Random News: October 25, 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 25, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! Ever since I returned from my wonderful vacation, my time has been incredibly impacted by work responsibilities… which is not a bad thing, but leaves me little time for anything else. This coming weekend will be very much appreciated.

• So in the few moments I have, let’s do a little news.
• Last night in Atlanta, Kamala Harris’s campaign drew its largest crowd of the cycle by deploying an array of icons in hopes of electrifying the audience and, more important, mobilizing voters.
• She was joined by icons including rock legend Bruce Springsteen (who assailed Dumpy as “an American tyrant”) and former President Barack Obama (who said Dump “acts goofy” but that does not mean his presidency wouldn’t be “dangerous”).
• Tonight in Houston, Harris is rallying once again, and this time will be joined by pop superstar Beyoncé.
• Harris has been reiterating the stark warnings that Dump “has become more confused, more unstable and more angry.” If he recaptured the White House, she said, he would govern without the safeguards that tempered his worst impulses during his first term, including top aides from the political mainstream.
• She’s right.
• I’m going to point out that like me, many of you are just counting the minutes until this election is over, which of course is just 11 days from now.
• But — and I hate to tell you this — no matter who wins or loses, it won’t be over after the votes are tallied. We learned something about that in 2020, and if anything, the country is even more polarized now than then.
• So my advice, for what it’s worth, is to stay calm and stay prepared for whatever might transpire directly before, during, and even long after the election on November 5.
• It’s not just me saying this.
• A majority of Americans anticipate that there will be violence in the aftermath of the election, according to a new Scripps News/Ipsos poll out yesterday.
• The poll found that 62% of Americans believe the likelihood of post-Election Day violence is "somewhat "or "very likely."
• That conviction was bipartisan — with 70% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans agreeing on the likelihood of violence.
• About half of Americans (51%) said they would support using the U.S. military to prevent Election Day unrest, though this view was more popular among Republicans (61%) than Democrats (51%).
• And yet, encouragingly, the same poll said that Americans' belief in the election system is intact.
• And mine is. Actual election fraud is extraordinarily rare. Accepting the results of the popular vote is part of being an American.
• Let’s move on.
• Some great news yesterday out of Ohio, where the most far-reaching of the state’s laws restricting abortion was struck down by a county judge who said last year’s voter-approved amendment enshrining reproductive rights renders the so-called heartbeat law unconstitutional.
• Enforcement of the 2019 law banning most abortions once cardiac activity is detected — as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they’re pregnant — had been paused pending the challenge before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Christian Jenkins.
• Thank you!
• This is the first permanent injunction issued against an abortion ban or restriction in the state since Ohio voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state Constitution in 2023.
• Moving on.
• With a reminder about one of the many big lies Donnie Dump keeps repeating to any sucker who believes him.
• Tariffs are quite literally not paid for by other countries. They are taxes paid by American businesses on imported goods.
• Dump's proposal is literally a national sales tax passed onto the consumers. His lack of knowledge around basic economics should be a disqualifying factor in being President all by itself.
• If you elect Dump, prices on all consumer goods are going to skyrocket like nothing you’ve seen before.
• In other news…
• The owner of the Dali container ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge earlier this year, collapsing the span and killing six people, has agreed to pay more than $100 million in damages to resolve a Justice Department lawsuit.
• The DOJ announced the settlement agreement yesterday, saying that the ship’s owner and operator will pay $103 million in funds that would go to federal agencies affected by the collapse.
• That figure far exceeds the $43.6 million cap the two companies had sought on the liabilities they could be made to pay — and signals the possibility of many more payouts on the horizon.
• Welp. If you make a lot of money doing something and you fuck up, you’re going to pay a lot of money to fix your mistakes. It seems simple to me.
• Back to the election…
• Just a general reminder that there’s always a lot more than the Presidential race at stake.
• You likely have Senators, Congresspeople, state officials, local candidates, and ballot measures to choose when you vote.
• Please try and be informed before you step into your polling place. That’s another reason I love voting early; you can take the time to research everything and do it at your leisure.
• We don’t talk about polls here, but I’ll mention the next one.
• Exactly, half the country sees Dumples the Clown as a fascist, amplifying concerns raised in recent days by Kamala Harris and past members of Dump's own administration. Far fewer in a new ABC News/Ipsos poll level the same charge against Harris.
• Also, nearly two-thirds also say Dump often departs from the truth, again far more than say so about Harris.
• Let’s hope that translates to something at the polls.
• I’ll remind you: we do NOT know who’s going to win. The only way to impact the election is to vote. In swing states, in blue states, in red states… vote.
• Your life and that of your friends and family, as well as your economic security and peaceful life, depends on it.
• And now, The Weather: “bedbugs” by shower curtain
• Let’s do a chart. It’s October 1966; Kamala Harris has just turned two, and it will still be over 2-1/2 years before I am born.
• Here’s the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
• 1. Reach Out I'll Be There (Four Tops). 2. Cherish (The Association). 3. 96 Tears (? (Question Mark) & The Mysterians). 4. Last Train To Clarksville (The Monkees). 5. Psychotic Reaction (Count Five). 6. Cherry, Cherry (Neil Diamond). 7. Walk Away Renee (The Left Banke). 8. What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted (Jimmy Ruffin). 9. I've Got You Under My Skin (The 4 Seasons Featuring the "Sound of Frankie Valli”). 10. You Can't Hurry Love (The Supremes). 11. Poor Side Of Town (Johnny Rivers). 12. Beauty Is Only Skin Deep (The Temptations). 13. Black Is Black (Los Bravos). 14. See See Rider (Eric Burdon & The Animals). 15. Dandy (Herman's Hermits). 16. Hooray For Hazel (Tommy Roe). 17. If I Were A Carpenter (Bobby Darin). 18. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? (The Rolling Stones). 19. B-A-B-Y (Carla Thomas). 20. Mr. Dieingly Sad (The Critters).
• From the Sports Desk… as mentioned about 50 times, tonight is the start of the World Series with the Yankees visiting the Dodgers.
• I’ve been seeing all manner of alerts regarding traffic in town for today. Check this out…
• In addition to the World Series at Dodger Stadium, tonight in LA includes Lakers vs. Suns at Crypto, USC vs Rutgers at the Coliseum, a David Gilmour concert at Intuit, and two huge high school football games at SoFi and the Santa Ana Bowl.
• All concurrent. I am not going anywhere tonight. I wasn’t going to, but now I have a reason not to.
• Last night in the NFL, the Los Angeles Rams surprised the Minnesota Vikings, beating them 30-20 despite being a slight underdog.
• This weekend marks the halfway point of the 2024-25 season, kinda. In a 17-game season, there’s not really a half. But this is week 8.
• The games with the biggest point spreads: Baltimore (-9) over Cincinnati; Detroit (-11) over Tennessee; Denver (-9) over Carolina; and Kansas City (-10) over Las Vegas.
• Today in history… Execution of Saints Crispin and Crispinian, the patron saints of leather workers, curriers, and shoemakers (285). Henry V of England, with his lightly armored infantry and archers, defeats the heavily armored French cavalry in the Battle of Agincourt (1415). King George III succeeds to the British throne on the death of his grandfather George II (1760). The Battle of Balaclava takes place during the Crimean War (1854). Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor, Op. 23 premieres in Boston (1875). Benjamin O. Davis Sr. is named the first African American general in the United States Army (1940). Fifty years of Japanese administration of Taiwan formally ends when the Republic of China assumes control (1945). Adlai Stevenson shows the United Nations Security Council reconnaissance photographs of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba (1962). Microsoft releases Windows XP (2001). A mass shooting occurs in two locations in Lewiston, ME with 18 people killed and 13 more injured (2023).
• October 25 is the birthday of astronomer Heinrich Schwabe (1789), composer Georges Bizet (1838), businessman John Francis Dodge (1864), artist Pablo Picasso (1881), aviator/explorer Richard E. Byrd (1888), antisemitic piece of shit Charles Coughlin (1891), guitarist Eddie Lang (1902), comedian Minnie Pearl (1912), actor Billy Barty (1924), drummer Earl Palmer (1924), actress Marion Ross (1928), basketball coach Bob Knight (1940), singer-songwriter Helen Reddy (1941), singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jon Anderson (1944), political consultant James Carville (1944), songwriter/guitarist Glenn Tipton (1947), NFL player John Matuszak (1950), singer-songwriter/guitarist Richard Lloyd (1951), voice actress Nancy Cartwright (1957), drummer Chad Smith (1961), comedian/host Samantha Bee (1969), singer-songwriter/guitarist Ed Robertson (1970), actor Craig Robinson (1971), singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Bat for Lashes (1979), singer-songwriter Katy Perry (1984), singer-songwriter Ciara (1985), and MLB player Juan Soto (1998).

That’s plenty. I have yet another grinding day of work ahead (and the stress that comes along with it), but again, that’s okay. I’m going to get my shit done and make money. Such is life here in the late-stage capitalism world in which we live. I’m not complaining. Enjoy your day.