Random News: August 26, 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 August 26, 2024, and it’s a Monday. I’m trying to be awake and alert, but Mondays are hard. But, cutting myself a little slack, like anything in life, once you get rolling, things tend to seem less insurmountable. I’ll go ahead and assume today will be like that. Let’s see what’s happening in our big ol’ world.

• What are political polls? Say it with me.
• They are bullshit. Never, ever believe them, no matter who they’re from and how legitimate they seem. All they will do is mislead you into a false sense of overoptimism or an equally false sense of despair when neither are true.
• That being said… the first polls after last week’s undeniably successful Democratic National Convention have hit, and things seem pretty, pretty, pretty good.
• Vice President Harris holds a 7-point edge over Dumples the Clown nationally in a new poll, marking the latest gain for the Democratic presidential candidate as the general election approaches.
• Fairleigh Dickinson University released their poll results on Friday, finding Harris leading Dump with 50 percent support to 43 percent nationally, while 7 percent of respondents said they will vote for someone else.
• Harris holds a large lead among self-identified liberals, 87 to 10 percent, along with progressives, 93 to 5 percent, and moderates, 62 to 30 percent.
• Dumpy, meanwhile, leads among conservatives 76 to 19 percent.
• Wait, hold up. Are you telling me that at least in this one poll, two out of ten conservatives are not planning to vote for Dump? That, there, is some interesting shit.
• I mean, Dumpy is not conservative.
• Fun Fact: Dump did register as a Republican in Manhattan in 1987. But since then, he has changed his party affiliation five times.
• True story. In 1999, he changed his party affiliation to the Independence Party of New York. In August 2001, Trump changed his party affiliation to Democratic. In September 2009, he changed his party affiliation back to the Republican Party. In December 2011, Trump changed to "no party affiliation" (independent). In April 2012, he again returned to the Republican Party.
• This guy has no loyalty to Republican values. He’s only part of whatever group from which he feels he best benefit. There are no personal morals or aspects of policy that matter to him.
• Personal Fun Fact: I first registered as a Democrat in 1992 to vote for Bill Clinton when I was 23 years old. I have never once even considered changing affiliations since then (though there were years in between where I was too apathetic to vote… yes, me).
• Obama brought me back into being politically active in a direct sense in 2008. Thanks Obama!
• Back on topic, the Dumpy Dump numbers are sounding alarms in down-ballot races. Why?
• Because when Democrats are energized to vote and rush to the polls, they tend to vote Dem all the way down the board, from Senate to Congressional Rep to Governor to your local mayor and so on.
• At least as far as the pundits can see from today’s vantage point, the numbers are so good for Democrats that the House Majority PAC is now investing in places like Iowa and Wisconsin.
• Chuck Schumer now believes they can outperform like in 2022 and win a majority in Congress.  
• And what’s left of the Republican leadership, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, has to do a daily tightrope act of both distancing the party from Dump without alienating him cult base.
• I wouldn’t want that job.
• Speaking of polls and down-ballot woes, here’s both a happy story and a reminder to choose well in primary elections.
• North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson is currently trailing his Democratic challenger, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, by 14 points. Yes, 14. That’s very bad.
• In a new poll, Stein received 48 percent support among voters in the battleground state. while Robinson received just 34 percent, with 18 percent of respondents undecided.
• Now why would a Republican have such a poor showing in a traditionally conservative state? Hmm.
• Maybe it’s because Robinson said that, “I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn’t vote.”
• Or when he said that women who receive abortions are murderers. Or when he mocked the victims of Harvey Weinstein. Or said that people who support equal rights for women are, “sexist, hairy armpit having, poo-poo hat wearing pinkos.”
• I’m not sure when, but eventually someone in the GOP will be smart enough not to run candidates with messaging purely based on hatred and ignorance that alienate a huge percent of their own potential voters.
• Right? Maybe?
• Moving on.
• I’ve been reading reports of a pretty brilliant form of guerrilla messaging for the Harris/Walz campaign. I don’t think it’s any official program, but a number of women — especially in red states — have taken it upon themselves to start “Post-It’ing.”
• They write little messages on Post-It notes and leave them in women’s restrooms and changing areas. The notes encourage other women to vote for Harris/Walz despite the pressure they may be under from their conservative husbands, family members, and communities.
• I’ve seen pics of a bunch of them, in places like Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, and more. One said, “Woman to woman — your vote is private. See you at the polls,” with a smiley face.
• Why would something like that be necessary? Well, to give one example, this past week a woman wrote a message on social media in support of Harris/Walz, and her husband replied saying not to expect her car to be undamaged upon her return if she did.
• Are women threatened with violence based on their political views? You betcha. It happens all the time.
• If you’re noticing a theme here — an increase in sexism accompanied by the slow but steady removal of women’s rights by the Christian nationalist far right — all you need to do is to look at other countries where bigotry in the name of religion has become a requirement.
• In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws that include a total ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public.
• That’s right, Now, even the sound of a female voice outside the home is deemed a punishable moral violation. Decrees in the country already bar women from many public spaces, education and most jobs.
• If you don’t think this is possible in the USA, women in places like Kabul in the 1970s looked and acted like women in most of the rest of the world. Ten years later after the entire region fell under of theocratic rule, you see the results.
• It’s yet another in a long list of reasons why having a woman President for this country would be a sign we’re committed to the right and fair path.
• Let’s move on.
• Got some news from the Health Desk. The Biden administration is bringing back free at-home COVID-19 tests by mail.
• At the end of September, each household will be able to order up to four rapid tests through COVIDtests.gov. The cool news? The tests will detect newer COVID-19 variants.
• The mailed tests are returning after the FDA this week approved two updated COVID-19 vaccines to provide protection against current strains of the virus. Those vaccines, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are expected to be rolled out within days for anyone age 6 months and older.
• Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent COVID-19 infection, and testing is key to help limit the spread of the virus. I got my last updated booster in December of last year, so when they come out with these updated versions, I’ll be getting one soon enough.
• This will be my sixth, counting the two-dose original shot.
• Moving on.
• A follow-up story on a MAGA piece of shit who was so horrible, he managed to disgust his Republican pals.
• This weekend, Colorado Republicans voted to remove GOP Party Chair Dave Williams by a vote of 161 to 12. We mentioned this asshole awhile back.
• What did he do to get his ass kicked out? Well, among other things, Williams sent an email attacking gay pride month and referring to the LGBTQ community as "godless groomers.” He called for the burning of all pride flags. He also waded into GOP primaries in violation of party bylaws, and used state party resources to support his own campaign for Congress.
• Anyway, this now-former head of a state’s Republican party was already out of a job. He lost his primary bid for Colorado's 5th Congressional District against Jeff Crank in June.
• Williams’s prejudices are similar to many of those in the Republican party of today; he’ll likely not go away quietly.
• Let’s do some happy news.
• Today is National Dog Day. For my entire youth, I was unaware that we humans created dogs, or at least, the lovable animal friends as we know them today. I was probably in my mid-20s when I got informed about this.
• Every dog you’ve ever seen, from a teacup poodle to a dachshund to a springer spaniel to a great dane and everything in between, exists as a result of humans purposefully breeding these animals for various characteristics and purposes.
• They were all wolves once.
• The top three dog breeds in the USA are currently ranked in order as the French Bulldog, the Labrador Retriever, and the Golden Retriever.
• I love dogs, and most dogs seem to love me. I do not own a dog; I have four weird cats, and I also don’t have the time to commit to proper dog ownership and care. But I still love them and say hi to many of them around my neighborhood.
• And now, The Weather: “Garmonbozia” by Flying Lotus
• From the Sports Desk… a word of warning here at the start of the school year.
• Caden Tellier, an Alabama high school football player, died Saturday after he was critically injured during a game the day before.
• The 16-year-old Morgan Academy quarterback was hurt following a tackle in the third quarter of the school’s game Friday night against Southern Academy in Selma. He suffered a brain injury and was flown to the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital Friday night.
• I will mention that that Tellier was an organ donor, so his tragic death won’t be completely without meaningful reason. But I do want to say that even at the high school level, contact sports are dangerous by definition.
• And ask any ER doctor about the number of injuries — many of them serious — they see each year from high school athletes.
• I love sports. I follow sports. I played sports throughout my youth. I still remain physically active even now in my middle age… every single day after I post this little news report, I head downstairs to do a short but effective workout.
• But I will say that even teenagers are now bigger, stronger, and faster than they were in previous generations. The kinds of injuries that happen as a result are worse than they were before.
• While I’m not telling you to not allow your kids to play contact sports, I will say to take extra caution that their safety equipment — helmets, pads, and so on — are in good shape and fit well.
• Side note: my knee ligaments are still problematic for me today, some 40 years after my last high school basketball game.
• Today in history… the Delhi Sultanate takes Chittorgarh and kills thirty thousand Hindu inhabitants (1303). An English army easily defeats a French one twice its size at the Battle of Crécy (1346). Captain James Cook sets sail from England on board HMS Endeavor (1768). John Fitch gets a US patent for the steamboat (1791). The eruption of Krakatoa begins its final stage (1883). The 19th amendment takes effect, giving women the right to vote (1920). The 50th anniversary of US women being able to vote is marked by a nationwide Women's Strike for Equality (1970). The Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, West Germany (1972). The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing's all-new composite airliner, receives certification (2011).
• August 26 is the birthday of UK prime minister Robert Walpole (1676), mathematician Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728), UK prince consort Albert (1819), inventor Lee de Forest (1873), socialite/philanthropist Peggy Guggenheim (1898), Catholic saint Mother Teresa (1910), physicist Katherine Johnson (1918), journalist Irving R. Levine (1922), NBA player/coach Tommy Heinsohn (1934), politician Geraldine Ferraro (1935), voiceover artist Don LaFontaine (1940), drummer Moe Tucker (1944), singer-songwriter Leon Redbone (1949), NBA coach Stan Van Gundy (1959), saxophonist/composer Branford Marsalis (1960), singer-songwriter Shirley Manson (1966), actress Melissa McCarthy (1970), actor Macaulay Culkin (1980), actor Chris Pine (1980), actor/comedian John Mulaney (1982), MLB player Elvis Andrus (1988), NHL player Wayne Simmonds (1988), and NBA player James Harden (1989).

Okay, that’s enough for now. I’m going to try and be productive but peaceful today. It’s possible to do both. Also note that I don’t always get to have the kind of day that I hope for, but such is life. It’s still good to hope. Enjoy your day.