Random News: January 31, 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 31, 2025, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! Assuming I live through today — usually a good bet — I’ll finally get an actual day off work, something I’ve been missing pretty much since the start of this year thus far. I”m not sure I even remember how to relax, but I’ll do my best to figure it out.

• And now, the news.
• President Donnie Dump, early in his second term, is earning an approval rating among the lowest in decades.
• A Gallup poll released yesterday found that 47 percent of respondents support Dump’s term so far. It’s a rating that places him below all other elected presidents since 1953. He remains the only elected commander in chief with an approval rating below 50 percent.
• Dump’s disapproval rating is 48 percent, which is 3 percentage points higher than in 2017 and marks a new high for that rating at the start of a president’s term.
• Former President Biden received a 57 percent approval rating, the same as former President George W. Bush.
• The presidents who received the next lowest approval rating after Trump were former Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
• And Dump was the only president to not receive a job rating of 50 percent or higher during his time in office.
• I suppose I mention this so that our friends from around the world understand that a good portion of our country doesn’t accept this self-centered fascist asshole as being a good guy.
• Let’s move on.
• What was aviation expert Donnie Dump’s explanation for Wednesday night’s catastrophic air collision in D.C.? He said the military Black Hawk helicopter was “flying too high, by a lot.”
• OK Donnie.
• What actually needs to be investigated: the claims that the staffing levels in the air traffic control tower, and the congested skies around the capital, played a role in the crash.
• We need to have some clarity on one topic that has come up many times and will continue to be a scapegoat many more times in the Dump regime: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, usually shortened to DEI.
• Yesterday, Dumpy blamed the plane crash in D.C. over DEI. What he intends that to mean is that it’s the fault of anyone who’s not a white heterosexual male.
• Women, Jews, gays, Black people, Hispanic people, Asian people, lesbians. If something bad happens, it’s their fault.
• And he will say that over and over again for however long he remains in office.
• Let’s move on, because tomorrow is a date of note.
• Dumples the Economic Moron says he will follow through with his threat to hit imports from Canada and Mexico with 25% border taxes, known as tariffs, on February 1.
• He also suggested that he was still planning to impose new tariffs on China, which he said earlier this month would be 10%, but did not give any details.
• ”With China, I'm also thinking about something because they're sending fentanyl into our country, and because of that, they're causing us hundreds of thousands of deaths," claimed the Dumpster. "So China is going to end up paying a tariff also for that, and we're in the process of doing that."
• Always “in the process.” That usually means that Dump doesn’t have an actual plan of any kind.
• Regardless, if these new Trump Taxes start tomorrow, you could soon be looking at gas prices between $0.50 and $1 higher per gallon.
• There’s a whole-ass laundry list of items that would be more expensive for American consumers if Dumpy follows through on the Trump Taxes.
• Remember, the exporting countries do not pay the tariffs. The importing country charges the tax to the businesses, who have to pass along that cost to you.
• Let’s keep moving on.
• At least six senior FBI leaders have been ordered to retire, resign, or be fired by Monday, extending a purge that began last week at the Justice Department across the street from the FBI headquarters.
• The senior high-level officials include those who oversee cyber, national security, and criminal investigations. Some were notified while Kash Patel, Dumpy’s pick to lead the agency, sat answering questions from senators for his confirmation hearing yesterday.
• Interestingly, these specific officials didn’t have anything to do with criminal prosecutions of the Dumpster. I assume this means he wants them gone to better commit future crimes.
• Moving on.
• Last night’s FireAid benefit, held at the Kia Forum and the Intuit Dome here in the LA area, was fueled by some of music’s best performers to raise money for Los Angeles-area wildfire relief efforts.
• The event featured a long list of stars spanning many genres and generations, including Billie Eilish, Rod Stewart, Dr. Dre, and Joni Mitchell during a pair of concerts that mixed stories of heartbreak, music, and surprises galore.
• Some highlights…
• Billie Eilish joining Green Day for the first song of the night. Billy Crystal reminding everyone of why they were there — to help rebuild the devastated Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods and other impacted areas.
• Dr. Dre dashing onto the stage to join Anderson .Paak and Sheila E. Flea flipping onto the stage doing a handstand while wearing nothing but a black Speedo.
• The three surviving members of Nirvana — Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, and Pat Smear — doing a set that included “Breed,” “School,” “Territorial Pissings,” and “All Apologies,” with singers that included St. Vincent, Kim Gordon, Joan Jett, and Grohl’s daughter, Violet.
• And now, The Weather: “Daymom” by Drop Nineteens
• Rest in peace to singer and actress Marianne Faithfull, who died yesterday at 78.
• Faithfull was known for hits that included a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “As Tears Go By,” and also starred in films including 1968's 'The Girl On A Motorcycle.’
• She was also famously the girlfriend of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in the 1960s, and went on to resurrect her career after hitting hard times in the ‘70s.
• From the Sports Desk… the 2024-25 NBA All Star rosters have been revealed.
• Eastern Conference: Jalen Brunson, Knicks. Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers. Jayson Tatum, Celtics. Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks. Darius Garland, Cavaliers. Cade Cunningham, Pistons. Jaylen Brown, Celtics. Pascal Siakam, Pacers. Evan Mobley, Cavaliers. Damian Lillard, Bucks. Tyler Herro, Heat.
• Western Conference: Stephen Curry, Warriors. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder. LeBron James, Lakers. Kevin Durant, Suns. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets. Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves. James Harden, Clippers. Anthony Davis, Lakers. Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs. Alperen Sengun, Rockets. Jalen Williams, Thunder.
• Today in history… Four of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, including Guy Fawkes, are executed for treason by hanging, drawing and quartering (1606). The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital (1747). The United States towns of Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify to create the City of Milwaukee (1846). The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery, and submits it to the states for ratification (1865). US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War (1945). ‘These Are My Children,’ the first television daytime soap opera, is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago, IL (1949). President Truman orders the development of thermonuclear weapons (1950). Doug Williams becomes the first African-American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl and leads the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII (1988). Both a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse occur (2018). The United Kingdom's membership within the European Union ceases in accordance with Article 50, after 47 years of being a member state (2020). The FDA grants full approval to Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for those ages 18 and older (2022).
• January 31 is the birthday of composer Franz Schubert (1797), chemist Theodore William Richards (1868), singer-songwriter/actor Eddie Cantor (1892), actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902), musicologist Alan Lomax (1915), MLB legend Jackie Robinson (1919), actress Carol Channing (1921), novelist/playwright/journalist Norman Mailer (1923), actress Suzanne Pleshette (1937), politician Dick Gephardt (1941), guitarist Terry Kath (1946), MLB legend Nolan Ryan (1947), singer-songwriter Harry Wayne Casey (1951), guitarist Adrian Vandenberg (1954), singer-songwriter John Lydon (1956), bass player Fat Mike (1967), businessman Dov Charney (1969), actress Minnie Driver (1970), actress Portia de Rossi (1973), actor/comedian Bobby Moynihan (1977), singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake (1981), and film producer Megan Ellison (1986).

Okay. I’m going to make it through today’s work and then I am shutting off my fucking brain as much as possible for two whole days. Wish me luck with that. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 30, 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 30, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I am starting to feel a little better as of early this morning… my cold is getting less annoying, and my stress level is slowly coming down to a less tortuous level. Regardless of all that, there’s a lot of news, so let’s get rolling.

• I rarely cover things like plane crashes here.
• When they happen, they’re tragic, and there’s not much that we can talk about here that will help prevent them.
• But I do want to mention what happened last night for a specific reason. First, the details…
• A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter last night while approaching the Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. The aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River. Everyone on board is feared dead.
• The crash occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just a few miles south of the White House and the U.S. Capitol.
• The midair crash happened when a regional jet at the end of a flight from Wichita, KS collided with a military helicopter on a training exercise.
• Shortly before American Airlines Flight 5342 was set to land, air traffic controllers asked if it could use a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed.
• And then, seconds later, the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter got directly in the landing path of the jet. You know the rest.
• All takeoffs and landings from Reagan Airport were halted. It will reopen this morning.
• Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The last was in 2009 near Buffalo, NY.
• Donald Dump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — who was confirmed by the United States Senate to the office literally two days ago on January 28, 2025 by a vote of 77–22 and was sworn in later that day — is a former reality TV star.
• But who is running the Federal Aviation Administration, the entity in charge of all air traffic and crash investigation in the USA?
• No one.
• The former head of the FAA, Mike Whitaker, resigned in December at the request of Elon Musk, clearing the way for Dumpy to select a new one. Whitaker’s last day on the job was the day of Dump’s inauguration on January 20.
• The selection of his replacement is still pending. 
• Obviously, this is a fluid story and we’ll cover it more and more details become available.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, the White House Office of Management and Budget walked back a memo that ordered a freeze on federal assistance, less than two days after the directive led to chaos and confusion around the country as to what programs would be impacted.
• The latest two-line memo from acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget Matthew Vaeth states that the earlier directive is rescinded. It directs those with questions about implementing Dumpy's executive orders to contact the general counsels at their agencies.
• The full scope of the poorly-written directive was not clear, and it left nonprofits, small businesses, universities, and other entities scrambling to determine whether they would be impacted, and congressional offices faced an onslaught of questions from constituents and organizations fearing they would lose federal dollars. 
• And while the White House's memo stated Medicare or Social Security benefits would not be impacted, state Medicaid agencies, federally-funded Head Start early education programs, and community health centers said they were cut off from accessing a web portal run by the Department of Health and Human Services. 
• The memo sparked numerous lawsuits, including from a coalition of nonprofits and Democratic state attorneys general. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., swiftly convened a hearing on a request from the nonprofit groups to temporarily block enforcement of the freeze, and agreed Tuesday to issue a brief pause to fully consider the matter.
• I like the fact that the states stood up to Dump and forced him to back the fuck down. You’re going to be seeing that a lot.
• And — as I’ve mentioned time and time again — the people who were going to get screwed the worst and the fastest are those in red states. Over 82% of the recipients of federal aid are residents of states that voted for Dump.
• And it was those people who were screaming to their GOP Senators that helped the immediate reversal of plans.
• Let’s move on.
• Dumples the Clown announced yesterday that the U.S. will use a detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to hold tens of thousands of the “worst criminal aliens.”
• He later signed a presidential memorandum and said he’d direct federal officials to get facilities ready to receive criminal immigrants in the US illegally. Border czar Tom Homan said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would run the facility.
• Like everything in the Dump regime, details of the plan weren’t immediately clear.
• Guantánamo isn’t a big base. During the Gulf War, the facility held about 700 occupants at max. 
• The base includes just a handful of buildings, and has nowhere near the capacity to house the 30,000 people Trump said could be sent there.
• We have a name for places like that, where tens of thousands of people are held against their will in horrific conditions: concentration camps.
• Let’s move on to some international news.
• A pre-dawn stampede at the world's largest religious gathering killed at least 30 people in India yesterday, with many more injured after a surging crowd trampled bystanders.
• It’s sad to note that deadly crowd incidents are a frequent occurrence at Indian religious festivals, including the Kumbh Mela, which attracts tens of millions of devotees every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj.
• As pilgrims rushed to participate in a sacred day of ritual bathing, people sleeping and sitting on the ground near the rivers said they were trampled by huge swells of devotees coming towards them in the darkness.
• If you want to look at the biggest danger to mankind, just look in the mirror. We have found the enemy, and it is us.
• Moving on.
• Another note from the joke that is the leader of the USA, Donnie Dump.
• He said that he was telling Elon Musk to go “rescue” the “stranded” astronauts on the International Space Station.
• “I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to "go get" the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration. They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!”
• Um.
• Those astronauts are not stranded. They’re fine. And the operation to pick their asses up and bring them back was well underway months before Dump took office.
• What an idiot.
• In our continuing coverage of the pieces of shit who attacked the USA on January 6, 2021 and were subsequently pardoned by Dumpy, meet Andrew Taake.
• Taake is now wanted by authorities on a 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online.
• During the insurrection, he attacked police officers with bear spray and a metal whip. He was released from a federal prison in Colorado after Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack.
• Texas had requested he be held for the pending warrant but they let him go anyway. 
• Good job, Dumpy. Keep putting more dangerous criminals out on the streets. That’s your favorite thing to do.
• And now, The Weather: “I Want You (Fever)” by Momma
• From the Sports Desk… do you bet on sports?
• I don’t… at least not money. I’ve had multiple friends who basically ruined their lives with sports gambling addictions.
• That being said, there are many, many ways to bet on today’s game.
• You have your typical bet as to which team wins or loses. The current odds have KC favored at -1.5, meaning that they have to win by two points or more to win the bet.
• You can bet the over/under, which is the total amount of combined points scored by both teams. Current line is 49.5.
• There are plenty of bets on which players will score and when and how much.
• People also bet on specific players’ yards, completions, catches, rushes, interceptions, tackles, field goals — you name it, you can bet on it.
• And then there are even more granular prop bets. Will a team score on the first drive? Will they cross midfield? Reach the red zone? Have a 20-yard pass play?
• What’s the point total at the end of each quarter? Will the team that scores last win the game? Will the game be tied at any point (not counting 0-0)? Will there be a score in the last two minutes of either half?
• Trust me that this is only the tip of the iceberg in the world of Super Bowl betting.
• Today in history… Charles I of England is executed in Whitehall, London (1649). Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed more than two years after his death, on the 12th anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed (1661). The Forty-seven rōnin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master, by killing Kira Yoshinaka (1703). In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen as well as Jackson himself (1835). Yerba Buena, CA is renamed San Francisco, CA (1847). Japanese carmaker Mazda is founded, initially as a cork-producing company (1920). Adolf Hitler takes office as the Chancellor of Germany (1933). Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery bus boycott (1956). Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies (1968). The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London (1969). Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code (1982). Microsoft Corporation releases Windows Vista (2007). The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (2020). 
• January 30 is the birthday of statesman/poet George Villiers (1628), lawyer/politician John Lansing, Jr. (1754), nun/saint Angela of the Cross (1846), US president Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882), civil rights activist Fred Korematsu (1919), actor Gene Hackman (1930), actress Vanessa Redgrave (1937), US vice president Dick Cheney (1941), singer-songwriter Marty Balin (1942), singer-songwriter Steve Marriott (1947), singer-songwriter/drummer Phil Collins (1951), golfer Payne Stewart (1957), singer Jody Watley (1959), sex offender Mary Kay Letourneau (1962), NBA player Jalen Rose (1973), actor Christian Bale (1974), actress Olivia Colman (1974), actor Wilmer Valderrama (1980), and rapper/singer-songwriter Kid Cudi (1984).

Time to get to work and stuff. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 29, 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 29, 2025, and it’s a Wednesday. I am still battling the stress of intense work deadlines along with my stupid cold. To say I’m looking forward to the coming weekend is a vast understatement. Meanwhile, important stuff is going on in the world, so let’s not dilly-dally and jump right in.

• One of the key plans of Donnie Dump’s plans for dictatorship is to fling so much shit at you at once, it’s difficult to discern what’s important.
• And the reality is, it’s all important.
• Dump calls it “flooding the zone,” and it’s a purposeful tactic to make you feel defeated and hopeless. But that’s not how we roll here.
• Instead, we try and prioritize our information here at Random News based on the most egregious things the Dump administration does that affects the widest range of people.
• And today, it’s following up on the illegal and massively overreaching freeze on federal funding to state and local governments.
• The worst example of this — at least thus far — was the shutdown of Medicaid funding with no warning.
• The White House confirmed that Medicaid websites are down throughout the country due to Dump's federal aid freeze. 72,058,701 people rely on Medicaid for health insurance.
• As usual, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said it well…
• ”Trump is holding all the nation's hospitals and vital services hostage to seize power from Congress and hand it over to billionaires. We must state the truth: This is a constitutional crisis. It's a massive, illegal power grab that the House and Senate have a sworn duty to stop!"
• Dickface Dump’s administration announced the pause in federal grants, loans, and other financial assistance as they embarked on a sweeping review of spending — a measure aimed at “ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government,” according to a memo from Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.
• So millions of Americans suffer and die — including those who voted for Dump — because the GOP can’t handle the idea that some people are gay. Got it.
• The funding freeze affects trillions of dollars and causes a massive widespread disruption in health care research, education programs and other initiatives. Grants that have been awarded but not spent are also halted.
• Before we take to the street, at least for now…
• Later in the day, a federal judge temporarily blocked Dump’s freeze on federal grants and loans. As we mentioned, the White House had planned to enforce the freeze today with no forewarning.
• U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked the action minutes before it was set to go into effect. The administrative stay pauses the freeze until Monday.
• Dump administration officials claim that programs that provide direct assistance to Americans would not be affected, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, student loans and food stamps. But the lack of clarity around other programs is causing chaos.
• And I don’t believe them.
• I think your (or your parents’) Social Security and Medicaid are imminently to be ripped out from them.
• We promised you this would happen. You voted for Dump anyway… or you stayed home and didn’t vote at all. I’m not sure which group I respect the least.
• If there’s anything good coming out of this shit, for the first time in the nine days Dump was taken office, the Resistance is showing signs of life.
• Senate Democrats moved with rare dexterity to block a GOP-led bill in one of the few places where they have real leverage, and blanketed social media with panicked reports from their constituents.
• House Democrats called an emergency meeting for today to plot a "comprehensive three-pronged counteroffensive" — targeting appropriations, litigation, and communications.
• Nonprofits — later joined by Democrat-led states — stormed the federal court system with lawsuits, which is what led to the judge temporarily halting the funding freeze yesterday evening.
• We’re going to fight and we’re going to keep fighting until we win. End of story.
• Let’s move on for now.
• As of yesterday, the total number of U.S. active duty troops at the border is now about 1,600. It includes about 500 Marines, with the remainder being Army soldiers.
• Did you plan to have your peaceful life upended by seeing armed U.S. active duty military troops in your neighborhood when you voted for Dumpy (or didn’t vote)?
• Now you have that.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, the White House announced details of a “deferred resignation” offer it made to federal employees that allows them to resign with pay through September 30.
• The offer affects the majority of the 2.3 million workers employed by the government, and was made in an email blast yesterday afternoon.
• It’s not clear what happens if the employees don’t accept the forced retirement offer.
• Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) sees the big picture here. He argued that Dump’s offer to federal employees overstepped his authority.
• He said on the Senate floor, “The President has no authority to make that offer. There’s no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work. If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you.”
• Correct.
• We should cover one more story of Dump’s pure cruelty, and this is one that affects a number of my friends on a very direct basis.
• Yesterday, Dump signed an executive order that seeks to end gender-affirming medical treatments for children and teenagers under the age of 19.
• Dump’s obsession with transgender people has been a major focus of his presidency this far. That’s his big thing, as opposed to all the ways he could actually help hard-working American families.
• On Monday, Dump signed an executive order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military. On his first day in office last week, Dump signed an order recognizing two sexes, male and female, and taking aim at what the order described as gender ideology extremism.
• So this is the top priority of the USA, I guess.
• Yesterday’s order says the federal government will not "fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support" gender-affirming care for children. The medical care includes the use of puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries.
• LGBTQ advocacy and civil rights groups strongly condemned this latest action, saying it targets and discriminates against some of the most vulnerable in the U.S.: trans youth.
• But as I’ve said many times about MAGA: the cruelty is the point.
• Let’s move on.
• Greenland does not want to be part of the USA. Shocking, I know.
• A large majority of residents of the country are against Dump’s wish to acquire the island territory. 85 percent of the Arctic island’s residents do not want to join the U.S. Another 6 percent of respondents said they were in favor of joining while 9 percent were undecided.
• Roughly 45 percent of the island’s residents see Trump’s push to take control as a “threat.” 
• They’re right.
• Let’s keep on moving on… with another piece of depressing news.
• Some days, that’s just how it is. I don’t sugarcoat this shit for you.
• Earth is the closest it’s ever been to destruction. The “Doomsday Clock” ticked over to 89 seconds till midnight.
• The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists made the annual announcement — which rates how close humanity is from ending — citing threats that include climate change, proliferation of nuclear weapons, instability in the Middle East, the threat of pandemics, and incorporation of artificial intelligence in military operations.
• The group said it’s concerned about cooperation between countries such as North Korea, Russia, and China in developing nuclear programs. Russia President Vladimir Putin has also talked about using nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine.
• Starting in 1947, the advocacy group used a clock to symbolize the potential and even likelihood of people doing something to end humanity. After the end of the Cold War, it was as close as 17 minutes to midnight.
• In the past few years, to address rapid global changes, the group has changed from counting down the minutes until midnight to counting down the seconds.
• Is our demise inevitable? No. The group said the clock could be turned back if leaders and nations worked together to address existential risks.
• That’s a big “if.”
• And now, The Weather: “Unbelonging” by Cloakroom
• From the Sports Desk… who the NBA’s individual leaders in this season thus far?
• Points per game… 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) - 32.1. 2. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) - 31.7. 3. Nikola Jokic (DEN) - 30.0. 4. LaMelo Ball (CHA) - 28.2. 5. Kevin Durant (PHX) - 27.1.
• Assists per game… 1. Trae Young (ATL) - 11.4. 2. Nikola Jokic (DEN) - 10.2. 3. Cade Cunningham (DET) - 9.4. 4. LeBron James (LAL) - 9.0. 5. Tyrese Haliburton (IND) - 8.7.
• Rebounds per game… 1. Domantas Sabonis (SAC) - 14.6. 2. Karl-Anthony Towns (NY) - 13.8. 3. Nikola Jokic (DEN) - 13.1. 4. Ivica Zubac (LAC) - 12.6. 5. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) - 12.2.
• Today in history… "The Raven" is published in The Evening Mirror in New York, the first publication with the name of the author, Edgar Allan Poe (1845). Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the U.S. Congress (1850). Kansas is admitted as the 34th U.S. state (1861). Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile (1886). Charles Curtis of Kansas becomes the first Native American U.S. Senator (1907). The Bolshevik Red Army, on its way to besiege Kyiv, is met by a small group of military students at the Battle of Kruty (1918). The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced (1936). In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an Axis of evil, in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea (2002). The Trump administration establishes the White House Coronavirus Task Force under Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar (2020).
• January 29 is the birthday of scientist/philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (1688), activist/philosopher Thomas Paine (1737), US president William McKinley (1843), playwright Anton Chekhov (1860), businessman/philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874), actor W. C. Fields (1880), actor John Forsythe (1918), composer Leslie Bricusse (1931), bass player James Jamerson (1936), actor Tom Selleck (1945), drummer Tommy Ramone (1949), actress/TV host Oprah Winfrey (1954), diver Greg Louganis (1960), actor Nicholas Turturro (1962), NHL player Dominik Hašek (1965), actor Edward Burns (1968), politician Paul Ryan (1970), actress Heather Graham (1970), actress Sara Gilbert (1975), singer Adam Lambert (1982), and MLB player José Abreu (1987).

Time for me to get to work. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 28, 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 28, 2025, and it’s a Tuesday. I seem to be recovering, both from the trade show itself and the inevitable bug I picked up while there. That’s a good thing, because I have tons of post-show work to handle between now and the weekend. Therefore, let’s do some news.

• It didn’t take long for Dump to begin his acts of retribution, not that they weren’t expected.
• More than a dozen officials who worked on the criminal investigations into Dumpy the Felon have been fired.
• A letter from acting Attorney General James McHenry to the officials said they cannot be trusted to faithfully implement Dump’s agenda.
• Since a lot of Dump’s agenda is completely illegal and/or unconstitutional, I’d say that should be applicable to a whole lot of our government.
• “Given your significant role in prosecuting the President, I do not believe that the leadership of the Department can trust you to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” wrote McHenry.
• Those pricks are also investigating prosecutors who oversaw the criminal cases against January 6 defendants. Ed Martin, the interim US attorney in Washington, DC, has launched an investigation into prosecutors who brought obstruction charges against some rioters that were ultimately tossed because of a Supreme Court decision.
• Let’s move over to other parts of the world for a moment.
• Tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced by months of war in Gaza, began making their way north yesterday. They’re coming home to survey the damage wrought by Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.
• Under the current ceasefire terms, the Israel Defense Forces opened the Netzarim Corridor a day later than planned, allowing civilians to return to a region largely flattened by artillery and bombs.
• Most were on foot, their few remaining belongings in plastic bags slung over shoulders or tucked under arms.
• Many of them have been sheltering in tents for months. Many already knew that their homes had been destroyed. Videos and photos from the region show blocks reduced to broken concrete and rebar.
• Hopefully they can rebuild to some degree before it starts up again.
• Moving on.
• A follow-up to yesterday’s story about the tiff between the USA and Colombia involving the treatment of immigrants being returned.
• It had been reported that Colombian President Gustavo Petro had backed down due to Dump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on the country’s exports.
• That is not correct. Instead, Petro responded with a 50% tariff against the USA, and it was Dump who capitulated.
• In exchange for cancelling the threatened tariffs, returning immigrants are now being flown on commercial jets — not handcuffed in military planes — which is the same process as the rules under the Biden presidency.
• Prepare to see a lot of this in coming years.
• And on a related note, Dump’s current round of saber-rattling with Mexico, Colombia, and Panama will most likely lead these countries to fortify their relationships with China and Russia.
• Golf clap.
• I want to give you a reminder of the items that will be more expensive — in some case much more — under the incoming Dump Tax that he calls “tariffs.”
• And please don’t be shocked at high prices in coming years… especially those of you who voted for the guy causing them.
• Phones, toys, games, healthcare devices, clothes, household appliances, shoes, TVs, cookware, tools, and more.
• Vegetables, feed/grain, bakery products, liquors/wine/beer, fruits, meat products, and more.
• Trucks, busses, special purpose vehicles, engines/parts, passenger cars, and more.
• So, pretty much everything you buy. You all voted for Dump because he was going to immediately make things more affordable, right?
• What happened?
• Let’s just move on.
• Today, the Dump administration is pausing all federal grants and loans.
• This will cause widespread disruption in health care research, education programs, and other initiatives. Even grants that have been awarded but not spent are supposed to be halted.
• I’ll point out that this is straight-up illegal. Congress had already authorized the funding for those grants.
• But, elect a criminal, expect crimes.
• Countless people depend on various grant programs to merely survive. There will be people who cannot put food on their tables without that money… and many of those people voted for Dump.
• Congrats. You fucked yourself.
• Let’s move on to one more story of the Tangerine Twat. This one is included for comedy purposes.
• That Old Fat Piece of Delusional Shit wrote, “The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,” he wrote. “The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!”
• So… would you like to know what the fuck he’s talking about?
• Federal officials turned on a federal water-pumping station in Northern California that had been down for maintenance over the weekend.
• Our state Department of Water Resources explained, “The military did not enter California. The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”
• So to be clear… we’ve always had water here. The military did not come here. And Dump just writes whatever comes into his demented mind, and idiots believe him.
• Let’s move on.
• I want to give you a story from the Karma Desk.
• Matthew Huttle, a 42-year-old from Hobart, IN, was pardoned last week by Dictator Dump for storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He’d been sentenced to six months in federal prison followed by 12 months on supervised release. 
• Sunday afternoon, he got pulled over in a traffic stop, got into a confrontation with Indiana State Police, resisted being arrested, struggled with the deputy, and ended up shot and killed.
• Huttle isn’t the first Capitol rioter to quickly face trouble after his pardon. Last week, a Florida man who took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection was arrested on federal gun charges one day after being pardoned.
• Ha ha!
• Moving on.
• Let’s mention that yesterday, the Senate confirmed billionaire hedge fund manager and investor Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary, making him the highest-ranking LGBTQ official in the nation’s history.
• The vote was 68-29 to confirm Bessent, 62, to lead the Department of the Treasury. He is the first openly LGBTQ person to hold the position, fifth in line to the presidency. 
• Bessent’s confirmation comes after former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made history as the first openly LGBTQ Cabinet official to win Senate confirmation in 2021.
• But it was actually in 2020, during Dump’s first term, that Richard Grenell became the first gay Cabinet member when he was appointed acting director of national intelligence. 
• Is the appointment of LGBTQ people in the cabinet more performative than supportive? Perhaps, but representation counts, and while I’m sure Bessent is an asshole in ways that appeal to Dumpy and screw over America, I’m still glad to see a gay person in a high-ranking government role.
• That stuff sets examples to the MAGA pricks out there. 
• From the Business Desk… hey, how’s your 401(k) or IRA doing after a week of King Dump? Probably not so great.
• Shares of AI chip leader Nvidia struggled to rise from a record-breaking wipeout sparked by a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence model that threatens the dominance of U.S. rivals.
• In the last session, Nvidia lost $593 billion in market value — a record one-day loss for any company, while shares of companies in semiconductor, power, and infrastructure companies exposed to AI collectively shed more than $1 trillion.
• I thought Dumpy was some kind of business genius? Why didn’t he see this coming?
• And now, The Weather: “I Got Exactly What I Wanted” by The Convenience
• From the Sports Desk… with 12 days remaining until the Super Bowl, we need to start getting used to covering sports other than NFL football.
• How about NBA star Jimmy Butler, who was suspended by the Miami Heat without pay for an indefinite period of time after the disgruntled baller walked out of practice yesterday?
• It’s the third time Butler has been suspended by the Heat in recent weeks, and it comes as he was expected to return from his second suspension last night against the Orlando Magic. The Heat said the latest suspension will last at least five games, which will take it through the NBA's trade deadline on February 6.
• Butler is a great player but is also a punk-ass bitch with no concern about his team. He’s requested a trade, and the Heat have said they are working to find a deal. Butler faces losing $532,737 per game under the latest suspension.
• Over a half million per GAME. Butler doesn’t seem to realize he’s 35 years old and only has a limited time to be effective in pro sports before his skills diminish.
• Today in history… The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of his son Louis the Pious as ruler of the Frankish Empire (814). Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father's death (1547). Execution of Agnes Sampson, accused of witchcraft in Edinburgh (1591). Sir Horace Walpole coins the word “serendipity” in a letter to a friend (1754). Jane Austen's ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is first published (1813). Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois (1851). Walter Arnold becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding for going 8 mph in a 2 mph zone (1896). An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces (1915). Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize abortion (1935). Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance (1956). The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today (1958). The National Football League announces expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for the 1961 NFL season (1960). Supergroup USA for Africa records the hit single “We Are the World” to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief (1985). Space Shuttle STS-51-L Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board (1986). 
• January 28 is the birthday of poet/critic Johann Elias Schlegel (1719), businessman William Seward Burroughs I (1855), businessman Charles W. Nash (1864), painter Jackson Pollock (1912), artist Claes Oldenburg (1929), actor Alan Alda (1936), businessman Carlos Slim (1940), NBA coach Gregg Popovich (1949), singer-songwriter Peter Schilling (1956), singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan (1968), SCOTUS justice Amy Coney Barrett (1972), NFL player Daunte Culpepper (1977), singer Joey Fatone (1977), singer Nick Carter (1980), actor Elijah Wood (1981), and NBA player Andre Iguodala (1984).

That seems like enough. Side note: one of Dump’s tactics is to throw so much shit at you at once that you stop caring. Do not stop caring. And keep in mind that after a short time frame, he’s going to run out of shit and get bored. He loves the rallies and so on; he hates the task of being a public servant. And we’re going to watch him be miserable for a good while. That you can look forward to. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 27, 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 27, 2025, and it’s a Monday. I’m trying to decide if I’m sick. After four days of being around thousands of people, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I am. As to whether it’s a cold, COVID, flu, allergies, or just exhaustion, is still anyone’s guess. But I”m trying to get back on my usual schedule for work and life, so hurray for ibuprofen.

• Let’s do some news.
• With more rain on the way, officials warned yesterday of an increasing risk for mudslides in Los Angeles County's burn areas, with a 10% to 20% chance of significant flash flooding and debris flows capable of damaging roads and homes in and around areas devastated by wildfires.
• The charred footprint of the Eaton fire, which blackened more than 14,000 acres in and around Altadena, is the most worrisome. That area has been impacted before by devastating mud and debris slides after fires.
• A flood watch took effect at 10am yesterday will continue through 4pm today in the Altadena and Pasadena areas; Pacific Palisades and Malibu areas; Lake Castaic; and the San Gabriel Mountains west and southwest of Wrightwood.
• Let’s move on.
• In Stupid Ass Dumpy news…
• Yesterday King Dump said that he was ordering tariffs, visa restrictions, and other retaliatory measures to be taken against Colombia after its government rejected two flights carrying migrants.
• Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that his government won’t accept flights carrying migrants deported from the U.S. until the Dump administration creates a protocol that treats them with dignity.
• He posted a news video of migrants being deported to Brazil walking on a tarmac with restraints on their hands and feet.
• Despite that, late yesterday Colombia apparently backed down in the dispute, and the White House backed off on tariffs after an agreement on unrestricted acceptance of migrants.
• In related news…
• Governor Ron DeSantis (R) wanted Florida to be the most MAGA of Ultra MAGA states to ever MAGA. But it seems the normally compliant Florida Legislature has other ideas.
• Today there’s a special session in Tallahassee, where DeSantis is facing his biggest hurdle since ending his 2024 presidential campaign in trying to work with fellow Republicans.
• He wants legislators to pass measures on illegal immigration to support Dump’s executive orders and mass deportation plans, and to enact sweeping changes that could make ballot initiatives more difficult to pass.
• But Rhonda had to force lawmakers to travel into town as GOP legislative leaders said the work could wait until the regular policymaking period in March. And once lawmakers get to Florida’s capital, it’s still not clear they’ll do what DeSantis wants — or instead opt to publicly push back against the governor.
• And in a remarkable memo, state House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton reminded the governor that it’s up to lawmakers to decide what bills to pass and when to pass them.
• All this is another reminder that DeSantis’ political clout has waned since he exited the presidential race a year ago.
• Moving on.
• Over the weekend, the Senate approved the nomination of former South Dakota Gov. and murderer of innocent puppies Kristi Noem (R) to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), putting her at the center of an administration focused heavily on immigration.
• The 59-34 vote to confirm Noem capped off a relatively smooth process even as other nominees face more intense scrutiny.
• No dogs were asked their opinion.
• Let’s move on.
• In the interest of fairness, I want to follow up on the story about Dump’s elimination of DEI programs leading to the removal of all references to the Tuskegee Airmen in Air Force training.
• Yesterday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the removal of the videos and other curriculum has been immediately reversed.
• So that’s good, but I think it’s an example of how many of Dump’s poorly thought-out and broad-sweeping plans will be met by immediate resistance and reversal, even by members of his own party.
• Let’s keep moving on with new related to the fascist and racist regime now running the USA.
• At least 15 Indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico have been stopped at their homes and workplaces, questioned or detained by federal law enforcement, and asked to produce proof of citizenship during immigration raids since Wednesday.
• The reports, which have caused panic amongst tribal communities in both states, come amid the Dump administration’s attempt to ramp up undocumented immigrant arrests nationwide and amass a larger force to carry out the president’s deportation pledge.
• The reported raids and the exact number of Navajo and other Indigenous tribal citizens who were apprehended are still under investigation.
• But what could be more vile and disgusting than attempting to kick Native Americans out of the country? Their ancestors were here for over 10,000 years before the first white European immigrants set foot on these shores.
• I predicted many times that the only criteria they were really focusing on is whether the person has brown skin or not. This is simply proving what we knew all along.
• Meanwhile, ICE officials announced 956 arrests in one day… yesterday alone.
• Many of these undocumented immigrants are taxpayers who have not been charged with any crime, and the whole country is going to pay for their absence.
• Moving on.
• From the Business Desk… Wall Street is tumbling today on fears that the market’s winners who have feasted on the artificial-intelligence frenzy are under threat from a competitor in China that can do similar things for much cheaper.
• Welp, there we go.
• The S&P 500 was down 1.6% in morning trading. Big Tech stocks took some of the heaviest losses, with Nvidia down 11.2%, and they dragged the Nasdaq composite down 2.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on tech, was holding up better with a dip of 123 points, or 0.3%, as of early this morning.
• The shock to financial markets came from China, where a company called DeepSeek said it had developed a large language model that can compete with U.S. giants but at a fraction of the cost.
• And DeepSeek’s app had already hit the top of Apple’s App Store chart by early this morning, and analysts said such a feat would be particularly impressive given how the U.S. government has restricted Chinese access to top AI chips.
• Someday it will be clear that we live on a fucking planet, a giant ball in space, and one little part of it doesn’t have to suffer when another part of it benefits.
• And now, The Weather: “Speed Freak” by Youth Lagoon
• From the Sports Desk… we have a Super Bowl matchup.
• Yesterday started with the NFC championship, where the Eagles beat the Commanders 55-23. I sounds like a blowout, but it really wasn’t; Washington hung in there for much of the game, but some key turnovers left them unable to stay competitive with this tough Philly team.
• In the AFC championship, a hard-fought back-and-forth slugfest resulted in the Chiefs beating the Bills 32-29. Either team could have easily ended up at the Super Bowl, but there could be only one.
• So Super Bowl LIX will have the NFC 2-seed Eagles versus the AFC 1-seed Chiefs. Not a very unexpected end to the 2024-25 season. That happens on Sunday February 9.
• Vegas has the matchup at nearly dead even, with KC given a -1.5 advantage to win.
• Today in history… Dante Alighieri is condemned in absentia and exiled from Florence (1302). The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31 (1606). The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States (1785). A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent, approaching the Antarctic coast (1820). The U.S. Congress approves Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma, clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the "Trail of Tears” (1825). Modest Mussorgsky's opera 'Boris Godunov’ premieres in Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg (1874). Thomas Edison receives a patent for his incandescent lamp (1880). First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning (1939). Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with Operation Ranger (1951). Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, FL (1967). The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress (2003). Apple announces the iPad (2010). Protests and public outrage spark across the U.S. after the release of multiple videos by the Memphis Police Department showing officers punching, kicking, and pepper spraying Tyre Nichols (2023).
• January 27 is the birthday of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756), labor leader Samuel Gompers (1850), NFL team owner Art Rooney (1901), psychologist James J. Gibson (1904), editor/publisher William Randolph Hearst, Jr. (1908), singer-songwriter Elmore James (1918), actress Donna Reed (1921), NBA team owner Jerry Buss (1933), actor Troy Donahue (1936), actor James Cromwell (1940), drummer Nick Mason (1944), dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948), guitarist G. E. Smith (1952), SCOTUS chief justice John Roberts (1955), actress Mimi Rogers (1956), NFL player/commentator Cris Collinsworth (1959), journalist Keith Olbermann (1959), actress Bridget Fonda (1964), singer-songwriter Mike Patton (1968), comedian Patton Oswalt (1969), and NFL player Fred Taylor (1976).

So, I’m going to try and ignore this sickness and have a semi-normal day. We’ll see how that goes. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 26, 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 26, 2025, and it’s a Sunday. I’m back.

• Where have I been? Not very far away in Anaheim, CA, working at the NAMM Show.
• It’s an annual business event I’ve been doing since I was 23 years old, and that was a long time ago. This was my 32nd NAMM Show, and that doesn’t count the Summer NAMM events I’ve done in Nashville.
• What do I do there? Well, I am an independent marketing communications firm. Most of my work happens long before the show itself, preparing content, marketing strategies, press releases, and various event planning actions that allow my clients to havre a successful show there.
• And then there’s the show itself. The entire process is physically and mentally grueling, and while I generally have a good enough time there — and get to see a lot of friends who I only run into at NAMM — I am always very grateful when it ends.
• And then I can start the process of healing and getting back to my normal self.
• And now, let’s talk about some news. You’re probably aware that quite a lot has happened in the past set of days where I’ve been absent.
• We’ll get into the details in a moment, but I think the first thing you need to know is the context of what Presidumb Dumpy and his pals are doing.
• It was a specific plan to scare you into submission, and from what I can tell, most of it seems to be working in that regard.
• But on the other hand, a bunch of people who didn’t seem very engaged in “politics” (whatever that means to them) in recent times now appear to be developing an understanding of the true implications of a fascist dictator running the USA.
• Some would say “too little, too late.” I say, “Welcome to the Resistance. Get ready to help.”
• Let’s do a quick recap of recent items.
• Fox News host Pete Hegseth was confirmed as secretary of defense last week. 
• Despite Republicans having a majority in the Senate, the vote was 50-50. Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote.
• The confirmation vote was razor thin because three key GOP senators — Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkoswski (R-AK), and Susan Collins (R-ME) — voted no, along with every Democrat.
• The 44-year-old Hegseth has no background in running a large organization. Now he’s running the largest one in the world.
• I think we all know that Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Republican conference in 2017 and paid a financial settlement. He’s been married three times; a former sister-in-law accused him of abusive behavior toward his second wife. He was in charge of two veterans' nonprofit groups where more money was spent than was taken in.
• Shrug. In this period of ass-kissing toward Dump, it’s unlikely that any of his poor decisions will be challenged.
• Here’s one that will, though.
• On Friday night, Dumples the Dictator Clown fired a slew of inspectors general. The action violates federal law.
• Oddly, many of those he fired were people that he appointed during his first term. He claims not the know them.
• But now he’s removed the independent inspectors general of nearly every Cabinet-level agency in an unprecedented purge that clears the way for Dumpy to install loyalists in the crucial role of identifying fraud, waste, and abuse in the government.
• He intends to steal as much of the USA’s assets as possible between now and when he drops dead. And some people want to let him do it.
• Federal law requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire a Senate-confirmed inspector general. The legal uncertainty could create awkward encounters tomorrow, when several watchdogs who were told they were fired planned to show up in their offices to work anyway.
• Ha ha.
• But in the meantime, oversight of the government’s largest agencies was left in limbo as the Senate-confirmed watchdogs at the departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Labor, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Energy, Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture, and the EPA, Small Business Administration, and the Social Security Administration were ousted.
• Dumpy can’t have anyone looking at his actions while he steals the country’s assets for his own personal benefit.
• Anyway…
• I won’t go through the laundry list of executive actions Dump has issued in his first week. We mentioned many of them before. Some will stick, and others will be successfully challenged in court for being unconstitutional.
• I’d what’s important now is what’s inevitably coming next: a national abortion ban and revoking the rights of people of the same sex to have relationships.
• We will fight these efforts in many arenas, from the courts to the streets.
• Let’s move on.
• The U.S. Air Force will no longer train its enlisted personnel or officer candidates about the Tuskegee Airmen or the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs.
• The former were groundbreaking Black pilots known for their service during World War II, and the latter were the female World War II pilots who were vital in ferrying warplanes for the military.
• Anyone who isn’t white and male who made crucial contributions to the success of the USA is being erased from history.
• Any lesson plans for basic training that have to do with diversity are under review to determine if they comply with an executive order from the Fascist in Chief that aims to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government.
• It’s up to us now to continued to preserve the records of their contributions.
• Moving on.
• It’s rained a little bit here in Southern California for the first time in months, and we’re expected more today.
• Good news for fighting the fires? Yes, but also potentially heavy downpours on charred hillsides could bring new troubles such as toxic ash runoff and damaging mud/debris slides.
• Rainfall that began late yesterday was expected to increase today and possibly last into early Tuesday.
• And now, The Weather: “Julie” by Horsegirl
• From the Sports Desk… today is the Conference Championship games for the AFC and NFC.
• It starts at noon PT/3PM ET with the Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are favored by -6, but I think anything could happen.
• Then at 3:30PT/6:30ET, the Buffalo Bills visit the Kansas City Chiefs for the NFC championship. The game is a dead heat, with Vegas giving the defending champ KC a -2 advantage.
• And the winners of these games playing the Super Bowl in two weeks on February 9.
• Today in history… The Council of Trent establishes an official distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism (1564). The British First Fleet sails into Port Jackson to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on Australia, which is commemorated as Australia Day (1788). Michigan is admitted as the 26th U.S. state (1837). In the first Battle of Seattle, Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all-day battle with settlers (1856). The state of Louisiana secedes from the Union (1861). Virginia is readmitted to the Union (1870). The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of the U.S. Congress (1915). The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird (1926). The first United States forces in WWII arrive in Europe, landing in Northern Ireland (1942). The Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory sees first light under the direction of Edwin Hubble, becoming the largest aperture optical telescope until BTA-6 is built in 1976 (1949). Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon and misses the Moon by 22,000 miles (1962). On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had sexual relations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky (1998).
• January 26 is the birthday of the 12th Dalai Lama (1857), general Douglas MacArthur (1880), mafia boss Frank Costello (1891), pilot Bessie Coleman (1892), singer Maria von Trapp (1905), violinist Stéphane Grappelli (1908), pianist/composer Jimmy Van Heusen (1913), philanthropist/politician Annette Strauss (1924), actor Paul Newman (1925), director Roger Vadim (1928), cartoonist Jules Feiffer (1929), MLB player/actor Bob Uecker (1934), activist Angela Davis (1944), football coach/child molester Jerry Sandusky (1944), film critic Gene Siskel (1946), singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams (1953), guitarist/songwriter Eddie Van Halen (1955), singer Anita Baker (1958), comedian/TV host Ellen DeGeneres (1958), NHL player Wayne Gretzky (1961), singer Andrew Ridgeley (1963), speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy (1965), NBA player Vince Carter (1977), and the Suleman octuplets (2009).

That’s enough for now. It’s good to be back, but I’ll tell you… it’s going to take a little time for me to full recover from the past weeks/months of high-level effort in getting ready and doing my trade show. I’ll get there. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 25, 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 25, 2025, and it’s a Saturday.

• No news.
• Today in history… Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn (1533). São Paulo, Brazil, is founded by Jesuit priests (1554). University of Virginia chartered by Commonwealth of Virginia, with Thomas Jefferson one of its founders (1819). The ‘Wedding March’ by Felix Mendelssohn is played at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, and becomes a popular wedding processional (1858). Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company (1881). Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco (1915). The Ukrainian People's Republic declares independence from Soviet Russia (1918). The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games (1924). ‘The Guiding Light’ debuts on NBC radio from Chicago (1937). Thomas Goldsmith Jr. files a patent for a "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device", the first ever electronic game (1947). The first Emmy Awards are presented in the United States (1949). The National Association of Broadcasters in the United States reacts to the "payola" scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accept money for playing particular records (1960). Blue Ribbon Sports, which would later become Nike, is founded by University of Oregon track and field athletes (1964). Charles Manson and four "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders (1971). The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins throughout the country, marked by street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes (2011). 
• January 25 is the birthday of chemist/physicist Robert Boyle (1627), poet Robert Burns (1759), businessman William Colgate (1783), abolitionist/activist/educator Anna Gardner (1816),  writer W. Somerset Maugham (1874), writer Virginia Woolf (1882), conductor/composer Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886), singer-songwriter Sleepy John Estes (1899), politician Corazon Aquino (1933), singer Etta James (1938), director Tobe Hooper (1943), runner Steve Prefontaine (1951), NHL player Chris Chelios (1962), NFL player Mark Schlereth (1966), singer-songwriter Emily Haines (1974), politician Volodymyr Zelenskyy (1978), and singer-songwriter Alicia Keys (1981). 

Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 24, 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 24, 2025, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again!

• No news today. 
• Today in history… Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula (41). King Henry VIII of England suffers an accident while jousting, leading to a brain injury that historians say may have influenced his later erratic behavior and possible impotence (1536). King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament (1679). James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento, CA (1848). The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell (1908). In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional (1916). The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices (1933). The Voyager 2 space probe makes its closest approach to Uranus (1986). Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, with over 30 known victims, is executed by the electric chair at the Florida State Prison (1989). The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation (2003).
• January 24 is the birthday of Roman emperor Hadrian (76), philosopher Christian Wolff (1679), Prussian king Frederick the Great (1712), US Air Force general Hoyt Vandenberg (1899), businessman J. Howard Marshall (1905), painter Robert Motherwell (1915), evangelist Oral Roberts (1918), singer-songwriter Ray Stevens (1939), singer-songwriter Neil Diamond (1941), singer Aaron Neville (1941), actress Sharon Tate (1943), congressman John Garamendi (1945), singer-songwriter Warren Zevon (1947), actor John Belushi (1949), NBA player Mark Eaton (1957), pianist/singer-songwriter Jools Holland (1958), actress Nastassja Kinski (1961), actor Phil LaMarr (1967), gymnast Mary Lou Retton (1968), actor Matthew Lillard (1970), actor Ed Helms (1974), actress Mischa Barton (1986), and NFL coach Sean McVay (1986).

Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 23, 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 23, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. And while I have no time for news, a brief update…

• I’m out of town and working a trade show.
• Where am I? The same place I’ve been in January (expect for the pandemic years, when it’s been in other months) for the past 32 years: working at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA.
• It’s only about 40 miles from my home.
• Still, when I’m here, I’m busy every moment I’m not actually asleep.
• And now, The Weather: “Cold Hands” by Beautiful World
• Today in history… Zhu Yuanzhang ascends the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor, initiating Ming dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries (1368). The Royal Exchange opens in London (1571). Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his ‘Lettres provinciales’ (1656). Georgetown College, the first Catholic university in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, MD, now a part of Washington, D.C. (1789). Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Geneva Medical College of Geneva, NY, becoming the United States' first female doctor (1849). Charles Lindbergh testifies before the U.S. Congress and recommends that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Adolf Hitler (1941). American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the rights to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the “Frisbee" (1957). The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified (1964). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley (1986). Madeleine Albright becomes the first woman to serve as United States Secretary of State (1997). Netscape announces Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source (1998). A very weak signal from Pioneer 10 is detected for the last time, but no usable data can be extracted (2003).
• January 23 is the birthday of general/politician John Hancock (1737), painter Édouard Manet (1832), weapons designer John Browning (1855), engineer Frank Shuman (1862), actor Randolph Scott (1898), guitarist Django Reinhardt (1910), pianist Marty Paich (1925), actor Rutger Hauer (1944), singer Anita Pointer (1948), actor Richard Dean Anderson (1950), pilot Chesley Sullenberger (1951), singer Robin Zander (1953), and NHL player Brendan Shanahan (1969).

Time to go work. Bleh. Enjoy your day.

Random News: January 22, 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 22, 2025, and it’s a Wednesday. I really wish it was a regular-ass Wednesday, but it’s not; I’m heading out of town — though not very far — to a business event for the next few days. Like many things in life where we are compelled to do things we’d rather not (but responsibility dictates that we do it anyway), I’m just going to take care of business and try not to complain very much.

• Let’s start today with a true-or-false statement. An executive order from a president can override the U.S. Constitution.
• FALSE.
• We have a Constitution to specifically prevent a maniac from taking over the country with tyranny. So any of Dumpy’s little orders that do not pass Constitutional muster will never be part of American life.
• Case in point: Dump’s bid to cut off birthright citizenship is a "flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage," attorneys for 18 states, the city of San Francisco and the District of Columbia said yesterday in a lawsuit challenging the Presidumb's executive order signed just hours after he was sworn in Monday.
• The lawsuit, first filed by 18 attorneys general and then joined by four more, accuses Trump of seeking to eliminate a "well-established and longstanding Constitutional principle" by executive fiat.
• ”The President has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute. Nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth," the lawsuit said.
• Correct.
• Dump’s order directed federal agencies — starting next month — to stop issuing citizenship documents to U.S.-born children of undocumented mothers or mothers in the country on temporary visas, if the father is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• About 150,000 children born each year to two parents who were noncitizens and lacked legal status could lose access to basic health care, foster care, and early interventions for infants, toddlers, and students with disabilities.
• I might as well say this now…
• If you think I’m going to spend every damn day filling these bullets with the shitty things Dump does, you’re in the wrong place.
• We’ll obviously mention stuff from time to time, but usually in the context of what’s being done to fight back or resist Dump’s desire to turn the country into a fascist dystopia.
• You can find plenty of complaint-based bloggers and social mavens. They’re everywhere. I’m not one of them.
• But here’s another good example of what I’ll be continuing to cover in Dumpyville in coming days/weeks/months/years…
• A federal employee union has sued over an executive order from Dumpty Dump creating a new class of federal employee — allowing those working on policy to be swiftly hired and fired like political appointees.
• Dump’s EO creates a class of employee — Schedule F — who can be hired outside the traditional merit-based system for bureaucrats, raising fears of politicization of the workforce.
• In their suit filed Monday, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) wrote, “Congress has enacted comprehensive legislation governing the hiring and employment of federal employees. Because the Policy/Career Executive Order attempts to divest federal employees of these due process rights, it is contrary to congressional intent.”
• I agree.
• As a reminder to people who didn’t bother listening in their days in elementary school, the United States has three branches of government, each with equal power and the ability to override the others.
• The Judicial (courts), Legislative (Congress), and Executive (president) branches operate in a system of checks and balances, purposefully designed by the founding fathers to ensure that no one branch grows overly powerful.
• You will see that system in action on many occasions over the coming years.
• Let’s move on.
• An interesting ruling by the Supreme Court yesterday.
• They issued a rare ruling in favor of a death row inmate, finding that an Oklahoma woman convicted of murdering her estranged husband in 2001 can pursue a claim that prosecutors inappropriately focused on her sex life at trial.
• Their 7-2 ruling allows Brenda Andrew to challenge her conviction and death sentence. She is the only woman on death row in Oklahoma.
• The right to due process under the Constitution's 14th Amendment "forbids the introduction of evidence so unduly prejudicial as to render a criminal trial fundamentally unfair," the Supreme Court said.
• Among the issues raised at trial were that Andrew previously had affairs with other men, that she dressed provocatively, and that she had made sexual advances towards two young men working in her yard.
• None of that factored into the details of her murder trial. Even Alito agreed this was fucked up.
• Out of the remaining justices, only Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch thought that being put to death by the state for being sexually active was okay.
• Moving back to another story of Dumpy Resistance… this one coming from traditional conservative Republicans.
• A small core of GOP Senators — including Mitch McConnell — has denounced Dump's blanket pardon of January 6 insurrectionists.
• Let’s be clear: most Republicans are publicly applauding the release of these violent criminals. But McConnell (R-KY) said, “No one should excuse violence. And particularly violence against police officers."
• Thom Tillis (R-NC) said, "I've got concerns with any pardons for people who did any harm to police officers. Full stop."
• Susan Collins (R-ME) called Monday a "terrible day" for the Justice Department, citing the pardons by both Trump and former President Biden.
• Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said, "I'm disappointed to see that and I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us,” in regard to Dump’s release of hundreds of criminals including cop killers.
• So, all this is meaningless. These people saying “tsk tsk” after the fact changes nothing.
• But maybe some folks across the country who truly do support law enforcement and believe in the rule of law might feel taken aback by the blanket pardon that included the most violent offenders and organizers of Jan. 6.
• Shrug.
• I’m not going to to discuss the viral news about the reverend at a National Cathedral prayer service for the inauguration who called on Dump to have mercy on transgender children and immigrant families.
• Dump lashed out angrily at Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, as you knew he would.
• But I will say this: Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) stated that, “The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.”
• Budde is a 65-year-old American who was born in New Jersey and serves as the Bishop of Washington for the Episcopal Church.
• I think you can look at Collins’s statement as a clue to the plans the MAGA world has for American citizens. Remember that when they deport you too.
• And now, The Weather: “Owl Moon” by Oeil
• In real weather news, New Orleans shattered its single-day snow record yesterday during a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm. At least 10 inches of snow fell in the Big Easy.
• That city never had that kind of weather when it was on the Gulf of Mexico. Now that it’s the Gulf of America, welp… guess it’s a little colder down there.
• Rest in peace to Garth Hudson, the last surviving member of the iconic rock band The Band. He was 87.
• Hudson was known primarily as an organ player, but was actually a multi-instrumentalist who was a huge contributor to that band’s sound.
• As you may know, The Band started as The Hawks, backing up Ronnie Hawkins. In 1966, Bob Dylan took the group out as his own backing band on his tumultuous first tour as a rock ‘n’ roll performer.
• A couple years later, the musicians stepped out as The Band on one of the best debut albums of all time, ‘Music From Big Pink.‘
• Another RIP heads out to Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter and children’s book author Jules Feiffer, who died at 95.
• Unapologetically liberal in his political views, Feiffer was one of the first cartoonists to criticize the Vietnam War in a mainstream newspaper. 
• “Munro,” his best-selling 1959 book about a 4-year-old boy who is mistakenly drafted into the Army, became an Academy Award-winning animated short film in 1961.
• His best-known screenplay was “Carnal Knowledge,” a 1971 film directed by Mike Nichols starring Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margaret, and Candice Bergen.
• But my personal favorite batch of Feiffer creative work were his illustrations for the 1961 classic children’s novel “The Phantom Tollbooth,” written by his friend Norton Juster.
• Let’s do a chart.
• It’s January 1993, and I’m 23 years old and heading to the NAMM Show for the first time. I’d always wanted to go to NAMM, and at the end of my college career, I was considering accepting an internship with the NAMM organization.
• So I received two passes to the show, which was — back then — hard to get into unless you worked for a manufacturer of musical instruments/audio gear, or for the stores who sold them.
• By the following year, I’d gotten a job at a manufacturer, and NAMM was never fun again. It was a mountain of hard work, and it remains so to this day.
• And here’s the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart at the time. With few exceptions, it’s pretty shitty.
• 1. The Bodyguard (Whitney Houston). 2. Unplugged (Eric Clapton). 3. Timeless (The Classics) (Michael Bolton). 4. The Chase (Garth Brooks). 5. Breathless (Kenny G). 6. Some Gave All (Billy Ray Cyrus). 7. Home For Christmas (Amy Grant). 8. A Very Special Christmas 2 (Various Artists). 9. The Christmas Album (Neil Diamond). 10. Beyond The Season (Garth Brooks). 11. Ten (Pearl Jam). 12. Automatic For The People (R.E.M.). 13. Pure Country (Soundtrack) (George Strait). 14. It's Your Call (Reba McEntire). 15. Totally Krossed Out (Kris Kross). 16. Love Deluxe (Sade). 17. Ooooooohhh. . .On The TLC Tip (TLC). 18. Hard Or Smooth (Wreckx-N-Effect). 19. 25 (Harry Connick, Jr.). 20. Cooleyhighharmony (Boyz II Men).
• From the Sports Desk… hats-off to the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame: outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, starting pitcher CC Sabathia, and closer Billy Wagner.
• Ichiro not only became the first Japanese-born player elected to the Hall, but he fell just one vote shy of unanimous selection, getting 393 of 394 votes in balloting of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
• He would have joined Yankees great Mariano Rivera (2019) as the only unanimous selections. Still, his 99.746% of the vote is second only to Derek Jeter's 99.748% in 2020 as the highest HOF voting plurality for a position player.
• Also, while we’re awaiting this Sunday’s NFL Conference Championships, let’s peek at another sport we’ve been ignoring all season… NHL hockey.
• Here are the current leaders and their points.
• Eastern Conference: Capitals (69), Maple Leafs (62), Hurricanes (61), Panthers (59), Devils (58), Lightning (53), Senators (52).
• Western Conference: Jets (65), Golden Knights (62), Oilers (61), Wild (60), Stars (59), Avalanche (57), Kings (55).
• Today in history… Edward VII is proclaimed King of the United Kingdom after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria (1901). Ramsay MacDonald becomes the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1924). Australian and American forces in WWII defeat Japanese army and navy units in the bitterly fought Battle of Buna–Gona (1943). KTLA, the first commercial television station west of the Mississippi River, begins operation in Hollywood (1947). Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space (1968). The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport (1970). The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states (1973). The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during a Super Bowl XVIII television commercial (1984). The space shuttle Discovery launches on STS-42 carrying Dr. Roberta Bondar, who becomes the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space (1992). Kmart becomes the largest retailer in United States history to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (2002). U.S. President Barack Obama signs an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp; congressional opposition will prevent it being implemented (2009).
• January 22 is the birthday of soldier/writer/explorer Walter Raleigh (1552), philosopher/politician Francis Bacon (1561), poet John Donne (1573), sailor/pirate William Kidd (1645), poet Lord Byron (1788), philanthropist Edward Harkness (1874), director D. W. Griffith (1875), SCOTUS chief justice/politician Fred M. Vinson (1890), actress Piper Laurie (1932), actor Bill Bixby (1934), actor John Hurt (1940), impresario Malcolm McLaren (1946), singer-songwriter Steve Perry (1949), director Jim Jarmusch (1953), NHL player Mike Bossy (1957), actress Linda Blair (1959), singer-songwriter Michael Hutchence (1960), DJ/producer DJ Jazzy Jeff (1965), actress Diane Lane (1965), chef Guy Fieri (1968), actress/singer Olivia d’Abo (1969), NFL player Ray Rice (1987), NBA player Dillon Brooks (1996), and WNBA player Caitlin Clark (2002).

If you didn’t see my earlier couple of notices, here it is again: I’ll be working a business event for the next few days, and definitely will not have time to write these news bullets in the morning… or any other time. You’re on your own until I return on Sunday, but I trust that you’ll stay alert and informed… and awake. Enjoy your day.