Random News: December 4, 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 4, 2024, and it’s a Wednesday. There’s all kinds of shit going on in the world. Good shit. Bad shit. Weird shit. Let’s closely examine this shit and see what it’s all about.

• Let’s start on the international front.
• Calls are growing for South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol to resign or face impeachment after he briefly imposed martial law over the country yesterday.
• Opposition parties filed a motion today to impeach Yoon, signed by every one of their lawmakers. Civic groups in most major cities are planning to hold large-scale rallies urging Yoon's ouster.
• President Yoon lifted emergency martial law early this morning, just six hours after he declared it in a surprise televised address. Yoon said that by imposing martial law, his aim was "to crush North Korea-sympathizing anti-state forces and to preserve the free constitutional order."
• Two and a half hours after the announcement, 190 lawmakers gathered at the National Assembly amid armed soldiers swarming onto the legislature's premises. The lawmakers, including 18 from Yoon's party, annulled martial law in a unanimous vote.
• National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik declared that the martial law was “invalid” and that lawmakers “will protect democracy with the people.”
• No surprise that the U.S. Embassy in South Korea issued an alert, advising U.S. citizens to stay away from protests or other large gatherings, which could escalate into violence. The U.K. also made a similar travel advisory.
• So that’s all… crazy.
• But it also speaks to a future in the USA, where Dump might well try something similar. Will our legislators and citizens have the balls to stand up to him that way South Korea did?
• Believe it or not, I think we will.
• Let’s move on. In fact, this is somewhat related.
• Incoming U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) signaled that he’s willing to push back against potential attempts by Dumpy to expand presidential power over federal spending.
• “Every president is going to come in and try to do as much as they can by executive action as possible,” Thune said. “Congress, in some cases, is going to be the entity that sometimes will have to put the brakes on.”
• Dump’s pick for his budget director, Russ Vought, served in the same role during the first Trump administration. Vought has since outlined an aggressive vision for presidential power in Project 2025, a 922-page document from the far-right Heritage Foundation.
• Thune said yesterday he plans to immediately begin committee hearings on Cabinet nominees when Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, 2025.
• In other news… but on the topic of Dumpy’s appointments…
• Today is a critical day for Pete Hegseth, whose future appears in jeopardy as GOP senators raise questions about his fitness to serve as Dump’s defense secretary amid past misconduct allegations.
• Hegseth said he spoke to Li’l Dumpy earlier today, who encouraged him to “keep fighting” as he faces an uphill battle for confirmation. The former Fox News host will meet with key GOP senators today, and if just three of them don’t approve — assuming all Democrats vote against him — he’s out. There are already more than three lawmakers who have expressed uncertainty.
• So who’s Dumpy got ready for next in line? Snorrrrrrrrrtttttttttt. Dump’s list of alternative candidates to Hegseth includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• No, seriously. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa.
• While we wait and see what happens with Hegseth, another Dump nominee has pulled out after Dumpy’s minions got upset that he wasn’t MAGA enough.
• Chad Chronister, Dump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, has withdrawn his name from consideration. He’s the second person selected by Dumpster to bow out quickly after being nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation, following human trash Matt Gaetz.
• Why does MAGA hate Chronister? Because as sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, he enforced COVID protocols and said that his office “does not engage in federal immigration enforcement activities.”
• Which is correct, but MAGA wants leaders who break laws.
• Let’s move on.
• Some final news from the election a months ago.
• I am somewhat pleased with myself that my prediction of the final tally for the incoming House is exactly correct after Democrat Adam Gray defeated GOP Rep. John Duarte in a rematch in California’s 13th District in the Central Valley following weeks of ballot counting.
• That’s a flip of the district from red to blue, as Republicans won 220 House seats in the 2024 elections to Democrats’ 215.
• Thanks to Gray’s victory, Democrats added one seat in the House elections, flipping nine Republican-held seats as Republicans flipped eight Democratic-held seats.
• That means the GOP can lose just two votes on legislation in the House in the next Congress if Democrats all vote in opposition, giving them little wiggle room for absences, internal fighting, and vacancies.
• Moving on.
• The Biden administration is moving to phase out a Depression-era program that allows employers to pay disabled workers far less than minimum wage.
• How fucked up is that? Can you believe it’s still fucking legal in this day?
• The decision is the culmination of the Labor Department’s year-long review of the program, which opponents have criticized as a form of discrimination.
• I should note that supporters have described the program as providing disabled people with hard-to-find opportunities for steady wages and meaningful work
• I describe it as paying someone slave wages just because they have a fucking disability. I had no idea this was a thing.
• Yesterday, the agency released a 137-page proposed rule that would immediately halt the issuance of certificates that allow employers to pay less than minimum wage and institute a three-year phaseout period for employers that already hold those certificates.
• Regardless, it’s exactly the type of thing that the incoming Dump administration will put back in place as soon as his term starts.
• And now, The Weather: “Trader's Log” by People I Love
• From the Sports Desk… yesterday, Super Bowl-winning Green Bay Packers coach Mike Holmgren was chosen as the coaching finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2025.
• In the seniors category, former Packers wide receiver Sterling Sharpe; Maxie Baughan, a linebacker who was a nine-time Pro Bowl selection in the 1960s for the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams; and Jim Tyrer, the gigantic offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1960s and 1970s, were named finalists.
• The selection committee will vote separately on 15 finalists from the modern era, with the 2025 inductees being announced during Super Bowl week in New Orleans in February.
• Today in history… Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne — my 39th great-grandfather — as sole king of the Frankish Kingdom (771). Kings Louis IX of France — my 25th great-grandfather — and Henry III of England — my 24th great-grandfather — agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels (1259). At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids farewell to his officers (1783). The 109 Electors of the several states of the Confederate States of America unanimously elect Jefferson Davis as President and Alexander H. Stephens as Vice President (1861). North Carolina ratifies 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, followed soon by Georgia, and U.S. slaves were legally free within two weeks (1865). The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published (1881). Alpha Phi Alpha the first black intercollegiate Greek lettered fraternity was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (1906). The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, the oldest surviving professional hockey franchise in the world, is founded as a charter member of the National Hockey Association (1909). U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office (1918). By a vote of 65–7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (1945). During a concert of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Montreux Casino, an audience member fires a flare gun into the venue's ceiling, causing a fire that destroys the venue and is  immortalized in the Deep Purple song, "Smoke on the Water” (1971). Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco's first female mayor (1978). Pan American World Airways ceases its operations after 64 years (1991). Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the government to allow universal and equal suffrage (2005). 
• December 4 is the birthday of medical expert Agnes Forbes Blackadder (1875), bacteriologist Alfred Hershey (1908), financier/criminal Charles Keating (1923), TV host Wally George (1931), game show host Wink Martindale (1933), actor Max Baer, Jr. (1937), murderer Gary Gilmore (1940), singer-songwriter/guitarist Chris Hillman (1944), singer/drummer Dennis Wilson (1944), actor Jeff Bridges (1949), guitarist Gary Rossington (1951), singer-songwriter Cassandra Wilson (1955), NFL player/coach Frank Reich (1961), actress Marissa Tomei (1964), actor/musician Fred Armisen (1966), rapper/businessman Jay-Z (1969), model Tyra Banks (1973), intelligence specialist/criminal Reality Winner (1991), and MLB player Blake Snell (1992).

There’s always more news, but never more time. When I do have a moment later today, I’ll also write up a little report on my fun live music show from last night… it was a good one. Enjoy your day.