Random News: October 8, 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 8, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. Let’s put the pedal to the metal down the information superhighway and try not to crash.

• Since I have already voted (as you saw in my posts on Sunday and the nifty “I Voted” sticker in my profile pic), I thought I’d share with you what and whom I voted for.
• But keep in mind: first, the grand majority of my ballot was for options for my fellow Californians. Only one spot on the entire ballot — the one for President and Vice President — is applicable outside of my state.
• And a good amount of the ballot was for Los Angles County as well as local measures.
• Point being that the Zak Claxton Voter Guide won’t help you for shit, assuming you don’t live in the South Bay/Beach Cities suburbs of Los Angeles as I do.
• But I’ll tell you anyway.
• President and Vice President: Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz.
• Senator: Adam B. Schiff (note: remember to fill in his name both in the Full Term and Short Term spaces). 
• Member of the State Assembly, 66th District: Al Muratsuchi.
• US Representative, 36th District: Ted W. Lieu.
• Redondo Beach, CA local measures (FP, RB, SD, S, and BC): Yes on all.
• Water District Division 3: Desi Alvarez.
• Water Replenishment Division 2: Bob Katherman.
• LA County District Attorney: George Gascón.
• Judges: Ericka J. Wiley, Sharon Ransom, Steven Lee Mac, Tracey M. Blount.
• County Measures G and A: Yes on both.
• State Measures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 32, 33, and 35: Yes to all.
• State Measures 34 and 36: No.
• There you go. That’s how I voted. If you have questions about any of the above, I’ll be glad to tell you more details about my choices.
• Let’s move on.
• I hope I’m not the first person to inform you that Hurricane Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 yesterday, with wind speed reaching over 175mph.
• It remains on a path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.
• A brief side note… when officials tell you to evacuate, one thing they tend to leave off: where to go. And if a person if poor and can’t afford hotels, and don’t have friends/family in accessible safe zones willing to take them in, what is their fucking option?
• Anyway, I won’t repeat what everyone else is saying. Just note that Milton is a severely dangerous storm and it’s very likely that Florida’s west coast is going to be hammered badly.
• It’s excepted to make landfall near Tampa tomorrow.
• You should be aware that in the midst of these disastrous weather events, 35 Republican Senators voted against FEMA funding, and that eight of them are up for re-election on November 5.
• They are: John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
• These politicians chose to deprive you of the help you need in an emergency. Voting for them is like cheering for your own demise. Please vote each of them out.
• Thank you.
• In absolutely awful news…
• Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court halted a ruling striking down the state’s near-ban on abortions while it considers the state’s appeal. In other words, abortion is once again under a near total ban in the state.
• The high court’s order came a week after a judge found that Georgia unconstitutionally prohibits abortions beyond about six weeks of pregnancy, often before women realize they’re pregnant.
• “The State should not be in the business of enforcing laws that have been determined to violate fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution,” wrote Justice John J. Ellington in a dissent. “The `status quo’ that should be maintained is the state of the law before the challenged laws took effect.”
• The only way to return the rights of women across the USA in making their own choices about their reproductive plans is by electing Kamala Harris as President. End of story.
• There is some better news from the SCOTUS, though.
• Yesterday, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Elon Musk, who claims that special counsel Jack Smith violated the First Amendment when he obtained a search warrant for Dumpy’s messages on Twitter and then barred the company from disclosing it.
• The court acted without comment and there were no noted dissents. Ha ha!
• Elmo argued that Dump should be allowed to claim executive privilege over the records, and initially declined to comply. They were fined $350,000. The company didn’t challenge the search warrant itself but rather the gag order.
• But Jack Smith countered — and I agree, and so did the SCOTUS — “The Fourth Amendment permits the government to obtain a warrant to search property belonging to an innocent third party as long as the warrant is supported by probable cause that ‘evidence of a crime will be found.”
• Suck it up, Elmo.
• Moving on.
• Kamala Harris has been everywhere lately.
• Last night, she adroitly handled tough questions about how she’d pay for her economic plans, whether Democrats were too slow to enact border security measures, how she’d confront Russia over its war in Ukraine and more in a wide-ranging “60 Minutes” interview.
• Her media blitz is hitting a multitude of different audiences, from her appearance on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast on Sunday to upcoming visits on ABC’s “The View,” a sit-down with Howard Stern,  a guest spot on CBS’ “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, and a Univision town hall.
• That’s all between now and Thursday.
• Harris’s “60 Minutes” interview last night went very well. Her main points focused on immigration, saying that Congress has to act on border security despite Dump forcing the Republicans to kill the recent border deal.
• She also discussed Ukraine, stating firmly that she will not meet with Putin to negotiate a deal and saying there “will be no success in ending that war without Ukraine and the UN charter participating in what that success looks like.”
• For more than half a century, it’s been a tradition that the major party candidates sit down with “60 Minutes” in October. Where was the other guy? Did he get invited?
• The show offered a lengthy on-air explanation to viewers last night for why Dumpy chickened out on the program’s traditional pre-election interview.
• Scott Kelley explained how it went down
• “A week ago, Trump backed out. The campaign offered shifting explanations. First, it complained that we would fact-check the interview. We fact-check every story. Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020.”
• What a little baby man. With no additional debates on the calendar, Monday night’s program could have been one of the largest audiences for Dumpy before Election Day.
• His loss… and our gain.
• One sort of funny moment was when the program asked Harris about her gun. Like I told you awhile back, I’ve never known a District Attorney who wasn’t a gun owner. This obsession on the idea that Harris makes use of the Second Amendment rights is silly to me.
• Correspondent Bill Whitaker asked her what kind of gun she had.
• “I have a Glock, and I’ve had it for quite some time. And — I mean, look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement. And — so there you go,” replied Harris. And then Whitaker asked, “Have you ever fired it?”
• Harris started laughing. “Yes. Of course I have. At a shooting range. Yes, of course I have.”
• Lordy. Anyway, she’s not coming to take away your guns, you ammosexuals. Get a fucking grip.
• In election news, some very good information for North Carolina.
• Yesterday, the state’s election board voted to give residents in the western part of the state, which was hit hardest by Hurricane Helene, greater flexibility to vote by mail and run their elections.
• Voters in 13 counties heavily affected by the storm will have more ways to obtain and deliver absentee ballots, while county boards will have more ability to modify their election administration plans. The changes were approved by unanimous vote of the bipartisan board.
• Voters in those counties who want to cast ballots by mail will be able to request and receive them in person until November 4, the day before Election Day, rather than the Tuesday before, under the usual rules.
• They will also be able to drop off their ballots at any county board of elections in the state or any polling sites in their counties. The ballots will be counted if they are received by 7:30pm ET on Election Day.
• Excellent. That’s the way to do it.
• And now, The Weather: “Nice Enough Words” by Clothesline From Hell
• Rest in peace to gospel-singing great Cissy Houston, who was also the mother of Whitney Houston. She died yesterday at 91.
• In addition to her own acclaim as a gospel singer, Houston also sang backup for a wide range of pop stars including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, and many more.
• From the Sports Desk… the Tigers grabbed a game away from the Guardians, winning 3-0 after getting blown out in game 1. That ALDS series is tied at 1-1.
• Similar story in the other American League divisional game, where the Royals beat the Yankees 4-2, and even that series at one game each.
• And in NFL news, Monday Night Football saw the Chiefs beat the Saints 26-13. Kansas City and Minnesota are now both undefeated at 5-0.
• Two somewhat unlikely teams, the Commanders and Texans, are behind them at 4-1.
• Every other team ranges between mediocre and shitty.
• Today in history… The Confederate invasion of Kentucky is halted at the Battle of Perryville (1862). Korean Empress Myeongseong is assassinated by Japanese infiltrators (1895). Corporal Alvin C. York kills 28 German soldiers and captures 132 for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor in WWI (1918). The New York Yankees's Don Larsen pitches the only perfect game in a World Series (1956). Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia (1967). Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 275.97 knots (1978). ‘Cats’ opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000 (1982). U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security (2001). The 2023 Israel–Hamas war is declared following the Hamas attack the day prior (2023).
• October 8 is the birthday of composer Heinrich Schütz (1585), activist Harriet Taylor Mill (1807), chemist/engineer Mary Engle Pennington (1872), fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker (1890), Albanian prime minister/president/king Zog I (1895), Argentine president Juan Perón (1895), author Frank Herbert (1920), saxophonist/composer Pepper Adams (1930), journalist Rona Barrett (1936), actor Paul Hogan (1939), politician/activist Jesse Jackson (1941), actor Chevy Chase (1943), author R. L. Stine (1943), actress Sigourney Weaver (1949), singer-songwriter/bass player Robert “Kool” Bell (1950), singer-songwriter CeCe Winans (1964), singer-songwroter/producer Teddy Riley (1967), actor Matt Damon (1970), politician Sadiq Khan (1970), singer-songwriter Bruno Mars (1985), and actress Bella Thorne (1997).

Okay, that’s enough I guess. Time to do the other things that I do. Enjoy your day.