Random News: June 18, 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 June 18, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. Plenty of news happening around the world… some good, some bad, some that will affect you and the people you love. I think it’s better to know what’s going on than… not. Those are your choices: wokeness or ignorance. Pick one, and let’s go.

• Today, President Biden is taking executive action to protect undocumented spouses of American citizens — a move that would shield about a half million immigrants from deportation.
• The White House is announcing the new policy as an action to keep families together.
• Will there be battles over this? You bet your sweet patootie there will. Members of a certain xenophobic and/or racist political party don’t want any kind of action that allows these folks to remain in the USA.
• However, it specifically offers protections to non-citizens who have been in the country for at least 10 years and are married to a U.S. citizen, and their children, allowing them to apply for permanent residence without leaving the country.
• So when some MAGA tells you that people will be quickly getting married just to remain in the USA, let them know they’re wrong.
• It was noted that the spouses eligible to apply for this have been in the U.S. for 23 years on average. The program would also make it easier for some undocumented immigrants to get a green card and a path to U.S. citizenship.
• I support this 100%. Good move by the Biden administration.
• Moving on…
• The IRS plans to end a major tax loophole for wealthy taxpayers that could raise more than $50 billion in revenue over the next decade.
• Announced yesterday, the proposed rule includes plans to stop partnership basis shifting — a process by which a business or person can move assets among a series of related parties to avoid paying taxes.
• That shell game always struck me as slimy. It’s also something a certain former president did to avoid paying taxes on his reputed wealth.
• The Treasury Department noted that there is an estimated $160 billion gap between what the top 1% of earners likely owe in taxes and what they pay.
• Get their rich asses.
• In our continuing celebration of Pride Month, our Gay of the Day is actress and LGBT advocate Laverne Cox.
• You might know her from her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. For that performance, Cox became the first transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category.
• In June 2014, Cox became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine. In 2015, she won a Daytime Emmy Award in Outstanding Special Class Special as executive producer for Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word, making her the first trans woman to win the award.
• Cox has been noted for being a trailblazer for the transgender community, and has won numerous awards for her activist approach in spreading awareness.
• If you hadn’t noticed, I been bestowing these daily honors people from many areas in life — political/social leaders, actors, athletes, scientists, and much more — as well as splitting my nods between multiple genders and orientations.
• That’s on purpose. You’re probably not surprised.
• Bizarrely, my Gay of the Day for today had originally been slated for Sir Ian McKellen, but then the 85-year-old acting master gave us quite a scare yesterday when he fell off a stage in London during a theatrical production at the Noel Coward Theatre. 
• Turns out the old guy is tough (no surprise… there’s a reason he played Gandalf) and after being checked out in the hospital, is planning to return to the stage tomorrow night.
• We’ll give him a shoutout as such soon.
• Let’s move on.
• I mentioned it before, but I need to remind you again: on Thursday and Friday of this week (June 20/21), the Supreme Court is going to deliver a batch of decisions that will impact the lives of millions of Americans.
• While many of their coming decisions are crucial, one of them stands out as likely altering the course of the United States forever — a case questioning whether convicted felon El Dumpo may claim immunity from federal election subversion charges.
• At issue is special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Dump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, including his actions on January 6, 2021, though the court’s decision could have implications for other criminal cases against Dump as well.
• Here’s a look at some possible outcomes.
• The simplest and most understandable outcome would be for the Supreme Court to rule that former presidents are not entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution.
• That was the conclusion the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit reached in February in a unanimous opinion. That ruling could allow Trump’s trial to get underway almost immediately.
• I doubt this asshole court will do that. Even the court’s more centrist conservatives – Roberts and Kavanaugh – made clear that they didn’t agree with the appeals court’s approach.
• One huge issue is whether Dump committed his crimes as a candidate or private citizen rather than as a president.
• Dump’s lawyer conceded during the argument that many of the actions his client took were private, such as asking his attorney Rudy Giuliani to spread false election fraud claims.
• If the court makes clear that some of Trump’s actions were private and not covered by any official act immunity, that could speed the path to a trial.
• So one path might be for the court to lay out a standard for immunity and send the case back to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan so she or a jury could decide which actions are private – and prosecutable.
• And keep in mind, Dumpy’s main scheme is to run out the clock, get elected, and dismiss all the charges against himself.
• Does that seem fair to you? Does it seem American?
• I already know the answer. We find out the next steps later this week.
• Let’s move on for now.
• I want to be sure you know about something called the “pig butchering” scam.
• They’re named as such because they involve “fattening up” victims before taking everything they have.
• Here’s how it works. The con artists take on false online identities and spend months financially grooming their victims to get them to invest on fraudulent cryptocurrency websites.
• A sad story to explain this: Dennis Jones was an 82-year-old man spent much of his retirement working with refugees and debating politics online.
• Then the elderly divorcé befriended a woman going by the name Jessie on Facebook. They talked online for months and built a close relationship. Eventually, Jessie convinced Dennis to invest in crypto.
• He spent everything he had, and when he had nothing left, she demanded more. When his money disappeared, so did Jessie, leaving him in ruin.
• His family tried to help but it was too late. Jones took his own life in March, becoming one of countless victims of a massive global criminal operation predominantly run by Chinese gangs who have built a multibillion-dollar scam industry in Southeast Asia.
• How big is this? The FBI estimates that last year alone, pig butchering scams stole nearly $4 billion from tens of thousands of American victims, a 53% increase from the year before.
• My advice: first, crypto is fucking bullshit, so as soon as anyone tells you anything about making an investment in it, run away and don’t look back.
• Second, all social media, including places like Facebook and LinkedIn, and dating apps like Tinder, are jam packed with these scammers.
• And finally, despite the fact that older people want to be autonomous and not have you butting into their personal lives, they are least likely to recognize a scam while it’s happening.
• So maybe talk to your parents or susceptible friends, and make sure they’re at least aware of this so they can possibly recognize it if it’s happening to them.
• Moving on.
• In the Asshole Files, time to get to know Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina.
• Robinson doesn’t believe that men are at fault in sexual assaults and domestic violence. 
• A review of his social media posts over the past decade shows that he frequently questioned the credibility of women who aired allegations of sexual assault against prominent men, including Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Bill Cosby, and now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.
• Robinson also wrote repeatedly of a 2014 domestic violence encounter involving then-NFL star Ray Rice, who was seen on a surveillance video dragging his apparently unconscious fiancée out of an elevator.
• In a post directed at Rice’s “lady friend,” Robinson suggested the woman was at fault for the physical altercation, saying she shouldn’t have slapped him if she wasn’t asking for an ass-whooping.
• North Carolina, you gonna vote for this guy and put him in charge of your state?
• And now, The Weather: “Lily Pad” by King Hannah
• A little Fun Fact instead of a music chart… 45 years ago today on June 18, 1979, “My Sharona” by the Knack was released.
• Not only did it go straight to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, but it stayed there for six weeks, and was number one for the year on Billboard's 1979 Top Pop Singles year-end chart.
• “My Sharona” was Capitol Records' fastest gold status debut single since the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in 1964. Wow.
• Semi-unrelated Fun Fact: I just realized that on that same day seven years later, on June 18, 1986, I graduated from high school. 38 years ago today. Jesus.
• I am now an ancient being, a bemused ghost driving a semi-cohesive conglomeration of various atoms through time and space.
• Anyway…
• From the Sports Desk… the 2023/24 NBA season is over, and the Boston Celtics have now won their record 18th title in the franchise’s storied history.
• They beat Dallas fairly easily in game 5, winning 106-88 and taking the championship in a 4-1 finals series.
• Boston’s Jaylen Brown was well-deservedly named the NBA Finals MVP.
• Congrats to them. On to next year. LET’S GO LAKERS (clap clap, clap clap clap)!
• Today in history… The charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is revoked via a scire facias writ issued by an English court (1684). The British Army abandons Philadelphia (1778). The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom is signed by President James Madison, beginning the War of 1812 (1812). Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory (1858). Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election (1873). The "Finest Hour" speech is delivered by Winston Churchill (1940). Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album (1948). SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union (1979). On Space Shuttle STS-7, astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space (1983). Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate Expeditions, imploded while attempting to view the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five people on board including the co-founder and CEO of the company, Stockton Rush in the North Atlantic Ocean (2023).
• June 18 is the birthday of publisher E.W. Scripps (1854), winemaker Robert Mondavi (1913), actor E. G. Marshall (1914), NBA player George Mikan (1924), MLB player Lou Brock (1939), film critic Roger Ebert (1942), singer-songwriter/musician Paul McCartney (1942), actress Carol Kane (1952), film producer Barbara Broccoli (1960), singer Alison Moyet (1961), NFL player Bruce Smith (1963), singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne (1973), NHL player Martin St. Louis (1975), singer-songwriter Blake Shelton (1976), NFL player Antonio Gates (1980), and rapper Takeoff (1994).

Alrighty then. Seems like enough. Enjoy your day.