Random News: October 12, 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 October 12, 2024, and it’s a Saturday. I’m up and awake on an overcast morning, drinking Peet's Organic Uzuri African Blend because I am very fancy, and wearing a blue bathrobe because I am also very lazy. Let’s take a look at various things that have happened.

• While the imminent danger of Hurricane Milton is in the past, people in Florida are now returning home to flooded streets, piles of debris, and — in some cases — shattered homes.
• A crew of some 50,000 linemen had restored power to about one million customers. Still, as of last night, more than two million remained without electricity.
• It will likely be mid-next week before many of those folks — especially in places like Pinellas and Pasco Counties — get power back on.
• Like I said, this cleanup is going to take a good while, and many people will be in bad shape trying to find housing and safe living conditions.
• A large portion of Americans are only a couple of paychecks from being homeless, and when disaster strikes, there’s no margin for survival.
• Wishing everyone luck.
• Yesterday, a group of climate scientists reported how they were able to determine with precision the effect on human-induced climate change as it applied to Hurricane Milton.
• Record-high global temperatures, boosted by the burning of fossil fuels, helped power the storm as it traveled across the balmy waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
• Those conditions boosted Milton’s rainfall between 20 to 30 percent and wind speed by 10 percent compared with a scenario without human-caused climate change.
• The same research group found climate change also intensified Hurricane Helene, which like Milton intensified rapidly as it barreled toward the U.S. coast.
• You can expect this as the new norm. Even if we stopped all excess carbon generation (which isn’t about to happen in any way), the damage that’s already been done is going to continue this path of more severe weather, more frequently.
• Plan accordingly.
• One final note I want to address, because I’ve seen it come up multiple times on Facebook and elsewhere, is the rumor — spread by Donnie Dump and others — that FEMA will only provide $750 to disaster survivors to support their recovery.
• This is 100% false.
• The $750 (actually $770, to be precise) is called Serious Needs Assistance. It is an upfront, flexible payment to help cover immediate essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication, and other emergency supplies.
• It is NOT a loan. It’s an initial payment you may receive while FEMA assesses your eligibility for additional funds.
• After you apply for more assistance for disaster relief, you may still receive additional forms of assistance from FEMA for other needs such as support for temporary housing, personal property, and home repair costs.
• So please stop saying this. Also, please make sure that your government representatives support funding FEMA’s budget so that there’s money available for folks in need.
• If your congressperson or senator votes “no” on FEMA funding, that means they don’t want you to get help. Go take a look at how your representatives vote and act accordingly.
• Moving on.
• Kamala Harris has released a health report. Will Dumples the Old Fat Orange Clown do the same?
• Per Dr. Joshua Simmons, a U.S. Army colonel and physician to the vice president, Harris is in “excellent health” and “possesses the physical and mental resiliency” required to serve as president.
• Dr. Simmons noted that Harris, 59, maintains a healthy, active lifestyle and that her most recent physical last April was “unremarkable.”
• It’s already in question as to whether Dump, 78, is mentally fit to serve. Since he won’t release any updated health information — including after his ear was grazed by a bullet during an assassination attempt in July — it might be indicative that he has serious physical problems.
• And that would mean he is likely not to survive four years of a presidency where he’d be 82 at the finish. That would leave JD Vance as President after Dump dies in office.
• In other news…
• The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Virginia election officials yesterday. They accuse the state of striking names from voter rolls in violation of federal election law.
• The National Voter Registration Act requires a 90-day “quiet period” ahead of elections for the maintenance of voter rolls. If you are removed from a voter roll within three months of the election, you might not even be aware until it’s far too late.
• But an executive order issued in August by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin requiring daily updates to voter lists to remove ineligible voters violates that law.
• Get his ass.
• A brief note about elections and social bubbles. No, we’re not going to talk about polls, because they are bullshit.
• But I want to remind you: it’s very likely that you surround yourself with people of similar outlooks, and avoid those with opposing outlooks.
• So in your mind, you have no doubt that your preferred candidates will win, because that’s what “everyone” is saying. But that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
• My belief — based on historical voting patterns, the way the electoral college works, swing state voting, and yes, some of the more legitimate longstanding polls — is that the 2024 election is going to be super close.
• And again, with my own biases acknowledged, I hope I’m wrong. I’d love nothing more than to see Kamala Harris win in a landslide on Tuesday November 5.
• I’ve envisioned scenarios where she wins Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, and every other state that pollsters consider a toss-up.
• But the MAGA folks are equally convinced that their guy will do the same… because they only talk to and associate with each other.
• And despite that fact that Dump trails Harris in most polls, he is — if you want to believe polls —  in better shape now than he was at this time in 2020, and in his winning White House campaign of 2016.
• He’s down against the incumbent vice president by smaller margins than he faced in his first two general elections — both of which saw him score higher with actual voters than the ones who responded to pollsters.
• So if you’re complacent, you’re in for a devastating shock in just over three weeks.
• If you want to help your preferred candidates win, there’s only one way to do it: vote, and encourage others to vote. That’s it. That’s all you’ve got.
• Moving on.
• A Texas man who’d sued three women for allegedly helping his ex-wife obtain abortion pills — and was being hailed as a hero by far-right anti-abortion groups — has dropped his claims.
• It was the first case of its kind to be brought since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade under the order of Donnie Dump.
• The lawsuit, filed in March 2023, claimed that helping someone obtain an abortion qualifies as murder under the state’s homicide law. The man, Marcus Silva, had been seeking at least $1 million in damages from each of the defendants.
• He dropped the case on Thursday after several different state courts refused to compel his ex-wife and the three defendants to provide additional information. One Texas Supreme Court justice called attention to what he described as Silva’s “disgracefully vicious harassment and intimidation of his ex-wife.”
• Fucking asshole.
• And now, The Weather: “Luna” by ultrasaturated
• Been awhile since I did a chart. Here’s a fact that’s only interesting to me; as a child, I lived for a short while in a suburb of Chicago called Evanston, IL… and a few years earlier, so did Kamala Harris.
• Both of us were there as small children for the same reason: our parent’s careers. My dad moved us there as an apparel rep for some clothing company. Harris’s folks held teaching and researching positions at Northwestern University.
• Since Kamala was there around 1968, so we’ll go with that for our chart. Here’s the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for this date in October of that year.
• 1. Hey Jude (The Beatles). 2. Fire (The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown). 3. Little Green Apples (O.C. Smith). 4. Harper Valley P.T.A. (Jeannie C. Riley). 5. Girl Watcher (The O’Kaysions). 6. Midnight Confessions (The Grass Roots). 7. My Special Angel (The Vogues). 8. I've Gotta Get A Message To You (Bee Gees). 9. Over You (Gary Puckett And The Union Gap). 10. Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud (Part 1) (James Brown). 11. Time Has Come Today (The Chambers Brothers). 12. Suzie Q. (Part One) (Creedence Clearwater Revival). 13. Those Were The Days (Mary Hopkin). 14. Elenore (The Turtles). 15. Piece Of My Heart (Big Brother And The Holding Company). 16. Slip Away (Clarence Carter). 17. Revolution (The Beatles). 18. Hey, Western Union Man (Jerry Butler). 19. Hold Me Tight (Johnny Nash). 20. All Along The Watchtower (The Jimi Hendrix Experience).
• From the Sports Desk… the 1-seed Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t allow a single run in the last two games of the NLDS against the 4-seed San Diego Padres, winning 2-0 in game 5 and punching a ticket to the NLCS, where they’ll face and unlikely but scary opponent: the 6-seed Mets.
• The NLCS starts tomorrow in LA.
• Today, stating very soon, the Tigers face the Guardians in Game 5 of their ALDS series. They’re tied at 2-2. The winner of today’s game will face the Yankees in the ALCS, which starts Monday in New York.
• Today in history… the army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire (539 BC). The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Province of Massachusetts Bay Governor William Phips (1692). America's first insane asylum opens (1773). The citizens of Munich hold the first Oktoberfest (1810). The British in India enact the Criminal Tribes Act, naming many local communities "Criminal Tribes” (1871). The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools (1892). President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House (1901). Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor (1945). President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops from Vietnam before Christmas (1970). Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, dies five days after he was beaten outside of Laramie (1998). Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya becomes the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours with a time of 1:59:40 in Vienna (2019). 
• October 12 is the birthday of composer Bernardo Pisano (1490), inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860), activist Kamini Roy (1864), author Ding Ling (1904), animator Art Clokey (1921), singer-songwriter Nappy Brown (1929), actor/civil rights leader Dick Gregory (1932), singer-songwriter Sam Moore (1935), singer Luciano Pavarotti (1935), singer-songwriter/guitarist Rick Parfitt (1948), terrorist Carlos the Jackal (1949), comedian Les Dennis (1953), singer-songwriter Jane Siberry (1955), actor Hugh Jackman (1968), actor/evangelical prick Kirk Cameron (1970), and golfer Christie Kerr (1977).

I’m going to get out of this robe, into a shower, into some clothes and then… I have things to do. Some of them are even fun. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 11, 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 October 11, 2024, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! My coffee this morning is Peet’s Columbian, a hearty brew that tastes like… coffee. That’s what I want my coffee to taste like. Let’s take a sip, and then see what’s happening in this world of ours.

• For the first time in a long time, I’m not feeling compelled to open my news with breaking info on horrific weather events.
• Despite being less severe than feared, Milton still carved a path of destruction and grief across the state. At least 16 people were killed in the hurricane, six of them in two tornadoes that touched down ahead of the storm.
• Obviously, the cleanup and recovery from both Helene and Milton will be continuing for a long while. I was happy to see that many of my friends in places like North Carolina and Florida were starting to get their power and cell service restored, and eventually life will get back to normal for all of them.
• Yesterday, Barack Obama held a get-out-the-vote rally for Kamala Harris in the critical battleground state Pennsylvania.
• Always a great speaker and messenger, Obama refashioned his old campaign rallying cry, “Yes, We Can,” to “Yes, She Can,” which beamed on a screen over the crowd.
• “I get it, why people are looking to shake things up. I mean, I am the hopey-changey guy. So I understand people feeling frustrated and feeling we can do better. What I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you, Pennsylvania,” said Obama.
• One point Obama drove home: he admonished Black men who are hesitating to back Harris’s presidential campaign, telling them it’s “not acceptable” to sit out this election and suggesting they might be reluctant to vote for Harris because she’s a woman.
• “You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down?” Obama said. “That’s not acceptable.”
• I agree.
• And I’ve been saying this for a long time. If you’re a man who’s scared to vote for a woman because you fear women, you gotta get past that. The fact is, you have a real choice here between a competent proven leader and a guy who has plans to ruin the lives of everyone but the extremely wealthy.
• Be a man, stand up, and fight. Don’t sit this out. It’s not a time to stay on the sidelines.
• Obama’s appearance last night at the University of Pittsburgh was his first at a campaign rally for Harris, as he sets off on a swing-state tour on her behalf.
• Of note: Pennsylvania is a state Obama won in his 2008 and 2012 presidential races, but Dump won in 2016. Biden narrowly carried it in 2020 and the state is shaping up to be one of the most closely contested in this year’s race.
• Moving on.
• Last night, Harris did a town hall in Las Vegas, sponsored by Univision. She took questions from undecided Latino voters in an unscripted format that she used to try to show empathy while making the case that her opponent does not care about the problems of the middle class.
• Latino voters were a key voting bloc for Democrats in 2020, helping the party win Nevada and Arizona. But polls have shown that enthusiasm has slipped, and the Harris campaign has been fighting to win back support.
• Once again, the problem is the men.
• Harris handled a bunch of pointed questions. One woman tearfully described how her mother, who died six weeks ago, was unable to get the medical care she needed as a result of her immigration status.
• Another voter said she has lost everything because of long COVID and can’t get Social Security disability benefits, while a third shared a story about being unable to get good health care for a knee injury.
• Harris responded by talking about how these matters would get much worse under another Dump presidency. “There's a big contrast between me and Donald Trump,” she said. “When he was president of the United States, he and his friends 60 times tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.”
• Let’s move on.
• In the interest of fairness, I suppose I should quote the Republican candidate from his event in Detroit last night.
• “And, it’s so simple, I mean, you know. This isn’t like Elon with his rocket ships that land within 12 inches on the moon where they wanted to land. Or, he gets the engines back—that was the first I realized, I said, ‘Who the hell did that?’ I saw engines about three, four years ago. These things were coming—cylinders, no wings, no nothing—and they’re coming down very slowly, landing on a raft in the middle of the ocean someplace, with a circle, boom! Reminded me of the Biden circles that he used to have, right? He’d have eight circles, and he couldn’t fill ’em up. But then I heard he beat us with the popular vote. He couldn’t fill up the eight circles, I always loved those circles, they were so beautiful, so beautiful to look at.”
• There you go.
• Are you voting for that demented pants-shitting freak?
• Moving on.
• I’ll remind you once agin that there’s much more at stake than the presidential election in 24 more days. Senate races — especially in places like Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere — will be crucial toward how your quality of life goes in upcoming years.
• In other news…
• A company is recalling nearly 10 million pounds of meat and poultry products because they may be contaminated with listeria bacteria that can cause illness and death.
• Gross.
• BrucePac of Woodburn, OR, recalled the roughly 5,000 tons of ready-to-eat foods this week after U.S. Agriculture Department officials detected listeria in samples of poultry during routine testing. Further tests identified BrucePac chicken as the source. The recall includes 75 meat and chicken products.
• The foods include products like grilled chicken breast strips were produced between June 19 and October 8 and shipped to restaurants, food service vendors, and other sites nationwide.
• Officials said they are concerned that the foods may still be available for use or stored in refrigerators or freezers. The products should be thrown away.
• Listeria infections typically cause fever, muscle aches, and tiredness, and may cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Symptoms can occur quickly or to up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food. 
• Under Donald Trump’s Project 2025, many regulatory agencies within the federal government would be severely cut back or eliminated altogether. If he’s elected, you and your family won’t have any warnings before buying and eating contaminated food.
• Something to keep in mind.
• Let’s move on.
• TD Bank will pay approximately $3 billion in a historic settlement with U.S. authorities who said that the financial institution’s lax practices allowed significant money laundering over multiple years.
• The Canada-based bank pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, the largest bank in U.S. history to do so.
• The bank is the 10th largest in the United States, and its CEO said the company takes full responsibility and has been cooperating with the investigation. The Justice Department said the bank allowed at least three different money laundering networks to move a total of $670 million through TD Bank accounts.
• What kind of illegal activity was laundered through TD Bank? It ranged from fentanyl and narcotics trafficking to terrorist financing and human trafficking.
• Assholes.
• And now, The Weather: “Motel” by hot brother
• Rest in peace to Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy who was assassinated on the night he won the 1968 California Democratic presidential primary. She died yesterday at 96.
• Mrs. Kennedy served a lifetime's work in social justice and human rights.
• From the Sports Desk… yesterday in MLB playoffs, two ALDS games.
• The New York Yankees have made it to the ALCS after a 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals knocked them out of the playoffs. Yankees won the series 3-1.
• The Cleveland Guardians hung on for a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers, tying that series up 2-2. The deciding game 5 is on Saturday.
• The WNBA finals are on. In game 1 last night, the Minnesota Lynx beat the new York Liberty 95-93 in an exciting overtime finish.
• And in the NFL, the 49ers (3-3) kicked off week 6 of the season by beating the Seahawks (3-3) 36-24. It’s frankly difficult this season to establish any solid direction for all but a few teams in the league.
• Today in history… The Daughters of the American Revolution is founded (1890). San Francisco sparks a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Japan by ordering segregated schools for Japanese students (1906). Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane (1910). The Duke and Duchess of Windsor tour Nazi Germany for 12 days and meet Adolf Hitler a couple weeks later (1937). CBS's field-sequential color system for television is the first to be licensed for broadcast by the FCC (1950). NASA launches Pioneer 1, its first space probe, although it fails to achieve a stable orbit (1958). NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission (1968). Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk (1984). The AIDS Memorial Quilt is first displayed during the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights (1987). Professor Anita Hill delivers her televised testimony concerning sexual harassment during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination (1991). NASA launches STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission (2000). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he will extend the settlement freeze if the Palestinian leadership recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, an offer the Palestinians quickly reject (2010).
• October 11 is the birthday of first lady businessman Henry J. Heinz (1844), activist Emily Davison (1872), US first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884), racist real estate developer Fred Trump (1905), director/choreographer Jerome Robbins (1918), drummer/bandleader Art Blakey (1919), singer-songwriter Dottie West (1932), singer-songwriter/guitarist Daryl Hall (1946), politician Patty Murray (1950), NFL player Steve Young (1961), actress Joan Cusack (1962), actor Luke Perry (1966), actress Jane Krakowski (1968), rapper MC Lyte (1970), director Justin Lin (1971), rapper Cardi B (1992), and NFL player T. J. Watt (1994).

Perhaps this weekend, I’ll find some time to do a more thorough look at key down ballot (Senate and House) races to watch. That seems like a good idea. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 10, 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 October 10, 2024, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I’ve got a cup of coffee and I’m ready to take a look around and see what’s going on in this world of ours. Let’s do it.

• Hurricane Milton made landfall last night at about 8:30pm local time along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It hit as a Category 3 storm, with powerful winds, deadly storm surge, and potential flooding for much of the state.
• It hit maximum sustained winds of 120 mph when it roared ashore in Siesta Key, FL.
• Long before the hurricane even made landfall, over 130 tornado warnings were issued across Florida in an unusual outbreak. At least seven of them touched down.
• Most of the southern half of the state found itself under tornado warning at least once yesterday afternoon. The National Weather Service issued at least 98 tornado warnings across the state between noon and about 6pm.
• The tornadoes flipped a tractor-trailer, downed trees, and damaged roofs, homes, and a sheriff’s office far from Milton’s core.
• Milton crossed the state and continued on into the Atlantic Ocean, but not before knocking out power to more than three million customers and causing at least four deaths.
• Damage was widespread, and water levels may continue to rise for days, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was not “the worst-case scenario,” and I agree.
• The deadly storm surge feared for Tampa apparently did not materialize, though the storm dumped up to 18 inches of rain in some parts of the area. The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet — which is bad, but lower than Helene caused.
• People in places like Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Lee Counties should continue to  stay in place. There are downed power lines, trees in roads, blocked bridges, and flooding to contend with this morning.
• So all in all, while I’m sure it was terrible for many folks, it seems like Milton could have been worse.
• Can we address something real quick?
• I wrote — on multiple occasions, right here in this very column — about climate change facts.
• Some of them included the loud warnings over the past 12 months from scientists who measured the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico and found it at its highest temperature in recorded history.
• And honestly, no one seemed to give a single shit, no matter what I said or how I said it. It was in headlines… on CNN, AP, Reuters, all the other major news outlets.
• And these warnings all ended with the same conclusion: that we’d be experiencing more and more severe weather, more frequently.
• Again, crickets.
• And now when I hear people saying that there was “no way we could have known” that destructive storms would be impacting us, or that the government is controlling the weather, I try to stay sympathetic.
• I really do.
• But you were all told this was coming. This exact shit. Like the proverbial deer in the headlights, most of you did nothing. And now mankind-assisted global climate change is going to kill you and people you love.
• When you keep laughing when I mention the carbon footprint we leave, or scoff at clean energy alternatives, or you buy big trucks and rev the engine to spew toxic gases into the air around you… these hurricanes and other severe weather events are the direct result.
• I don’t know what else to tell you.
• In a bright spot of news about the recent severe weather events, Taylor Swift has donated $5 million to Hurricane Helene and Milton relief efforts. This is per the CEO of Feeding America.
• In a world of Donald Trumps, be a Taylor Swift. There are always people willing to contribute to the world in a positive way.
• Speaking of Dump, the folks affected by Helene out to be very, very thankful the event happened under the Biden/Harris administration.
• They’ve provided 7,000 workers, 14,900,000 meals, 13,900,000 liters of water, and $137,000,000 of aid for people and state and local governments.
• Per Dump's Project 2025, that aid amount: 0 workers, 0 meals, 0 water, and $0 in aid. I’m not at all kidding here. It’s in the plan.
• If you don’t think another (perhaps larger) hurricane or other severe weather event won’t happen soon enough, you’re gambling on your life and that of your family if you allow Dump to take office.
• Had enough news about weather events? No? How about some severe space weather that’s about to nail us?
• A severe solar storm is headed to Earth that could stress power grids even more as the U.S. deals with major back-to-back hurricanes.
• The NOAA issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for today into Friday after an outburst from the sun was detected earlier this week. Such a storm could temporarily disrupt power and radio signals.
• Power plants and orbiting spacecraft will need to take precautions. FEA has been notified about possible power disruptions, while they’re still in the midst of dealing with Helene and Milton.
• The last big solar storm in May produced dazzling auroras across the Northern Hemisphere,  and resulted in no major disruptions. If you were wondering. the sun is near the peak of its current 11-year cycle, the reason for all the recent solar activity.
• I’m gonna be Debbie Downer here and remind you that when you see beautiful aurora in the night sky, that’s Earth’s magnetosphere acting as a shield from high-speed solar radiation particles that would otherwise boil our oceans and fry us like fish sticks.
• Let’s move on to something more comforting… like the 2024 general election. Eek.
• I’m doing my best to avoid looking at any of the constantly fluctuating polls. It’s a sure way to drive yourself insane, paying too much attention to that.
• But here is a tangible note: Vice President Kamala Harris has raised more than $1 billion in less than three months as a presidential candidate.
• No other presidential candidate in history is believed to have ever raised so much money so fast.
• Let’s move on to news coverage of a Dumples the Clown fan.
• Patrick Byrne, ex-CEO of Overstock and an ally to the former President, has fled to Dubai, claiming that the government of Venezuela has a $25 million bounty on him — but, perhaps not coincidentally, is also facing a $1.7 billion lawsuit leveled by the Dominion voting machine company.
• Dubai does not have an extradition treaty with the USA.
• Hmm.
• Let’s move on.
• Today is World Mental Health Day, an international day for global mental health education, awareness, and advocacy against social stigma.
• First celebrated in 1992, the annual awareness program brings attention to mental illness and its major effects on people's lives worldwide.
• Let me tell you something. We tend to shove mental health under the rug, or only think about it in regard to its most severe and extreme forms.
• But I don’t know anyone — not a single person — who hasn’t dealt with the effects of anxiety and/or depression in various forms and degrees. And the number of people I know who’ve been afflicted by bipolar or dissociative issues is far greater than you might assume.
• We all agree that health care is essential. Diagnosis and treatment of illness or injuries is a part of everyone’s lives. What could be more important that your ability to use your mind, or being overwhelmed by your emotions to the point that you’re not an effective human being?
• My message to folks who suffer from mental health disorders: you’re not alone. And there are ways to get help.
• Let’s move on.
• Do you know about microstamping? It’s an innovative technology that marks ammunition casings with a unique fingerprint, allowing police to trace casings left at crime scenes back to the gun that fired them.
• While microstamping is both an effective and affordable way to help law enforcement solve crimes where no gun is recovered, the gun industry has consistently fought against any efforts to implement this critical tool for decades.
• I have to ask: why would anyone care if their shell casing is found on a shooting range, or near a deer carcass? As far as I'm concerned, the only people who would be against this are those who use guns to harm other people.
• In other news…
• The Tropicana, the third-oldest casino on the las Vegas Strip, closed in April after welcoming guests for 67 years.
• Yesterday morning, it was gone for good as crews imploded the structure to make way for a $1.5 billion baseball stadium for the relocating Oakland Athletics, part of the city's latest rebrand into a sports hub.
• The Tropicana was the last true mob building on the Las Vegas Strip. Yes, the Flamingo is also from the city’s mafia-run era on the Strip and is still there, but the original structure is are long gone. The casino was completely rebuilt in the 1990s.
• Moving on.
• Do you like raccoons? I like raccoons. I think most people like them.
• But sheriff’s deputies in Washington’s Kitsap County got a 911 call from a woman being bullied by a hundred raccoons swarming her home near Poulsbo.
• She had to flee her property after dozens of the creatures descended upon it and were acting aggressively. She’d started feeding a family of them decades ago and it was fine until about six weeks earlier, when the number showing up went from a handful to around 100.
• They were becoming increasingly more aggressive, demanding food, and they would hound her day and night — scratching at the outside of her home, at the door. If she pulled up her car, they would surround the car, and surround her if she went outside at all.
• And now, The Weather: “Climbing” by Caribou
• Instead of a chart, here’s the Zak Claxton Hurricane Milton playlist, in weather phenomenon order.
• Steal My Sunshine (Len). Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers). Windy (The Association). Blowin in the Wind (Bob Dylan). The Wind Cries Mary (Jimi Hendrix). Against the Wind (Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band). Ride Like The Wind (Christopher Cross). Here Comes the Rain Again (Eurythmics). Singin' In The Rain (Gene Kelly). Only Happy When It Rains (Garbage). Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (BJ Thomas). Rainy Days and Mondays (Carpenters). Shadows in the Rain (The Police). Who’ll Stop the Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival). Riders on the Storm (The Doors). Like a Hurricane (Neil Young). Rock You Like a Hurricane (Scorpions). 
• From the Sports Desk… MLB divisional series playoffs continued yesterday with all remaining eight teams playing their respective game 3 and 4.
• The big news: The 6-seed Mets beat the 2-seed Phillies 4-1 and punched their ticket to the NLCS. They won the series 3-1. Also in the National League, the 1-seed Dodgers staved off elimination by the 4-seed Padres, giving them an 8-0 beatdown and forcing a game 5 (scheduled for Friday).
• In the ALDS, the Tigers shut out the Guardians 3-0, taking a 2-1 lead in their ALDS series. The Yankees hung on to a 3-2 win, putting them up 2-1 in their series with the Royals. Both AL game 4’s happen today.
• Today in history… Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by King Christian I of Denmark (1471). The crew of Christopher Columbus's ship, the Santa Maria, attempt a mutiny (1492). The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean (1780). Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell (1846). U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, completing major construction on the Panama Canal (1913). U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to Ghanaian finance minister Komla Agbeli Gbedemah after he is refused service in a Delaware restaurant (1957). The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty comes into effect (1963). U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with evasion of federal income tax (1973). The United States Congress approves the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (2002).
• October 10 is the birthday of Japan emperor Saga (786), organist Johann Nicolaus Bach (1669), physicist Henry Cavendish (1731), composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813), actress Helen Hayes (1900), artist Alberto Giacometti (1901), pianist Thelonious Monk (1917), filmmaker Ed Wood (1924), playwright Harold Pinter (1930), singer-songwriter John Prine (1946), actor Ben Vereen (1946), musician Midge Ure (1953), singer-songwriter David Lee Roth (1954), singer Tanya Tucker (1958), actress Julia Sweeney (1959), singer Crystal Waters (!964), politician Gavin Newsom (1967), NFL player Brett Favre (1969), race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1974), musician Lzzy Hale (1984), MLB player Andrew McCutchen (1986), NFL player Geno Smith (1990), and NFL player Courtland Sutton (1995).

That seems like enough news for now, and I have things to do regardless. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 9, 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 October 9, 2024, and it’s a Wednesday. I’m your news dude. Your info guy. Your data mate. Your story boy. Let’s get into it.

• Obviously starting with Hurricane Milton.
• The Tampa Bay region, home to more than 3.3 million people, hasn’t seen a direct hit from a major hurricane in more than a century, since 1921.
• Milton fluctuated between categories 4 and 5 as it approached, but regardless of the distinction in wind speeds, it will be a major and extremely dangerous storm when its center makes landfall late tonight or early Thursday.
• The storm is expected to retain hurricane strength as it crosses central Florida tomorrow, heading all the way across the state toward the Atlantic Ocean. The precise track remained uncertain.
• One more note for now…
• There has been a mandatory evacuation order across 11 Florida counties with a combined population of about 5.9 million people. 
• If you choose to ride it out, officials warn that you are truly on your own. First responders are not expected to risk their lives attempting rescues at the height of the storm.
• However, there are many people like Amanda Moss, who said in a series of TikTok videos that she doesn’t have enough money to evacuate herself, her husband, her six children, her four French bulldogs, and her mother-in-law from the Fort Myers area
• “We don’t have the money to evacuate, and where am I evacuating to?” she asked.
• It’s a valid question. Before you castigate those who are staying, keep in mind that many of them don’t feel they have a choice. 
• In any case, here’s hoping my Florida friends are currently somewhere safe, or well underway to getting there, or are lucky in their attempts to stay put.
• Let’s move on.
• A couple of tidbits from Bob Woodward’s new book. Side note: if something is important and newsworthy, why do these assholes keep it secret for months or years while writing their book? Oh wait, it’s to sell books.
• Woodward wrote that Dumpy was in touch with Putin multiple times after leaving office in 2021.
• Worse, in 2020 while still in office, Dumples the Clown sent Putin COVID test machines. 
• Those testing apparatus were in extreme short supply in the USA at the time, and Dump was sending them to Russia. Piece of shit.
• Dumpy immediately denied that he’d sent the tests to Putin… and moments later, the Kremlin confirmed that he had.
• Woodward had some stuff to say about Joe Biden as well.
• Biden called Benjamin Netanyahu, “That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad fucking guy!”
• I agree with Joe. Woodward also described the evolving relationship between Biden and the Israeli prime minister, revealing this telling conversation… 
• “What’s your strategy, man?” Biden asked Netanyahu. “We have to go into Rafah,” Netanyahu replied. “Bibi, you’ve got no strategy,” Biden said.
• Again, seems about right.
• Let’s move on to another look back.
• Remember in September 2018, when allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett M. Kavanaugh threatened his confirmation to the Supreme Court?
• A new report finds that messages to the FBI tip line regarding Kavanaugh were forwarded directly to the White House and never probed.
• Also, despite an alleged open-door policy, the FBI had no written protocols for the supplemental background investigation ordered by the White House.
• So there was no actual investigation into the many claims against Kavanaugh, which resulted in a major triumph for the conservative movement and locked in a right-leaning majority that would later overturn the constitutional right to abortion.
• Which Donnie Dump takes full credit for.
• Please vote for Harris/Walz and put an end to this continual ongoing humiliation and degradation of our country’s women. Thank you.
• Moving on.
• Last night, Kamala Harris cracked open a beer on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ sipping a Miller High Life with the late-night host as she discussed Dump’s politicization of federal hurricane relief efforts, her plans for the economy, the prospects for peace in the Middle East, and her opponent’s admiration for strongman dictators like Vladimir Putin.
• Earlier in the day, Harris appeared on the Howard Stern show, calling Dumpy a sore loser and earning an endorsement from the popular radio host.
• During the show, Harris blasted Dump for his comment that he would be a “dictator on day one.” “Understand what dictators do,” said Harris. “They jail journalists, they put people who are protesting in the street in jail.”
• Dump has criticized Stern, saying that the host “went woke”. Stern shrugged off the charge, telling listeners that he takes “woke” as a compliment and that “the opposite of being woke is being asleep.”
• Correct.
• Stern also asked if she thought there were Americans who would refuse to vote for a woman.
• Her response: “Listen, I’ve been the first woman in almost every position I’ve had. I believe that men and women support women in leadership. And that’s been my life experience and that’s why I’m running for president.”
• I think she’s right.
• Let’s move on.
• You know how Dumpy is always ranting about how China steals American jobs and engages in unfair trade practices? I mean, that’s not entirely wrong.
• So why is it that Dump’s “God Bless the USA” Bible were printed in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou?
• The printing company in China shipped close to 120,000 of the Bibles to the United States between early February and late March.
• But wait… there’s more.
• The value of the three separate shipments was listed at $342,000, or less than $3 per Bible. But the minimum price for the Dump-backed Bible is $59.99.
• WHY DO YOU WANT THIS GUY TO KEEP FUCKING YOU?
• The only conclusion I can draw is that MAGA is the party that enjoys being a victim of ass rape.
• Let’s just move on.
• As if the current situations (gestures vaguely) in various parts of the USA didn’t make it difficult enough to vote, yesterday the Justice Department announced the arrest of an Afghan national living in Oklahoma, and accused him of plotting to kill Americans on Election Day on behalf of the terror group ISIS.
• Nasir Tawhedi, 27, is alleged to have sought to purchase semiautomatic firearms and ammunition to further his alleged plans to carry out the attack, and even went so far as to liquidate his family's assets and resettling family members overseas in preparation.
• The charging documents additionally reference at least one co-conspirator, who is identified as a citizen of Afghanistan with legal permanent resident status who also resides in Oklahoma but is a juvenile.
• Fuck that guy and anyone else trying to impede the democratic process. Whether you vote early or wait until November 5, don’t let a goddamn thing — storms, terrorists, MAGAs, wild boars, long lines, floods, plagues of frogs, whatever — dissuade you from doing your patriotic duty.
• In other news…
• More than a dozen states have sued TikTok, accusing the social media platform of helping to drive a mental health crisis among teenagers.
• A bipartisan group of 14 attorneys general from across the country allege that the company uses addictive features to hook children to the app, and that it has intentionally misled the public about the safety of prolonged use.
• TikTok is already battling a law passed by Congress in April that would ban it from the US, unless Chinese parent company Bytedance agreed to a sale.
• Guess we’ll see how that goes. I’ll note, as I’ve done before, that many of the same features being labelled as addictive in regard to TikTok are also offered on Facebook and YouTube, such as the infinite scroll through suggested videos, shorts, and reels.
• Sigh.
• On the lighter side of news, Qantas Airways is apologizing to customers after inadvertently running an R-rated film on every screen during a flight.
• Apparently there were tech issues a trip from Sydney to Haneda last week that didn’t allow for individual movie selection. So the the crew chose one movie to play across all screens “based on the request from a number of passengers.”
• The film was “Daddio,” which follows a woman (Dakota Johnson) who takes a cab from JFK airport and strikes up an extended conversation with her driver (Sean Penn) on her way back home to Manhattan.
• Doesn’t sound too racy to me, but it carries an R rating for “language throughout, sexual material and brief graphic nudity.” Whoops.
• I’m sure there were some parents not too thrilled that their kids were watching it.
• A snarky Air New Zealand social media post after the incident read, "We let you choose your movies.” Snort.
• And now, The Weather: “Midnight Oil” by yunè pinku
• Rest in peace to Red Sox pitching legend Luis Tiant. He died yesterday at 83. 
• Tiant spent 19 years in the majors, eight with the Red Sox. He was a three-time All Star, but never made the Hall of Fame despite being on the ballot for 15 years. Probably a mistake.
• From the Sports Desk… more games yesterday in the NLDS. The 6-seed Mets beat the 2-seed Phillies 7-3, taking a perilous 2-1 lead in the 5-game series. Likewise, the 4-seed Padres hung on to win in a 6-5 victory over the 1-seed Dodgers. San Diego is now also one win away from the NLCS.
• C’mon, you stupid Dodgers.
• Today in history… Carloman I and Charlemagne — my 39th great-grandfather — are crowned kings of the Franks (768). Kepler’s Supernova is the most recent supernova to be observed within the Milky Way (1604). The Collegiate School of Connecticut — later renamed Yale University — is chartered in Old Saybrook (1701). In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces capture two British ships: HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia (1812). The siege of Sevastopol begins in the Crimean War (1854). Union cavalrymen defeat Confederate forces at Toms Brook, Virginia (1864). Boulder Dam — later called Hoover Dam — begins to generate electricity and transmit it to Los Angeles (1936). The National Guard is called in as demonstrations continue over the trial of the "Chicago Eight” (1969). ‘Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends’ premieres (1984). Fox Broadcasting Company (FBC) launches as the "fourth" US television network (1984). North Korea conducts its first nuclear test (2006). The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its all-time high of 14,164 points before rapidly declining due to the 2007-2008 financial crises (2007). Pakistani Taliban attempt to assassinate outspoken schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai (2012). 
• October 9 is the birthday of composer Camille Saint-Saëns (1835), physicist Karl Schwarzschild (1873), pharmacist/businessman Charles Rudolph Walgreen (1873), actor Alastair Sim (1900), activist Alice Lee Jemison (1901), CIA officer E. Howard Hunt (1918), actor Fyvush Finkel (1922), singer-songwriter/guitarist John Lennon (1940), cartoonist Mike Peters (1943), bass player/songwriter John Entwistle (1944), singer-songwriter/guitarist Jackson Browne (1948), keyboardist/songwriter Rod Temperton (1949), TV host Sharon Osbourne (1952), actor Tony Shaloub (1953), actor Scott Bakula (1954), singer Ini Kamoze (1957), singer-songwriter/producer Al Jourgensen (1958), NFL player Mike Singletary (1958), film director/producer Guillermo del Toro (1964), UK prime minister David Cameron (1966), singer-songwriter PJ Harvey (1969), singer-songwriter/guitarist Sean Lennon (1975), author Marie Kondo (1984), NFL player George Kittle (1993).

Well, that turned out to be more news than I thought I’d get to when I started an hour ago. But sometimes life is like that; you end up with more than you bargained for. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 8, 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 October 8, 2024, and it’s a Tuesday. Let’s put the pedal to the metal down the information superhighway and try not to crash.

• Since I have already voted (as you saw in my posts on Sunday and the nifty “I Voted” sticker in my profile pic), I thought I’d share with you what and whom I voted for.
• But keep in mind: first, the grand majority of my ballot was for options for my fellow Californians. Only one spot on the entire ballot — the one for President and Vice President — is applicable outside of my state.
• And a good amount of the ballot was for Los Angles County as well as local measures.
• Point being that the Zak Claxton Voter Guide won’t help you for shit, assuming you don’t live in the South Bay/Beach Cities suburbs of Los Angeles as I do.
• But I’ll tell you anyway.
• President and Vice President: Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz.
• Senator: Adam B. Schiff (note: remember to fill in his name both in the Full Term and Short Term spaces). 
• Member of the State Assembly, 66th District: Al Muratsuchi.
• US Representative, 36th District: Ted W. Lieu.
• Redondo Beach, CA local measures (FP, RB, SD, S, and BC): Yes on all.
• Water District Division 3: Desi Alvarez.
• Water Replenishment Division 2: Bob Katherman.
• LA County District Attorney: George Gascón.
• Judges: Ericka J. Wiley, Sharon Ransom, Steven Lee Mac, Tracey M. Blount.
• County Measures G and A: Yes on both.
• State Measures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 32, 33, and 35: Yes to all.
• State Measures 34 and 36: No.
• There you go. That’s how I voted. If you have questions about any of the above, I’ll be glad to tell you more details about my choices.
• Let’s move on.
• I hope I’m not the first person to inform you that Hurricane Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 yesterday, with wind speed reaching over 175mph.
• It remains on a path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando, threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.
• A brief side note… when officials tell you to evacuate, one thing they tend to leave off: where to go. And if a person if poor and can’t afford hotels, and don’t have friends/family in accessible safe zones willing to take them in, what is their fucking option?
• Anyway, I won’t repeat what everyone else is saying. Just note that Milton is a severely dangerous storm and it’s very likely that Florida’s west coast is going to be hammered badly.
• It’s excepted to make landfall near Tampa tomorrow.
• You should be aware that in the midst of these disastrous weather events, 35 Republican Senators voted against FEMA funding, and that eight of them are up for re-election on November 5.
• They are: John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
• These politicians chose to deprive you of the help you need in an emergency. Voting for them is like cheering for your own demise. Please vote each of them out.
• Thank you.
• In absolutely awful news…
• Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court halted a ruling striking down the state’s near-ban on abortions while it considers the state’s appeal. In other words, abortion is once again under a near total ban in the state.
• The high court’s order came a week after a judge found that Georgia unconstitutionally prohibits abortions beyond about six weeks of pregnancy, often before women realize they’re pregnant.
• “The State should not be in the business of enforcing laws that have been determined to violate fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution,” wrote Justice John J. Ellington in a dissent. “The `status quo’ that should be maintained is the state of the law before the challenged laws took effect.”
• The only way to return the rights of women across the USA in making their own choices about their reproductive plans is by electing Kamala Harris as President. End of story.
• There is some better news from the SCOTUS, though.
• Yesterday, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Elon Musk, who claims that special counsel Jack Smith violated the First Amendment when he obtained a search warrant for Dumpy’s messages on Twitter and then barred the company from disclosing it.
• The court acted without comment and there were no noted dissents. Ha ha!
• Elmo argued that Dump should be allowed to claim executive privilege over the records, and initially declined to comply. They were fined $350,000. The company didn’t challenge the search warrant itself but rather the gag order.
• But Jack Smith countered — and I agree, and so did the SCOTUS — “The Fourth Amendment permits the government to obtain a warrant to search property belonging to an innocent third party as long as the warrant is supported by probable cause that ‘evidence of a crime will be found.”
• Suck it up, Elmo.
• Moving on.
• Kamala Harris has been everywhere lately.
• Last night, she adroitly handled tough questions about how she’d pay for her economic plans, whether Democrats were too slow to enact border security measures, how she’d confront Russia over its war in Ukraine and more in a wide-ranging “60 Minutes” interview.
• Her media blitz is hitting a multitude of different audiences, from her appearance on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast on Sunday to upcoming visits on ABC’s “The View,” a sit-down with Howard Stern,  a guest spot on CBS’ “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, and a Univision town hall.
• That’s all between now and Thursday.
• Harris’s “60 Minutes” interview last night went very well. Her main points focused on immigration, saying that Congress has to act on border security despite Dump forcing the Republicans to kill the recent border deal.
• She also discussed Ukraine, stating firmly that she will not meet with Putin to negotiate a deal and saying there “will be no success in ending that war without Ukraine and the UN charter participating in what that success looks like.”
• For more than half a century, it’s been a tradition that the major party candidates sit down with “60 Minutes” in October. Where was the other guy? Did he get invited?
• The show offered a lengthy on-air explanation to viewers last night for why Dumpy chickened out on the program’s traditional pre-election interview.
• Scott Kelley explained how it went down
• “A week ago, Trump backed out. The campaign offered shifting explanations. First, it complained that we would fact-check the interview. We fact-check every story. Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020.”
• What a little baby man. With no additional debates on the calendar, Monday night’s program could have been one of the largest audiences for Dumpy before Election Day.
• His loss… and our gain.
• One sort of funny moment was when the program asked Harris about her gun. Like I told you awhile back, I’ve never known a District Attorney who wasn’t a gun owner. This obsession on the idea that Harris makes use of the Second Amendment rights is silly to me.
• Correspondent Bill Whitaker asked her what kind of gun she had.
• “I have a Glock, and I’ve had it for quite some time. And — I mean, look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement. And — so there you go,” replied Harris. And then Whitaker asked, “Have you ever fired it?”
• Harris started laughing. “Yes. Of course I have. At a shooting range. Yes, of course I have.”
• Lordy. Anyway, she’s not coming to take away your guns, you ammosexuals. Get a fucking grip.
• In election news, some very good information for North Carolina.
• Yesterday, the state’s election board voted to give residents in the western part of the state, which was hit hardest by Hurricane Helene, greater flexibility to vote by mail and run their elections.
• Voters in 13 counties heavily affected by the storm will have more ways to obtain and deliver absentee ballots, while county boards will have more ability to modify their election administration plans. The changes were approved by unanimous vote of the bipartisan board.
• Voters in those counties who want to cast ballots by mail will be able to request and receive them in person until November 4, the day before Election Day, rather than the Tuesday before, under the usual rules.
• They will also be able to drop off their ballots at any county board of elections in the state or any polling sites in their counties. The ballots will be counted if they are received by 7:30pm ET on Election Day.
• Excellent. That’s the way to do it.
• And now, The Weather: “Nice Enough Words” by Clothesline From Hell
• Rest in peace to gospel-singing great Cissy Houston, who was also the mother of Whitney Houston. She died yesterday at 91.
• In addition to her own acclaim as a gospel singer, Houston also sang backup for a wide range of pop stars including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, and many more.
• From the Sports Desk… the Tigers grabbed a game away from the Guardians, winning 3-0 after getting blown out in game 1. That ALDS series is tied at 1-1.
• Similar story in the other American League divisional game, where the Royals beat the Yankees 4-2, and even that series at one game each.
• And in NFL news, Monday Night Football saw the Chiefs beat the Saints 26-13. Kansas City and Minnesota are now both undefeated at 5-0.
• Two somewhat unlikely teams, the Commanders and Texans, are behind them at 4-1.
• Every other team ranges between mediocre and shitty.
• Today in history… The Confederate invasion of Kentucky is halted at the Battle of Perryville (1862). Korean Empress Myeongseong is assassinated by Japanese infiltrators (1895). Corporal Alvin C. York kills 28 German soldiers and captures 132 for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor in WWI (1918). The New York Yankees's Don Larsen pitches the only perfect game in a World Series (1956). Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia (1967). Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 275.97 knots (1978). ‘Cats’ opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000 (1982). U.S. President George W. Bush announces the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security (2001). The 2023 Israel–Hamas war is declared following the Hamas attack the day prior (2023).
• October 8 is the birthday of composer Heinrich Schütz (1585), activist Harriet Taylor Mill (1807), chemist/engineer Mary Engle Pennington (1872), fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker (1890), Albanian prime minister/president/king Zog I (1895), Argentine president Juan Perón (1895), author Frank Herbert (1920), saxophonist/composer Pepper Adams (1930), journalist Rona Barrett (1936), actor Paul Hogan (1939), politician/activist Jesse Jackson (1941), actor Chevy Chase (1943), author R. L. Stine (1943), actress Sigourney Weaver (1949), singer-songwriter/bass player Robert “Kool” Bell (1950), singer-songwriter CeCe Winans (1964), singer-songwroter/producer Teddy Riley (1967), actor Matt Damon (1970), politician Sadiq Khan (1970), singer-songwriter Bruno Mars (1985), and actress Bella Thorne (1997).

Okay, that’s enough I guess. Time to do the other things that I do. Enjoy your day.

Random News: October 7, 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 October 7, 2024, and it’s a Monday. It’s a bizarre thing how some mornings it can take longer than others to snap out of the weirdness of sleep and dreams. What helps me is coffee (duh) and writing this news for you. I guess it’s a firm anchor to the waking world of reality, for good or bad.

• Guess what I did yesterday?
• I voted!
• Yes, in the 2024 General Election. I’m done. I did it.
• The ballots for the voters in my household arrived on Saturday, and we spent a couple of hours yesterday reviewing in detail every political candidate, judge, local office holders, and local, county, and state ballot measures.
• We take this shit seriously, which probably doesn’t surprise you. It was a little roundtable discussion between myself, Kat, and my 25-year-old son, reviewing every ballot item one by one, considering the tax implications, checking the endorsements, and all that stuff.
• And then after sealing up and signing our ballots, we took the short stroll down the street to the local park, where an official ballot dropbox is conveniently located.
• A couple of notes that pertain to California… you can look up these facts for your own state.
• First, it is NOT illegal to do a “ballot selfie” in my state. This was made clear by law in 2018. I could have, if I’d wanted to, snapped a pic of my ballot and posted it.
• Second, it is completely illegal to do electioneering near any polling place… even a drop box! So whether you prefer a Harris/Walz t-shirt or a MAGA cap, don’t wear it within 150 feet of any place where voting occurs.
• Anyway… that’s it. We’re done. Since we’re signed up for BallotTrax here in California, we’ll get text or email notification when our ballot arrives and has been counted. Easy as can be.
• In other news…
• I’d love to not be starting each day with news of disputers, past or pending, but I should make mention that Milton rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane today, with sustained winds at 150mph, and it’s on a direct path toward Florida population centers including Tampa and Orlando.
• It’s threatening a dangerous storm surge in Tampa Bay and setting the stage for potential mass evacuations less than two weeks after a catastrophic Hurricane Helene swamped the coastline.
• The storm is expected to stay at about its current strength for the next couple of days. A hurricane warning was issued for parts of Mexico’s Yucatan state, and much of Florida’s west coast was under hurricane and storm surge watches.
• School districts in Pasco, Sarasota, and Hillsborough counties announced that schools will be closed starting today.
• Be prepared and be safe, especially friends in places like Sarasota, Bradenton, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater.
• Back on the topic of Helene aftermath, Deanne Criswell — who leads the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — said yesterday that false claims and conspiracy theories spread most prominently by Dumples the Clown are “demoralizing” aid workers and creating fear in people who need recovery assistance.
• The biggest danger to those poor people right now might be the Republican Party itself.
• “It’s frankly ridiculous, and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people. It’s really a shame that we’re putting politics ahead of helping people, and that’s what we’re here to do. We have had the complete support of the state,” said Criswell.
• Due to these baseless and provably false claims from Dump and other members of the far-right MAGA cabal, there’s a sense of fear and mistrust from residents against the thousands of FEMA employees and volunteers on the ground.
• And those are the people there to help them directly. It’s just sad.
• Just last night, Dumpy made claims on social media that FEMA is giving all of its funds to migrants. He continues to make things worse and worse for America.
• Meanwhile, President Biden ordered the Department of Defense to move an additional 500 active-duty troops into western North Carolina to aid in the recovery efforts.
• The additional troops bring the total number to nearly 1,500, after the president ordered nearly 1,000 soldiers to the area late last week.
• Well done, Joe.
• Let’s move on.
• Today is the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel. Somber memorial ceremonies were being held in the country and around the world.
• Hundreds of people gathered at the site of the Nova festival to honor those killed there that day. Another memorial was held at a Kibbutz Nir Oz, where one in four residents were killed or abducted by Hamas.
• Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 people and triggered a humanitarian crisis, catalyzing a widening regional conflict. The Israeli military launched a new offensive in northern Gaza this weekend, and struck multiple locations in the enclave overnight, including a hospital compound.
• Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff — a Jewish man, I should note — are scheduled to plant a tree on the grounds of the vice president’s residence in Washington in honor of the victims.
• Hopefully recent antisemitic sentiment in the USA won’t be an issue today… but Donnie Dump recently said that if he loses the presidential election to Harris on November 5, “the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that.”
• Let’s move on with some terrible breaking news form the Supreme Court, back in session today on the first day of their new term.
• They let stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas, which has one of the country’s strictest abortion bans.
• Without detailing their reasoning, the justices kept in place a lower court order that said hospitals cannot be required to provide pregnancy terminations that would violate Texas law.
• The Biden administration had asked the justices to throw out the lower court order, arguing that hospitals have to perform abortions in emergency situations under federal law. The administration pointed to the Supreme Court’s action in a similar case from Idaho earlier this year in which the justices narrowly allowed emergency abortions to resume while a lawsuit continues.
• Please… for the love of women across this great country… vote for Harris/Walz and let’s put an end to this insanity of women’s health care and reproductive rights being stolen from them.
• We need some better news after that shit. Here’s some optimistic political news from an unlikely state: Nebraska.
• Republicans are looking to avoid a disaster in the Senate race there amid signs that an independent candidate could be giving Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) a run for her money.
• Independent Senate candidate and political newcomer Dan Osborn is challenging Fischer for her seat, betting that Nebraskans are hungry for a nonpartisan senator in a state Dumpy won by close to 20 points in 2020.
• Cook Political Report noted last week that internal polling released by Osborn’s campaign showed the independent ahead of Fischer by 1 point. That would be a huge — and totally unexpected— win, if it happens.
• Moving on.
• Kamala Harris was the highly anticipated guest on the popular ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast with host Alex Cooper.
• Harris reinforced her unwavering stance on abortion, saying, "One out of three women in our country are in states with abortion bans," and described the challenges faced by women in these states, particularly mothers.
• On that topic, she also addressed claims about late-term abortions from that Orange Piece of Shit, calling them "a bold face lie" and "outrageously inaccurate."
• Harris also touched on many of the hot topics surrounding her candidacy, including the Republican statements and implications about childless women being of less value than others.
• And now, The Weather: “Multi Level Marketing” by Cool Band
• From the Sports Desk… the NFL is finally falling into some more predictable patterns in week 5. Still, there were some absolutely bonkers upsets, like the Cardinals beating the Niners, and the Giants beating the Seahawks.
• Tonight’s MNF matchup should be a good game, with New Orleans at Kansas City.
• The MLB Divisional Round continued yesterday, with the Phillies barely squeezing by the Mets 7-6; they’re tied at one win each. The Dodgers got pummeled by the Padres 10-2; that series is also tied 1-1.
• Today in history… The epoch reference date origin of the modern Hebrew calendar (3761 BC). The charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued (1691). King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing Indigenous lands in North America north and west of the Alleghenies to white settlements (1763). American militia defeat royalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina (1780). Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date (1868). Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving vehicle assembly line (1913). Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222–0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history (1916). The McCollum memo proposes bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States (1940). The U.S. manned space-flight project is renamed Project Mercury (1958). Four men from the Palestine Liberation Front hijack the MS Achille Lauro off the coast of Egypt (1985). Fox News Channel begins broadcasting (1996). Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten by two young adults in Laramie, Wyoming (1998). The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins with an air assault and covert operations on the ground (2001). Asteroid 2008 TC3 impacts the Earth over Sudan, the first time an asteroid impact is detected prior to its entry into earth's atmosphere (2008). Hamas attacks Israel, resulting in the deaths of around 1,200 people and more than than 240 hostages being taken, initiating the Israel–Hamas war (2023).
• October 7 is the birthday of writer John Marston (1576), composer William Billings (1746), musician/comedian Uncle Dave Macon (1870), activist Joe Hill (1879), physicist Neils Bohr (1885), religious leader Elijah Muhammad (1897), Nazi Heinrich Himmler (1900), actress June Allyson (1917), archbishop/activist Desmond Tutu (1931), TV host Joy Behar (1942), USMC colonel/war criminal Oliver North (1943), singer-songwriter Kevin Godley (1945), singer-songwriter/guitarist John Mellencamp (1951), politician Vladimir Putin (1952), cellist/educator Yo-Yo Ma (1955), audio engineer/producer Mike Shipley (1956), TV host Simon Cowell (1959), activist/journalist Dan Savage (1964), singer-songwriter Toni Braxton (1967), singer-songwriter/guitarist Thom Yorke (1968), NFL player Charles Woodson (1976), singer-songwriter/guitarist Lockett Pundt (1982), rapper/producer Flying Lotus (1983), MLB player Evan Longoria (1985), and MLB player Mookie Betts (1992).

That seems like enough for now. Please stay safe, and please have a plan to vote. I have a tremendous since of relief, having already submitted my ballot and being done with that part of the process. Enjoy your day.

Hotel Chelsea Rooftop/A fiya Grimbaker Benefit (10.05.24)

Friends and fans gathering to lend a hand to one of our own. Photo by Kat.

Hi there. I want to tell you about a benefit show I did yesterday in Second Life. Just a quick update, unless I think of something else of importance to say while writing this, which has been known to have happened.

Oh Yeah, There Is This Other Thing

Before I tell you about the benefit show, I want to quickly follow up on the tale of DNA discovery that I mentioned last week. This morning (Sunday October 6), I had my first face-to-face contact with genetic relatives that I didn't know existed until recently. I did a Zoom call with my new half-aunt (the newly-discovered half sister of my late mother), and her daughter, one of my new half-cousins.

In short, it could not have gone better. They were both genuinely nice people, both fun to talk to, and we had a truly nice conversation that lasted about an hour. I filled in my new aunt on all the information I have about who her (and my mom's) biological father might be, and told her a bunch of background info on my mom, which my aunt really wanted to hear.

I'll be doing more follow-up with them on my continued research into our mutual ancestry, but even as it stands right now, it was an absolute pleasure just meeting these folks and knowing that we have this commonality via our genes. Good stuff.

Okay, Back To The Show

I did a short set on Saturday at a benefit show to help Hotel Chelsea hostess and all-around good person A fiya Grimbaker, who is facing some serious health issues. They were smart when setting up this event; each artist came up for 10 minutes, did two or three tunes, and got off. That helped maximize the audience circulating in and the donations flowing, since that was the point of the whole thing.

Chipping in a little time and money is the least I could do for A fiya, who's cheerfully hosted a ton of my shows at Chelsea over the years. Moreover, it was an honor to be among the artists who were performing, who -- in my humble opinion -- make up some of Second Life's best. In addition to myself, the lineup included Abby Jaidov, Billy Thunders, Cactus Ninja, Effinjay, Gypsy Dhrua, Jaik Mario, Joe Paravane, Justine Johndory, Lluis Indigo, Mandala Bee, Matthew Parreault, Moonman, Reno Jones, RJ, Rosedrop Rust, Shannon O’Herlihy, Spence Wilder, Tsu, Wald Shridde, and Zacharia Loon.

Rocking my mini-set. I will say, when you're used to hour-plus shows, 10 minutes is when you're just feeling warmed up enough to actually play well. And yet, what's important was raising funds for A fiya, and that was the absolute best way to do it. Photo by Kat.

My view. The event was held at Hotel Chelsea's rooftop, which is great for a change of pace. I've done a couple of other special events there for that venue. Photo by Kat.

It was great to hang out and also see a few of the terrific quick sets by my fellow SL artists. We should do that more often. Photo by Kat. 

An area of the venue was set up to honor A fiya, reminding us of the important reason for this well-run Second Life mini-festival. Photo by Kat. 

Like most SL people who speak through microphones (on stream or voice), I had no idea how to pronounce A fiya's name. When I played at Hotel Chelsea, I tended to say it like, "A Fire," but I heard some folks yesterday saying, "A Fee-Ya," so I'm still none the wiser. However, her name did inspire me to choose some songs that had the word "fire" in the title or lyrics, and it seemed to work out, with a few songs I think A fiya herself -- however she says her name -- would have enjoyed.

Hotel Chelsea Rooftop/A fiya Grimbaker Benefit set list...

Doctor, My Eyes (Jackson Browne)

*Fire (Bruce Springsteen)

Fire & Rain (James Taylor)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.

Huge thanks to all who came out and supported our friend A fiya... artists and fans and management alike! Thanks to the generosity of all who contributed. Special shout out to Shyla the Super Gecko for making it all happen.