Random News: November 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.

---

Good morning. It’s November 10, 2024, and it’s a Sunday. Nice and quiet here this far; I just sat down at my desk with my cup of Peet’s Alameda Morning Blend and ensconced in a blue bathrobe, I will make a daring attempt to make some sense of this world in while we live.

• And yes, I know that’s often hard. There’s a whole discipline of thought called philosophy that tries to do just that.
• Do we have any reason for being here other than that we’re just here, like bacteria on a random rock?
• Some turn to religious answers and other mythological solutions. Others turn to a variety of codes of ethics that help guide their actions and decisions.
• Yet others rely purely on science, our existence being purely a biological process of evolution and the circumstances of being in the right part of space at the right time.
• I don’t have any cohesive answers, and I tend to be distrusting of those who claim to.
• I do know that one of the ways that Homo sapiens became the most advanced and dominant species on our planet was through a propensity to work together, cooperating to achieve larger goals than any of us could have done individually.
• So I still think that’s important.
• The other rout to our success as a species was that we used our large brains and our evolutionarily advantageous physical form to become the most skilled predators, developing tools and other technologies to dominate other animal species around us.
• And compete amongst each other for resources, for propagating our species, and more.
• And there’s no way to negate the fact that it’s who we are, even today. That there’s an innate drive to compete and win, nearly always at the expense of other people.
• So again, we are who we are, for good and bad. And most of us have actions and reactions that are based on the same survival-based fears that we had 200,000 years ago.
• This is actually a political discussion to help explain why Trump won, but I’ll shut the fuck up now and we can do some news.
• There’s some very good news from the 2024 election that I’ve been unable to cover while being overly focused on the (mostly) horrific results.
• Over a thousand out LGBTQ candidates ran for election this year. 668 made it to the general election.
• They ran in every state except Nebraska, seeing wins in at least 40 states, along with Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
• This year’s LGBTQ candidate pool was also more diverse than ever, with 37.6% of candidates being LGBTQ people of color and 15.2% not cisgender. 
• Those LGBTQ candidates had a success rate of approximately 80%. There are some notables among them.
• Delaware’s Sarah McBride became the first out transgender person elected to Congress. Texas’s Julie Johnson became the first out LGBTQ person from the South elected. Washington’s Emily Randall became the first out queer Latina elected.
• In the Senate, Tammy Baldwin, won a tough re-election fight in Wisconsin and will be the lone LGBTQ senator in January.
• LGBTQ candidates also won elections to at least 37 state legislatures this year. Three state legislatures —Hawaii, Iowa, and Missouri — will welcome their first out trans members with Kim Coco Iwamoto, Aime Wichtendahl and Wick Thomas.
• So that’s super good to hear. It’s slightly incongruous with the fact that many of these voters also selected Donald Trump as their President, but people are… ya know.
• I’ll also note that — both Republican and Democrat — a record number of women will serve as state governors next year.
• You should be aware that Governors, in particular, play a major role in shaping state policies that often can have a more immediate and direct impact on their citizens than federal policies.
• The women are Kay Ivey (R-AL), Katie Hobbs (D-AZ), Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR), Kim Reynolds (R-IA), Laura Kelly (D-KS), Janet Mills (D-ME), Maura Healey (D-MA), Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), Kathy Hochul (D-NY), Tina Kotek (D-OR), and Kristi Noem (R-SD).
• Ayotte’s victory last week in New Hampshire will bring the total number of women holding state governor’s offices to 13 — surpassing the previous high of 12 set after elections in 2022.
• Moving on.
• The final (still uncertified but all but certain) electoral vote tally of the election is in as of yesterday. Trump 312, Harris 226. With the results official from Arizona, Trump swept all seven swing states.
• The current tally of the popular vote is 74,686,551 (50.5%) for Trump, and 70,964,692 (48%) for Harris.
• Based on the above, I want to say something clearly, to both the people hurt and saddened by the election results and those who are making assumptions about how things will work over the next four years…
• Very close to half the voters in this country felt that the best choice for the most powerful leadership position in the world belonged to a Black woman.
• That would never have been the case when I was born, or even at the turn of the 21st century.
• We are making progress. It’s just frustratingly slow and difficult to see.
• So President Joe Biden and Big Ol’ Asshat and president-elect Donald Trump will meet at the White House on Wednesday morning. They’re scheduled to hang out in the Oval Office at 11am that day.
• That’s nice, I guess. In the days following her loss, Harris and Biden made statements to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, like real Americans do.
• And Trump praised Harris for her commitment to a smooth transition between administrations, saying that in a phone call, Harris “talked about transition, and she said she’d like it to be smooth as can be, which I agree with, of course.”
• Yes, of course, Donnie. You’re allllll about those peaceful transitions.
• Cough, January 6, cough.
• In typical fashion, Dumpy has not yet submitted a series of transition agreements with the Biden administration, in part because of concerns over the mandatory ethics pledge vowing to avoid conflicts of interest once sworn in to office.
• I’m sure you recall that as president, Trump repeatedly came under fire from ethics groups for potential conflicts of interest relating to his businesses and brands. Both Trump’s and his family’s foreign business ties have also come under intense scrutiny throughout his time in office and on the campaign trail.
• Trump and his transition team are already behind in accessing key transition briefings from the Biden administration, as they have failed to sign a pair of agreements to unlock critical information before taking over the federal government in 71 days.
• That ethics agreement is required by law under the Presidential Transition Act and applies to all members of the transition team.
• Interestingly, I guess, updates to that bill requiring the ethics pledge were introduced by Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, and signed into law by Trump himself in March 2020.
• “Do as I say, not as I do” is a centerpiece of Trumpism. Laws are for other people.
• Let’s move on.
• I think some men who’ve been emboldened to mistreat women after the election results came in are going to be finding that women are much less likely to accept said treatment.
• And in fact, that may be one of the biggest and most immediately changes those men experience in this new regime.
• Case in point: yesterday, a popular social media figure wrote the following…
• “before i block men i take screen shots of the vile things they say and check their IG to see if they have a wife or girlfriend so i can show her. find their employer and send it to them too. get them fired. fuck with their money. love u.”
• I just want guys to keep in mind: before you start in with the cruel misogyny, before you hold up a “your body, my choice” sign, before you make statements encouraging rape… I can guarantee you that — as should always be the case in life — there will be consequences to your actions.
• Moving on.
• In today’s edition of “Hey, You Have Rights!”, we’re going to look at another pice of the Bill of Rights (aka, the first ten Amendments to the US Constitution). Yesterday we examined the 10th Amendment, i.e., States’ Rights.
• Today it’s the 2nd Amendment. It reads as such…
• “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
• So yes. This is the right that so many MAGAs (and conservatives overall for generations previous) hold most dear: the right to keep and bears arms. As in, handguns, rifles, shotguns, and other weapons.
• I’ll start by reiterating something I’ve said probably 50,000 times here: the reason we have so much gun violence in the USA is because gun ownership is so prevalent. Less guns would mean less injury and death… especially to children, for whom gun violence is the number-one killer.
• But here’s the thing: many times in many ways, the liberals in the USA have been openly threatened with violence and acts of retribution over our choice to not support Trump and everything he stands for.
• And since the election, as we’ve mentioned, there have been more and more emboldened MAGAs who are making statements that promote sexual assault against all women.
• Here’s what I’m saying: if you’re going to take advantage of the freedoms and protections offered to us by the Constitution, and the lives of yourself, your family, and your friends are being openly threatened…
• It might be a choice you want consider where you make sure you have the protection you may need as the MAGAs become even more sure of themselves.
• And I make that suggestion — not to buy a gun per se, but to consider whether or not it might be of benefit to you if the need arises — to anyone who might need to defend yourself against people who are most certainly armed.
• And just so I’m consistent in the things I’ve always said… that gun should be registered by the state, you should pass a background check before getting it, and training on the use of that gun (including things like cleaning and proper storage) should be mandatory.
• If you have questions as to what sort of gun might be best, I’ll be happy to point you toward some info resources.
• And that’s today’s “Hey, You Have Rights!”
• In other news…
• A Federal Emergency Management Agency employee was fired after recently advising a survivor assistance team to not visit homes with yard signs that supported Trump during Hurricane Milton relief efforts.
• FEMA did not clarify where the incident happened, or when and did not identify the employee.
• What a fucking douchebag.
• In times of emergency, we are here to help each other without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, and definitely not political affiliation.
• That’s as bad as the sheriff who said he wouldn’t assist Democrats in emergency calls. Everyone who expresses such intent should be immediately removed from their respective roles.
• And now, The Weather: “Metalhead” by urika's bedroom
• Rest in peace to an actor who wasn’t super well known but whose work I enjoyed a lot. Tony Todd died this week at age 69.
• If you do know him, it’s probably for his titular role in the Clive Barker horror film “Candyman,” and he did a lot of other films in the horror genre.
• But I loved him for his role as Kurn, the brother of Worf in the ‘Star Trek’ TV franchise, and other roles in the Trek world.
• Let’s do a chart. It’s August 1974, a little over 50 years ago, and the President of the United States had just resigned, then got in a helicopter and flew away.
• Here’s the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart at the time.
• 1. 461 Ocean Boulevard (Eric Clapton). 2. Back Home Again (John Denver). 3. Caribou (Elton John). 4. Fullfillingness First Finale (Stevie Wonder). 5. Bachman-Turner Overdrive II (Bachman-Turner Overdrive). 6. Bad Company (Bad Company). 7. On Stage (Loggins & Messina). 8. Bridge Of Sighs (Robin Trower). 9. Before The Flood (Bob Dylan). 10. Band On The Run (Paul McCartney And Wings). 11. Rags To Rufus (Rufus). 12. Body Heat (Quincy Jones). 13. Walking Man (James Taylor). 14. Chicago VII (Chicago). 15. Endless Summer (The Beach Boys). 16. Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel (Grateful Dead). 17. Journey To The Centre Of The Earth (Rick Wakeman With The London Symphony Orchestra & The English Chamber Choir). 18. The Souther, Hillman, Furay Band (The Souther, Hillman, Furay Band). 19. Pretzel Logic (Steely Dan). 20. Marvin Gaye Live! (Marvin Gaye).
• From the Sports Desk… there’s an NFLl game going on in Munich, germany as I write this. The Carolina Panthers (2-7) are currently ahead of the New York Giants (2-7) 17-7, with much of the 4th quarter remaining.
• Why are they playing in Germany? The NFL has made a huge effort to make American Football a more globally recognized sports for many years. Games in places like England, Mexico, Germany and elsewhere are scheduled throughout the season.
• Note to Germans watching this game: these teams both suck. Try watching a good team to get to know and enjoy the game some more.
• Today in history… Raden Wijaya is crowned as the first monarch of Majapahit kingdom of Java, taking the throne name Kertarajasa Jayawardhana (1293). The last colonial governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, signs the charter of Queen's College, later renamed Rutgers University (1766). The United States Marine Corps is founded at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia by Samuel Nicholas (1775). Henry Morton Stanley locates missing explorer and missionary, Dr. David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, famously greeting him with the words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” (1871). A top-secret coded message from Europe that said on November 11, 1918, all fighting would cease on land, sea and in the air (1918). Direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States (1951). National Educational Television, the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service, debuts ‘Sesame Street’ (1969). Bill Gates introduces Windows 1.0 (1983). Germans begin to tear down the Berlin Wall (1989). WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a $37 billion merger, the largest merger in US history at the time (1997).
• November 10 is the birthday of monk/priest Martin Luther (1483), physician/activist Samuel Gridley Howe (1801), flush toilet inventor George Jennings (1810), actor Claude Rains (1889), composer Carl Stalling (1891), businessman Jack Northrup (1895), actor Richard Burton (1925), composer Ennio Morricone (1928), actor Roy Scheider (1932), singer-songwriter Screaming Lord Sutch (1940), activist James Hood (1942), lyricist Tim Rice (1944), singer-songwriter/guitarist Greg Lake (1947), songwriter/guitarist Glen Buxton (1947), film director/producer Roland Emmerich (1955), comedian Sinbad (1956), actress Mackenzie Phillips (1959), author Neil Gaiman (1960), NFL coach Mike McCarthy (1963), comedian Tracy Morgan (1968), rapper Warren G (1970), actress Brittany Murphy (1977), DJ/producer Diplo (1978), NBA player Kendrick Perkins (1984), actor Josh Peck (1986), NFL player Zach Ertz (1990), NFL player Teddy Bridgewater (1992), and NFL player Drew Lock (1996).

That’s plenty for now. Eventually the election stuff will settle down and we can go back to covering a more broad range of topics. Look, I’ll be happy as long as the First Amendment is intact, allowing me to write this stuff to you without fear of reprisal. I recommend that you never take those rights for granted; they only exist in a true democracy. Enjoy your day.