Random News: November 22, 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 22, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! Still dealing with this stupid fucking cold. At this moment, I have no voice at all; it will get better as I drink coffee and water and so on. On a side note, the timing really couldn’t be worse — in 24 hours, I’ll be on my way to a video shoot where speaking is a requirement. But let’s not worry about that now. We haven’t plenty of other things to worry about.

• If you haven’t had the chance to laugh yet, allow me to tickle your funny bone: after being mired by a series of allegations of sexual misconduct, including sex with a minor at a 2017 party, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) announced yesterday that he would withdraw his name from consideration to be Dumpy's attorney general.
• Hahahahahahahaha!
• It was obvious that Dumpy knew he was going to face an embarrassing defeat during Gaetz’s failure in Senate confirmation. So just a few moments later, he announced a different pick that he’d obviously chosen as a backup: former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi.
• Is Bondi a good person? No, of course not. She’s a super-MAGA who was part of Dump’s defense team during his first impeachment trial, and then was involved in efforts to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election.
• Is she more qualified than Gaetz to be the US’s AG, leading the Justice Department which houses the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Prisons, and has more than 115,000 employees? Yes.
• But is she evil? Also yes. Bondi’s nomination will also require confirmation by the Senate, but she’ll likely get through much more easily than Gaetz would have.
• Let’s move over to international news for a moment.
• Brazil's federal police say the former right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, attempted to launch a coup in 2022 to stay in office following his reelection defeat. The police indicted 36 other people, as part of what they say was a criminal conspiracy working to keep Bolsonaro in power, after he lost the 2022 election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
• At least they treat traitorous scum the right way in Brazil.
• Among the dozens allegedly part of the conspiracy are Bolsonaro's former defense minister, who was also his vice-presidential running mate, and a number of former close aides. The Federal Police report called the coup an attempt to "violently dismantle the constitutional state".
• Brazil’s attorney general will decide whether to go ahead and try the former president.
• Here’s hoping.
• In other world news, Judges at the International Criminal Court have issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the military commander of Hamas.
• The warrant for Mohammed Deif of Hamas will be hard to fulfill; Israel has said he was killed in an air strike in Gaza in July.
• The judges said there were reasonable grounds the three men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war between Israel and Hamas. Both Israel and Hamas have rejected the allegations.
• Could Bibi actually face arrest? Very unlikely. Neither Israel nor the U.S. recognizes the jurisdiction of the ICC, which is based in The Hague, the Netherlands, and has no police to enforce its warrants.
• And most governments also abide by the international legal principle that heads of state have legal immunity from other courts.
• Nevertheless, Netanyahu will need to avoid certain countries who’ve said they will respect the ICC’s decisions.
• Let’s move on.
• Yesterday the House passed legislation that would give the Treasury Department unilateral authority to strip the tax-exempt status of nonprofits it claims support terrorism, alarming civil liberties groups about how a second Trump presidency could invoke it to punish political opponents.
• The bill passed 219-184, with the majority of the support coming from Republicans.
• The proposal has drawn concern from a range of nonprofits who say it could be used to target organizations, including news outlets, universities, and civil society groups, that a future presidential administration disagrees with. They say it does not offer groups enough due process.
• Critics also see it as redundant as it is already against U.S. law to support designated terrorist groups. The proposal now goes to the Democratic-controlled (for now) Senate where its fate is uncertain.
• Bizarrely, it would also postpone tax filing deadlines for Americans held hostage or unlawfully detained abroad. Gee, how nice of them. I’m sure there’s a story why that tidbit is included.
• Moving on.
• Speaking of the Senate, they played “Let’s Make a Deal” yesterday.
• They won’t hold votes on four of President Biden’s appellate court nominees as part of a deal with Republicans to allow for speedier consideration of other judicial nominations and bring Biden within striking distance of the 234 total judicial confirmations that occurred during Dumpy’s first term.
• Currently, the number of judges confirmed with lifetime appointments under Biden totals 221. A Senate Democratic leadership aide said yesterday a time agreement had been reached to allow for consideration of seven district court judges the week following Thanksgiving.
• Plus, another six district judges would be placed on the Senate executive calendar, making it possible for them to be considered on the Senate floor in December.
• Well done. Moving on.
• I want to mention a term that might not yet be familiar to you: denaturalization.
• That’s when people who have been granted citizenship have it taken away. Dump’s incoming administration isn’t just planning on going after illegal immigration — they’re also expected to take aim at legal immigration.
• So, they’re going to purposefully slow the pace of application approvals, and redirect resources to look for fraud in old applications, including naturalizations.
• Denaturalizations are — fortunately — exceedingly rare. But the first Dump administration made at least two major efforts to put them in the spotlight.
• Here’s an example: Donald Trump’s boss, Elon Musk.
• Musk worked illegally on a student visa, and has publicly discussed his use of illegal drugs. He could theoretically face scrutiny over the legality of his path to citizenship under a strict interpretation of the rules.
• But as you know, Musk’s skin is white, and he’s wealthy and powerful, so it’s very unlikely these rules would apply to him the way they would to a poor brown-skinned person.
• And now, The Weather: “Big Blind” by Snowy
• From the Sports Desk… announced yesterday, Major League Baseball’s MVP honors will surprise no one at all. In the American League, it’s the New York Yankee’s Aaron Judge, while the NL MVP was unanimously named Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Judge led the majors in homers (58), RBIs (144), OPS (1.159) and more in a 2024 season that saw himlead the Yankees to a pennant.
• Ohtani capped the first 50/50 (50 home runs, 50 bases stolen) season in baseball history by becoming the first full-time designated hitter to ever win MVP honors.
• And the announcement came three weeks after Ohtani's Dodgers defeated Judge's Yankees in the World Series.
• Also from the Sports Desk… the Browns (3-8) upset the Steelers (8-3) last night. Like they say, you never know what will happen on any given Sunday. Or Monday. Or occasionally Thursday. 
• Today in history… Juan Fernández discovers islands now known as the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile (1574). Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard attacks and boards the vessels of the British pirate Edward Teach, aka “Blackbeard", off the coast of North Carolina (1718). In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched (1869). General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th Army is surrounded in Stalingrad (1942). The Summer Olympics, officially known as the games of the XVI Olympiad, are opened in Melbourne, Australia (1956). U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally is seriously wounded by Lee Harvey Oswald, who also kills Dallas Police officer J. D. Tippit after fleeing the scene (1963). U.S Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as the 36th President of the United States (1963). Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco (1975). British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher withdraws from the Conservative Party leadership election, confirming the end of her Prime-Ministership (1990). ‘Toy Story’ is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery (1995). England defeats Australia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final, becoming the first side from the Northern Hemisphere to win the tournament (2003). Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany (2005).
• November 22 is the birthday of organist/composer Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710), first lady Abagail Adams (1744), novelist/poet George Eliot (1819), US vice-president John Nance Garner (1868), French president Charles de Gaulle (1890), songwriter/musician Hoagy Carmichael (1899), composer Benjamin Britten (1913), comedian Rodney Dangerfield (1921), actress/singer Geraldine Page (1942), actor/director/animator Terry Gilliam (1940), tennis player Billie Jean King (1943), guitarist Rod Price (1947), musician/actor Steven Van Zandt (1950), bass player/songwriter Tina Weymouth (1950), actor Richard Kind (1956), actress Jamie Lee Curtis (1958), actress Mariel Hemingway (1961), actor Mads Mikkelsen (1965), actor Michael K. Williams (1966), tennis player Boris Becker (1967), actor/activist Mark Ruffalo (1967), singer-songwriter Karen O (1978), businessman Shawn Fanning (1980), and actress Scarlett Johansson (1984).

I’m glad it’s Friday, despite having to work this weekend. And, in fact, since I have to drive into LA proper, it’s far preferable to do on a Saturday morning than face hell traffic on a weekday. So there’s that. Enjoy your day.