Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show (09.14.24)

Me being weird, which is kinda my default setting. Photo by Kat.

This is not supposed to be a post about the Zak Claxton Happy Fun show I did on Facebook last night. No, it was originally going to be a post about a Zak show at Lutz City of Templemore in Second Life.

But for the first time in many years, my streaming software (or streaming server... culprit still at large) let me down and after trying fruitlessly to get it working, using every option at my disposal, I had to call it a day and cancel the SL show after 15 super frustrating minutes.

I'd spent all day getting ready for what should have been a great show at Templemore. It's been a long time since technology hit me in the head with a 2x4.

Trying desperately to get my stream rolling. Many thanks to the patience of Amyra Vuitton, who did everything in her power to help out. I truly hate canceling shows. Photo by Kat.

I was livid. I'd prepared a really good set and got nice and warmed up, and then spent the aforementioned time angrily sweating over my stream settings, trying to get something going before giving up. I sat there silently until Kat, being helpful, said, "You should use that same set at another show. It's really good. Maybe the next time you do a Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show or something."

Boom. I took that idea and ran with it... immediately. For those of you who don't know, for many years when I've sporadically done a live video/audio stream performance, I've branded it as the Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show. It had been nearly two years since my last one, which was October 9, 2022 per my records.

Still boiling with anger over my aborted SL show, I threw up an HD camera, launched my video broadcast software, and with no notice or forewarning, did the same set I was going to do but on Facebook Live instead of in SL. You can watch the whole ZCHFS show below if you'd like (assuming Facebook's video embed functionality actually works).

How I Do What I Do

I promised some folks during and after the ZCHFS that I'd tell them more about my streaming/broadcast setup, but I think the most important thing to understand is that good broadcast sound invariably starts at the source. So this first part is going to sound egotistical as fuck, but it is objectively true: if you like the sound of a vocalist or musician, it starts with the sound that's coming from their vocal cords and their fingers on their instruments. In other words, if if doesn't sound good in the room where I'm performing, no amount of magic is going to make it sound good when it arrives to my listeners.

And it goes beyond any aspects of talent. I have a really good vocal mic, one that's no longer made -- a Groove Tubes GT57 -- but there are many current mics in its range that would serve similar results. The GT57 a large diaphragm FET condenser microphone. My guitar is a handcrafted Takamine Pro Series P5DC, and I must say, it's a super great-sounding guitar, especially when making use of the onboard preamp. I've done all my SL shows with it for the past eight years.

Groove Tubes GT57

Takamine Pro Series P5DC

I should note here for the sake of transparency... I've worked for both Groove Tubes and Takamine. But my statements are from the perspective of a recording and performing musician, and I'd feel the same way about my gear with or without any connection to the manufacturers.

Where Next?

Both the mic and the guitar go into a Soundcraft EPM8 mixer. Important note: I don't need this to simply stream the two signals of my guitar and microphone. I could run them directly into my computer's audio interface, which we'll talk about in a moment. But I do like having faders to quickly adjust the volume balance between those two sources, and I also like having the onboard EQ of this little analog desk.

Soundcraft EMP8 Analog Mixer

From the mixer, the audio heads over to my interface, which again, is a low-cost but effective Focusrite Scarlett 6i6. This particular model is discontinued; the closest current equivalent would be the Scarlett 8i6. It's a perfectly fine interface for what I do here in terms of streaming live audio and recording demos and so on. It's connected to my Mac mini via USB-C.

Focusrite Scarlett 6i6

How Do You Broadcast?

Like most USB gear with a Mac, it's plug-and-play. Any audio software sees the Focusrite as an input source, and in setup, I simply set it as the default for most purposes.

I am currently angry at my usual audio streaming software -- perhaps for no reason, because yesterday's fuckup may be an issue with the server I use for live streaming. But 99% o the time, it's been fine, so I'll put yesterday's glitch aside and tell you that for Second Life shows, I use a pretty powerful software package called Audio Hijack by Rogue Amoeba. You can grab a free trial (with limitations) to check it out; the full version is $64 USD and I say it's well worth it. I use it all the time to capture audio from any source, and it's very convenient for streaming.

Rogue Amoeba Audio Hijack

However, when it's time to do a full audio and video broadcast, like millions of people, I turn to Open Broadcaster Software, aka OBS. This open-source software is completely free, and has clients for Mac, Windows, and even Linux if that's your groove. I have been consistently impressed by OBS. It is tremendously powerful and full of options for various broadcast goals using multiple sources.

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS)

I have pretty good upload speed on my home internet here, so while I don't try any crazy levels of high quality, I do have my settings in OBS with video at 4000Kbps, capturing at 1920x1080 (but with scaled output to 1280x720), and audio set at 160Kbps (with 48kHz sampling rate in stereo).

The camera? Nothing special. A little Logitech cam that's typical for people who do Zoom meetings and other videoconference needs. It is capable of HD 1080p capture, and for streaming I really don't need anything more extravagant than that.

And the result is pretty damn good. A lot of people comment on the quality of both picture and sound, but in my opinion, my whole setup is pretty basic and pedestrian. Not low-end shitty, but also not anywhere near something I'd consider a serious pro broadcast system. But for what I need it to do, it works fine and people do tend to comment on the audio quality of the broadcast. If you need to know more details, feel free to hit me up in the comments.

The Show, Though?

Right! Forgot about that.

I wasn't kidding above when I said I was still angry when I finally gave up on being able to do the show in SL. All of my shit was working fine except the crucial aspect of being able to connect to my streaming server. And, after trying to plug in all manner of streaming configurations while the audience was arriving and waiting patiently, by the time I gave up I was coated in sweat and probably looked like a deranged serial killer.

I have to once again credit Kat for the idea of doing the show on Facebook Live instead of SL. I can tell you for a fact that she wasn't expecting me to do it literally right then and there. I never even took off my guitar; I just put up the camera, moved my mic stand back a few feet, and launched OBS to connect to Facebook Live. That took literally three minutes. By 5:20, I'd started the show... at first to no one, and then within seconds, to some random people who happened to be on Facebook and got a notification that I had started a live stream.

Shaking off the annoyance of my SL show being a bust, and getting right into the music helped turn my attitude around pretty quickly. Photo by Kat.

It had been a couple of years since I'd done a video-based livestream show. I had to kinda ramp up to the concept of being seen with human eyeballs. Photo by Kat.

As soon as I settled in, it became a more typical Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show. Every so often I'd ask Kat (who was close enough to her monitor to actually see things) who was around in the viewers, and I'd greet the people who were making their presence known with comments and such.

I ended up playing most of the set I was going to do at Templemore, rocking Facebook live for the next 45 minutes straight. It was a decent enough show from me musically, but perhaps more important -- to me anyway -- there was definitely a feeling of catharsis after the disaster that had happened with my streaming server. Had I not done that Happy Fun Show right then and there, I would have been moping about it for the rest of the evening (and perhaps much of Sunday as well).

Every so often, I'd check the Facebook feed while in the midst of a song, just to make sure that there indeed was an audience out there in the ether. Photo by Kat.

I did eventually cheer up. Photo by Kat.

ZCHFS set list...

All I Want (Joni Mitchell) 

Save It For Later (English Beat) 

Crosses (José González)

Garter Snake (Macie Stewart)

Thank U (Alanis Morissette)

*And She Was (Talking Heads)

Northern Sky (Nick Drake)

Pecan Pie (Golden Smog)

Any Major Dude (Steely Dan) 

Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)

*Indicates the first time I've ever performed this song

Big thanks to everyone who popped into the show, or has watched it since Sunday! I'm glad I turned some shitty lemons into some pretty good lemonade. Thanks for being there so I wasn't playing with myself. Always appreciated.

Random News: September 12, 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 September 12, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I’ve got a big-ass cup of Peet’s Brazil, it’s currently 64 degrees and overcast, and our high temperature today will be just 73. Starting to feel a bit like Fall. Let’s fucking go!

• Let’s start with a step back to Tuesday night’s amazing, incredible, extraordinary, wonderful, delightful debate between the presidential candidates.
• Respondents in a new survey say Vice President Harris soundly won the debate over convicted felon Donald Trump — a complete reversal of Dump’s showing when he faced President Biden on the debate stage three months ago.
• Forty-three percent of respondents in a YouGov poll conducted yesterday morning said they thought Harris won her first — and possibly only — faceoff against Trump, compared to 28 percent who said they thought Trump won the debate. Another 30 percent said they were not sure who came out on top.
• Where do they even find these people?
• But more encouragingly, an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, released just hours before the debate, found that 30 percent of registered voters surveyed said the debate would help them decide who to vote for in November.
• And I’ll bet they did walk away with a better idea of who they want leading the USA.
• While almost no Republicans would go on record with their utter disappointment on Dumpy’s awful performance at the debate, a number did go on record anonymously to journalists.
• “I’m just sad,” said one House Republican who is supportive of Dump. “She knew exactly where to cut to get under his skin. Just overall disappointing that he isn’t being more composed like the first debate. The road just got very narrow,” they added. “This is not good.”
• A second House Republican said many in the GOP conference were disappointed that Dumples could not stay on message throughout the debate.
• And yet a third House Republican stated, “Lots of missed opportunities so far. It’s not devastating – but it’s not good.”
• How about Dump’s friends at Fox? Surely they were all very supportive, right?
• Um, no.
• Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said Dump had a rough outing during the debate, saying he fell for some of the vice president’s traps and aired “old grievances” that are not advantageous politically.
• “Now, look, make no mistake about it, Trump had a bad night. He rose to the bait repeatedly when she baited him, something I’m sure his advisers had begged him not to do,” said a sad Hume Tuesday night.
• Let’s sort of move on.
• This is cool: as of yesterday afternoon, there had been 337,826 unique visitors to vote.gov coming in from the referral link created and shared by Taylor Swift when she endorsed Kamala Harris on Tuesday night.
• That’s a huge amount of people looking to register to vote, or to confirm their voter registration. That’s a number that could make an impact on tight election.
• While we’re talking Tay…
• I try and make it a point to not fact-check the entire Internet, because that’s just silly.
• But I’ll make an exception here for the random person who wrote, “Who cares about Taylor Swift endorsing Harris? None of her fans are old enough to vote.”
• Allow me to correct this error. Taylor Swift is 34 years old. She turns 35 in December. Her first album came out in 2005, almost 20 years ago.
• She has always had a youthful fan base… but many of her fans have grown up with her music and continue to enjoy it today.
• I think it’s a safe estimate to say that out of her many millions of fans in the USA, the large majority of them are now well over 18 years old, and therefore are ready to vote in November.
• And one more Taylor Swift note before I (wait for it)… shake it off.
• Within minutes after Swift threw her support behind Kamala Harris for president, the Harris-Walz campaign debuted their own friendship bracelets containing the candidates’ names.
• Friendship bracelets are important in the Swift world, you see.
• And the bracelets sold out within minutes.
• Okay, now we’ll move on.
• Except no.
• Yesterday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, distanced himself from Dump's insanely false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating people's pets. 
• ”This is something that came up on the internet, and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes," said DeWine. Oh, that zany internet, ha ha.
• DeWine reiterated that city officials have said they have not received any credible reports of such conduct. The baseless rumors have been amplified in recent days by Dump and his allies including VP candidate JD Vance, Elmo Muck, and many others.
• Dump dramatically repeated the claim during the debate, and there are plenty of videos of people at watch parties laughing uproariously at his line, “In Springfield, THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS.”
• Jesus.
• I mean, a single debate can’t actually cost a candidate the election, right?
• Except Republican pollster Frank Luntz predicted Dump’s performance in the debate will ultimately cost him the election in November.
• “It was a pretty negative performance, pretty pessimistic, cynical, contemptuous,” Luntz said in an interview yesterday, adding, “and I think that this will cost him, yes.”
• Luntz hesitated, appearing to choose his words carefully. “I’m trying to decide if I want to go on record, and the answer is yes,” he continued. “I think that, that he loses because of this debate performance.”
• Welp.
• Okay, now let’s really move-
• EARTHQUAKEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAAA
• Okay, while I’m writing this news, we just had a 5.1 magnitude earthquake here in Southern California, epicenter up the coast in Malibu.
• Calming down… whew. No reports of injury or damage yet, but that was a pretty good one, so more info to come, probably.
• Okay, back to the news.
• Riding a tidal wave of momentum after her debate performance, Kamala Harris is ramping up her campaign today by holding two rallies in North Carolina as she tries to wrestle back the key battleground state which would close off one Dumpy’s only remaining paths to victory.
• Both campaigns see the state as playing a key role in November. Dump narrowly won it in 2020, and no Democrat has prevailed in the presidential race here since Barack Obama in 2008.
• I think Harris can take NC. One of the things that will help her: the GOP picked a horrible extremist candidate in the state’s governor race, and many North Carolinians will be jamming the polls to ensure that Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein defeats Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
• In other news…
• We haven’t spoken about it here because it’s just so fucking stupid, but the Republicans have been trying to once again shut down the government. I suppose I assumed you knew this already. If not…
• This time it’s over the completely made-up issue of migrant voting swinging the election… something that is not a thing. Illegal immigrant voting is extraordinarily rare. The stalled legislation includes a measure that would require people registering to vote to provide proof of citizenship.
• And if you’re a logical person with at least part of a brain, the very last thing an illegal immigrant would want to do is to vote and call attention to him or herself and risk imprisonment and deportation.
• Even so, the Republicans couldn’t get in array to pass this temporary spending bill in a vote that was scheduled for yesterday. Speaker Mike Johnson cancelled that vote when it became apparent that the measure lacked the votes to pass.
• To be clear: only US citizens may vote. That has always been a law. There is no need for additional legislation because the current system to prevent any kind of voter fraud is already exceptionally good.
• The current spending bill would keep federal agencies and programs funded for six months, starting when the new budget year begins on October 1.
• Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed to the current version of the bill, and enough Republicans had voiced opposition to raise serious doubts about whether the measure would pass.
• Dumples the Clown is, once again, pushing for the Republican shutdown of the government so that he can blame it on Joe Biden, somehow.
• Let’s move on.
• Yesterday morning had President Joe Biden, former President Donnie Dump, and Vice President Kamala Harris standing side by side at ground zero of the 9/11 attacks in Manhattan for observation of the somber anniversary of the attacks.
• Harris and Dump had just met for the first time the previous evening for their debate, which Harris won by all accounts other than Dump’s own. The candidates once again shook hands, the second time in less than 12 hours.
• Families and friends of 9/11 victims have, for all these years, asked the government to demand accountability from the Saudi Arabian government for the role their citizens had in the attacks.
• Nothing seems to have ever transpired in that regard. Hmm, wonder why that could be?
• And one other note on that event: Dump’s companion at the 9/11 ceremony was self-described “pro-white nationalist” and “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer.
• Loomer has repeatedly claimed, even recently, that the 9/11 attacks had been an inside job. It was another example of Dump’s poor decision making skills to invite Loomer there, or possibly more evidence of his mental decline.
• Moving on.
• We have three major fires during in Southern California at the moment. Hopefully this cool-down in weather will help contain them.
• The Bridge Fire above Glendora became the largest active wildfire in California at 49,000 acres. The Line Fire is at 18% containment. It has burned nearly 37,000 acres in nearly a week. And the Airport Fire began in an Orange County canyon and crossed into Riverside County.
• I have many friends impacted by each of these, and I hope the best for all of them.
• And now, The Weather: “Nine Clean Nails” by Dummy
• In actual weather, tropical storm Francine is spreading dangerous conditions across the South today after it slammed into Louisiana with extreme rainfall, life-threatening flooding, and destructive winds.
• Be safe, my peoples.
• Let’s do a chart, or instead, a list.
• VP candidate Tim Walz was elected in 2018 as the Governor of Minnesota. It’s a state I’ve visited several times and I really like it. I like the people and the vibe.
• To be clear, being a guy who’s spent most of his life in Southern California, I would never survive even one winter there, honestly. I get cold in temperatures in the 50s.
• That being said, there is an extraordinary amount of musical talent that’s come out of that great state. Here’s a list of some of the best, in alphabetical order.
• Babes in Toyland, Bob Dylan, Hippo Campus, Hüsker Dü, The Jayhawks, Lizzo, Low, Marcy Playground, Prince, The Replacements, Semisonic, Soul Asylum, The Suburbs, and The Trashmen.
• From the Sports Desk… there are only about 15 games remaining in the regular season for Major League baseball. If the playoffs were starting today, here’s how they’d be seeded.
• American League: 1. New York Yankees. 2. Cleveland Guardians. 3. Baltimore Orioles. 4. Kansas City Royals. 5. Minnesota Twins. 6. Houston Astros.
• National League: 1. Philadelphia Phillies. 2. Los Angeles Dodgers. 3. Milwaukee Brewers. 4. Arizona Diamondbacks. 5. San Diego Padres. 6, New York Mets.
• Keep in mind these regular season numbers are so tight that literally none of these teams have clinched a division or even secured a playoff spot at this moment. That will soon change, though.
• Week 2 of the NFL kicks off tonight with the Buffalo Bills at the Miami Dolphins. Miami is favored by -2.5.
• Today in history…  Premiere performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in Munich with a chorus of 852 singers and an orchestra of 171 players (1910). Leó Szilárd conceives the idea of the nuclear chain reaction (1933). Cave paintings are discovered in Lascaux, France (1940). The People's Republic of Korea is proclaimed, bringing an end to Japanese rule over Korea (1945). U.S. Senator and future President John Fitzgerald Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (1953). Jack Kilby demonstrates the first working integrated circuit at Texas Instruments (1958). ‘Bonanza’ premieres, the first regularly scheduled TV program presented in color (1959). South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody (1977). Dwight Gooden sets the baseball record for strikeouts in a season by a rookie with 276 (1984). Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica then fucks up Mexico (1988). Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-47 has Mae Carol Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, onboard (1992). NASA confirms that its Voyager 1 probe has become the first manmade object to enter interstellar space (2013).
• September 12 is the birthday of activist Samuel Joseph May (1797), inventor Richard Jordan Gatling (1818), UK prime minister H. H. Asquith (1852), journalist H. L. Mencken (1880), actor Maurice Chevalier (1888), publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. (1892), athlete Jesse Owens (1913), actor Ian Holm (1931), singer-songwriter George Jones (1931), singer-songwriter Maria Muldaur (1943), activist Leonard Peltier (1943), singer-songwriter Barry White (1944), drummer/composer/lyricist Neil Peart (1952), composer Hans Zimmer (1957), singer-songwriter/pianist Ben Folds (1966), actor/comedian Louis C.K. (1967), actor Paul Walker (1973), singer/actress Jennifer Hudson (1981), , MLB player Freddie Freeman (1989), and NFL player Andrew Luck (1989).

Okay, I’m going to sip my coffee and calm down more after that quake. Despite any natural disasters wherever you live, I hope you are doing well and are feeling good. Enjoy your day.

Random News: September 11, 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 September 11, 2024, and it’s a Wednesday. We have a lot to talk about today, but let’s get started in a somber and respectful way, as per today’s date.

• It’s 9/11. We all have a 9/11 story. Where we were that day, what we were doing. Many of them are probably similar (with the exception of those of you who were actually in Manhattan that day, whose stories are much, much worse).
• You don’t need a recap to remember. 23 years ago, four coordinated Islamist suicide terrorist attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States.
• 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. They crashed the first two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and aimed the next two flights toward targets in or near Washington, D.C.
• The third team crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania following a passenger revolt.
• The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people, injured thousands more, and instigated the multi-decade global war on terror, and was probably a major turning point in many Americans’ lives.
• Hate crimes skyrocketed after 9/11. Anti-terrorism policies of the US government impacted the privacy and freedom of our own citizens. Entire communities of 9/11 conspiracy theorists were born, and many still are thriving today.
• Iraq and Afghanistan were scapegoated and invaded, while places like Saudi Arabia, the home of the actual 9/11 terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden, were left alone.
• 9/11 was a terrible event and will live forever in infamy… but at least it wasn’t our own citizens attacking our country and its free and fair election system and our very democracy, as happened on January 6, 2021.
• Back in the present day…
• Let’s talk about last night’s debate.
• A presidential debate isn’t a football game with a score at the end. All there is in retrospect are people’s opinions. So a lot of stuff I’m about to say are based on the opinions of myself and a bunch of other people.
• And that opinion is that it was the most lopsided presidential debate in US history, with Kamala Harris absolutely annihilating Donald Trump.
• Harris controlled every moment of the event, from the moment she made her power move and strode across the podium to shake Dump’s hand and introduce herself to him… and yes, it was the first time they’d ever met.
• We’re not going to recap every moment of a 90+ minute event. You have plenty of news analysts who’ve already cranked out thousands of words on what was said by each candidate.
• I will say this: Harris not only controlled the conversation in general but set Dump off with well-chosen phrases designed to trigger him in specific ways.
• And each time, he took the bait.
• As such, he spent nearly the entire debate on the defensive, like an old boxer who finds himself on the ropes and getting pummeled with no way out.
• Trump’s performance, frankly, was embarrassing, ti himself and what’s left of his supporters. Much more so than that of Joe Biden in the previous debate that culminated with Biden stepping down from his candidacy.
• Harris spoke fluidly and eloquently, clearly stating her policy plans. She also went on the offensive in the most effective ways, addressing how Dump’s tariffs are actually a sales tax on the middle class.
• She accused Dump to his face of presiding over the worst attack on American democracy since the Civil War — the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.
• She lambasted him for telling women what they could do with their bodies.
• She purposefully spoke about the dwindling size of his rallies and how attendees leave halfway through due to his old, tired rhetoric. That really upset him.
• It was such a pummeling, he got flustered within the first 10 minutes and never recovered. He couldn’t even look at her throughout the event. And he looked old and defeated.
• Post-debate fact-check analysis showed that Dump made at least 33 false claims. Harris was found to have made one.
• And registered voters who watched the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump say, 63% to 37%, that Harris turned in a better performance, per a flash poll directly afterwards.
• Prior to the debate, the same voters were evenly split on which candidate would perform more strongly, with 50% saying Harris would do so and 50% that Trump would.
• One huge sign that the debate went Harris’s way: within moments after the end, Harris challenged Dump to a second debate.
• Dump declined. He’s terrified of her. It was embarrassing and humiliating for him. He can’t go through it again. End of story.
• So if that was all that had happened last night, it would have been a huge success for Kamala Harris.
• But that’s not all.
• “Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight,” began an Instagram post by influential American pop music icon Taylor Swift.
• She continued, “I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”
• As of the time of my writing this, that post has 8,362,632 likes.
• So, let’s move on, but first I have a very important reminder for you.
• You have one job.
• Kamala has done her job thus far at a level that’s above and beyond any possible expectations. The entire campaign has been running as well as any I’ve ever seen in my years of being engaged in American politics.
• And you’re up next. Your one job is to vote. that’s it. If you can help encourage others to vote, all the better.
• But your vote carries as much weight as any other adult person in this entire country. Make no assumptions… red state, blue state, swing state, any state.
• Vote. Vote by mail, vote by ballot drop-off, vote at the polls on election day. However you vote, do it.
• And if things go as I hope, the USA will have its first women President-elect in five weeks, who will be sworn in on January 20, 2025.
• Let’s move on.
• Some extraordinary news out of the state of Missouri, where an amendment to restore abortion rights in the state will be on the ballot in November after all, the state’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
• If it passes, the proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution is expected to widely undo the state’s 2022 near-total abortion ban. Judges ruled hours before the Tuesday deadline for changes to be made to the ballot.
• Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft had removed it from the ballot on Monday despite the fact that 380,000 Missourians signed their petition demanding a voice on this critical issue.
• But their state Supreme Court judges ordered Ashcroft to put the measure back on the ballot. The order also directs Ashcroft, an abortion opponent, to “take all steps necessary to ensure that it is on said ballot.”
• Try as they might, Republicans cannot silence the will of the people. We’re going to win, if not immediately in all cases, then eventually.
• Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions on their ballots since Roe was overturned have sided with abortion-rights supporters.
• Eight other states will consider constitutional amendments enshrining abortion rights: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, and South Dakota. 
• Some good news for workers as Bank of America is closing in on its objective of paying its U.S. employees a minimum of $25 an hour by 2025.
• They are increasing their minimum wage at the company to $24/hour starting in October. 
• The step follows an increase from a $23 hourly rate set last September. The $1 hourly boost, which will apply to all full- and part-time hourly jobs in the U.S., brings a full-time annualized salary to roughly $50,000. 
• In case you’re wondering, the poverty threshold for a family of four per the most recent figures is $30,900. 
• I’m sure that might work in some places. My annual rent alone, before I get to eating food or having things like electricity, is over $41,000 per year.
• More than 30 U.S. states now require employers to offer minimum wage in excess of the federal base, Department of Labor data shows. This is good.
• In international news, 26-year-old American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot and killed last week by Israeli forces, resulting in US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken calling for “fundamental changes” to the way Israeli forces operate in the occupied West Bank.
• At a news conference in London yesterday, Blinken said Eygi’s killing was “unprovoked and unjustified.”
• Eygi’s family said they were “deeply offended by the suggestion that her killing by a trained sniper was in any way unintentional,” reiterating calls to US leaders for an independent investigation into her death. She was a recent graduate of the University of Washington.
• Moving on.
• We don’t do celebrity gossip shit here at Zak’s Random News.
• But I did want to give you a hot take on the breathless headlines on Dave Grohl’s announcement yesterday about the child he recently fathered outside of his marriage.
• He wrote on social media yesterday, “I've recently become the father of a new baby daughter, born outside my marriage. I plan to be a loving and supportive parent to her. I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness. We’re grateful for your consideration toward all the children involved, as we move forward together.”
• So here’s why I bring this up.
• First, what’s obvious to me as a PR guy, he made the announcement to get ahead of a story that would have broken elsewhere, and that’s smart. As opposed to being on the defensive, he’s already made his perspective on the story clear.
• But the second thing I want to address is this whole hero worship that a lot of people do. I’m gonna tell you something, and I’m sorry if this is distressing: there are no perfect people.
• None. Zero. Not you, definitely not me, and certainly not Dave Grohl. And most people are way far away from perfect.
• And here’s the thing: it’s up to you whether you can allow yourself to enjoy someone’s art or other contributions to society, while still being aware that the person is human and therefore flawed to a greater or lesser degree.
• I can’t stand JK Rowling’s despicable views on gender, but I can still respect the storytelling of the Harry Potter franchise. I can be aware that a good majority of NFL and other major sports players are likely Dump supporters, but still be a fan of the game and admire the skill at which it’s played. I mean, Ted Nugent is a good guitar player despite being a horrible human.
• So am I shocked and appalled about Dave Grohl, the human being and rock star, doing things that people do? No, not really. Is it bad behavior and probably unfair and uncool to his family? Yes, of course.
• But I try to separate the people from the things they do. Trust me, a lot of heroes are assholes. And a lot of assholes do really great work.
• Enough on that.
• And now, The Weather: “Malibu Beach House” by Cold Gawd
• From the Sports Desk… I wasn’t the only person excited for the return of NFL football.
• The NFL averaged 21.0 million viewers per game during the league's opening week, making it the most-watched Week 1 on record.
• The league and Nielsen said this morning that the per-game average on TV and digital platforms was a 12% increase over last year. All told, 123 million people saw at least part of one game, its highest total for an opening week since 2019.
• Today in history… The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hundred years (9). Henry Hudson arrives on Manhattan Island and meets the indigenous people living there (1609). Alexander Hamilton is appointed the first United States Secretary of the Treasury (1789). United States Marine Corps invades Honduras (1919). Construction begins on The Pentagon (1941). Charles Lindbergh's Des Moines speech accusing the British, Jews and FDR's administration of conspiring for war with Germany (1941). Hurricane Edna hits New England (1954). Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast (1961). San Francisco’s BART begins passenger service (1972). General Augusto Pinochet leads a coup in Chile and topples the democratically elected president Salvador Allende (1973). Hurricane Iniki devastates the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai and Oahu (1992). The September 11 terrorist attacks kill 2,996 people using four aircraft hijacked by 19 members of al-Qaeda (2001). The U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya is attacked, resulting in four deaths (2012).
• September 11 is the birthday of organist William Boyce (1711), lens maker Carl Zeiss (1816), astronomer Mary Watson Whitney (1847), writer O. Henry (1862), writer D. H. Lawrence (1885), football coach Bear Bryant (1913), film producer Ed Sabol (1916), politician Ferdinand Marcos (1917), NFL coach Tom Landry (1924), film director Brian De Palma (1940), percussionist/composer Mickey Hart (1943), guitarist/composer Leo Kotke (1945), singer-songwriter/guitarist Tommy Shaw (1953), actress Roxann Dawson (1958), actress Virginia Madsen (1961), songwriter/composer/DJ Moby (1965), singer-songwriter/pianist Harry Connick Jr. (1967), rapper Ludacris (1977), NFL player Ed Reed (1978), and MLB player Mike Moustakas (1988).

I said it above but I’ll say it again: nothing matters except your vote. Make your plan TODAY on how you’ll be voting in the 2024 election. Visit vote.org to confirm your voter registration status.  And do your part to make the world a better place in which to live… for yourself, your children, your friends, and future generations. Thank you. Enjoy your day.

Random News: September 10, 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 September 10, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. Tons of stuff to talk about today; let’s jump right in.

• I did something back on June 27 that I thought was the right thing to do: that morning, I encouraged all of you to watch the debate between Donnie Dump and then-2024 presidential candidate Joe Biden.
• And under normal circumstances, I’d say that telling people to watch a presidential debate is a noble idea and something every American who cares about our country should do.
• But we all saw what happened. Joe had been on a grueling travel schedule and was suffering from a cold, and his age was starting to catch up with him… and as a result, he had a terrible debate performance.
• It was so bad that within hours afterwards, the media was calling it a foregone conclusion that Dump would be re-elected president. It was a depressing time, and I didn’t have much to say in spinning it into some optimistic story.
• Fast forward to July 21. After much consideration, Joe stepped aside from the election, and put his endorsement behind his vice president, Kamala Harris.
• And we all saw what happened after that. In the next few days, endorsements for Harris came pouring in at an unprecedented rate, and then a groundswell of support that’s never been equalled.
• So here we are today, just 55 more days until the election. It’s eight weeks from today, in fact. And here we are with another presidential debate tonight.
• Am I nervous? No. My confidence in Harris being able to handle Dump is much higher than it was for Biden.
• Harris comes from the background of being a prosecutor… an attorney general… and a Senator. She has a great track record of debates.
• So, once again, I will recommend that you watch the debate tonight.
• The debate rules are the same as they were in June: no live audience, no props and muted microphones when the other candidate is speaking.
• Of note: Harris and Dump have never met in person.
• Dump actually has the more difficult job here. He is trailing badly among women voters, and if he comes off as his true self to Harris — sexist, condescending, and patronizing — it will further alienate him from them and a good number of men as well.
• If Trump slips into his usual mode of personal attacks instead of sticking to issues, it won’t bode well for him. 
• But make no mistake: debates rarely change anything among partisan voters. What both candidates will be doing is going after the very small number of undecided voters, who will make a difference in this tight election.
• The debate starts tonight at 9PM EDT/6PM PDT on ABC. It will also be streamed on various platforms; I will probably watch via YouTube.
• Let’s move on.
• Yesterday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the United Nations said that the UN has offered to monitor any cease-fire in Gaza and demanded an end to the worst death and destruction he has seen in his more than seven-year tenure.
• Guterres admitted that it’s unrealistic to think the U.N. could play a role in Gaza’s future, either by administering the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a U.N. role.
• But he said “the U.N. will be available to support any cease-fire.” The United Nations has had a military monitoring mission in the Middle East, known as UNTSO, since 1948, and “from our side, this was one of the hypotheses that we’ve put on the table,” he said.
• “Of course, we’ll be ready to do whatever the international community asked for us,” Guterres said. “The question is whether the parties would accept it, and in particular whether Israel would accept it.”
• I think we know the answer to that. It’s a horrible situation and I can’t envision any way out under Israel’s current leadership.
• Moving on.
• I can’t believe I’m having to write this, but here goes: no immigrants are coming to eat your pets.
• Police in Springfield, OH, said yesterday they had received no credible reports of immigrants harming pets, contradicting a claim by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance. 
• The Ohio senator, as well as other Republican lawmakers and several conservative commentators, have in recent days asserted without evidence that the arrival of thousands of immigrants from Haiti had created chaos in Springfield. 
• Literally none of it is true.
• While we’re in education mode here, there is a long history of conservative politicians and pundits denigrating Haitian immigrants in particular, including with baseless allegations of cannibalism.
• The people spreading this literal 100% lie include conservative commentators Charlie Kirk and Jack Posobiec, who posted about it on X more than 30 times Sunday and Monday. Others echoed the allegations, including X owner Elon Musk, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
• I repeat: it’s not true. It never happened. Wake the fuck up, you morons. Can’t you tell when you’re being used?
• Let’s talk about something else.
• Here’s some potential good news on the 2024 Senate race. As you know, the Senate is just barely a Democratic majority since 2022. Only one seat flipping would shift the balance of power there.
• In Michigan, Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin is leading former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers by 7 points. Meanwhile, Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin are ahead in their reelection bids by 7 points and 8 points, respectively.
• Enthusiasm behind Kamala Harris — and the first presidential election year after the repeal of Roe v. Wade by Donald Trump’s Supreme Court — are factors that are lending a hand to these Senate candidates in battleground states.
• However, with eight weeks remaining, there are no guarantees here. And with the near-certain loss of West Virginia due to Joe Manchin’s retirement, the balance of power in the Senate is even tighter.
• Reminder: it’s been tied or nearly tied for the past nearly eight years, so much that VPs Mike Pence and Kamala Harris have often been called to cast the tie breaking vote.
• Let’s move on.
• The manhunt continues for Joseph Couch, the Kentucky man suspected of opening fire on vehicles on Interstate 75 and severely injuring five people. Multiple counties in the area hunkered down and schools remained closed amid warnings from officials to keep watch for the suspect on the loose.
• Authorities believe Couch is contained to a wooded area near Interstate 75, where a line of at least a dozen vehicles riddled with bullet holes was found on Saturday evening. They are combing areas in nearby Daniel Boone National Forest.
• Due to our Second Amendment “freedoms,” Couch, 32, was able to purchase an AR-15 and nearly 1,000 rounds of ammo on Saturday with no waiting period before opening fire on innocent people.
• Moving on.
• The far right is having feelings… and they’re upset at Dump’s 2024 campaign for being too liberal.
• No, I’m serious. Stop laughing.
• Paul Dans, the former director of Project 2025, is sharply criticizing Dumpy’s campaign, accusing its two top advisers of a series of missteps, lack of preparation and overconfidence that he says have jeopardized Dump’s chances in November.
• So sad, too bad.
• Dans, a longtime supporter and close ally of Dumples, oversaw Project 2025 for more than two years until the public became aware of its proposals and turned it into a political liability for Dump.
• He blames Dump’s senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles for the race against Kamala Harris being so close, and urged Dump to fire the two consultants.
• Dans’ complaints are similar to many others on the far right, with media figures, activists, and former Dump administration officials saying they are worried by what they see as strategic mistakes and the campaign trying to engage centrist voters.
• It’s funny, because literally yesterday, Dump made a statement supporting the weed legalization initiative in Florida, a move that is blatant pandering toward less conservative voters.
• The bane of all politicians is wanting to appear that they are everything to everyone, when that’s literally impossible.
• In other news…
• Can I mention something that I should’t have to mention?
• Because you know I will anyway.
• Taylor Swift is an internationally renowned musical performer. Everything she does, from how she ties her shoes to what fruit juice she prefers, is scrutinized and interpreted by media and rabid fans.
• So over this past weekend, she attended the US Open with her boyfriend, her boyfriend’s coworker, and the coworker’s wife. That’s a normal thing for people to do. It’s probably something you’ve done.
• But because the boyfriend’s coworker’s wife is a Dump supporter, I read far too many social posts claiming, “Oh noes, Taylor is a MAGA and has abandoned us!”
• That is fucking insane. If you think that, you are insane. And let me tell you, if I look through the families of any of your significant other’s coworkers and find a MAGA there, would it be fair for me to assume you’re one too?
• Jesus people. And note that I’m not saying anything about whatever Taylor’s political preferences may or may not be. I am saying that her being cordial with Brittany Mahomes doesn’t mean she’s secretly wearing a fucking MAGA cap.
• C’mon. Don’t be one of those people.
• And now, The Weather: “You're On Your Own This Time, Again” by Molly Payton
• Rest in peace to the great James Earl Jones. The renowned actor died yesterday at age 93.
• Interestingly, Jones had a terrible stutter as a child. It was so severe that he often could communicate only in writing.
• When he got into high school, an English teacher, upon learning that Jones composed poetry, encouraged him to read his writing aloud in class.
• And he grew up to have one of the most mellifluous and eloquent speaking voices of a generation. His resonant, unmistakable baritone was most widely known as the voice of “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader.
• But Jones’ acting career spanned over 60 years, from acclaimed Broadway roles to other lauded voice acting gigs like that of King Mustafa in Disney’s animated feature “The Lion King.”
• Among his more than 80 film credits, Jones’ notable movies include “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Man,”“Conan the Barbarian,”“Field of Dreams,” “The Sandlot,” “Cry, the Beloved Country,” and many more.
• Let’s do a chart. It’s the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for early November 2020.
• A side topic: why don’t I post more charts from the past 20 years? Is it because I hate new music?
• No, of course not. Every single day in this very report, you get a bullet called “The Weather” that usually includes a song that’s been released in the past couple of weeks.
• But these are the pop charts, and I’ve never been a big pop guy. The new music I post tends to be independently released music… indie rock, indie pop, experimental, avant garde, shoegaze, dream pop, and other related sub-genres that I personally enjoy.
• I’m not saying that all new pop is terrible. It’s just rare that it aligns with the sounds that I’m personally into. That’s all.
• Anyway, these are the biggest pop hits the week that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election, knocking Donnie Dump out of the White House — hopefully once and for all.
• 1. Mood (24kGoldn Featuring iann dior). 2. Positions (Ariana Grande). 3. Laugh Now Cry Later (Drake Featuring Lil Durk). 4. Blinding Lights (The Weeknd). 5. I Hope (Gabby Barrett Featuring Charlie Puth). 6. Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) (Jawsh 685 x Jason Derulo). 7. Lemonade (Internet Money & Gunna Featuring Don Toliver & NAV). 8. 34+35 (Ariana Grande Feat. Doja Cat & Megan Thee Stallion). 9. Dakiti (Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez). 10. WAP (Cardi B Featuring Megan Thee Stallion). 11. Holy (Justin Bieber Featuring Chance The Rapper). 12. For The Night (Pop Smoke Featuring Lil Baby & DaBaby). 13. Rockstar (DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch). 14. Before You Go (Lewis Capaldi). 15. Go Crazy (Chris Brown & Young Thug). 16. Dynamite (BTS). 17. Watermelon Sugar (Harry Styles). 18. Forever After All (Luke Combs). 19. Kings & Queens (Ava Max). 20. Said Sum (Moneybagg Yo).
• From the Sports Desk… last night’s opening Monday Night Football game continued the week one trend of rusty teams. Mistakes and poor performances on both sides of the ball culminated in a 32-19 win by the 49ers over the Jets, even though the Niners played without star running back Christian McCaffrey.
• Aaron Rogers had a particularly mediocre game, going 13-for-21 for just 167 yards and an interception. The Jets gave up eight straight scoring drives, something they hadn't done in 45 years.
• And a side note: neither Rodgers nor any of the Jets’ starters played in the preseason
• Welp.
• From the “I Wish It Wasn’t Sports Desk… a new civil lawsuit filed yesterday in Houston accuses Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and battery in October 2020, when he was a member of the Houston Texans.
• Watson, 28, has already served an 11-game suspension in 2022 after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions. Watson settled 23 of the 24 civil lawsuits filed against him in the summer of 2022.
• According to the new lawsuit, when Watson visited the woman’s house for a dinner date, the woman walked out of her bathroom to find Watson completely naked on her bed
• After demanding that the woman massage him, Watson "partially disrobed Jane Doe and penetrated her vagina without consent, implicit or explicit," according to the lawsuit, which also alleges that Watson sexually assaulted the woman for several minutes before she escaped.
• Sigh. Why are people the way they are?
• Today in history… Nathan Hale volunteers to spy for the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War (1776). Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine (1846). A sheriff's posse kills 19 unarmed striking immigrant miners in Lattimer, PA (1897). Abebe Bikila becomes the first sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal, winning the marathon in bare feet (1960). Hearings began in the United States Senate on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1991). Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, becomes a full member of the United Nations (2002). The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history, is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland (2008). Death of Queen Elizabeth II; King Charles III is formally proclaimed as monarch (2022).
• September 10 is the birthday of singer-songwriter/lute player Nicholas Lanier (1588), composer Henry Purcell (1659), mathematician/philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839), activist Laura Cornelius Kellogg (1880), physicist Arthur Compton (1892), film director Robert Wise (1914), MLB player Ted Kluszewski (1924), golfer Arnold Palmer (1929), fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld (1933), journalist Charles Kuralt (1934), MLB player Roger Maris (1934), singer-songwriter/guitarist José Feliciano (1945), NBA player Bob Lanier (1948), journalist Bill O’Reilly (1949), guitarist/songwriter Joe Perry (1950), actress Amy Irving (1953), actor Colin Firth (1960), singer-songwriter/guitarist David Lowery (1960), MLB player Randy Johnson (1963), film director Guy Ritchie (1968), policy analyst Neera Tanden (1970), NBA player Ben Wallace (1974), and MLB player Joey Votto (1983).

That’s plenty of news. Do try and watch the debate tonight. Even if you can’t stand either of the candidates (or both), seeing how the next POTUS acts in real time is part of being a good American, or global citizen. Enjoy your day.

Random News: September 9, 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 September 9, 2024, and it’s a Monday. Also, if the weather people are correct, it’s the last day of this shitty heat wave that’s making me sorta miserable, so I have that to look forward to… after today. For now, let’s do some news.

• Tomorrow is the first — and most likely only — debate of the presidential election. I doubt that either Dump nor Harris will see much benefit in being seen together onstage from now through election day.
• I know that at least some of you recall Harris in the 2020 VP debate against Mike Pence. Yes, the one where a fly perched on Pence’s white hair for a good portion of the event.
• But just as memorable was Harris’s  quick response when Pence tried to talk over her. “I’m speaking,” she said until Pence, looking like a complete ass, had to trail off and shut up.
• But those of us who know Kamala well — mostly us here in California — are very much aware that she is a laser-sharp debater who is quick on her feet.
• Here’s an example.
• At the 2016 U.S. Senate debate in California, her opponent Loretta Sanchez cast Kamala Harris as a tool of the establishment… but inexplicably closed her remarks with a dab.
• Yes, a dab. Like Cam Newton. Extended her left arm straight out and bowed her head into the crook of her right elbow. Wow.
• Harris played the moment like a master. Staring wide-eyed from across the stage, she pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows — letting silence hang in the air for a few seconds.
• “So there’s a clear difference between the candidates in this race,” Harris said after several moments, with the audience bursting out in laughter. Sanchez was immediately viewed as an unserious contender, and Harris won the election by a 23-point margin.
• She has great timing in debates, thinks fast on her feet, and knows how to go in for the kill. And in terms of looking presidential versus unserious candidates, she will be ready and waiting for Dump to start spouting gibberish.
• The skills Harris honed in the courtroom during her years as a prosecutor — including how to use restraint, timing, and humor to connect with audiences — will shape the outcome of her debate with Dump tomorrow as they did in her winning races for state attorney general and Senate.
• One more example of that… one I loved.
• In 2010, Harris was running for Attorney General of California. Her opponent was a Republican guy named Steve Cooley, and he was very much favored to win.
• But it was during their debate that Cooley fucked himself up so badly that he ended up losing by less than one percentage point. What happened?
• He was asked whether he would “double-dip” if elected by taking both the state-funded $150,000 salary of the attorney general and the pension benefits he had earned during more than three decades of public service.
• Cooley responded, “I earned it,” adding that he would use his pension benefits to supplement the “incredibly low salary of the state attorney general.”
• The moderator asked if Harris had anything to add.
• “Go for it Steve,” she said with a laugh. “You’ve earned it.” OUCH. That became the sound bite for the rest of the election cycle, and Harris won. And Harris will not hesitate to put Dump on his ass with a little verbal jiu-jitsu.
• And one other point: Dump being the rude, overbearing, misogynist dickhead that he is, it will represent a great opportunity for Harris to show America how she deals with with adversity. If she can handle him, she can certainly handle a hostile international actor.
• Let’s move on.
• Jury selection begins today in the federal trial of three former police officers involved in the fatal assault of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, TN.
• Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith are charged with violating the 29-year-old's civil rights through excessive use of force, and other offenses. They have pleaded not guilty.
• The three defendants are charged with use of excessive force, failure to intervene during the assault, and deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, as well as obstructing justice by conspiring to cover up what happened.
• Two other ex-officers who were also involved in the incident — a traffic stop that led to a brutal beating caught on camera — may be called to testify against them.
• Nichols's death sparked protests against police brutality and calls for reform in one of the nation's largest majority-Black cities.
• Of course, in this particular instance, it’s Black cops on trial, so sadly I find it more likely that justice of some sort will be served, as opposed to if they were white cops who’d beaten Tyre to death.
• Moving on to another trial you might not have any idea about.
• Four years ago, in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, violent MAGA scum ambushed a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign bus. At least 40 vehicles flying MAGA and Dump flags formed themselves into a so-called “Trump Train” and encircled the bus, trying to run it off the road.
• As tends to happen to MAGA scum, they fucked around, and now they’re finding out.
• A jury trial opening in Austin, TX this morning will seek to hold these violent and dangerous Dump supporters accountable. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege they were terrorized and intimidated for more than 90 minutes as they took a bus tour canvassing for the Democratic ticket in the final days of the election.
• Those plaintiffs, who include the bus driver, a Biden campaign staffer, and Wendy Davis, the former Texas senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, say they were forced to cancel campaign events for fear that the intimidation would be repeated.
• They are pursuing punitive damages under both Texas law and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a federal statute from the Reconstruction period designed to end political violence and voter intimidation.
• The MAGA terrorists swarmed around the tour bus, coming within inches of it and forcing the driver to slow to a crawl. Several of the participants livestreamed their actions on social media, bragging about their aggressive driving.
• One of the defendants, Eliazar Cisneros, side-swiped an SUV being driven by a Biden-Harris campaign staffer behind the bus. The complaint says that Cisneros later boasted about “slamming that fucker”.
• One other important note here: the occupants of the bus pleaded with police to provide an escort but none appeared.
• A separate case, Cervini v Stapp, was settled in October with local law enforcement admitting that they had fallen short of their standards and agreeing to pay compensation to those whose safety they failed to protect.
• Who was at fault for all of this? Donald Trump Jr. arranged for MAGA terrorists to assemble. He posted: “It would be great if you guys would all get together and head down to McAllen and give Kamala Harris a nice Trump Train welcome. Get out there. Have some fun. Enjoy it.”
• But of course, he won’t face criminal charges. Only the people who did what he encouraged. If this is reminiscent of January 6, 2021, that is accurate.
• In another news item, I’ll remind you that the entire MAGA mindset is based on lies. Provable lies that are swallowed up by their recipients.
• Case in point…
• Over the weekend, Dumples posted that “20% of the Mail-In Ballots in Pennsylvania are fraudulent. Here we go again!”
• Small problem with that statement: there are currently zero mail in ballots for the 2024 presidential election in Pennsylvania.
• Their mail-in ballots will not be sent out until Saturday, September 21, and those ballots cannot be sent until their contents are legally certified.
• Why do you people just accept his bullshit? Because you’re fucking victims of a cult. Don’t let your pride stop you from realizing you’re the victims of a long con.
• Moving on.
• I’m only posting this next story to laugh at Dumples the Clown, and to laugh at anyone who thinks he’s some kind of great business guy.
• Ha ha ha ha! I’m laughing at you.
• Dumpy’s social media company is in a deep slump that keeps getting worse, wiping out a huge chunk of his net worth.
• Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) dropped last week to their lowest level since the merger that brought the owner of Truth Social public this spring. It has now lost about three-quarters (74%) of its value since peaking at $66.22 on March 27, currently trading at about $18.
• Most of the shares are owned by Dumpy himself. His dominant stake of 114.75 million shares was valued at $6.2 billion on May 9. It’s now down to about $2 billion, a sharp drop that has knocked Trump off the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the world’s 500 richest people.
• The company is losing money, generating very little revenue and Truth Social remains a relatively tiny player in social media.
• There is one saving grace, I guess. “If this wasn’t Trump, this thing would be trading at $1,” said Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management.
• Let’s talk for a second about another supposed business genius, Elon Muck.
• Also over the weekend, Mucky announced, “In order to be a platform that guy embraces Free Speech, the block and mute features will be removed form X this December as they are a hindrance to the 1st amendment.”
• Let me be clear here: this means that anyone who uses Twitter (aka X) will now have no recourse to stop cyberbullying, stalking, and abuse, and will have no control over who sees their posts and how they respond.
• If you have half a fucking brain, get off that platform. Try Threads instead, or any other microblogging platform. It’s going to continue to be worse and worse at Twitter.
• Side note: Elon himself uses the block and mute features quite often. Hypocritical piece of shit.
• And now, The Weather: “Baking Tapes” by Duster
• RIP going out to a guy many of you don’t know, but I did… literally.
• In 1994 or so, songwriter Will Jennings was one of my earliest interviews in the job I’d end up having still today, 30 years later. He died yesterday at 80.
• Jennings was an Oscar-winning songwriter behind mega-hits like "My Heart Will Go On,” and also wrote huge songs for artists as varied as Steve Winwood, Whitney Houston, B.B. King, Mariah Carey, Jimmy Buffet, Barry Manilow, and Roy Orbison.
• When I interviewed him it wasn’t long after he’d won a bunch of awards for co-composing the song "Tears in Heaven" that was performed by Clapton.
• Let’s do a chart. It’s exactly 50 years ago in September 1974, and here’s the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart.
• At the time, I was five years old and in first grade in Marblehead, MA. Kamala Harris was nine, living at her mom’s house in Berkeley, CA during the week and spending weekends with her father in in Palo Alto.
• 1. Fullfillingness First Finale (Stevie Wonder). 2. Bad Company (Bad Company). 3. 461 Ocean Boulevard (Eric Clapton). 4. Endless Summer (The Beach Boys). 5. Rags To Rufus (Rufus). 6. If You Love Me Let Me Know (Olivia Newton-John). 7. Bachman-Turner Overdrive II (Bachman-Turner Overdrive). 8. Marvin Gaye Live! (Marvin Gaye). 9. Chicago VII (Chicago). 10. Caribou (Elton John). 11. Back Home Again (John Denver). 12. Love Song For Jeffrey (Helen Reddy). 13. The Souther, Hillman, Furay Band (The Souther, Hillman, Furay Band). 14. Walking Man (James Taylor). 15. Stop And Smell The Roses (Mac Davis). 16. On The Beach (Neil Young). 17. The O'Jays Live In London (The O’Jays). 18. Small Talk (Sly & The Family Stone). 19. Not Fragile (Bachman-Turner Overdrive). 20. Body Heat (Quincy Jones).
• From the Sports Desk… with the exception of tonight’s debut of Monday Night Football, the first week of the 2024-25 NFL is complete.
• My basic first impression: damn near every team look rusty, including the winners. I saw a lot of careless mistakes that will no doubt be the topic of much film watching and coaches yelling before week two.
• That being said, things went pretty much as expected. Out of 15 games played so far, only three (Steelers over Hawks, Patriots over Bengals, and Cowboys over Browns) were actual upsets.
• Tonight’s MNF premiere is the Jets and Niners.
• From the Desk Adjacent to the Sports Desk… we already know who’s headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, and it’s KDot himself: Compton, CA’s own Kendrick Lamar.
• Kendrick performed at the game in Los Angeles in 2022 as part of Dr. Dre’s halftime show that also included Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and others.
• If you’re not familiar with Kendrick Lamar, you’re probably, um, white and old. Sorry. Since the release of his breakout album ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’ in 2012, Lamar has won 17 Grammys, and became the first non-classical, non-jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album ‘DAMN’.
• From the Definitely Not Sports Desk… a Miami-Dade police officer has been placed on administrative leave after Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was handcuffed and detained by police Sunday, right before the team played against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• Video circulating online appears to show four officers surrounding Hill as he is in handcuffs. Hill is lying on the ground while one of the officers has a knee on his back.
• I can’t make any judgement here without knowing more details. But Hill himself asked the right question…
• “I’m not going to give you a version that I still don't know what happened,” he said. “But I do want to be able to use this platform to say, ‘What if I wasn't Tyreek Hill?’”
• Indeed.
• Today in history… Christopher Columbus, with 17 ships and 1,200 men, sails on his second voyage from Cadiz (1493). Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is crowned "Queen of Scots” (1543). Thomas Cavendish in his ship Desire completes the first deliberately planned voyage of circumnavigation (1588). The Continental Congress officially names its union of states the United States (1776). Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington (1791). John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph (1839). California is admitted as the thirty-first U.S. state (1850). George Stibitz pioneers the first remote operation of a computer (1940). The WWII Allies land at Salerno and Taranto, Italy (1943). First case of a computer bug happens when a moth lodges in a relay of a Harvard Mark II computer at Harvard University (1947). Kim Il-sung declares the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, aka North Korea (1948). Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time (1956). The four-day Attica Prison riot begins (1971). Elizabeth II becomes the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom (2015).
• September 9 is the birthday of Roman emperor Honorius (384), politician Cardinal Richelieu (1585), admiral/politician William Bligh (1754), author Leo Tolstoy (1828), businessman Colonel Sanders (1890), actor Cliff Robertson (1923), singer-songwriter Otis Redding (1941), bass player Bruce Palmer (1946), NFL player Joe Theismann (1949), singer-songwriter/guitarist/producer Dave Stewart (1952), actor Hugh Grant (1960), NBA player Dan Majerle (1965), actor/producer Adam Sandler (1966), singer-songwriter Michael Bublé (1975), NBA player Shane Battier (1978), and NFL player Ricky Pearsall (2000).

That’s plenty of news to get your week started. Enjoy your day.

Random News: September 8, 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 September 8, 2024, and it’s a Sunday. And it’s not just any Sunday; it’s the first Sunday in a long time where NFL football games will be played. I mention this up here because in terms of my planning my day, that will be a large factor. So let’s do some news before kickoff time.

• I can’t stand talking about that fucking prick who once cheated his way into becoming the president. I especially don’t like leading my news with stories about him.
• But I will today, only because as he progresses deeper and deeper into the ravages of insanity, it’s important for you all to see it in real time and plan accordingly with your votes.
• Dumpy issued a warning on his social media last night.
• “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”
• So obviously, first off he’s completely freaking out about the strong possibility of a) losing, b) losing to a Black woman, and c) facing the real possibility of being imprisoned for his serious crimes.
• And he’s already taking steps to try and sow doubts about the integrity of the election, even though cheating in US elections is incredibly rare.
• He continued in his demented, paranoid manner… “Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”
• Fuck this asshole.
• His campaign aides and allies have urged him to keep his focus on Harris and make the election a referendum on issues like inflation and border security. But he can’t. he doesn’t have that ability. Instead, especially in recent days, he keeps veering far off course.
• He’s also announced some completely half-assed plan to create a new “Government Efficiency Commission,” and he wants it to be run by Elon Musk.
• No, seriously. It’s like if the worst of the worst made a club.
• So let’s move on from that shit, but not before I tell you that the latest New York Times/Siena poll has Dump at 48 percent and Harris at 47 percent — yes, within the three-point margin of error.
• But when I tell you that she’s an underdog and we have to fight like hell to make sure our country doesn’t fall into a dark dictatorship, I fucking mean it.
• Let’s move on.
• After next Tuesday’s presidential debate, Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will rally supporters in critical battleground states.
• Harris’s campaign will kick off its “New Way Forward Tour” on Thursday, two days after the debate and a day after the vice president marks the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
• Harris will visit North Carolina on Thursday and Pennsylvania on Friday. Walz will be in Nevada on Tuesday, Michigan on Thursday, and Wisconsin on Friday. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Walz’s wife, Gwen, will also visit key swing states, including Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Maine.
• In addition to their travel, the campaign will also launch a new ad called “New Way Forward” that highlights Harris’s key proposals, including a ban on price-gouging and investments to increase the housing supply. The ad will air in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Nebraska.
• Good. Let’s keep driving home her great policy messages. Dump has nothing to offer in return.
• Moving on.
• The Biden administration is denouncing Tucker Carlson after the far-right personality hosted a guest on his show this week who suggested the Holocaust happened by accident, calling the interview “a disgusting and sadistic insult to all Americans.”
• Carlson did a two-hour sit-down with Darryl Cooper, whom he said “may be the best and most honest popular historian in the United States.”
• Cooper claimed that Nazi Germany’s mass murder of Jews was due to poor planning instead of the methodical extermination that it actually was.
• Elon Musk, who promoted the interview on his dead social media platform X, called it, “Very interesting. Worth watching,” but even he wasn’t able to stand by that statement and later deleted his post.
• Senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said “giving a microphone to a Holocaust denier who spreads Nazi propaganda is a disgusting and sadistic insult to all Americans, to the memory of the over 6 million Jews who were genocidally murdered by Adolf Hitler, to the service of the millions of Americans who fought to defeat Nazism, and to every subsequent victim of Antisemitism.”
• Racists and holocaust deniers are disgusting scum humans who have no positive contributions to any civilized society.
• Despite the condemnation, Carlson has continued to be embraced by the Republican Party, which gave him a prime time speaking slot at last month’s party convention in Milwaukee.
• Carlson is also undertaking a live speaking tour this fall with events across the country. Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, is scheduled to appear with Carlson at a September 21 event in Hershey, PA.
• That tracks.
• And since I brought up Jeremiah Dipshit Vance, I’ll also add that yesterday, Dump called for modifying the 25th Amendment to allow for the removal of a vice president who “lies or engages in a conspiracy to cover up the incapacity of the president.” 
• I know the Tangerine Twat is talking about Harris and Biden, but he’s also looking toward the future of being removed by Vance as Dump sinks further into his dementia.
• Moving on.
• We no longer do “Sunday Gunday” here at Zak’s Random News. Pointing out that dozens and dozens of Americans shoot and kill each other via horrible instances of gun violence each weekend didn’t seem to change that fact in any way.
• But I will mention that once again, one guy with a gun can destroy the lives of many families in an instant.
• Multiple people were shot yesterday along a highway in a rural area of southeastern Kentucky. Seven people were hurt in the shooting and a vehicle accident that accompanied the violence.
• The sheriff's office said it was searching for 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch. He was described as a white man, about 5-foot-10 and weighing 154 pounds. Authorities said he should be considered armed and dangerous and people should not approach him. 
• Little man, big gun. Seems typical to me.
• And now, The Weather: “Four Leaf Clover” by Peel Dream Magazine
• And yes, still hot here in SoCal. I feel bad for my friends who are more inland and getting the worst of it. Thousands of them lost power at various points, with the power grid being overtaxed by people using their AC.
• Let’s do a chart, going back 40 years to the day with the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on September 8, 1984.
• On that day, Kamala Harris was starting classes for her second year at Howard University in Washington, D.C., while Tim Walz was taking classes at the University of Houston and being enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard. Me? I was starting my junior year at Miraleste High School in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.
• 1. What's Love Got To Do With It  (Tina Turner). 2. Missing You (John Waite). 3. She Bop (Cyndi Lauper). 4. Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr.). 5. Stuck On You (Lionel Richie). 6. Let's Go Crazy (Prince And The Revolution). 7. If This Is It (Huey Lewis & The News). 8. The Warrior (Scandal Featuring Patty Smyth). 9. Sunglasses At Night (Corey Hart). 10. Drive (The Cars). 11. When Doves Cry (Prince). 12. Lights Out (Peter Wolf). 13. The Glamorous Life (Sheila E.). 14. If Ever You're In My Arms Again (Peabo Bryson). 15. Rock Me Tonite (Billy Squier). 16. Round And Round (Ratt). 17. Cover Me (Bruce Springsteen). 18. Cruel Summer (Bananarama). 19. All Of You (Julio Iglesias & Diana Ross). 20. Dynamite (Jermaine Jackson).
• From the Sports Desk… as I mentioned above, today is the first Sunday of the 2024-25 NFL season. While I almost never have time to actually watch full games — I’m a busy human — I do have a routine during this time of year.
• It starts with the fact that here on the West Coast, the first batch of games start bright and early (for a Sunday) at 10am, with the second batch around 1pm, and the Sunday Night game at 5pm.
• So basically, I keep a browser tab open on ESPN’s NFL scores, and another on my pick ‘em pool,, and have all of the above easily accessible on my phone as well.
• I sometimes watch a bit of a game here and there — especially if my Las Vegas Raiders seem to be doing well. And then I catch various highlights, usually on the NFL’s YouTube channel that has become really good at showing them in near real-time.
• So that’s my plan today. Football is a terrific distraction from stressful life… until I start getting stressed about the games, but those aren’t real life. I have my perspective straight in that regard.
• Today in history… Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Piazza della Signoria in Florence (1504).  Marriage of King George III of the United Kingdom to Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1761). The Tonquin sets sail from New York Harbor with 33 employees of John Jacob Astor's newly created Pacific Fur Company on board, arriving six months later at the mouth of the Columbia River and establishing the fur-trading town of Astoria, Oregon (1810). The Northern Pacific Railway was completed in a ceremony at Gold Creek, Montana (1883). To prove women were capable military dispatch riders, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren arrive in Los Angeles, completing a 60-day, 5,500 mile cross-country trip on motorcycles (1916). 3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape (1930). The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation makes its first televised broadcast (1952). The landmark American science fiction television series Star Trek premieres with its first-aired episode, "The Man Trap” (1966). In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated (1971). Gerald Ford signs the pardon of Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office (1974). US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline "I Am A Homosexual” (1975). NASA launches Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-106 to resupply the International Space Station (2000). Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after reigning for 70 years (2022).
• September 8 is the birthday of king Richard I of England (1157), mathematician Marin Mersenne (1588), composer Antonín Dvořák (1841), mandolin player/composer Seth Weeks (1868), politician Claude Pepper (1900), actor Sid Caesar (1922), activist Jacqueline Ceballos (1925), actor Peter Sellers (1925), singer-songwriter Patsy Cline (1932), politician Bernie Sanders (1941), singer-songwriter/keyboardist Ron Pigpen McKernan (1945), NHL player Rogie Vachon (1945), singer-songwriter/bass player Benjamin Orr (1947), bass player Will Lee (1952), actress/activist Heather Thomas (1957), singer-songwriter/guitarist Aimee Mann (1960), singer-songwriter/guitarist Neko Case (1970), actor David Arquette (1971), actor Martin Freeman (1971), singer-songwriter Pink (1979), rapper Wiz Khalifa (1987), DJ/remixer Avicii (1989), and MLB plater Gerrit Cole (1990).

Okay. That’s all for now. Time for more coffee and then… are you ready for some football? Why, yes. Yes I am. Enjoy your day.