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.
Good morning. It’s December 16, 2024, and it’s a Monday. I had a good and productive weekend, but arriving at Monday is never a welcome moment. And yes, continuing my current run of less-than-fun, it’s gonna b a busy day today; I may have to set new speed records getting through some news right now before jumping into work.
- Welp, be they a legitimate concern or stupid crowd panic, this issue with these drones are becoming the story that won’t go away.
- After weeks of fear and bewilderment about the drones buzzing over parts of New York and New Jersey, elected officials are urging action to identify and stop the mysterious flights.
- I’ll again mention that national security officials have said on multiple occasions that the drones don’t appear to be a sign of foreign interference or a public safety threat.
- Not that I fully trust them either.
- But because they can’t say with certainty who is responsible for the sudden swarms of drones over eastern parts of the U.S. — or how they can be stopped — leaders of both political parties are demanding better technology and powers to deal with the drones.
- Yesterday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, “There’s no question that people are seeing drones. But I want to assure the American public that we are on it. We are working in close coordination with state and local authorities.”
- Okay, I guess?
- Drones are now being reported all along the northern East Coast, with suspicious sightings in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
- And now the stupid part.
- A good number of the drones reported above parts of New York and New Jersey have turned out to be manned aircraft.
- But my favorite drone-paranoid statement came from former Maryland Republican governor Larry Hogan, who posted on social media, “Last night, beginning at around 9:45 pm, I personally witnessed (and videoed) what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above my residence in Davidsonville, Maryland (25 miles from our nation’s capital). I observed the activity for approximately 45 minutes.”
- Guess what Larry posted a video of? The constellation Orion. That was his drone attack.
- Let’s move on.
- For the first time in two decades, no women will lead a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. House Republicans revealed their list of committee leaders for the 119th Congress last week.
- For the 17 standing committees, whose leaders were selected by the House Republican Steering Committee, legislative action will be dominated by white men when the new Congress is seated on January 3. No people of color were selected, either.
- The last time there was not at least one woman leading a standing committee in the House was a short period in the 109th Congress, from 2005 until 2006, when George W. Bush was President.
- For awhile, it actually seemed like this country was moving toward true representation of its populace. I should note that white men make up only 31% of the population of the USA, but hold close to 70% of elected offices.
- Moving on.
- Yesterday afternoon, congressional leaders were still trading offers on a government funding patch attached to a disaster aid package and a slew of other priorities leaders hope to clear before year’s end.
- Those negotiations — between Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and their leadership counterparts — are down to the wire. There’s a government shutdown deadline and Friday night, and of course Congress has their scheduled break for the holidays.
- Wouldn’t want to impinge on their precious vacation time, right?
- The funding measure is expected to be the last major bill Congress passes this year.
- Lawmakers have been eyeing it as a path to clearing several other major policy priorities, including a package to authorize expiring health care programs, a long-sought bipartisan deal to overhaul rules for permitting energy projects, and a measure to restrict U.S. investments to China.
- If they manage to do their fucking jobs, the legislation is likely to include tens of billions of dollars in assistance for communities recovering from disasters, including Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, exposing lawmakers who vote “nay” to criticism for opposing disaster aid.
- Because plenty will.
- Let’s keep on moving with some breaking news this morning.
- The Supreme Court turned back an appeal today from Peter Navarro, the former White House official who is set to return in Dump’s second term after serving prison time on contempt of Congress charges.
- The court declined to hear the appeal in a brief order without explanation, as is typical. It comes after the Justice Department sued Navarro, saying he had retained presidential records on an unofficial email account he used during his previous White House tenure under Trump.
- The government says the records must be turned over to the National Archives. Lower courts have agreed, but Navarro argues that the Presidential Records Act doesn’t allow the federal government to search email accounts and retrieve records.
- Navarro has been named senior counselor for trade and manufacturing for the incoming administration.
- It’s pretty much an employment prerequisite for Dumpy to be a criminal of some variety.
- Let’s move on.
- I want to take a look at three businesses and their plans to handle to upcoming Trump tariffs that will drastically drive up prices for all Americans.
- Let’s start with one who supports the tariffs.
- Mark McClelland owns Tower Extrusions, and he manufactures bleacher seats and thousands of other aluminum products. He is in the pro-tariff camp.
- His reason? Foreign companies now supply about 35% of the extruded aluminum products in the U.S., nearly double their share from five years ago.
- He acknowledges, however, that import taxes are a double-edged sword. His company has to pay more for the raw aluminum that goes into its products now because of tariffs that Dump imposed the last time he was in the White House.
- Bobby Djavaheri owns Yedi Houseware Appliances, is based in Los Angeles. Most of his popular air fryers and other appliances are manufactured in China.
- If Dump makes good on his threat to impose a 60% tariff on imports from China, he estimates that a $130 item will turn into something way above $200.
- ”Americans are directly being taxed with these tariffs, not the Chinese," he says.
- Third up is Peter Elitzer, who owns Elitzer's Label Shopper, a chain of discount clothing stores on the East Coast.
- He says even a 10% tariff would be painful for his customers. Most of the clothing items in his stores sell for $19.99 or below.
- He points out, ”The overwhelming majority of Americans don't shop in the high-end department stores. They’re shopping in Walmart and they're shopping in the Label Shoppers of the world. And they're looking for value."
- No matter where you shop, you can kiss those discount prices goodbye once Dumpy’s tariffs kick in. Be aware, and plan accordingly.
- And now, The Weather: “Lost at Sea” by Saeyers
- Rest in peace to Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain, who united musicians from diverse cultures and by doing so, shaped modern world music. He died yesterday in San Francisco at 73.
- Hussain’s career spanned over five decades, during which he was revered as both a national treasure in India and admired worldwide.
- He defied genres and collaborated with an impressive range of musicians, including jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd, bluegrass artists Edgar Meyer and Béla Fleck, as well as rockstars George Harrison and Van Morrison.
- In 2024, Hussain became the first musician from India to receive three Grammy awards in the same year.
- From the Sports Desk… notch unexpected happened in Sunday’s NFL games. I can tell you that seven teams have now secured playoff spots.
- They are the Bills, Steelers, Texans, Chiefs, Eagles, Lions, and Vikings.
- Another nine have been eliminated form playoff contention… the Jets, Patriots, Browns, Jaguars, Titans, Raiders, Giants, bears, and Panthers.
- The remaining slots are up for grabs. Tonight’s pointless Monday Night Football game is between the Falcons and Raiders.
- Today in history… Pepin of Herstal — my 42nd great grandfather and mayor of the Merovingian palace, dies at Jupille in modern-day Belgium (714). Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris (1431). Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dump hundreds of crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act (1773). Virginia becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation (1777). The Union's Army of the Cumberland routs and destroys the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee (1864). The Battle of the Bulge begins with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest (1944). The United Kingdom recognizes Bahrain's independence, which is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day (1971).
- December 16 is the birthday of Spanish princess/Queen consort of England Catherine of Aragon (1485), poet/scholar Elizabeth Carter (1717), composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770), novelist Jane Austen (1775), philosopher/novelist George Santayana (1863), painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866), playwright Noël Coward (1899), anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901), writer Arthur C. Clarke (1917), music producer Cy Leslie (1922), author Philip K. Dick (1928), sportswriter Frank Deford (1938), journalist Lesley Stahl (1941), writer/producer Steven Bochco (1943), singer-songwriter Benny Andersson (1946), singer-songwriter/guitarist Billy Gibbons (1949), guitarist/songwriter Robben Ford (1951), comedian Bill Hicks (1961), comedian/actor J. B. Smoove (1965), and NFL player Antrel Rolle (1982).
That seems like enough for now. Time to do other things. Enjoy your day.
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