Random News: September 26, 2024

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s September 26, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. As usual, many thing happening in the world, some of which will impact you personally, some folks you know, others to people you’ll never meet but are still part of our human family. Let’s see what those thing are.

• First, here’s something I may repeat every fucking day and it still won’t be enough: Check your voter registration right now. Stop reading, go to vote.org and take a look.
• It will take ten seconds.
• Why? Because hundreds of thousands of people have been removed from voter rolls in recent months.
• They get removed, allegedly, because they haven’t voted in awhile, or because they moved, or for other reasons.
• So especially if you’ve changed residences in the past four years, or your changed your name (like, maybe got married or something), or you didn’t vote in 2020 or 2022… just go check.
• Don’t wait any longer or you might not be allowed to vote in November despite being a legal adult citizen of the USA. There are powers acting at this very moment whose entire goal is to stop you and a bunch of people like you from voting.
• I’d been hesitant to talk about the things going on with New York Mayor Eric Adams until something tangible happened.
• And now it has. Yesterday, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that remain sealed, but are expected to be announced today.
• Even as recently as this morning, FBI agents were conducting a search of Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s home.
• Words on the street is that Adams is being indicted on a number of corruption and bribery charges, some of which may involve foreign entities. The charges are supposed to be announced in about a half hour after I post this.
• His administration was already reeling from a series of high-level resignations amid at least four federal probes. Some of those who stepped down include Edward Caban, his handpicked police commissioner, after the authorities issued a subpoena for his phones.
• The mayor's chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, stepped down. This week, the schools chancellor, David Banks, announced plans to retire at the end of the year. Banks had also turned over his phone to federal authorities.
• I’ll mention once again that if a political leader commits a crime, they should face legal repercussions like any other person…no matter who they are, what party they’re with, or how powerful or rich they are.
• That’s how it’s supposed to go in America. None of this bullshit of being above the law.
• Let’s move on.
• Oh wait.
• Speaking of the mayors of New York, a former one — Rudy Giuliani — was permanently disbarred in Washington, DC this morning.
• His disbarment is from ethics proceedings Giuliani faced due to his efforts to help Dumpy try to overturn the 2020 election.
• Giuliani is one of multiple former Trump attorneys who faced professional disciplinary proceedings for their participation in El Dumpo’s election reversal schemes, but for most of the other Trump lawyers, their proceedings are still ongoing.
• Okay, let’s do other news.
• Yesterday, as expected, the House approved a three-month government funding bill to avoid an end-of-the-month shutdown.
• They cleared the legislation — funding the government until December 20 — in an 341-82 vote, including support from 209 Democrats and 132 Republicans. Eighty-two GOP lawmakers voted against the measure.
• Of course they did. Those 82 people are called “assholes.” They wanted to shut down the government right before a fucking election.
• And then the Senate passed the funding extension quickly in a 78-18 vote, and sent it to Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
• As you’re likely aware, the first attempt to pass this package failed because of a ridiculous add-on voting bill to make voting by non-citizens illegal… which has always been the case.
• Dumpy had wanted the House to shut down the government rather than pass the budget. They denied him. Dumples should get used to be denied… it’s going to happen to him with increased frequency in coming months and years.
• In other Senate news, here’s a rare moment when they acted unanimously.
• Yesterday the Senate passed a resolution to hold Ralph de la Torre, the CEO of troubled hospital operator Steward Health Care, in criminal contempt of Congress. 
• De la Torre failed to appear at a hearing where he was subpoenaed to testify on Capitol Hill earlier this month, and the Senate resolution refers the matter to the Department of Justice for prosecution. It marks the first time first time since 1971 that the Senate has held someone in criminal contempt.
• Every Senator from the most hardcore right wing to Bernie Sanders voted to nail De la Torre’s ass to a wall. I’m proud of them.
• Before declaring bankruptcy earlier this year, Steward owned more than 30 hospitals across eight states. The company failed to pay for life-saving supplies at its facilities after de la Torre and private equity investors he partnered with extracted hundreds of millions of dollars out of the company.  
• Get that prick.
• Moving on.
• The U.S. Secret Service, which usually tries to stay out of the news, has made headlines far too often lately. This time it’s for an even worse reason than usual.
• A Secret Service agent is under accusations of sexually assaulting a staff member of the Kamala Harris campaign in Green Bay, WI.
• The alleged assault was witnessed by other people and happened in a hotel room after staff had been to dinner. The agent allegedly forced himself on a female staffer, groping her in the process.
• I can tell you one thing: the remainder of that guy’s life is going to be very, very bad.
• Speaking of “very bad,” let’s talk about today’s supreme asshole (it was a tough choice), Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA).
• Yesterday, he put up a blatantly racist social post…
• "Lol. These Haitians are wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters… but damned if they don’t feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP," referring Dump and Couch Fucker.
• He continued, ”All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th.”
• I guess he decided not to call them “uppity n*ggers,” but that was his intent. Higgins deleted the post after being pressured from members of his own party.
• I’ll remind you that there have been no actual instances of pets being eaten, and that the Haitian people in question are in our country legally.
• I think Higgins should be the one to get his ass out of our country. people like him are not welcome here. Get the fuck out, racist pig.
• Also, I believe that Clay Higgins fucks goats. Prove me wrong.
• Let’s move on.
• US troops have been deployed to Cyprus amid sharply escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, and they are preparing for a range of contingencies including a possible evacuation operation from Lebanon for US citizens should a full-blown war erupt.
• Likewise, the UK announced this week that it was sending 700 troops to Cyprus to prepare for a possible emergency evacuation of British citizens from Lebanon if one becomes necessary.
• Sigh.
• There are more resignations from the staff of North Carolina Lt. Gov. and self-described Black Nazi Mark Robinson. Brian LiVecchi is resigning from his post as chief of staff and general counsel in the office of the lieutenant governor, and so is Director of Communications John Wesley Waugh, Policy Director Jonathan Harris, and Director of Government Affairs Nathan Lewis.
• Good people of North Carolina, please vote for Josh Stein for Governor.
• Even more political assholes to talk about today. 
• Wausau, WI Mayor Doug Diny posed for a picture Sunday to memorialize his removal of the city’s lone drop box that had been put outside City Hall around the same time late last week that absentee ballots were sent to voters.
• The city’s election clerk, Kaitlyn Bernarde, said she has reported the issue to the Marathon County district attorney a well as the state elections commission.
• After Dumpy lost the state in 2020, he and Republicans alleged that drop boxes facilitated cheating, even though they offered no evidence.
• It is a felony in Wisconsin to impede or prevent “the free exercise of the franchise at an election.”
• Fuck you, Diny, I hope you face charges, you asshole.
• And now, The Weather: “About (Hall of Egress)” by Lutalo
• Obviously, there’s some real weather news going on for our Florida friends. Hurricane Helene continues to intensify as it tracks north toward the Florida Panhandle. The eye — around which are the most dangerous and life-threatening conditions — is expected to make landfall this evening.
• Helene is forecast to grow into one of the largest storms in the Gulf of Mexico in the last century, with a wind field that could span the distance between Indianapolis and Washington, DC. Its huge size will result in higher storm surge and dangerous winds that stretch well inland. Widespread power outages are likely across the Southeast.
• I am hoping that my friends down that way are taking smart precautions and not just riding it out.
• From the Sports Desk… there are only a handful of MLB teams remaining that haven’t been either eliminated from the playoffs or have secured a playoff spot.
• They are the Royals, Tigers, Twins, Mariners, Mets, Braves, and Diamondbacks. My guess as to the two who will get in? Detroit (AL) and New York (NL). We’ll know in the next few days.
• Today in history… William II is crowned King of England (1087). Francis Drake finishes his circumnavigation of the Earth in Plymouth, England (1580). The Parthenon in Athens, used as a gunpowder depot by the Ottoman garrison, is partially destroyed (1687). George Washington appoints Thomas Jefferson the first United States Secretary of State (1789). Albert Einstein publishes the third of his Annus Mirabilis papers, introducing the special theory of relativity (1905). The United States Federal Trade Commission is established (1914). The ocean liner RMS Queen Mary is launched (1934). United Nations troops recapture Seoul from North Korean forces (1950). Typhoon Vera, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in recorded history, makes landfall (1959). In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy (1960). Abbey Road, the last recorded album by the Beatles, is released (1969). Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter (1981). The PBS Kids Channel is shut down and replaced by a joint network with Comcast called Sprout (2005).
• September 26 is the birthday of gardener/environmentalist Johnny Appleseed (1774), physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849), poet T. S. Eliot (1888), composer George Gershwin (1898), actor George Raft (1901), fitness expert Jack LaLanne (1914), singer-songwriter/guitarist Marty Robbins (1925), singer-songwriter Brian Ferry (1945), singer Gal Costa (1945), activist Andrea Dworkin (1946), singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John (1948), musician Cesar Rosas (1954), actress Linda Hamilton (1956), singer-songwriter Darby Crash (1958), sports executive Jeanie Buss (1961), drummer John Tempesta (1964), politician Beto O’Rourke (1972), NHL players Daniel and Henrik Sedin (1980), and tennis player Serena Williams (1981).

Alright, I’m out of time… for this, anyway. Enjoy your day.