded in a shooting in the Winton Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, OH. A woman shot dead in downtown San Jose, CA. One dead in a domestic incident in the Hickory Hill region of Memphis, TN. One shot dead accidentally by his drunk friend in South Sioux City, NE. One dead in a shooting at a bar in Clarksville, TN. One dead in a shooting in Stockton, CA, One dead in a shooting in northeast Tallahassee, FL. One dead in a shooting in northeast Moss Point, MS. One dead in a shooting in northeast Baton Rouge, LA. One dead in a shooting at a parking lot in Durham, NC. One shot dead in a street in Goldsboro, NC. A 77-year-old shot dead in Columbus, GA. A teenager shot dead by another in Worcester, MA. A woman shot dead at a home in South Euclid, OH. 10 people shot at a bar in Sanford, FL. Four men and two women wounded in a shooting at a nightclub in Washington, D.C. Three shot, including a bystander hit by a stray, after an argument in a barbershop in Mobile, AL. Two shot, one critically, in Kenner, LA. Two wounded in a shooting in southeast Denver, CO. Two wounded, ages 14 and 19, in a shooting Saturday in the Belmont Cragin community in Chicago, IL. One in critical condition after being shot at a Walgreens in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, IL One seriously injured in a shooting in Salt Lake City, UT. One seriously injured in a shooting in Minneapolis, MN. One wounded in a shooting at a trailer park in West Palm Beach, FL. A woman “accidentally” shot at McFee Park in Farragut, TN.
• And many more. I just can’t list these all day.
• Again, that’s just for Friday and Saturday, America’s favorite days to shoot and possibly kill each other.
• Don’t like it? You can slow it way down or maybe even come close to stopping it altogether. Ask me how.
• Moving on.
• Last night was the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and Biden did pretty well in his comic performance. Remember, it’s sort of rare that you have a President who’s capable of being funny.
• Obama could do it. Reagan could definitely do it. Clinton was okay. Most of Biden’s barbs were aimed exactly where you’d assume they’d be coming into a national election.
• Here are some of Joe’s better quips.
• “The 2024 election is in full swing. And yes, age is an issue. I’m a grown man running against a six year old.”
• “Age is the only thing we have in common. My vice president actually endorses me.”
• “Trump is so desperate he started reading those Bibles he’s selling. And he got to the first commandment: You shall have no other god before me. That’s when he put it down and said this book is not for me.”
• I liked this one about SNL show runner Lorne Michaels, who was in attendance: “I know you’re looking around, saying this guy’s been doing this for 50 years. He’s had his moment. Give someone else a chance. To that I say, Lorne, ignore the critics.”
• Speaking of SNL, the show’s head writer and “Weekend Update” anchor Colin Jost, who was the emcee of the event, finished his remarks with a touching and heartfelt story.
• Jost told President Biden about his 95-year-old grandfather, a longtime fireman in Staten Island, NY, who voted Democrat in the 2020 presidential election even though that borough of New York City is known to favor Republicans.
• “He voted for you, and the reason that he voted for you is because you’re a decent man. My grandpa voted for decency, and decency is why we’re all here tonight.”
• Well said.
• Let’s move on.
• The Louvre is the world's most-visited museum, bringing in 8-10 million people last year, and the Mona Lisa is by far its biggest attraction. The museum receives some 20-30,000 visitors daily.
• I’ve been there. It’s an amazing experience.
• But many museum-goers complain about waiting in line for hours, the stuffy conditions, and only getting to spend a few seconds viewing the painting, which is housed behind bulletproof glass.
• So Lisa is on the move.
• The Louvre's director, Laurence des Cars, said her institution is now looking at upgrading both the conditions surrounding Leonardo da Vinci's iconic Renaissance painting, as well as the overall visitor experience.
• The plan involves moving the painting, which is worth more than $830 million by some estimates, into a separate underground room. Currently, the Mona Lisa shares a large room with other artworks.
• Cool, I guess. Maybe I’ll get my ass back to Paris again at some point and check it out.
• And now, The Weather: “Let Go” by juicer
• Let’s do a chart. It’s the end of April 1975, and the music is pretty varied and good. 
• 1. (Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song (B.J. Thomas), 2. Philadelphia Freedom (The Elton John Band). 3. He Don't Love You (Like I Love You) (Tony Orlando & Dawn). 4.. Lovin' You (Minnie Riperton). 5. Supernatural Thing - Part I (Ben E. King). 6. Chevy Van (Sammy Johns). 7. Before The Next Teardrop Falls (Freddy Fender). 8. Emma (Hot Chocolate). 9. What Am I Gonna Do With You (Barry White). 10. Walking In Rhythm (The Blackbyrds). 11. Shining Star (Earth, Wind & Fire). 12. Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance) (Leo Sayer). 13. L-O-V-E (Love) (Al Green). 14. Jackie Blue (Ozark Mountain Daredevils). 15. I Don't Like To Sleep Alone (Paul Anka with Odia Coates). 16. The Bertha Butt Boogie-Part 1 (The Jimmy Castor Bunch). 17. It's A Miracle (Barry Manilow). 18. Killer Queen (Queen). 19. How Long (Ace). 20. Stand By Me (John Lennon).
• From the Sports Desk… an update on the NBA playoffs, all still in the first round.
• Eastern Conference: Celtics lead Heat 2-1; Knicks lead Sixers 2-1; Pacers lead Bucks 2-1; Cavs and Magic tied 2-2.
• Western Conference: Thunder lead Pelicans 3-0; Nuggets lead Lakers 3-1; T’Wolves lead Sounds 3-0; Mavericks lead Clippers 2-1.
• Today in history… Temür, grandson of Kublai, is elected Khagan of the Mongols (1294). Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution (1788). France invades the Austrian Netherlands — present day Belgium and Luxembourg — beginning the French Revolutionary Wars (1792). Chinese and Irish laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad working on the First transcontinental railroad lay ten miles of track in one day, a feat which has never been matched (1869). Wembley Stadium is opened, named initially as the Empire Stadium (1923). Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are shot dead by Walter Audisio, a member of the Italian resistance movement (1945). Igor Stravinsky conducted the premiere of his American ballet ‘Orpheus’ at the New York City Center (1948). Boxer Muhammad Ali refuses his induction into the United States Army and is subsequently stripped of his championship and license (1967). ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ by Pink Floyd goes to number one on the US Billboard chart, beginning a record-breaking 741-week chart run (1973). High levels of radiation resulting from the Chernobyl disaster are detected at a nuclear power plant in Sweden, leading Soviet authorities to publicly announce the accident (1986). CBS News released evidence of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse (2004).
• April 28 is the birthday of English king Edward IV (1442), US president James Monroe (1758), actor Lionel Barrymore (1878), astronomer Jan Oort (1900), businessman Oskar Schindler (1908), businessman Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916), singer Blossom Dearie (1924), novelist Harper Lee (1926), astronomer Eugene Merle Shoemaker (1928), Iraq president Saddam Hussein (1937), actress Ann-Margret (1941), author Terry Pratchett (1948), actor Bruno Kirby (1949), comedian/TV host Jay Leno (1950), singer-songwriter/keyboardist Chuck Leavell (1952), singer-songwriter/musician Kim Gordon (1953), golfer John Daly (1966), NHL player Nicklas Lidström (1970), actress Penélope Cruz (1974), actress Jessica Alba (1981), and NFL player Blake Bortles (1992).

Time to do my Sunday things that need doing. Enjoy your day.