Random News: December 11, 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 December 11, 2024, and it’s a Wednesday. Feeling reasonably good as I awaken on a chilly December morning, so let’s jump right in, because a lot of things are happening in this world we share.

• New York Attorney General Letitia James has rejected Dumpy’s request to walk away from her office's $486 million civil fraud judgment against him.
• Good. Fuck him up, Tish.
• “This Office will not stipulate to vacate the final judgment" against Trump and his company "or otherwise seek to dismiss the action," a lawyer for James' office said in a letter to Dump attorney John Sauer.
• Sauer had asked James' office to voluntarily dismiss the case last month, saying it could interfere with Trump's duties as president and that she should drop it in order to promote "unity."
• Fuck that shit.
• In a letter to Sauer made public yesterday, the deputy state solicitor general, Judith Vale, noted that both sides have already fully filed their arguments in Dump's appeal of the judgment.
• "The trial is over, final judgment has been rendered, and defendants’ appeal to the First Department has been fully submitted and argued. Mr. Trump’s official duties will not be impeded while awaiting the First Department’s decision," she added.
• Always remember: no one is above the law.
• Moving on.
• An Illinois man was arrested last night after attacking Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
• James McIntyre, 33, is facing a charge of assaulting a government official. Capitol police said they tracked down McIntyre after a member of Congress' office reported an incident in the Rayburn House Office Building. McIntyre was arrested after an investigative interview.
• Mace posted on social media that she was "physically accosted" on Capitol grounds. She wrote that she would be able need a brace for her wrist and ice for her arm, but that she would be fine.
• Mace also insinuated in the post that the attack had something to do with her stance on trans issues, but Capitol police did not confirm a possible motive. 
• As you’re aware, Mace is the lady who introduced legislation to change House rules to prohibit transgender women from using women's bathrooms and other facilities on Capitol Hill.
• She did this to personally attack an incoming rep… Sarah McBride (D-DE), the first openly transgender member of Congress.
• It’s a dangerous situation we have going, where people have been pushed to their limits with both corporate and governmental control.
• I can’t agree with violent solutions like attacking members of Congress, or shooting CEOs on the street… but I do know why it’s happening.
• Let’s move over to some international news.
• The collapse of the Assad regime has prompted a punishing military response from Israel, which has launched airstrikes at military targets across Syria and deployed ground troops both into and beyond a demilitarized buffer zone for the first time in 50 years.
• That’s… not good.
• Israeli officials have reveled in the downfall of Assad, a staunch ally of Iran who allowed his country to be used as a resupply route for Hezbollah in Lebanon. But they also fear what could come from radical Islamists governing Syria, which borders Israel in the occupied Golan Heights.
• As they should.
• Moving on…
• Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, struggled with deputies and shouted yesterday while arriving for a court appearance in Pennsylvania.
• It was hard to hear exactly what he said, but it seemed to be, “It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It’s lived experience!”
• Prosecutors were taking steps to extradite Mangione back to New York to face a murder charge while new details emerged about his life and how he was captured.
• The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family was charged with murder hours after he was arrested in the Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, who led the United States’ largest medical insurance company.
• In related news, Google intervened and removed negative online reviews aimed at McDonald's this week after Mangione was captured on Monday.
• He was spotted eating at the Altoona restaurant by a customer, who then alerted a McDonald's employee.
• According to Google's online policies, contributed content must be based on the reviewer’s real experiences with a location, and Google closely monitors policy-violating content.
• Interesting.
• Anyway, multiple Google reviews circulated on social media and in news reports showed people slamming the restaurant for people snitching on the suspect, leaving one-star ratings, and glorifying the suspect for his actions.
• Welp. A lot of people hold hostility toward health insurance companies, and it’s not hard to see why.
• In other news…
• Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) found a new job.
• Now that his own actions cost him his position in Congress and stopped him from being the Attorney General of the USA, he couldn’t even get hired by Fox or Newsmax.
• Instead, Gaetz got a show on tiny far-right broadcaster One America News Network.
• Hahhahahahahahahahaha.
• What a buffoon.
• Let’s move on.
• Red Flag fire warnings are expected to remain for the Malibu area along the Southern California coast into this afternoon after the Franklin Fire forced evacuation orders or warnings for 18,000 residents and more than 8,000 homes and businesses.
• Tens of thousands have lost power, and schools have had to cancel classes.
• At its peak, the wildfire that ignited Monday expanded at an alarming rate, consuming an area larger than five football fields per minute and destroying at least seven structures.
• My thoughts are with those affected. Again, we are 30 miles down the coast here in Redondo Beach… no danger for us.
• Let’s move on with some good news from the business world.
• Yesterday, a federal judge blocked Kroger's $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons, ruling that the proposed union would lessen competition for grocery shoppers.
• Obviously.
• The preliminary injunctions issued by an Oregon court found in favor of the Federal Trade Commission, which had argued the deal would violate antitrust law.
• The last fucking thing you need in your life is a single company controlling the pricing of all the food.
• This morning, Albertsons announced that not only are they giving up on the merger with Kroger, but are also suing the grocery chain, saying it didn’t do enough to secure regulatory approval for the agreement.
• So that’s that. I’m going to celebrate by doing my grocery shopping at Vons, which was purchased by Safeway, which is now owned by Albertsons.
• I’m not kidding.
• Moving on.
• Sen. Mitch McConnell, the outgoing Republican leader in the Senate, suffered a fall yesterday on Capitol Hill after a lunch with colleagues. He suffered minor injuries, including a cut to the face and a. sprained wrist.
• The 82-year-old Kentucky Republican is set to step aside from his leadership role next month when the new Congress convenes, clearing the way for Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to take the reins as the GOP assumes the majority. 
• As you probably know, Mitch the Ancient Turtle has had several health scares. He was hospitalized in March 2023 after a fall that left him with a concussion. Later that year, he appeared to freeze in two separate instances.
• Let’s move on with some good news.
• U.S. wildlife officials announced a decision yesterday to extend federal protections to monarch butterflies after years of warnings from environmentalists that populations are shrinking and the beloved pollinator may not survive climate change.
• They will add the butterfly to the threatened species list by the end of next year following an extensive public comment period.
• I’m glad. I love seeing a monarch flying by.
• In other news…
• It’s porch pirate season. Many of you are ordering holiday gifts from services like Amazon and other delivery-based retailers.
• And while that doorbell camera system you set up works fine, most of the time it just lets you watch as your shit get taken.
• A study estimates more than 120 million packages were taken from porches across the U.S. in 2023, up one million from the year before. It also finds porch pirates cost Americans nearly $16 billion last year.
• If you’re concerned about it — and you probably should be — a couple of ideas include having your packages shipped straight to a store or to drop-off locations like Amazon lockers, or to your workplace if that’s more secure.
• Inconvenient? Yes. Better than having your stuff stolen? Yes.
• And now, The Weather: “Always” by Computer Kill
• From the Sports Desk… who’s good in the National Hockey League this season so far? Let’s look at the points for the top ten teams.
• Wild (42), Jets (42), Capitals (40), Golden Knights (39), Devils (39), Panthers (38), Hurricanes (37), Kings (37), Maple Leafs (36), Stars (34).
• Today in history… Emperor Xian of Han is forced to abdicate the throne by Cao Pi, ending the Han dynasty (220). King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention (1792). The U.S. Senate creates a select committee on finance and a uniform national currency (1815). Indiana becomes the 19th U.S. state (1816). Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first transatlantic radio signal from England to Saint John's, Newfoundland (1901). More than two years after it was stolen from the Louvre, Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa is recovered in Florence, Italy (1913). The British Parliament establishes legislative equality between the UK and the Dominions of the Commonwealth—Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland (1931). Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the final time (1934). Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor (1941). The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, aka UNICEF, is established (1946). Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City (1964). Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon (1972). The Lufthansa heist, the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil at that time, is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke (1978). Bernard Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme (2008). Rovio Entertainment releases the hit mobile game Angry Birds on iOS (2009). The Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization on the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency (2020).
• December 11 is the birthday of founding father George Mason (1725), composer Hector Berlioz (1803), brewer/businessman John Labatt (1838), physicist Max Born (1882), politician Fiorello H. La Guardia (1882), farmer/businessman Walter Knott (1889), Nazi criminal Amon Göth (1908), singer-songwriter Big Mama Thornton (1926), actress/singer/dancer Rita Moreno (1931), pianist/composer McCoy Tyner (1938), actress Donna Mills (1940), politician John Kerry (1943), singer-songwriter Brenda Lee (1944), actress Teri Garr (1944), bass player Nikki Sixx (1958), actress/comedian Mo’Nique (1967), NFL player Willie McGinest (1971), rapper/actor Mos Def (1973), comedian/actor Roy Wood, Jr. (1978), and NBA player Roy Hibbert (1986).

That’s more than enough news to make sure you know what’s happening around you. You know what we call people who stay informed about what’s going on? We call them “woke.” And that’s you, now, after reading this. Congrats. Enjoy your day.