Random News: April 29, 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 29, 2024, and it’s a Monday. I’m up and about, as I tend to be, and trying to get my brain working after a weekend of mostly nothingness. You know what helps rev up the ol’ synapses? Seeing what’s happening in the world. Let’s do that.

• Yesterday, President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to discuss the prospects of a possible cease-fire deal to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, while repeating his warnings about a new Israeli assault on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
• The call was meant to pave the way for Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who left Washington just a few hours earlier for his latest trip to the Middle East with the goal of scaling back the war in Gaza.
• Blinken will meet in Saudi Arabia with Egyptian and Qatari officials who have served as intermediaries with Hamas in the cease-fire and hostage talks, which remain in a stalemate. Blinken will also stop in Jordan and Israel. 
• Let’s hope for the best. This whole thing would settle down a lot faster if Hamas could release more hostages and Israel could slow down on the killing of Palestinians.
• Shrug. It’s up to them.
• Meanwhile, there is a flurry of talk that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• The ICC is looking at possible war crimes committed by both sides in the conflict.
• While neither Israel nor the United States accept the ICC’s jurisdiction, any warrants could put Israeli officials at risk of arrest in other countries.
• They would also serve as a major rebuke of Israel’s actions at a time when pro-Palestinian protests have spread across U.S. college campuses.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, Republican vice-presidential hopeful Governor Kristi Noem tried to justify her actions of having shot and killed Cricket, her 14-month-old puppy, by saying that it was legal at the time under South Dakota state law.
• I’m sure everyone will be fine with it then.
• Moving on.
• Donnie Dump is suddenly worried about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
• On Friday, someone probably explained to Dumpy how RFK’s ridiculous independent run for president was siphoning votes at an equal rate from both Dem and Republican voter bases, per recent polls.
• I wont reprint Dump’s moronic rant, but among other things he said that a vote for the independent candidate would be a “wasted protest vote” and that he’d “even take Biden over Junior.”
• A Quinnipiac poll of registered voters this week shows support for Kennedy at 16 percent, with Trump and Biden deadlocked at 37 percent each, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West both receiving 3 percent support.
• And the scary part for the Dumpster: more Republican voters find RFK Jr. favorable than Democrats — 44 percent of Republican voters expressed a favorable opinion of Kennedy, compared to just 11 percent of Democrats.
• Hmm. So that’ll be interesting come November.
• Moving on.
• Here’s some irony for you…
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is doubling down on her commitment to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), saying his days in the leadership position are “numbered” as House members await a potential privileged vote on a motion to vacate.
• Greene is mad because the Speaker allowed the vote for aid to Ukraine to pass. That probably upset her Russian supporters. She already filed a motion to remove Johnson and two other GOP lawmakers have already backed it.
• But the only way it would gain traction is for every Democrat to support her effort. Is it funny, thinking of Sporky having to pander to Democrats to accomplish her nefarious goals?
• I think it’s funny.
• Needless to say, that won’t be happening. The Dems don’t work with chaos agents backed by the Kremlin.
• We’re not huge fans of Johnson ether, I should note, but he received widespread praise from leaders in both parties this month after muscling both the high profile foreign aid and FISA bills through the House this month.
• In other news…
• I have yet to cover any of the insane shit revolving around Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell (D).
• She was charged last with burglary after being found dressed in all black in the basement of her stepmother's home. She confessed to breaking into the home to retrieve her father's ashes and other sentimental items after her stepmother stopped speaking to her.
• On social media, Mitchell denied the allegations, saying she was at the house to check on a family member with Alzheimer's. Mitchell, who has also been a TV meteorologist and a commander with the Air National Guard, was elected in 2022 and is in the midst of her first term.
• Yesterday, it was announced that she will be removed from her committee assignments and caucus meetings while those bizarre allegations against her play out in both a Senate and legal investigation.
• Probably a good idea. Moving on.
• Today, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik said that talks with student protest organizers have stalled, and that the university will not divest from Israel — a demand that has sparked protests on college campuses across the country. 
• She asked for those in encampment protests on campus to voluntarily disperse, saying the demonstration had created “an unwelcoming environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty.”
• If Columbia doesn’t arrive at some agreement with the protestors, it’s quite possible that their commencement, scheduled for May 15, will be canceled as has been the case at other schools like USC.
• In other news, a program that has helped low-income Americans be able to access the internet is running out of funds, and will likely soon be gone altogether.
• The popular federal benefit known as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which covers home internet service, provides up to $30 of monthly credits from the government.
• It may not seem like a lot, but for Americans subsiding on Social Security disability payments, it can make the difference between being able to connect with the world and being isolated.
• Most of the beneficiaries are folks in rural areas and red states, and use their internet for everything from typical school, work, and entertainment to telemedicine, visiting their grandkids, and going to church online.
• The collapse of the ACP in May will affect nearly 60 million individual Americans. The program is heavily used by Americans over age 50, military veterans, and low-income working families nationwide.
• President Biden and congressional Democrats have blamed Republicans on Capitol Hill for blocking legislation that would extend the ACP, even as many red congressional districts have received millions of dollars from the program.
• I think that at this point, internet service is essential for a normal modern life, and should be considered like any basic utility.
• Fix that shit and get it paid for, Republicans. Jesus.
• And now, The Weather: “motorway” by Goat Girl
• I don’t have to tell you that severe weather has been a huge problem in many areas of the country over the past few days, and continues today.
• Global climate change will continue to drive stronger storms and higher heat in nearly every place on Earth, and they will keep getting worse. Stay prepared for that, peoples.
• Let’s do a chart. Rewinding back to late April 1983, when I was a freshman in high school, here are the videos being played on MTV.
• This is the heavy rotation (3-4 plays/day) list: “Cuts Like A Knife” (Brian Adams), Der Kommissar (After The Fire), Photograph (Def Leppard), Red Skies (The Fixx), The One Thing (INXS), Beat It (Michael Jackson), Billie Jean (Michael Jackson), Separate Ways (Journey), Overkill (Men At Work), I Melt With You (Modern English), Why Me (Planet P), A World Of Fantasy (Triumph), New Years Day (U2).
• Seems about right.
• From the Sports Desk… since we looked at basketball playoffs yesterday, let’s catch up on the NHL’s first round playoff status.
• Atlantic Division: Panthers lead Lightning 3-1; Bruins lead the Maple Leafs 3-1.
• Metropolitan Division: Rangers have swept the Caps 4-0; Canes lead the Islanders 3-1.
• Central Division: Knights lead the Stars 2-1; Avs lead the Jets 3-1.
• Pacific Division: Canucks lead the Preds 3-1; Oilers lead the Kings 3-1.
• Today in history… Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orléans (1429). James Cook arrives in Australia at Botany Bay, which he names (1770). Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union (1861). The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public (1910). SOE agent Nancy Wake, a leading figure in the French Resistance and the Gestapo's most wanted person, parachutes back into France to be a liaison between London and the local maquis group (1944). Adolf Hitler marries his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker (1945). The controversial musical ‘Hair’ opens at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway (1968). United States President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings relating to the Watergate scandal (1974). Riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King, and over the next three days 63 people are killed and hundreds of buildings are destroyed (1992). The final Oldsmobile is built in Lansing, Michigan, ending 107 years of vehicle production (2004).
• April 29 is the birthday of physician/polymath John Arbuthnot (1667), mathematician/physicist Henri Poincaré (1854), publisher William Randolph Hearst (1863), immunologist Michael Heidelberger (1888), pianist/composer Duke Ellington (1899), Japan emperor Hirohito (1901), harmonica player Toots Thielemans (1922), singer-songwriter Lonnie Donegan (1931), singer-songwriter Willie Nelson (1933), singer-songwriter/guitarist Otis Rush (1935), felon Bernie Madoff (1938), politician Debbie Stabenow (1950), race car driver Dale Earnhardt (1951), comedian/actor Jerry Seinfeld (1954), actor Leslie Jordan (1955), actress Kate Mulgrew (1955), actor Daniel Day-Lewis (1957), actress Michelle Pfeiffer (1958), actress Eve Plumb (1958), actor Federico Castelluccio (1964), tennis player Andre Agassi (1970), actress Uma Thurman (1970), NFL player Jay Cutler (1983), and NHL player Jonathan Toews (1988).

Welp, time to Monday. I’ll be Mondaying all day. That’s fine. Enjoy your day.