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.