Random News: December 14, 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 14, 2024, and it’s a Saturday. I’m up and about oaths gray morning, enjoying some time to simply relax — a rare luxury for me daringly busy work season. I will definitely hav to find some time to work this weekend, but for now, in my blue bathrobe and with coffee at the ready, let’s see what’s going on in the world.

• Let’s start with something I told you, with all certainty, would be coming at some point.
• Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, launching one of the first challenges in the U.S. to shield laws that Democrat-controlled states passed to protect physicians after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
• The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, was announced yesterday.
• Such prescriptions, made online and over the phone, are a key reason that the number of abortions has increased across the U.S. even since state bans started taking effect. Most abortions in the U.S. involve pills rather than procedures.
• The lawsuit accuses New York Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter of violating Texas law by providing the drugs to a Texas patient and seeks up to $250,000. No criminal charges are involved.
• Like many states after Donnie Dump’s Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Texas bars abortion at all stages of pregnancy. They’ve become one of the most aggressive states at pushing back against abortion rights.
• In fact, Texas began enforcing a state law in 2021 — even before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe — that barred nearly all abortions by allowing citizens to sue anyone who provides an abortion or assists someone in obtaining one.
• Of note: the New York shield law includes a provision that allows a prescriber who is sued to countersue the plaintiff to recover damages.
• So we’ll be watching that case very closely. I feel like the attacks on women’s health care and bodily autonomy are about to skyrocket after Dumpy takes office in January.
• Let’s move over to some international news.
• Today, South Korea’s parliament impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his stunning and short-lived martial law decree last week.
• The National Assembly passed the motion 204-85. Yoon’s presidential powers and duties were subsequently suspended and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s No. 2 official, took over presidential powers.
• The country’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers. If he’s thrown out of office, a national election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days.
• What drove this? Public protests.
• At first, ruling party lawmakers boycotted the floor vote last Saturday. But then, some People Power Party lawmakers had since said they would vote for Yoon’s impeachment as the protests intensified and Yoon’s approval rating plummeted.
• Moving on.
• Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) fell during a congressional visit in Luxembourg and was hospitalized for further evaluation. Pelosi is 84.
• Apparently she had a hard fall descending marble stairs at the Grand Ducal Palace, the official residence of the grand duke of Luxembourg.
• Pelosi is currently receiving treatment from doctors and medical professionals and will continue to work, but is unable to attend the remainder of the engagements. No other details regarding the severity of her injury were provided.
• Regardless, she is expected to recover. She’s a tough lady. Always has been.
• In other news…
• Do we keep talking about those drones? I don’t have much to say, no does the media, with the exception of the statement that people see drones.
• I see fucking drones every day. Hobbyists around town and my local police force fly them, often near or directly over my home, all the time.
• Part of me thinks that much like when we have spates of UFO sightings, people are paranoid and are noticing normal drones or other aircraft, and stating that they are seeing these large, mysterious drone crafts.
• But another part of me thinks that some crazy shit is going down, either from within or outside the US.
• What does Dumples the Clown have to say about them?
• “Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!”
• Okay Donnie.
• The FBI and DHS issued a joint statement Thursday, saying that “it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully” adding that there is “no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey.”
• Anyway… drones. They’re a thing.
• Moving on.
• What other brilliant things did the Orange Menace have to say?
• Dumpy wants to end Daylight Saving Time.
• That is literally the opposite of what most people seem to want.
• He said yesterday for no reason at all, “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”
• First off, let’s be clear: Daylight Saving Time is what allows us to have more sunlight in the spring and summer months. Right now, here in December, we’re in standard time. Dump wants this to be the time year around, with the sun setting early.
• It’s the opposite argument that many of his allies make, such as Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who have helped lead a bipartisan effort to adopt year-round daylight saving time.
• They say that extending daylight saving time into the winter would give Americans more time to be outside during sunny hours.
• Regardless, any effort to permanently change the nation’s clocks would require the cooperation of Congress, which has been gridlocked over recent time-change legislation — and whether it makes sense to end daylight saving time or adopt it year-round instead.
• What we all hate is the change in time, not the result.
• And in fact, Dumpy’s announcement aligns him with public health professionals, who have long said that daylight saving time does not comport with humans’ natural circadian rhythms and that the clock changes each spring and fall are linked to a greater risk of heart attacks, stroke and car accidents.
• But sunrise in places like Washington, D.C. would begin as early as 4:42 a.m. on some days in June, if Dump’s plan is successful.
• Let’s move on.
• Dumpy is stating to make some moves on behalf of his boss, Elon Musk.
• Dump’s transition team wants the incoming administration to drop a car-crash reporting requirement opposed by Musk’s Tesla, a move that could cripple the government’s ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated-driving systems.
• You have to understand, Musk put over a quarter billion dollars into ensuring Dumpy would win. Now he needs a return on that investment.
• Removing the crash-disclosure provision would particularly benefit Tesla, which has reported most of the crashes — more than 1,500 — to federal safety regulators under the program.
• An analysis of the NHTSA crash data shows Tesla accounted for 40 out of 45 fatal crashes reported to NHTSA.
• Among the Tesla crashes NHTSA investigated under the provision were a 2023 fatal accident in Virginia where a driver using the car's "Autopilot" feature slammed into a tractor-trailer, and a California wreck the same year where an Autopiloted Tesla hit a firetruck, killing the driver and injuring four firefighters.
• You should expect a lot more of similar actions from Dump, where the extremely wealthy benefit to the detriment of normal Americans.
• In fact, nearly three dozen of Dump’s picks to serve in his incoming administration donated to his campaign or to the deep-pocketed outside groups that worked to elect him.
• In addition to Musk, eight of his Cabinet picks and their spouses donated more than $37 million combined from their personal accounts to aid Dump. He straight-up sold those positions to ultra-rich Americans who are now poised to shape US policy in the incoming administration.
• And trust me, they won’t be making anything better for you. They’ll get their money by helping drive policies that take away your rights as workers, by taking away your benefits as Americans, and by directly funneling money back to themselves.
• I mean, we told you. Don’t act al shocked. Shrug.
• And now, The Weather: “10k” by Sunken
• From the Sports-Adjacent Desk… Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss announced yesterday that he is being treated for cancer. Moss is 47.
• Moss said he was released from the hospital yesterday after spending six days undergoing treatment for cancer found in the bile duct between his pancreas and liver. He underwent a six-hour procedure to remove the cancer about a week ago adding that he will undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
• He is rightfully considered one of the greatest wide receivers in the sport’s history, being named a first-team All-Pro four times and leading the NFL in receiving touchdowns on five occasions. Over his career, Moss had 15,292 receiving yards and 156 touchdowns.
• The Sports Desk wishes him well.
• In actual sports news… let’s look at the NFL and see who the best teams are via how many points they’ve scored, versus how many have been scored against them.
• 1. Lions (+183). 2. Bills (+129). 3. Eagles (+108). 4. Vikings (+99). 5. Steelers (+85).
• How about the worst teams?
• 1. Panthers (-155). 2.Raiders (-125). 3. Titans (-115). Jaguars (-107). 5. Browns (-103).
• Seems about right.
• Today in history… Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty conspires to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot is foiled (835). Founding Father Alexander Hamilton marries Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York (1780). The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia (1812). Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state (1819). Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law, quantum theory, at the Physic Society in Berlin (1900). The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from San Francisco to Honolulu (1902). Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole (1911). The 1918 United Kingdom general election occurs, the first where women were permitted to vote (1918). Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) is first isolated at Berkeley, California (1940). Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann are granted a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the earliest known interactive electronic game (1948). NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus (1962). In Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, the Supreme Court rules that Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause to fight discrimination (1964). Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extravehicular activity of the Apollo 17 mission (1972). Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut (2012). The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion (2017). 
• December 14 is the birthday of astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546), composer/pianist Maria Szymanowska (1789), businessman/politician Erastus Corning (1794), lawyer/activist Louis Marshall (1856), UK king George VI (1895), pilot/general Jimmy Doolittle (1896), singer/bandleader Spike Jones (1911), novelist Shirley Jackson (1916), trumpet player Clark Terry (1920), singer-songwriter Charlie Rich (1932), actress Lee Remick (1935), actress Patty Duke (1946), talent agent Michael Ovitz (1946), guitarist Christopher Parkening (1947), journalist Lester Bangs (1948), MLB player Bill Buckner (1949), MLB player Craig Biggio (1965), NHL player Bill Ranford (1966), singer-songwriter Beth Orton (1970), and NFL player DK Metcalf (1997).

Okay, time to take a shower and do something productive beyond… this. Enjoy your day.