Random News: July 23, 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 23, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. With no exaggeration, I feel like there’s been a week’s worth of news each day in recent times… especially over the past 44 hours since Joe Biden stepped aside for Kamala Harris to be the Democratic candidate. So much has happened, moment by moment, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with everything. I do want to document this stuff because we are definitely in a time period that will be studied for centuries.

• On Sunday, I spent the first couple of hours after Joe stepped out of the race in a daze of sorts, followed by a massive adrenaline rush as the Democratic world rallied behind Kamala Harris.
• We mentioned yesterday that the Harris campaign had raked in a lot of contributions, but the total amount and breadth of the support was staggering beyond belief.
• On July 21, the day of her announcement of intention to run, Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign raked in $66,972,690. Yesterday, the campaign received $67,221,729. As of the writing of this bullet, she’s brought in another $6.4 million this morning. That’s well over $140 million in two days. And it keeps going up.
• It’s the largest amount of money raised in this short time span in presidential election history. 
• But wait, it gets better: That money didn’t come from a few wealthy oligarchs. Instead, it came from more than 1.1 million grassroots donors, and for the majority of them, it was their first contribution of the 2024 election cycle.
• Here’s a good example: a call hosted by the group "Win with Black Women" on Sunday evening brought in $1.6 million alone. A special note about that: the Zoom call last night was set up for up to 1,000 people to join and participate.
• And then over 40,000 people joined, requiring the group to get ahold of Zoom CEO Eric Yuan to help accommodate them. They stayed on the call for four fucking hours.
• And then, yesterday afternoon, Kamala Harris surpassed the 1,976 pledged delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination. She is now the official presumptive nominee (which will be finalized after the roll call vote of delegates, either in a virtual call or at the convention itself).
• At this moment, Harris has 2,688 pledged delegates. Only 54 remain undecided.
• She’d also secured the endorsement of 100% of Democratic Governors, 87% of Dem/Independent Senators, and 86% of Dem Representatives. That’s unheard of, especially in a one-day period.
• When will Harris become the official nominee? Sooner than you think.
• The Democratic Party plans to push forward with a virtual roll call in which delegates to its convention can choose a presidential nominee before they gather next month in Chicago.
• The convention rules committee will meet tomorrow to approve how the virtual roll call will work. Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said the process will be completed in two weeks by August 7 — a full 12 days before the party’s convention begins.
• LET’S GO.
• People are energized and excited… and unified behind Harris.
• More than 28,000 new volunteers have registered to join Harris’ campaign since Biden chose to withdraw his candidacy. It’s a rate more than 100 times an average day from the previous Biden reelection campaign, which really points out the level of enthusiasm behind Harris.
• Also, the AFL-CIO unanimously endorsed Harris for president yesterday, locking in a major Democratic constituency. The AFL-CIO is composed of 60 unions and 12.5 million workers.
• Other unions endorsing Harris for President: AFSCME, ATU, AFT, CWA, Stage Employees, IBEW, IUPAT, SEIU, United Farm Workers, UFCW, and more.
• Fuck yes.
• And in an era where pop culture is so influential — especially to the youth vote — yesterday Kamala Harris was endorsed by music stars Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Charli XCX, Katy Perry, Cardi B, and Lizzo.
• And some people are speculating that endorsements by Beyoncé and Taylor Swift might be forthcoming.
• Yesterday, Vice President Harris rallied staffers at the Biden campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, which is now hers to inherit.
• She had the crowd cheering when she said “I took on perpetrators of all kinds. I know Donald Trump’s type.”
• President Biden called into the event, apologizing to his staff for not being there while he recovers from COVID, but affirming that he did the right thing by stepping aside for the 2024 campaign. He also said that he’ll be on the campaign trail with Kamala… that’s awesome.
• Think about some of the things that will happen during a Harris presidency.
• Harris will pick at least one if not more Supreme Court justices. Clarence Thomas is 76 and not in great health. Alito is 73. And for fairness’s sake, I’ll point out that Justice Sotomayor is 70 and Chief Justice Roberts is 69.
• Harris will further the crucial agenda of the Biden administration, prioritizing the establishment of women’s reproductive rights on a national level. As vice president, she has been the administration’s biggest defender of abortion rights in the two years since the Dobbs ruling.
• And of course, Harris will continue Biden’s successful record in health care, the environment, the economy, infrastructure, education, prescription drug prices, foreign policy, US defense, job creation, protecting Social Security and Medicare… it’s quite a list.
• So on a related big topic…
• Is it weird to have a female head of state?
• In the past 100 years, it’s actually weird NOT to have had one. Super weird.
• Look at just a few of them…
• Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May (United Kingdom). Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, and Halla Tómasdóttir (Iceland). Mary McAleese (Ireland). Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway). Tarja Halonen, Anneli Jäätteenmäki, and Mari Kiviniemi (Finland). Magdalena Andersson (Sweden). Mette Frederiksen (Denmark). Angela Merkel (Germany). Kazimira Prunskienė (Lithuania). Ewa Kopacz (Poland). Giorgia Meloni (Italy). Katerina Sakellaropoulou (Greece). Vjosa Osmani (Kosovo). Yulia Tymoshenko (Ukraine). Golda Meir (Israel). Indira Ghandi (India). Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan). Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar).  Yingluck Shinawatra (Thailand). Corazon Aquino (Philippines). Julia Gillard (Australia). Helen Clark (New Zealand). Kim Campbell (Canada). Claudia Sheinbaum (Mexico). Laura Chinchilla (Cosa Rica). Violeta Chamorro (Nicaragua). Isabel Perón and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina).
• There are many, many more.
• And then look at some of the countries that haven’t had an official female head of state, like Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, a number of African nations… and the USA.
• Less than a third of UN member states have never had a female head of state.
• Women have long proven themselves capable of excellence in leadership. So yes, after 248 years as a nation, we’re long overdue to have a woman President. End of discussion.
• Continuing on…
• There’s been a ton of speculation already about who Harris will select for her vice president.
• Traditionally, the science behind a VP choice is pretty simple: select someone whose views align well with the presidential candidate, but who represents people whom the candidate doesn’t easily reach as voters, often by regional separation but sometimes other factors (cultural, and in recent times, race and gender).
• A good example: John F. Kennedy — a Senator from Massachusetts — chose Lyndon B. Johnson, a Senator from Texas. Kennedy was young, Johnson was older with more experience. Kennedy was from the Northeast, Johnson was from the South.
• Another good one: Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden. A young and relatively inexperienced Black guy picked an older, deeply experienced, and well-known white guy. Smart.
• So using that kind of criteria, let’s do a quick rundown of the most likely VP candidates are for Kamala Harris, and why they are under consideration.
• Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear: Like Harris, he’s a pretty young guy at age 46. But more importantly, he’s a very popular Democrat in a deep-red state. When he won reelection to a second term last November, Dump had carried the state by about 25 points in 2020. Beshear made abortion a major issue in his campaign. And, yes, he’s male and white, which counterbalances the perception of Harris.
• Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro: He was elected in a landslide victory in 2022, defeating a far-right election denier in a crucial swing state. Shapiro is a male, he’s 51, he’s white (though Jewish, which might be an issue for some bigoted voters), and he’s from the other side of the country as Harris (a Californian).
• North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper: Again, you have a situation where a Southern state that tends to lean red puts their trust in a Democratic leader. Cooper is very experienced. He was first elected to the NC House of Representatives in 1986, was the Democratic majority leader in the state Senate, and held the post of attorney general for four terms. And he’s a generic-looking, older white guy. And he’s term-limited in NC, meaning he’s soon out of that job regardless.
• Arizona Senator Mark Kelly: He would definitely add the “macho man” push to the ticket, having been a naval aviator and combat pilot, and then a well-known astronaut before running for Senate. While being born and raised in New Jersey, the downside to Kelly is his connection to another western state. However, with Arizona having a Democratic governor, his replacement would be another Dem.
• The rest of the pack? All very good people, but — in my opinion — less electable on a nationwide basis with a Harris ticket for various reasons. They include Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, and a couple of others.
• Another very capable person whose name was mentioned as a possible VP choice was Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. First, I do not think having an all-woman ticket would be the most advantageous plan to win in the current set of circumstances.
• But it doesn’t matter what I think. Whitmer announced yesterday that she will be the co-chair of Harris’ presidential campaign, and that she is therefore not interested in the VP slot.
• And then, late in the day yesterday, reports were going around about five people who had reportedly been asked to provide vetting materials to the Harris campaign to be considered as vice president candidates.
• They allegedly were Kelly, Cooper, Shapiro, Whitmer, as well as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. And I have know way of knowing if that’s based on anything real. That whole thing might be bullshit.
• So basically, we really don’t know. And there’s no urgent need to rush that process. We have a long way to go.
• I have a vision for January 20, 2025. Kamala Harris is being sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts as President of the United States, with Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson administering President Harris’ Vice President’s oath of office.
• One more tidbit…
• Fact check: did Donald Trump really donate to Harris’s campaign when she was Attorney General of California?
• Correct! Don the Con wrote a check to Kamala for $5,000, dated September 26, 2011. See, Dump used to donate to all the attorney generals, in case he’d eventually be put on trial in their respective areas, hoping for favored treatment.
• Pffffffttttttt… douche.
• My only other political note of the moment… George Lang, a Republican state senator from Ohio who spoke at J. D. Vance’s first solo rally yesterday, has apologized for saying on stage that it would “take a civil war” to save the country if Dump loses.
• I thought the kinder, gentler MAGA world didn’t want to promote violence? Hmm.
• Let’s do some other news. The world keeps going separately from our crazy politics.
• Yesterday, Google announced they are reversing its plan to phase out the use of third-party cookies in its Chrome browser.
• That’s nice. “Just kidding, everyone!” is something Google has been guilty of multiple times in the past.
• Google first announced plans in 2020 to phase out third-party cookies — data stored in web browsers that allow companies to track users. Google used that feature to help promote Chrome.
• Among other things, cookies help marketers target ads to specific groups of people. I know this well. It’s part of my job in marketing, and it was advertisers who forced this reversal.
• When the question is, “Why?” the answer is nearly always, “Money.”
• Moving on.
• Our stories here for much of recent times have been dominated by women’s topics… reproductive rights, women’s sports, the possible election of our first female President in the USA, and more.
• But here’s one you probably weren’t expecting: a Navy aviator has become the first woman U.S. pilot to engage and kill an air-to-air contact in combat.
• The unnamed Navy pilot, a member of the strike fighter squadron known as the “Fighting Swordsmen,” recently notched the achievement against an attack drone deployed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
• The squadron was deployed aboard the Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, which was sent to the Middle East just weeks after the Hamas-led attack against Israel on October 7.
• The Fighting Swordsmen squadron, which has been around since the 1940s, is presently flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet, a supersonic twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter jet. Badass!
• This air-to-air victory by a female pilot comes 30 years after Lt. Kara Hultgreen became, in 1994, the first carrier-based female fighter pilot in the Navy.
• And now, The Weather: “Image” by Magdalena Bay
• Rest in peace to Duke Fakir, a founder and last surviving member of the classic Motown group the Four Tops. He was 88 years old.
• The Four Tops had a bunch of hits, but their biggest ones were the number-ones “I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" in 1965 and "Reach Out I'll Be There" in 1966. They also had huge songs in the ‘70s, like “Ain't No Woman.”
• Duke was in that band from 1953 until his retirement literally this month. Most people never knew that Fakir was born in Detroit, but his father was a factory worker who came from what is now Bangladesh.
• From the Sports Desk… there’s an actual fucking NFL football game next week.
• Granted, it’s preseason and meaningless, but it is a football game. The Chicago Bears and Houston Texans will face off in the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game at 8PM ET on Thursday August 1.
• The game kicks off Enshrinement Week in Canton, OH, where seven players will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Dwight Freeney (defensive end), Randy Gradishar (linebacker), Devin Hester (wide receiver/returner), Andre Johnson (wide receiver), Steve McMichael (defensive tackle), Julius Peppers (defensive end), and Patrick Willis (linebacker).
• All worthy players.
• OMG, I just wrote about NFL football. It’s… been so… long (sobs).
• Today in history… William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter (1829). Canada closes its doors to paupers and criminal immigrants (1900). The Ford Motor Company sells its first car (1903). The Chinese Communist Party is established (1921). Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film (1926). The United States' Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issues a declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (1940). Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite (1962). Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame (1962). In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city, ultimately killing 43 people, injuring 342 and burning about 1,400 buildings (1967). The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite (1972). Actor Vic Morrow and two children are killed when a helicopter crashes onto them while shooting a scene from ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ (1982). Comet Hale–Bopp is discovered; it becomes visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later (1995). Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander (1999). NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by Kepler (2015). 
• July 23 is the birthday of philosopher Luís António Verney (1713), novelist Raymond Chandler (1888), Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (1892), brothel owner Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer (1901), activist Chandra Shekhar Azad (1906), MLB player Pee Wee Reese (1918), WWII servicewoman Jenny Pike (1922), astronomer Vera Rubin (1928), actor Bert Convy (1933), MLB player Don Drysdale (1936), actor/singer-songwriter Ronny Cox (1938), murderer Charles Harrelson (1938), radio host Don Imus (1940), singer David Essex (1947), singer-songwriter/guitarist Martin Gore (1961), actor Woody Harrelson (1961), guitarist/songwriter Slash (1965), actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967), NBA player Gary Payton (1968), politician Raphael Warnock (1969), singer-songwriter Alison Krauss (1971), MLB player Nomar Garciaparra (1973), activist Monica Lewinsky (1973), and actor Daniel Radcliffe (1989).

Honestly, I could write three times as many bullet points and still not cover all the details happening in the political realm right now. I do want to point out something I wrote just over a week ago on July 14: “Many things that you’re not expecting can, and will, happen.” And that is still true today. But we’ll try and take it one day at a time. And along with many of you, I yearn for less exciting times. Enjoy your day.