Random News: January 12, 2025

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 January 12, 2025, and it’s a Sunday. I got a good night’s sleep and have a big-ass cup of Peet’s Brazil. The sun is shining and my air quality is better than it has been since last Tuesday. No complaints about life thus far. Let’s see what’s going on in the world.

• Starting with the latest news of the devastating fires not far from my lovely home.
• Firefighters are entering a critical stage of their six-day battle against the multitude of deadly Los Angeles wildfires. Crews report progress across the county, but dangerous Santa Ana wind conditions threaten to return early this week.
• Officials have confirmed at least 16 deaths, but I'm sure the actual total will be quite a bit higher.
• The Palisades Fire is at least 11% contained but has moved inland toward Brentwood and other communities near the Getty Center and UCLA. More than 150,000 residents remain under evacuation orders. That huge fire has burned more than 23,700 acres since it broke out in the coastal area.
• The Eaton Fire, centered in Altadena, has charred 14,117 acres so far and is now 27% contained. That fire has destroyed many homes and businesses, and is responsible for most of the deaths reported so far.
• Good news: progress in the battles against the Hurst and Kenneth fires — which are 89% and 90% contained, respectively — has freed up resources that will now be shifted to the Palisades Fire.
• Since my area of Redondo Beach — some 20 miles south of Palisades — has been under no threat from flames, I do want to make mention of another way to die via fires.
• By some estimates, wildfire smoke — which contains a mixture of hazardous air pollutants like particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and lead — already causes as many as 675,000 premature deaths a year worldwide, as well as a range of respiratory, heart and other diseases.
• Research shows that wildfire smoke is starting to erode the world’s progress in cleaning up pollution from tailpipes and smokestacks, as climate change supercharges fires.
• Los Angeles, who has done so incredibly well at cleaning up our air quality over the past five decades, has seen air pollution this past week at levels that could be raising daily mortality by between 5 to 15 percent.
• I mentioned this when we were getting AQI numbers nearing 200 here last Wednesday and Thursday: you want to do anything you can to avoid breathing that shit.
• For those two days, we stayed inside almost the entire time, with air purifiers running 24/7 and no doors or windows open.
• When we did go out, we wore masks that at least prevented some of the dangerous particulates from entering our lungs. Keep in mind, smoke from house fires isn’t just wood; it’s packed with a variety of building materials, insulation, and chemicals.
• It’s not good.
• I want to send gratitude to the 72 firefighters that Mexico sent to Los Angeles yesterday to help battle the wildfires.
• Disaster relief workers from the National Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Defense in Mexico also arrived to assist local emergency workers.
• Our great Governor, Gavin Newsom, stated, “Emergencies have no borders — we are deeply grateful to our neighbors in Mexico for their unwavering support during one of our greatest times of need. Thank you to President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo for lending the best of the best.”
• And I hope we’d do the same for them in a reverse situation. 
• Nine states are currently providing mutual aid, with Canadian firefighters scheduled to arrive on January 13.
• More than 1,660 pieces of firefighting apparatus, including 1,150 engines, 60 aircraft, dozers and 100 water tenders are attacking the fires from the skies.
• One other note for now.
• Questions over LA’s preparedness for the firestorm have led to political finger-pointing, even as the emergency response continues.
• And those questions will be investigated and answered. We want that, to be in a better position to fight the inevitable next one.
• But I will say this loud and clear: anyone who is politicizing this for their own sick benefit is a disgusting piece of shit. I will not forgive nor forget their actions.
• Not now, not ever.
• Okay, let’s move on.
• As expected, special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Justice Department effective Friday.
• Smith’s office has been in the wind-down process for weeks, and his resignation before Trump takes office was already scheduled.
• In addition to finalizing its report and sending it to the attorney general, Smith’s team had also handed off an ongoing appeal over the special counsel’s office powers to other attorneys at the Department of Justice and dismissed the two federal criminal cases against Trump because of his return to the presidency.
• Smith’s resignation comes amid a legal fight to stop Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing the special counsel’s report of his investigations into Dumpy’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and the alleged mishandling of classified documents after Dump left office.
• Garland has indicated he will not release the part of the report regarding the classified documents investigation.
• Moving on.
• This week begins the process of the Senate confirming the nightmare team of assholes that Dumples the Clown has chosen for his cabinet.
• Here’s the schedule.
• Tuesday, 9am.: Doug Collins, Department of Veterans Affairs. He’s a former Georgia congressman, a Baptist minister, Navy chaplain, and Air Force Reserve colonel.
• Tuesday, 9:30am: Pete Hegseth, Department of Defense. He’s a former “Fox & Friends” weekend host. He’s followed by allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct.
• Tuesday, 10am: Doug Burgum, Interior Department. He’s the former governor of North Dakota.
• Wednesday, 9am.: Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Department. She’s the governor of South Dakota, and she once shot a puppy in the head for being a puppy.
• Wednesday, 9:30am: Pam Bondi, Justice Department. She’s the former Florida attorney general who replaced Dump’s first pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from consideration after facing questions about a federal sex trafficking investigation and a House Ethics Committee inquiry into allegations that he paid for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl.
• Wednesday, 10am: Sean Duffy, Transportation Department. He’s a former Wisconsin congressman who was also a co-host on Fox Business.
• Wednesday, 10am.: John Ratcliffe, CIA. He’s a former Texas congressman.
• Wednesday, 10am: Marco Rubio, State Department. He’s a Senator from Florida. As secretary of state, L’il Marco would oversee the U.S. foreign service, advise Dump on diplomatic appointments, and conduct negotiations with foreign leaders on behalf of the administration.
• Wednesday, 10am: Chris Wright, Energy Department. He’s a fossil fuel executive who hates efforts to fight climate change.
• Wednesday, 1pm: Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget. This fucking guy was one of the main architects of Project 2025, a far-right plan for Dump’s second term that Dump claimed to know nothing about.
• Thursday, 10am: Scott Turner, Housing and Urban Development Department. He’s a former NFL player, a pastor, and former Texas House member.
• Thursday, 10am: Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency. He’s a former New York congressman who definitely wants to make the environment much worse by loosening restrictions.
• Thursday, 10:30am: Scott Bessent, Treasury Department. He’s a billionaire money manager from South Carolina, and would be the first openly LGBTQ Senate-confirmed Cabinet member in a Republican administration.
• Confirmation hearing dates have yet to be announced for Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Labor Department), Tulsi Gabbard (Office of the Director of National Intelligence), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Health and Human Services Department), Howard Lutnick (Commerce Department), Linda McMahon (Education Department), Kash Patel (FBI), Brooke Rollins (Agriculture Department), and Elise Stefanik (U.N. ambassador).
• If I had to bet, I’d say the GOP-controlled Senate will pass every one of these shitty humans, though some might have more resistance than others.
• And keep in mind that like the House, the new Senate makeup is nearly 50/50 with Republicans and Democrats.
• But unlike the House, 100% partisan-based voting is expected but not guaranteed.
• Let’s move on.
• I just saw the name of the incoming vice president, JD Vance, for the first time since early November. It’s unlikely you’ll hear much from him until Dump dies in office in a year or two, and Vance becomes president.
• Anyway, the VP-elect said something today that may not be in line with what Dumpy wants. He stated that people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot “obviously” should not be pardoned.
• But Dumpy has already promised to pardon all of them. Hmm.
• Vance insisted in an interview this morning on “Fox News Sunday” that the pardon question is “very simple," saying those who “protested peacefully” should be pardoned and “if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”
• I mean, I think none of them should be pardoned, but if you’re going to pick and choose, Vance’s priorities seem accurate.
• He later said there was a “bit of a gray area” in some cases. Hahahahaha… he got yelled at.
• More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the siege that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
• And now, The Weather: “Soft Rock Band” by Good Morning
• I would like to mention that today would have been my dad’s 84th birthday, were he still alive. He died in 2017. I would have liked him to live long enough to see Dumpy defeated in 2020, but I’m sort of glad he wasn’t around to see Dumpy come back this past year.
• My dad was a cool guy who was well liked. I definitely miss him.
• Rest in peace going out to singer Sam Moore, the surviving half and higher voice of the 1960s duo Sam & Dave that was known for such definitive hits of the era as “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin’.” He was 89.
• Moore was inducted with Dave Prater into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
• Most of their hits featured the Stax Records house band Booker T. & the MGs, whose guitarist Steve Cropper received one of music’s most famous shoutouts when Sam & Dave called, “Play it, Steve!” midway through “Soul Man.”
• From the Sports Desk… I predicted some upsets in the NFL Wild Card round of the playoffs. I didn’t predict it would be the first game played.
• The Texans manhandled the Chargers, winning 32-12 after Los Angeles QB Justin Herbert threw four fucking interceptions. That boy caves under pressure in big games.
• In more expected playoff news, the Ravens beat up the Steelers, winning 28-14.
• Today’s Wild Card games are the Broncos at Bills, Packers at Eagles, and Commanders at Buccaneers.
• Today in history… Bayinnaung, who would go on to assemble the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, is crowned King of Burma (1554). The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London (1866). The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to require states to give women the right to vote (1915). Hattie Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate (1932). Operation Chopper, the first American combat mission in the Vietnam war, takes place (1962). Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation (1967). The New York Jets of the American Football League defeat the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League to win Super Bowl III in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history (1969). An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of American military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait (1991). Nineteen European nations agree to forbid human cloning (1998). Deep Impact launches from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket (2005). 
• January 12 is the birthday of painter John Singer Sargent (1856), philosopher/politician Bhagwan Das (1869), novelist/journalist Jack London (1876), entertainer/bootlegger Texas Guinan (1884), convicted war criminal Hermann Göring (1893), singer-songwriter/guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell (1904), actor/singer Tex Ritter (1905), engineer Sergei Korolev (1907), singer-songwriter/guitarist Ray Price (1926), NHL player/businessman Tim Horton (1930), singer Glenn Yarbrough (1930), drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson (1940), apparel executive/golfer Steve Klopmeyer (1941), singer-songwriter Long John Baldry (1941), keyboardist/composer George Duke (1946), lawyer/politician Sheila Jackson Lee (1950), actress Kirstie Alley (1951), talk show host Rush Limbaugh (1951), radio host Howard Stern (1954), computer scientist/businessman Jeff Bezos (1964), singer-songwriter/film producer Rob Zombie (1965), singer-songwriter Zack de la Rocha (1970), singer-songwriter Melanie C (1974), and MLB player Dontrelle Willis (1982).

Welp, that’s all my news for today. Time to shower and dress and take care of things and stuff. I hope you find something that you like doing today, and do it. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 11, 2025

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 January 11, 2025, and it’s a Saturday. I know that there are horrible things still going on not terrible far from here, but at the moment, it feels like a typical Saturday morning. I’m in my robe, got a fresh cup of Peet’s Big Bang, and at the moment, there’s barely even a scent of smoke in the air here in Redondo Beach for the first time in days.

• I even have a window open for some fresh air. The crisp high 40-degree temps feel refreshing.
• Let’s jump into the news.
• Crews have reported some progress in the dayslong battle against deadly wildfires in Los Angeles, but more than 100,000 residents remain under evacuation orders.
• I consider it a positive note that just 11 people are confirmed to have died in these multiple blazes. Based on the destruction, you’d assume the death count would be much higher.
• But the conditions are still breezy and dry. We’re not out of the woods by any definition.
• At the moment, the Palisades Fire is about 11% contained at 21,596 acres, but now it’s moving inland toward the communities of Encino, West LA, and Brentwood, near the Getty Center and UCLA.
• It’s also approaching the 405, one of LA’s busiest freeways.
• The Eaton Fire in Altadena is now 15% contained. Last night the winds died down some and the humidity increased, both being favorable conditions for fire fighting. But that won’t last long.
• A bit of positive news: some of the smaller wildfires improved containment, with the Lidia Fire reaching full containment at 100%, the Kenneth Fire at 80%, and the Hurst Fire at 76%.
• The next round of strong winds will pick up Monday through Wednesday, peaking on Tuesday, where the area could see wind gusts back up around 50 to 60 miles per hour.
• Our governor Gavin Newsom is calling for an independent investigation into what caused some hydrants to lose water pressure during the height of this week’s firefights. We’ll get deeper into the causes and finger-pointing blame soon enough. I’m not dwelling on it now.
• Newsom also extended an invitation yesterday to Donnie Dump to visit California and see the devastation wrought by the recent fires.
• In a letter, Newsom noted that he and Dumpy toured the damage from the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, and the Woolsey Fire in Malibu six years ago and that California is now facing “one of the most destructive fires in our history.”
• He expressed his gratitude for President Joe Biden’s swift approval of a major disaster declaration, and said he hoped that kind of cooperation would continue with the next administration.
• Newsom wrote, “As you prepare to assume the presidency once more, I invite you to come to California again — to meet with the Americans affected by these fires, see the devastation firsthand and join me and others in thanking the heroic firefighters and first responders who are putting their lives on the line. We must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines.”
• And he signed his letter: “With respect and an open hand.”
• In regard to Dumpity Ding Dong, I do want to point out something important and timely, though.\
• Both Mexico and Canada have sent firefighters and resources to help combat these conflagrations.\
• We owe them — our neighbors — a huge debt of gratitude.
• A piece of good news: California’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, issued a one-year moratorium on property insurers canceling or refusing to renew policies in certain Zip codes near the Palisades and Eaton fires.
• I like that guy and have voted for him multiple times. Lara’s directive is rooted in a 2018 state law that requires such bans after the governor declares a state of emergency.
• I’ll wrap this up for the moment by saying that the window here in my home office faces north, and it’s become a very regular part of my day to glance out and up, looking for visual cues about how much smoke I see in the air.
• We’re in no danger here from these fires that will rank among the most destructive in history, but plenty of my friends and colleagues have had to evacuate, and my thoughts are with them and everyone else in our beautiful area of the world.
• Moving on.
• The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to move swiftly in reversing a judge’s order that had blocked the agency from releasing any part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigative report on the Orange Felon.
• The emergency motion late yesterday is the latest back and forth in a court dispute over whether any portion of Smith’s report can be made public before Trump takes office in nine days on January 20.
• The push to release it before Trump’s inauguration reflects concerns that the Justice Department under the Trump administration, which will include members of his personal legal team in key leadership roles, would be in position to prevent the report from coming to light.
• Which is exactly what they want. To bury it forever.
• The department is hoping to release in the coming days one part of its two-volume report focused on Dump’s efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
• The DOJ has said it will not publicly disclose a separate volume — about Dump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago golf motel in Florida after he left the White House in January 2021 — as long as criminal proceedings against two of Dump’s co-defendants remain pending.
• We’ll keep an eye on that, obviously. The public has the right to know. And anyone who’s spoken out in favor of government transparency had better well support this effort.
• Otherwise, you’re a hypocritical piece of shit.
• Let’s move on.
• Yesterday, Rudy Giuliani was held in contempt of court for the second time in a week, as the former New York mayor and current national joke’s fall from grace continues because of the false information he spread after the 2020 election.
• District Judge Beryl Howell’s ruling came as Giuliani continues to make false insinuations about two Georgia election workers, long after they won a $150 million defamation verdict against him and he agreed to stop slandering them.
• It’s obvious that Rudy is assuming that someone how, his old pal Dumpy will absolve him from his accountability. But it’s a civil matter, and the only way Dump could help would be to write Rudy a huge check… and you know very well, Dump never pays.
• Let’s move on.
• Tesla is recalling more than 240,000 vehicles because of a rearview visibility issue. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the electric automaker reported that a computer circuit board on certain vehicles may short, resulting in the loss of the rearview camera image, reducing the driver's rear view and raising the risk of a crash.
• The recall affects the following Tesla vehicles:  2024-2025 Model 3, Model S; 2023-2025 Model X; 2023-2025 Model Y vehicles. 
• This is Tesla's first recall of 2025. It follows a major recall in December involving more than 2 million Tesla vehicles across its model lineup to fix a defective Autopilot system.
• And U.S. regulators on Tuesday opened an investigation into 2.6 million Teslas after reports of crashes involving the use of the company's autonomous driving technology that allows drivers to remotely command their vehicle to return to them, or move to another location, using a phone app.
• Those fucking cars are a menace.
• In other news…
• Canada is preparing to retaliate with an exhaustive list of tariffs on American goods if the Dumperino follows through with his plans to add a steep 25% import tax on Canadian goods.
• The preparations show how raising tariffs will likely kick off a trade war that will ultimately raise prices on a number of consumer goods around the world.
• Canadian officials are working on a list of dozens of American products that the United States exports to Canada, targeting items that both send a political message and inflict a reasonable amount of economic damage.
• Included in the list of items considered for tariffs are ceramic products, steel products, furniture, certain alcoholic beverages like Bourbon and Jack Daniels whiskey, orange juice and pet food, among other goods.
• American energy exports are also on the list, and — as a last resort — Canada could levy a tax on the energy products Canada exports to the United States.
• I certainly don’t blame them. Think about it this way: if someone attacks you, you have the right to defend yourself, right? I think most MAGAs would agree.
• So don’t get mad at the rest of the world fucking us financially after Ol’ Dumpy threatened them as such first.
• Moving on.
• Fox News appears to be headed once more to “fuck around, find out” land over the lies involving election fraud it aired about the 2020 presidential race. This time, it's over the false claims that election tech company Smartmatic sabotaged the reelection of then-President Dumpity Doo.
• In April 2023, the network and its parent corporation agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems.
• Now, an appellate court ruling in New York state is allowing Smartmatic's parallel, $2.7 billion suit to press ahead.
• I will enjoy watching Fox get pillaged — through more settlements or via court loses.
• And now, The Weather: “Move/Procession” by ZEMENT
• From the Sports Desk… helping to take my mind off life stress and work stress and stress in general, there are two actual NFL playoff games today.
• 5-seed LA Chargers at 4-seed Houston Texans (1:30PT/4:30ET).
• 6-seed Pittsburgh Steelers at 3-seed Baltimore Ravens (5:00PT/8:00ET).
• Today in history… In Constantinople, a quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence (532). First recorded lottery in England (1569). William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus (1787). Alabama secedes from the United States (1861). Grand Canyon National Monument is created (1908). Leonard Thompson becomes the first person to be injected with insulin (1922). Louis B. Mayer, head of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, announces the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at a banquet in Los Angeles, CA (1927). Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California (1935). The first "networked" television broadcasts took place as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, PA goes on the air connecting the east coast and mid-west programming (1949). Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Luther Terry, M.D., publishes the landmark report ‘Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States’ saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking national and worldwide anti-smoking efforts (1964). East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh (1972). Major League Baseball owners vote in approval of the American League adopting the designated hitter position (1973). Municipal health officials in Wuhan announce the first recorded death from COVID-19 (2020).
• January 11 is the birthday of religious leader/poet Wang Chongyang (1113), economist/politician Alexander Hamilton (1755), businessman/philanthropist Ezra Cornell (1807), Canada prime minister John A. Macdonald (1815), chemist Albert Hofmann (1906), engineer/race car driver Carroll Shelby (1923), singer-songwriter Slim Harpo (1924), Canada prime minister Jean Chrétien (1934), saxophonist/songwriter Clarence Clemons (1942), singer-songwriter Naomi Judd (1946), keyboardist/songwriter Tony Kaye (1946), guitarist Lee Ritenour (1952), NBA player Darryl Dawkins (1957), guitarist/songwriter Vicki Peterson (1958), singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige (1971), and actress Amanda Peet (1972).

Time to shower and dress and whatever comes next. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 10, 2025

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 January 10, 2025, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! It’s a day when we’d have a ton of news even without natural disasters happening, so let’s see how much we can get through.

• Again, to be 100% clear: we are in zero danger from the fires where I live in Redondo Beach, a good 20 miles south of the danger zones. Our only predicament has been very poor air quality and soot/ash.
• And as of this morning, our air quality here by the beach is — at the moment — back down to a reasonable range.
• We’re fine here. No need to be concerned about me. Other people, yes, but us, no. I thank every who’s sent well wishes.
• And now the news…
• The LA fires are now the costliest in U.S. history. That was already the case with initial economic damages estimated at least $50 billion.
• But that number rose significantly, and now the estimate for damage and economic loss is at $135-$150 billion.
• I’m really not surprised. The areas burned or otherwise damaged include some of the most high-end real estate in densely populated areas with a lot of homes and other structures.
• As of now on this early Friday morning, these fires are not under control by any definition.
• Red flag warnings have been extended through today for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. For those of you not in fire zones like we are, a red flag warning means the combination of warm temperatures, low humidities, and strong winds are expected to increase the risk of fire.
• So far, over 180,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, and over 10,000 structures have burned between the Eaton and Palisades fires alone. Roughly 400,000 customers statewide were without power as of last night.
• The Palisades fire has burned about 26.9 square miles. The Eaton fire in Altadena has burned about 21.4 square miles. The Kenneth fire has burned 1.5 square miles.
• As of this morning, the Palisades Fire near the coast is 6% contained. The Eaton Fire north of Pasadena is 0% contained. The Hurst Fire just south of Santa Clarita is 37% contained. The Kenneth Fire in the San Fernando Valley is 35% contained.
• If you want to be mad at someone regarding their actions during the fires, I have a good choice for you.
• Yesterday, a Canadian “Super Scooper” aircraft fighting the Palisades Fire had to be grounded after it hit a drone flying in restricted airspace over the devastating blaze.
• The specifically designed CL-415 firefighting planes are used to scoop up more than 1,500 gallons of ocean water to drop on active fires.
• The plane sustained wing damage and remains grounded and out of service.
• The collision caused the temporary grounding of all aircraft responding to the Palisades Fire. The midair collision is now under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, which said the firefighting aircraft landed safely.
• Fucking piece of shit, getting their little drone footage for their YouTube channel. I hope they catch that asshole.
• Continuing on…
• As I posted yesterday afternoon, officials with Los Angeles County attempted to send an evacuation order alert to residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills, near the Kenneth Fire.
• But it was mistakenly sent countywide. There are over 9.6 million people in LA County, and every one of us nearly had a fucking heart attack when our phones blared a full-volume alarm along with instructions to gather pets and belongings and leave immediately.
• Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
• Lordy.
• President Biden received the correct answer to counter a batch of bullshit that Donnie Dump has been slinging. Dump had claimed that the hydrants used to fight our fires were running dry because of water conservation priorities.
• That is utterly 100% untrue.
• Deputy energy secretary David Turk explained how hydrants need power in order to pump water up, but during such disasters, power lines are cut in order to curb the potential for power surges and line breakdowns.
• It’s obviously an infrastructure issue that needs fixing. But it’s not because we conserve water in a drought-stricken state. Shut the fuck up, Donnie.
• We have a lot more to discuss today, so let’s move on.
• Dumpy’s Supreme Court didn’t rescue him from his sentencing today.
• He will be the first person to take the presidential office as a convicted felon.
• Yesterday, the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch effort by Dumples the Clown to forestall his sentencing for his New York criminal conviction.
• The five justice majority that voted to deny Dump's application wrote that the evidentiary issues Trump has complained about "can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal." 
• They also noted that the judge overseeing Dump's New York case has signaled he will not sentence Trump to serve any time in jail, writing "the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect's responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court's stated intent to impose a sentence of 'unconditional discharge' after a brief virtual hearing."
• Ha ha, you piece of felonious shit.
• Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted Trump's application for a postponement of sentencing, the majority wrote.
• But the rest of them — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, and Kentanji Brown Jackson — told Dump to man the fuck up.
• While I’m writing this at 7am PST, Dumpy’s lawyers are in court at the sentencing. Dump didn’t bother showing up — why would he? — but he appeared remotely.
• And, just now, it’s done.
• Dumples the Clown was sentenced in his hush-money case to unconditional discharge, in which a defendant is not fined, locked up, or given probation.
• So, nothing at all, just as we told you, for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Hope you’re not disappointed.
• Anyway, today’s sentencing formalized Dump’s ignoble status as the first president or president-elect who is a felon.
• We have some other news about the Supreme Court.
• At this moment, they are hearing oral arguments over the fate of TikTok. The high-stakes case reviews a federal law that would effectively shut down the popular social media platform in the United States in nine days if the company does not divest from Chinese ownership.
• The company and a group of TikTok creators are asking the justices to block the sell-or-ban law, which they say is an unprecedented, sweeping violation of free speech protections for the platform’s more than 170 million users in the United States.
• The court will weigh those claims against the national security concerns that prompted Congress to pass the law in April with bipartisan support.
• Since Dumpy wants the ban to be revoked and for TikTok to continue doing business, my bet is that the conservative justices will make their boss happy.
• Guess we’ll see.
• Let’s move on.
• Last night, some more bad news for the ol’ Dumperino.
• A federal appeals court in Atlanta rejected a bid to block the release of a portion of special counsel Jack Smith's final report detailing his investigation and prosecution of President-elect Dumpity Wumpity stemming from an alleged plan to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election.
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit denied the request from Walt Nauta, an aide to Dump, and Carlos de Oliveira, the former property manager at Mar-a-Lago, who were charged for their role in allegedly obstructing a separate federal investigation into Dump's handling of sensitive government records. 
• The 11th Circuit granted Smith's request to drop Dump from the case in late November after he was elected to a second term in the White House because of a Justice Department policy that forbids the prosecution of a sitting president.
• Nevertheless, federal prosecutors are moving forward with the appeal of a lower court decision dismissing the charges against Nauta and de Oliveira on the grounds Smith was unconstitutionally appointed.
• So Smith submitted a two-volume final report to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday evening that detailed his investigations into Dump. The first volume relates to the prosecution stemming from the 2020 election, and the second volume pertains to the president-elect's alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office in 2020.
• Garland has pledged to disclose to the public all special counsel reports completed while he was attorney general, and has so far followed through on that pledge, including after the investigation into President Biden's handling of documents marked classified.
• Dumpster’s legacy will continue to be more and more tarnished as more people learn about the level of disgrace and discrepancy that’s made up the majority of his life and his actions.
• It will be at least Sunday before the Smith report goes public. We’ll keep an eye on it, of course.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, the Senate advanced a bill known as the Laken Riley Act. It’s a largely symbolic and performative measure that is allegedly aimed at expanding the federal government's mandate to detain immigrants who are in the country illegally.
• In a 84 to 9 vote, the Senate voted to advance the legislation, with dozens of Democrats voting with Republicans to clear a 60-vote threshold to begin debate. The bill marks the first policy legislation of the new Congress, and the House approved it in a bipartisan vote of its own on Tuesday.
• Senate Majority Leader John Thune will now decide which, if any, amendments will be considered on the floor. Some Democrats who voted to proceed said they did so in order to offer changes to the legislation before deciding how they would vote on final passage.
• Under current law, the Department of Homeland Security is mandated to detain noncitizens convicted of certain crimes, including "aggravated felonies," or serious offenses like murder and sexual assault.
• The Laken Riley Act would expand mandatory detention to include noncitizens convicted of or charged with burglary, larceny, theft, or shoplifting, as well as those who admit to committing those crimes.
• I have no problem with that. People who commit crimes regardless of place of national origin should face justice. If you are already an undocumented person in the country, you should expect to be jailed for crimes you commit.
• In other news…
• Senator JD Vance resigned from his Senate seat last night at midnight as he prepares to become vice president later this month. 
• Vance served just two years of his six-year Senate term. He’ll be noted as one of the least experienced vice presidents in US history.
• Ohio Governor DeWine, a Republican, will appoint Vance's replacement. His successor will fill the seat until a special election is held in 2026. After that, the winner of the special election would serve the remaining two years of Vance's term.
• Let’s move on.
• What were President Obama and Dumpity Doo talking about during their cheerful-looking chat at President Carter’s funeral yesterday that went viral?
• If you missed if, Obama and Dump were seated next to each other, and at one point leaned in and shared some laughs. They almost looked like normal people just for a second.
• Dumpy was asked about it later in a Fox News interview from his home in Florida.
• “It did look very friendly, I must say,” said the Dumpster. “I didn’t realize how friendly it looked. I saw it on your wonderful network, just a little while ago before I came in and I said 'Boy, they look like two people that like each other.' And we probably do,” he said.
• Nice non-answer. Dump didn’t say what he and Obama were talking about.
• I don’t really give a shit. Just thought I’d mention it.
• Moving on.
• Wealthy asshole Elon Musk praised the co-leader of the German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as “very reasonable” yesterday, urging Germans to vote for the far-right party in Musk’s latest high-profile involvement in global politics.
• AfD’s platform is based on opposing immigration into Germany, and encouraging hatred of Muslim people. Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution — the country’s domestic intelligence agency — has classified AfD as a "suspected extremist" organization.
• AfD is also focused on removing any welfare for non-Germans, denying human-caused global warming, and supporting closer relations with Russia.
• I thought Germany had been done with Nazis for a good while, but these things tend to circle back every so often. And it’s no wonder that Musk is their biggest fan.
• Germany’s election is on February 23.
• Moving on.
• Here’s a note from the Stupid and Brainwashed People Desk…
• Edgar Welch was the guy who, back in 2016, drove from North Carolina to D.C. to investigate a false far-right conspiracy theory claiming that Democrats were running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor there.
• Yes. Pizzagate.
• When he arrived at the Comet Ping Pong restaurant, he pulled out an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a revolver, and then fired the rifle into a door. No one was hurt.
• Welch pled guilty to one federal count each of interstate transportation of a firearm and assault with a dangerous weapon. Coincidentally, he was sentenced to four years in prison by then-U.S. district judge — now Supreme Court Justice — Ketanji Brown Jackson.
• Why are we talking about this stupid and sadly gullible MAGA fuck? Because he didn’t stop being stupid after serving his jail time. And now he’s dead.
• Welch was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop on Saturday in Kannapolis, North Carolina. He was wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant. When officers moved to arrest him, he produced a handgun from his jacket and pointed it at them.
• Goodbye Welch.
• And now, The Weather: “Orlando In Love” by Japanese Breakfast
• From the Sports Desk… would you like to know the official gambling odds of this weekend’s Wild Card NFL playoffs? Sure you would.
• Chargers (-3) over Texans. Ravens (-9.5) over Steelers. Bills (-8.5) over Broncos. Eagles (-4.5) over Packers. Buccaneers (-3) over Commanders. Vikings (-2.5) over Rams.
• For those unfamiliar, the number is the amount of points the favorite team is expected ton win by, aka the spread. The larger the number, the higher expectation of victory.
• I would bet any amount of money that at least one — if not more — of these games will be won by the underdog.
• Perhaps the most memorable Wild Card upset was in 2011, when the Seahawks somehow got into the playoffs with a losing 7-9 record, and faced the 11-5 Saints, who had just won the Super Bowl the year before. Seattle was a ten-point underdog.
• They beat New Orleans 41-36. This was the “Beast Quake” game, which featured Marshawn Lynch's epic 67-yard touchdown run that saw him break nine tackles and fire up the fans so much that their celebration registered on the Richter scale.
• Good times.
• Today in history… Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war (49 BC). Archbishop William Laud is beheaded for treason at the Tower of London (1645). Thomas Paine publishes his revolution-supporting pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ (1776). Florida becomes the third state to secede from the Union (1861). John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil (1870). Automobile Club of America installs signs on major highways (1901). The Treaty of Versailles takes effect, officially ending World War I for all combatant nations except the United States (1920). Fritz Lang's futuristic film ‘Metropolis’ is released in Germany (1927). The United States Army Signal Corps successfully conducts Project Diana, bouncing radio waves off the Moon and receiving the reflected signals (1946). The New England Journal of Medicine publishes the letter “Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics”, which is later misused to downplay the general risk of addiction to opioids (1980). Sandinista Daniel Ortega becomes president of Nicaragua and vows to continue the transformation to socialism and alliance with the Soviet Union and Cuba (1985). Time Warner is formed by the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications (1990). 
• January 10 is the birthday of poet/philosopher Robinson Jeffers (1887), racing driver Violette Cordery (1900), actor Ray Bolger (1904), journalist/music producer Jerry Wexler (1917), MLB player Willie McCovey (1938), actor Sal Mineo (1939), singer-songwriter Jim Croce (1943), singer-songwriter Rod Stewart (1945), singer-songwriter Donald Fagen (1948), boxer George Foreman (1949), porn actress/activist Linda Lovelace (1949), singer-songwriter Pat Benatar (1953), singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin (1956), politician Chris Van Hollen (1959), and whatever Jared Kushner (1981) is.

Wow, that’s a lot of stuff going on at once. But, you know, it all matters. And I do try and get as much of the important shit in each day as I can, within the short time I give myself to do it. I think it all works out. Time to go do things, work hard, and appreciate a Friday as much as possible. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 9, 2025

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 January 9, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Just waking up this morning for another day in the land of flames and smoke. We’ll definitely be discussing that in more detail. Once again, I need to reiterate… other than shitty air quality, I’m in little to no danger from fire where I live.

• You may have heard the phrase “Santa Ana Winds” a number of times in relation to the ongoing large-scale fires here in Southern California.
• Those are nothing new. The term long predates me. We’ve referred to them as such for many decades. Steely Dan’s 1980 song “Babylon Sisters” famously has the line, “Here come those Santa Ana winds again.”
• But what are they?
• Santa Ana winds are most common during the cooler months from September through May. They are caused by high pressure over the desert of the southwestern U.S., that pushes through the mountain passages in Southern California toward an area of lower pressure off the Pacific coast.
• The key characteristic is that the winds are what's known as katabatic, meaning they flow downhill. As the air mass drops in altitude, it compresses and heats up — by about 18 degrees Fahrenheit per half mile.
• So, the main characteristics of Santa Anas is that they are hot and dry. And then, hitting a drought-stricken area full of dried scrub, fires flare up with the finest spark or cinder that could come from a vehicle tailpipe, a careless cigarette ash, some idiot using their fireplace, and so on.
• Or on purpose via arson, but let’s not go there.
• Here’s the current update on the SoCal fires.
• More gusty winds were forecast for today as fire crews struggled to gain containment on the 17,000-acre Palisades Fire — the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history.
• At least 1,000 structures, many of them homes, have been destroyed by fire, which first erupted Tuesday amid hurricane-force, dry Santa Ana winds in the area of North Piedra Morada Drive.
• It quickly swept through residential and commercial districts in this affluent coastal community, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee.
• At last check a few minutes ago, the fire was mapped at 17,234 acres with zero containment. The cause remains under investigation.
• The Palisades Fire is one of several that broke out in the past couple of days. At least five people are dead and many more are injured.
• Thousands of firefighters are battling at least five sprawling wildfires spread around the Los Angeles area, as well as several smaller blazes. Thousands of structures have been damaged or destroyed and more than 100,000 people evacuated as uncontrolled infernos spread.
• In addition to Palisades, the Eaton Fire in Altadena began on Tuesday. It expanded to 10,600 acres and is at 0% containment. About 500 structures there have been damaged or destroyed.
• The Hurst Fire in Sylmar, northwest of San Fernando, began on Tuesday and has burned 855 acres. It is at 10% containment.
• The Lidia Fire erupted yesterday on the northwest edge of the Angeles National Forest. It has grown to 348 acres and is at 40% containment.
• And then last night, the Sunset Fire broke out above West Hollywood, burning 43 acres near a densely populated area. They’ve done a great job managing that one, and a short while ago this morning lifted the evacuation orders.
• Again, the scale of the damage and disruption wrought in Los Angeles is unprecedented. Yesterday, President Joe Biden approved a federal major disaster declaration for Los Angeles County.
• All of the other information about the direct causes of each blaze will be determined later. For now, the important thing is taking care of the people and animals affected.
• Most schools in LA County — including the country’s second largest district, the LAUSD — are closed. And as I mentioned, even in areas miles from the fires (like my home in Redondo Beach), we’re dealing with awful air quality and ash/soot blanketing the area.
• I should mention that smoke is no joke.
• Researchers sought to quantify the long-term outcomes of smoke exposure from California wildfires between 2008 and 2018. Their paper modeled statewide levels of tiny particles in wildfire smoke called PM2.5, and applied mortality data by ZIP code. 
• They estimated that up to 55,710 premature deaths were attributable to wildfire-related PM2.5 in the air.
• Around 90% of wildfire smoke is made up of these particles, which are 30 times smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair. PM2.5 particles can migrate deep into the lungs, and, from there, into the bloodstream, causing everything from inflammation to asthma attacks to sudden cardiac death.
• High-risk groups include the elderly and people who already have compromised breathing — those with asthma, COPD, and so on.
• Most of us in SoCal are very familiar with the Air Quality Index, or AQI. It’s likely accessible via your weather app on your phone. Yesterday morning, mine was as high as 183. A few minutes ago it was at 134.
• If the AQI is above 100, avoid outdoor exercise. If it's above 150, wear a tight-fitting N95 mask when you're outside.
• And even inside, you’re not safe. Keep all windows and doors closed. I have a high-efficiency air purifier downstairs, and smaller units upstairs. They’ve been running a lot in the past couple of days.
• Okay. Let’s move on.
• As I’m writing this, the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter is going on at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
• In attendance are five living men who have also served as president: Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and George W. Bush. There are also current and former vice presidents, supreme court justices, and congressional leaders.
• Carter will be buried in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, following a private funeral service at Maranatha Baptist Church, where the former president taught Sunday school.
• Note that the stock market and many federal services (like the post office) are closed today in honor of the national day of mourning during Carter’s memorial.
• In other news…
• Why does Donnie Dump give a shit about his sentencing tomorrow when the judge has already stated he will face no punishment?
• Over the past week, Dumpy’s lawyers have fought in four courthouses to make his Friday hush-money sentencing date disappear — and safeguarding the liquor licenses at his three New Jersey golf courses may be one reason for that effort.
• Again, be aware that New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has said he's inclined to hand down a zero-punishment sentence. Dump won't need to attend in person.
• However, the instant he becomes a sentenced felon, Dump will have received what Jersey liquor officials consider to be a final judgment of conviction.
• That finality would allow the state's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control to resume last year's efforts to revoke two of his licenses.
• All of the licenses are in Donald Trump Jr.'s name, not his father's, but the ABC said last summer that the president-elect is the sole financial beneficiary of those licenses.
• Stupid man-baby.
• Moving on.
• In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court tomorrow in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.
• TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok’s sale by its Chinese parent company.
• The justices also have before them a plea from Ol’ Dumpy, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach what they call a “political resolution” and avoid deciding the case.
• It’s unclear if the court will take the president-elect’s views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.
• And now, The Weather: “I Figured” by Lutalo
• From the Sports Desk… more fire news.
• The NFL said yesterday that it is monitoring the LA County fire situation's potential impact on Monday night's wild-card playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. They have a contingency plan that involves moving the game to Arizona should the need arise.
• In a statement last night, the NFL said it continues to prepare for the game to be played at SoFi Stadium, but if it had to be moved, it would take place Monday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the home of the Arizona Cardinals.
• That has happened before. In 2003, the league moved a Monday night regular-season game between the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, due to wildfires.
• Today in history… King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements measures against the Jews in Spain (681). The Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated (1349). Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the United States Constitution (1788). British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars (1799). The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process (1822). Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861). Ernest Shackleton plants the British flag 97 nautical miles from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time (1909). Battle of Bear Valley, the last battle of the American Indian Wars (1918). British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty (1957). The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail (1992). Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco (2007). 
• January 9 is the birthday of composer John Knowles Paine (1839), activist Carrie Chapman Catt (1859), engineer Joseph Strauss (1870), art collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875), psychologist John B. Watson (1879), philosopher/activist Simone de Beauvoir (1908), US president Richard Nixon (1913), actor Lee Van Cleef (1925), NFL player Bart Starr (1934), actor Bob Denver (1935), singer-songwriter/activist Joan Baez (1941), guitarist/songwriter/producer Jimmy Page (1944), singer Crystal Gayle (1951), actor J. K. Simmons (1955), NBA player Muggsy Bogues (1965), singer-songwriter Dave Matthews (1967), and NFL player Chad Johnson (1978).

So listen… there’s a lot more news, but I’m out of time. That happens when things are… interesting. But as always, my advice to you — take it or leave it — is that you are much more powerful than you give yourself credit for, as well as being more resilient than you realize. No matter what’s going on, how you choose to react is what’s important. Stay positive and do what you can to not only help yourself, but those around you as well. Enjoy your day.

Hotel Chelsea (01.07.25)

While fires raged in the distance, I was rocking at Hotel Chelsea. Photo by Kat.

Hi there, friends and anyone else who stumbled into this post. It is I, Zak Claxton, the musical jester, writing to you from a very smoky Southern California. We're here to talk about my show last night at Hotel Chelsea in Second Life, but we have a few other pertinent things to mention before we get there.

Southern California Fires

We're no strangers to fire in Southern California. At least a couple times per year in various areas, there are large-scale devastating fire events. But the one we're in the midst of right now, as I write this post, is worse than nearly any I've ever experienced.

First, to be very clear: my home in Redondo Beach is in no danger. The major fires currently burning are the Palisades Fire (about 20 miles up the coast from here), the Eaton Fire (in Altadena, over 30 miles away), and the Hurst Fire (up near Santa Clarita, about 40 miles away).

I personally know some folks whose house was reduced to ashes in the Palisades fire.

And the Eaton Fire is every bit as horrifying.

But that Palisades fire is generating a ton of very toxic smoke and ash and various particulates, and the wind is pushing that shit straight down to me. At last check this morning -- January 8, 2025 -- our air quality here is at an unhealthy 183. Perhaps because we're usually so spoiled by excellent air quality here in the Beach Cities, I'm particularly sensitive to it. 

In any case, it sucks. My skies are a sickly brown-orange, and heavy ash is raining down, coating my patio and driveway. The constant smell of smoke -- even indoors with my air purifiers on full blast -- is gross. When I first awoke and left my bedroom this morning, I was greeted with the scent that I would expect if someone was enjoying a campfire in my living room.

An arial view of the Palisades fire area this morning. That smoke billowed due south to me and it was pretty gross, really.

A look at DTLA through the haze. We're all breathing that shit, ya know.

But it doesn't suck nearly as badly as it does for my many friends who live in the areas directly impacted. I've had numerous friends and coworkers who've been forced to evacuate their homes, and several whose houses have burned down.

The fires are the result of two factors combining: high winds and extremely dry conditions. It's been many months since the LA area had any significant rainfall. The natural environment of the area, with lots of scrublands and chaparral, is perfect kindling for even the smallest spark.

So again, as of Wednesday morning, these fires are completely out of control and still spreading, despite the valiant efforts of our first responders. Here's hoping for big improvements as the wind dies down and these fires can be more effectively fought.

I promise, this was not at all the way I wanted to start my day, but better to be here with shitty air than to be in a pile of burnt rubble as many are this morning.

I Got a New Keyboard

No, not the exciting piano-like kind used to make music. I have enough of those.

I'm referring to a new computer keyboard that I purchased out of necessity. For both work and other reasons, I write a lot. Thousands upon thousands of words each day. Therefore, my keyboards have to take some sustained punishment, and in recent weeks, the one I bought a couple of years ago showed obvious signs of dying. For one thing, the space bar only worked every few tries, so I'd be writing and find myself stringing together an entire sentence of unbroken words with no spaces.

It was fucking annoying, and started affecting my productivity for my business. That was the end of that. I really like the new one; it's a Macally wired keyboard that has two USB-A ports and one USB-C port. The keyboard itself is in Apple's Space Gray, and has black backlit keys. And the keys themselves feel far more tactile than my previous keyboard; they seem to rebound against the touch with every keystroke.

The new one. Something I touch daily that brings me income and pleasure.

Busy Season

As anyone who's known me at any point over the last 30 years, they're aware that due to new year product rollouts and certain trade shows, the entire period from mid-November through mid-January is when my workload goes through the roof.

I'm an independent marketing communications resource for my clients, and a huge amount of the work for which they rely on me most happens around now. So, that explains why I've been very immersed in that stuff. I am fortunate to be successful in my business, but with multiple clients all having important deadlines at the same time, well... there's been not much room in my life for fun things while still managing this multitude of responsibilities.

But, as I tell myself every year, this work marathon is temporary, and things will eventually settle down some in the next month or so. Usually by the time Super Bowl Sunday rolls around, it's no longer at a point where jumping off bridges.seems to be a preferable option. It's getting there.

So... How About That Show?

Ah yes. I knew there was a reason I was writing all this shit. That's what it is... I had a terrific show last night at Hotel Chelsea. One thing I did to make it a little more exciting for everyone involved: I played almost no songs that I'd done in the past year or more.

Me, onstage doing my thing at Hotel Chelsea while already smelling smoke as I jammed. Photo by Kat.

Looking out over my audience while singing and playing and whatever else I do during my SL shows. Photo by Kat.

Keeping it fresh is a super important part of a performing musician. And yes, of course there are people who are super focused on one style, or are promoting their own new music, or are in a tribute act, or do the same songs over and over because they are the favorite requests of their audience. There's nothing wrong with that at all.

But for me, a guy who tends to perform at the same places to the same people, I think it's super important that I don't burn out on the songs I do... and more importantly,. that my crowd doesn't get sick of the same set done over and over.

My only other note was that we already had a terrific crowd for nearly the entire set, and it only swelled as we got closer to my popular friend Max Kleene, who had the stage following me. I think we had 40 or more people by the time I wrapped up my set, and frankly, for a random Tuesday night, most performing musicians in the world would be absolutely stoked to have that type of crowd no matter where they were playing.

Hotel Chelsea set list...

Loading Zones (Kurt Vile)

Lost Cause (Beck)

On the Way Home (Buffalo Springfield)

Snakes And Ladders (They Stole My Crayon)

Desire Lines (Deerhunter)

It's Choade My Dear (Connan Mockasin)

Questions (Buffalo Springfield)

Don’t Ask Me Why (Billy Joel)

Is She Really Going Out with Him? (Joe Jackson)

Wild World (Cat Stevens)

Vasoline (Stone Temple Pilots)

Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)

Learning to Fly (Pink Floyd)

Huge thanks to everyone who came out to the show, with special superpower appreciation to the following who helped support my show!

Richy Nervous, Solanghe Sarlo, Maximillion Kleene, KiralineKiraline Resident, cristoofarr Resident, Kaciee Resident, noowun Wind, bundy Xue, Trouble Streeter, Kade1st Resident, Kat Claxton, AnnaMeer Resident, my terrific manager Maali Beck, Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko, and Chelsea's great staff!

Random News: January 8, 2025

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 January 8, 2025, and it’s a Wednesday. It’s not a pleasant morning thus far; I awoke and opened my bedroom door to inhale the unmistakable smell of heavy smoke. As the sun is now rising, the whole world around me is blanketed in brown-ish orange glaze. So let’s jump in and talk about that and other things.

• Our top story today is, per above, a relatively local one for me.
• Four life-threatening fires are destroying homes as they race across Los Angeles County, the largest of which — in Pacific Palisades — has left tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders.
• LA Mayor Karen Bass warned wildfire conditions are “expected to worsen” throughout the morning.
• The out-of-control Palisades fire is blazing through about five football fields a minute and has burned more than 2,900 acres. Los Angeles has declared an emergency and firefighters warned that tornado-like winds were complicating their battles.
• Three other fires have erupted in LA County: The 500-acre strong Hurst Fire north of San Fernando, the 2,000-acre Eaton Fire in Altadena, and the 75-acre Woodley Fire in Sepulveda Basin. More than 150,000 homes and buildings are without power in the county.
• All these major fires threatening the county are 0% contained and have burned more than 5,500 acres collectively. We’re used to fires here, but these are as bad as I’ve ever seen.
• As of this morning, over 50,000 people in the county were ordered to evacuate the area.
• As I’ve mentioned many times, I live in Redondo Beach, a coastal city about 20 miles south of the Palisades Fire. It’s nearly all concrete between here and there; we’re in little to no danger from that specific event.
• Of course, high winds and extremely dry environments are bad regardless. We’re staying alert. And ash is covering the area, even in my own driveway.
• And the air quality, even here in Redondo, is nightmarish. I’m keeping the windows closed and the air purifiers running on full.
• There will be more to discuss about this disaster, as it’s still in progress.
• For now, let’s move on.
• We have multiple stories about that piece of shit who got himself re-elected, trying to — as usual — rewrite history and wriggle out of accountability.
• In no particular order…
• Dump is asking the Supreme Court to call off Friday’s sentencing in his hush money case in New York. 
• His lawyers turned to the nation’s highest court this morning after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing by Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
• While Merchan has indicated he will not impose jail time, fines or probation, Dump’s lawyers argued a felony conviction would still have intolerable side effects.
• My response, not that they asked: fuck you, Donnie.
• In other news…
• The Justice Department said this morning that it will release special counsel Jack Smith’s findings on Dump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election… but they will keep under wraps for now the rest of the record focused on the piece of shit having hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
• The revelation was made in a filing to a federal appeals court that was considering a defense request to block the release of the two-volume report while charges remain pending against two Trump co-defendants in the Florida case accusing the Republican former president and current president-elect of illegally holding classified documents.
• Aileen Cannon, the Dump-appointed judge presiding over the classified documents case, granted the request yesterday, issuing a temporary block on the report.
• The legal wrangling over the report came less than two weeks before Dump's inauguration to a second term in the White House, with the special counsel wrapping up its work before he takes office.
• Jack Smith oversaw two cases against Trump: the documents case in Florida, and a case related to Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Washington, D.C. Dump pleaded not guilty to all charges, which have since been dismissed due to him being elected.
• Because the Supreme Court has ruled that Presidents can commit any crime they want.
• Assholes.
• All of them.
• Moving on with one more mention of that orange buffoon…
• Yesterday he gave a press conference form his golf motel in Florida.
• Among other moronic statements, he threatened to use military force to capture Greenland and Panama, said he would immediately reverse President Biden’s recent executive order that will render about 625 million acres of American waters off-limits to new drilling permits, and said he would be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the ‘Gulf of America.’
• I’m already over this guy and he’s not yet in office.
• Let’s move on.
• The asshole who exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Dump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI including ChatGPT to help plan the attack.
• That helps explain why it wasn’t very successful.
• A laptop, cellphone, and watch are still under review a week after 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, a decorate soldier, fatally shot himself just before the truck blew up.
• An investigation of Livelsberger's searches through ChatGPT indicate he was looking for information on explosive targets, the speed at which certain rounds of ammunition would travel, and whether fireworks were legal in Arizona.
• In other news…
• Some good news out of Virginia, where Democrats retained control of the state’s General Assembly in special elections yesterday, dimming Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s prospects for a big legislative legacy.
• Republicans could have upset the balance of power in Richmond — which would have given Youngkin the chance to restrict abortion, fund private-school vouchers, and advance the rest of his conservative agenda in the final year of his term — had they flipped two Loudoun County seats on the ballot.
• But Democrats held on to the Loudoun House and Senate seats. Whew.
• Meanwhile, in North Carolina, the state’s highest court blocked the certification of a November election result for one of its own seats so it can review legal arguments by a trailing candidate who contends over 60,000 ballots that were cast shouldn’t be counted.
• Assholes.
• The decision by the Republican-dominated state Supreme Court to issue the temporary stay is a setback for Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs. Election results show Riggs ahead of GOP challenger Jefferson Griffin by just 734 votes from over 5.5 million ballots cast.
• The ultimate winner gets an eight-year term on a Supreme Court where five of the seven current justices are registered Republicans.
• Let’s hope for the best there.
• And now, The Weather: “Cruise Control” by Local the Neighbour
• Rest in peace to Peter Yarrow, one third of the chart-topping 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. He died yesterday at 86.
• One of the group’s biggest achievements was popularizing the music of Bob Dylan via their popular version of his song “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Other big hits for Peter, Paul and Mary included “Puff, the Magic Dragon” (co-composed by Yarrow) as well as cover songs like “If I Had a Hammer” by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays,, and John Denver’s “Leaving On a Jet Plane,” which reached number one.
• Yarrow’s legacy is rather tarnished by having pleaded guilty to taking “immoral and improper liberties” with a child in the ‘70s. A 14-year-old girl alleged that Yarrow had invited her and her 17-year-old sister to meet him at his hotel room. He answered the door naked and had the younger girl masturbate him while her sister watched.
• He served a short jail sentence and then received a presidential pardon from Jimmy Carter on the last day of his term, January 19, 1981. 
• From the Sports Desk… a bunch of NFL teams will start next season with new head coaches.
• The head coaches of the Bears (Matt Eberflus), Jaguars (Doug Pederson), Raiders (Antonio Pierce), Patriots (Jerod Mayo), Saints (Dennis Allen), and Jets (Robert Saleh) will all be looking for new gigs in 2025.
• The Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs starts on Saturday.
• Today in history… Æthelred I and Alfred the Great lead a West Saxon army to repel an invasion by Danelaw Vikings (871). The premiere of George Frideric Handel's ‘Ariodante’ takes place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1735). George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address in New York City (1790). In the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British (1815). The Democratic Party of the United States is organized (1828). US President Andrew Jackson celebrates having reduced the United States national debt to zero for the only time (1835). The United States Congress passes the bill to allow African American men the right to vote in Washington, D.C. (1867). Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle against the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain, Montana Territory (1877). President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule (1900). President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I (1918). Britain introduces food rationing for WWII (1940). Charles de Gaulle is proclaimed as the first President of the French Fifth Republic (1959). President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States (1964). The trial of seven men accused of illegal entry into Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins (1973). Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States other than by succeeding her husband (1975). AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions in the breakup of the Bell System (1982). President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act (2002). Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is shot in the head along with 18 others in a mass shooting in Tucson, AZ (2011). Supporters of former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro storm the Brazilian Congress (2023).
• January 8 is the birthday of composer/conductor Hans von Bülow (1830), philanthropist Winnaretta Singer (1865), economist/sociologist/pacifist Emily Greene Balch (1867), physicist Walther Bothe (1891), burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee (1911), actor Larry Storch (1923), comedian Soupy Sales (1926), businessman Bill Graham (1931), journalist Charles Osgood (1933), singer/actor Elvis Presley (1935), singer Shirley Bassey (1937), actor Graham Chapman (1941), physicist Stephen Hawking (1942), guitarist/songwriter Robby Krieger (1946), singer-songwriter/actor David Bowie (1947), singer Mike Reno (1955), businesswoman Betsy DeVos (1958), drummer Dave Weckl (1960), singer-songwriter Andrew Wood (1966), singer/convicted felon R. Kelly (1967), MLB player Jason Giambi (1971), and NFL player Zach Charbonnet (2001).

So, I’m going to try and have a normal and productive day. Let’s hope that something happens that allows the firefighters to get an upper hand on the fires raging around SoCal. For now, I’m just living in, or at least adjacent to, hell. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 7, 2025

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 January 7, 2025, and it’s a Tuesday. Many things going on around the world — and I’m hideously busy today — so let’s jump right to the news.

• Oh damn, I guess we forgot to try and take the country by force yesterday. 
• After all, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do on January 6 if your candidate loses? Oh wait, no; that’s only for unAmerican piece of shit assholes. Who are gullible.
• And stupid.
• Yesterday, Congress peacefully certified Donnie Dump's 2024 election victory in a civil proceeding, four years to the day after Dump’s MAGA supporters rioted and attacked the Capitol building in a deadly insurrection.
• Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the counting of the electoral votes in the House chambers, leading the certification of the election she lost to Dump.
• Dump was certified the 2024 winner without a single objection. In a 40-minute ceremony, each state's votes were tallied, and lawmakers cheered for their delegations.
• But members of Congress also reflected on the four years since the failed coup attempt at the Capitol. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was less than 20 feet from rioters as he was ferried out of the Senate chamber that day.
• Schumer said, “We must never forget. Democracy is both sacred, its roots are deep, but at times it can be fragile.”
• Correct.
• I think the one positive note about January 6, 2021 — if you want to be an optimist about it — is that it was a lesson to a complacent populace about just how fragile democracy can be.
• Never before in our country’s history has a group of goons tried to subvert a democratically elected head of government. And now we know who they are and how to keep an eye on their dumb asses so they can be shut down before they try again.
• In any case, yesterday’s proceedings were how they are supposed to go… with calm civility leading to a peaceful transition of power, as every president has done in our history with the exception of one sad, fat baby man.
• While we’re on this topic, here’s some related news…
• Enrique Tarrio, the piece of shit former head of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy surrounding the January 6 insurrection, is asking Dump for a pardon.
• No surprise there.
• Tarrio, 42, was sentenced to 22 years in prison — the longest prison term for any of the Jan. 6 defendants. Tarrio played a central role in the efforts to storm the Capitol in the hopes of preventing Joe Biden from becoming President.
• I’d be shocked if Dump doesn’t release this dangerous criminal into society where he can do more damage to American citizens.
• Moving on.
• Dumpy and his former co-defendants in the Florida classified documents case launched an effort yesterday to block the release of a final report by special counsel Jack Smith that also addresses the election interference case.
• In a terrible miscarriage of justice, both cases against Dump have been dismissed.
• They’re asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to block Smith, who prosecuted the case, from issuing his report. They cited the judge's previous ruling that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
• They requested that Cannon hold a hearing and rule on their motion by Friday, saying they believe the release of the report is “imminent.”
• And Dump’s lawyers said they reviewed a two-volume draft copy of Smith’s report at the special counsel’s office in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.
• Regardless of their bullshit, the special counsel’s office is required under Justice Department regulations to provide a confidential report to Garland, who can choose to make it public.
• I have zero faith that Garland will go public with Jack Smith’s report. Garland has seemed to have chosen the wrong path with each decision.
• Let’s move on.
• An earthquake killed at least 95 people and left 130 injured after it struck a remote area of southern Tibet early today.
• Emergency responders were still assessing the extent of the damage in Dingri county from the quake, which struck at 9:05am Beijing time. The U.S. Geologic Survey put the quake at 7.1 magnitude.]
• 7.1 is no joke. I recall with minute detail the 1994 6.7 Northridge quake that fucked us up here in Southern California.
• Let’s move on with some delicious news.
• National joke Rudy Giuliani was found in contempt of court yesterday for failing to properly respond to requests for information as he turned over assets to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment granted to two Georgia election workers.
• Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled after hearing Giuliani testify for a second day at a contempt hearing. Liman said Giuliani “willfully violated a clear and unambiguous order of this court” when he “blew past” a December 20 deadline to turn over evidence.
• The most recent asset that’s been obfuscated by Giuliani is a Palm Beach, FL condominium that he claims as his residence, but in actuality is a vacation home that he is legally bound to turn over.
• As punishment for the contempt finding, the judge said he will decide at the trial whether some of the missing evidence would show that Giuliani continued doing business in New York rather than Florida after January 1, 2024. That’s when the former mayor said he had established the Florida property as his permanent home.
• Giuliani conceded that he sometimes did not turn over everything requested in the case because he believed what was being sought was overly broad, inappropriate or even a “trap” set by lawyers for the plaintiffs.
• Fuck that shit. Try that next time someone sues you and see how well it goes for you.
• And fuck you, Rudy. It’s obvious that he’s stalling for time in the hope that somehow, Donnie Dump can intervene on his behalf after his inauguration.
• In other news…
• I’m going to miss the kindness of President Joe Biden.
• He and first lady Jill Biden attended a somber prayer service in New Orleans yesterday for families of victims and impacted community members following the New Year's Day attack in the city.
• Biden reflected on the 14 people killed and 35 injured in the horrific act of terrorism, as well as the first responders and law enforcement officers who, per Biden, “risked their lives to stop the terror." He also offered words of solace to the victims' families.
• The only way Dump would do that is if there was a paycheck for him, and then he’d make it about himself.
• Let’s keep moving on.
• Despite the fact that the ban on gay troops in the US military ended more than a decade ago, a surprisingly small fraction of the tens of thousands of vets affected have accessed benefits they are due.
• The Pentagon has now agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that may change that for about 35,000 veterans.
• Lilly Steffanides, a U.S. Navy veteran and plaintiff in the case, said that the stigma of being suddenly outed to their family in 1988, led to years of addiction and homelessness. Having an other-than honorable discharge meant no automatic access to VA benefits or health care.
• It’s a scarlet letter when employers ask about military service; many veterans would deny they ever served rather than reveal paperwork that showed they were kicked out for homosexual activity.
• I’m glad they’re being given what they merit and that this is finally being resolved.
• Moving on to some news about Meta, the company run by Mark Zuckerberg that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and more. You’re likely reading this on a Meta platform right this moment.
• Today, Meta announced it will eliminate its third-party fact-checking program to “restore free expression” and move to a “Community Notes” model, similar to the system that exists on Elon Musk’s platform Xitter.
• The company said Community Notes will be written and rated by contributing users to provide more context to posts across its platforms, and the feature will roll out in the U.S. over the next couple of months.
• This is a blatant effort to kiss up to Dump. Don’t be shocked if the MAGA militia starts adding their notes to my news.
• Zuck said it openly. “We’re going to work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more.”
• Meta is removing restrictions on subjects like immigration and gender. They’re also moving its trust and safety and content moderation teams from California, a historically Democratic state, to Texas, a historically Republican state.
• Elections have consequences.
• And now, The Weather: “Hyde Park” by hemlock
• From the Real Weather Desk, apparently we’re bracing for “life-threatening” fire danger here in Southern California as extreme Santa Ana winds rock a region that has not seen significant rain since spring.
• The winds were set to arrive early today but will strengthen considerably in the afternoon through Wednesday. Widespread gusts of 50 to 80 mph are expected — with some areas getting destructive gusts between 80 and 100 mph, combined with bone-dry air.
• Sigh. C’mon man. I don’t. have time for that shit.
• From the Sports Desk… one somewhat interesting aspect of the NFL playoffs that start this weekend: out of seven teams, three of the Wild Card teams came from a single division. Yes, in both conferences.
• The AFC West produced the 1-seed Chiefs, the 5-seed Chargers, and 7-seed Broncos.
• The NFC North contributed the 1-seed Lions, 5-seed Vikings, and 7-seed Packers.
• And in both cases, the other (i.e., non-playoff) team in each of those divisions was highly underperforming this season…the Raiders (4-13) and the Bears (5-12).
• So the fact that those successful teams had a particularly shitty team in their division to beat up multiple times during the regular season might be — in some cases — the reason they’re in the playoffs at all.
• Today in history… The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army (49 BC). French troops, led by Francis, Duke of Guise, take Calais, the last continental possession of England (1558). Fire destroys Jamestown, VA (1608). Galileo Galilei makes his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa (1610). HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, drops anchor off the Chonos Archipelago (1835). The distress signal "CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by “SOS" (1904). The New York State Assembly refuses to seat five duly elected Socialist assemblymen (1920). The first transatlantic commercial telephone service is established from New York City to London (1927). Contralto Marian Anderson becomes the first person of color to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in Giuseppe Verdi's ‘Un ballo in maschera’ (1955). U.S. President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation (1980). The Senate trial in the impeachment of U.S. President Bill Clinton begins (1999). Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others (2007). Chinese authorities confirm that they have identified a novel coronavirus, initially named 2019-nCoV by WHO (2020). The United States Congress certifies the results of 2020 United States presidential election, confirming the election of Joe Biden, on the morning of the 7th after the Capitol was attacked the day before during earlier attempts to certify the election by supporters of the incumbent president Donald Trump, who lost re-election to Biden and attempted to overturn the results of the election (2021). The longest U.S. House of Representatives speaker election since 1860 concludes and Kevin McCarthy is elected 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (2023).
• January 7 is the birthday of politician Thomas of Woodstock — my 20th great-grandfather (1355). U.S. president Millard Fillmore (1800), businessman Thomas Henry Ismay (1837), film producer Adolph Zukor (1873), cartoonist Charles Addams (1912), flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922), publisher Jann Wenner (1946), singer-songwriter/guitarist Kenny Loggins (1948), painter/sculptor Robert Longo (1953), actor David Caruso (1956), journalist Katie Couric (1957), NFL player/coach Ron Rivera (1962), actor Nicolas Cage (1964), actor Jeremy Renner (1971), NHL player Donald Brashear (1972), singer/rapper Aloe Blacc (1979), and NFL player Lamar Jackson (1997).

If you’re a Second Life person, note that I have a live music show tonight at 5pm at Hotel Chelsea. Between now and then, I have roughly 17,000,000 things to do. Wish me luck. Enjoy your day.