Random News: January 6, 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.

---

Good morning. It’s January 6, 2025, and it’s a Monday. For a lot of folks, this is their real start of the new year, with the holidays being nothing more than a distant memory at the beginning of a new week. Not me; I’ve been working my ass off pretty much the whole time. But that’s okay; I’m less stressed than I would have been if I’d fucked off for two weeks. Let’s jump in on some news.

• Today is the four-year anniversary of the failed coup attempt — call it an insurrection if you want — on January 6, 2021 at the US Capitol.
• At the moment, the black security fences are up again around Congress. Local and federal law enforcement agencies have been placed on full alert. Five-hundred soldiers with the D.C. National Guard stand ready to assist if called.
• No matter what, a lot has been learned in the past four years. Today’s certifying of the presidential election will not be a repeat of last time.
• We can never forget what happened that day as the nation’s seat of power was overwhelmed by a violent MAGA mob of Dump supporters who were intent on overturning Joe Biden’s election.
• Thousands of men and women swarmed through the Capitol and its grounds, some attacking police officers, smashing windows, trashing offices, and smearing their own shit on the walls of our country’s most hallowed grounds.
• They were also threatening to hang Vice President Mike Pence for not breaking the law to do Dump’s bidding and overturn the election results.
• Four years later, the vivid memories of the attack on the Capitol may have faded in the minds of some Americans. But we’re going to be sure that it never fades away entirely. Those who did it — and those affected by it — will have to live with it.
• Five people died as a result of the Capitol insurrection, and more than 140 police officers were injured defending the building. Nearly 1,600 people have been charged in the riot, and more than 1,250 have been convicted.
• Dumples the Clown said last month that he will pardon those convicted of participating in the January 6 coup attempt against the USA within minutes or hours of taking office. He did not specify how many people he would pardon but said that “a vast majority of them should not be in jail.”
• Those released from jail may even include the two men who attacked and killed Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick. Guess we’ll see.
• But if you support the MAGA rioters of January 6, 2021 — and also have a “Thin Blue Line” or “Protect Law Enforcement” bumper sticker on your car — you can’t do both.
• You can either support the rule of law or support Donnie Dump and his MAGA terrorists. Choose one.
• In any case, this country will never, ever forget when a small group of our own citizens were so brainwashed that they attacked our own country. If you minimize that fact, you are inviting it to happen again and again.
• Let’s move on.
• It’s being reported that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is likely to announce he intends to step down, though he has not made a final decision.
• Trudeau was expected to announce as early as today that he would quit as leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party after nine years in office.
• His departure would leave the party without a permanent head at a time when polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the official opposition Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October.
• If it happens, it’s likely it would be before a emergency meeting of Liberal legislators on Wednesday. An increasing number of Liberal parliamentarians, alarmed by a series of gloomy polls, have publicly urged Trudeau to quit.
• It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new Liberal leader is selected. If he does resign, it would likely spur fresh calls for a quick election to put in place a stable government able to deal with the administration of Donnie Dump for the next four years.
• I can’t in any way say this is good news for Canada or the world.
• Moving on.
• As we mentioned over the weekend, the weather is big news across a wide swath of the USA. Cities that rarely get much snow at all find themselves under a foot of the white stuff.
• Travel is being snarled, with thousands of flights either canceled or delayed this morning. Amtrak also canceled several routes along the East coast and Mid-Atlantic states. 
• As of this morning, about 34 million Americans are under winter storm warnings that span from Illinois to Mid-Atlantic states including New Jersey and Delaware.
• The storm has a name, you know. Winter Storm Blair is dropping a combination of snow, ice, and plunging temperatures across the USA, and is also creating havoc for drivers amid icy road conditions and blizzard-like weather.
• Stay safe, friends. Here in lovely Redondo Beach, CA, you ask? Lows in the 40s, highs in the mid-60s. Crisp but nice.
• In other news…
• Dumples the Clown is appealing Judge Juan Merchan’s two rulings that dismissed his attempts to toss his conviction in the hush money case. Dumpy is also begging for a stay of Friday’s scheduled sentencing.
• As we reported, on Friday, Merchan rejected Trump’s attempt to throw out his conviction because he’s been elected president, scheduling Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case for this coming Friday January 10…  though Merchan made clear he would not sentence Trump to any jail time.
• Take your medicine, Donnie.
• Moving on to some good news.
• As we anticipated, President Joe Biden has signed into law a measure that boosts social security payments for current and former public employees – such as teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public-service workers – in what the White House has described as the first expansion of such benefits in 20 years.
• The Senate voted last month to approve the Social Security Fairness Act, which advocates say rights a decades-old disparity.
• The bill rescinds two provisions – the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset – that limit social security benefits for recipients if they get retirement payments from other sources, including public retirement programs from a state or local government.
• There are 745,679 people who had their benefits reduced by the government pension offset. About 2.1 million people were affected by the windfall elimination provision.
• I’m glad for those folks that this has been resolved. Big thanks to President Biden for driving this new law!
• Let’s keep moving.
• I guess they had the Golden Globes last night?
• I’m completely out of touch with most current films and TV shows, so… I offer no opinion on how they went.
• From what I read, the two big winners were Brady Corbet’s postwar epic “The Brutalist” and Jacques Audiard’s Spanish language trans musical “Emilia Perez.” I’m sure some of you saw these, and perhaps they were good.
• I would not know.
• And now, The Weather: “With Only Your Mouth” by Love Spells
• Let’s do a chart. It’s early January 1969, and this is the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
• Me? I wouldn’t be born for another five months. But I was around, sorta.
• 1. I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Marvin Gaye). 2. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (Diana Ross And The Supremes & The Temptations). 3. Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell). 4. Soulful Strut (Young-Holt Unlimited). 5. Hooked On A Feeling (B.J. Thomas). 6. Cloud Nine (The Temptations). 7. For Once In My Life (Stevie Wonder). 8. Crimson And Clover (Tommy James And The Shondells). 9. Love Child (Diana Ross & The Supremes). 10. I Love How You Love Me (Bobby Vinton). 11. Cinnamon (Derek). 12. Going Up The Country (Canned Heat). 13. Son-Of-A Preacher Man (Dusty Springfield). 14. Lo Mucho Que Te Quiero (The More I Love You) (Rene & Rene). 15. Stormy (Classics IV Featuring Dennis Yost). 16. Abraham, Martin And John (Dion). 17. If I Can Dream (Elvis Presley). 18. Touch Me (The Doors). 19. I Started A Joke (Bee Gees). 20. Who's Making Love (Johnnie Taylor).
• Let’s do a statistic for no reason.
• Here are the world’s largest airlines as measured by brand value.
• 1. Delta: $10.771 billion. 2. American: $10.242 billion. 3. United: $8.676 billion. 4. Emirates: $6.610 billion. 5. Southwest: $ 5.394 billion. 6. British Airways: $3.175 billion. 7. Qatar Airways: $3.138 billion. 8. Air Canada:  $2.805 billion. 9. China Southern Airlines: $2.767 billion. 10. Ryanair: $2.541 billion.
• Seems about right.
• From the Sports Desk… as promised, here’s the complete playoff picture for the 2024/25 NFL season.
• AFC: (1) Kansas City Chiefs - first round bye. (7) Denver Broncos at (2) Buffalo Bills. (6) Pittsburgh Steelers at (3) Baltimore Ravens. (5) Los Angeles Chargers at (4) Houston Texans.
• NFC: (1) Detroit Lions - first round bye. (7) Green Bay Packers at (2) Philadelphia Eagles. (6) Washington Commanders at (3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (5) Minnesota Vikings at (4) Los Angeles Rams.
• The Wild Card Round is this coming Saturday through Monday.
• Saturday 1/11 has Chargers at Texans and Steelers at Ravens.
• Sunday 1/12 has Broncos at Bills, Packers at Eagles, and Commanders at Bucs.
• Monday 1/13 has Vikings at Rams.
• Today in history… Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England (1066). King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves (1540). Alfred Vail and colleagues demonstrate a telegraph system using dots and dashes, the forerunner of Morse code (1838). Samuel Colt obtains his first contract for the sale of revolver pistols to the United States government (1847). Maria Montessori opens her first school and daycare center for working class children in Rome, Italy (1907). New Mexico is admitted to the Union as the 47th U.S. state (1912). Mother Teresa arrives by sea in Calcutta, India, to begin her work among India's poorest and sick people (1929). United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms speech in the State of the Union address (1941). Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandh and are executed the same day (1989). U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked and injured by an assailant hired by her rival Tonya Harding's ex-husband during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships (1994). Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump attack the United States Capitol to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in five deaths and evacuation of the U.S. Congress (2021).
• January 6 is the birthday of English king Richard II (1367), martyr Joan of Arc (1412), politician/abolitionist Charles Sumner (1811), composer Max Bruch (1838), composer Alexander Scriabin (1872), poet/biographer Carl Sandburg (1878), cowboy/actor Tom Mix (1880), poet/philosopher Kahlil Gibran (1883), actor Danny Thomas (1912), actress Loretta Young (1913), religious leader Sun Myung Moon (1920), politician Kim Dae-jung (1924), banjo player Earl Scruggs (1924), engineer/businessman John DeLorean (1925), actor Vic Tayback (1930), writer E. L. Doctorow (1931), songwriter/producer Van McCoy (1940), actress Bonnie Franklin (1944), singer-songwriter/guitarist Syd Barrett (1946), singer-songwriter Sandy Denny (1947), guitarist/songwriter Malcolm Young (1953), actor Rowan Atkinson (1955), golfer Nancy Lopez (1957), NFL player Howie Long (1960), director John Singleton (1968), actor Norman Reedus (1969), actor Aron Eisenberg (1969), actor Eddie Redmayne (1982), NBA player Gilbert Arenas (1982), actress Kate McKinnon (1984), NFL player Ndamukong Suh (1987), and NFL player Jameis Winston (1994).

That’s all for now. Never forget January 6! I sure won’t. Enjoy your day.