Random News: September 13, 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 13, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! As is typical, we have some good news, some bad news, and some news that is left open to your own interpretations and opinions. I guess that’s what we do daily here.

• Of note: It’s Friday the 13th. I’ve mentioned before, I tend to have good days on Friday the 13th, perhaps because I am more aware that awful things are supposed to happen, and I make it a point to be more positive about life as such.
• Let’s get things started today with some outstanding and unexpected good news.
• Yesterday, a North Dakota judge struck down the state’s near-total ban on abortion, saying the state constitution gives women a “fundamental right to choose abortion” before fetal viability. Restrictions on the right is “a violation on medical freedom,” he ruled.
• State District Judge Bruce Romanick declared the law, enacted by the legislature last year, “unconstitutionally void for vagueness.” The statute made the procedure illegal in all cases except rape or incest when the woman has been pregnant for less than six weeks or when the pregnancy poses a serious physical health threat.
• The ruling is bittersweet, though. Since the now-unconstitutional law had health care professional facing up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 fine, North Dakota no longer has any abortion clinics.
• None. Zero. In the entire state. Its onetime provider and plaintiff in the lawsuit, the Red River Women’s Clinic, was forced to move from Fargo to Moorhead, MN in 2022.
• Eighteen states currently ban abortion completely or after six weeks of pregnancy, the point before many women know they are pregnant.
• Hopefully someday this will all be more clearly resolved… like after Kamala Harris signs women’s reproductive rights into law for the entire nation after being elected President and getting that legislation through Congress.
• Speaking of Harris…
• Yesterday she was rallying in North Carolina, holding events first in Charlotte and then in Greensboro. Holding rallies in two of North Carolina’s largest cities highlights the importance of the state as a national battleground that the Harris campaign now sees as winnable.
• So do I.
• At the events, Harris called for another round of debate with Donnie Dump, two days after annihilating him at their first debate in Philadelphia.
• Dump, as you likely know, confirmed yesterday that he will not debate Harris again. If I was him, I wouldn’t either. That’s like getting back in the ring after Mike Tyson sent you to a hospital. Can’t blame Donnie for being frightened of Kamala.
• One key moment form Harris’s Charlotte event, where she laughed and mocked Dump’s answer during the debate when he was asked about his plan to replace Obamacare.
• “He has no plan to replace it. He said ‘concepts of a plan’ – no actual plan. Concepts. And understand what’s at stake with that: 45 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act, and he’s going to end it based on a concept.”
• She’s right.
• Harris also pointed out that, per above, one out of three women now live in states with abortion access restricted by the end of Roe v Wade protections, which she described as a “Trump abortion ban”.
• Again, accurate. Dump claimed during the debate that “everyone wanted to get rid of Roe,” and continues to take full credit for women’s reproductive rights being removed.
• Fact check: unfathomably wrong. 63% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
• And speaking of Kamala Harris… she raised $47 million in the 24 hours following her debate against Dumples the Clown. It's Harris's biggest 24-hour fundraising haul since she raised $81 million after she replaced President Biden as Democrats' presidential candidate in July.
• Was it from a small number of wealthy people? Nope! The haul included donations from 600,000 individuals.
• Kamala’s campaign raked in $361 million in August, compared to Dump's paltry $130 million raised in that same period.
• Let’s move on.
• Due to the reckless spread of dangerous false information  about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH, the city was the vicim of a bomb threat yesterday that led to the evacuation of City Hall and numerous buildings.
• The city’s mayor, Rob Rue, said the threat specifically “used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community.”
• The Ohio city recently gained national attention as it became the subject of dehumanizing and xenophobic conspiracy theories amplified by Donnie Dump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), who claimed Haitian immigrants there were killing and eating people’s pets. 
• Police officials have repeatedly said there is no evidence to support the claim, which Dump repeated in Tuesday night’s presidential debate.
• Yesterday’s threat — almost certainly from a MAGA terrorist — not only targeted City Hall and other city buildings but also an elementary school. Local law enforcement is working with the FBI’s Dayton, OH office to identify the source of the threat.
• A little note on the sudden rise of race hatred tied at Haitian people.
• Over 300,000 Haitian-American voters live in Florida, which is now a swing state. I’m sure they have some feelings about being called “pet eaters.”
• Also, a note from future NBA hall of famer Steph Curry: “My beautiful half Haitian mother will be roasting a pig tonight, just like Kamala Harris did during the debate.”
• In other news…
• Donnie’s gag is still on.
• New York’s appeals court is keeping in place a limited gag order on Dumples the Clown, striking down his latest attempt to get the order lifted.
• The order prevents Dump from speaking about court staff, prosecutors or their families. Judge Merchan had previously said the order would be lifted after Dump is sentenced. But last week, Merchan pushed that sentencing off to November 26, after the election.
• Be careful what you ask for. Sometimes you might get it.
• As you’re aware, in May of this year, Dump became the first sitting or former president to be tried and convicted of felony charges. On the campaign trail, Dump has stated — without any evidence at all — that the trial where he was convicted of 34 felony counts was politically motivated.
• Additionally, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Dump’s request to halt post-conviction proceedings in his hush money criminal case, leaving a key ruling and Dump’s sentencing on track for after the November election.
• Once again, the denial of his motion for an emergency stay is was due to the postponement last week of Dump’s sentencing to November 26.
• Dumples’ lawyers said they wanted the case moved to federal court so they could then seek to have the verdict and case dismissed on immunity grounds.
• How about, “Fuck you, and no?” That works for me.
• While we’re talking about the abhorrent things the Dumpster has done, here’s another that would make any normal person think twice about supporting him.
• Twice this past summer, Dump’s golf club in Bedminster, NJ has featured speeches from white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who was also convicted of participating in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
• One of those events — a fundraiser for a controversial nonprofit group that supports Capitol riot defendants — was personally endorsed by Dump himself in a video message that was played for the room.
• “All of the people there, you’re amazing patriots. Have a great time at Bedminster,” said El Dumpo to the Nazis.
• You’ve probably seen pis of Hale-Cusanelli. He has a Hitler mustache and stated that “Hitler should have finished the job,” and “Babies born with any deformities or disabilities should be shot in the forehead.”
• If you vote for Trump, I assume you approve of and support his friends like Timothy Hale-Cusanelli.
• Let’s keep talking about Dump’s shitty friends.
• Remember Mike Lindell? The mustachioed former crack addict turned pillow salesman who is one of the most prominent supporters of Dumpy?
• Yeah, that guy is fucked.
• Package delivery company DHL is suing MyPillow, who owes them nearly $800,000 for unpaid bills.
• The new lawsuit is just the latest legal dispute to emerge against MyPillow and Lindell, a guy who loudly amplified Dump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
• DHL says they reached a settlement in May 2023 that required MyPillow to pay $775,000 in 24 monthly installments starting in April of this year. But MyPillow has made only partial payments on that settlement, totaling under $65,000.
• But Lindell is also being sued for defamation by two voting machine companies. Lindel’s lawyers who were originally defending him in those cases quit over unpaid bills.
• The company has also been sued and evicted for failing to pay rent. And in February, a judge affirmed a $5 million arbitration award to a software engineer who challenged data that Lindell said proved that China interfered in the 2020 election.
• Everything Trump touches dies. Keep it in mind.
• Maybe his little, um, pal Laura Loomer should keep it in mind too… but we’re not gonna talk about her.
• Yet.
• Moving on to some news I don’t like but am obligated to mention it regardless.
• Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has thrown out two more charges facing El Dumpo and a third against several of his allies in the sprawling election interference case that accuses them of criminally conspiring to try to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
• McAfee stopped short in two rulings issued Thursday of dismissing the entire indictment, which Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis sought more than a year ago under Georgia’s anti-racketeering statute. All the remaining defendants, including Dump, still stand accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy for their alleged efforts after the 2020 election.
• He’d previously dismissed three other charges against Dump and others. Dump now faces eight charges, down from 13 in the original indictment. In yesterday’s ruling, McAfee dismissed the three charges under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits state prosecutions of activities that fall under federal jurisdiction.
• The last thing I’ll mention about that Fat Orange Piece of Shit is that he’s far too close to me right this minute.
• Dump is doing a fundraiser and press conference at his golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes this morning, about an hour from now. That means he’s within a 10-minute drive of me at this moment as I write these words.
• I think I can smell him.
• (vomiting sounds)
• And now, The Weather: “Poltergeist” by Duster
• From the Sports Desk… this week, WNBA Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson wrote her name in the history books after recording the most points ever in a WNBA season.
• Her 27-point performance had her finishing with 956 points on the season. She passed Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd, who previously held the record with 939 points in the 2023 season.
• Oh, there was also a football game.
• The Buffalo Bills manhandled the Miami Dolphins 31-10 last night, with Tua Tagovailoa throwing three interceptions (including a pick-6) before leaving the game in the 4th quarter with a concussion.
• Today in history… Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David (1501). After three years of exile, John Calvin returns to Geneva to reform the church under a body of doctrine known as Calvinism (1541). Henry Hudson reaches the river that would later be named after him (1609). Great Britain, Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Worms (1743). The Philadelphia Convention sets the date for the first presidential election in the United States, and New York City becomes the country's temporary capital (1788). In a turning point in the War of 1812, the British fail to capture Baltimore. During the battle, Francis Scott Key composes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", which is later set to music and becomes the United States' national anthem (1814). American troops under General Winfield Scott capture Mexico City in the Mexican–American War (1847). Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film (1898). Margaret Chase Smith is elected United States senator, and becomes the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate (1948). Nikita Khrushchev is appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1953). ‘Super Mario Bros.’ is released in Japan for the NES (1985). Hurricane Gilbert is the strongest to-date recorded hurricane in the Western Hemisphere (1988). Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu (1989). Hurricane Ike makes landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast (1988). Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shakes hands with Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House after signing the Oslo Accords granting limited Palestinian autonomy (1993). 
• September 13 is the birthday of Italian cardinal Cesare Borgia (1475), pianist/composer Clara Schumann (1819), physician Walter Reed (1851), composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874), actress Claudette Colbert (1903), singer-songwriter/mandolin player Bill Monroe (1911), novelist Roald Dahl (1916), singer-songwriter Mel Tormé (1925), animator Don Bluth (1937), actor Richard Kiel (1939), actress Jacqueline Bisset (1944), singer/bass player Peter Cetera (1944), actress/singer Nell Carter (1948), producer/bass player Don Was (1952), drummer Vinny Appice (1957), singer-songwriter/guitarist Dave Mustaine (1961), drummer Zak Starkey (1965), drummer Stephen Perkins (1967), actor Tyler Perry (1969), fashion designer Stella McCartney (1971), politician Ro Khanna (1976), singer-songwriter/pianist musician Fiona Apple (1977), actor Ben Savage (1980), NBA player Nenê (1982), and NFL player Darren Waller (1992).

That’s plenty of stuff to consider for the moment. I’m going to try and stay away from Dumpy and his girlfriend Laura while they traipse around my area today. Fucking gross. Enjoy your day.