Random News: December 28, 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 28, 2024, and it’s a Saturday. This day — thus far, anyway — is beginning much, much better than yesterday, a topic on which I will elaborate below. For now, I’m in my blue bathrobe and have cup of Seattle’s Best 6th Avenue Bistro… quite a good cup of coffee on a winter morning. Let’s chat.

• What happened yesterday, you ask?
• Things were cruising along like most Friday mornings. I got up, showered and dressed, wrote and posted my dally news bullets, and worked out.
• My schedule was going to be pretty standard, with some meetings and a good amount of work to crank out. And that’s when my ladyfriend — whom many of you know as Kat — got out of bed.
• She is a tough woman, not at all prone to complaints about anything. But she let me know right away that she was experiencing severe abdominal pain.
• And frankly, in the 20 years we’ve been together, I’d never seen her like that. She was doubled over, sweating, barely able to even speak, feeling like the pain was so bad she was about to pass out.
• At first I was hoping it would go away on its own (it didn’t; it got worse). Then I was hoping we could try the urgent care down the street (which was silly, because those places aren’t really set up for those kinds of diagnostic and treatment situations).
• That all happened in about five minutes until it became obvious that we had no other choice than to get to the ER of our local hospital.
• And that became the entirety of my day. We arrived at 9am and didn’t get out of there until about 4pm.
• And that shitty tale ends in good news: Kat is fine. What she was experiencing was a severe symptom related to menopause. While she’s been going through it for years — we’re both in our mid 50s — nothing that drastic had ever occurred previously.
• So, that’s the best possible outcome, with her being fine beyond the trauma of the pain and the crowded ER waiting room and all that. She was scanned in multiple ways, blood tested, thoroughly checked, and will follow up with her own doctors.
• However, I missed an entire day of work during my absolute busiest time of year, and unfortunately we live in a rather cruel world where my business clients really don’t give a shit about my having had a family emergency is their work doesn’t get completed on time.
• Anyway, I’ll be doing some work on this otherwise peaceful final Saturday of 2024 to make up for what I missed yesterday. That’s life; I’m just glad Kat is okay. That’s far more important than my having to work on a weekend.
• Okay, let’s do some news.
• Here’s an interesting phenomenon that’s been a slow progression but has gone into overdrive since the election in November.
• The MAGA crowd had, for years, used so much of their energy “owning the libs.” They spent days and weeks and years on end trolling people to get reactions.
• But especially because the platform of choice was Twitter, and so many people have departed there after it became clear that the owner of the social media vehicle was enabling and even rewarding the horrid behavior, things are different now.
• So without an object frothier abuse, they did what abusers do: they turned on each other.
• And now the MAGA civil war is in full swing, and Dump is still weeks from taking office.
• You love to see it.
• And the greatest part of all? It takes no effort. We can just get out the popcorn and watch as they self destruct.
• The current skirmish between them is all about the H-1B visa program for foreign tech workers.
• Last night, Elon Musk — the richest man in the world who purchased the presidency — branded Republicans as "hateful, unrepentant racists."
• And now Dumpy faces a quickly deepening conflict between his richest and most powerful advisors on one hand, and the people who swept him to office on the other.
• Yesterday afternoon, Musk doubled down, saying MAGAs who continued to blast immigration and the tech community were "contemptible fools," who would "absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed."
• And then, just before midnight Friday, Musk lost his shit, which made me happy.
• ”Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend," he wrote.
• And how do the MAGAs feel about Dump’s boss defending immigration programs?
• MAGA voices like Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon have hardline views that specifically oppose H-1B visas. They are openly at war with Musk now.
• And Michael Seifert, the CEO of online marketplace Public Square — whose board of directors includes Donnie Dump Jr. — said yesterday that the H-1B program was "destroying the lives of American workers."
• All of this makes sense, if you think about it. Vivek Ramaswamy is the child of immigrants who came to the USA via visas. Musk himself is a literal immigrant who used the H1-B program to move to the USA and work here.
• Ramaswamy is a guy who thinks tech workers should spend 70-80 hours at work every week without extra compensation, something most Americans do not accept but that immigrants have no choice other than to do so.
• And MAGAs, for the most part, are racists and xenophobes who don’t want anyone who’s not white and born int he USA to be allowed to gain employment hereto specially in high-paying tech jobs.
• So there’s no easy compromise to this issue, and it’s going to keep ramping up.
• Get your popcorn ready.
• Let’s move on.
• In 2020, Dumples the Clown issued an executive order banning the video sharing app TikTok, claiming it was being used by China to steal data of Americans.
• At the time, the company successfully challenged the order in court.
• But Dump continued pushing for a ban, eventually coalescing a bipartisan effort to remove it through legislation.
• And eventually, President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act into law earlier this year after bipartisan passage in Congress.
• The law requires the Chinese owner of TikTok, ByteDance, to divest from the platform to an American company, or face a ban that is scheduled to begin January 19.
• But now, Dumpy — as he is prone to do, usually for reasons of personal gain at the expense of everyone else — is asking the Supreme Court to block the federal law banning TikTok that he himself launched.
• The nation’s highest court will hear arguments in the case on January 10.
• Yesterday, Dump’s lawyers filed a brief with the SCOTUS, asking the justices to pause the law to allow his incoming administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”
• Keep in mind, the law already passed muster earlier this month when a federal appeals court turned down TikTok’s challenge of the quickly approaching forced sale or nationwide ban.
• You can bet that since Dump is suddenly whistling a different tune, the Supreme Court will do as he wants. He’s just probably figuring out how he can make some quick bucks off the situation.
• And remember: Republicans in Congress and federal law enforcement agencies have stated that the app presents a national security threat that could allow the Chinese government to mine data from its millions of users and show manipulative content.
• And several Republican-led states have also banned TikTok from government devices, while the state of Montana tried to ban the app altogether.
• Why? Because they thought that’s what Dumpy wanted.
• And of note overall… every social media app — including Facebook — makes 100% of their massive income by doing exactly what TikTok is accused of: mining and selling data on its users.
• Let’s move on.
• In a preview of something you cenexpect a looter the coming four years, a Colorado man is facing possible bias-motivated charges for attacking a television news reporter after demanding to know whether he was a citizen.
• Patrick Thomas Egan, 39, was arrested December 18 in Grand Junction, CO, after he followed KKCO/KJCT reporter Ja’Ronn Alex’s vehicle for around 40 miles from the Delta area. Alex told police that he believed he had been followed and attacked because he is Pacific Islander.
• After arriving in Grand Junction, Egan pulled up next to Alex at a stoplight and shouted, “Are you even a U.S. citizen? This is Trump’s America now! I’m a Marine and I took an oath to protect this country from people like you!”
• Egan chased Alex, tackled him, put him in a headlock and tried to choke him out. Coworkers who ran out to help and witnesses told police that Alex appeared to be losing his ability to breathe during the attack, which was partially captured on surveillance video.
• The guy was right about one thing… this is Trump’s America. Racist and crazy is what defines them.
• Moving on to some international news follow-up.
• Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.
• I mean, Russia shot down a passenger jet for no reason. I’d say an apology is the least Putin can do.
• The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”
• Gee, what a nice guy.
• In other nice guy (not) news…
• Dumpy’s buddy Stephen Miller has a far-right legal group that’s threatening California officials with possible prison time if they continue with "sanctuary" policies.
• The letter, sent out by Miller’s America First Legal two days before Christmas, is directed specifically at the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
• "Federal law is clear: aliens unlawfully present in the United States are subject to removal from the country, and it is a crime to conceal, harbor, or shield them. It is also a crime to prevent federal officials from enforcing immigration law. These laws were duly enacted by the people’s elected representatives. Under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, they are the law of the land and supersede any State or local laws to the contrary. In our democratic republic, all State and local officials must comply with them."
• Fuck that guy. Allow me to tell you something, and I give zero fucks if you agree or not.
• There is no such thing as an illegal human being. I will assist in any way to allow hard-working people to remain in this country while they pursue he path toward legal work and residence status here.
• Fuck Stephen Miller and anyone who thinks like him.
• Meanwhile, Dump’s "border czar" said Thursday that the use of family detention centers for migrants is “on the table,” raising the possibility that the practice ended by the Biden administration could return as early as next year.
• “It’s something we’re considering," said Tom Homan, who was acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first Trump administration.
• Homan said the number of “detention facilities” — open-air camps where immigrants would be concentrated while awaiting deportation — would depend on the data.
• Let’s move on to some news from a better time in America.
• Warren Upton, the oldest living survivor of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the last remaining survivor of the USS Utah, has died. He was 105.
• Upton died Wednesday after suffering a bout of pneumonia. IN a 2020 interview, he said he’d been getting ready to shave when he felt the first torpedo hit the Utah. He recalled that no one on board knew what made the ship shake. Then, the second torpedo hit and the ship began to list and capsize.
• The then-22-year-old swam ashore to Ford Island, where he jumped in a trench to avoid Japanese planes strafing the area. He stayed for about 30 minutes until a truck came and took him to safety.
• There were an estimated 87,000 total military personnel on Oahu on the day of the attack. After Upton’s death, there are only 15 still alive.
• Imagine an America where we’d send a whole-ass country to war rather than lay down and accept the actions and consequences of fascism.
• And now, The Weather: “Strawberry Moon” by Helena Deland
• From the Sports Desk… as has been typical fort he past few years, the NFL schedule goes nutty at the end of the season. There are three games today… yes, on a Saturday.
• The Chargers (9-6) have a must-win game against the Patriots (3-12) to try and stay alive in the playoff race.
• And their competition in that race, the Broncos (9-6) are also playing to stay alive against the Bengals (7-8), who also still have a dim hope of making it.
• And in another crucial situation, the Cardinals (7-8) are at the Rams (9-6), and both need the win in the tight NFC West.
• Today in history… John C. Calhoun is becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign, after being elected Senator from South Carolina (1832). Osceola leads his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army (1835). Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state (1846). Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays (1895). The Syracuse Athletic Club defeat the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional football game, which was held at Madison Square Garden (1902). The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco (1912). Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium (1958). American businesswoman Muriel Siebert becomes the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange (1967). The last scheduled day for induction into the military by the Selective Service System (1972). The United States Endangered Species Act is signed into law by President Richard Nixon (1973).
• December 28 is the birthday of brewer John Molson (1763), astronomer Thomas Henderson (1798), US president Woodrow Wilson (1856), singer-songwriter Pops Staples (1914), writer/publisher Stan Lee (1922), NHL player Terry Sawchuk (1929), actress Maggie Smith (1934), musician Edgar Winter (1946), singer-songwriter Alex Chilton (1950), actor Denzel Washington (1954), NHL player Ray Bourque (1960), computer programmer Linus Torvalds (1969), NFL player Adam Vinatieri (1972), actor/TV host Seth Meyers (1973), and singer-songwriter/pianist John Legend (1978).

Okay. Now I’ll take a shower and drink more coffee and figure out some things to do that make up for my not working yesterday. And maybe even find some time to chill. I need that too. Enjoy your day.