Random News: September 2, 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 2, 2024, and it’s a Monday. It being the Labor Day holiday, I made an attempt to sleep in a little, but my body and mind are too trained to being up at a certain time, so the light of dawn told me to get out of bed and come chat with you.

• So yes, it’s Labor Day. What is Labor Day? I ask that each year because I genuinely think a lot of people don’t know.
• Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States.
• Oregon was the first state of the United States to make it an official public holiday in 1887. It became an official federal holiday in 1894 and has remained so ever since.
• What is labor? Is the term only applicable toward jobs that require physical effort? Is this holiday limited to blue collar workers?
• Fuck no. It’s for everyone who works for someone else. And while I may be self-employed, I promise you that my business clients all think me like an employee.
• Anyway, If you’re an employee, you perform labor for a business where the business benefits from your efforts more than they pay you for it. That’s how businesses work. If your compensation costs the business more than you bring in, either in revenue/profit or savings, there’s no point in your being there.
• Labor Day is probably the most widely observed non-religious work holiday in the US, second only to Independence Day. Damn near everyone is a worker. More people are workers than those who celebrate Christmas. More people are workers in the civilian world than those who have done military service.
• If you like Labor Day weekend, or any weekend, or not being forced to work 16 hours per day without any days off until you die, or not having your young children not being forced to work in brutal conditions, the labor movement is who you should thank.
• It’s one of the most liberal, progressive concepts that exists in our country… that as a worker, you have rights and you have the power to exercise those rights.
• A note: plenty of labor leaders died, got the shit kicked out of them, or got arrested while fighting for the rights of working people. If it was up to the corporations who generally control things, you’d never have any rights at all as an employee.
• So really, thank them. I think you already know that Democratic leaders are those who have been most aligned with the labor movement and who fight for the preservation of worker’s rights.
• Let’s move on.
• We have an appropriate story to open our news. It’s about choosing your political friends wisely, especially when they take anti-labor stances.
• Elon Musk’s endorsement of Dumpy was meant to buoy the candidate’s chances in November. But more than a month after Musk officially put his weight behind Trump, a series of Democratic attacks have suggested that the endorsement has exposed a major vulnerability. 
• During their recent live one-on-one discussion on X, Dump brought up how much he admires Musk’s handling of labor unions. 
• “I look at what you do. You walk in and you just say, ‘You wanna quit?’” Dumpy said while laughing about Americans losing jobs for asking for their legal rights.
• “Yeah,” Musk broke in, also laughing at Americans losing income. 
• “They go on strike,” Dumpy continued. “I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone, so every one of you is gone.’ And you are the greatest.” 
• Turns out that’s not okay. American workers’ right to strike is guaranteed by law via the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
• So the United Auto Workers union filed unfair labor practice charges against Musk and Dump, alleging they interfered with workers who may want to exercise their labor rights.
• UAW president Shawn Fain pressed the issue in media interviews. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said at an event at the Democratic National Convention: “You can’t be pro-Elon Musk and pro-worker.” 
• And even Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, slammed Dump and Musk’s comments as “economic terrorism.” 
• Musk himself has a long record of opposing organized labor and has fought allegations of illegal anti-worker activity at his companies Tesla, SpaceX, and X.
• So much like his horrible choice of VP, Dump can’t walk away from his decision to kiss Musk’s ass. Now he has to carry it through to its conclusion.
• If you want to maintain your rights as a worker and not be horribly taken advantage of, there’s only one clear choice in this coming election, and it’s for the candidate endorsed by nearly every single labor union in the USA… Kamala Harris.
• And if you still support Dumpy after knowing all this, do not take today off, and send your paycheck back to your boss this week. Be a slave. Work for free.
• Let’s move on.
• The big news right now is in Israel, where today a rare general strike was in place to protest the failure to return hostages held in Gaza led to disruptions around the country.
• In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a general strike is where a large portion of a country refuses to work, momentarily crippling the country’s economy. It’s a drastic but often effective way to demand immediate change in a crucial situation.
• Hundreds of thousands of Israelis had poured into the streets late yesterday in grief and anger after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza. It appeared to be the largest protest since the start of the war.
• The families and much of the public blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they could have been returned alive in a deal with Hamas. I believe they are correct.
• Today, U.S. President Joe Biden added to the pressure by saying that Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to reach a deal for a cease-fire and hostage release.
• Hamas has accused Israel of dragging out months of negotiations over a cease-fire by issuing new demands, including for lasting Israeli control over two strategic corridors in Gaza. Hamas has offered to release all hostages in return for an end to the war, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
• Netanyahu has pledged “total victory” over Hamas and blames it for the failure of the negotiations, which have dragged on for much of this year. But any victory Netanyahu achieves under this strategy will be pyrrhic at best.
• The Vocabulary Desk reminds you that a Pyrrhic victory is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat.
• And keep in mind, Hamas isn’t the only enemy of Israel. They also fighting other Iran-backed terror groups like Hezbollah.
• So this story is in flux. Will it end up with the resignation of Netanyahu, who is often called the “Israeli Trump” due to his ego-based actions? Time will tell.
• Moving on, and back to the topic of labor for a moment.
• More than 40,000 workers, represented by the UNITE HERE union, have been locked in difficult contract negotiations with major hotel chains that include Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Omni. They are seeking higher wages and a reversal of service and staffing cuts.
• At least 15,000 of them have voted to authorize strikes if no agreements are reached after contracts expire at hotels in 12 cities, from Honolulu to Boston.
• The first of the strikes began yesterday, when more than 4,000 workers walked off the job at hotels in Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and Greenwich, Connecticut.
• Moving on.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the third-party presidential candidate who suspended his campaign and endorsed Dumpy, is now suing the North Carolina State Board of Elections to get his name taken off the state’s November ballot.
• This fills me with schadenfreude glee. Kennedy had fought legal battles to remain on the North Carolina ballot before dropping out in a deal with Dumpster. It reminds me of the scene in “A Bronx Tale” where the bikers in the bar who refused to leave were told, “Now youse can’t leave.”
• So now he wants out, but last week, the North Carolina State Board of Elections rejected Kennedy’s request to be taken off the ballot, saying it would “not be practical” to reprint ballots in time for the start of absentee voting on September 6.
• RFK Jr. and his brain worm filed suit on Friday in Wake County Superior Court, and requested an immediate judgment in the case, citing the November election date and upcoming ballot deadlines.
• If he’s unsuccessful, it means this bag of dicks will remain on the ballot in swing states including Michigan and Wisconsin as well as NC.
•  Let’s move on.
• Forcing RFK Jr. to drop out isn’t the only thing that Dump and his Team of Evil are doing to sway the election. Across the country, a network of Republican political operatives, lawyers and their allies is trying to shape November’s election in ways that favor El Dumpo.
• Their goal is simple: prop up third-party candidates such as Cornel West who offer liberal voters an alternative that could siphon away support from Vice President Kamala Harris.
• Dump has offered praise for West, calling him “one of my favorite candidates.” Another is Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Trump favors both for the same reason. “I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them. He takes 100%.”
• Do you know why it’s one of Dump’s favorite catch phrases to say that Democrats are “rigging” elections? It’s because he’s been doing just that the whole time.
• Moving on, back to the international news.
• If you think the threat of far-right fascism is unique to the USA, I can (and have) shown you plenty of examples of it elsewhere… specifically Europe.
• Yesterday, the far-right Alternative for Germany won a state election for the first time in the country's east, and was set to finish at least a very close second to mainstream conservatives in a second vote, projections showed.
• It’s the first time since 1949 that an openly right-wing extremist party has become the strongest force in a state parliament. It is indeed cause for concern.
• However, a new party founded by a prominent leftist also made an immediate impact, while the parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unpopular national government obtained extremely weak results.
• It seems like everyone is around the world is becoming polarized, moving further and further away from centrist political philosophies.
• Let’s do some good environmental and human rights news.
• The largest dam removal project in US history is finally complete, after crews last week demolished the last of the four dams on the Klamath River near the the Oregon-California border.
• It’s a significant win for tribal nations who for decades have fought to restore the river back to its natural state.
• The removal of the four hydroelectric dams — Iron Gate Dam, Copco Dams 1 and 2, and JC Boyle Dam — allows the region’s iconic salmon population to swim freely along the Klamath River and its tributaries, which the species have not been able to do for over a century since the dams were built.
• Right fucking on.
• And now, The Weather: “Aqua Tofana” by Duster
• Let’s do a chart.
• At Howard, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C., Kamala Harris became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, one of the "Divine Nine" historically black sororities. She graduated in 1986 with a degree in political science and economics.
• Here’s the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for June 1986 when Kamala got her bachelor’s, which is also the same month as when I graduated from high school.
• 1. On My Own (Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald). 2. There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) (Billy Ocean). 3. Crush On You (The Jets). 4. Holding Back The Years (Simply Red). 5. No One Is To Blame (Howard Jones). 6. Who's Johnny ("Short Circuit" Theme) (El DeBarge). 7. A Different Corner (George Michael). 8. Invisible Touch (Genesis). 9. Nasty (Janet Jackson). 10. Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel). 11. Live To Tell (Madonna). 12. I Can't Wait (Nu Shooz). 13. I Wanna Be A Cowboy (Boys Don't Cry). 14. Danger Zone (Kenny Loggins). 15. Tuff Enuff (The Fabulous Thunderbirds). 16. Nothin' At All (Heart). 17. Like A Rock (Bob Seger). 18. Your Wildest Dreams (The Moody Blues). 19. Like No Other Night (38 Special). 20. Vienna Calling (Falco).
• From the Sports Desk… there’s still another four weeks in the regular season, but Major League Baseball is starting to show clear indications of what teams will be playoff bound. Here are the teams from each division that currently have a high percentage shot at making the playoffs.
• AL East: New York Yankees (79-58), Baltimore Orioles (79-59).
• AL Central: Cleveland Guardians (78-59), Minnesota Twins (74-62), Kansas City Royals (75-63),
• AL West: Houston Astros (75-62).
• NL East: Philadelphia Pillies (81-56), Atlanta Braves (74-63).
• NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers (80-57).
• NL West: Los Angles Dodgers (82-55), Arizona Diamondbacks (77-60), San Diego Padres (78-61).
• The Sports Desk also congratulates four-time Paralympian Matt Stutzman, who won the gold medal in men's individual compound archery yesterday at the Paris Paralympics. Stutzman, 41, grabbed his second Paralympic medal after claiming the silver back in 2012 in London.
• The Iowan is one of the world's best archers, and he has no arms.
• He finished the ranking round in a low-seed 19th place before taking down Mexico's Victor Viveros Sardina, then Finland's Jere Forsberg, Great Britain's Nathan MacQueen in the quarterfinals, and China's He Zihao in the semifinals.
• His final opponent was China's Ai Xinliang, who Stutzman beat in a dramatic 149-147 match to claim gold with 149 points out of a possible 150, a new Paralympic record.
• USA! USA!
• Today in history… Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion — it doesn’t last long (44 BC). Cicero launches the first of his oratorical attacks — Philippicae — on Mark Antony (44 BC). The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings (1666). The United States Department of the Treasury is founded (1789). Vice President Theodore Roosevelt utters the famous phrase, "Speak softly and carry a big stick.” (1901). Arthur Rose Eldred becomes first Eagle Scout of the Boy Scouts of America (1912). Japan signs their official surrender in WWII aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay (1945). Google launches its Google Chrome web browser (2008). The 2010 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are launched by the United States (2010).
• September 2 is the birthday of organist/composer Georg Böhm (1661), baseball player/businessman Albert Spalding (1850), pianist Horace Silver (1928), businessman Arnold Greenberg (1932), businessman Peter Ueberroth (1937), singer-songwriter/keyboardist Billy Preston (1946), NBA player Nate “Tiny” Archibald (1948), NFL player Terry Bradshaw (1948), teacher/astronaut Christa McAuliffe (1948), actor Mark Harmon (1951), tennis player Jimmy Connors (1952), skateboarder Tony Alva (1957), keyboardist/composer Steve Porcaro (1957), NFL player Eric Dickerson (1960), actor Keanu Reeves (1964), actress Salma Hayek (1966), singer-songwriter K-Ci (1969), comedian Katt Williams (1971), NFL player Brian Westbrook (1977), and NBA player Brandon Ingram (1997).

Okay, that’s enough for now. I will still be telling you more about the new mattress, upon which I slept for the first time last night. I couldn’t tell you about a mattress until I’d slept on it, for obvious reasons. Enjoy your day.