Random News: December 12, 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 12, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. We have a ton of news coming at ya’ and not nearly enough time to cover it all. Let’s jump right in.

• Breaking this morning: President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic.
• He’s also pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.
• The commutations announced this morning are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19.
• Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions. The second largest single-day act of clemency was by Barack Obama, with 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017.
• Those pardoned today had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses and turned their lives around. They include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters; a church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor; a doctoral student in molecular biosciences; and a decorated military veteran.
• Biden has also broadly pardoned those convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, and pardoned former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex.
• Good.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, the House an $895.2 billion defense policy bill after Democrats blasted the inclusion of a provision — pushed at the 11th hour by Speaker Mike Johnson — to prohibit the military’s health-care system from providing specialized treatments to the transgender children of U.S. service members.
• The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed 281-140, with fewer than half of the chamber’s Democrats voting in favor of what is typically a bipartisan piece of legislation.
• Republicans and Democrats alike lauded the bill’s 14.5 percent pay increase for junior enlisted troops, along with its authorization for spending increases on military “quality of life” issues.
• The bill also strengthens U.S. defenses against China, and expands investment in new military technologies and replenishing U.S. weapons stockpiles.
• But fucking Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) had to throw in his little culture war provision at the last second. Senior lawmakers from both parties said it was forced into the legislation after months of negotiation between the House and Senate armed services committees had arrived at the final 1,813-page document.
• Note that the Senate, which could take up the NDAA as early as today, must also pass the bill before President Joe Biden can sign it into law.
• It is unclear how many children would be affected by the provision if the bill becomes law. In 2017, there were 2,500 minors receiving such health care through the military’s TRICARE health system.
• Nationwide, there are about 300,000 youth, aged 13-18, who identify as transgender.
• Despite that bullshit, Democrats successfully blocked Republicans’ most extreme culture riders, such as provisions that would have restricted women’s access to reproductive health care and assistance to Ukraine, and prohibited the Defense Department from assisting Palestinian refugees.
• Moving on.
• FBI Director Chris Wray will resign at the end of the Biden administration.
• Dumpy had already announced he will nominate Kash Patel for the role, even though Wray still had three years remaining on his 10-year term.
• Keep in mind who appointed Wray: that would be Dump. Wray took the helm of the agency after Dumpy fired James Comey following investigations under his watch into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
• Patel is a huge sycophant who will just do whatever Dumpy tells him, regardless of legality or Constitutionality.
• Let’s move on.
• You want me to talk about the drones in New Jersey, don’t you?
• Fine. It’s all too weird.
• Not only have there been dozens of large, mysterious drones flying over parts of New Jersey in recent weeks, but they appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio.
• Republican assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia described the drones as up to six feet in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights switched off. The spate of sightings range from the New York City area through New Jersey and westward into parts of Pennsylvania, including over Philadelphia.
• The devices do not appear to be the types flown by hobbyists. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility; and over Dumpy’s golf course in Bedminster.
• Side note: drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, but they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Also, operators must be FAA certified.
• And in massive overreaction mode, two Republican Jersey Shore-area congressmen — U.S. Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew — have called on the military to shoot down the drones.
• Gov. Phil Murphy and law enforcement officials have stressed that the drones don’t appear to threaten public safety. The FBI has been investigating and has asked residents to share any videos, photos or other information they may have.
• Look, I agree they should be investigated. But calling in a strike from an F-22 Raptor seems like overkill for the moment. There’s gotta be an easier way to track who’s operating them.
• In other news…
• Prominent real estate brokers Oren and Tal Alexander and their brother Alon have been indicted on sex trafficking charges in New York.
• What the fuck is going on with these wealthy people and celebrities doing sex trafficking? It’s just the lowest ethical behavior in the world.
• Authorities say they ran a sex trafficking scheme, assaulting dozens of women between 2010 and 2021. Officials from the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York held a news conference yesterday in New York City to announce the charges. 
• U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said, ”The defendants used their wealth and positions to create and facilitate opportunities to sexually assault women. In particular, Oren and Tal Alexander used their prominent positions in the real estate industry to induce women to come to events and parties. At those parties, and sometimes afterwards, the women were sexually assaulted by one or more of the defendants.”
• The brothers arranged domestic and international trips where they carried out their alleged crimes, and recruited women by providing things like travel, luxury accommodations, and access to exclusive events. They met their alleged victims in person, over social media and on dating apps.
• According to the detention motion, the Alexanders “began engaging in acts of sexual violence, including gang rapes, while still in high school in Miami, Florida.”
• Disgusting privileged scum.
• Let’s move on.
• Isn’t it bizarre how so many of Dump’s appointees to various governmental roles have been accused of forms of sexual assault and misconduct?
• That includes the incoming ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who may or may not still be engaged to Dump’s oldest son, Li’l Dumpy Jr.
• She faced allegations that she engaged in sexual misconduct when she worked as a host at Fox News, reportedly subjecting a female assistant to “degrading, abusive, and sexually inappropriate behavior” and leaving the Rupert Murdoch-run network to pay out a multimillion-dollar settlement to avoid trial.
• But of course, Dump himself has been tried and convicted of sexual assault. I guess rapists appreciate other rapists.
• Moving on.
• As you’re all well aware, we’ve entered a phase in global society where the choices we make in using certain products or services are influenced by the political angle of the company or its owners.
• Easy example: people fleeing the former Twitter due to Elon Musk’s transformation into a right-wing psycho.
• But if you think that you’re making a statement by using Facebook, Instagram, or Threads instead, that’s not the case.
• Meta, the parent company of Facebook and other online properties, said it has donated $1 million to Dumpy’s inauguration fund.
• The donation comes just weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Dump privately at Mar-a-Lago. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the offering this morning.
• To be clear, corporations have traditionally made up a large share of donors to presidential inaugurals. They all want an opportunity to suck up to the incoming guy, hopefully for some kind of preferential treatment when they need it.
• The only exception? In 2009, then-President-elect Barack Obama refused to accept corporate donations. But even Barack reversed course and took the donations in 2013.
• Interestingly, Facebook did not donate to either Trump’s 2017 inaugural or Biden’s 2021 inaugural. Shrug.
• Google donated $285,000 each to Trump first inaugural and Biden’s inaugural. Microsoft gave $1 million to Obama’s second inaugural, but only $500,000 to Trump in 2017 and Biden in 2021.
• Moving on, but while we’re focused on items pertaining to the USA…
• A brief side note to clarify a misconception among my fellow American citizens who’ve been indoctrinated to believe from birth that the USA is the “greatest country on the planet.”
• It’s not. Objectively, it’s not even close. The idea of America is great. In practice, not so much.
• American is a country filled with violence, corrupted by class warfare, crippled by severe financial iniquity, and totally inefficient at looking after the well being of its citizens.
• Take a look at the country rankings below in multiple categories.
• Safest Countries: Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Norway, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Netherlands.
• Highest Quality of Life: Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Finland, UK, Iceland.
• Best For Children: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Austria
• Best Healthcare: Luxembourg, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Hong Kong, Australia, Israel, Germany.
• The USA isn’t in the top ten in any of those categories. If you believe otherwise, it’s because you’ve been conditioned as such for your entire life.
• And now, The Weather: “I let time tell” by Good Wilson
• From the Sports Desk… how are things going in the NBA? Here are the current leaders.
• Eastern Conference: Cavaliers (21-4), Celtics (19-5), Magic (17-10), Knicks (15-10), Heat (12-10).
• Western Conference: Thunder (19-5), Rockets (17-8), Grizzlies (17-8), Mavericks (16-9), Warriors (14-10).
• Today in history… Pennsylvania becomes the 2nd state to ratify the US Constitution (1787). Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina becomes the second Black U.S. congressman (1780). Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland (1901). The Battle of Tolvajärvi, also known as the first major Finnish victory in the Winter War, begins (1939). Adolf Hitler declares the imminent extermination of the Jews at a meeting in the Reich Chancellery (1941). The United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore (2000). The Paris Agreement relating to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is adopted (2015). 
• December 12 is the birthday of businessman Henry Wells (1805), novelist Gustave Flaubert (1821), painter Edvard Munch (1863), actor Edward G. Robinson (1893), singer Frank Sinatra (1915), TV host Bob Barker (1923), politician Ed Koch (1924), painter Helen Frankenthaler (1928), singer Dionne Warwick (1940), musician Grover Washington, Jr. (1943), singer-songwriter/guitarist Dickey Betts (1943), drummer Tony Williams (1945), actor Bill Nighy (1949), gymnast Cathy Rigby (1952), singer-songwriter/percussionist Sheila E. (1957), tennis player Tracy Austin (1962), NFL player/radio host Mike Golic (1962), NFL player John Randle (1957), and actress/neuroscientist Mayim Bialik (1975).

That is way too much news, but I do like to keep you people informed. You seem to enjoy too. My only personal side note is that I absolutely have to wrap up my Christmas shopping today. I tried last night, but I nearly went insane in the process. Enjoy your day.