Random News: July 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 July 21, 2024, and it’s a Sunday. Looks like a beautiful day outside as I awaken and pour myself a cup of coffee. I think that in the midst of craziness, it’s all the more important to appreciate a blue sky and a cool breeze. Let’s see what’s happening.

• A historical note that hopefully makes you stop and think…
• Over the years, there have been contested elections, when the state primaries and caucuses don’t result in a single candidate earning a majority of delegate votes before the convention. And every time, the contested candidate loses.
• I’m not just talking about close party nominations, like what happened between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders leading into the Dem convention in 2016, or in 1980 when Jimmy Carter narrowly edged out Ted Kennedy for the nomination, or in 1976 when Ronald Reagan made a surge — but eventually lost to — Gerald Ford, the incumbent president.
• In 1860, with slavery dividing the nation, the Democratic National Convention had no clear winner. Southern Democrats nominated John C. Breckenridge, who believed in secession. Northern Democrats cast their votes for Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas. They split the votes when they faced Republican nominee — and election winner — Abraham Lincoln. 
• In the most famous contested convention in U.S. history, and certainly the longest, West Virginia Congressman John W. Davis finally secured the party’s 1924 nomination after 103 ballots were cast over 17 days (and most of the pissed-off delegates ended up just leaving). Davis lost the general election resoundingly to Republican President Calvin Coolidge.
• 1968 was a super weird one. Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would drop out of the presidential race and not seek reelection. The party assumed that former US attorney general and New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy would be the guy. But then he was assassinated that June. 
• That left anti-war candidate Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota facing Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, who had entered the race following Johnson’s withdrawal. Humphrey didn’t participate in any primary races, but still clinched the nomination on the first ballot.
• But the national focus was on the 10,000 anti-war protesters who took to the streets, clashing with 12,000 Chicago police officers, plus Army forces, members of the Illinois National Guard and Secret Service agents. Humphrey got annihilated by Nixon that fall.
• It’s not only Democrats, I should note. Four years earlier in 1964, Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater fended off New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller in the Republican primaries. But Goldwater was still shy of the total delegates needed to clearly clinch the party’s nomination at the San Francisco-held convention on the first ballot.
• And then, just a month before the convention, Goldwater was one of just six Republicans to vote against the Civil Rights Act. Massive anti-Goldwater protests took place outside the convention hall. The 40,000-person demonstration in San Francisco was the largest protest since the March on Washington.
• Goldwater went on to lose the national election to Lyndon Johnson in one of the largest defeats in presidential history.
• Political operatives are very much aware of all this shit, and use it as a predictably effective tool to create problems for their opposition. It’s a very old trick, sowing division amongst a group through propaganda.
• So again, I’ll ask you that no matter what happens, you pledge to get behind whichever candidate we end up getting. By all rights, that should be Joe Biden, who’s been an absolutely excellent President for the past nearly four years.
• But if not, that other person still gets my vote. The stakes are too high for me to be a giant baby and cry that my guy (or gal) didn’t make it.
• Moving on to another big discussion, which is why your vote — while vitally important — will probably not determine the outcome of the election, unless you live in one of maybe six states.
• What states? The ones that are fairly certain to be… uncertain. They are known as swing states, where — through voting habit patterns and polling and demographics and other criteria — don’t have a near-certain outcome.
• In 2024, the most like states to fit this description are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada, with potential swing state status also going to Colorado, Minnesota, Georgia, Maine, Florida, North Carolina, and New Hampshire.
• None of those states are a sure thing for either candidate. Some tilt a little red (FL, GA, NC), some a little blue (CO, MN, AZ, NV, ME, NH). But states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania can be anyone’s guess.
• Which is why the voters in those states will have an even greater responsibility to get out the vote in the biggest way possible.
• And yes, due to our fucked up electoral system, the loser of the popular vote could once again win the election, as Dump did in 2016 when Hillary Clinton beat him by almost 3,000,000 votes.
• But I have a feeling that the women of those states — whose rights are being subjugated more and more by the Republican party — and the youth — who innately understand how putting the USA in the hands of a fascist dictator — will come through in ways that the polls are not predicting.
• And in a world that seems impossible to envision, there’s a scenario where even states like Texas and Ohio and Iowa aren’t nearly as red as the pundits think.
• I’ve run the numbers. I have one scenario where Biden outperforms expectations based on protecting reproductive rights and democracy, and crushes Dump 406-132. I have a nail-biting result where Biden wins by the thinnest of margins, 272-266. And yes, if you want to be fully honest, there’s one where Dump takes all the swing states and wins 312-226.
• All that matters is you and your vote. If you vote, we will win. There are more of us. All we have to do is keep calm and get our shit together.
• Moving on.
• Let’s talk about that candidate with the issues of senility showing its signs via a long series of verbal gaffes… Donald Trump.
• Yesterday, Dump introduced his brand-new running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, as "J.D. Wentworth". The name “J.G. Wentworth” is a sketchy financial services company that does cash-for-structured-settlements.
• Dump should step down immediately, amirite?
• In more serious news, Dumples also promised at the same event that he will “rapidly reverse every single Biden-Harris [policy] on day one.”
• So specifically, that means Dump is promising to rip away benefits for veterans, raise prescription drug costs across the board including insulin, cut funding for infrastructure, reinstate student loan debt on millions of Americans, and much more.
• It’s going to take a lot of time and effort for Dump to tear down every single one of the benefits enacted by one of the most effective Presidents in US history. But he says he’ll do it on day one.
• That’s something you could only do as a fascist dictator… not as a President.
• Let’s move on.
• Things remain ugly in the Israel region as conflicts with the Houthis add to their ongoing battles with Hamas.
• The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen early today, hours after Israeli warplanes struck several Houthi targets in the Arabian Peninsula country.
• The Israeli airstrikes — in response to a deadly Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv — were the first time Israel is known to have responded to repeated Houthi attacks throughout its nine-month war against Hamas.
• You should be aware that the Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s, and has the backing of Iran.
• The world does not need a full-blown war involving Israel and Iran right now. Or anytime, but definitely not right now.
• The Health Ministry in Yemen said the Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded 83 others, many with severe burns.
• Sigh.
• In other news…
• Maybe avoid eating sliced deli meat for awhile.
• U.S. health officials are investigating a fatal outbreak of listeria food poisoning. if you’re pregnant, elderly, or have a compromised immune system, you’re especially vulnerable.
• It remains unclear what specific products have been contaminated with the bacteria now blamed for two deaths and 28 hospitalizations across 12 states. This means the contaminated food may still be in circulation, and consumers should consider their personal risk level when consuming deli meats.
• The outbreak may have spread wider than the states where listeria infections have been reported, mostly in the Midwest and along the U.S. eastern coast.
• Of the people investigators have been able to interview, 89% reported eating meats sliced at a deli, most commonly deli-sliced turkey, liverwurst, and ham. Meats were sliced at a variety of supermarket and grocery store delis, per the CDC.
• So far there’s no sign that people are getting sick from prepackaged deli meats, but maybe put down that sandwich just in case.
• Moving on.
• It’s Sunday Gunday, the section where I take a quick look at just some of the incidents of gun violence in the USA over the past couple of days.
• I skipped it last weekend because my typical search for “shootings” in news feeds was kind of predominated by one specific shooting incident.
• Three dead and seven injured in a shooting at a block party in Philadelphia, PA. One dead, two injured in shooting near a Hindu temple in Lowell, MA. One dead, one injured in a shooting in midtown Sacramento, CA. One dead, one injured in a domestic violence incident in Orange County, FL. One dead in a shooting on Beale Street in Memphis, TN. One dead in a shooting in Central, SC. One guy accidentally shot dead by his girlfriend in Columbus, OH. A 14-year-old shot dead in Houston, TX. A 16-year-old shot dead in Myrtle Beach, SC. A man shot dead in a road rage incident in Indianapolis, IN. A man shot dead at a gas station in Birmingham, AL. A man shot dead at a gas station in Jackson, MS. A man shot dead in the Niles area of Fremont, CA. One shot dead near a rec center in Hartwell, OH. One shot and in critical condition in Las Vegas, NV. A 7-year-old shot on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago, IL. A 17-year-old shot in a drive-by in Everett, WA. One shot by accident in Chandler, AZ. A man shot at a gas station in Knoxville, TN. One shot in Albany, NY.
• That’s not nearly all of them but I can’t do this all day.
• Guns are the number-one killer of all children in the United States. Over two-thirds of Americans are in favor of common-sense gun control measures. And yet we do nothing.
• Why? Because the people in power enjoy this. That’s the only reason.
• And now, The Weather: “Drummy” by J.R.C.G.
• Let’s do a chart. It’s the top of the Billboard to 100 singles for this week in July 1965.
• I wasn’t born yet. I do recall being told that “Satisfaction” was indeed #1 the week my parents got married.
• 1. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (The Rolling Stones). 2. I'm Henry VIII, I Am (Herman's Hermits). 3. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) (Four Tops) 4. What's New Pussycat? (Tom Jones). 5. Cara, Mia (Jay & The Americans). 6. Yes, I'm Ready (Barbara Mason). 7. What The World Needs Now Is Love (Jackie DeShannon). 8. Seventh Son (Johnny Rivers). 9. Mr. Tambourine Man (The Byrds). 10. You Turn Me On (Turn On Song) (Ian Whitcomb And Bluesville). 11. (Such An) Easy Question (Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires). 12. I Like It Like That (The Dave Clark Five). 13. Save Your Heart For Me (Gary Lewis And The Playboys). 14. Too Many Rivers (Brenda Lee). 15. Marie (The Bachelors). 16. A Little Bit Of Heaven (Ronnie Dove). 17. Wooly Bully (Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs). 18. I Want Candy (The Strangeloves). 19. Sunshine, Lollipops And Rainbows (Lesley Gore). 20. For Your Love (The Yardbirds).
• From the Sports Desk… US Men’s Basketball better get their shit together and stop being overconfident.
• South Sudan, the African nation that gained its independence just 13 years ago and is about to play in the Olympics for the first time, came into the exhibition game as 43.5-point underdogs.
• And they nearly beat the USA’s ass. They led for more than half the game and had a chance to win at the end.
• It took a layup from LeBron James with eight seconds left for the US to win 101-100. Keep in mind that the US team is made up completely of All-Stars or NBA champions or both. South Sudan has four players who have even appeared in a single NBA game.
• Don’t get cocky, US. The two teams will meet in group play in the Paris Olympics on July 31.
• Today in history… The Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, is destroyed by arson (356 BC). The first landing of French troops on the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight (1545). Qing dynasty regent Dorgon issues an edict ordering all Han Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair into a queue identical to those of the Manchus (1645). Napoleon's forces defeat an Ottoman-Mamluk army near Cairo in the Battle of the Pyramids (1798). In the market square of Springfield, MO, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first western showdown (1865). Louis Rigolly becomes the first person to drive over 100 mph (1904). In Dayton, TN, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching human evolution in class and fined $100 (1925). Malcolm Campbell becomes the first man to exceed 150 mph on land (1925). The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty, leading to the formation of NATO (1949). Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last MLB team to integrate (1959). Astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (1969). President Barack Obama signs the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010). NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (2011). Two major motion pictures, Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy ‘Barbie’ and Christopher Nolan's epic biographical thriller ‘Oppenheimer’, are released in theaters on the same day (2023).
• July 21 is the birthday of Queen Jeonghyeon of Korea (1462), Austrian archduchess Anna de’ Medici (1616), astronomer Jean Picard (1620), journalist Paul Reuter (1816), singer-songwriter Sara Carter (1898), novelist Ernest Hemingway (1899), philosopher Marshall McLuhan (1911), violinist Isaac Stern (1920), actor Don Knotts (1924), US attorney general Janet Reno (1938), music manager Kim Fowley (1939), singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, aka Yusuf Islam (1948), cartoonist Garry Trudeau (1948), actor/comedian Robin Williams (1951), singer-songwriter Eric Bazilian (1953), bass player Howie Epstein (1955), singer Taco (1955), actor Jon Lovitz (1957), soccer player Brandi Chastain (1968), actor Josh Hartnett (1978), singer-songwriter Damian Marley (1978), MLB player CC Sabathia (1980), singer-songwriter Paloma Faith (1981), and NBA player DeAndre Jordan (1988).

Side note: I spent about a half day yesterday as a mass murderer… of ants. We did a huge clean-up of the entire downstairs area after the fucking ants decided to attack my kitchen. That was the final straw; along with Kat and my son, we moved appliances and got behind cabinets and cleaned up every square inch of the kitchen, living room, and dining room, wiping down, dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and more. I will say, in addition to being free of insects, the place looked pretty spectacularly spotless when I awoke today. Kinda nice. Enjoy your day.