Random News: October 15, 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 October 15, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. Waking up feeling pretty good about things in general. Yes, it’s a crazy world, but at some point, I decided that walking around being angry, frustrated, frightened, or annoyed all the time is no way to spend a short life. I prefer finding appreciation and gratefulness for many things around me that merit it. That being said, I always prefer to be aware of things, good or bad, and act accordingly.

• First note…
• The election is three weeks from today. I repeat, the 2024 US general election is exactly three weeks from today, on November 5.
• I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of this election. Your entire future stands on the edge of a precipice — along with that of your family and friends.
• And now, the news.
• Vice President Kamala Harris will be interviewed by Fox News anchor Bret Baier tomorrow, October 16, in Pennsylvania.
• It will be her first sit-down with the network, and her first interview with a news outlet outside of her ideological comfort zone since becoming the Democratic nominee.
• Harris has previously granted interviews to CNN and CBS’ “60 Minutes,” as well as friendly venues including ABC’s “The View” and Howard Stern’s radio show.
• The Fox News interview is slated to air at 6pm ET on Wednesday. Baier is Fox News’ chief political anchor and one of the few prominent people on the network whose identity isn’t completely associated with far-right conservative commentary.
• Dumpy got super upset when he heard about the interview, most likely soiling his diaper while attacking Harris and Fox News on social media yesterday, saying the network “has grown so weak and soft on the Democrats.”
• He’s now the one avoiding all media where his lies can be fact-checked in real time.
• Something happened to Dumpy last night. Something that merits your awareness.
• He had what was supposed to be a town hall-type event in Pennsylvania last night. It was moderated by the very weird South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem. Yes, the one who shot and killed her puppy.
• It began sort of normally, with Dump taking questions from preselected attendees and giving meandering non-answers on how he would address housing affordability and help small businesses.
• But then, Dumples the Clown, slurring his words a bit, abruptly blurted out, “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into a music. Who the hell wants to hear questions, right?”
• Wait, what?
• But that’s what happened. He stood there onstage for 39 minutes, swaying, waving his arms around, looking like he had no idea where he was or what was happening.
• The music went on. Five songs. Six. Eight. Occasionally Dump would point to the dwindling crowd. Noem stood beside him, nodding with her hands clasped. Dump stayed in place onstage, slowly moving back and forth.
• Finally after nine fucking songs, ending with “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses, he wandered away offstage. That was it. That was his town hall.
• Someone must have eventually told him that he looked like a completely demented insane person at the event — which, of course, he is. So at 1am this morning, he sent out a panicked message via social media.
• “l've put out more Medical Exams than any other President in History, and aced two Cognitive Exams (the Doctor stated that my "cognitive exams were exceptional!"). I am far healthier than Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, but especially, Kamala.”
• Fucking WOW. Holy shit man. 
• This morning, Harris shared the video of Dump slow dancing with himself, writing just three words.
• “Hope he’s okay.”
• Snort. Anyway, there’s your Republican candidate for President.
• As long as we’re speaking about that guy — and won’t it be great when we no longer have to? — some follow-up from his latest huge blunder against his own supporters.
• Per reports, it’s now been confirmed that the reason thousands of people were stranded in the desert over the weekend after Dumpy’s little rally near Coachella, CA was because the bus company was not paid by Dump.
• Throughout the night, they made repeated requests for payment. They were brushed off each time and left.
• This is very consistent for Dump and his campaign. He constantly hires people and firms, and then simply doesn’t pay them after the services were rendered. Can you imagine being a business of any kind who didn’t demand full payment up front from him?
• Let’s move on.
• In breaking news this morning, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that county election boards are required by law to certify elections, rejecting an appeal by a sitting county co-superintendent of elections to delay or refuse finalizing results based on suspicion of fraud or a discount.
• This is a huge win for Democrats and for democracy.
• The lawsuit that brought McBurney’s response was initially filed by Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, who voted against certifying the most recent primary election in Fulton County.
• McBurney said that Georgia’s election codes and laws are set to ensure elections are fair and orderly, but that some election officials are working against that outcome.
• Per his order this morning, Georgia law requires that Adams and her fellow board members certify election results, saying specifically that the state’s constitution does not give them the legal right to refuse.
• Refusing to certify the results of the people’s votes is one of the key ways that Dump was going to use to illegally name himself the winner regardless of how people voted. Now? Not.
• Moving on.
• Following up on our story from yesterday in regard to FEMA employees being threatened due to misinformation from Dumpy, a North Carolina man has been arrested and charged with Going Armed to the Terror of the Public, a misdemeanor.
• The sheriff’s office began investigating William Jacob Parsons on Saturday after receiving a call that a man commented about possibly harming FEMA employees working after the disaster of Hurricane Helene in the Lake Lure and Chimney Rock area.
• Parsons is now free on a $10,000 secured bond. But why would this man be so enraged as to make armed threats against the very agency who’s there to help him and his neighbors?
• We all know why.
• The result was a full-day delay of FEMA’s door-to-door outreach program. FEMA wanted to ensure it protected staff on the ground while the agency worked with local law enforcement officials to assess the threats and how serious they were.
• Shaking my head. Let’s move on.
• At least half a dozen new lawsuits were filed yesterday against musician, producer, and complete scumbag Sean “Puffy” Combs, accusing him of sexual assault against men, women, and a 16-year-old boy.
• The suits were all filed anonymously by John Doe and Jane Doe plaintiffs in federal court in the Southern District of New York.
• The latest lawsuits are part of an expected wave of litigation against Combs by Houston-based attorneys, who previously said they were representing at least 120 alleged victims of Combs, including minors.
• This man was literally fucking (and sex trafficking) men, women, and children. I really don’t want to hear anyone speak in his defense. Though maybe it would be interesting to see the list of people who attended his parties.
• I’m just saying.
• Let’s move back to the election… and some jiu-jitsu maneuvers by Kamala Harris.
• She’s already been leveraging the power of memes and social media to reach a wider, younger audience and cast the Harris/Walz ticket as funny, relatable, and capable to young voters.
• And now, she’s using Dump’s own words and strange behaviors to sink his floundering ship.
• Example: in a TikTok video posted Sunday, the Harris campaign created a carousel of photos of Dumples, poking fun at his fake tan to the tune of Sabrina Carpenter's hit song "Please Please Please," in which she sings about doing her "makeup so nice."
• As the nation braced for Hurricane Milton, the campaign posted a TikTok making fun of a Dump press appearance in which he called a hurricane "one of the wettest we've seen from the standpoint of water."
• Dumpy has, at times, engaged with memes and often shares them on his social media, including ones that implied an endorsement from Taylor Swift.
• Like most bullies, Dumples is fine with throwing around insults, but runs away crying when they’re thrown back at him. How many times have you heard him say, “We’re not weird!” in recent weeks?
• Methinks the weirdo doth protest too much.
• Another thing you’ll be hearing from Harris: she’s going to make sure you know who Dump is referring to as “the enemy within.”
• That Bloated Orange Turd is a potential tyrant-in-waiting who just this past weekend threatened to jail his political opponents and to use US armed forces against American citizens who don’t support him.
• Do you MAGAs agree? Is that what a President should do?
• Do you consider me and people like me to be “the enemy within?” I really hope not. We’re all Americans who want very similar things… a prosperous and peaceful life for ourselves and our families, reasonable standards in health care, a fair justice system. Stuff like that.
• Anyway.
• One other election note, a happy one.
• Early voting begins today in Georgia, which means that President Jimmy Carter lived long enough to fulfill his final wish: to vote for Kamala Harris.
• The 100-year-old will cast his vote today. I’m happy for him… and for all of us.
• Moving on.
• Hey Texas. I see you there.
• I want to tell you that the poll numbers in the Senate race between Ted Cruz and Collin Allred are very close. Cruz has a slight lead but it’s within the margin of error.
• If you want to get rid of Ted, you have a real chance in three weeks. if I thought it wasn’t very possible for Allred to win, I wouldn’t be mentioning it here. Throw all your support behind Allred, any way you’re able.
• Let’s move on.
• A 26-year-old guy from England is dead after trying to get content for his social media so he can be a super cool influencer. 
• In doing so, he plunged to his death from the tallest bridge in Spain. 
• The cable-stayed bridge in Talavera de la Reina, 70 miles southwest of Madrid, is 620 feet high. Can I just please beg you… don’t do stupid shit for attention, okay? No one gives a shit about you.
• As you probably know, this is far from the first time that people died trying to impress others on their YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and related accounts.
• In July, an Indian travel vlogger died when she slipped and fell into a 300-foot gorge at a beauty spot south of Mumbai while she was shooting Instagram videos.
• In May 2023, a 17-year-old boy fell to his death from a bridge in Los Angeles that he was scaling in an apparent social media stunt.
• And plenty of people have died while just trying to take a selfie with zero situational awareness… like stepping backward off a cliff while getting that perfect pic to post.
• Try to continue living. Don’t die or get hurt for reasons of vanity or pure idiocy. Thank you.
• And now, The Weather: “Blot” by Vilde
• From the Sports Desk… the 6-seed Mets made a roaring comeback against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLCS, winning 7-3. The series even evened up at 1-1, and it heads to New York for Game 3 on Wednesday.
• In Game 1 of the ALCS, the 1-seed Yankees dominated the 2-seed Guardians 5-2, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Game 2 is today.
• In Monday Night Football, a tough back-and-forth battle between the Bills and Jets ended up with a 23-20 Buffalo victory after Aaron Rodgers threw a crucial interception with two minutes to go in the game.
• Ha ha.
• Six weeks into the season, we can see some distinct signs of who’s got the momentum.
• AFC: Chiefs (5-0), Texans (5-1), Ravens (4-2), Bills (4-2), and Steelers (4-2).
• NFC: Vikings (5-0), Lions (4-1), Falcons (4-2), Commanders (4-2), Packers (4-2).
• Today in history… Adoption of the Gregorian calendar begins, eventually leading to near-universal adoption (1582). Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted of treason (1793). The Edison Electric Light Company begins operation (1878). Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by France for espionage (1917). The New York Municipal Airport, later renamed LaGuardia Airport, is dedicated (1939). Luis E. Miramontes completes the synthesis of norethisterone, the basis of an early oral contraceptive (1951). FORTRAN, the first modern computer language, is first shared with the coding community (1956). The Black Panther Party is created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale (1966). Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL (1989). The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn (1997). The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes down 733.08 points, or 7.87%, the second worst percentage drop in the Dow's history (2008). 
• October 15 is the birthday of poet Virgil (70 BC), astronomer Asaph Hall (1829), philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844), boxer John W. Sullivan (1858), politician Paul Reynaud (1878), author Mario Puzo (1920), businessman Lee Iacocca (1924), singer-songwriter/guitarist Barry McGuire (1935), actress Linda Lavin (1937), musician/activist Fela Kuti (1938), actress Penny Marshall (1943), singer-songwriter/pianist Chris de Burgh (1948), skateboarder Stacy Peralta (1957), chef Emeril Lagasse (1959), actor Dominic West (1969), politician Wes Moore (1978), and NFL player Blaine Gabbert (1989).

That is plenty of news for now. Last note: please vote. Thank you. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 14, 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 October 14, 2024, and it’s a Monday. I’m up and about early as usual; it’s getting to that time of year when I’m up and showered and dressed a good while before the sun decides to join me for the new day. But that’s fine; I enjoy the quiet while gathering these news items for you.

• Yesterday, Kamala Harris appeared before a largely Black church audience in battleground North Carolina, and called out Dumpy for spreading misinformation about the government’s hurricane response.
• The vice president spoke at Koinonia Christian Center about the “heroes” all around who are helping residents without regard to political affiliation.
• “Yet, church, there are some who are not acting in the spirit of community, and I am speaking of these who have been literally not telling the truth, lying about people who are working hard to help the folks in need, spreading disinformation when the truth and facts are required,” Harris said.
• In her speech to thousands of supporters at a rally at East Carolina University’s arena, Harris suggested that Dump’s team has stopped him from releasing medical records or debating her again because they might be “afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable.”
• She’s correct, as usual.
• Today, Harris will rally voters in Erie County, PA, a bellwether that has a knack for predicting who carries Pennsylvania, having mirrored the outcome of this crucial battleground state in the last four elections.
• Tomorrow she’ll appear in Detroit for a live conversation with Charlamagne tha God, a prominent Black media personality.
• Moving on.
• Things continue to look bleak in the Middle East. Today, an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 18 people.
• There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military and it was not clear what the target was. The strike hit a small apartment building in the Christian-majority village of Aito, far from the Hezbollah militant group’s main areas of influence in the south and east of the country.
• Sigh.
• Yesterday, it was announced that the United States will send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel, along with the troops needed to operate it.
• The mission marks the first significant deployment of U.S. troops to Israel since the war in Gaza began. And the delivery of the sophisticated missile defense system risks further inflaming the conflict in the Middle East despite widespread diplomatic efforts to avoid an all-out war.
• Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have vowed to forcefully defend Israel while expressing support for a swift end to the war.
• How?
• Let’s move on.
• Aid to several communities impacted by Hurricane Helene was temporarily paused in parts of North Carolina over the weekend due to reports of threats against FEMA responders.
• On Saturday, FEMA workers had to halt their work in Rutherford County due to reports that National Guard troops saw armed militia threatening the workers.
• These are people who’ve fallen victim to Dump’s spread of misinformation, and are now causing irreparable harms to their own neighbors and families.
• Despite that, FEMA released a statement, saying, “For the safety of our dedicated staff and the disaster survivors we are helping, FEMA has made some operational adjustments. Disaster Recovery Centers will continue to be open as scheduled, survivors continue to register for assistance, and we continue to help the people of North Carolina with their recovery.”
• It’s incredibly sad, these brainwashed people screwing themselves. Dump is probably laughing about it.
• In other news…
• You know I rarely get into the details of things that are said and done at Dump rallies. To me, it represents the worst of America.
• But I do want to relate something that happened Saturday night of this past weekend, when Dump — for reasons unclear to anyone — did a rally in the Southern California desert city of Coachella.
• I don’t care about what happened during the thing. But afterwards? Thousands of people who’d been brought to the event in busses were stranded in the fucking desert.
• Here’s the tale as told from a hardcore MAGA named Wesley Johnson…
• “It's 10:22pm. Rally ended at 7pm. Thousands of people still stranded here waiting for transit back to the parking lots. Something has gone horribly wrong. Someone needs to ask the Coachella mayor if he had anything to do with this. Parking lot is a 2 hour walk. Countless elderly stranded here and can't walk anymore.
• “No restroom facilities accessible anymore. No more water. No food. Started with 20 busses for escorting people to the rally, and now only 1 bus remains at this point. Busses apparently went home. Not confirmed, but no more buses have showed up in the last hour and a half. Someone find out what happened here. This is not normal and feels nefarious and criminal.”
• It’s like, he’s so close to getting it. 
• I genuinely feel sorry for those people. Being stranded in the desert is no joke, especially for some of the elderly folks in that area.
• It’s difficult to say what happened. Some blame poor logistics planning, others opine that Dump simply may not have paid the transit company hired to retrieve the rally-goers. He has an ongoing and well-documented history of not paying his bills.
• This is not the first time attendees have been left high and dry after one of the Orange Twat's rallies. In 2020, rally-goers were left stranded in the cold after a Dump event in Omaha when coaches failed to pick them up.
• In related Dump rally news, I want to quickly mention Vem Miller, the guy who tried to go through a checkpoint outside Dump's Coachella rally while in illegal possession of a shotgun, loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine.
• Who is this guy? Miller is a registered Republican. He has a master's degree from UCLA and campaigned for Nevada's state assembly in 2022, but lost in the primary election.
• He is part of a far-right anti-government group, and considers himself a sovereign citizen. Snort lol guffaw hahaha hahahahahahaha. Oh Lordy.
• Yesterday, Miller said he was "shocked" to be arrested and accused of trying to hurt the former president, of whom he is a huge supporter.
• He said he was at the California rally on a "special entry pass" given to him by a Republican Party associate, and that he never had trouble when he attended Trump rallies in Nevada with weapons in his trunk.
• Yikes!
• Miller has since been released from the detention center on $5,000 bail. He is due to appear in court in January.
• In other news…
• Let’s go to the Economy Desk. I want to, once and for all, help you understand the concept of tariffs on imported goods.
• Dumpy seems to think they’re great for the American economy. He’s 100% dead wrong. I will show you how.
• Let’s say you have a hypothetical company in Germany who makes boots. They’re called Glückliche Stiefel. Their boots are sold around the world.
• They will happily sell their boots to a hypothetical US retailer called Boot Boy, but now Dumpy the Economy Clown has put a 20% tariff on them.
• Who pays the tariff? IT’S BOOT BOY. They have to pay Glückliche Stiefel for the cost of the boots, plus pay the US Treasury for the cost of the tariff.
• What happens next? It’s super simple.
• Boot Boy — the US-based retailer — jacks up the price of the boot by 20% to make up for the amount they pay in tariff fees.
• And now you, the consumer, run into higher prices on all manner of items. That’s how a tariff is just a tax on the American people.
• Any questions?
• Today is Indigenous Peoples' Day, a commemoration of Native American history and culture.
• The holiday was formally known as Columbus Day (and is still recognized as such in some states). California dropped Columbus Day 15 years ago in 2009.
• Indigenous Peoples' Day has been federally recognized through proclamation for the past three years. In 2023, President Joe Biden proclaimed the day to “honor perseverance and courage of Indigenous peoples.”
• One thing you might do that is cool today: take a look at a historical map, and see the tribal name of the people who once resided on the land where you live today.
• Where I live, in the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach, CA, the Tongva/Gabrielino Tribes lived for over 7,000 years before the area was colonized… first by Spain/Mexico, and then by the USA.
• Moving on.
• From the Space Desk, a factoid that will be impactful to me later this week, for reasons that I shall unveil soon.
• We have a full moon coming… the Hunter's Moon, a centuries-old name for the full moon immediately following the autumnal equinox and the September Harvest Moon that rises with it, which signals an acceleration in the hunting season.
• But the upcoming full moon is also a supermoon, where the moon appears brighter and larger to skywatchers on Earth because of its proximity to the planet, and this one is slated to be the most dazzling of the year so far. 
• It would be neat to, say, be somewhere that might be interesting to be during the brightest supermoon of the year. Hmm.
• And now, The Weather: “edgar” by shower curtain
• From the Sports Desk… the 1-seed Dodgers gave a shellacking to the 6-seed Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS last night. With that 9-0 win, the Dodgers have now not allowed a run to score in the past 27 innings of play.
• Game 2 is this afternoon. Tonight is Game 1 in the ALCS, with the 2-seed Guardians visiting the 1-seed Yankees.
• In Game 2 of the WNBA Finals, the New York Liberty opened a can of whoop-ass on the Minnesota Lynx, winning 80-66. That series is tied 1-1 as it shifts to Minnesota for Game 3 on Wednesday.
• In the NFL there was a shift back to the expected results, as every game thus far in Week 6 has been won by the favored team. 
• Tonight’s Monday Night Football game features the Bills at the Jets.
• Today in history… The Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings (1066). Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England — my 22nd great-grandfather — forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence (1322). The First Continental Congress denounces the British Parliament's Intolerable Acts and demands British concessions (1774). George Eastman receives a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film (1884). The Chicago Cubs defeat the Detroit Tigers, 2–0, clinching the 1908 World Series; this would be their last until winning the 2016 World Series (1908). Theodore Roosevelt is shot and wounded but still delivers his scheduled speech (1912). Prisoners at Sobibor extermination camp covertly assassinate most of the on-duty SS officers and then stage a mass breakout (1943). Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to exceed the speed of sound (1947). Martin Luther King Jr. receives the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence (1964). The first live television broadcast by American astronauts in orbit is performed by the Apollo 7 crew (1968). Jim Hines becomes the first man ever to break the so-called "ten-second barrier" in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 9.95 seconds (1968). The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights draws approximately 100,000 people (1979). U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a War on Drugs (1982). Eric Rudolph is charged with six bombings, including the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta, Georgia (1998). The Steve Bartman Incident takes place at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois (2003). Felix Baumgartner successfully jumps to Earth from a balloon in the stratosphere (2012). About 10,000 American employees of John Deere go on strike (2021).
• October 14 is the birthday of businessman William Penn (1644), UK prime minister George Grenville (1712), US president Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890), actress Lillian Gish (1893), poet E. E. Cummings (1894), basketball coach John Wooden (1910), Surgeon General C. Everett Koop (1916), actor Roger Moore (1927), lawyer John Dean (1938), fashion designer Ralph Lauren (1939), singer-songwriter Cliff Richard (1940), actor Harry Anderson (1952), singer-songwriter/producer Thomas Dolby (1958), fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi (1961), MLB player/manager Joe Girardi (1964), actress Lori Petty (1973), police brutality victim George Floyd (1973), singer-songwriter Usher (1978), and NFL player Jared Goff (1994).

Well, there you go. You’re now informed. If you were previously asleep, now you’re woke. You’re welcome. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 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 October 13, 2024, and it’s a Sunday. It seems very calm so far this morning. Maybe it’s just me… it’s quiet and overcast here in my neighborhood. While I detest being bored, given the choice, I would take “boring yet peaceful” over “exciting yet stressful” every single time. Now let’s look at the news.

• This morning, President Biden got a firsthand look at the devastation inflicted on Florida’s Gulf Coast by Hurricane Milton. Biden is pressing Congress to approve additional emergency disaster funding.
• At the same time, Vice President Kamala Harris was spending a second day in North Carolina, hard-hit by Hurricane Helene, to worship with Black churchgoers and hold a campaign rally.
• She was spending Sunday in Greenville, with plans to speak during a church service as part of her campaign’s “Souls to the Polls” effort to help turn out Black churchgoers before Election Day.
• She was also scheduled to hold a rally to talk about her economic plans and highlight Thursday’s start of early voting in the state.
• Back in Florida, Biden’s motorcade drove along the highway, where piles of debris, tattered billboards, toppled fences, fallen trees, and closed gas stations were prevalent.
• He passed through a neighborhood where almost every home had water damage and heaps of belongings were on the curb.
• Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) seems unfazed by the devastation. Today, Johnson said that lawmakers will deal with the issue after the election because of the amount of time it takes to come up with an estimate.
• So yes, due to the Republican leadership in the House, at least another month will go by before the government even starts to look at providing additional help to the people of Florida, North Carolina, and elsewhere.
• Let’s move on.
• Kamala Harris said Friday she would create a bipartisan council of advisers if elected president.
• The veep announced this while campaigning in Arizona, courting Republican and independent voters there. Smart.
• Harris says her bipartisan advisors can give feedback on policy as we go forward. She added that she doesn’t want “yes people” around her.
• “We need a healthy two-party system, we have to have a healthy two-party system, we have to,” she said. “It’s in the best interest of all of us.”
• I agree.
• In other news…
• As I noted last week, I have already voted in the 2024 general election. 
• My ballot arrived on Saturday October 5 — all registered voters in California are sent one automatically — and by Sunday, I’d done my research, filled out my ballot, and dropped it off at a convenient drop box a block away.
• As tends to happen around this time in an election year, I’ve seen some people proudly showing off pics of their filled-in ballot. I do get that you’re excited to support your candidate.
• But guess what? Depending on where you live, that might be a crime. Here’s a list, for your reference, of states where taking or sharing pics of your ballot is illegal.
• Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.
• Is that all? No. A bunch of other states have more nebulous laws that apply more to things like taking pics inside polling places versus your mail-in ballot.
• In addition to basic privacy rights (and people accidentally disclosing personal information on the ballot), one of the reasons it’s illegal in some places is that you could be using the pic to prove that you voted in some situation where you were being paid to vote…and that’s definitely illegal.
• So my advice — take it or leave it — is that we don’t need to see a picture of your ballot. You don’t owe anyone proof of your support. Your word is enough.
• On a related side note, do NOT wear campaign t-shirts, buttons, hats, or any other item that shows your political preference while you vote…. whether it’s in person or even submitting a ballot at a drop box.
• That violates laws in most states. All it take is one person to claim that they felt intimidated to vote because of your presence, and a whole world of shit may come crashing down on you.
• Let’s move on to some international news.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on United Nations peacekeepers to heed the Israeli military's warnings to evacuate Lebanon immediately as the fighting intensifies amid Israel's ground operation.
• That’s never good. If you’re conducting military operations under the rules of international law, you welcome UN peacekeepers and other observers.
• Israeli forces have repeatedly fired upon locations where first responders and U.N. peacekeepers were present since the start of the ground operation against Hezbollah.
• Today, the Lebanese Red Cross said paramedics were searching for casualties in the wreckage of a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon when a second strike left four paramedics with concussions and damaged two ambulances.
• That rescue operation had been coordinated with U.N. peacekeepers, who informed the Israeli side. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
• Fuck Netanyahu. Much like his pal Donnie, the sooner he’s gone, the better off the world will be.
• Moving on.
• You know we no longer do our Sunday Gunday column here, but I did want to mention that at least one person was killed and 14 others injured in a mass shooting in Oklahoma City, OK early Saturday morning.
• The mass shooting took place at a Halloween party at an event center. Apprently it started as an argument between two groups, and they believe multiple shooters were involved.
• And then yesterday evening, another person was killed and nine others wounded — including three children — after two groups fired at each other after a Tennessee State University homecoming parade.
• I’ll once again remind you that the most likely way your child in the USA will be killed is via gun violence. Not car accidents, not cancer, not allergies, not drowning, not fires, not animal attacks.
• If you live in the USA, statistically, your child is far more likely to be shot and killed than any other cause of death. Common sense gun regulation would put a big dent in that number.
• Let’s move on.
• I haven’t been covering the endless barrage of lies that spew from the mouth of one of the most evil men to have ever walked our planet, the guy I call Dumples the Clown.
• Why would I?
• But I will mention this because I think it helps illustrate the horrible nature of this person.
• Dump was getting heckled at one of his little rallies yesterday and said tot he crowd of cheering people that a heckler would later get “the hell knocked out of her.”
• He stopped himself while demonizing immigrants to say, “Back home to mommy, she goes back home to mommy. Was that you darling? And she gets the hell knocked out of her. Her mother’s a big fan of ours, you know that right? Her father, her mother. You always have that.”
• The only other thing Dump said of note was that if he became president, he would withhold funds for California wildfires.
• “We’ll say, Gavin, if you don’t do it, we’re not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the forest fires that you have.”
• It’s darkly ironic that Dumpy is saying those hateful things literally at the same moment that Biden and Harris are busy directing help to supposedly red states. True leadership always puts country over party.
• Finally, Dump is also threatening to use the US military to go after American citizens who don’t support him. That’s people like me, and maybe you.
• It will be much worse than Hitler’s reign in Germany if you allow him to regain power. I’m not exaggerating. I genuinely hope I never have the reason to say, “I told you so.”
• Moving on.
• We gotta talk about TikTok. I hate singling it out, but there’s stuff happening on that platform that you need to be aware of.
• Per their own internal investigation, kids as young as 15 are stripping on TikTok’s live feature fueled by adults who were paying for it.
• Officials at TikTok discovered that there was “a high” number of underage streamers receiving a “gift” or “coin” in exchange for stripping — real money converted into a digital currency often in the form of a plush toy or a flower.
• The information came after a more than two-year investigation into TikTok by 14 attorneys general that led to state officials suing the company on Tuesday.
• Some other findings against the app — which is used by around 170 million people in the U.S. — include the fact that when TikTok’s main video feed saw “a high volume of … not attractive subjects” filling everyone’s screens, the app rejiggered its algorithm to amplify users the company viewed as beautiful.
• A presentation shown to top company officials revealed that an estimated 95% of smartphone users under 17 used TikTok at least once a month.
• On Friday, a bipartisan pair of senators — Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wrote a letter to TikTok asking the company to turn over “all documents and information” related to disclosures about child safety on the app.
• I’ll tell you, I love the current era with its access to information and communication via these amazing little computers we carry around in our pockets.
• But the downside is extraordinarily awful.
• Let’s move on.
• Here’s something exciting from the Space Desk, and it’s a mission that’s piqued my interest for many years.
• A NASA spacecraft is ready to set sail for Jupiter and its moon Europa, one of the best bets for finding life beyond Earth.
• Europa Clipper will peer beneath the moon’s icy crust where an ocean is thought to be sloshing fairly close to the surface. It won’t search for life, but rather determine whether conditions there could support it.
• Its massive solar panels make Clipper the biggest craft built by NASA to investigate another planet. It will take 5-1/2 years to reach Jupiter, and will sneak within 16 miles of Europa’s surface — considerably closer than any other spacecraft.
• It’s likely the first — and maybe only — opportunity for us to see whether life exists beyond Earth that will occur in my lifetime.
• Setting a reminder to check back and follow up in early 2030.
• And now, The Weather: “Old City Pt. II” by Color Temperature
• From the Sports Desk… yesterday, the Guardians ended the fairy tale run of the Tigers in Game 5, winning 7-3 and taking that series.
• The AL Championship Series starts Monday between the 1-seed New York Yankees and 2-seed Cleveland Guardians.
• The NLCS between the Dodgers and Mets starts this evening here in Los Angeles. LET’S GO DODGERS!
• Also from the Sports Desk, it’s Sunday, so the NFL is in full swing. An early game played in London had the surprisingly spunky Bears (4-2) beating the crap out of the really bad Jaguars (1-5).
• Some of the more lopsided spreads in games today: Eagles (-8.5) over Browns, Texans (-7) over Patriots, Ravens (-6.5) over Commanders, and Falcons (-6) over Panthers.
• I promise that some of these games will be upsets regardless.
• Today in history… Roman emperor Claudius dies from poisoning under mysterious circumstances and is succeeded by his adoptive son Nero (54). Rinchinbal Khan becomes the Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan dynasty, reigning for only 53 days (1332). Coronation of Henry IV of England (1399). The Continental Congress establishes the Continental Navy, the predecessor of the United States Navy (1775). The Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire is publicly proclaimed (1821). Edward Emerson Barnard discovers first comet discovered by photographic means (1892). The Boston Red Sox win the first modern World Series, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the eighth game (1903). Margaret Travers Symons bursts into the UK parliament and becomes the first woman to speak there (1908). The Pacific Northwest experiences a cyclone the equal of a Category 3 hurricane, with winds above 150 mph (1962). The first electron micrograph of an Ebola virus is taken at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Dr. F. A. Murphy (1976). Ameritech Mobile Communications launches the first US cellular network in Chicago (1983). Kenyan Brigid Kosgei sets a new world record for a woman runner with a time of 2:14:04 at the 2019 Chicago Marathon (2019).
• October 13 is the birthday of hunter/businessman Leon Leonwood Bean (1872), pianist Art Tatum (1909), artist Terry Frost (1915), comedian Lenny Bruce (1925), politician Margaret Thatcher (1925), bassist Ray Brown (1926), saxophonist/bandleader Pharaoh Sanders (1940), music producer/manager Neil Aspinall (1941), singer-songwriter/guitarist Paul Simon (1941), businessman Jerry Jones (1942), singer-songwriter/pianist Robert Lamm (1944), singer-songwriter/guitarist Sammy Hagar (1947), singer Marie Osmond (1959), singer Joey Belladonna (1960), NBA player Derek Harper (1961), NBA player/coach Doc Rivers (1961), NFL player Jerry Rice (1962), Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (1964), skater Nancy Kerrigan (1969), comedian/actor/writer Sacha Baron Cohen (1971), NBA player Paul Pierce (1977), NFL player Brian Hoyer (1985), politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (1989), ummm… Tiffany Trump (1993), and singer Jimin (1995).

Alrighty then. I’ve got some housekeeping to do, some football to watch, and some preparation for a little trip later this week that I’ll tell you about soon. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 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 October 12, 2024, and it’s a Saturday. I’m up and awake on an overcast morning, drinking Peet's Organic Uzuri African Blend because I am very fancy, and wearing a blue bathrobe because I am also very lazy. Let’s take a look at various things that have happened.

• While the imminent danger of Hurricane Milton is in the past, people in Florida are now returning home to flooded streets, piles of debris, and — in some cases — shattered homes.
• A crew of some 50,000 linemen had restored power to about one million customers. Still, as of last night, more than two million remained without electricity.
• It will likely be mid-next week before many of those folks — especially in places like Pinellas and Pasco Counties — get power back on.
• Like I said, this cleanup is going to take a good while, and many people will be in bad shape trying to find housing and safe living conditions.
• A large portion of Americans are only a couple of paychecks from being homeless, and when disaster strikes, there’s no margin for survival.
• Wishing everyone luck.
• Yesterday, a group of climate scientists reported how they were able to determine with precision the effect on human-induced climate change as it applied to Hurricane Milton.
• Record-high global temperatures, boosted by the burning of fossil fuels, helped power the storm as it traveled across the balmy waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
• Those conditions boosted Milton’s rainfall between 20 to 30 percent and wind speed by 10 percent compared with a scenario without human-caused climate change.
• The same research group found climate change also intensified Hurricane Helene, which like Milton intensified rapidly as it barreled toward the U.S. coast.
• You can expect this as the new norm. Even if we stopped all excess carbon generation (which isn’t about to happen in any way), the damage that’s already been done is going to continue this path of more severe weather, more frequently.
• Plan accordingly.
• One final note I want to address, because I’ve seen it come up multiple times on Facebook and elsewhere, is the rumor — spread by Donnie Dump and others — that FEMA will only provide $750 to disaster survivors to support their recovery.
• This is 100% false.
• The $750 (actually $770, to be precise) is called Serious Needs Assistance. It is an upfront, flexible payment to help cover immediate essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication, and other emergency supplies.
• It is NOT a loan. It’s an initial payment you may receive while FEMA assesses your eligibility for additional funds.
• After you apply for more assistance for disaster relief, you may still receive additional forms of assistance from FEMA for other needs such as support for temporary housing, personal property, and home repair costs.
• So please stop saying this. Also, please make sure that your government representatives support funding FEMA’s budget so that there’s money available for folks in need.
• If your congressperson or senator votes “no” on FEMA funding, that means they don’t want you to get help. Go take a look at how your representatives vote and act accordingly.
• Moving on.
• Kamala Harris has released a health report. Will Dumples the Old Fat Orange Clown do the same?
• Per Dr. Joshua Simmons, a U.S. Army colonel and physician to the vice president, Harris is in “excellent health” and “possesses the physical and mental resiliency” required to serve as president.
• Dr. Simmons noted that Harris, 59, maintains a healthy, active lifestyle and that her most recent physical last April was “unremarkable.”
• It’s already in question as to whether Dump, 78, is mentally fit to serve. Since he won’t release any updated health information — including after his ear was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt in July — it might be indicative that he has serious physical problems.
• And that would mean he is likely not to survive four years of a presidency where he’d be 82 at the finish. That would leave JD Vance as President after Dump dies in office.
• In other news…
• The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Virginia election officials yesterday. They accuse the state of striking names from voter rolls in violation of federal election law.
• The National Voter Registration Act requires a 90-day “quiet period” ahead of elections for the maintenance of voter rolls. If you are removed from a voter roll within three months of the election, you might not even be aware until it’s far too late.
• But an executive order issued in August by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin requiring daily updates to voter lists to remove ineligible voters violates that law.
• Get his ass.
• A brief note about elections and social bubbles. No, we’re not going to talk about polls, because they are bullshit.
• But I want to remind you: it’s very likely that you surround yourself with people of similar outlooks, and avoid those with opposing outlooks.
• So in your mind, you have no doubt that your preferred candidates will win, because that’s what “everyone” is saying. But that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
• My belief — based on historical voting patterns, the way the electoral college works, swing state voting, and yes, some of the more legitimate longstanding polls — is that the 2024 election is going to be super close.
• And again, with my own biases acknowledged, I hope I’m wrong. I’d love nothing more than to see Kamala Harris win in a landslide on Tuesday November 5.
• I’ve envisioned scenarios where she wins Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, and every other state that pollsters consider a toss-up.
• But the MAGA folks are equally convinced that their guy will do the same… because they only talk to and associate with each other.
• And despite that fact that Dump trails Harris in most polls, he is — if you want to believe polls —  in better shape now than he was at this time in 2020, and in his winning White House campaign of 2016.
• He’s down against the incumbent vice president by smaller margins than he faced in his first two general elections — both of which saw him score higher with actual voters than the ones who responded to pollsters.
• So if you’re complacent, you’re in for a devastating shock in just over three weeks.
• If you want to help your preferred candidates win, there’s only one way to do it: vote, and encourage others to vote. That’s it. That’s all you’ve got.
• Moving on.
• A Texas man who’d sued three women for allegedly helping his ex-wife obtain abortion pills — and was being hailed as a hero by far-right anti-abortion groups — has dropped his claims.
• It was the first case of its kind to be brought since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade under the order of Donnie Dump.
• The lawsuit, filed in March 2023, claimed that helping someone obtain an abortion qualifies as murder under the state’s homicide law. The man, Marcus Silva, had been seeking at least $1 million in damages from each of the defendants.
• He dropped the case on Thursday after several different state courts refused to compel his ex-wife and the three defendants to provide additional information. One Texas Supreme Court justice called attention to what he described as Silva’s “disgracefully vicious harassment and intimidation of his ex-wife.”
• Fucking asshole.
• And now, The Weather: “Luna” by ultrasaturated
• Been awhile since I did a chart. Here’s a fact that’s only interesting to me; as a child, I lived for a short while in a suburb of Chicago called Evanston, IL… and a few years earlier, so did Kamala Harris.
• Both of us were there as small children for the same reason: our parent’s careers. My dad moved us there as an apparel rep for some clothing company. Harris’s folks held teaching and researching positions at Northwestern University.
• Since Kamala was there around 1968, so we’ll go with that for our chart. Here’s the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for this date in October of that year.
• 1. Hey Jude (The Beatles). 2. Fire (The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown). 3. Little Green Apples (O.C. Smith). 4. Harper Valley P.T.A. (Jeannie C. Riley). 5. Girl Watcher (The O’Kaysions). 6. Midnight Confessions (The Grass Roots). 7. My Special Angel (The Vogues). 8. I've Gotta Get A Message To You (Bee Gees). 9. Over You (Gary Puckett And The Union Gap). 10. Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud (Part 1) (James Brown). 11. Time Has Come Today (The Chambers Brothers). 12. Suzie Q. (Part One) (Creedence Clearwater Revival). 13. Those Were The Days (Mary Hopkin). 14. Elenore (The Turtles). 15. Piece Of My Heart (Big Brother And The Holding Company). 16. Slip Away (Clarence Carter). 17. Revolution (The Beatles). 18. Hey, Western Union Man (Jerry Butler). 19. Hold Me Tight (Johnny Nash). 20. All Along The Watchtower (The Jimi Hendrix Experience).
• From the Sports Desk… the 1-seed Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t allow a single run in the last two games of the NLDS against the 4-seed San Diego Padres, winning 2-0 in game 5 and punching a ticket to the NLCS, where they’ll face and unlikely but scary opponent: the 6-seed Mets.
• The NLCS starts tomorrow in LA.
• Today, stating very soon, the Tigers face the Guardians in Game 5 of their ALDS series. They’re tied at 2-2. The winner of today’s game will face the Yankees in the ALCS, which starts Monday in New York.
• Today in history… the army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire (539 BC). The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Province of Massachusetts Bay Governor William Phips (1692). America's first insane asylum opens (1773). The citizens of Munich hold the first Oktoberfest (1810). The British in India enact the Criminal Tribes Act, naming many local communities "Criminal Tribes” (1871). The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools (1892). President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House (1901). Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor (1945). President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops from Vietnam before Christmas (1970). Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, dies five days after he was beaten outside of Laramie (1998). Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya becomes the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours with a time of 1:59:40 in Vienna (2019). 
• October 12 is the birthday of composer Bernardo Pisano (1490), inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860), activist Kamini Roy (1864), author Ding Ling (1904), animator Art Clokey (1921), singer-songwriter Nappy Brown (1929), actor/civil rights leader Dick Gregory (1932), singer-songwriter Sam Moore (1935), singer Luciano Pavarotti (1935), singer-songwriter/guitarist Rick Parfitt (1948), terrorist Carlos the Jackal (1949), comedian Les Dennis (1953), singer-songwriter Jane Siberry (1955), actor Hugh Jackman (1968), actor/evangelical prick Kirk Cameron (1970), and golfer Christie Kerr (1977).

I’m going to get out of this robe, into a shower, into some clothes and then… I have things to do. Some of them are even fun. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 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 October 11, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! My coffee this morning is Peet’s Columbian, a hearty brew that tastes like… coffee. That’s what I want my coffee to taste like. Let’s take a sip, and then see what’s happening in this world of ours.

• For the first time in a long time, I’m not feeling compelled to open my news with breaking info on horrific weather events.
• Despite being less severe than feared, Milton still carved a path of destruction and grief across the state. At least 16 people were killed in the hurricane, six of them in two tornadoes that touched down ahead of the storm.
• Obviously, the cleanup and recovery from both Helene and Milton will be continuing for a long while. I was happy to see that many of my friends in places like North Carolina and Florida were starting to get their power and cell service restored, and eventually life will get back to normal for all of them.
• Yesterday, Barack Obama held a get-out-the-vote rally for Kamala Harris in the critical battleground state Pennsylvania.
• Always a great speaker and messenger, Obama refashioned his old campaign rallying cry, “Yes, We Can,” to “Yes, She Can,” which beamed on a screen over the crowd.
• “I get it, why people are looking to shake things up. I mean, I am the hopey-changey guy. So I understand people feeling frustrated and feeling we can do better. What I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you, Pennsylvania,” said Obama.
• One point Obama drove home: he admonished Black men who are hesitating to back Harris’s presidential campaign, telling them it’s “not acceptable” to sit out this election and suggesting they might be reluctant to vote for Harris because she’s a woman.
• “You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down?” Obama said. “That’s not acceptable.”
• I agree.
• And I’ve been saying this for a long time. If you’re a man who’s scared to vote for a woman because you fear women, you gotta get past that. The fact is, you have a real choice here between a competent proven leader and a guy who has plans to ruin the lives of everyone but the extremely wealthy.
• Be a man, stand up, and fight. Don’t sit this out. It’s not a time to stay on the sidelines.
• Obama’s appearance last night at the University of Pittsburgh was his first at a campaign rally for Harris, as he sets off on a swing-state tour on her behalf.
• Of note: Pennsylvania is a state Obama won in his 2008 and 2012 presidential races, but Dump won in 2016. Biden narrowly carried it in 2020 and the state is shaping up to be one of the most closely contested in this year’s race.
• Moving on.
• Last night, Harris did a town hall in Las Vegas, sponsored by Univision. She took questions from undecided Latino voters in an unscripted format that she used to try to show empathy while making the case that her opponent does not care about the problems of the middle class.
• Latino voters were a key voting bloc for Democrats in 2020, helping the party win Nevada and Arizona. But polls have shown that enthusiasm has slipped, and the Harris campaign has been fighting to win back support.
• Once again, the problem is the men.
• Harris handled a bunch of pointed questions. One woman tearfully described how her mother, who died six weeks ago, was unable to get the medical care she needed as a result of her immigration status.
• Another voter said she has lost everything because of long COVID and can’t get Social Security disability benefits, while a third shared a story about being unable to get good health care for a knee injury.
• Harris responded by talking about how these matters would get much worse under another Dump presidency. “There's a big contrast between me and Donald Trump,” she said. “When he was president of the United States, he and his friends 60 times tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.”
• Let’s move on.
• In the interest of fairness, I suppose I should quote the Republican candidate from his event in Detroit last night.
• “And, it’s so simple, I mean, you know. This isn’t like Elon with his rocket ships that land within 12 inches on the moon where they wanted to land. Or, he gets the engines back—that was the first I realized, I said, ‘Who the hell did that?’ I saw engines about three, four years ago. These things were coming—cylinders, no wings, no nothing—and they’re coming down very slowly, landing on a raft in the middle of the ocean someplace, with a circle, boom! Reminded me of the Biden circles that he used to have, right? He’d have eight circles, and he couldn’t fill ’em up. But then I heard he beat us with the popular vote. He couldn’t fill up the eight circles, I always loved those circles, they were so beautiful, so beautiful to look at.”
• There you go.
• Are you voting for that demented pants-shitting freak?
• Moving on.
• I’ll remind you once agin that there’s much more at stake than the presidential election in 24 more days. Senate races — especially in places like Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere — will be crucial toward how your quality of life goes in upcoming years.
• In other news…
• A company is recalling nearly 10 million pounds of meat and poultry products because they may be contaminated with listeria bacteria that can cause illness and death.
• Gross.
• BrucePac of Woodburn, OR, recalled the roughly 5,000 tons of ready-to-eat foods this week after U.S. Agriculture Department officials detected listeria in samples of poultry during routine testing. Further tests identified BrucePac chicken as the source. The recall includes 75 meat and chicken products.
• The foods include products like grilled chicken breast strips were produced between June 19 and October 8 and shipped to restaurants, food service vendors, and other sites nationwide.
• Officials said they are concerned that the foods may still be available for use or stored in refrigerators or freezers. The products should be thrown away.
• Listeria infections typically cause fever, muscle aches, and tiredness, and may cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Symptoms can occur quickly or to up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food. 
• Under Donald Trump’s Project 2025, many regulatory agencies within the federal government would be severely cut back or eliminated altogether. If he’s elected, you and your family won’t have any warnings before buying and eating contaminated food.
• Something to keep in mind.
• Let’s move on.
• TD Bank will pay approximately $3 billion in a historic settlement with U.S. authorities who said that the financial institution’s lax practices allowed significant money laundering over multiple years.
• The Canada-based bank pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, the largest bank in U.S. history to do so.
• The bank is the 10th largest in the United States, and its CEO said the company takes full responsibility and has been cooperating with the investigation. The Justice Department said the bank allowed at least three different money laundering networks to move a total of $670 million through TD Bank accounts.
• What kind of illegal activity was laundered through TD Bank? It ranged from fentanyl and narcotics trafficking to terrorist financing and human trafficking.
• Assholes.
• And now, The Weather: “Motel” by hot brother
• Rest in peace to Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy who was assassinated on the night he won the 1968 California Democratic presidential primary. She died yesterday at 96.
• Mrs. Kennedy served a lifetime's work in social justice and human rights.
• From the Sports Desk… yesterday in MLB playoffs, two ALDS games.
• The New York Yankees have made it to the ALCS after a 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals knocked them out of the playoffs. Yankees won the series 3-1.
• The Cleveland Guardians hung on for a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers, tying that series up 2-2. The deciding game 5 is on Saturday.
• The WNBA finals are on. In game 1 last night, the Minnesota Lynx beat the new York Liberty 95-93 in an exciting overtime finish.
• And in the NFL, the 49ers (3-3) kicked off week 6 of the season by beating the Seahawks (3-3) 36-24. It’s frankly difficult this season to establish any solid direction for all but a few teams in the league.
• Today in history… The Daughters of the American Revolution is founded (1890). San Francisco sparks a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Japan by ordering segregated schools for Japanese students (1906). Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane (1910). The Duke and Duchess of Windsor tour Nazi Germany for 12 days and meet Adolf Hitler a couple weeks later (1937). CBS's field-sequential color system for television is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the FCC (1950). NASA launches Pioneer 1, its first space probe, although it fails to achieve a stable orbit (1958). NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission (1968). Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk (1984). The AIDS Memorial Quilt is first displayed during the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights (1987). Professor Anita Hill delivers her televised testimony concerning sexual harassment during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination (1991). NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission (2000). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he will extend the settlement freeze if the Palestinian leadership recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, an offer the Palestinians quickly reject (2010).
• October 11 is the birthday of first lady businessman Henry J. Heinz (1844), activist Emily Davison (1872), US first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884), racist real estate developer Fred Trump (1905), director/choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918), drummer/bandleader Art Blakey (1919), singer-songwriter Dottie West (1932), singer-songwriter/guitarist Daryl Hall (1946), politician Patty Murray (1950), NFL player Steve Young (1961), actress Joan Cusack (1962), actor Luke Perry (1966), actress Jane Krakowski (1968), rapper MC Lyte (1970), director Justin Lin (1971), rapper Cardi B (1992), and NFL player T. J. Watt (1994).

Perhaps this weekend, I’ll find some time to do a more thorough look at key down ballot (Senate and House) races to watch. That seems like a good idea. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 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 October 10, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I’ve got a cup of coffee and I’m ready to take a look around and see what’s going on in this world of ours. Let’s do it.

• Hurricane Milton made landfall last night at about 8:30pm local time along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It hit as a Category 3 storm, with powerful winds, deadly storm surge, and potential flooding for much of the state.
• It hit maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it roared ashore in Siesta Key, FL.
• Long before the hurricane even made landfall, over 130 tornado warnings were issued across Florida in an unusual outbreak. At least seven of them touched down.
• Most of the southern half of the state found itself under tornado warning at least once yesterday afternoon. The National Weather Service issued at least 98 tornado warnings across the state between noon and about 6pm.
• The tornadoes flipped a tractor-trailer, downed trees, and damaged roofs, homes, and a sheriff’s office far from Milton’s core.
• Milton crossed the state and continued on into the Atlantic Ocean, but not before knocking out power to more than three million customers and causing at least four deaths.
• Damage was widespread, and water levels may continue to rise for days, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was not “the worst-case scenario,” and I agree.
• The deadly storm surge feared for Tampa apparently did not materialize, though the storm dumped up to 18 inches of rain in some parts of the area. The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet — which is bad, but lower than Helene caused.
• People in places like Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Lee Counties should continue to  stay in place. There are downed power lines, trees in roads, blocked bridges, and flooding to contend with this morning.
• So all in all, while I’m sure it was terrible for many folks, it seems like Milton could have been worse.
• Can we address something real quick?
• I wrote — on multiple occasions, right here in this very column — about climate change facts.
• Some of them included the loud warnings over the past 12 months from scientists who measured the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and found it at its highest temperature in recorded history.
• And honestly, no one seemed to give a single shit, no matter what I said or how I said it. It was in headlines… on CNN, AP, Reuters, all the other major news outlets.
• And these warnings all ended with the same conclusion: that we’d be experiencing more and more severe weather, more frequently.
• Again, crickets.
• And now when I hear people saying that there was “no way we could have known” that destructive storms would be impacting us, or that the government is controlling the weather, I try to stay sympathetic.
• I really do.
• But you were all told this was coming. This exact shit. Like the proverbial deer in the headlights, most of you did nothing. And now mankind-assisted global climate change is going to kill you and people you love.
• When you keep laughing when I mention the carbon footprint we leave, or scoff at clean energy alternatives, or you buy big trucks and rev the engine to spew toxic gases into the air around you… these hurricanes and other severe weather events are the direct result.
• I don’t know what else to tell you.
• In a bright spot of news about the recent severe weather events, Taylor Swift has donated $5 million to Hurricane Helene and Milton relief efforts. This is per the CEO of Feeding America.
• In a world of Donald Trumps, be a Taylor Swift. There are always people willing to contribute to the world in a positive way.
• Speaking of Dump, the folks affected by Helene out to be very, very thankful the event happened under the Biden/Harris administration.
• They’ve provided 7,000 workers, 14,900,000 meals, 13,900,000 liters of water, and $137,000,000 of aid for people and state and local governments.
• Per Dump's Project 2025, that aid amount: 0 workers, 0 meals, 0 water, and $0 in aid. I’m not at all kidding here. It’s in the plan.
• If you don’t think another (perhaps larger) hurricane or other severe weather event won’t happen soon enough, you’re gambling on your life and that of your family if you allow Dump to take office.
• Had enough news about weather events? No? How about some severe space weather that’s about to nail us?
• A severe solar storm is headed to Earth that could stress power grids even more as the U.S. deals with major back-to-back hurricanes.
• The NOAA issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for today into Friday after an outburst from the sun was detected earlier this week. Such a storm could temporarily disrupt power and radio signals.
• Power plants and orbiting spacecraft will need to take precautions. FEA has been notified about possible power disruptions, while they’re still in the midst of dealing with Helene and Milton.
• The last big solar storm in May produced dazzling auroras across the Northern Hemisphere,  and resulted in no major disruptions. If you were wondering. the sun is near the peak of its current 11-year cycle, the reason for all the recent solar activity.
• I’m gonna be Debbie Downer here and remind you that when you see beautiful aurora in the night sky, that’s Earth’s magnetosphere acting as a shield from high-speed solar radiation particles that would otherwise boil our oceans and fry us like fish sticks.
• Let’s move on to something more comforting… like the 2024 general election. Eek.
• I’m doing my best to avoid looking at any of the constantly fluctuating polls. It’s a sure way to drive yourself insane, paying too much attention to that.
• But here is a tangible note: Vice President Kamala Harris has raised more than $1 billion in less than three months as a presidential candidate.
• No other presidential candidate in history is believed to have ever raised so much money so fast.
• Let’s move on to news coverage of a Dumples the Clown fan.
• Patrick Byrne, ex-CEO of Overstock and an ally to the former President, has fled to Dubai, claiming that the government of Venezuela has a $25 million bounty on him — but, perhaps not coincidentally, is also facing a $1.7 billion lawsuit leveled by the Dominion voting machine company.
• Dubai does not have an extradition treaty with the USA.
• Hmm.
• Let’s move on.
• Today is World Mental Health Day, an international day for global mental health education, awareness, and advocacy against social stigma.
• First celebrated in 1992, the annual awareness program brings attention to mental illness and its major effects on people's lives worldwide.
• Let me tell you something. We tend to shove mental health under the rug, or only think about it in regard to its most severe and extreme forms.
• But I don’t know anyone — not a single person — who hasn’t dealt with the effects of anxiety and/or depression in various forms and degrees. And the number of people I know who’ve been afflicted by bipolar or dissociative issues is far greater than you might assume.
• We all agree that health care is essential. Diagnosis and treatment of illness or injuries is a part of everyone’s lives. What could be more important that your ability to use your mind, or being overwhelmed by your emotions to the point that you’re not an effective human being?
• My message to folks who suffer from mental health disorders: you’re not alone. And there are ways to get help.
• Let’s move on.
• Do you know about microstamping? It’s an innovative technology that marks ammunition casings with a unique fingerprint, allowing police to trace casings left at crime scenes back to the gun that fired them.
• While microstamping is both an effective and affordable way to help law enforcement solve crimes where no gun is recovered, the gun industry has consistently fought against any efforts to implement this critical tool for decades.
• I have to ask: why would anyone care if their shell casing is found on a shooting range, or near a deer carcass? As far as I'm concerned, the only people who would be against this are those who use guns to harm other people.
• In other news…
• The Tropicana, the third-oldest casino on the las Vegas Strip, closed in April after welcoming guests for 67 years.
• Yesterday morning, it was gone for good as crews imploded the structure to make way for a $1.5 billion baseball stadium for the relocating Oakland Athletics, part of the city's latest rebrand into a sports hub.
• The Tropicana was the last true mob building on the Las Vegas Strip. Yes, the Flamingo is also from the city’s mafia-run era on the Strip and is still there, but the original structure is are long gone. The casino was completely rebuilt in the 1990s.
• Moving on.
• Do you like raccoons? I like raccoons. I think most people like them.
• But sheriff’s deputies in Washington’s Kitsap County got a 911 call from a woman being bullied by a hundred raccoons swarming her home near Poulsbo.
• She had to flee her property after dozens of the creatures descended upon it and were acting aggressively. She’d started feeding a family of them decades ago and it was fine until about six weeks earlier, when the number showing up went from a handful to around 100.
• They were becoming increasingly more aggressive, demanding food, and they would hound her day and night — scratching at the outside of her home, at the door. If she pulled up her car, they would surround the car, and surround her if she went outside at all.
• And now, The Weather: “Climbing” by Caribou
• Instead of a chart, here’s the Zak Claxton Hurricane Milton playlist, in weather phenomenon order.
• Steal My Sunshine (Len). Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers). Windy (The Association). Blowin in the Wind (Bob Dylan). The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix). Against the Wind (Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band). Ride Like The Wind (Christopher Cross). Here Comes the Rain Again (Eurythmics). Singin' In The Rain (Gene Kelly). Only Happy When It Rains (Garbage). Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (BJ Thomas). Rainy Days and Mondays (Carpenters). Shadows in the Rain (The Police). Who’ll Stop the Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival). Riders on the Storm (The Doors). Like a Hurricane (Neil Young). Rock You Like a Hurricane (Scorpions). 
• From the Sports Desk… MLB divisional series playoffs continued yesterday with all remaining eight teams playing their respective game 3 and 4.
• The big news: The 6-seed Mets beat the 2-seed Phillies 4-1 and punched their ticket to the NLCS. They won the series 3-1. Also in the National League, the 1-seed Dodgers staved off elimination by the 4-seed Padres, giving them an 8-0 beatdown and forcing a game 5 (scheduled for Friday).
• In the ALDS, the Tigers shut out the Guardians 3-0, taking a 2-1 lead in their ALDS series. The Yankees hung on to a 3-2 win, putting them up 2-1 in their series with the Royals. Both AL game 4’s happen today.
• Today in history… Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by King Christian I of Denmark (1471). The crew of Christopher Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria, attempt a mutiny (1492). The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean (1780). Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell (1846). U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, completing major construction on the Panama Canal (1913). U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to Ghanaian finance minister Komla Agbeli Gbedemah after he is refused service in a Delaware restaurant (1957). The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty comes into effect (1963). U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax (1973). The United States Congress approves the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (2002).
• October 10 is the birthday of Japan emperor Saga (786), organist Johann Nicolaus Bach (1669), physicist Henry Cavendish (1731), composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813), actress Helen Hayes (1900), artist Alberto Giacometti (1901), pianist Thelonious Monk (1917), filmmaker Ed Wood (1924), playwright Harold Pinter (1930), singer-songwriter John Prine (1946), actor Ben Vereen (1946), musician Midge Ure (1953), singer-songwriter David Lee Roth (1954), singer Tanya Tucker (1958), actress Julia Sweeney (1959), singer Crystal Waters (!964), politician Gavin Newsom (1967), NFL player Brett Favre (1969), race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1974), musician Lzzy Hale (1984), MLB player Andrew McCutchen (1986), NFL player Geno Smith (1990), and NFL player Courtland Sutton (1995).

That seems like enough news for now, and I have things to do regardless. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 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 October 9, 2024, and it’s a Wednesday. I’m your news dude. Your info guy. Your data mate. Your story boy. Let’s get into it.

• Obviously starting with Hurricane Milton.
• The Tampa Bay region, home to more than 3.3 million people, hasn’t seen a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century, since 1921.
• Milton fluctuated between categories 4 and 5 as it approached, but regardless of the distinction in wind speeds, it will be a major and extremely dangerous storm when its center makes landfall late tonight or early Thursday.
• The storm is expected to retain hurricane strength as it crosses central Florida tomorrow, heading all the way across the state toward the Atlantic Ocean. The precise track remained uncertain.
• One more note for now…
• There has been a mandatory evacuation order across 11 Florida counties with a combined population of about 5.9 million people. 
• If you choose to ride it out, officials warn that you are truly on your own. First responders are not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.
• However, there are many people like Amanda Moss, who said in a series of TikTok videos that she doesn’t have enough money to evacuate herself, her husband, her six children, her four French bulldogs, and her mother-in-law from the Fort Myers area
• “We don’t have the money to evacuate, and where am I evacuating to?” she asked.
• It’s a valid question. Before you castigate those who are staying, keep in mind that many of them don’t feel they have a choice. 
• In any case, here’s hoping my Florida friends are currently somewhere safe, or well underway to getting there, or are lucky in their attempts to stay put.
• Let’s move on.
• A couple of tidbits from Bob Woodward’s new book. Side note: if something is important and newsworthy, why do these assholes keep it secret for months or years while writing their book? Oh wait, it’s to sell books.
• Woodward wrote that Dumpy was in touch with Putin multiple times after leaving office in 2021.
• Worse, in 2020 while still in office, Dumples the Clown sent Putin COVID test machines. 
• Those testing apparatus were in extreme short supply in the USA at the time, and Dump was sending them to Russia. Piece of shit.
• Dumpy immediately denied that he’d sent the tests to Putin… and moments later, the Kremlin confirmed that he had.
• Woodward had some stuff to say about Joe Biden as well.
• Biden called Benjamin Netanyahu, “That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad fucking guy!”
• I agree with Joe. Woodward also described the evolving relationship between Biden and the Israeli prime minister, revealing this telling conversation… 
• “What’s your strategy, man?” Biden asked Netanyahu. “We have to go into Rafah,” Netanyahu replied. “Bibi, you’ve got no strategy,” Biden said.
• Again, seems about right.
• Let’s move on to another look back.
• Remember in September 2018, when allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett M. Kavanaugh threatened his confirmation to the Supreme Court?
• A new report finds that messages to the FBI tip line regarding Kavanaugh were forwarded directly to the White House and never probed.
• Also, despite an alleged open-door policy, the FBI had no written protocols for the supplemental background investigation ordered by the White House.
• So there was no actual investigation into the many claims against Kavanaugh, which resulted in a major triumph for the conservative movement and locked in a right-leaning majority that would later overturn the constitutional right to abortion.
• Which Donnie Dump takes full credit for.
• Please vote for Harris/Walz and put an end to this continual ongoing humiliation and degradation of our country’s women. Thank you.
• Moving on.
• Last night, Kamala Harris cracked open a beer on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ sipping a Miller High Life with the late-night host as she discussed Dump’s politicization of federal hurricane relief efforts, her plans for the economy, the prospects for peace in the Middle East, and her opponent’s admiration for strongman dictators like Vladimir Putin.
• Earlier in the day, Harris appeared on the Howard Stern show, calling Dumpy a sore loser and earning an endorsement from the popular radio host.
• During the show, Harris blasted Dump for his comment that he would be a “dictator on day one.” “Understand what dictators do,” said Harris. “They jail journalists, they put people who are protesting in the street in jail.”
• Dump has criticized Stern, saying that the host “went woke”. Stern shrugged off the charge, telling listeners that he takes “woke” as a compliment and that “the opposite of being woke is being asleep.”
• Correct.
• Stern also asked if she thought there were Americans who would refuse to vote for a woman.
• Her response: “Listen, I’ve been the first woman in almost every position I’ve had. I believe that men and women support women in leadership. And that’s been my life experience and that’s why I’m running for president.”
• I think she’s right.
• Let’s move on.
• You know how Dumpy is always ranting about how China steals American jobs and engages in unfair trade practices? I mean, that’s not entirely wrong.
• So why is it that Dump’s “God Bless the USA” Bible were printed in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou?
• The printing company in China shipped close to 120,000 of the Bibles to the United States between early February and late March.
• But wait… there’s more.
• The value of the three separate shipments was listed at $342,000, or less than $3 per Bible. But the minimum price for the Dump-backed Bible is $59.99.
• WHY DO YOU WANT THIS GUY TO KEEP FUCKING YOU?
• The only conclusion I can draw is that MAGA is the party that enjoys being a victim of ass rape.
• Let’s just move on.
• As if the current situations (gestures vaguely) in various parts of the USA didn’t make it difficult enough to vote, yesterday the Justice Department announced the arrest of an Afghan national living in Oklahoma, and accused him of plotting to kill Americans on Election Day on behalf of the terror group ISIS.
• Nasir Tawhedi, 27, is alleged to have sought to purchase semiautomatic firearms and ammunition to further his alleged plans to carry out the attack, and even went so far as to liquidate his family's assets and resettling family members overseas in preparation.
• The charging documents additionally reference at least one co-conspirator, who is identified as a citizen of Afghanistan with legal permanent resident status who also resides in Oklahoma but is a juvenile.
• Fuck that guy and anyone else trying to impede the democratic process. Whether you vote early or wait until November 5, don’t let a goddamn thing — storms, terrorists, MAGAs, wild boars, long lines, floods, plagues of frogs, whatever — dissuade you from doing your patriotic duty.
• In other news…
• More than a dozen states have sued TikTok, accusing the social media platform of helping to drive a mental health crisis among teenagers.
• A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general from across the country allege that the company uses addictive features to hook children to the app, and that it has intentionally misled the public about the safety of prolonged use.
• TikTok is already battling a law passed by Congress in April that would ban it from the US, unless Chinese parent company Bytedance agreed to a sale.
• Guess we’ll see how that goes. I’ll note, as I’ve done before, that many of the same features being labelled as addictive in regard to TikTok are also offered on Facebook and YouTube, such as the infinite scroll through suggested videos, shorts, and reels.
• Sigh.
• On the lighter side of news, Qantas Airways is apologizing to customers after inadvertently running an R-rated film on every screen during a flight.
• Apparently there were tech issues a trip from Sydney to Haneda last week that didn’t allow for individual movie selection. So the the crew chose one movie to play across all screens “based on the request from a number of passengers.”
• The film was “Daddio,” which follows a woman (Dakota Johnson) who takes a cab from JFK airport and strikes up an extended conversation with her driver (Sean Penn) on her way back home to Manhattan.
• Doesn’t sound too racy to me, but it carries an R rating for “language throughout, sexual material and brief graphic nudity.” Whoops.
• I’m sure there were some parents not too thrilled that their kids were watching it.
• A snarky Air New Zealand social media post after the incident read, "We let you choose your movies.” Snort.
• And now, The Weather: “Midnight Oil” by yunè pinku
• Rest in peace to Red Sox pitching legend Luis Tiant. He died yesterday at 83. 
• Tiant spent 19 years in the majors, eight with the Red Sox. He was a three-time All Star, but never made the Hall of Fame despite being on the ballot for 15 years. Probably a mistake.
• From the Sports Desk… more games yesterday in the NLDS. The 6-seed Mets beat the 2-seed Phillies 7-3, taking a perilous 2-1 lead in the 5-game series. Likewise, the 4-seed Padres hung on to win in a 6-5 victory over the 1-seed Dodgers. San Diego is now also one win away from the NLCS.
• C’mon, you stupid Dodgers.
• Today in history… Carloman I and Charlemagne — my 39th great-grandfather — are crowned kings of the Franks (768). Kepler’s Supernova is the most recent supernova to be observed within the Milky Way (1604). The Collegiate School of Connecticut — later renamed Yale University — is chartered in Old Saybrook (1701). In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces capture two British ships: HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia (1812). The siege of Sevastopol begins in the Crimean War (1854). Union cavalrymen defeat Confederate forces at Toms Brook, Virginia (1864). Boulder Dam — later called Hoover Dam — begins to generate electricity and transmit it to Los Angeles (1936). The National Guard is called in as demonstrations continue over the trial of the "Chicago Eight” (1969). ‘Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends’ premieres (1984). Fox Broadcasting Company (FBC) launches as the "fourth" US television network (1984). North Korea conducts its first nuclear test (2006). The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its all-time high of 14,164 points before rapidly declining due to the 2007-2008 financial crises (2007). Pakistani Taliban attempt to assassinate outspoken schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai (2012). 
• October 9 is the birthday of composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835), physicist Karl Schwarzschild (1873), pharmacist/businessman Charles Rudolph Walgreen (1873), actor Alastair Sim (1900), activist Alice Lee Jemison (1901), CIA officer E. Howard Hunt (1918), actor Fyvush Finkel (1922), singer-songwriter/guitarist John Lennon (1940), cartoonist Mike Peters (1943), bass player/songwriter John Entwistle (1944), singer-songwriter/guitarist Jackson Browne (1948), keyboardist/songwriter Rod Temperton (1949), TV host Sharon Osbourne (1952), actor Tony Shaloub (1953), actor Scott Bakula (1954), singer Ini Kamoze (1957), singer-songwriter/producer Al Jourgensen (1958), NFL player Mike Singletary (1958), film director/producer Guillermo del Toro (1964), UK prime minister David Cameron (1966), singer-songwriter PJ Harvey (1969), singer-songwriter/guitarist Sean Lennon (1975), author Marie Kondo (1984), NFL player George Kittle (1993).

Well, that turned out to be more news than I thought I’d get to when I started an hour ago. But sometimes life is like that; you end up with more than you bargained for. Enjoy your day.