Random News: June 21, 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 21, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! I am super glad it’s Friday; this week has been grueling and I desperately need some rest and relaxation, or at least not being glued to work-related tasks for a short while. At this moment, a bit before 7AM Pacific, I’m also somewhat anxiously awaiting today’s round of Supreme Court decisions.

• Okay, here they come.
• Texas v. New Mexico: The Supreme Court ruled that Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado improperly excluded the federal government from an agreement that resolved a Rio Grande water sharing dispute, rejecting the states' argument the conflict was theirs alone to settle. 
• It's a 5–4 vote, with Roberts and Kavanaugh joining the liberals. Woo woo!
• Department of State v. Munoz: By a 6–3 vote, the court holds that U.S. citizens have no constitutional liberty interest in their non-citizen spouses being admitted to the country. All three liberals dissent. Boo.
• In her dissent in this case, Sotomayor says the court’s decision will most heavily burden same-sex couples. She cites Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark 2015 case that established a fundamental right to same-sex marriage. Ugh.
• Side note: this might be affected by the recent Biden executive order on immigrant spouses. More discussion on this later.
• Erlinger v. US: This is something about the federal Career Criminal Act and prior convictions. Figuring it out. It’s a super weird grouping: Gorsuch has the opinion joined by Thomas, Kagan, Sotomayor, Barrett, and Roberts, and equally weird in dissent: Kavanaugh, Alito, and Jackson. What the fuck?
• Smith vs. Arizona: The right of criminal defendants to cross-examine witnesses. It’s a unanimous decision with Kagan writing the opinion.
• United States vs. Rahimi: This is the big one today. By an 8–1 vote, the court upholds a federal statute that temporarily disarms individuals subjected to a domestic violence restraining order. Only asshole Clarence Thomas dissents, YES!
• So we’re still waiting on the biggest cases: Dump’s immunity, January 6 defendant obstruction, and more.
• Okay, more details later on that stuff.
• Today’s Gay of the Day, in honor of Pride Month, is Sir Ian McKellan.
• As I mentioned, I’d put together a schedule of LGBTQIA people to honor this month, and Sir Ian was slated for a couple of days ago. Then he scared us all half to death by falling off a stage in a theatre in England. 
• So I needed to ascertain that this 85-year-old acting legend was okay before posting something that may have otherwise been insensitive. Note: he’s fine.
• His career has spanned more than 60 years. He’s received accolades for his roles on both stage and screen, in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction.
• Sir Ian was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. He has received a Tony Award, six Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and five Emmy Awards.
• McKellen came out as gay in 1988, and has since championed LGBT social movements worldwide.
• He is a co-founder of Stonewall, an LGBT rights lobby group in the United Kingdom, and is also a patron of LGBT History Month, Pride London, Oxford Pride, LGBT Foundation, FFLAG, and other supportive organizations.
• I probably don’t have to tell you that while Sir Ian was primarily known as a star of the stage in his earlier career, his roles as Magneto in the X-Men franchise and as Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings series of films turned him int an international icon.
• His activism has been equal or greater to his efforts as a master thespian, once stating that, “I have been reluctant to lobby on other issues I most care about—nuclear weapons (against), religion (atheist), capital punishment (anti), AIDS (fund-raiser) because I never want to be forever spouting, diluting the impact of addressing my most urgent concern; legal and social equality for gay people worldwide.”
• Let’s move on with some super concerning news.
• Judge Aileen Cannon will begin three days of hearings that could determine the future of the charges against Donnie Dumpster.
• Dump is arguing that Jack Smith – who has brought charges against Trump in Florida and Washington, DC – was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.
• He claims that the Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland, does not have legal authority to appoint someone as special counsel who hasn’t confirmed by the Senate.
• This is absurd. The attorney general has long held the authority to appoint “inferior officers,” which would include special counsels.
• Nevertheless, Cannon will allow for several hours of questioning about the authority of the special counsel’s office, which is at work in federal court cases around the country.
• Many of Cannon’s actions this far have been highly suspect. I think we’re going to eventually learn a lot more about this officer of the justice system.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, a federal appeals court rejected longtime Dump ally Steve Bannon's bid to stay out of prison for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the failed coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol.
• Bannon will report to prison by July 1 to begin serving his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
• That piece of shit will continue trying to avoid justice all the way through the moment he’s placed behind bars, which we hope will happen in just under two weeks.
• Moving on.
• Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City and a former presidential candidate, has donated nearly $20 million to support President Biden’s re-election campaign.
• Bloomberg gave $19 million to Future Forward, the main Democratic super PAC supporting Biden, and $929,600 to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fund-raising committee between Biden and the Democratic National Committee.
• Thanks Mike!
• That being said, the Dump campaign and the Republican National Committee claims it raised $141 million in May, including tens of millions donated immediately after Dump was convicted of 34 felonies in the New York hush money case.
• That includes billionaire Timothy Mellon having donated a stunning $50 million to a pro-Trump super PAC the day after Trump’s guilty verdict.
• See what we’re dealing with?
• Also, I don’t really give a shit about which rich guy gives money to whom. Let them burn all their cash, frankly.
• Let’s move on.
• As we’ve mentioned several times, the first presidential debate of 2024 — GOD NO — happens next Thursday June 27 on CNN.
• They flipped a coin today to determine some details. Yes, I’m serious.
• Biden took tails and won, so he got to choose whether it wanted to select the president’s podium position or the order of closing statements.
• He went with the right podium position. Dump will get the closing statement.
• Fun Fact: this will be the first-ever presidential debate between an incumbent and a former president.
• What about Mr. Brain Worm? Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. failed to qualify for the debate in Atlanta. He fell shy of benchmarks both for state ballot qualification and necessary polling.
• Plus… brain worm.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, I promised you a little follow-up on the Supreme Court cases that had just come down. We fairly well explained Moore vs. United States (tax on offshore earnings).
• Another one from yesterday was Diaz v. United States, where the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a California woman who said she did not know about a stash of 54 pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside her car.
• The case was about how the testimony was presented in her appeal, which was held because the agent did not explicitly opine that Diaz knowingly transported methamphetamine.
• Anyway, I guess the odd part was the ruling… it was 6-3, with Ketanji Brown Jackson joining the conservatives and Gorsuch dissenting with the liberals.
• In other news…
• Out of a plethora of assholes to choose from, today’s Asshole Files feature Michigan state lawmaker Neil Friske (R-Charlevoix).
• Early yesterday morning, Friske, a first-term Republican who is facing an August primary challenge, was arrested on allegations that he sexually assaulted a stripper and then chased her with a firearm and fired at her.
• It’s a felony-level offense. His campaign issued a statement claiming Friske was "exercising his 2nd Amendment right.”
• What. An. Asshole. Vote this piece of shit out, Michiganders. He’s in your state’s 107th House District.
• And now, The Weather: “Method Actor” by Nilüfer Yanya
• Rest in peace to a giant of the acting world. Donald Sutherland died yesterday at 88.
• From The Dirty Dozen to M*A*S*H to Klute to Animal House to Ordinary People to Backdraft to JFK and so any more, I can’t think of a film role he had that wasn’t captivating.
• And his son Kiefer isn’t a half-bad actor either. RIP to Donald.
• From the Sports Desk… tonight is Game 6 in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals. The Florida Panthers can wrap up the championship with a win on their home ice. It would be neat if the Edmonton Oilers could force a Game 7, but I wouldn’t count on it.
• Today in history… Halifax, Nova Scotia is founded (1749). The United States captures Guam from Spain (1898). China formally declares war on the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Japan as an edict issued from the Empress Dowager Cixi in the Boxer Rebellion (1900). The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Guinn v. United States, striking down Oklahoma grandfather clause legislation which had the effect of denying the right to vote to blacks (1915). Italy begins an unsuccessful invasion of France (1940). A Japanese submarine surfaces near the Columbia River in Oregon, firing 17 shells at Fort Stevens in one of only a handful of attacks by Japan against the United States mainland (1942). Ellen Fairclough is sworn in as Canada's first female Cabinet Minister (1957). Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan, later documented in the film ‘Mississippi Burning’ (1964). In its decision in Miller v. California, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller test for determining whether something is obscene and not protected speech under the U.S. constitution (1973). John Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1982). The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Texas v. Johnson that American flag-burning is a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment (1989). SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight (2004). Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix and Hydra (2006).
• June 21 is the birthday of composer Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732), Daniel Carter Beard (1850), astronomer Max Wolf (1863), chemist/activist Clara Immerwahr (1870), caricaturist Al Hirschfeld (1903), philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905), actress Jane Russell (1921), actress Maureen Stapleton (1925), composer Lalo Schifrin (1932), singer-songwriter/guitarist Ray Davies (1944), businessman Maurice Saatchi (1946), actress Meredith Baxter (1947), actor Michael Gross (1947), singer-songwriter/guitarist Joey Molland (1947), drummer Joey Kramer (1950), singer-songwriter/guitarist Nils Lofgren (1951), illustrator Berkeley Breathed (1957), singer-songwriter Kip Winger (1961), comedian Jim Breuer (1967), actress Juliette Lewis (1973), guitarist/composer Mike Einziger (1976), actor Chris Pratt (1979), actor Jussie Smollett (1982), activist/criminal Edward Snowden (1983), singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey (1985), and singer-songwriter Rebecca Black (1997).

Welp, I’m out of time. I have an abundance of everything except that. Enjoy your day.