Random News: January 2, 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 2, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I’m also willing to bet that it’s the most Monday-ish Thursday of the year, with many of us jumping back into our more standard post-holiday work routines today. We have a lot to go over. Let’s do it.

• There are more details that have come out regarding the New Year’s terrorist attack in New Orleans.
• The death toll, sadly, has risen to 15. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s not higher, and it may still grow based on the number of severely injured.
• Authorities are aggressively hunting for additional suspects and do not believe the driver of the pickup truck, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, acted alone.
• Video from the scene shows three men and a woman placing an improvised explosive device in connection with the car attack that killed at least 10 people in the French Quarter.
• What do we know about Jabbar?
• He was a US citizen born in Texas. Jabbar joined the Army in 2007, serving on active duty in human resources and information technology and deploying to Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010.
• He transferred to the Army Reserve in 2015 and left in 2020 with the rank of staff sergeant. He was not an immigrant or someone who illegally entered the country.
• And to that end, Donnie Dump weighed in on the story before reciting any actual information. He wrote…
• “When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before.”
• So again, Jabbar was born in Texas. He was raised a Christian before converting to Islam. Just because his skin wasn’t white didn’t mean he didn’t belong in the country. Also, according to FBI quarterly data released in 2024, contrary to Dump’s statement, New Orleans has seen a decline in violent crimes.
• Dump is, as usual, lying or wrong or both.
• And yet, as will be a big topic of discussion, Jabbar had an ISIS flag at the time of the incident. It’s going to be awhile before we understand the details of his motivation to commit acts of terror.
• The truck used in the attack in New Orleans was listed on the car rental site Turo. I was unaware of it previously, but it’s apparently like Airbnb except it’s with vehicles.
• That sounds like a terrible idea. Letting strangers just use your fucking car or truck to do whatever they want, in return for a few bucks?
• One aspect we mentioned yesterday that ended up transpiring: the Sugar Bowl college football game that was slated to take place in New Orleans last night was postponed to today. 
• They pushed to move forward with the game between Notre Dame and Georgia on schedule, but the possibility of more threats to public safety overrode that decision. Probably the best bet while they’re still figuring this shit out.
• Side note: the Super Bowl is being played in the city in February. And the barrier system designed to prevent vehicle attacks was undergoing repairs in preparation for that game, which is one reason the terrorist fuck was able to enact his evil deeds.
• Let’s move on to another bizarre story from the first day of 2025 that may or may not be terror related… and perhaps even related to the New Orleans event. 
• One person died and seven more were injured yesterday when a Tesla Cybertruck caught fire and exploded outside Donnie Dump’s shitty Las Vegas hotel.
• The driver of the Cybertruck, 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, is also an army veteran who served for nearly two decades. And like Jabbar, he also rented the vehicle from Turo.
• He’d packed it with firework-style mortars, camping fuel, and canisters. It’s thought that Livelsberger — who per. Some reports served at the same base as Jabbar — was the one killed in the attack. Like Jabbar, Livelsberger was a US-born citizen.
• But really: Elon’s car exploded at Dumpy’s hotel? Seems rather on the nose as analogy for coming times. I’m sure that was purposeful. Indeed, the previous night, Musk and Dump celebrated New Year's Eve together at the incoming president's Mar-a-Lago golf motel in Florida.
• Dumpy’s 64-story hotel is a block or so off the famed Las Vegas Strip.
• Side note: the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles make extinguishing those blazes much more difficult. 
• Moving on.
• Let’s wrap up the shitty New Year’s news with the story of a fireworks explosion in a Honolulu-area neighborhood that killed at least three people and critically injured 20 others.
• What the fuck? I ask this of literally everyone.
• It occurred just before midnight outside a home near Honolulu’s international airport and a joint U.S. Air Force and Navy base. I should note that fireworks are illegal in Hawaii, not that anyone seems to give a fuck.
• What happened? Some genius attending a party lit an aerial cake, which is a container containing multiple aerial fireworks. It fell to the side and the aerial shot into crates that contained additional fireworks.
• Lordy.
• Let’s move on.
• President Joe Biden is bestowing the second highest civilian medal on Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, leaders of the congressional investigation into the January 6 failed coup attempt at the US Capitol.
• A reminder: Dumples the Clown said these same people should be jailed for their roles in the inquiry.
• Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people today in a ceremony at the White House. These include Americans who fought for marriage equality, a pioneer in treating wounded soldiers, and two of the president’s longtime friends, former Sens. Ted Kaufman (D-DE) and Chris Dodd (D-CT).
• Moving on.
• In Wall Street news for you big financial wizards, the main indexes rose in the first trading session of 2025 this morning as investors pinned their hopes on a fresh political landscape and more interest rate cuts.
• In early trading, the Dow Jones was up 339.67 points to 42,885.17, and the Nasdaq gained 158.61 points to 19,469.40.
• And now, The Weather: “Everything Breathes” by Sean Henry
• In actual weather news, make sure your winter clothes are handy if you live… mostly anywhere.
• We’re starting the new year with arctic air invading most of the eastern U.S. Cold weather brought on by an arctic blast of Canadian air are forecasted next week, estimating temperatures 10 to 20 degrees colder than average starting this weekend and moving into next week. 
• Central states like Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas will also be feeling it. Stay warm, peoples.
• Here in the Los Angeles area? Lows in the mid-40s, highs in the mid-60s. It’s rather nice.
• From the Sports Desk… the NFL playoff are all but set in stone with very few exceptions that will be decided in this weekend’s final week regular season games.
• For now, let’s look at the individual leaders.
• Passing yards: Joe Burrow (CIN) - 4,641. Rushing yards: Saquon Barkley (PHI) - 2,005. Receiving yards: Ja’Marr Chase - 1,612.
• Today in history… The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire (366). American forces under the command of George Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, NJ (1777). Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution (1788). American statesman and diplomat John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China (1900). The second Palmer Raid, ordered by the US Department of Justice, results in 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists being arrested and held without trial (1920). Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union (1959). Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of CA (1967). United States President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo (1974). Sharon Pratt Dixon becomes the first African American woman mayor of a major city and first woman Mayor of the District of Columbia (1991).
• January 2 is the birthday of Hawaii Queen Emma (1836), physician Una Ledingham (1900), environmental activist Bob Marshall (1901), politician Barry Goldwater (1909), writer Isaac Asimov (1920), NFL player Gino Marchetti (1926), televangelist Jim Bakker (1940), speaker of the house/convicted felon Dennis Hastert (1942), zoologist Jack Hanna (1947), MLB player David Cone (1963), actress Tia Carrere (1967), actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. (1968), mode Christy Turlington (1969), actor Taye Diggs (1971), actress Kate Bosworth (1983), and MLB player Fernando Tatís Jr. (1999).

I have a very busy day on tap, starting with two back-to-back meetings in the morning and a shit-tonne of work for the remainder of the day, but that’s okay. I love the holidays, but their end also brings a sense of relief in its own way. Enjoy your day.