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.