Random News: October 3, 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 3, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I’m just getting my day started, as usual, and I’m feeling pretty positive about the day thus far. Let’s dive into the news and hope to maintain that sense of optimism.

• I know it seems pointless to keep pointing out information about the crimes of Donald J. Trump. You’ve seen him accused, charged, and even convicted over and over again with no sign of justice seemingly coming through.
• But while he may never see the inside of a jail cell where he undoubtedly belongs many times over, it’s very important not to shrug and assume he will skate away from his serious crimes forever.
• That’s why it’s important that you be aware of yesterday’s newly unsealed court filing from prosecutors that offers new evidence from the landmark criminal case against the Dumpster.
• The filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the election reaches trial.
• The filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by Dump’s closest aides to paint a portrait of an “increasingly desperate” president who while losing his grip on the White House “used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”
• Dump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud, and “resorted to crimes” in his failed bid to cling to power.
• It’s all pretty damning. Example: in one case, a campaign employee (described as a Dump co-conspirator) was told that results favoring Biden at a Michigan polling center appeared accurate. They replied: “find a reason it isn’t” and “give me options to file litigation.”
• The filing is filled with examples of Dump and people he directed to knowingly makes illegal acts that were far outside the realm of his presidency and the immunity protection offered by it.
• The brief was made public over the Dump legal team’s objections.
• Good. Fuck them. This is literally about crimes he committed while trying to illegally overturn the last election. The time to prevent him trying it again for this election is NOW. There is no other time.
• As most of you know, the issue surfaced as recently as Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate when Tim Walz lamented the violence at the Capitol while JD Vance refused to directly answer when asked whether Dump had lost the 2020 race.
• They are planning everything they can think of to corrupt this coming election, which is only 33 days away.
• The purpose of the brief is to persuade U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan that the offenses charged in the indictment were undertaken in Dumpy’s private — rather than presidential — capacity, and can therefore remain part of the case as it moves forward.
• Chutkan permitted a redacted version to be made public yesterday even though Dump’s lawyers argued that it was unfair to unseal it so close to the election. Again, fuck them and fuck him too.
• If Dump wins the presidency, he will immediately appoint a new attorney general who will dismiss the entire case.
• Do not let justice to be perverted like that. Continue to prosecute the criminal, and let’s make sure to vote Kamala Harris into office so that justice has a chance of being served.
• Moving on.
• The confirmed death toll for Hurricane Helene rose to at least 189 people as of last night. That makes it the deadliest hurricane since Katrina to hit the mainland U.S.
• As we’re all aware by now, the storm surge, wind damage, and inland flooding from Helene have been catastrophic. Neighborhoods have been flooded, residents stranded, and a horrible number of homes destroyed from Florida to Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and especially North Carolina.
• President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were there in the region yesterday to survey the destruction while rescuers keep searching for the missing.
• Biden told a crowd in Raleigh, NC, "I'm here to say the United States -- the nation -- has your back. We’re not leaving till you're back on your feet completely."
• There were still some 1.2 million people without power as of yesterday, though there seems to be some progress in getting people reconnected. South Carolina alone had nearly a half million homes without power.
• Biden also made the rare move of directing the deployment of up to one thousand active-duty soldiers to reinforce the North Carolina National Guard in efforts to assist the people stricken by the storm.
• They’ll speed up the delivery of life-saving supplies of food, water, and medicine to isolated communities in North Carolina, with the manpower and logistical capabilities to get this vital job done, and fast.
• It’s at times like these that we should all be grateful to have competent leadership.
• Let’s move on.
• Today, Republican Liz Cheney will join Democrat Kamala Harris at a campaign event in Wisconsin aimed at reaching out to moderate voters and rattling the Dumpster.
• Cheney was the top Republican on the House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 insurrection, earning Dump’s disdain and effectively exiling herself from her own party. She endorsed Harris, the Democratic nominee, last month. 
• Harris is opening a two-day stay in Wisconsin and Michigan, grappling for wins in the “blue wall” battleground states, which also include Pennsylvania.
• Cheney and her father, the former Vice President under George W. Bush, are both backing Harris. They’re part of a cadre of current and former Republican officials who have broken with the vast majority of their party, who remain immersed in the MAGA cult.
• Moving on.
• Here’s a name I haven’t mentioned in (checks notes)… ever, maybe?
• Melania Trump, the, uh, wife, I guess, of Donnie Dumpster, stunned pro-life activists by writing in her new book, “Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes."
• She continues, "Restricting a woman's right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life."
• Well, I fully agree with Mrs. Trump. How about that?
• And it’s weird that Dump has stated multiple times that “everyone” wanted Roe v. Wade overturned… but forgot to ask his own wife about it.
• Forced-birth activists lost their shit over Melania’s revelation, which is very much at odds with Dumpy’s claim that he takes full credit for the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, which ended the nationwide right to abortion.
• The anti-abortion fanatics are roiling with shock and outrage. I’m not sure why. Dump and his wife and family have never been conservatives. He just took away the party of conservatives and used it for his own benefit. It’s not hard to understand.
• You all got swindled and now you keep giving your best efforts and resources to the guy who fucked you. Maybe it’s too embarrassing to admit, so you double down on it.
• Anyway, not many people are talking about the fact that Melania has rarely been seen with Dump for this entire election cycle as he campaigns for a second term.
• Maybe she just doesn’t give a shit anymore? That’s my guess.
• In other news…
• That Fat Orange Ass is promising to remove Temporary Protected Status and deport the Haitian migrants in Springfield, OH. 
• “Absolutely I’d revoke it and I’d bring them back to their country,” said Dumpy, clearly showing his lack of understanding of how the USA works.
• Temporary Protected Status allows migrants to stay in the U.S. when their countries are unsafe to return to. In many cases, the countries are undergoing armed conflict; environmental disasters and other conditions can also lead to TPS being granted.
• There are currently 16 countries whose citizens have TPS in the U.S. There are over 860,000 people in the U.S. with the temporary status.
• If you’re interested, those countries are Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela,  and Yemen.
• Again, these people are here legally. Just because not all of them are white doesn’t mean they’re illegal.
• Let’s move on.
• Do you know anyone who was stupid enough to buy a Tesla Cybertruck? If so, it’s time for them to send it back yet again.
• Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse. It’s the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year.
• In June, there was a recall to fix problems with trim pieces that can come loose and front windshield wipers that can fail. Two months before that, some Cybertrucks were recalled because the accelerator pedal could stick.
• In the most recent recall, the company notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the display screens in effected trucks may remain blank for up to 8 seconds after a driver shifts to reverse.
• The U.S. requires those screens to activate with a rearview within 2 seconds of shifting into reverse.
• Piece of shit car.
• And now, The Weather: “Burning Wings” by Allegra Krieger
• From the Sports Desk… the Wild Card round in MLB playoffs is wrapping up quickly.
• In the American League, the Tigers won their series over the Astros 2-0 with a 5-2 win yesterday. They’ll face the 2-seed Guardians in the ALDS. Same goes for the Royals, who took out the Orioles with a 2-1 win yesterday. They’ll face the 1-seed Yankees.
• In the National League, the 4-seed Padres also knocked out the 5-seed Braves in two games. San Diego will face the 1-seed Dodgers in the NLDS. The only Wild Card Series yet to be determined is the battle between the 6-seed Mets and 3-seed Brewers, who are tied 1-1. The winner of that series will face the 2-seed Phillies.
• Today in history… Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrenders to the Romans under Julius Caesar (52 BC). George Washington proclaims a Thanksgiving Day for that year (1789). The last Thursday in November is declared as Thanksgiving Day by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1863). Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Latin American player to appear in a World Series (1919). The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Yugoslavia by King Alexander I (1929). The Kingdom of Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom (1932). WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta (1949). The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon in Australia to become the world's third nuclear power (1952). The California State Superior Court rules that the book ‘Howl and Other Poems’ is not obscene (1957). The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight (1985). The German Democratic Republic is abolished and becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany (1990). O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman (1995). 
• October 3 is the birthday of tribal chief John Ross (1790), novelist Thomas Wolfe (1900), novelist Gore Vidal (1925), composer Steve Reich (1936), singer-songwriter/guitarist Eddie Cochran (1938), singer-songwriter Chubby Checker (1941), poet/songwriter/activist John Perry Barlow (1947), singer-songwriter/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham (1949), saxophonist Ronnie Laws (1950), musician/songwriter Keb’ Mo’ (1951), astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan (1951), MLB player Dave Winfield (1951), NFL coach Bruce Arians (1952), MLB player Dennis Eckersley (1954), minister/activist Al Sharpton (1954), singer-songwriter/guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn (1954), songwriter/bass player Allen Woody (1955), golfer Fred Couples (1959), comedian Greg Proops (1959), actor Clive Owen (1964), filmmaker Denis Villeneuve (1967), singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani (1969), actress Neve Campbell (1973), singer-songwriter India Arie (1975), songwriter/guitarist Josh Klinghoffer (1979), NFL player Anquan Boldin (1980), singer-songwriter Ashlee Simpson (1984), rapper ASAP Rocky (1988), and NFL player C. J. Stroud (2001).

That’s enough for now. Enjoy your day.