Random News: November 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 November 8, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! Like many of you, I’m still in a combination of anger and disappointment about the election results… but I am not allowing myself the option of feeling despair. There’s too much work to be done.

• While I’m currently at a point that I’m doubtful a single good thing could have come from the 2024 election, there’s still a possibility that the Democrats could win the House.
• But don’t get your hopes too high.
• Right now, Republicans have won 211 seats, while Democrats have won 200, with 24 races undecided. A party needs 218 seats to win a majority.
• So Republicans need to win less than one-third of the remaining races (7), while Democrats need to win over two-thirds (18). That might sound lopsided, but many of the outstanding races favor Democrats.
• The latest projections suggest that Democrats are favored to win more than half of them. Republicans appear favored in just enough to secure the barest of majorities. And then there are a handful of races where it’s not at all clear which side is favored.
• The statistically most likely outcome at the moment appears to be a House that looks a lot like it has for the last two years, with about a 221-214 Republican majority. But Democrats could at least gain seats. And it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on in the coming days and perhaps weeks.
• We’ll see eventually.
• I wanted to mention something that is making me feel slightly better: Americans across the country are already starting to mobilize for action.
• Later this month, Kat and I will be attending the “Worth Fighting For” event here in Redondo Beach. A good sign: the event here in town was at capacity attendance just hours after having been announced.
• I am sure that you can find similar opportunities to gather with like-minded people in your area.
• For those of you who never before gotten involved in activism, but feel you need to do something other than sit around and wait for the bad stuff to inevitably happen, I highly recommend that you look around for local events.
• I’ll put a link in the comments to some organizations where you can see what’s happening near where you live.
• If you’re scared to be open in your protest of the racists, sexists, bigots, and xenophobes, I can tell you that I understand.
• One thing to keep in mind that may give you some courage: you’re not just doing it for yourself. It’s a wonderful feeling when you gather with like-minded people and find out you’re not alone.
• Tens of millions of people across the country are with you. And when you attend a rally, a march, a speech, you’ll feel heartened and your courage will overflow.
• And I promise, we’ll all need that courage, for very tangible reasons.
• We should get used to a fully emboldened MAGA world who feel — for good reason — that they can now act in their natural racist and sexist ways with no repercussions.
• The moment the election ended, racist text messages invoking slavery were sent to Black men, women, and students, including middle schoolers.
• The messages, sent anonymously, were reported in several states, including New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. They generally used a similar tone but varied in wording.
• Here’s one: “Greetings Monet M, You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12PM SHARP with your belongings. Our Executive Slaves will come get you in a Brown Van, be prepared to be searched down once you've enter the plantation. You are in Plantation Group S.”
• Some instructed the recipient to show up at an address at a particular time “with your belongings,” while others didn’t include a location. Some of them mentioned the incoming presidential administration.
• The FBI said it was in touch with the Justice Department on the messages, and the Federal Communications Commission said it was investigating the texts alongside federal and state law enforcement. The Ohio Attorney General’s office also said it was looking into the matter.
• But once Trump’s DOJ takes over in January, no one will be investigating this kind of activity.
• There’s more. Less than 48 hours after the election, women have found themselves the subjects of hate campaigns designed to belittle and marginalize them.
• White supremacist, Hitler fan, and far-right political pundit Nick Fuentes posted, “Your body, my choice. Forever.” before the race had even been called in Trump’s favor.
• “Women threatening sex strikes like LMAO as if you have a say,” wrote streamer Jon Miller.
• MAGAs celebrating Trump’s win overtook Texas State University at the school’s San Marcos campus, raising signs that read, “Women are property,” “Homo sex is sin,” and lists that designated women and slaves under “Types of Property.”
• So if you’re going to sit there and take it… I understand that not everyone has the strength to fight back. But remember, you’re not doing it for yourself.
• These men are threatening your daughters and sons. Your husbands and wives. Your best friends.
• If you can’t stand up for yourself, stand up for them.
• Let’s move on to some stories form the other wide.
• In the “I told you so” vein, allow me to share with you a story from a friend whose father is in construction.
• The head of a firm was with him on site at a Florida project, and wanted to chat with the crew, who are predominantly Trump supporters/MAGA voters. 
• He told the boys he will do everything he can to extend their hours up till January 20th so they can enjoy their last bout of overtime pay, and have a nice holiday season.
• When the confused construction guys questioned him, he replied that they’d all voted to end overtime pay. That’s a portion of Project 2025 we mentioned several times here.
• Instead of overtime being based on an 8-hour day or a 40-hour workweek, it’s set up in Project 2025 around a 160-hour month. And it’s easy for companies to scoot around work schedules so that no one does overtime work or gets compensated as such.
• So they fucked around, and now they find out. The people who will be hit the hardest by the incoming Trump president — by far — are those who voted for him.
• Ironic, isn't it?
• Wait until they find out what’s going to happen with their health care, their pensions, their social security, and much more.
• A huge portion of the people who voted for Trump are those who rely on some form of government assistance to survive.
• Are they going to feel any different about their support of Trump after those benefits are abruptly removed?
• Or after prices on normal consumer goods skyrocket due to his tariff plan?
• All you had to do was to listen to what Trump’s proxies were saying, like Elon Musk’s statement that America would go through years of hardship?
• I know that I did my best to make sure people were awake and aware, but my influence is tiny compared to many others. But I did try.
• Moving on.
• Once again, I have to express my extreme gratitude to live in California.
• Our state’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, issued a statement vowing to fight Trump.
• ”We know to take Trump at his word … Which means, we won't be flat-footed come January. You can be sure that as California Attorney General, if Trump attacks your rights: I'll be there. If Trump comes after your freedoms: I'll be there. If Trump jeopardizes your safety and well-being: I'll be there. California DOJ did it before and we'll do it again."
• That is somewhat comforting… for us. I wish all of you lived in states with leadership that had the balls to stand up to that fascist pig.
• There’s plenty of other news, but there’s only so much I can do at once given my limited time.
• Let’s cleanse all that shit with some monkey news.
• Authorities in South Carolina yesterday warned residents to lock their doors and windows after more than 40 monkeys escaped from a research facility.
• The primates broke loose from a facility in Beaufort County and traps have been set up and thermal imaging cameras are being used in an effort to locate the fugitive monkeys.
• They were being used for testing, something I abhor. I hope those monkeys never come back.
• And now, The Weather: “starpower” by shower curtain
• From the Sports Desk… the Ravens (7-3) barely managed to beat the Bengals (4-6), winning 35-34 despite Ja’Marr Chase having a 264-yard, three touchdown receiving performance for Cincinnati.
• Today in history… Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with a great celebration (1519). Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state (1889). The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black and white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time (1892). While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray (1895). In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government (1923). Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected as the 32nd President of the United States, defeating incumbent president Herbert Hoover (1932). Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than four million unemployed (1933). United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown, while piloting an F-80 Shooting Star, shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history (1950). John F. Kennedy is elected as the 35th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon (1960). U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League (1966). American pay television network Home Box Office (HBO) launches (1972). U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush is elected as the 41st president (1988). Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States, defeating Hillary Clinton (2016).
• November 8 is the birthday of Roman emperor Nerva (30), astronomer Edmond Halley (1656), businessman Milton Bradley (1836), novelist Bram Stroker (1847), psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach (1884), novelist Margaret Mitchell (1900), actress Esther Rolle (1920), computer scientist Thea D. Hodge (1922), singer Patti Page (1927), journalist Morley Safer (1931), singer Bonnie Bramlett (1944), singer-songwriter Minnie Ripperton (1947), actress Alfre Woodard (1952), singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones (1954), singer/actor Leif Garrett (1961), actress Courtney Thorne-Smith (1967), MLB player José Offerman (1968), actress Parker Posey (1968), businessman Tom Anderson (1970), model/actress Gretchen Mol (1972), actress Tara Reid (1975), and singer-songwriter SZA (1990).

I’ll be providing more info on ways to mobilize and get involved in the fight against the far right in coming days. I know you feel defeated because… we got defeated. I don’t expect any of you to have a false sense of reality. But I also expect you to not give up. Why? Because we’re fucking Americans, and we don’t back down from a fight. Get past your sadness, focus on the goals, and get ready to stand the fuck up. I’ll be with you. Enjoy your day.