Random News: November 16, 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 November 16, 2024, and it’s a Saturday. I’m in my robe and have a cup of fresh-brewed Peet’s Big Bang here. That’s my normal mode on a. weekend. Part of me feels like I should enjoy this while it lasts; I think many Americans will find their lives quite difference after January 20, 2025. Might as well appreciate the good times while they’re somewhat still intact.

• It’s the 321st day of 2024; 45 days remain in the year. Thought you’d want to know.
• Let’s do some news.
• Yesterday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he doesn’t think the House Ethics Committee should release the findings of its investigation into Matt Gaetz, now that the Florida Republican is no longer a member of Congress.
• What a piece of shit.
• Just so you know, his weighing into the issue is extremely rare, as House speakers traditionally stay out of the committee's investigations and business.
• But anything to kiss his lord and savior Dumpy’s ass is what he’ll do. Count on it.
• Literally two days ago, Johnson said the following about the report: "As far as the timing of the release of a report, or something, I don't know. The speaker of the House is not involved in that, can't be involved in that."
• As you’re hopefully aware, the House Ethics Committee was in the final stages of investigating Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
• It’s unclear what the bipartisan panel will do now with its report. There are growing calls from senators on both sides of the aisle for the report to be released.
• It’s also unclear how things will go now that this pedophile and drug user will be going through a confirmation in the Senate to become America’s top cop as Attorney General.
• One note on the report that did leak… a woman who attended a 2017 party with Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee she witnessed the then-recently elected congressman having sex with a minor.
• The woman's attorney released a statement yesterday, calling on the committee to release the findings of its yearslong review of Gaetz.
• He said, ”As the Senate considers former Rep. Gaetz's nomination for Attorney General, several questions demand answers. What if sworn testimony detailed conduct that would disqualify anyone from serving as our nation's chief law enforcement officer?"
• Indeed. His client is one of at least four women who have told the committee they were paid to attend parties with drugs and sex where Gaetz was present. Her account corroborates the testimony of the then-minor, who told the committee that she had sex with Gaetz when she was 17 years old.
• How would you feel about a 30-something guy who fucks high school girls? Is that who you want in your nation’s leadership? Trump does.
• Let’s move on with some better news.
• Rudy Giuliani is finally starting to obey the legal judgements against him, turning over his 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible, his luxury watch collection, and a diamond ring to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
• They are the mother and daughter who suffered serious harassment from election deniers after the 2020 election because Giuliani smeared them publicly and repeatedly while working as a lawyer for Dumpy.
• This is a partial step toward paying the $150 million debt he has owed them for a year. Giuliani also told his bank to turn over at least $30,000 in a bank account.
• Moss and Freeman’s team was still working on paperwork to take control of a $6 million Manhattan apartment, so they can sell it. The pair are also still fighting in court to try to win his $3.5 million Palm Beach, FL condo and four Yankees World Series rings from the 1990s and 2000.
• Fuck Giuliani. I hope they take the shirt off his back.
• Moving on.
• We’ve barely had time to cover any non-political news in recent weeks, which is probably understandable.
• Let’s do so now.
• Two Missouri police officers were indicted separately this week for similar crimes. They’ve been pulling over women and searching their phones to find nude photos.
• The indictments of former Missouri State Highway Patrol officer David McKnight and former Florissant, MO officer Julian Alcala this week were unrelated, but the indictments spelled out similar allegations. Both men face federal charges accusing them of depriving the rights of several women and destroying evidence.
• McKnight, 39, victimized nine women between September 2023 and August 2024. He would pull over a woman for a traffic violation and tell her he needed to look at her phone to either verify her identity or confirm insurance coverage.
• He then used his own phone to photograph nude pictures he found. McKnight was arrested by patrol investigators on August 21 and resigned five days later.
• Alcala, 29, did the same thing to 20 women from February 6 to May 18 of this year. He allegedly committed five of those crimes on the same day. He also found a video on one victim's phone and then texted it to his own phone before attempting to delete evidence of the text.
• He also resigned during an FBI investigation.
• Some advice for all of you, men and woman alike: I don’t care if you have spicy pics. But for a variety of reasons, don’t keep them on your phone. And even after you delete them, make sure they’re permanently deleted, which means you need to also clear out your “recently deleted” storage.
• Those things generally default to being kept for 30 days. Don’t know how? Ask me.
• Also, I’ll point out that this is the kind of thing that raises public mistrust of law enforcement, which then puts all cops in more danger, in an already dangerous job.
• Assholes.
• Let’s keep on keeping on.
• If you want an update on the election — and no, it’s still not quite done, but getting close — the races for the House of Representatives currently stands at 220 Republicans, 213 Democrats, and just two races undecided. 
• Even with a number of House seats having flipped on both sides, the final tally will be very similar to the makeup of the House today.
• We also still don’t have a final popular vote tally for the presidential race, though it’s certain that Trump won that along with the electoral vote. The ending popular vote count will be close, though.
• I guess we’ll mention the latest passengers in Dumples’s clown car. He has named former campaign spokesman Steven Cheung as his White House communications director. No surprise there.
• Of note: the position of White House communications director is separate from the role as White House press secretary. There’s no way Dump would have someone who looks like Cheung as his face to the press, though. 
• He’s instead selected media personality Karoline Leavitt as press secretary. She worked in his first White House administration as an assistant press secretary.
• At 27 years old, Leavitt will be the youngest person to hold the position of top White House spokesperson. The position hasn't been held by someone under 30 since Nixon's administration in 1969.
• Shrug.
• You may recall that Anthony Scaramucci infamously lasted in the post for only 11 days under Dump’s first term. Both he and another White House communications director, Stephanie Grisham, have since broken from their former boss.
• In other news…
• You may be wondering how the next Dump presidency will affect your wallet.
• As you know, he’s proposed a 60% tariff on goods from China and 10% to 20% on other imports. Those numbers have fluctuated depending on whatever was going through his demented brain at the moment.
• But in any case, trade experts said the proposals will almost certainly increase costs for various common consumer goods.
• Such as?
• The six main categories where you can expect higher prices due to Dump’s moronic tariffs include apparel and shoes, electronics, cars, furniture, appliances, and groceries.
• Some of the price hikes will happen quickly; others will be raised slowly but steadily.
• I should note that this is not just speculation by trade experts.
• Philip Daniele, the CEO of the auto-parts company AutoZone, said that if Dumpy carried out his tariff plans, "we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer."
• Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle said the company was "set to raise prices" in response to Dump's plans.
• Jonathan Gold, the vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, said it was reasonable for both companies and consumers to prepare for higher prices.
• “Whether it's a finished good or an input to production, anything that gets brought into the country from somewhere else is going to get hit with that tax,” he said.
• An October report from the Consumer Technology Association estimated that the proposed tariffs would increase laptop and tablet costs by 45%, smartphone costs by 25.8%, video-game consoles by 39%, and televisions by 9%.
• So a laptop that you can get today for $1,399 will soon be over $2,000, thanks to Dumpy’s plan.
• Some of you might opine, “But it will force those products to be made in the USA and will create American jobs!”
• First, that process of switching to US manufacturing of all those goods we buy from China — assuming it works — can take years.
• Second, the prices will remain high and maybe go even higher because we pay American workers more, and that cost is passed along to the purchasers.
• Hope you’re happy with your vote. What happens when you can’t afford these things and simply stop buying them? That’s what crashes a global economy.
• Moving on.
• A little good news out of my state: a racist term for a Native American woman will be removed from nearly three dozen geographic features and place names on California lands, the state Natural Resources Agency announced yesterday.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 signed a bill into law that bans use of the word “squaw” in future place names and ordered the agency rename all places that used the slur, including on streets, bridges, public buildings, and cemeteries.
• New names have been selected in consultation with California’s Native American tribes for over 30 locations in 15 counties. The California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names will work to implement approved replacement names by January 1.
• Perhaps the most well known of these, the popular Northern California ski resort formerly known as Squaw Valley, changed its name in 2021 to Palisades Tahoe.
• And now, The Weather: “Stoplight” by Townsel Turner
• From the Sports Desk… I didn’t watch the stupid-ass fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. Watching a 27-year-old fight a 58-year-old isn’t on my list of fun entertainment.
• The fight didn’t live up to the hype, of course.
• Paul — a YouTuber-turned-boxer — won the eight-round unanimous decision over the former heavyweight champion. It was Mike’s first sanctioned pro bout in almost 20 years.
• Today in history… While traveling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward — my 23rd great-grandfather — becomes King of England upon the death of Henry III — my 24th great-grandfather — but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne (1272). Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail (1822). A Russian court sentences writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group (1849). The National Rifle Association of America receives its charter from New York State (1871). English engineer John Ambrose Fleming receives a patent for the thermionic valve, aka vacuum tube (1904). Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory join to form Oklahoma, which is admitted as the 46th U.S. state (1907). The United States and the Soviet Union establish formal diplomatic relations (1933). The Arecibo message is broadcast from Puerto Rico (1974). Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award (1990). 
• November 16 is the birthday of Roman emperor Tiberius (42 BC), organist/composer Paul Sartorius (1569), Hawaiian king Kalākaua (1836), trumpeter/composer W. C. Handy (1873), actor Burgess Meredith (1907), singer/guitarist Hubert Sumlin (1931), guitarist/songwriter Teenie Hodges (1945), actress Marg Helgenberger (1958), MLB player Dwight Gooden (1964), singer-songwriter/pianist Diana Krall (1964), guitarist Dave Kushner (1966), actress Lisa Bonet (1967), actress Maggie Gyllenhaal (1977), NBA player Amar'e Stoudemire (1982), actor/comedian Pete Davidson (1993), and NBA player Bol Bol (1999).

Time for me to shower, dress, and do various things. Enjoy your day.