Random News: December 26, 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 26, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Today doesn’t feel like it should be a work day after the fun and relaxing times of yesterday’s holiday, and yet here we are. I have back-to-back meetings this morning and work deadlines to handle all day long. It’s not what I prefer, but — thinking more maturely — I’m fortunate to be able to work and make an income. Many people would be happy to jump into work this morning if they could. I’ll try and keep that attitude.

• Today in the UK is Boxing Day. Unlike the USA, where Christmas Day is often primarily centered on giving and receiving presents, the UK and some other Commonwealth nations do that portion of it the following day, which is today.
• As a teenager, I visited London in 1984, and we flew into Heathrow on Boxing Day. I had no idea what that meant. I assumed it was something to do with pugilistic sports.
• Like, maybe you fought your brothers and sisters for the presents.
• I hope you had a good Christmas yesterday — or Hanukkah that started last night — or whatever you celebrate this time of year. Yule. Kwanzaa. Festivus. Doesn’t matter. Hope it’s been fun.
• I find that my most enjoyable aspect of the season is being able to make people happy in various ways. It’s not always the biggest or most expensive things,either; I think my son’s favorite gift that I got for him was an “Awesome Possum” t-shirt.
• It’s the word “awesome” above an opossum on a skateboard.
• I got a theremin. Yes, the bizarre electronic musical instrument that produces sound using two antennae that capacitively sense the relative position of the hands. To play it, you wave your hands around in the air like you just don’t care.
• It ain’t easy. But it’s cool. Just ask Jimmy Page.
• Let’s do some news.
• Starting with a ghastly milestone anniversary.
• It was 20 years ago today that the massive Indian Ocean tsunami hit the region in one of modern history’s worst natural disasters.
• The numbers are hard to actually take in. The powerful earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on December 26, 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed around 230,000 people across a dozen countries.
• Those who were killed weren’t much better off. Some 1.7 million people were displaced, mostly in the four worst-affected countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.
• Marking the date, people gathered in prayer and visited mass graves in Indonesia’s Aceh province today.
• On a positive note, infrastructure in Aceh has been rebuilt and is now more resilient than before the tsunami struck. Early warning systems have been installed in coastal areas to alert residents of incoming tsunamis, providing crucial time to seek safety.
• Moving on.
• Let’s getsome more ugly news out of the way regarding a current developing situation.
• The Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan yesterday killing 38 people was downed by a Russian air defense system.
• Flight J2-8243 came down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area of Russia in which Moscow has used air defense systems against Ukrainian drone strikes in recent months.
• A source familiar with the investigation into the crash said the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system, and its communications were paralysed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny.
• The source added, “No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft.”
• That’s fucked up.
• And, combining bad news and air travel, let’s get another shitty thing out of the way.
• If you think your family was difficult to deal with at Christmas, at least you weren’t part of the group at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix last night that left three people injured by gunfire and another person stabbed.
• It happened at around 9:45pm at an airport restaurant that is outside the security checkpoints in Terminal 4. An adult female and two adult males were shot, leaving the female with injuries police describe as a life-threatening. 
• “I do believe that this was a family dispute that escalated,” said Phoenix police Sgt. Mayra Reeson.
• Way to celebrate peace on Earth and good will toward men, you fucking assholes.
• Let’s move on.
• Ryan Routh, the wacko who may (or may not) have tried to shoot Dumpy on a golf course in Florida, will not go on trial until September 2025.
• The trial was supposed to start on February 10. However, Routh’s attorneys had asked the judge to delay the trial, saying they needed more time to review the evidence against him and decide whether to mount an insanity defense.
• Who is the judge? Why, it’s U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the same lady who dismissed the stolen documents charges against the Dumpster.
• In her order, Cannon said she wanted to err on the side of providing more time given the seriousness of the allegations. A September trial date didn’t amount to an “unreasonable delay,” she said.
• Routh owned 17 cellphones and numerous other electronic devices, and there are hundreds of hours of police body camera and surveillance videos that have been provided to the defense.
• Moving on.
• Speaking of the incoming Dick Tater, Dumpy and President Joe Biden shared slightly different messages for Christmas yesterday. 
• Joe wrote a social post acknowledging this would be the last time as president he'd wish the nation a Merry Christmas said he hoped the U.S. would "continue to seek the light of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency."
• He later said in a message wishing a happy Hanukkah, "As Hanukkah begins, may it shine from menorahs around the world."
• Dump had a slightly different take on Jesus’s birthday.
• “Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal,” he began.
• “Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World,” he continued.
• And he added, “Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME.”
• So that’s the guy who 51% of Americans want as our leader. My Chiristmas wish to them: may they get exactly what they voted for.
• Let’s move on.
• Many of the cases that are coming up for decision at the Supreme Court are issues that will affect a specific segment of the US population: teenagers.
• In the coming months, the Supreme Court will decide a series of blockbuster cases that could significantly transform the lives of the nation’s teenagers — potentially limiting access to vaping products, upholding a ban on transgender care for minors, and deciding whether the controversial TikTok ban can be squared with the First Amendment.
• The disputes are heating up even as there are signs that young people are especially disillusioned with Washington generally and the Supreme Court specifically. A Marquette Law School poll last week found the high court’s approval among Americans 18-29 stands at 44%, lower than any other age category.
• Frankly, I’m surprised it’s that high.
• The cases are being fast tracked, mostly due to the fact that the TikTok ban is scheduled to start on January 19.
• The widely bipartisan TikTok ban followed years of concern that TikTok’s Chinese parent company poses a national security risk. It would allow TikTok to continue to operate in the US onlly if its US-based subsidiary makes a clean break from Chinese ownership.
• A majority of the court’s justices signaled this month they are prepared to back a divisive Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming care for minors.
• Much of that argument focused on whether courts should defer to state lawmakers in making those difficult choices. Far less time was spent on the transgender minors who have described the care as essential.
• And third is the pending case about the Food and Drug Administration’s effort to pull vaping products from shelves. Seems like a good idea, right?
• But the case is actually abot whether the agency followed the proper legal protocols when it stepped in to regulate the multibillion-dollar industry.
• We’ll keep an eye on those and many other SCOTUS cases in the coming term.
• And now, The Weather: “Tamagotchi” by Blushing
• From the Sports Desk… the NFL playoff picture grows ever more set in stone. This week’s games will bring us closer to the final seedings. Here’s what would happen if the playoffs started today.
• AFC: (1) Chiefs - 15-1, (2) Bills - 12-3, (3) Ravens - 11-5, (4) Texans - 9-7, (5) Steelers - 10-6, (6) Chargers - 9-6.
• Of those, only the sixth seed is uncertain.
• NFC: (1) Lions - 13-2, (2) Eagles - 12-3, (3) Rams - 9-6, (4) Falcons - 8-7, (5) Vikings - 11-2, (6) Packers - 11-4.
• The third and fourth NFC seeds are not at all set and could easily change in the final two weeks of the regular season.
• Amazing that the NFC North has three playoff teams in one division, though.
• Today in history… Berengar I — my 36th great-grandfather — is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy (887). The opera ‘Agrippina’ by George Frideric Handel premiered in Venice (1709). The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato, MN, where 38 Native Americans died (1862). Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium (1898). Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee (1919). Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States (1941). The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States (1963). The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach (1966). The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War (1991). China opens the world's longest high-speed rail route, which links Beijing and Guangzhou (2012).
• December 26 is the birthday of astronomer/mathematician Mary Somerville (1780), politician Mao Zedong (1893), actor Richard Widmark (1914), radio/TV host Steve Allen (1921), music producer Phil Spector (1939), politician Gray Davis (1942), MLB player Carlton Fisk (1947), MLB player Ozzie Smith (1954), drummer/songwriter Lars Ulrich (1963), singer-songwriter/guitarist Jay Farrar (1966), actor Jared Leto (1971), fashion designer Alexander Wang (1983), and NFL player Trevor Siemian (1991).

Well… in as much as I’d love to bask in the lazy days that comprise the end of the year, I don’t have that option (or, more appropriately, I don’t allow myself to have it). So, off to work I go. Enjoy your day.